 All right, we're gonna call to order the March 14th meeting of the capital city council Do we have any public comment on our closed session items before we recessed a closed session? Seeing none, we will recess to close session and return shortly. Good evening everyone Let's go ahead and call to order the Thursday March 14th capital city council meeting. Can we have a roll call, please? Councilmember Clark here. Councilmember Morgan here councilmember Peterson here vice mayor Brooks and mayor Brown here Please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Do we have any additions or deletions to tonight's agenda? Staff has no changes to tonight's agenda. All right, great. We will move on to presentations We have a couple proclamations tonight. We will start with the mayor's proclamation honoring Capitola boat and bait And so I'm just gonna read a little bit from this first and it says the Capitola city of Capitola Recognizes the invaluable contributions made by local businesses to the vibrancy and spirit of our community Capitola boat and bait nestled on the historic Capitola wharf has been a beacon of maritime tradition and adventure as a family business since 1997 their commitment to providing Exceptional customer service expert knowledge and a welcoming atmosphere has earned them a loyal following amongst residents and visitors Fostering a sense of camaraderie and excitement for all who step foot on the wharf While the demolition of the building housing Capitola boat and bait signifies the end of an era It also serves as a poignant reminder of the cherished memories made and countless fish tails earned Capitola boat and baits legacy extends beyond its role as a retail establishment embodying the spirit spirit of community and connection that defines Capitola's waterfront culture I Kristen Brown mayor of the city of Capitola on behalf of the Capitola city council do hereby Proclaim our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to Capitola boat and bait for their contributions to our city We have a bit of a slide show here. Is there someone like to come and accept the proclamation I would just like to thank the city council the mayor and all our community Because without you guys we wouldn't be here How about now I Would like to thank the city council and Our community because without you guys all being here and having us be part of it We wouldn't be here. Thank you very much. Thank you Alright our next proclamation is honoring the wharf house restaurant. You have another slide show That was all the same slides. Okay All right, just started over perfect All right, so this proclamation is for the wharf house restaurant the city of Capitola Acknowledges the wharf house restaurant nestled upon the picturesque Capitola wharf as a cherished landmark for decades and owned by Willie case since 1984 Offering delectable seafood dishes delightful cocktails top-notch live musical entertainment and breathtaking views of the Monterey Bay Their dedication to culinary excellence Impeccable service and warm hospitality has earned them a special place in the hearts of locals and visitors alike While the forthcoming demolition of the building housing the wharf house restaurant marks the end of an era It also serves as a reminder of the cherished moment shared celebrations hosted and friendships forged within its walls The wharf house restaurant legacy extends beyond its dining room embodying the spirit of conviviality Community and coastal charm that defines Capitola's waterfront Hi, Kristen Brown mayor of the city of Capitola on behalf of the Capitola City Council Do hereby proclaim our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to the wharf house restaurant for their enduring contributions to our city Thank You mayor slash supervisor Members of the council members of administration Is this my obituary I feel like maybe I'm attending my own funeral tonight Anyway, thank you Thank you to all the councils that I've had the opportunity to stand in front of in my number of years I've been on out on that wharf and we've We've loved our stay And we open maybe you have us back someday Sir, thank you immensely Alright our next presentation is the presentation of the 2023 Capitola police officer of the year and police chiefs commendation award Hand it over to the chief Perfect. Good evening mayor and council. I'm here this evening to present two different awards We're gonna do the officer of the year and then also the chiefs accommodation award We'll start with the officer of the year award. So I'll have officer Noah Sharon What I'll do is I'll start with just a highlight of it and then I'm gonna pass it over to Captain Kilroy and he's gonna highlight some of the the things that this officer's done this year so just to Kind of back up a little bit this so this is our annual 2023 officer of the year award It's dedicated to herb Ross who was a sergeant with the police department. I had the privilege of working with him I started back here 25 years ago, and I got to work with him for about two three years, and then he retired He's just been we've carried on the tradition of this award And he really stood behind three kind of big pillars for him and that was integrity professionalism and hard work And so those are the kind of the founding principles of this award Each year the command staff comes together. We evaluate all the different employees and then we we bring This year we had all the command staff come forward and unanimously vote in Noah Sharon as our 2023 officer of the year so with that I'm going to hand it over to Captain Kilroy who's The command in command of our operations and he'll give you some highlights Evening mayor council and staff I'd like to just share some again highlights about officer Sharon what he accomplished over the calendar year of 2023 This is not a comprehensive list again. This is only highlights And just to give some context, I'd like to give some statistics for the department over that same period of time So the department as a whole we answered 14,763 calls for service we took 1585 reports made 506 arrests Took 166 traffic collision reports and wrote 1438 traffic citations Now officer Sharon on his own Took 238 reports made 95 arrests 17 of those were felony arrests another 17 were drug related Took 19 traffic collision reports and wrote 289 traffic citations Outside of doing that officer Sharon also has ancillary duties with our department that include being a motor officer He's also part of our red light enforcement team He's part of our social media team a very important part of our social media team. He does a great job And is most recently one of our drone pilots that we just launched our new program He has led a e-bike and traffic safety presentations two times a new Brighton Middle School and had a great connection with the school and the Students there and staff and parents actually and has presented in front of council as well Noah is active in any investigation that he can get himself into Sometimes whether he's wanted or not. He's gonna find a way to be a part of it And he takes on any tasks that he's assigned and completes it diligently Noah is tenacious and a motivated officer who cares deeply for the capital community and a great asset to our department With that I'm gonna present our 2023 officer of the year or two officer Noah Sharon Council staff, thank you chief and captain. Thank you guys. I just wanted to take a quick moment Thank you guys for your continued support for our department It's been a pleasure working here. We're all having a great time and I want to thank my co-workers and family as well. Thank you And then moving on to the next award which is the first time that I have been able to issue this award Which is an honor and a pleasure for me And quite honestly just a really outstanding work of the criminal investigations I know you've been getting briefings on that but really the lead efforts of Detective Zach courier and so with that I'm gonna have captain killery kind of highlight the work that he's been doing in that unit as well So I'm not Zach's direct supervisor captain Ryan is but she's away at training so Fill in for her Zach was here when I was hired we've had or I've had I'd call it my opportunity to work with him as a peer His direct supervisor and now as a captain overseeing some of his ancillary duties as well Again talking about just calendar 2023. It was a busy year for our criminal investigations unit Unfortunately, that means that it's also a busy year for significant crimes for our community So just to touch on some of the things that Detective courier was the lead detective on some of his significant cases. We had a stabbing on Warf Road where the suspect was ID'd and arrested a sexual assault by a child predator again that That suspect was ID'd and arrested an attempt sexual assault on a woman that led to through Detective courier's diligence full confession Coordinated with an outside agency Fremont PD to have that person arrested a person was arrested a second time for a coercion and intimidation related to that case and Just one thing to know about detective courier. He has a big heart and he has he's very skilled at Connecting with people that he speaks with whether they be victims even suspects Whoever it is. He's just a good communicator This particular victim told detective courier if it were not for his empathy in the way that he treated her that that she had ideations of self-harm Which she did not fulfill Another case was a Upwards of $150,000 fraud case from fraud checks from a business a local business Detective courier ID'd arrested and got a full confession from that suspect We had the armored car robbery at Bay Federal. He's still actively investigating that case We had another robbery at the Comerica Bank where a tractor tracker was given to the suspect a Detective courier was able to coordinate with his CU partner detective young The sheriff's office and San Mateo PD to track that suspect Locate them outside of our jurisdiction and arrest them and also recovered a handgun related to that arrest Unfortunately, we lost two of our community members To homicides this year. The first was a vehicular manslaughter that occurred just off of Bay Avenue When that occurred there was very limited info on that case we had just Clips of a vehicle that basically showed lighting. We didn't know what type of vehicle it was Detective courier at this point. I really got to see his tenacity in his investigative skills He was able to establish the route that this vehicle took out of our jurisdiction by following up with the residents who had Security cameras obtaining footage matching it to the vehicle Using further technology who is able to finally establish what type of vehicle it was Using the flock system that we have access to currently in other jurisdictions was able to identify that vehicle Get a plate number identify the suspect and later take that person off at the mall and make an arrest there's more and Then we also had another homicide where detective courier collaborated with El Cerrito PD He took lead on that case without an established scene. We didn't know if this crime actually occurred We didn't know if it was a homicide at first or if it occurred in our jurisdiction or in somebody else's but Detective courier took the lead on that work the case from several angles was I able to identify a possible suspect Coordinated with the team of Capitola members to recover the body outside of our jurisdiction Located the suspect and arrested him and Most recently we had another robbery at the Comerica Bank But just a couple of weeks ago and again using police technology and collaboration with other jurisdictions was able to identify and arrest That suspect within a couple of weeks So that's a lot, but that's not all that Zach does So he also has ancillary duties of a defensive tactic instructor taser instructor He's an instructor on a system. We call the wrap Stopsticks instructor. He's been selected to our firearms team as an instructor. He's part of our peer support team He is also part of our social media team and he's one of our field training officers Zach is an excellent representative of Capitola PD and with his big heart and extreme skill at collaborating with other agencies He's definitely a true asset to not only us but our community. So thank you Zach. So with all that I'm here to present the 2023 chiefs accommodation word to Zach and I just want to say that you have a great police department We have a great police department You have a lot of very hard hard-working people that come out every day to serve this community and these are just two highlights But there's a lot of tremendous work with this department doesn't continues to do and and we thank you guys for your support with that Like I said, thank you Pretty nice award Mayor city council. I just want to thank you for giving me the opportunity, you know, seven eight years ago to work for this department Myself that was a sergeant here. So I Grew up around this department. I have a lot of loyalty and and love for this department As far as those cases go, you know, it was hard on me and my family So I wanted to thank my wife Sabrina who's here with my baby girl She'll be 10 months tomorrow for all the hard long nights The sleepless nights and then my mom for coming out and supporting me today from Arizona and chief and the police department All my peers. Thank you for the support and help throughout all my cases Ever since I've been working here. I appreciate it and I'm honored to have this award. Thank you Officer Sharon detective courier Congratulations to both of you. We truly do have a stellar Police department here and we're incredibly grateful for your work and the work of all of you here at Capitola PD Thank you so much Would any other council members like to make any comments before we move on? I saw some leaning in Okay, I just I don't want to take too long But I really want to echo what our mayor just said we're really lucky to have such a great police department here So thank you all not that they're listening back there, but congratulations and just back to The boat and bait Proclamation and the wharf house. I just wanted to Say thank you for what you've brought to our community When I moved here over 25 years ago That was my one of my first stops being able to fish out there And I will not tell you if I was having the cocktail in or outside of the building That the wharf house gave us and it was just a special place And we I look forward to seeing what comes next and and the work we can do in collaboration So congratulations to our officers and thank you to to the two businesses here this evening After being in a lot first for 35 years I really see what these guys do with it doesn't go unnoticed. So we have a great police department and Truly grateful like all of us Okay, our final we had a lot to proclaim tonight. So one more proclamation Mayor's proclamation in honor of Red Cross month, which is March 2024 And so this proclamation says during American Red Cross month in March We celebrate the humanitarian spirit of Capitola and reaffirm our commitment to help ensure no one faces a crisis alone Caring for one another is at the heart of our community and exemplified by the people of Capitola Who's simple acts of kindness through the Red Cross provide help and hope in people's most difficult moments the contributions of the local Red Cross volunteers 169 in the county Give hope to the most vulnerable in their darkest hours Last year in Santa Cruz County Volunteers helped 23 households affected by 16 home fires by addressing their urgent urgent needs like food and lodging as well As providing recovery support in addition they installed 348 smoke alarms collected over 4,013 blood donations provided first aid and CPR training to over 3209 residents helped the families of 390 students prepare for disasters through our pillowcase project and assisted 75 families of our armed forces Their support volunteerism and generous donations are critical to our community's resilience. I Kristen Brown mayor of the city of Capitola hereby proclaim March 2024 as Red Cross month. I encourage all citizens of Capitola to reach out and support its humanitarian mission Do we have yes great Thanks the Chamber and all the citizens of Capitola for honoring the Red Cross this month and Remind you all we always came from more volunteers blood drives We do one at the mid County senior Senate since center every other month So there's lots of ways you can come out and and help support the Red Cross. Thank you very much Thank you. I also want to say thank you With our previous storms that happened We had some unfortunate events and trees went down in a nearby community and within Minutes the Red Cross was there to help the families that were displaced for families and their kids and their pets and Within minutes, so I just want to say thank you so much for the work You've done in the community the past gosh years with all of these storms All right with that we will move on. We're on item four, which is a report on closed session Good evening closed session was had on the item on the agenda and no reportable action was taken. Great. Thank you Item five any additional materials? I have distributed the presentations for tonight's presentation items to City Council for the meeting They're available in the agenda packet online and in the back for public review Great. Thank you. We'll go now to oral communications by members of the public This is an opportunity for members of the public to address the Council on items not on tonight's agenda You will have three minutes to speak. Let me turn the timer here three minutes to speak Please state your name for the record if you would like it included in the minutes. Thank you very much. Hello. Welcome Gary Richard Arnold good to see you another evening here. It's like We're meeting quite often two things I want to honor local police Because in other sanctuary cities and while we have a sanctuary state I encourage you to make a resolution to not make the city of Capitola a sanctuary city This is where the drugs come in to kill our children and to cause all kinds of crime move-in gangs, etc. Also the So-called cutting of the ribbon for the Red Cross that is being taken at every city council You have not decided this this comes from ambag which is a cog a council of government which the Mayor attended last night and she does not or she has not in the past Written a report It's a stealth organization. It's a cog a council of government Of governments, which is no more than a soviet that's run by the un and the world bank And you have no idea what they're approving for you folks out here when they approve something They're told they're gonna get federal and state money So they're tripling your damn tax and they never let you know what these things are going on It's not on community TV. You need to understand the stealth and evilness of what's going on with cogs pull out of the california city of California league of cities and pull out of ambag it is It's evil and it's designed to destroy you and create a world government under regions which are no more than soviets also Your presentation or your Praise for the red cross the red cross if you do not know was involved in Supporting lenin. They had a red cross mission going you know after the korinsky revolution There was a uh a group Going there. There were only four or five medical people the rest were bankers They supported lenin and right now the red cross if you can get that lady up here or have your police investigators look at it They're supplying Packets for those coming over the border by the millions where they can get Free everything while you got people out on the streets here veterans not getting the damn thing And uh what you have here is on copa The last time I got in here I There was you were in a legal meeting and I spread information Uh for each one of you I ended up With the city manager Having a policeman can cuff me and take me out of here as I couldn't communicate to you You need to be Sir your three minutes is up. Thank you for your comments Hi, welcome Hi, my name is goren habic One time I was a security guard here for zeldas on the beach for For a summer I think If I remember correctly. I was doing the front door with my black brother george We did the front door I want to draw you or the attention to something that I've been talking to Captain sarah rine about this in uh in the previous past uh There was a amount of cocaine being sold Through a business here in capitol by a big By big amounts and I hope that this will be recorded very soon by the pd and that also the sheriffs Deputies will take care of this what I've been talking about I know when I'm being threatened about what I'm talking here about but I don't care about that I'm a Schweitzer army veteran. That's a swiss army veteran. I can hold my ground Thank you very much for listening. Have a great day. Thank you Hi, welcome dear Is it like this? Okay, I'm not very good in this, but I'm going to try Dear mayor and city council members My name is charlotte link and I'm a resident of the cabrillo mobile home estate I'm here to represent two other residents of this mobile home park. Ms. Judas And miss Who are here with me? We are here to inform you to inform the city council that fiera enterprises the owner of the cabrillo mobile home estate has not yet adjusted their rents amounts according to the city of capitola rent stabilization ordinance Both ladies are still paying thousand dollars per month space rent I notified katie hurley the community development director of this issue by email in december of 23 We did receive a note from katie that fiera enterprises will be adjusting the rents and providing credits for over charges The two residents haven't seen the charge on their rent bill yet have not seen The change on the rent bill yet even though fiera enterprises promised it to fix it. I was in touch with katie about this again Excuse me katie hurley recommended that these residents should seek guidance from an attorney We talked to our attorney bruce stanton and he said that the city of capitola Should be the one to enforce their rent stabilization ordinance How can the city and council assist these residents? There's more information on the rent ordinance in chapter 2.18.200 Remedies and waivers and rights number eight a mb Thank you very much Thank you Hi, welcome Thank you Congratulations on your high vote Marilyn carrot and When my daughter was little she got the dp t vaccination She's 55 now But she got extremely ill What you call adverse reactions? and Fortunately somebody recommended a homeopathic doctor And I brought her up on homeopathic remedies after that No more vaccines. No more antibiotics So I've been reading up over these years including on the covet shops and You'll see my fact sure about The death count is an accurate vaccines are poison The media the pharmaceutical industries are lying to us Lying is nothing new on their part So I want to share with you because being informed helps protect our health The source of this information is weston a price.org They put out a brochure myths and truths about covet 19 Contages by rents or 5g microwave technology And it turns out That epidemiological observations and biological studies indicate the symptoms of covet 19 Are actually radiation poisoning since symptoms Starting in wuhan when they rolled out Hundreds or thousands of these 5g radiation emitting sites and followed to other countries They also put out a fly a Well, I'm going to leave you with this because it's important to Be informed well document a document covet shots for adults and children What we know now and it turns out there are more adverse effects And deaths from the covet shots And from all the other vaccines combined And the official reporting system vaccine adverse reporting system as of may 2023 displayed nearly 2.5 million adverse events following covet vaccination Included including over 35 000 reported deaths As I listened to the awards of your placement here and about two Homicides He's doing his job But there's no liability for the pharmaceutical industry Causing deaths, so I'm going to leave you with this and I thank you look at it carefully and Avoid shots and avoid recommending them. Thank you for your comments. We appreciate it. Thank you Hi, welcome There is a timer Hi, my name is still james ewing widman You know, it's pretty amazing gary richard arnold and maryland garriter have been publicly commenting more than anybody else. I know Except for myself in the past five years that would be me So, you know, I did a calculation. I met the person who's been the ceo of the american red cross I've given at least 12 gallons blood in my life Um, I have my reasons why I'd be very hesitant to currently take any blood from the american red cross So I also did a calculation. I'm just kind of a nerd sometimes and um, I figured in the three counties San bonito monorail and santa cruz by Information I got today It's almost 712 thousand individuals Let's say half of those are adults There were three individuals that were at the ambag meeting last night and I was one of them And I had a great deal of fun after the executive meeting where I just kind of Described them who I was and what I had been doing I decided to introduce myself to the group as heisenberg Guys can laugh or not. Um So it's really quite fascinating. This is like 124 pages. I spent a couple minutes on this Um, this was the kind of the ambag schedule. It was interesting the new characters that are in that group It really reminds me about stuff. I spoke of three years ago Where the rand corporation established 1948 would give congress Notes for their summer reading so they didn't really necessary. I have to spend as much time reading thousands of pages I know in the county and santa cruz by my count and I'm probably way off in the low And in saying this is low, but at least 120,000 pages have been basically rubber stamped Over the past four years. I mean, I don't have great attendance, but I have better attendance during public comments physically than any of the last eight supervisors so I guess I'm just interested and It was sure nice to hear the awards in this room. It was sure nice to hear the awards in the county of santa cruz um, I had been asking several times publicly Particularly when they tried to reprimand me for not being polite I said if the sheriff I said I am being polite if the sheriff was here. I would be more direct So I started my public comment saying it looks like team democide won again. So why do I say that? There's a huge difference between a constitutional republic sheriff And what I see too much and I don't want to step on anybody's toes Would be a constitutional corporate democratic democide sheriff um, so So I said 2024 is going to be a real time for us to work together and I really like to see that So thanks a lot Thank you Any further public comments? Seeing none. All right, we will close uh oral communications and bring it to staff and city council commons. Do we have any staff comments? None, okay, we will start with council commons. We'll start at this end great So as most of you probably know the united states coast guard is planning to remove the santa cruz and malbuy The iconic malbuy is the only navigation aid in the north monterey bay It's very important to our boating community and our mariners What I would like to do is see our city council and the mayor put it on the agenda And so we can oppose the moving of the malbuy I think it's very important. So we'll look we'll look forward to that If everybody's in favor Thank you um, I would Like to ask staff to please look into the mobile home estates I know that we asked in december for staff to or for staff to support or at least look into to make sure that they were following the new Requirement you can please do that and also I want to say congratulations to our mayor or taking the lead in county district two county supervisor More to come in november for the community to still have to vote But i'm proud to be sitting next to you and I just want to say congratulations. That's all I have Thank you, uh, okay. I've got several comments. Um, I will start With saying I'm in agreement with councilmember clark if we could get a letter in opposition of the moving or removing of the malbuy there's also been Some discussion about an expanded marine protection area, which generally Sounds great. Um, but there would cause potentially some restrictions on recreational fishing in our area Which is problematic. And so I would like to see A letter of opposition To that expanded area as well brought back to the council on our consent Agenda, uh in the next meeting Uh, I I want to take a moment also to once again Acknowledge the good work of the red cross. My husband is a red cross volunteer in the Sound the alarm program installing fire alarms in homes that otherwise would not have them or have Old ones that no longer work fire safety is incredibly important. So I encourage those who are interested in learning more about red cross Opportunities to reach out and consider becoming a volunteer Um, I would also like to ask staff, uh to bring back a resolution making may 11th All santa cruz county cleanup day. This is something that is initiated by pitch in santa cruz county Um, and so I think that that's something that's really important for us to consider Uh, you know the efforts to clean up our county and have coastal cleanups. And so if we could bring that back And then finally just um a notice, uh, some of you may have heard this on the news or seen it in the sentinel And i'm just going to repeat it again because I think it's it it bears repeating Um starting just a couple days ago on march 11th crews closed the capitol avenue over crossing. This is part of the RTC and cal trans santa cruz county multimodal Uh corridor project and the closure is going to be up to 14 months And the closure is so that we can develop Bus on shoulder and auxiliary lanes on highway one and then, uh, there will be a demolition of the capitol avenue Overcrossing and it will be replaced with a new over crossing that has safer bike and pedestrian facilities Which is really important because this is one of the safe routes to school um on saturday march 23rd starting at 7 p.m Uh until sunday march 24th at 7 p.m. There will be a full closure of highway one between, uh bay and park So please be aware of that there will be a detour for that full 24 hour period You might hear some noise during the demolition Um, but it's just we're making way for for bigger and better things in terms of safer Pedestrian and bicyclists past so once again Capitola avenue over crossing is now closed for the next 14 months between saturday march 23rd and 24th There will be a 24 hour closure of highway one uh in that area. So please do be aware Okay. Thank you, ma'am. All right. Uh, we're gonna move on if there's uh additional council comments No, no staff Sir public Sir public comment has closed to the public sir. This is your warning that you're interrupting a public meeting This is your last warning for interrupting a public meeting sir Make a decision Don't you lecture sir. This is your last warning that you're interrupting a public meeting All right, we're gonna move on Uh, we're on our consent agenda item eight All items on consent will be enacted in one motion on the form listed below There will be no separate discussion on these items prior to the time the council votes on the action Unless members of the council request specific items to be discussed for separate review I can move the consent I'll second. Okay. We have a motion and a second all in favor say aye. Hi. Any opposed any abstentions? Motion carries unanimously We'll move on to item nine general government and public hearings and item nine a is voter polling results And I will turn it over to staff Good evening mayor and council. So we're gonna get a presentation from emc Jessica polsky sanchez will be leading the presentation This is the first time we've used emc for our polling and look forward to seeing the results. So Jessica take it away Thank you so much. I will go ahead and share the screen. Okay. Thank you. It's nice to be here before you This evening. I'm here to present the results of the recent survey of voters here in city Okay, thank you. Can we I'm gonna ask that we have no more outbursts from the audience Please the time for public comment has closed There will be here with sir I understand sir and it is our responsibility to ensure that the people will hear what is happening But I am asking that there are no further outbursts from the audience There will be an opportunity for public comment on each individual item Comments based on that item alone But I am asking at this time that there are no further comments from the audience at a time that is not designated for public comment Thank you City clerk, is there an opportunity to turn this up? Um, Jessica, I think what might help is turning your camera off so we can use the bandwidth for sound rather than Using it up for video Absolutely All right, we're working on turning up the volume on our on our end How does that sound? About the same we're working on it to see if there's anything we can do Thank you. I'm hearing an echo. I'm not sure if that's What's called the sound issue? We might just have to ask. Whoa. Now that was me. Now. I'm very loud We might just have to ask you to use your outside voice on this one Sure thing. Uh, if I get too quiet, feel free to interrupt It's the echo that's keeping me from being too loud Okay Okay, so this is a survey of voters here in city of capitol. I'm sorry to interrupt Just give us one more one more minute here. I think we actually made it worse That's one second. We're going to try to get it louder We're doing some troubleshooting here. Thank you for your patience Jessica, could we ask you to test your sound really quickly if you wouldn't mind just speaking while we adjust the volume so we can see if it's working Sure testing. How does that sound? Um, we're still troubleshooting. Would you mind doing that again? Yeah, well the echo is gone on my end. Um, oh much better Ah, wonderful. Thank you Shall I proceed? Yes, please do. Thank you Okay, thank you very much Okay, so these are the results of the survey of voters here in city of capitol that was conducted in january of this year We conducted 206 interviews with the voters here in the city The overall margin of error is therefore plus or minus 6.8 percentage points We did offer interviews in both english and spanish Live telephone calls were conducted by trained professional interviewers And online interviews were collected by both text and email Invitations to voters and we do have some data that was provided from prior research here in the city conducted By other firms as listed on this chart and we'll show you some comparisons To results over time on questions that have been tracked First some key findings and then i'll share some more detailed results We do see the capitol of voters overall are optimistic about the direction of the community And most say the city is doing a good job on its essential functions We see a majority of voters recognizing the need for additional funding And we also see a majority willing to maintain services through additional taxes maintaining maintaining public safety response Uh repairing potholes roads sidewalks bike lanes And the beach and new worth are top priorities for voters when it comes for additional It comes to additional funding and we see support for a renewal of the expiring quarter cent sales tax Is well above the 50 threshold needed to pass When it comes to a potential bond measure, we see voter opinions are more divided So starting back at the beginning a few questions that we asked in the survey to understand the overall issue Here in the city. Do you feel things in capitol are generally going in the right direction? Or do you feel that things have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track? And as you see this question does not relate to the job the city is doing specifically It's simply a question to understand how voters are feeling about how things are going very broadly You can see here the vast majority of voters in the city are feeling good They're feeling optimistic 75 percent say things are headed in the right direction Only 19 percent say things are off on the wrong track and six percent can't say one way or another We asked this open-ended question What do you think is the most important problem facing capitol today to see which issues would rise to the top as Top mentions among those issues facing the city coming up more often than any other issue Is housing affordability 18 percent mentioned this followed by infrastructure or beautification issues mentioned by 14 percent Storm damage flooding and war for pair mentioned by 12 percent Followed by traffic and congestion climate change issues costs of living Supporting the local economy and a variety of other issues as you can see on this list Here you can see trend data over time when we've asked voters How they would rate this the job the city is doing on providing services and taking care of the needs of local residents On the top the most recent poll shows us that 12 percent rate that as excellent 55 good 24 percent only fair and six percent poor and those ratings compare very similarly to the ratings That we saw or that you saw back in 2022 So a two-thirds positive this time 71 positive in 2022 When it comes to how voters rate the job the city is doing Managing the city's budget and finances. We also see a majority giving a positive rating 60 percent excellent or good And 31 percent only fair or poor So the that is a positive rating overall for management of the budget and finances and the numbers are similar To the numbers seen in 2022 with the closing of the gap there a few were people saying they don't know We see the Billing in of the good category as well as only fair We ask this question generally speaking Would you say that the city of capitol has a great need for more money? Some need a little need or no real need for more money And this is a question that has been asked over time here in the city You can see now that 19 percent see a great need and 44 percent Some need for more money for the city on the other hand 31 percent see little or no need So more than half but fewer than two-thirds Seeing at least some need for additional funding A couple questions that we asked in the survey to understand Hacks sentiment we said do you agree or disagree with the statement? I generally oppose increases to taxes regardless of what they are used for We have 16 percent who strongly agree in 27 percent who somewhat agree with that statement But the majority disagree and express willingness to support taxes On the second statement you agree or disagree It is crucial to have high quality city services even if it means raising taxes About three out of four voters at least somewhat agree with that statement Okay on the next slide we'll share What happened when we presented a potential ballot question To renew the city's quarter percent sales tax We said without increasing taxes to protect essential city services including public safety and emergency services Maintain parks beaches the new wharf and recreation programs for youth and seniors Improve traffic safety repair potholes and maintain streets sidewalks and bike lanes Shall the city adopt a measure renewing its expiring one quarter percent sales tax Providing a million dollars annually for general government use until ended by voters with independent audits public disclosure of all spending And all funds staying local if the election were held today Would you vote yes or no on this measure and you can see very strong widespread support for this renewal measure With 75 percent initially saying they would vote yes and another three percent Undecided but when prompted which way do you lean they lean toward voting yes So that brings us to a total of 78 percent inclined to vote yes for this measure 21 percent inclined to vote no and one percent undecided We also asked a series of questions around the potential components Or outcomes to be funded by this potential measure And individually asked on a scale from one to seven How important is each of these to you where one is not at all important and seven is extremely important So on this slide we're sharing the proportion for each item that rated rated it as a Seven extremely important along with the five or six at least somewhat important Rising to the top of the list is maintaining public safety and emergency services Almost universally voters consider that important with 58 percent saying that's extremely important Followed by repairing potholes and maintaining streets sidewalks and bike lanes Again, almost universally important to voters with 50 percent to rate that is extremely important Other items also very very important shown on this list as you move down These are ordered based on the portion rating it as a seven but there are items on the list that are Overwhelmingly important like maintaining the beach and wharf supporting local businesses And so on and so forth We also asked these Items in the series you can see here that the items on this slide are important to the majority But with lower intensity than the items seen on the prior slide The last three kind of related to a potential bond measure Are a little bit lower priority than the other items We also offered some additional information in the survey on the features and benefits of a potential Sales tax renewal measure and we asked How convincing is each of these as a reason to support the measure? Is it very convincing somewhat convincing not too convincing or not at all convincing and you can see on this slide The portion that rated each of these as very or somewhat convincing with the totals on the right hand side So rising to the top is the mention that by law essential purchases like groceries and medicine are exempt From the sales tax to help ensure the measure is not a burden to those unfixed incomes Certainly a very important piece of information And 88 percent consider that a convincing reason to support the measure The second one highlights that the measure does not increase taxes It simply continues an existing voter approved funding source That is convincing to 81 percent And then the last on this slide highlighting that the measure will help make much needed upgrades to aging public infrastructure Like filling hot holes pot holes repaving streets And making improvements to bike paths sidewalks and traffic safety 84 percent say that that is a convincing reason to support the measure The remaining items Summarized on this slide all of these are convincing to the vast majority As reasons to support the measure Including maintaining the city as a great place to live work and raise a family Highlighting that out-of-town visitors pay their fair share The measure requires a fiscal accountability features And that the measure help helps keep capitol a safe Once this information was provided in the survey we once again followed up about the potential measure Asking voters given everything you've heard now How would you vote if this measure were on the ballot today? And you can see that the additional information increases support for the potential measure On the flip side, we also offered some Information that you might hear or some statements that you might hear from somebody who would oppose the measure We summarize things like now is not the time The cost of living is high This measure is going to be hard for people to pay for families are struggling and things like that And so we asked after an opposition statement given everything you've heard How would you vote and you can see there is Quite an impact after opposition with 60 percent Supporting the measure after the statement, but still well above the 50 plus one threshold for passage Wanted to share a look back at historical poll results as well as revenue measure Results in elections here in city of capitol a Initial support for a renewal of the quarter cent sales tax today is similar To the level seen in polling ahead of measure f which was a 10-year extension of the expiring quarter cent sales tax We do however see that the current measure is a bit more vulnerable to opposition In this survey, we also investigated a potential bond measure So after we thoroughly investigated opinions around the potential renewal of the quarter cent sales tax We then said here is another measure that could appear on a future ballot To update public safety facilities and ensure prompt response in emergencies Provide improved parks beach and recreational facilities fix leaky roofs Ensure the police station and city hall are earthquake and flood safe and modernize the capitol a community center Shall the city issue 30 million dollars in general obligation bonds at the rate of 49 dollars per 100 000 of assessed property value Averaging 1.5 million annually until we paid With independent oversight and annual audits and all funds benefiting the city of capitol a When we asked about this measure We saw roughly half the voters inclined to vote yes And the other half inclined to vote no although the yes Outweighs the no by just a couple percentage points Also, we asked a few questions about information sources and preferred methods of communication So here are some sources where people might get information about capitol the city government And we asked about each one how useful is this as a source of information about city government Very useful somewhat useful Or not useful and so you can see rising to the top local news media Which 24 find very useful and 44 somewhat useful Followed by the city printed newspapers Which more than half 58 consider at least somewhat useful Followed by the city's website or posts on instagram or facebook facebook 56 saying that's at least somewhat useful And then lastly just under half saying that the city's digital newsletters are at least somewhat useful And on this question If you were interested in a city issue and wanted to learn more in which of these would you most likely participate? And we offered these responses attending an in-person meeting Watch on youtube or the city website attend a zoom meeting Send an email in email or a letter to the city Watch on community tele television or none of these and you could see the most Commonly selected are attending an in-person meeting or watching on youtube or the city's website about one in four mentioning each of those Similar to what we saw what you saw back in 2022 Although we've seen an increase in the portion saying that they would watch on youtube or the city website So in summary we are seeing support for renewing the existing quarters and sales tax is in a strong place We see that a potential renewal measure is somewhat vulnerable to opposition But given that tax sensitivity is relatively low and that support remains above the passage threshold even after opposition We see we think that a measure to renew the current quarter-cent sales tax is certainly feasible A bond would face a more difficult pass with a two-thirds threshold for passage But we do want to point out that we tested a potential bond measure after exploring a sales tax measure Including opposition arguments against a measure We do think it's important to involve the community in a conversation about any potential measure We need to make sure that the need has been clearly communicated For revenue to maintain quality services Emphasizing the benefits to the community and when it comes to those benefits The ones that align well with voters top priorities include maintaining public safety response Roads and the beach and the new wharf Other priorities also rise to the top as being important to the vast majority like youth and recreation And support for small businesses So with that I am more than happy to answer any questions you have about The survey results Thank you Council questions All right, thank you so much for that presentation. We really appreciate it We are going to bring this item now. Can we turn us down just a little bit? No, thank you We are going to bring this item now to public comment. There's any member of the public that would like to address us on this item specifically Please approach the podium Welcome back Yes, my name is James Hueing Correct me. Can I make comments on this? I mean this was about A poll that was given it doesn't seem like it was actually not sure about the election So if I can talk about kind of elections or should I just talk about the poll because otherwise i'm not going to say anything Yeah, so this public comment is specifically for Yes, the poll these polling results Thank you Okay Seeing no further public comment. We'll bring it back to council. This was just Informational correct. We're just receiving the survey. There's no vote on this There's no vote needed. Um, your staff is looking for direction Whether you want to give us direction about any potential further actions to take in this regard or anything else All right additional comments Comments from council members Comments on this end So it's now the time that we're discussing whether or not we want On the ballot It would be an appropriate time for us to discuss that Certainly, it's an appropriate time to discuss it the Deadline to place an item on the ballot is august 9th. I believe So we would need to do it before July So we do have time But if you would like staff to research anything further Engage with stakeholders any kind of direction if you want us to bring back more information Other forms of tax now would be the time to let us know Okay This was fascinating information. It's really great news. Um, I think with the With us knowing about the ending of measure f coming up and our deficit spending in the budget Within the next five years. I'd like for staff to come back with Some different options for us to choose what we're going to put on the ballot based off of this information So we have the quarter um sent option I'd like to look into what a half sent option is as well as perhaps looking at Be and I can get the years wrong. So let me think about this. I know measure f ends in two years 2027 and there just might be um an opportunity to To put something on the ballot that could then in turn make that happen earlier If you're catching what i'm i'm saying if that makes sense to council so if Staff could come back with just an option of perhaps asking the community to vote on something that would essentially Supercede or measure f in the meantime So half cents and a quarter sent option to council before august. That's what I'd like to see staff bring forward Briefly they spoke about the bonds. I would like to hear more about that So moving forward, you know, didn't seem like it was its favorite as much as I think it's something for us to definitely look into What a great three options is always better than two so we can have more likely discussion So we have given some direction to staff any further comments from council Last call No, okay. All right With that we will move on from this item We will go to item 9 b our housing element update and 2023 annual report Do we have good news? Do we have good news? Do we have Neutral news anything other than bad news I've got great. So we're gonna find out. We have some good news here. Um, okay. I wanted to give it is really loud tonight i'm going to give you an update on the capitol on three things our housing element our implementation plan and our sixth cycle Or a fifth cycle First I'll give you an update on the housing element. That's the volume. I think we're just going to wait for the volume a little bit Can you test your uh mic one more time? Can you tell us again what we're getting an update on getting an update on the housing element? Pretty loud. Is that better? All right. Hey, thank you. We're good. Thank you That's Technical difficulties tonight Okay, so our sixth cycle housing element. We've been working on it for about A year and a half to two years at this point Next slide please So the most recent update I brought you an update. I think two meetings ago um on the mall site and we were discussing the need that came from the Property owners of the mall during that sent in a letter about our housing element need for extra height and also to remove the floria ratio from the parking garage calculate from the parking garages from the floria ratio calculation we during During that meeting Further guidance was given to also include objective standards to make sure the design works well and then we had a representative from erlon geyer who Spoke in front of the city council and they asked That we look further into the number of units that were assigned directly to malone geyer so after um, I've had several meetings with malone geyer in the past three weeks and We will be meeting again as soon as we have our our next update But we've been working closely together And at this point what I decided would probably be the best pass Path forward for capitola is to distribute The housing requirements to all the sites on the mall so that there I think there's 10 properties on the mall So just dispersing them rather than just putting them on the merlon geyer sites So all of the properties on the mall would have these Actually the way we had originally drafted it would be subject to these Allowances of additional height and floria ratio But this will disperse the housing over the whole site There'll be a 15 affordable housing requirement for very low and low And then a 5 requirement for moderate income They get a little bit extra and it's all spread out So we're adding sites to our inventory and here on this map you're seeing The arrows are pointing to the new sites So including the banks on the corner the target site Um Some more parking lot area And also the ross center This Sheet breaks down exactly where the other sites are and i'm sorry that It's listed by number according to the previous slides map, but as you saw all sites Except for the coals that will not be included and also a parking lot as you Go out the food court that will not be included due to long-term lease agreements and long-term parking agreements But otherwise every site on within the claire street 41st avenue and capitol road will be included And so what this does is it it results in All right for lower income it Creates 368 units modern income. So what we'll In summary we'll meet our rena numbers and we'll still have buffers within our rena numbers by dispersing these sites But without overburdening one developer within them all so next slide And this slide is just showing the two parcels that are not being included But I did want the city council to see that If they were if they were to move coals to a different site and decide to develop it There's quite a number of units that could be built on those sites. So we're not saying they can't develop those sites We're just not including them in the inventory because it's probably not going to have the next slide So that is my update of where we're headed with the housing element. So I'll Now I'll do the housing element implementation implementation plan So within our housing element that We're moving forward with there are goals policies and programs. We have over 80 items outlined within our housing element that we're required to perform on in the first three years of the eight year cycle next slide, please I've broken these into categories and For each item and then just looking at the timing and Who will be implementing? Go to the next slide, please So this first As we move forward we're going to be working with having partnerships with our local non-profits So for developer interest and outreach and public information We're already working with housing groups within santa cruz and also the yinbi group To help us get information out. We're hoping to do some public outreach during affordable housing month in may and Just this past monday. I coordinated with other community development directors and we'll all be doing a panel In may and then I've also reached out To housing santa cruz elaine johnson and offered if we could host something here in our council chambers in may those are the items that we're moving forward with next slide In gray or darker gray or the items that city staff will be working on I'm not going to read these over for you But these are the internal items that we'll be working on and we don't we won't be hiring a third party or leaning on our legal team So Next i'm going to break these down into the the items that we will be hiring third parties And I also just want to present what the cost is associated with our housing element update and Where the money will come from so we have a housing successor agency fund. This is from the previous development The redevelopment agency funding and we have A healthy amount of money in that Because of a loan that was paid off within the last few years So out of the housing successor agency fund I'm proposing that our emergency rental assistance continue to come out of that fund as well as our security deposit program The emergency rental assistance is run by cab Um and provides up to four months of rent for very low income to avoid homelessness And it's been a very successful program and we currently give twenty five thousand dollars a year towards that So over the eight years literally two hundred thousand dollars and then our security deposit program in which we allow Up to I think it's one month's rent um, which is given to a low income is low income we qualify for it and At the end of your rent you get we get the money back. So seventy five hundred dollars over eight years is Next slide please Grants we currently have I'll start with the second grant the municipal code updates We received the reap 2.0 grant And are working on code updates with that money and then also rehabilitation project rehab projects for going to be Was the last city council meeting in which the city council gave us direction to move forward with all ashby of To start applying for a home application for a rehab project of the dakota apartments, which is on the corner of clairs and Capitola road So we have a little over eight hundred thousand or almost actually close to nine hundred thousand in Money that has come back into our home fund reuse money And then we are talking with them now about applying for up to about three million dollars in rehab somewhere I think three million would be the The higher limit there. So up to so you'll in You'll be seeing a resolution soon for our application for those funds and that will fund 24 units of the dakota Apartments and next slide please And then our housing trust fund. This is the money that the city receives when A developer pays an in-loofy or Our impact beef when they when you develop within capitola And that housing trust fund can be used for home buyer assistance programs as well as rehab rehab programs So i'll be working with sam's team on these projects of creating programs for home buyer assistance in rehab We've had programs in the past and we'll be bringing them back Um the initial costs associated with developing these programs is about 25 000 each And then once we have the program in place the ongoing costs Are About three hundred and twenty five thousand combined over the eight year period. So That summarizes Where we are moving how we're moving forward with implementation And the good news is none of this is coming out of the general fund So the housing successor agency, there's close to two million dollars in that account and I think Discussed in the past that money can also be used for affordable housing projects for development. So It's a nice healthy balance and then the grant money will be really exciting if we can get that for the dakota apartments Next slide please So next is our annual housing report. I just want to bring you up to date with our numbers for 2023 and the close out for the fifth cycle In 2023 We're required to give an annual housing report. That's due to hcd every april In 2023 we added 15 new units to the city of capitol One was a single family home and the rest were all ads. So we're having great success with our adu programs In the fifth cycle, this just this takes you from 2015 to 2023. We're assigned 143 rena numbers and in the end we slightly We've met just over half. We built 75 new units And didn't meet our rena number but 73 were remaining Next slide please Exciting this is the good news. We've got two projects one that's been approved at 4401 capitol a road 36 units and Planning commission will be reviewing an application for another affordable housing 100 affordable housing project at 1098 38th avenue Hopefully during their april meeting They're doing the last of their sequa documents right now It's another 52 units. So between those two projects will have exceeded Our count with that we reached within our the last housing cycle. So that's the great news and I'll I think that's my last slide for this evening. So our recommendation tonight was to receive the presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have Thank you questions Yeah, go ahead thanks, so My first question is that you've been meeting with merlon geyer a lot recently and i'm wondering if There has been any discussions about a potential timeline for redevelopment well, um They're they're now not saying that they are not going to redevelop within the eight-year period. So that's exciting So uh within the cycle Yeah, our next housing cycle is the next eight years and I think they're they're really happy with the direction we're moving and It seems a lot more positive, but they haven't they have not To my Knowledge started designing a project or I don't expect to them within the next year But they've been great discussions and it's definitely headed in the right direction thank you and then um Regarding the six additional sites on the capitol and mall I'm wondering if there has been any communication with the owners of those properties and if they have suggested one way or another It's likely or unlikely to be redeveloped No, I haven't heard from any of the other mall owners at this time I know the city bank is vacant at this time and there's a recent new buyer And then uh My third question is about the security deposit Program I see that it's expected to cost $60,000 over the next eight years. Is that right? Is that all we go back to that slide maybe? That's that was going to be my question. Is that like Assuming nobody none of the money comes back or Is that including the money that's being recycled into the program? So that's so sorry that's over the eight-year period, but it's not factoring in the money being recycled So it's just you know, there'll be a balance of 70 every budget. I move forward for $7,500, but if there's money returned, it's just really utilizing that fund. So almost every year the program is growing with ability I'm sorry. No, it it's um recycled. So it's recycled fun Jamie I think more often than not I think we added it up. So this is a countywide program All the all the jurisdictions are putting money in and my understanding is at this point That we actually put our initial money in and they haven't asked us. We haven't had to put new money in I don't remember about last year, but the first couple of years. I know that was just self-preventing So we won't be putting another $7,500 in per year because I already put that Yeah, I think there may be some years cycling through and there may be some years when we need to but In general, I don't think it's an every year expense On the 38th avenue project. Was that the mid-peninsular housing one that we had about 10 months ago? Yes, we gave them Initial funding towards uh, pre-development costs Did I hear you correctly say that more loan guys not planning to do any redevelopment in the next eight years? Oh, no, so I think uh, sorry. That's what I thought I heard. I just wanted to click. Sorry with the um initial letters They were so loud. Sorry the initial letters that was the stance they were taking is The numbers that we put on their properties was making it infeasible and they would not be Developing those in the next eight years now that we've made it more practical I think it's more of a possibility. Okay. They have not given me a timeline for when All right, let's hope it's in the next eight years Um, and then I remember I apologize I recall us as a council talking about a land use study to incentivize development on the mall property But I can't recall what the timeline was like for that or if we'd put money towards it or what the I can't I just can't remember. Can you remind me? Sure. Um, so we have $25,000 towards the study for the mall for land use incentives for redevelopment we Have begun working on that study but due to The recent events with our housing element. We're putting that on pause because we're actually Implementing a probably the number one strategy that would have come out of that study Um, so cosmon is on hold for now once we've moved forward once we have a Certified housing element. We really don't want that to get in the way the housing element update Then we'll bring we'll bring forward Either an update on what we think we should be doing with that or Our plan is to move forward with the Menu of options for land use that it can help with the rest of the corridor actually those I just have a follow-up on that. So has the 25,000 dollars been spent yet? Or is it possible that we may not spend that if we decide that we don't need it at a future date? A decent portion of that those funds have been spent they've been preparing They've been working on it. They've been working on it Thank you I had a like a in conjunction to your question about Merlin guy or are they or have they been in the past talking to the other owners like say of You know the olive garden spot or other things that could possibly Maybe tie into So during the 2019 development, they definitely were talking to The adjacent property owners. Yeah, and there's a They they all have to vote and agree on things in order for projects to move forward at the capitol of mall So there is definitely A level of communication that happens with any development that goes through the mall property Okay. All right. Thank you All right, saying no additional questions We will bring this to public comment if there is any public comment on this item about the housing element update in 2023 annual report Being none. We'll bring it back to council Uh, this is also just receiving an update. Do staff need any guidance from counselors? Just informational It was informational, but if you have any concerns about The path we're taking it'd be great to hear that now No concerns. Thank you. Thank you All right. We'll move on to item 9c, which is the special events and park regulations and We'll welcome nicky. How's the mic? Yeah, good. Okay. Um It's on Okay Just speak just speak directly into the mic. We'll we'll try the uh adjustment. Okay, so Good evening mayor council members um, so As you may remember this item was on a very long agenda and It was intended to be presented by captain sarah ryan and myself Due to scheduling conflicts. She was unable to be at this meeting. So I am presenting Or both of us. However Here with us is as may who is The individual in the police department that processes all of our special event applications and so When come time for questions, she will be available to answer in a significantly more detail than I would actually be able to so Do you kind of know where we're going with that? so The intent here is to introduce the special event application process as well as A park regulation permitting process And to create a comprehensive permitting system for public assemblies events And use of city property to be consistent with first amendment right to gather So as you're aware our city produces Two levels of special events we do we have a major special event permit process which Serves over 200 attendees And has impacts to city services We also have a minor special event permit and that's intended for any for less than 200 attendees and Would Be requesting minimal impact to city services I'll go to the next slide, please So this is just a quick reminder About what kind of events in the city are major special events right now in the next slide, please And then these are the events in the city that are currently is a minor special event Okay all right, so the The ordinance here before you is really taking Kind of the the process for our special event permit and making it A clean and consistent process so currently The there are minor special events have no threshold for special for specification The proposed changes to minor events Would be more specific about 75 to 200 people And not requiring road closures Currently our general events do not have any thresholds Our major events with the proposed changes would Are specified as being more than 200 people and requiring closures of major roads Um proposed changes updates the language to protect the expressive Or protect expressive activity By the first amendment these changes Currently there is no set fee schedule for special events And so the proposed changes would be that not at this meeting but another one Council would set special event application fees and cost recovery fees for services needed and then currently All of the kind of things that fall outside of Any special event permit process is Solved through an encroachment permit So the proposed changes actually allow us to Eliminate and determine what is not based on the updated process Go to the next slide, please now As you had noticed that there are numbers They start at 75 for a minor and then go up from there We in parks often have individuals that are approaching us That are smaller groups and they're looking for a process currently In parks It is a first come first serve basis. So if you wanted to have your reunion gathering in one of the parks You would just first come first serve show up. So in the top five things that cause conflict In recreation, this is one of these issues, which is why we're we're talking about it right now recreation currently manages field and court rentals through a Rental slash permit process, but it's very specifically for renting fields or renting our courts for athletic uses The public often inquires About a process for these small gatherings They come in and they ask us about how they can do their bounce houses What kind of barbecues that they can have in the parks because they're planning their birthday parties And currently we don't really have any answers for them because of that first come first serve situation Having a park permit would provide an actual procedure and it would put us in alignment with all of the other parks and recreation agencies in our county Currently, we are the only ones that do not have a process such as this Um, it would be used for small groups up to 74 people because at that 75 we would be switching to a minor special event Um, and then obviously this would not be for an expressed activity expressive activity, sorry And if um, this is approved by council the Recreation staff would be developing an application packet an application packet um would detail the required information for Renting spaces that are available And kind of the information necessary Some of the things that we would detail if we'll go to the next slide, please Is the specific locations in the parks that are available for permit. So, uh, regarding Esplanade Park An individual if they were wanting to Coordinate say their reunion or something Um, they wouldn't have access to the whole they would have the bandstand They wouldn't have the dance floor. It would be specific to the redlined grass area Um, the ordinance that was drafted that is in the packet Details that in Esplanade Park Bounce houses and barbecues would not be allowed Next slide, please Thank you. Um So here we're looking at jade street park We have had situations in the past where people have tried to Do field rentals for larger gatherings in order to like have a birthday at the bounce house So we would Identify areas of the fields Sports fields or athletic fields that could be used for those kind of events But the advantage of having a park permit Is that within recreation we would also be able to effectively communicate to individuals When the fields are rented for the athletic use purposes Um, in addition, we would be identifying the grass spaces towards the close to the community center currently we often have Individuals that are hosting birthday parties and They will Um, sometimes set up bounce houses in that area without any communication And so we are identifying this spot as An interest to the community for these kind of events Next slide, please and then also in monnery park again, there is the athletic field potential conflict with individuals that are looking to have their small groups And so we would be able to identify that maybe the front part of monnery park could be identified for a small group gathering and still have the actual soccer field use available But can coordinate those kind of schedules Since we are already working with the field rental schedule on top of that All right, so, um Excuse me The staff is currently working on a fee study to update the fee schedule The updated fee schedule will include recommending billing rates for city resources associated with special events as well as Park permit staff expects that fee study and scheduled to be presented to council This spring or at a earlier meeting And then the recommend recommendation for this evening is introduced by title only waving further reading of the text In ordinance of the city of capitol repealing and replacing capitol municipal code chapter 9.36 special events and chapter 12.40 corks regulations to create a comprehensive permitting system for public assemblies events and use of city property And with that I am available for questions. Thank you questions It's a good time to not ask questions, but give you comments on maybe changing some of the locations I think I think we'll do questions first and then we'll come back to comments after public comment questions Oh, sorry um, I was wondering if it's possible to Since we had such a good turnout for the halloween parade That could be moved to a concerted a major event. I don't know We need to specify that today or what um, but that's just a thought. Um, and then how how would we be regulating The areas that are used like if they're just supposed to use the grass aspen on park. How do we keep that Contained yeah, so People will do as they do but to The the benefit of having an actual permit process is an opportunity to very clearly communicate the expectations When they go through the permit process it gives staff the opportunity to explain Um, maybe that's not the best place for your wedding But it also gives staff, you know to outline any insurance situations that might be necessary for having a bounce house involved with your event. Um, and so The permit would outline the expectations and then if they are not following the expectations And staff will receive a complaint then we can follow up Okay, and then um in regards to using Like a sports field So you guys would have to be responsible of knowing the Field use for recreation versus when they would be available for rental Correct wouldn't be like a going on at the same time Correct. Yeah, so because we're already managing the rental of all of our athletic fields We're very familiar with the schedule and if someone were to approach us To permit the space then we would be able to Check the space check the schedule communicate with them any thing that they might occur that might they might experience with their you know gathering and then Work with them to identify what would actually work for the whole community and good use of the public space as well Okay, great. Thank you. Those are my questions So thank you. Thank you for the presentation. Um for the park use permit Are the seven locations identified in your report today the only seven locations that folks could Essentially ask for a park use permit for are those just examples Are you referring to the bolded list? That's actually in the ordinance or the red lines red lines. So those Those were more of examples Just so that council could see What we how we would be communicating to the public that would be requesting a permit for This is this is the space that you would be talking about. Um, we would need to Just do a little bit of a further analysis for each spot In order to communicate effectively in the application So the park use permit is for any location Any park at any time that someone could I guess because what I'm looking what I'm envisioning For the other cities is that there are designated areas, you know, I would go online rent Monterey Park space one I don't see any spaces identified in this park use permit I I see the red lines, but there's nothing specifically identified. So I'm just looking for clarity. Yeah, so It's a little bit a little bit of be there. So, um It in the ordinance that is in the packet There's a bulleted list of parks that are very specifically outlined that are available To permit and then through the application process as you explain We would be identifying grassy space number one in jade street park grassy space number two in jade street park in in our other local Parks and recreation areas is this it's like picnic areas is often what it's referred to We don't have any picnic areas So we would have we have to talk about kind of those spots. And so the map With the red lines drawn is kind of like how we would start to communicate And there are more details to come as you identify we would be Through that application process giving an option of like checking grassy space number one at jade street park is what I'm interested in permitting Is there a reason that council hasn't received that identified it's hard for me to Like approve a general park Use permit just because this locations haven't been identified On what's rentable to the community Is there a reason That you haven't identified them first or you're going to bring them back after we would approve this park use permit Um, well, I'm I'm happy to take feedback now on it my Without the ordinance in place the Need to develop the complete application process isn't here yet So we I could come back and present on it if that is something that council would like I'm happy to take feedback as well But as the the item was just for the ordinance first and to and to make the Updates to that and then we would be creating an application similar to what other agencies use in our area Okay, I'll I'll say my comments for after thank you. Those are other questions I just have a quick question So this is for our parks and I'm wondering about beach use if people try to get specific use of the Capitola beach or Hooper's beach for weddings or I see now there's companies that like set up sunset dates and all that Are we allowed to even permit? specific use of specific parts of the beach or is that coastal commission prevents us from doing that So it's it was very specifically not put in the parks ordinance Um, but the rest of the answer I'd have to look I'm guessing we're not allowed to but I was just curious It's challenging for us. We do have a specific SEP special then permits that do take place on the beach think some of the surf competition women away some of those but Reserving the sand for a non ocean specific event. We've run into That's one of the reasons why we kept kept those separate Okay, can I Rewind back to the last question so the language about the This is the code language here About the specific areas within the following parks would be available for exclusive use permits. So it identifies As niki said the five sites parks that would be eligible for it Right now it says the code says that the application would identify the specific use areas If the council wants we could modify that to say that would be established by policy or set by the council by resolution I don't know that we would want that in the code itself like the specific areas of each park But we could have sort of an elevated level of review In between code and in between staff is putting just tossing that idea other questions Okay, uh with that we'll bring this item to public comments any members of the public that would like to comment on our Special events and park regulations. Welcome back Thank you. My name is james ewing. That was actually a really thorough presentation and the questions that both you and mrs. Brown and City managers input was really useful One of those areas is an area I was in just today And we'll probably be in there on sunday. So that'll just be entertaining Since I have done a fair amount of events at the beach not in this city, but certainly wouldn't be against it I suppose I'll just inquire further the specifics You know because if I'm going to break the law, of course, I don't want to hurt anybody but I want to um Be impressive if I do that So thank you for this. That was a great presentation We will bring it back to council for comments and discussion and uh potentially a vote start at this end any comments Sure, um, I'll I'll now explain what I was getting to to the rest of my council here um as as someone who Goes to many birthday parties And lives us on a weekly basis I guess my only concern is with other parks. There's identified spaces And right now the way it's it's suggesting is that any kind of group would need to Have a park use permit for any sort of part. I know there's some clarifying language, but that's just how it reads to me I much rather see identified spaces Before Approving the park use permit so that it's just really clear to the community. This is what we're They're signing up for and that we're not saying that To have a birthday party with 25 of your friends. You need to have this park use permit I want I want there's an accessibility aspect for me that I think everyone should have access to our parks To freely play and not have to worry about bringing groups of Their classrooms or classes to go on a walk walk. I'm thinking about jade street It's going to be really popular and there's going to be use there And I know that there needs to be balance between use for big parties or parties up to 75 But sometimes, you know a group of 30 might Feel the need to access and so I'm using thinking of examples that move our ballpark where there is energy incumbents park, I should say Where there's busy bows and you can rent them and you know, that's the space for them I don't see that here. So I just have some concerns about Making an overarching Permit process that just lays out all of our parks So I much rather see it come back to us with really clear designated spots That council can review and we can then approve the park use permit I think it's fine And also I hear you say at a later time the fee schedule would come back to us because I also don't want to create something The last thing I want to do is Build our beautiful jade street park and then someone has to rent it at a lot of money Have access to it So I know that it's going to come back to us the fee schedule to decide on how much the rates will be later But I just wanted to throw that out there So my my recommendation is that we could approve this but point about the park use permit with nicky coming back with designated areas of use Where these permits would apply to Can I get clear a clarification following up on that? Are these permits required? For anyone who wants to have a party in the park or is it just for those who want to ensure that they get exclusive access I would say that it's the latter and particularly So that we reduce the conflict that currently happens when Lots of people are expecting to use what is a very limited space of resource in the city As well as an opportunity for the city to set appropriate expectations and ensure that necessary insurance is obtained for Potentially risky activity by a bounce houses and As well as what this ordinance does also is gets very clear about the expectations around barbecues Which is also a current conflict for Weekend goers and group activities in the park So it sounds like it would be required if you wanted a bounce house or a barbecue Or just a birthday party that doesn't include those but you want to make sure you Reserve this space for your party personally if you were someone who doesn't plan a bounce house doesn't plan a barbecue You're just going to have cake and pizza at a park. You can still do that at any time You don't have to get a permit for it. You're just not guaranteed that you won't show up and someone else will have already reserved it Yes, you are correct. Okay I guess I'll just add mayor brown that and that's all that's fine I just think it's important for us to identify those spaces where that be where that's going to take place um And also you you brought up a really important point About the the bounce house and the barbecues and all of those things Actually cost additional but like you need an extra permit for music and you need so the costs endured for like a party of Up to 74 There are additional fees that could potentially add up for for something like for a party like this or an event or a wedding so So I think it's just really important to lay out Where this is going to Pertain to so that people know that they can just go have pizza and And not get kicked out at a later time because there's some random event not random permitted event happening Um, hold on. Sorry one second staff. You have clarifying information Or should we come back to your comments or now? I have an idea. Oh, okay. Yes by the dress council member brooks concerned. So should can we Just take a full three minute Three minute break. Sure. Okay. We are going to take a three minute break I'm sorry. We'll come back. I promise We'll take a three minute break. Uh, and then we will return to council deliberation and trying to imagine a scenario of people crossing the street with their potential birthday party equipment and Um, so that was ultimately why it didn't make the list, but it could definitely be added Yeah, the the city lots just across the street and there is some parking on the roadway, but yeah, I just think we're on another spot and then I was uh, uh thinking about esplanade park That area is so highly used all the time and just for Birthday parties are small gatherings. It seems like it should be held at a higher threshold for just special events That's just women on waves Just a thought that I had because it is used so much on the weekends We also went back and forth with esplanade park quite a bit And and it really just kind of came down to That there's already so many things that are already happening there and that this Would provide us a process to set the expectations and to communicate with anybody That would be interested in setting up their wedding down there or something like that As well as a big part of that conversation is how we came up with no bounce houses no barbecues Because it those that equipment did not seem appropriate in that space And the last thing I'd be concerned about equity and making sure that people Don't have the same means as others can still use our park. Yeah My mic go out. Oh, okay that um one of the there are feed waivers that I know the other In order for like scholarships is really what I mean to say not a waiver but there are scholarship programs and other agencies in order to apply for Birthday party uses and stuff like that. So we could definitely look at those similar types of programs as well Thanks. I just wanted to um I go some of the things that Brooks and councilmember Clark said um Making make sure that we Know where these are going to be and that we don't end up unintentionally restricting public access Although I know the goal is to do the opposite of that And of course the equity issue of expenses it wouldn't you know what only rich people using the parks because the poor people can afford it or anything like that And then uh, finally, I would say that I do also agree that noble goat Gulch park would be a great location with the parking lot right across there is a crosswalk I don't know that that's a particularly dangerous crosswalk, but I do know that that park is very underutilized Yes, I'm interested in looking at noble Gulch. Um You may just have to enhance our crosswalks like we're doing elsewhere. Um, I think that While I want to remain equitable I do think if there Is going to be use that is outside of a normal park use like a bounce house or Barbecues where there is some type of liability. There's got to be some type of permitting something signed And it doesn't have to break the bank I don't think um, but just to like really kind of keep us on the safer side of things and and if somebody does want exclusive use of zone one of j tree park then They and they have the right to do that too and Bring I don't know any kind of weird games that they want to play would be fun. Um, but yeah, thank you for doing this. It's great I didn't see on the list. Is hidden park included in this? No, it is not included in that and again, um When we were evaluating the list of parks we um The impact of the residents, uh, that would Around that park was a consideration and not adding it to this list Yeah, because it's hidden Yeah, it's hidden in the list. Um Oh, I had a question actually, um, I know this isn't exactly what we're talking about But I was curious, dude, we do reservations on some of the facilities like the tennis courts basketball courts Things like that So, yeah, so we currently do do, um for our athletic courts and fields. We have had a rental process Um for the use of those spaces um As I got here Including I mean the field at j street is an athletic field, right? Yeah, so that could have So like two different processes to reserve that then Well, so so right now and and hopefully we would All of this would come into an alignment Um Through an application process Um So right but right now. Yeah, we and and honestly like our fields are booked out through the spring So all of our soccer fields all of our softball fields Um Are are booked out through various sports groups But correct me if i'm wrong. I don't believe we have a process to reserve anything in like regular parks No, we do not So we do for the tennis courts and fields so One idea to potentially move forward this evening. I've heard this is the list This is this seems to be where we're focusing is the park use permits This is the list of the location At least one council member maybe two suggesting whether esplanade park should be on the list at all One option here would be to add something at the end Item app this is getting after council member brooks's point that says the specific areas in the parks that are available for rentals She'll be established by policy set by the city So that might Address some of the concerns is that we add basically a new item app Specifically calls out that we have a policy that said these are the spaces that are available And that would come back to us to set that policy Yeah, you would set that policy and the fees would will come back to us as well My suggestion would actually be that you write it a little broader So that you so that a policy would capture What council member brooks raised which is a list of specific areas within these parks And then if there's anything In the future that you want to add to the policy You could add it it would come back to the council who could adopt it by resolution Rather than having to amend your ordinance It just gives you a little bit of flexibility going forward and you already see that this is a good opportunity For that flexibility so you could adopt the ordinance tonight. We drop in a line I could read some language into the record Make any other modifications that you would like and then yes Shortly in the future we would bring back a policy for your consideration Yeah, I think that's great. Um So we would add the The motion to be to add F to this current what is this called resolution, what is this? It's the Ordinance to this ordinance. Um, I do just want to touch back Before I move on with the formal motion about noble gulch and esplanade noble gulch gulch I'm tired noble gulch Um I think what is a great idea But then now that I think a little bit more deeply about it. There are no bathrooms And so when you're having up to 75 people With bounce with three-year-olds bouncing in bounce houses Probably not the best So I don't I originally thought that would be good, but I'm worried about bathroom use And then councilmember clerk esplanade park. Were you saying yay or nay? I Was saying to keep it at the threshold for special events bigger things Just not your birthday parties and other things But I almost think we should include all our parks so that as we move forward Who knows maybe at the skate park might turn into a place where they do want to have birthday parties and stuff If we can put some type of language in there that Include all our parks and we could as we want to change the policy or the locations we can add that as we go That makes sense. Um, I would just want to standardize like what Essentially is A reservable spot. So when we see the policy come back with more detail that see this is what A park use permit site entails and it's like uniform So then I don't wake up one morning. I'm like, uh, I want that little patch of grass to be a On and do an amendment, you know, I think there's some criteria that we need to set some standards around that Um policy as it comes forward. Is that is that where we would write it? Sam Or or even to take a little further. Why don't we include all facilities the wharf? Somebody wanted to have something on the war have specific Policies. I mean a park is a park. I think there's definition around that Um and for what it's supposed to be. So I'll wait I think the wharf might bring us back into the concern about the beach too. Is that you know people? Yeah, people can go get married on the wharf but to have exclusive access to it. I don't know for A lot to do that. I think they're writing our policy are Maybe they'll type it so I can read it. Yeah, okay. I have a couple modifications So I think to capture The council's comments. I think that we would modify section 12 point four oh point oh four oh a The last line would now read specific areas within all city parks That are available for exclusive use shall be identified in the parks policy And then we would strike the list in the ordinance We would identify specific uses or specific areas in the policy And then in addition we would add a section f to 12 point four oh point oh four oh and section f would read All park use permits must also comply With the park's policy adopted by council by resolution as amended from time to time That work That'll come back in the policy. This is a policy. We'll bring it back. You'll adopt it by reservoir to clarify. This is just an ordinance creating The fact that we are even going to do this and then Specific policy about which parks and which spaces and how much it would cost will come back to us later And that's what this ordinance will refer to is the policy that we are yet to create. That's right And I just want to know that staff heard my feedback about being really specific In what is identified as use the use of space or a rentable space just so that we have standards Really defined in that policy because again, is it two feet by two feet or 12 feet by 12 feet? I think standardizing that must us would make sense. Um, I am okay with moving forward with staffs Our city manager our city attorneys comments Um the proposed motion on the table Okay, so I think the motion would be Do you may or do you want to do the ordinances separately? Or is one I don't know how we have that listed in the agenda It's one. It's just one Okay, unordnance. Yeah, okay. So I think the motion would be to Yeah, I think it would be To introduce by title only waving for the reading of the text In ordinance of the city capitol or repealing and replacing capitol and meaning code chapter 9.36 special events as written and chapter 12.40 park regulations With the changes read into the record by the city attorney To create a comprehensive permitting system for public assemblies events and use of city property I'd like to make that motion And I'll second it All right, we have a motion and a second any further discussion All right, uh all in favor say aye. Aye. Aye be opposed any abstentions motion passes unanimously Good work team We'll move on to our final item of the night, which is item 9d. We're uh pertaining to remote public participation Good evening, mayor and city council members. Um as a brief recap for you this evening on october 26 The city of capitol It did assume bombing event during a regular city council meeting Following that meeting the city suspended the use of zoom for remote public comments The city still accepts public comments In person and written format Members of the public can drop off handwritten comments to the city prior to the meeting And those comments are all included in the record of the meeting agenda During our january 11th city council meeting staff brought forward a report to the city council Which included a survey of california cities that have been affected by zoom bombing At that time approximately half or more of the cities had suspended use of zoom And the city council directed staff to bring back this item in march for further city council discussion with an updated survey The agenda packet included an updated survey for the city council Of the 60 i believe the 66 cities surveyed approximately 64 of them have suspended the use of zoom i'm sorry to say that zoom bombings continue to occur in california as Recently as february 13th approximately four cities were affected by zoom bombings on february 13th alone Two of those cities had brought back zoom for their first meetings and at the first meeting following the Return of zoom they endured a second zoom bombing event other cities such as berkeley and san diego Have endured multiple ongoing Zoom bombing events their city clerks report that it's now become a routine part of their meeting practices I'm an anecdotally city clerks report lessened public participation at meetings lessened Attendance by regular members of their community. So it is continuing to be an ongoing issue in california agencies So i'm available for any questions. I can provide more information and I can share the survey up on the screen if you'd like But otherwise we are here to await your direction Thank you questions yeah, so You stated that there was four zoom bombings in 2024. Is that correct? Yes, I only see two on the uh sheet Is that also correct? So some of these cities are experiencing regular ongoing zoom bombings So it's hard to track in the sheet like the exact date because otherwise I would have to list out multiple Um, however the four that occurred on february 13th I don't know if those were listed because at that point we were still collecting data It was ranchel cordova laguna beach san carlos and I believe the city of sunny vale The city of valejo and I believe sabastopol have also had recent zoom bombing events And sabastopol is a really small agency. It's even smaller than capitalis So the size of the agency really doesn't matter With this type of event. So are you saying that there's a total of six unique cities that have had zoom bombings in 2024? Yes, at least That would have been good data to have here on this list and um Of those that um happened in 2020. Oh, okay. So my other question was the date of the incident that is that As of the time of the study The date of the latest incident. Is that right? So again, some of these are like ongoing. So I wasn't able to list like all the dates of incident So I think I listed some the first date of incident like for example, berkeley in san diego But I tried to list in the current zoom status the ongoing Repeated zoom bombing events. Okay. So it sounds like it's the latest events in general. Yeah Thank you All right with that we will bring this item to public comment We will now open public comment for anyone who has comments on our remote public participation Welcome back. Thank you. My name is still james ewing I wonder how this really affects the first amendment I'm free speech. I know that Four years ago in the sanitary city council drew clever brought up this question with tonic and doddy Basically said we don't really support it, but we can't really stop it. No, I was here physically on october 26th, and that was wild I think I have listened to that one's online um What concerns me is the last time this was brought up about at least six weeks ago there was a piece of paper and seemed like most of the different jurisdictions in the area had stopped zoom meetings now I can recall meetings My guy didn't make public comments on january 12th. Actually the morning of january 13th until after 2 30 in the morning I had to leave that meeting To take care of some business because I needed to be on the road by six o'clock in the morning And I used my phone and I must have been disconnected from the meeting at least 30 times I was blown away. I got brand new 2023 weapons technology. It's a great thumb by morrow So It'd be great if this room was always full You guys might be here longer, but at least some people are here but to restrict I've had all kinds of issues with trying to use the zoom and I kind of told myself I wouldn't I'd rather set up any of three commercial sound groups of equipment I personally own To make a statement if they shut stuff down and people can't talk But once again, I'm concerned about the first amendment rights and I think people need to be careful with what they say and mindful of Just what I witnessed earlier this evening so It just is what it is. That's my two cents. Thank you Thank you Any further public comment Seeing none, we will bring it back to council um I think for the sake of it being in the minutes and in the record of our city attorney Correct me if I'm wrong. My understanding is that under first amendment and free speech We are required to accept public comments in the room that we cannot restrict it based on topic That we have the right to restrict the amount of time public comment is given That zoom public comment is not required Is there am I missing anything else? I just want to address so that it's in the minutes the issues of free speech and first amendment makes I do think that's it Yes, um, you are correct. There are a couple nuances. I would add one is You are not required to allow public comment by zoom or remote public comment at all if you do Choose to allow it the same standards for free speech are applied to that as they are for public comment in the room The reason it's an issue is as the court pointed out Remote public comment provides more of an opportunity for people to provide off topic or uh offensive comments without identifying themselves um And we are required to permit public comment to allow public comment So long as it is either within the subject matter jurisdiction of the agency As long as it is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the agency related to a particular agenda item and is not disruptive Thank you. I appreciate that um Okay discussion Well, I like our speaker earlier said I worry about first amendment rights um Hopefully we can one day maybe get back to zoom and have people speaking but at this time With all the issues that we're having we should probably monitor every six months Our quarterly and and and see what's happening. The other thing with ia Sounded like one of those calls was not even a real person. So I mean with those issues So there's a lot of things going on, but I think we should we should review it often Yeah, I would go ahead and say that I what would we do three months? Since the last time, um, I think we could push it more to six and see What the climate is? Um And as stated by the city attorney, um, I don't necessarily see the infringement on the first amendment rights When you have multiple options to address the council and in other modalities. Thank you I ask a clarifying question. Um When you said six months, did you mean six months total including the previous three months or six months from now? From now, it's fine. Yeah Yeah, so I have some other comments too Seems like the vast majority of these cases happened in september and october of 2023 um I personally would be inclined as I believe that Public engagement is a very important aspect of what we do And although it doesn't Literally infringed upon the first amendment, right? I believe that it goes against the spirit of that amendment So I would like to see us, um testing the water as soon as possible I see that, um with the updated information that was not included in the table Approximately 10% of those out of the 65-ish Have had an incident in 2024, which Isn't a lot and I would expect that number to continually go down at a rapid pace as These racist or extremist groups lose their steam. I think it is just people, you know Or and confused getting a kick out of the internet and as Uncomfortable as that was and that was the most uncomfortable experience to date for me in city council. I Do still believe that it's a very important means of communication that we should not Remove lightly as there are a lot of people who have difficulties coming here in person The weight of an email is not the same as an in-person comment I think it's important to recognize that So I would say at the very least if not trying sooner We should redo this study in three months from now. Thank you Thank you um, you know councilmember Peterson I would I would almost side with you completely however zoom has been a new age Um Part of our community in just the last several years. This is something new we're all dealing with Mike my deep concerns is that we don't have the ability to manage When it happens We've been communicating with the governor's office and creating new systems of approach on how to deal with these issues um our technology Being taken over during that experience I would I I'm happy with the six months and checking in But I also just want to stress that there's still nothing we can do to protect Our listeners our community ourselves from hearing the speech And I think that's really important to set us a stance on that and Because I don't want to listen to it. It's not okay So I'm happy with coming back to this in six months But I also want it to be able to want to see What are our options again if it's been addressed by the league of cities or the governor's office if there's still conversations about you know how Councilmen and other jurisdictions are school boards. There's so many Elected bodies that have to deal with this. What are our options at that point? And I know our Our clerk here has looked at some of those but I'm seeing that in six months would be really all right I'll say I I agree. I think a six month from now review period is appropriate Personally, I think zoom was a an incredibly beneficial tool during the pandemic when there was no other opportunity for anyone to come in person People can still send emails. They can still provide written comment They can send others to speak on their behalf I think that we are essentially doing no different than we did before the pandemic when we were incredibly limited in our options But as I said before people become quite emboldened to say things when they have the safety of hiding behind a keyboard That they would not otherwise say when they are required to stand up and say it in person and look people in the face when they say it And so I do appreciate That while we may not agree with everything that is said in public comment that those who are here in person to say it Have the right to do so and if anyone wanted to Speak the kind of hate speech or interrupt a meeting in person Then they would have to make it known that they were doing so so that we could tell them that they were interrupting a meeting And they would be escorted out by law enforcement. Should they be interrupting a public meeting? That being said there's not that risk when you're behind a keyboard And so I I do want to feel the need to protect our citizens From that kind of behavior I appreciate that you took the time to look into this for us again And appreciate that we're asking you to do it once more six months from now There will come a time where we can't keep pushing this every six months And we will have to make a final decision on whether or not we want to Move forward as we did pre pandemic or bring back zoom But eventually this can't be an every six month decision And six months from now Is what september So that will be almost a year from the original zoom bombing and at that point we will have discussed this three times So just um, you know all of us who um, you know, keep that in mind. I think uh, you know the final Final thing I want to add in this is that our meetings are broadcast on youtube and um On our city website and we don't control who watches and it could be families and it could be children and we need to Be mindful of the fact That the things that might be shared on zoom and zoom bombing instances Um Are harmful not only for adults, but for families and others who might be watching keeping that in mind Okay, I just add um something I can offer councilmember peterson it's within At the three month mark if the city council like we could offer like a small update through the city managers friday update And I can specifically highlight any new occurrences that have happened To address your feedback earlier. So that could be kind of a halfway checkpoint And if at that time there's a significant decrease in these events the city council could direct staff to bring this back earlier than six months Yeah, I would very much appreciate that. Um It's now an appropriate time to add a couple comments. Yeah, okay. Thank you. Um Yeah, I would just say just a couple things um that I want to reiterate in state Um Regarding the fact that zoom wasn't commonplace three years ago The fact is that now it is a part of the vast majority of americans lives It is an important technology for communication and I think Just because a technology didn't exist in the past doesn't mean that it's not, you know, shouldn't be taken As almost a staple of daily life today, which it is And then my second comment would be to really reiterate the fact that not everybody is able bodied People have obligations taking care of their children. They have maybe they don't own a car. Maybe it provides a significant difficulty for them to get here And the written comment again is not Nearly as impactful. I believe as a verbal comment With video or without video Thank you really noted. Thank you. Do we have a motion on this item? I moved to make a motion that we Take this back in six months from now Let's look at that. All right. We have a motion and a second Uh all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Opposed Okay, any abstentions hearing none motion carries with councilmembers clark councilmember morgan vice mayor Brooks and mayor brown voting aye councilmember peterson Opposing and no abstentions With that we are at the end of our meeting We will adjourn to our next regularly scheduled meeting on march 28th at 6 p.m Until then please take care of yourselves and take care of each other. Have a good night