 Good evening everybody. Welcome to our 7 p.m. session on the January 15th 2019 special meeting of the City Council. I'd like to now ask the clerk to please call roll. Thank you Mayor. Council Member it's Crone. Clever. Here. Here. Vice Mayor Cummings. Mayor Watkins. Here. So before we get started I would like to announce that this is a special meeting and our topic this evening is to hear from applicants who applied to our various city boards and commissions. No oral communications or discussions on other items will be heard at this time. I'd like to now open it up for public comment. Are there any members of the public who wish to comment on the advisory body interviews? Excuse me Mayor just a quick point of order. Somebody came with an application and evidently is not registered at the address but would like to speak tonight. I don't know what the protocol is on that. That would be for public comment then. Address it. You guys in public comment. Okay. So it'd be at this time that they could speak. Is that correct? At this time? For public comment right now? Yes. Okay. So if there's any member who would like to speak for public comment now would be the time to speak and you'd be given two minutes. Are there anybody, is there anybody else who would like to speak on public comment? Okay. So I see two folks. Is that correct? Okay. It'll be you and then after Mr. Norris. And you'll be given two minutes. Oh thank you. My name is Alicia Kool and I did not find out about the opportunity until after the application deadline. So I would like to request that you extend the application period in order to take my application under consideration. I've lived in Santa Cruz for 15 years on and off. I currently live in my recreational vehicle with my young children and my partner. I feel that I can truly represent a group of marginalized people who rarely get a voice in a lot of these issues. I am involved in a steadily growing number of volunteer activities of my own device as well as working with groups. Personally I donate to the Ross camp. I'm signing up to volunteer for the warming shelter. I've been attending Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom meetings. And I also see to the nurture and care of my young children while living in an RV. Over 10 years ago I did spend time living at the Rebley shelter. I've spent many years housed as well as employed. I have a well-rounded perspective that may complement and round out the parks and recreation commissioners community perspective. So that's what I would like to apply for. I'm well informed about current local services. I'm familiar with the services that have come and gone in the community over the years. I'm also familiar with the services that we currently have and the services that we currently need. One reason for my interest in serving in the parks and rec commission is that the homeless use the land and services of the park and recs. And the park and recs has the main say over bathrooms and garbage disposal. These are huge issues for the homeless as well as for the rest of the community. And these are health and safety matters that as a parent of young children I'm very concerned about. I look forward to learning more details about the budgets and resources. Thank you. Thank you. Okay Mr. Noyce. Members of the community and city council and members of the audience this is of course these advisory commissions that they don't have a lot of direct power are important access avenues for the community to use. And I'm particularly concerned with the parks and rec. I support the applicant who just came up because as you probably know we've been trying to get parks and rec to reopen bathrooms that is locked from the public except for a limited exclusionary group that uses let's say Loudon Nelson or the people who come here during the city council meetings and then that time only can use these bathrooms. We need 24 hour bathrooms. Of course we need a whole new different mentality in this community and the the staff has been not only unresponsive but directly repressive on these issues. What's needed is a parks and rec commission that is willing to challenge the staff to go out to the public to find out what the real needs are. Not just the nervousness of some neighbors who don't like homeless people and want to put up fences as was recently done around the Ross camp. It seems to be the new solution for this city council at least working through the staff. I think you need to essentially put people on this board that present a different perspective. I have no illusions that perspective is going to be a majority perspective initially but I think that it is important to have it there. Diversity is a nice catch word. I don't really care about diversity particularly. I'm particularly concerned about the interests of people who don't get represented at all and a lot of that has to do with the public. The public does not have access to bathrooms at night except for three porta potties and the parks and rec commission through Carol Skirich and now through Tony Elliott have done absolutely nothing about this as far as I know. The excuse for this is vandalism we've looked into this. There are very few instances of vandalism and not such as to justify what's happened so please consider some people who will review this issue and be great if you didn't cut me off in the next few speakers. Thank you. Thank you very much. Everybody will be given two minutes. So I'll just briefly go over the approach. The way that we'd like to approach the flow of this meeting is to go through the commission's alphabetically and call the names of the people who indicated that one particular commission as their first choice if they chose multiple and you will be invited up to the lectern to speak and I will allow for up to two minutes. We have your application so it's an opportunity for you to introduce yourself so you don't need to take the full two minutes but you'll have up to two minutes per person to address the council and if applicants wish to speak to any other commission they applied to they would be allowed to during their two minute period when they're speaking to the preferred appointment. Once you speak you are welcome to stay and listen to the other applicants or you're also welcome to leave. As I mentioned the council members we've all received your applications and we've had an opportunity to review them this is just a chance for us to get to know you and meet you here and to for you to introduce yourself personally amplify any types of qualifications you'd like us to understand any type of relevant background information or other types of motivations but again this meeting is primarily informal but as I said an opportunity for us to put a face to the name as we have in your application. I just wanted to let you know that I've heard from two folks in advance who've had a scheduling conflicts and I've allowed for them to start and so I'd like to first invite up Linnae Holdger's James to come forward and I'm hopeful I pronounce your name correctly. Mayor before we get going I want to just clarify it's my understanding well the deadline that was announced for applications to be received was a deadline to be included in the original binder of applications we have continued to take applications since then and it's my understanding that applications can continue to be submitted up until the date of our appointment action is that your understanding as well I don't know I actually am unclear on that it's been past practice okay well then I'm assuming yet then I would assume so but perhaps we can get more clarity and provide it to the person who spoke who would like to submit their name at this time and get back to that person and with any others who and any others who may be interested thank you for that is that some you have that okay great okay go ahead you'll have up to two minutes hi my name's Linnae Holdger's James and I own Artisans downtown I'm applying for the downtown Commission and I downtown is the longest relationship I've had in my life I've worked there since I started working downtown when I was 16 I also lived downtown for a decade I lived on Lincoln Street Elm Street Riverside Avenue so I it's it's my stomping grounds and I feel very passionate about it and I would love the chance to be a female representative on that commission I also feel like I can bring speak to the voices of other retailers downtown and yeah nervous going first thank you I'm trying to think there's anything else super relevant but I'm like I said I'll just reiterate my commitment to downtown and the fact that I have lived in this town my entire life so I'm I'm here to stay thank you thank you for your interest in serving okay I now now asked that Anne Simone and please come up I was I meant to pardon me thanks very much welcome to the new members of the City Council congratulations I've worked in the movement to end violence against women and I'm commissioning I'm hoping to be on the commission for the prevention of violence against women I've been working on this issue since the 1980s and helped start media watch which is an organization in our community that works to expose the role that media plays in teaching racism sexism and violence as a part of entertainment in our media and the important intersection of that and how we legitimize that violence through the media and basically what we have found over the years is the importance of focusing on of the actions that men take and to work on trying to stop that and try to you know focus as a prevention preventative measure to work on rather than focusing so much on the survivors of violence is to re rethink the whole idea and I've worked with prominent people across the nation for many years including Jackson cats he has a new film out that I just saw the trailer of this morning and I'm excited about that is called the bystander moment and it's about how we could take each and every one of us take responsibility for stopping this violence in the moment every day to speak up and to change the paradigm so anyway that's that's something that I would be very much interested in doing is working on film series and doing education working with coaches potentially different groups that are working with young men in our community as well as women and young girls but to really consider the importance of focusing on preventing violence by going to where to the people that are actually perpetrating the violence so anyway I've been in town for 40 years a lot of you may know me but I'm really happy to put my hat in the ring thank you and thank you okay so as I call your name please line up to speak and we'll first do the Commission that is which is alphabetically which is our Arts Commission so if you please I'll list the names and if you could please line up to my left and I just want to apologize in advance if I mispronounce your name so please correct me and our Council if that's the case so Genoa Faber is our first speaker and then we'll have Allison Garcia John Carwin Marilyn Cushit Cushit Jania Lourinas Sean Swain McGowan John Rawls Mary Tartaro Owen Thomas and Maria Krisha Vinigas Vinigas Vinigas thank you okay and those are the folks who would like to speak as potential Arts Commissioners so please one at a time introduce yourself and we will be given two minutes to know it would be our first not here Allison okay honorable mayor and council members my name is Allison Garcia and I'm applying for the Arts Commission I'm a freelance photographer and I believe you're familiar with some of my work but in particular the photography and interview project called Black Lives and Santa Cruz what matters that hung on these chamber walls for a few months through the end of last year maybe it's intentional but I was thinking that it's appropriate to call this place the chambers like the chambers of the heart because it's the municipal center of our city I believe art speaks to our hearts and if that's true then there are a lot of lovers in this city art speaks to our minds and can be very powerful it speaks to our souls with its beauty public art is part of the visual culture of our city it sends a message to its constituents residents visitors and artists that we value creativity and innovation but I also know that behind all of that beauty and magic is a lot of hard work not just the sweat of the artists but for the Arts Commission bringing significant works of art to the public means thoughtful review thorough analysis ensuring inclusivity working with city with city partners and crunching numbers I've had years of relevant experience as a program manager at UCSC as a board member of the homeless garden project as a small business owner with clients countywide and as a producer of an arts event now in its third year I'm willing to rope up my slaves to do the work from the heart to support the arts in this city thank you for considering my application thank you is John Carwin here okay good evening council my name is John Carwin I'm a lifelong resident of Santa Cruz except for a 15-year period where I was in Southern California with earning my master's degree in museum studies so I spent about 15 years down there in the museum field and since then have devoted my rest of my career to the commercial side of the arts which is as a production manager at Bay Photo Lab so I've had a long series of different responsibilities both in public and private art institutions managing programs and working with people working with artists directly becoming very familiar with art in all different media and different ways that it can be used to people's benefit so happy to contribute that experience to any any work that the Commission does thank you thank you thank you very much okay next we have Marilyn hi my name is Marilyn Cooks it's so much easier to say than to read I've been in the Santa Cruz area for a little over 20 years for a little well maybe almost 25 years I've been a full-time self-supporting artist with no trust fund subsidy just all tenacity and hard work it can be done you can make a living although they train you not but it can't be done it can I have the requisite lists of exhibitions and I've had experience with many galleries public art programs public art commissions private so I know the world of the working artist my work is collected all over the United States Europe and a little bit beyond so the working artist side I've really got down I think in addition I understand working with small arts organizations I had three terms as president and manager of the artist guild of San Francisco I too can herd cats it you can also be a member of that organization you just have to drive a lot up to San Francisco so I know the small arts organization aspect I know small business I was an entrepreneur I developed owned and operated my own small floral business and special display company in San Francisco for a few years I understand the challenges of entrepreneurs and small business I understand the challenges the politics and managing large corporations I worked for I started out many years ago as a project management specialist for Lockheed Missiles in Space I moved over to the Bank of America in the days when it wasn't quite so embarrassing to be associated with the bank I had many positions in in that organization but it culminated in being the manager and senior vice president of the management services you thank you thank you thank you for your interest in your time okay I'd now like to invite up Jania hello my name is Janina Lorenas and I am a longtime artist in the city of Santa Cruz and founder of the cooperative print studio little giant collective which is opening downtown next month and the national printmaking movement print organized protest I'm also a volunteer for Reef Check California an organization that does underwater ecological surveys through citizen science as an artist and activist I am particularly interested in the intersection of politics and art the space that this intersection creates for community building my artwork has been featured on the New Yorker and Guardian websites and the television series Broad City I have also participated in first Friday events in Santa Cruz for the past eight years a recent arts commission meeting I learned about the storm drain murals project and a draft proposal for the mural at the U2 water tank near UCSE both are excellent examples of projects that use art as a political intervention for greater community strength the storm drain project the storm storm drain murals project collaborates with neighbors to create educational artwork on the environmental impact of storm drain runoff while the draft proposal for the mural at the U2 water tank will collaborate with the Amamutzin tribal band and the Amamutzin relearning project I spoke with arts program manager Beth Toby about these projects and was excited to hear her enthusiasm about providing greater visibility to communities like the Amamutzin when I spoke with the chair Bennett Williamson and vice chair Louise Leong I learned about their commitment to equity inclusivity and environmental justice I believe that joining this group of committed thinkers and artists is an excellent opportunity for me to help broaden the impact of the city arts commission on our community and after learning more about the commission through conversations with current members I am extremely enthusiastic about serving the city of Santa Cruz through this commission thank you I now like to invite up Sean hi my name is Sean McGowan I'm applying for the arts commission first I'd like to say thank you for giving us this opportunity as a quick overview I have several associates degrees a bachelor's degree in economics and art and a master's degree in digital art new media I have been teaching for the past four years at the graduate division program of digital art new media and I also work my nine to five is a job with an artist named Jim Campbell he is most notably known for the Salesforce tower in San Francisco under his oversight I've had the opportunity to oversee general production management hardware prototyping quality control software development network administration budget oversight and many other aspects needless to say I have a lot of experience on the other side of what the arts commission does honestly I don't want to talk about my CV today I want to talk about what brought me here my mother is the chair of the mean gay museum and on the board of the Coronado historical association and for the past 14 years has been running the Coronado art walk I've had a lot of experience helping her in these various programs I remember helping moving around Post-it notes on a map to designate where different artists went in the art walk helping to design a safe and fun environment for these artists I've also had the privilege to commit myself to several local organizations including one called karma Kana which is essentially a group of friends come in together cooking Indian food giving it away for free and taking donations so that the money can go towards local organizations including the walnut avenue woman center homeless garden projects holistic vets and more to sum up I want to it's my responsibility to give back to this community and I wouldn't like nothing more than the opportunity to do so thank you thank you I now like to invite up John rose okay okay Mary to taro thing I'm Mary Tartare I'm currently serving as vice chair of the arts commission and I'm up for reappointment I filled in for a former arts commissioner who left early in their term so I'm here to express my interest in continuing to serve and going on to serve a full term my experience in art is all my all my experiences in art it's very extensive I have a BFA in painting and drawing and a MFA in sculpture and my work experience spans from higher education through business and the nonprofit sector I spent five years as an art therapist 15 years as a gallery director and founder of an artist cooperative gallery and was a curator of two different university galleries Virginia Tech and most recently San Jose State I decided a few years back to retire early and enjoy my time in Santa Cruz and I was looking for an opportunity that would be as rewarding as my 20 years of teaching and I found that the arts commission has really been quite that it has been as others have mentioned that opportunity to give back I'm done work and no longer resume building so I'm just really looking for opportunity to commit all the full time full time that I have aside from being a studio artist and I've curated number of shows in the areas I'm on the advisory board for Felix Culpa and I've worked with radius and blitzer galley through the scrap program have been involved in extensively in different committees on the arts commission starting off gathering information for the rail trail going on to works with the arts council on ebb and flow and then moving through commissions that I'm committees I'm currently serving on the scrap committee the artists in residency at the landfill and the mural and graphic traffic committee and I'm also on sculptor so we've got a number of things that we're working on a number of things that I've seen that we've worked on come into being and come into fruition which has been really rewarding and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to continue with all the things that we're working on and seeing what is to come so thank you. I'd like to invite up Owen Thomas evening council. My name is Owen Thomas I organize with students united with runners I'm also an art instructor at the clarity arts project so I was elated when I read the commission statement announcing its commitment to equity inclusivity and environmental justice because I felt it closely aligned with my intentions and applying where I'd be selected for the commission I would approach my position with an awareness of the multiple purposes that art can serve in our community it can increase material equity and institutional access for disadvantaged groups it can open up spaces for uncomfortable and important conversations about the major divide and divides in our communities most fundamentally it can be a mode of expression and empowerment so a commission intent on the just application of artistic leadership must be cognizant of how these multiple purposes can be used to address the disadvantages and gaps and knowledge that persist and in some cases are worsening in our community through strategic partnerships with local organizations seeking similar ends I believe the Arts Commission can help make Santa Cruz a model for socially just arts programming and I would be honored to serve this goal thank you thank you okay lastly I'd like to invite at Maria actually go by MK okay well thank you you'll be given two minutes the arts are a venue for storytelling so let me tell you a little story my name is Maria Krisha and I come from a working-class background I'm a first-generation immigrant and college graduate queer of color and I live to fight social injustices I believe in sharing my card privilege to amplify the voices of those that are not often heard as an artist I'm thankful for the Arts Commission as a Santa Cruz community member I'm excited to see and hear all the stories about to be told through art as an activist I encourage you to take a chance on me due to our shared values as an artist activist immigrants queer of color I look forward to contributing to the Commission's commitment to equity exclusivity and environmental justice from a bottom up perspective for my own lived experiences attending one of the arts Commission meetings give me a better understanding of the type of work they do and I'm here even more dedicated to be part of the team to be part of the vehicle that tells the stories here in Santa Cruz and after having spoken many times with Beth and other Commission members I've realized that this is the type of work that I would like to put my focus and commitment on having lived here in Santa Cruz for a little more than six years I've learned to navigate different spaces that are not necessarily made for me or for people like me due to these experiences I made a commitment to make sure that people of color immigrants queers women trans and non-binary the working class feel included and have access to information resources and a community to help us feel welcome visible and wanted in this town I've collaborated with many nonprofit organizations such as a monarch services the ma the diversity center at Santa Cruz March organization and the Walnut Avenue family center to create an avenue to move forward with our shared mission and I wish to be a point of the arts Commission to continue creating vehicles thank you thank you all for who came to express your interest in serving on our arts Commission up next is the board of building and fire appeals so I will read the list of names and ask that you please line up to my left so first we have Foster Anderson Gary Fasari William Kemp Thomas Kern Joseph Quig and Patrick spilt so Foster Anderson okay Gary Fasari is anybody whose name I read you have a late arts Commission application apparently where it got it okay would that be the it was did we not add her that name to the list or okay okay so now we'll invite up the folks who are interested in the Commission for the Prevention of Violence against women so will Krishna like and Williamson line up on my left and then we'll have Brooke Newman and we've already heard from Anne Simonton so Krishna hi my name is Krishna like and Williamson and I'm applying for the advisory board for the prevention against women I'm sorry for the prevention of violence against women I've had some experience with the Walnut Avenue Center they had the advocate volunteer program for advocates for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and I did that in 2015 like I've learned a lot and I'm able to contribute to this community I'm gonna keep this brief that's I'm really nervous well thank you for being here okay Brooke Newman I'm gonna try to keep it brief too my name's Brooke Newman I am currently serving as chair for the Commission of Prevention of Violence against women it's a mouthful when I first came to Santa Cruz it was actually the first job I applied to was to be the coordinator for the cap I didn't get that job but then when I saw there was an opening to be on the Commission I applied for that and was fortunate enough to get appointed so I've been on since 2015 I've seen a lot of transition happen on that Commission with leadership with membership and I'd say in the past two years we've really kind of come together and we have interesting projects going much like Anne said we're focused right now very much on prevention and including men in that discussion we put together the transforming together conference in October where we are trying to bring the whole community together to have discussions on how we can prevent violence against women and not simply focus on survivors one thing that I'd like to see through is if I get reappointed is needs assessment that we're conducting and we've been working with council and the community foundation of Santa Cruz and the Peggy and Jack Baskin's foundation to get additional funding so we can do a countywide needs assessment about what we're doing well in service provision for survivors and and preventing violence against women but also what the gaps are and I'm also the project manager for the downtown streets team so I've in my direct service life I see the need for women experiencing homelessness and see the gaps that are in services and I've been bringing that forward to the Commission as well and trying to address that those issues through this Commission as well thank you thank you okay so now I'd like to invite up those who are seeking to serve on the downtown Commission and I will read your name and ask that you please line up to my left so we have Ryan Althuss Edna Brennan Ricardo Contreras Matt Farrell Brett Garrett and David Guzman so if you may if you can please line up to my left Ryan is Edna here and I'm sorry and pardon me thank you council members you know it always blows me away when I show up here every four years and listen to the folks that you guys get to put on commissions we have incredible people that volunteer here and I always believe especially now that I heard all these names called that it's perfectly okay for me to not be on the down count mission but I will spend a minute telling you why I think I would be a good candidate my wife and I Patrice and I own the SWAF building where SWAF is downtown so we are business owners downtown I had a law office downtown for several decades here in Santa Cruz when I come downtown every day my wife does as well we recognize that the downtown of Santa Cruz is the beating heart of Santa Cruz and it's so important that it be properly presented and represented that's why Patrice has been involved with all the American Association of Women Entrepreneurs which is getting off the ground the key issue for downtown commission is always parking and I don't pretend to be a parking expert except I always know a few secret spots to park downtown so said having said that when I spoke to Casey Coonerty who I said that she was choosing not to reapply she said you know it's really all about parking and there's all this stuff about financing and 10 and 20 year bonds and building projects and she said that's not my forte and I'm not gonna pretend to you that that's my forte either but I have dealt with budgets and the millions of dollars with different organizations that I've been involved with so I am capable of dealing with that I know that you have lots of opportunities for other people to appoint so please feel free to do so my second choice is Parks and Rec I know the staff there I think it's very important that Parks and Rec is now looking at having an ad hoc committee reporting on the homeless situation with regard to the parks and that's largely because thank you thank you for your interest in serving is Ricardo here a Matt Farrell good evening Mayor Watkins and council members I currently am finishing my first term on the downtown Commission and apply I'm applying for pre-appointment I've worked in transportation for most of my career having worked for the city of Santa Cruz for 24 years and then for the city of San Jose for six I have personal experience and commute modes having read in the Highway 17 Express for six years while I worked at the city of Santa Cruz and strong appreciation for alternatives I receive my agenda today for the January Commission meeting and one of the items that we'll be considering is the transportation demand management program for the downtown for the first time in the history of the downtown parking district there is a $300,000 budget for transportation demand management and we'll be considering three options at that meeting next Thursday I think I can make a contribution to that effort given my career experience and personal relationship I have with a lot of the stakeholders in downtown and I would appreciate the opportunity to contribute to that so thank you very much for your consideration and I'll hope you will support my reappointment thank you okay I'd like to invite up Brett Garrett please hi good evening my name is Brett Garrett and I'm applying for either the downtown Commission or the Transportation and Public Works Commission I live here downtown at Walnut Commons and I'm very passionate about transportation climate change and social justice issues I'm involved with the Santa Cruz Climate Action Network Santa Cruz PRT and the campaign for sustainable transportation I'm keenly aware the transportation decisions and parking decisions have a huge impact on both climate change and social justice I'm a detail oriented analytical thinker my background includes a applied physics degree from Caltech and a PhD in mathematics from UC San Diego I like to think outside the box finding creative solutions that can meet the needs of all members of the community I look for the win-win solutions Commission members have a tremendous opportunity for creative problem-solving and I look forward to those opportunities I believe the city of Santa Cruz has an opportunity to be a pioneer in providing better options than driving a car it's our obligation to the climate and to the planet we can modernize public transit to make it more accessible and enjoyable for all I support bike friendly and pedestrian friendly infrastructure I like riding a bicycle I love the jump bikes I support vision zero for improved safety I'm an advocate for expanding public transit instead of building public parking garages and highway and I strongly support free transit passes for people who work downtown or better yet free transit service for all and my dream is for Santa Cruz to build a solar powered transit system of convenient podcars providing a new way to get around town without driving a car personal rapid transit would be a quantum step in transit safety and convenience in addition to being solar powered and carbon-free let's also apply creative thinking to housing and homeless issues people are sleeping in the street so close to empty buildings such as the regal theater by the by the river there's got to be a way to use those buildings as shelter and there's got to be a way to keep bathrooms open thank you thank you is David Guzman here okay so I'd like to now invite up those who are interested in our historic preservation commission if you could line up to my left I'll start with Tracy bliss Ross Gibson and then David forgive me okay Tracy thank you for this opportunity I'm Tracy bliss my third meeting as a commissioner you appointed me in September was in December and I got so excited about hopefully being reappointed because the whole commission was unanimous that going forward our number one priority should be public outreach and awareness and I feel so strongly about this I'm a fifth generation Santa Cruz in I was an education professor who taught history teachers my mantra was always make history come alive but the expertise I bring to this and the reason why I feel like an I can make a unique contribution is I write about historic preservation I recently wrote the book Santa Cruz is see bright thanks to Donna's help and others and in that I focused on dozens of historic structures that are on the historic building survey I'm particularly interested in repurposing like the wonderful example of the cannery and how fantastically that has been repurposed I'm currently writing the book on the history of evergreen cemetery probably our oldest historic structure and I feel that combination of where the Commission wants to go and my particular passion for writing about the people and the structures that are our legacy is just a wonderful fit for what I'd like to contribute thank you thank you is Ross Gibson here hello I'm Ross Gibson I'm Santa Cruz historian and native of Santa Cruz but I lived all over northern California and then came back to town to go to college and completely rediscovered my hometown as a historian it's such a wonderful thing to be a historic architectural consultant because you take anonymous buildings and put a name on it and put people in it and start to rediscover things that have been before your face all these all these years suddenly take on a new significance or a new enlightened perspective I've done a number of historic architectural consulting reports at the time of the 1989 earthquake I got involved in city subcommissions to help design or develop downtown guidelines or waterfront guidelines so I love Santa Cruz and I love seeing it as a historian and thank you very much thank you it's David here okay now we'll hear from those who are interested in serving on the Parks and Recreation Commission so if you can please line up to my left as I read your name John Bono Justin Berks Deborah Christy Maggie Duncan Merrill Ron Goodman Jillian greensight Altera at Alteria Patton Sky Quinn Bill Rato Don Scott Norris so first we'll hear from John thank you mayor Watkins council members my name is John Bono I'm playing for the Parks and Recreation Commission I am currently a University administrator in the library Santa Cruz in that role I've oversee the the library's budget including its revenue operations I also have oversight of the library's public buildings I've been a city resident for 18 years and during that time I've lived right across the street from University Terrace Park where I kind of daily had exposure to the multitude of users in that park and the parks and recreation staff and maintaining it I've just recently attended Parks Commission meeting and was most impressed by the Commission members and their their clear preparation their respect for the speakers and their work with city staff I think I could I could meet that standard and contribute meaningful ways to the Commission and I really see this as an extension of my volunteer service so thank you for your consideration I hope you'll select me thank you Justin good evening honorable mayor Watkins and fellow council members my name is Justin Birx and I wanted to thank you for the opportunity to showcase while how I'd be an effective Parks and Recreation Commissioner as a water conservation specialist for our premier water resources management agency I've helped Santa Clara County Parks save millions of gallons of water through incentives and educational resources that are available for them through the programs I manage through community workshops through the dozens of community workshops that I've coordinated and held I've promoted gray water adoption throughout the county and through those efforts I strategically collected and analyzed appropriate types of qualitative and quantitative data to identify the types of barriers that preclude people from making what are ultimately cost effective and sustainable landscape practices and I think that that's something that I could really an approach that I could leverage on the Parks and Rec Commission currently I'm partnering with the ecology with ecology action to hold the first direct installation program to install gray water systems this will be the first in Northern California ever and I'm really looking forward to working with them further on that my passion and expertise goes beyond water conservation whether it's using the Riverwalk Parkway or run a Gulch to ride my bank or walk with my partner throughout the community those types of park services really link people to nature that's around us and help make impacts of climate change real and I think that Parks and Recreation Commission has a leadership opportunity to leverage that type of connection and showcase the types of services that the city has available for people so thank you very much thank you very much okay Deborah hello my name is Deborah Christie I am a teacher in Santa Cruz County since 1981 I have been a homeowner at the same home right up the hill from Iran a Gulch since 1985 and I have prior experience so I'm applying for both the Commission for the domestic violence that long complicated that I should have memorized and so in the and Parks and Rec I was a commissioner on the Women's Commission I did volunteer I was trained and volunteered to work at the safe house shelter locally when I was on the Women's Commission they elected me to be trained with Emily's list because I wanted a future as a politician or some kind of a leader but figured that I just keep leading my students until I retire soon I got an AAUW grant association for the advancement of women to attend UC Berkeley's post baccalaureate certification and writing program as well as take journalism classes through UC Berkeley so that I could write from multiple of women's voices in you know feature articles and I am currently working on one in a nonfiction book right now because I live right up the Gulch where if there was a fire down at the encampment on Capitola Road it would sweep right up the hill to my home so I've been very actively walking around a Gulch as well as Pogonip and talking to the wonderful folks that work for the Parks and Rec. Thank you Debra. Thank you very much. It's Maggie Duncan Merrill here. Okay how about Ron Goodman. Hi there my name is Ron Goodman. I care deeply about our parks and our recreation programs it's a big part of why I live here as a runner I've explored pretty much every nook of our parks and greenbelt my whole family has benefited from most every aspect of our park parks or forks and I want to help them to keep improving let me give you a little of my background I've served on the city's Mission Street widening task force I drafted the text of our current city's bike parking ordinance I directed people powers advocacy for the around a Gulch bike path for over 10 years I founded and directed the run by the sea fundraiser run which goes through a state park but which raised over $50,000 for the rail trail and for various bicycle projects I've worked at UCS he's recreation program for almost three decades as a scuba instructor and I've served on local boards such as bike Santa Cruz County native animal rescue and I'm also a save our shores sanctuary steward I strive to consider all perspectives and remain open-minded and I'm willing to consider challenging projects so I'll bring one up right now for example on segment 7 of the rail trail west of Swift Street there's an existing ad hoc trail it's a frequent it's frequently used as a campsite and I've walked the trail almost daily collecting hundreds of pounds of trash and when I do I talk to campers because I want to get to know the people who are there because that they're human beings and I want to know who they are and oftentimes I've asked them what would what would make you want to you know help you to take care of this place better because I believe that while homelessness isn't a crime that doesn't mean that we should litter if we're going to be there and so I've had conversations and they've said things like well how about trash cans at the intersections seems kind of obvious but if there's problems with it I understand that it's more complex than that I also know this area because I use it as an alternate bike route because my kids and a lot of kids use it to get to Pacific Collegiate School where the alternate route is Mission Street Extension where this year we had an accident thank you thank you very much thank you okay I'd like to now invite up Julian Green side please Mayor Watkins council members Julian Green side I've long been wanting to be on the Parks and Recreation Commission and in fact I applied many years ago Rosemary recalls that and unfortunately my application wasn't valid because I was not a citizen and for many of the commissions you have to be a citizen well fairly recently I applied to be a citizen and I was accepted so now I can apply for the commission where my heart and passion lies when I first came to Santa Cruz and my son was small and then he grew up you know into six seven eight nine as they tend to we took advantage of the wonderful programs in the recreation department not only junior guards but the junior theater etc. and so I value that aspect of Parks and Recreation very deeply did get a bit of sticker shock recently I'm very close to a family and they have three children interested in martial arts too expensive I they've been here for 28 years they happen to be Spanish-speaking said have you heard of Parks and Recreation never heard of it said let me get a booklet I did and as the prices were so high that they couldn't afford it I know their scholarships but I'd be interested in making our programs perhaps better known more accessible I see times running out I've helped moms of me to street make the park up there safer for children I'm pretty well known for being an advocate for saving our big trees and I'm proud to say that I have a good rapport with Leslie Keady when I was a certified California naturalist Leslie asked me to lead a heart a walk in more creek uplands that freaked me out a bit plants are not my specialty but I raise that just cuz I think I have a good rapport thank you Jillian thank you very much there I apologize if I don't pronounce your name correctly I'll Altaira Hatton and forgive me okay I thought I said out there the first time and then I thought I was wrong so can all of you see me over here thank you so hi City Council my name is Altaira Hatton I work as a mediator I'm completing my master's in conflict resolution as a mediator I excel at group communication problem-solving and creating common ground I see this opportunity to serve Santa Cruz as a melding of my skills and my interests I'm an outdoor enthusiast with three dogs that after explore of the parks and wild spaces of my adopted home I hike camp and use the bike trails one of my dogs is a retired service dog a Belgian Malinois and if you know that breed you'll know how many hours a week I spend out in your parks I have lived around the world including Argentina the Caribbean Switzerland and the Netherlands in every country I've actively explored observed parks wild spaces and trails I often consider how different regions and countries integrate their use of urban and wild spaces and which practices serve both best I believe our parks are for all members of Santa Cruz County whether they are housed or unhoused and I hope to find common ground on those issues as a frequent speaker on disability access I presented and collaborated on the issue of city planning for pedestrian use and this includes planning green spaces paths and car free zones so I've been thinking about the best use traffic flows and mingling of walkers joggers wheelchair users and bicyclists for years as a professional communications facilitator I understand process rules of order and prioritization I have served as treasurer of a national nonprofit and I am fluent in budgets equipments and donation law I may be a bit strange actually because I like reading budgets I currently serve on a few committees for the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Monterey Peninsula where my wife works as a music director I also serve on the International Finance Committee of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom I don't foresee either of those obligations acting as a conflict of interest as a relative newcomer to Santa Cruz I'm excited to learn more about our city structure politics and governance I see this advisory board as a great way to get my toes wet lastly as a woman with significant physical variance I offer a perspective drive from a set of life experiences I'm so sorry thank you very much for playing thank you I'd like to invite up sky Quinn is sky Quinn here how about Bill rat okay my name is Bill Rado and I'm applying for the Parks Commission because I love the parks I'm recently retired from the County of Santa Cruz for 29 years I was the Parks Supervisor South County I live in the city raised my family here and there's some amazing people here and that's what I love about the city very diverse and I'm just a grunt so you know I know I've written budgets parks are for everyone and what we found out is that the more people that use them the better it is for all of us and that's how we get our funding and with with the city of Santa Cruz parks are amazing I've been using them all my life I just want to be if I could help it's one of those things is one of my passions in life is to be a volunteer I'm a life-long public servant I've been in this line of work since I've been oh 18 I joined the Marine Corps I was 18 so I'm from the Bay Area not that's something a lot of people a lot of us do but anyway I get I could tell you all the experience I have but I don't want to get into that but that's why I just saw the ad and I go hey that be cool maybe I could help I could be part of or be proactive instead of react and and and I know all the issues but I think as a team when as different departments collaborate it's amazing that we can get stuff done but I'm just here as a grunt and that's it thank you thank you very much and then lastly I'll invite up John Scott Norris good evening I am a 30-year resident of Santa Cruz and a retired educator who loves hiking and has used the parks and rec programs many times I've worked with many populations as an educator migrant at risk severely handicapped gifted and the blind I was also successful not only with students but with the parents and believe me if you know anything about the gifted students parents you will understand my comment there I I also developed a lot of innovative curriculum one of the things we did is that I we were very close to quarkin lagoon and I developed curriculum about that and the kids would go out with their clipboards and we would do that for about a month and take readings and and all that so I'm very interested in bringing that kind of energy to the parks that that we can do anything that we stick you know we put our minds to I noticing I'm running out of time I would like to the parks to be safe and welcoming I believe I have many personality traits that are well suited for working on this commission I have excellent interpersonal skills I also have good communication skills I think out of the box and I believe that bringing transparency and inclusion to the process always works I believe I possess attributes and quality is necessary to do an excellent job thank you thank you okay so that then concludes the presentations on those interested in parks and recreation I next like to invite up those who are interested in planning and serving on our planning commission if you could line up to my left beginning with Anna Marie Costa Rena Dubin Renee Golder Merriam Greenberg Zov Hirschfield Ron Pomerance Mark Primack Andy Schifrin William Schultz and Michael Silveen Anna thank you hello my name is Anna Marie Costa and I am applying for a vacancy on the planning commission I moved to Santa Cruz in July of last year when I purchased my first home I chose to move here because Santa Cruz to me has everything I'd want for a place I'd like to start my family a passionate friendly tight-knit community that values history and preservation as well as the diverse views of its citizens because I intend to stay and start my family here I have a vested interest in the future of the city and would welcome the opportunity to help shape it through long-term and strategic planning I'm no stranger to the rules that govern committee meetings I led the Student Senate as vice president of the student body in my undergraduate years and I currently sit on the board of directors of a federally qualified non-profit health center where we just completed a three-year strategic plan I have a long history of volunteering in my communities be it through coaching soccer with AYSO or helping to ensure ballots were counted appropriately at last year's local election clerk last year my interest in civic involvement also led me to pursue a master's degree in public policy and administration I'm currently halfway through the program and look forward to putting the things I've learned into practice my professional background is in finance and accounting I started my career at PricewaterhouseCoopers and then moved on to Google where I've been for the last five years I've ever seen the accounting for Google's office buildings construction as well as its global fleet of data centers on a daily basis I act as a consultant for the planners and construction teams and partner with them to ensure that all construction related activities are executed in a compliant manner and are in the company's best interest I believe my construction accounting background my public policy learning and my volunteering passion make me an excellent fit for this advisory board while I'm a new member to this community I hope to be of service to it for a long time I'm eager to be involved in any way that I can and I have also indicated my interest in the arts commission and the commission for protection of violence against women thank you thank you okay Rena Dubin Rena Dubin no Renee Golder Miriam Greenberg hi good evening and thank you my name is Miriam Greenberg and I am an urban sociology professor at UC Santa Cruz and I've had a long-standing scholarly and professional interest in urban and environmental planning and policy particularly in the area of urban sustainability with an emphasis on linking equity ecology and economics I have taught classes conducted research published articles and books hosted conferences in these areas I think that you know my being up to date on literatures and best practices in critical approaches to urban sustainability could be relevant to the planning commission and this includes in areas such as the production and preservation of affordable housing transit oriented development post disaster redevelopment resiliency planning and sustainable design and innovative approaches to land use and planning while I've studied national and international cases I have also researched these issues and ideas locally and regionally including through my course ecometropolis my research projects critical sustainabilities and the democratizing the green city conferences organized at UC Santa Cruz and New York University as well as the recent no place like home project with my copie Steve McKay and through that also got to know and interview a number of people on the planning commission while recognizing the considerable challenges our city and region face in a time of intensifying climate change and sea level rise as well as a housing crisis in some ways I see these as particular to Santa Cruz and in others very much linked to issues facing our region California and beyond and so I see this is a unique moment of opportunity and of movement in this regard I'm inspired by the thoughtful and proactive efforts of our planners council and supervisors over decades as well as most recently kind of really amplified public engagement on these issues. Thank you. Okay, is Zav here? Zav Hirschfield? Ron at Pomerance. Good evening Madam Mayor and council members. I am Ron Pomerance. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. I'm a UCSC student who was fortunate enough to stay in town raise a wonderful family as a San Jose firefighter. I've been an observer as well as active participant in many city developments recently several large developments have been approved with accommodations to developers that didn't take into account the values of our community showing marginal interest in working with effective community members and neighborhoods. The current planning commission reflects the belief that real estate and development interests should dominate planning. The planning commission must represent much broader interest concerns and ideas which is why I'm requesting your appointment tonight. The planning commission should be a place where community values are expressed. A forum that influences the look and feel and composition of our community. A place where Santa Cruz's diverse needs and interests are represented and a part of the decision making process. I'm not an architect, I'm not an engineer, but I have some knowledge of the general plan, development issues and concerns which include financial, social, environmental health and neighborhood implications as well as public benefits that need that must be protected. As you're aware, I'm a strong proponent of Measure O and inclusionary housing. I'm a commissioner on the Santa Cruz County Housing Authority. I've previously served on the Water Commission as well as Transportation Public Works Commission. As on those commissions, I will be open and transparent with all community members and treat everyone with dignity and respect. I will diligently and thoroughly study agenda packets. I will ask questions. I will bring community concerns. I will follow all city policies and guidelines aware that I serve at the pleasure of reviewing the council. I would be honored to serve on the Planning Commission. I thank you so much. Thank you, Ron. Okay, Mark, Premack. Good evening. I'm no stranger to this room, but I did want to come down tonight and show my appreciation and respect for the process that you have here. And I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. Otherwise, I just wanted to make that statement. Thank you. Thank you. Andy Schifrin. Good evening. My name is Andy Schifrin. Thanks for the opportunity to talk to you tonight. You have my application, so I'm not going to go through everything. I'll summarize a couple of parts of it. I have a master's in city planning, and I teach classes that are called Environmental Assessment, the California Focus on the California Environmental Quality Act, and the California Planning Law. So I'm very familiar with work and have worked for many years around the Landry's Development Process in California, and particularly the Environmental Protection Laws. I'm applying for the Council for the Planning Commission because of my concern about what seems to me to be a lack of a commitment on the part of the Planning Commission to the city's inclusionary housing requirements and policies. And I think it's important to have a voice on the Commission that understands the policies, understands the history, and has a strong commitment to carrying out that policy of requiring meaningful inclusion of affordable housing in all housing developments of a larger size. I support multi-family housing in the downtown area. I'm concerned about multi-family housing around single-family neighborhoods and in the transition areas of the city, like Alucard Drive and Ocean Street Extension. I want to be clear about my biases. I'm going to bring them to the Commission. And I think that it's important for there to be an effective voice, and I think my voice can be effective for affordable housing on Commission. Since this is an interview process, I'm happy to answer any questions and give you a chance to interview me. Thank you, Andy. This is our chance to hear from you, so we'll just listen tonight. Thank you. Okay, I'd like to now invite up William Schultz. Good evening. Hi, I'm Bill Schultz. I'm applying for the Planning Commission and also the Historic Preservation Commission and also the Water Commission. I'm a small business owner and I've made payroll here in Santa Cruz for the past 40 years or so. My company has built dozens of homes, many restaurants, and quite a few commercial projects, not only here in the city, but also in the county of Santa Cruz. I think if you were to ask around in the building community, in the business community, ask of people that know me, I think people would probably tell you that I'm an honest and fair guy. I also pay my bills on time. I think I'm the kind of guy that could give you honest, unbiased advice on the projects before you. Thanks for your consideration. Thank you. And Micah, Sylvie. Thanks, Mayor. You got it right the second time. Hello, everyone. Thanks for having us. Welcome, new members. My name is Micah Sylvie. I am applying for the Planning Commission because I care about the city and also I think that I could be of great value to you all in that role. I'm an environmental engineer and in the last 10 years or so, I've been working with the US Green Building Council. It's a nonprofit whose vision is that buildings, communities, and cities will revitalize and sustain all life within a generation. It's a very large and lofty goal, but essentially we try to, our aim is really to sort of transform the built environment in any way we can. We're probably best known for our lead green building rating system. You guys may know it. It's the sort of the most dominant green building rating system in the world, but we have a number of other programs to that advance sustainability and social equity goals that we have. So we have programs that look at sustainable transportation, add zero waste in circular economy, health and well-being within buildings, and a bunch of other things including micro grids and everything else. We even have a Lead for Cities program that your planning director asked me about a few days ago. But my role with that organization is to oversee the global certification services. And in that role, I get to talk to a lot of amazing people, but I also get to see a lot of amazing projects. Everything from a new home to a brand new city, like some of the new cities that are going up in Asia these days. But that's my work and this is my home. And I really like the opportunity to provide a little bit more back to the community that I love. I'm currently on the board for a new way homes. Hopefully you guys know that nonprofit that seeks to advance housing affordability in the area. If you don't know about it, Sibley Simon will be down here talking to you about his new investment model, which is great. Thank you very much. Okay. So now we'll hear from those who are interested in serving on our sister cities committee. I'd like to invite up Marta Beckwith, Shonda Duffy, Dennis Etler, Sarah Coleman, Andrea, Andrew Kiktiff, Annabelle, Tenser, and Anita Wood. Marta, we'll start with you. I'm sure. Hi, my name is Marta Beckwith. I've lived in Santa Cruz for about 20 years, not including the four years that I was at UC Santa Cruz. I'm very interested in youth issues and youth programs. I have three children, two of them in high school and one of them still in elementary school. I'm a CASA, a court appointed special advocate, working with foster youth. And I still am involved with my former foster child who's now 18 and living in Southern California. I've traveled extensively both for work and pleasure. I've managed projects in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and Germany. And I've traveled in Central America, North America, and Europe. My husband is a Kiwi and we've spent a great deal of time in New Zealand. I first heard about the sister city committee and the work that it does through my daughter, who was interested in applying to go on one of the youth programs. It didn't work out for her, but one of her friends won on it. And we heard about the great experiences that they had. I think it would be a great merger of both my interest in youth programs and my interest in travel. I think travel brings people together and it is important to get other perspectives. If I was appointed, I would focus on the youth programs and broadening those and strengthening business and community ties between Santa Cruz and its sister cities. Thank you. Thank you. Is that Shonda Duffy here? Mayor Watkins and city council members, thank you for meeting with me tonight and providing this opportunity. I've been active with the Shingu sister city subcommittee as a volunteer for about three and a half years. I've had the pleasure of traveling to Japan to Shingu twice at the original Bethesda, Cynthia Matthews, who I knew through Visit Santa Cruz County when I worked there before. She encouraged me to apply for a homestay in Shingu and I connected with the family there. I became involved with the sister city subcommittee after that trip through violent preparing presentations through Visit Santa Cruz County about tourism in Santa Cruz and then actively became involved in the sister city subcommittee from thereafter. I had also the experience of going to Shingu the second time with the mayoral delegation when Cynthia Chase was mayor back in 2016. I'm happy to expand to the other sister city programs. I'm encouraged by the new involvement in the new enthusiasm with sister city becoming more involved with the sister city program and look forward to serving on that respect as well. I wanted to let you know that I brought updated applications. Unfortunately, I thought I had sent them to you earlier, but they didn't go through via email. So I have copies that I'll leave here with Rosemary and thank you so much for your consideration. Thank you. Is Dennis here? Dennis Etler? I thank the council for having this opportunity to serve. My name is Dennis Etler. I'm a retired anthropology instructor from Cabrera College, taught there for nearly 20 years. Been a resident of Santa Cruz and vicinity for the last 25 years. I've had a lifelong interest in establishing people to people relationships. My focus has primarily been with China. I studied Chinese as a graduate student back in the seventies went on to become a chair person of US China People's Friendship Association in Milwaukee in the seventies, then went on to study for my doctorate degree in anthropology at UC Berkeley in the eighties and nineties and my research was done in China. I was very instrumental in establishing exchange relationships with Chinese scholars and scientists in my field of study, which was paleoanthropology. Subsequent to receiving my doctorate, I moved to Santa Cruz in the mid nineties and was at the five branches Institute now five branches university for a period of five years before going on to Cabrera. Five branches, as you may know, is a school of traditional Chinese medicine. So I've been involved with China my entire adult life. I'm also been quite involved with local chapter of the United Nations Association serving on the board and now as acting president and establishing people to people relations with countries such as China is extremely important for me. Thank you, Dennis. Thank you very much. Okay, is Sarah common here? Andrew. Hello and thank you for your time. My name is Andre. I have been in Santa Cruz for over 20 years now and I was with the sister cities committee unofficially for about over 15 now. I have assisted in general events like cultural fairs and stuff like that, but mainly I was involved with the elusive subcommittee since I'm fluent in Russian. I have went as part of a delegation both as a translator and as a band member to a lucha before and since then I was acting as translator and occasionally substitute organizer and IT guy for the various Skype conferences that they had over the end similar events over the years. I have also prior to being in Santa Cruz have visited Japan and I have slight working knowledge of Japanese so that and some understanding there us if that will be relevant considering the various sister cities that the committee has and I believe that this experience would be of benefit to the community and I look forward to being able to help in any way I can there should I be given the opportunity. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Is in a bell tensor here? Good evening and thank you so much for the opportunity. I got to know about the sisters committee through my children. Both of them had the great and unique chance to go to shingles and Leo went during the spring and both of them had incredible experiences and I thought that thanks to Santa Cruz my children had that opportunity and I felt that I needed to give back and I started being involved in the sub committee the sisters sub committee since I'm fluent in Italian and so I've been helping with Luca the council member when he came to visit and that was a great experience and I'm really looking forward to beyond that committee my experience I worked at the United Nations I was a lawyer in Geneva for a couple of years before moving to Santa Cruz I've been led to working to the United Nations through my experiences with sister city where I grew up it was a little town in France and that little town had two sister cities and by having these exchanges that really opened a new world for me a new world that I really uh wanted to share with my children and hope with many other youth here in Santa Cruz thank you thank you and lastly we have Anita Wood Good evening mayor and council members uh my name is Anita Wood uh I am a new member of the Santa Cruz community I've only been here about four years and uh since the time I've been here I've been involved with uh I taught GED at the jail I've been a substitute teacher and a grant writer for various nonprofits my profession though is is an anthropologist I'm also also an anthropologist and I have uh I've been interested in diverse cultures or in different cultures all my life from the time I was a young child with visitors in our home I raised a family in Flagstaff Arizona and was elected to the Flagstaff city council for I served for four years and we had a sister city in Taiwan and we had a very enlightened government since just there is a delegation of about 10 people and it was and they came to to visit us in Flagstaff so I I know that that connection how important it is for developing understanding between cultures uh after raising my family I received a PhD in anthropology at the University of Arizona and a full right to conduct my dissertation research in Mexico I studied the offshore shrimping industry and after I graduated I my brother and I started a seafood processing plant in Mexico which we operated for about about three years my my work as an anthropologist has been quite varied I've worked with migrant farm workers and traveled with them and lived in migrant camps I've worked with homeless adolescents in Arizona and as a ten years as a grant writer and project manager on wellness projects on the U.S. Mexican border I'm interested in becoming more involved in the community and stuffy besides kids and whatever so thank you very much thank you very much okay so that then concludes the sister cities committee interest so next is the transportation and public works commission um if you can please line up on my left we have Dana Bagshaw, Phillip Boutel, Sean Orgel Olson, Bruce Sawhill and Steve Schnarr good evening I'm Dana Bagshaw and um it's great to be here before you see new faces on the council I've been in this spot several times of through past council sessions and mostly talking about climate change and transportation which are my two passions I see this being on this commission as an opportunity to get closer to the action so to speak I'm very excited about the fact that we've just passed a climate action resolution and making it a priority in our city it's time to embrace that and and mitigate climate change so I think one of the ways that we can do this is through the budget and I was pleased to see that that's one of the responsibilities of the commission is to go over the budget with the city and set our priorities I mean money says how you know what we think about things and so I embrace that opportunity um I transportation for me um while I walk I ride my bike and I use the bus when I can and I founded the local group of bus by point bus by choice I did a presentation before you earlier about buses in Boulder and I feel like that that would be a great model for what we can do here we need to find ways to make busing more attractive more viable to get people to to find new ways to move people and and towards the city um professionally I just want to add to the things I put on my um application that I towards the end of my career you know it's an evil I try to be consistent because I want to be really fair with everybody having their time so okay but you're welcome to reach out to us to be for the next Tuesday so thank you okay thank you and then um next we have Philip butel good evening Mayor Watkins Vice Mayor Cummings and council members my name is Philip butel and I'm here to ask that you reappoint me to serve on the Transportation and Public Works Commission for another term my second term I work as an engineer at UCSC and my wife Megan Casper's is a math instructor at Cabrillo we have three kids aged three six and ten and I've still somehow managed to attend almost every commission meeting over the last four years um that's somehow that means my wife she's awesome but um I first volunteered to serve on this commission as a parent concerned about the safety of my kids knowing firsthand how difficult it was for them to bike from our seabright home to our favorite places whether that was school at galt elementary uh downtown for a treat or to visit her their two grandmas who live in the house I grew up in just up the hill on walnut avenue as a commissioner I tried to prioritize the needs of children and other hypothetical future cyclists and active transportation users and by that I mean those who don't ride a bike now um but they would for short trips around town if it was safer um in my experience perhaps the most difficult part of being a commissioner is navigating the relationship between the commission and staff our role as commissioners is to advise you on projects and issues but I find it's a fine line to walk if that advice uh is at odds with staff recommendations um and if someone in my in my time there has who has pushed back against staff um I've also been able to find that it's really finding it's about finding a point of compromise to move forward together and recognizing that if you don't get some level of staff to support support excuse me a project won't ever be successful even if it gets commissioning council votes um some of the highlights of my term include creating the ATP as part of the ATP working group transportation plan affecting the jump bike share program reviewing the annual cip measure d allocations um I serve on the LRDP transportation work group ucse and approving plans for the rail trail but really what I'm most proud of is this last year I was elected chair um a position I've really enjoyed there and as chair I brought vision zero to the commission we spent six months working on it and if I'm reappointed then sometime next month I'll come back and thank you Philip thank you both okay is Sean here Sean no you're representing the ones I'm sorry he presented for arts commission so oh okay forgive me and how about Bruce okay Bruce a good evening mayor council members my name is Bruce saw Hill um I'm an entrepreneur and scientist uh my academic background I have a doctorate in theoretical physics and an undergraduate degree in music so playing Bach and pipe organs in cathedrals and studying the first nano nano nanosecond of the universe clearly prepares me for transportation um there must be something about Santa Cruz because there's something in the water that makes people political I was never political at all until I came to Santa Cruz since a high school class president but uh about the time I came here 16 years ago I was involved in starting up a transportation company called day jet which was a per seat on demand air transportation company that did short trips a few hundred miles in very small business jets about six passengers you in modern language you'd call it uber pool for jets and uh it made me think about appropriate transportation what is required to make transportation work and how do people choose it and I realized it could be applied to many situations I also learned about interacting with government we had to change federal and state laws for day jet to work well when I got here somehow I got involved in acquiring the rail line and I eventually became chair of the friends of the rail and trail and led led the effort to acquire the rail line which was successful as of 2012 so um I'm no stranger to consensus and persuasion and conflict the rail line gives us all something to talk about at the very least so transportation unifies and divides people and the devil is in the details and I believe that my background in negotiation consensus building and uh understanding the how people make transportation choices could be very valuable and I'd be honored to serve on the committee you have 15 seconds left use them wisely thank you okay and then lastly we have Steve snow just to confirm Sean whose list did a transportation and public works it's different Sean that he he only applied for transportation just not to confuse the two because I don't think Sean is here either way and how about Steve Steve snark no okay so lastly we have those um interested in serving on our water commission and that would be at Lynn Bea Linda cover and Sierra Ryan is Lynn here at Linda okay you'll be first thank you thank you everybody and and welcome to all the new people my name is Linda cover I'm a resident at the tannery arts center um I I look through things as an artist and an educator I've had 20 years experience as a watershed curriculum teacher uh to students throughout Santa Cruz county as a spectra artist uh teaching artist I um because I live at the tannery arts center that's I consider that one of my resources because we have almost 300 people on site as an artist I'm constantly speaking with lots of different people of my water history I I've worked with I spent many years in Watsonville I've worked with the Watsonville wetlands the watershed council here ebb and flow festival a city of Watsonville public works and utilities as a spectra teacher um these are the official agencies but I've really done a lot of work independent I've worked with the power art gallery we've put on shows to educate people about the power river at the time and when I lived at Mount Madonna area I managed us our small spring for our neighborhood so I know something about the basic rural water um my students as part of my curriculum worked with the Watsonville city and we go in we test water we draw pictures we write poetry um we would do a lot of things that would relate to our environment um part of my curriculum is uh having the kids um do thank you okay thank you thank you and then lastly Sierra Sierra Ryan hey good evening council members my name's Sierra Ryan I'm here because I think I can bring a unique level of experience to the water commission through my current job I collaborate with all of the local water agencies um and I'm familiar with pretty much every regional water supply and resource management program in the county um my work plan includes water conservation groundwater recharge stormwater management surface water quality conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water resources and public outreach and education including workshops and public meetings I work with both the Santa Margarita and the Santa Cruz mid-county groundwater sustainability agencies water is my career it's also my passion it's what I studied in school both um grad school and college um and the local rivers are where I like to spend my time I grew up in Santa Cruz I plan to raise my daughter here I plan to grow old here and I will need water to do all of those things I try to give back to the community where I think I can do the most good um I spent four years on the board of the coastal watershed council and then I took some time off to focus on my other passion local history and I researched and wrote a local history book which has raised thousands of dollars for the museum of art and history publications committee and for which I won a nextee um I did take a year off recently of my volunteering time to have a baby uh but now I'm back uh I would love the honor of being able to volunteer my time with the water commission because I think the work that they do is vital the climate is changing and we need to be prepared for it with my experience and my passion I think I can help it to be successful thank you thank you okay so that concludes the uh opportunity for us to hear from our interested community members and serving on our commissions I just want to say thank you um I sincerely thank you for taking the time out of your evening to be here to share with us your uh perspective and just for your overall interest in serving our community you play a vital role so um I want to let you know that on January 22nd uh we will be um having a council meeting in which time we will be uh making recommendations for our appointments so at this time I will adjourn the meeting okay thank you