City Council — 2024-03-12

We are back from closed session. Anything to report out,

Mr. City Attorney? Yes, thank you Madam Mayor. The Council met in closed session and considered two related items. One anticipated litigation and second also anticipated litigation both relating to an appeal by Mr. Scott Chasse regarding the Reach Codes application to a single family project at 401 East Topatopa Street. The council provided direction to staff and council, including making an offer to resolve the matter.

The details will be publicly available if and when the offer is accepted. If not, further closed sessions will be held. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. City Attorney. All right, we will go ahead and close the closed session and we'll open it regular meeting. Welcome everyone to the Tuesday, March 12th 2024 meeting of the Ojai City Council. Do we have a quorum?

Absolutely. Yes.

Thank you. All right so would you please say the pledge Mr. Management and Analyst. Yes yeah

Thank you, Mayor. I come before you as the chair of the Historic Preservation Commission just to give you an update. I have two exciting things. One is I wanted to introduce the individual who is being put forth to you in the consent item and so I'd like at this time Sonia Fresina to come up so I can introduce her. Here she is, Sonia. Be glad you're only getting a light of plus. So I was looking back at her resume, I knew that she'd been very patient in coming to this spot and I brought her resume with me. I looked up at the top right and saw her name and then over to the right I said whoa it's dated January 2nd 2022 so We're happy to have you here, very much so. Again she has been interviewed by myself, by Mayor Sticks and by Council Member Lange.

Very happy to introduce you to her and to have her name brought before you to go on to the commission. Will, we're going to have to talk since she just took a Weston spot and we had an action item for Weston so we'll figure it out. Again, thank the board members there is a Commissioner Whitman and I are now working on Commissioner number seven for the Historic Preservation Commission. So again, thank you

Thank you, Chair Aikens. Thank you, Sonia for being here and we'll get to you on the consent calendar. So thank you. All right. We will move on to public communications. And just a reminder, we have 30 minutes at the beginning and these are items. Thank you very much. Not on the agenda so we cannot discuss them. We can agendize them for the future. So let's begin with Curtis Necht then David Chapman, then Cassandra Marino

Hi, my name is Curtis Connect and I'm a neighbor here. I'm here to speak around the folks who've set up camp and are living on this land. I think I want to say three things. One is, I walk through every couple of weeks and it looks much more tight well-organized there's not as much trash and I appreciate that the second thing is just to reiterate what I said when this was on the agenda that this is not the neighborhood for An encampment of this sort, so I would certainly urge the search for alternative places.

And three, I hope that the council and those folks who are Thinking this through have a bit of a long-term plan like a five ten year plan This is a very complex issue and it needs thoughtfulness And my concern from the last meeting about the grant is somehow there's a rush to get the grant and then an idea The grant is gonna kind of save us all and I just want to put a word in for really having an ongoing Thoughtful conversation about it. Thank you

Thank you, Curtis. Next we have David Chapman then Cassandra Marino and then Starchild.

Thank You Mayor and Council for your diligent efforts to improve our city and thanks to the new City Manager for engaging so quickly on critical issues that affect our town I live on Blanche Street which is just around the corner one of the many neighborhoods affected by the encampment I am encouraged to see more infrastructure activity today in the parking lot.

A wooden structure has been built to create a level area for the installation of more wilderness tents so that folk can be moved from the grassy areas up into the parking lot. This move will provide improved shelter and drier conditions for those living off the parking lot. I am requesting the city actively engage in finding an alternative permanent site for the encampment that will enable a permanent transitional housing for the unhoused on a suitable site where support services can be provided along with trolley bus transportation and a site that is not adjacent to neighborhood housing.

Thank you.

Thank you, David. Next we have Cassandra Marino then Starchild and then Jan Skow.

Thank you, I'm Cassandra. I agree with everything that David said so it doesn't need to be repeated obviously I support the relocation just on a personal note I grew up here on South Ventura and my mom had a shop on OI Avenue and one of the best parts about growing up here was that she didn't have to worry about me at all and I moved here for the same reason. I'm a single mom, I have three young kids, I live right down the street and it's hard to have my daughter is going skateboarding and she's had some instances where people have been a little bit threatening towards her and obviously as a mom we can all relate that that's not something that any of us would want.

And yeah, I so believe in this town and I know you guys are between a rock and a hard place. Balance the humanitarian obvious concerns legal concerns, you know the neighborhood concerns and I know that you're trying to balance all those things And I appreciate like David said that you're doing your best to clean this up and make it tenable for all of us. So just here to Provide a voice for the neighborhood and I appreciate You know investigating alternative locations. So thank you

Thank you Cassandra. Next we have Starchild then Jan Scow and then Michelle Thomas.

Hello, good evening. I wanted to discuss a little bit about the December 20th City Council meeting and I realize there's been a lot of disunity and strife in the community after the ceasefire resolution and I don't want to draw that up. I'm really just trying to put some last things to bed. I was finally able to see the minutes for the meeting The vote that City Council took to allow one of the speakers miss I had some extra time To speak during the meeting and I wanted to just voice Some of my disagreement with that process.

I know councilmember rule wasn't there and I know Sousa Francina expressed she thought everybody should get to speak as long as they'd like and But for the other council members there, it seemed like they provided Ms. Zayed some extra time to speak maybe because they were pleased with what she had to say, maybe because of the uniqueness of her perspective as a Palestinian American woman.

But fast forward to the meeting that was February 23rd, and we saw a man, Dorr, who came to this country. He had just been here for 10 days. He said that he was fleeing the terrorism and violence in Israel. He brought two children, his wife here, and he came to speak. They spoke for 2 minutes and asked for some extra time. And he wasn't allowed to speak longer the mayor said in the spirit of equity That he couldn't be provided any extra time and I thought a lot about that idea spirit of equity. I had to look it up And I guess the idea is is to provide fairness, but the question really is fairness to who you know why is it that missy I'd gets more time and door has to sit down and And I'd really like the council instead to operate out of a spirit of equality where kind of everybody is treated the same, no matter whether our opinion is pleasing to the council or whether you disagree with us.

So I'd ask that for council to do. Another thing that I've been considering and I looked at is Ms. Syed said the reason why she wanted more time to speak is because she's Palestinian And that made me think that maybe if council was listening to her reasoning, they let her speak more because of their race. And I think that's something that council shouldn't do. I think everybody oughta be treated the same no matter whether they're Jewish or Palestinian or whatever their race is and I think it might even be illegal to give people more time or less time based on their race so I just wanted to say that thank you.

Thank You Starchild next we have Jan Skow and then Michelle Thomas

Hello, my name is Jan Scow. I live at 401 North Ventura Street here in Ojai. I'm a registered consulting arborist and I'm speaking as a private citizen. Hopefully we can all agree that trees are an important part of our city. In addition to making us a beautiful city they provide immense environmental benefits helping to combat global climate change by cooling our city improving air quality Reducing stormwater runoff and sequestering carbon.

In addition, studies have shown that trees contribute to improved mental health, reduced crime rates and a higher quality of life. Part of the appeal of this city is its amazing forest. I want to provide the Council with a wake-up call. We are not doing enough to protect our incredible urban forests. As a working arborist in the city, I am well aware of the number of mature trees that are being removed because they are unsafe, have fallen or died.

Old trees die. We're not doing enough to ensure that we leave Ojai a better place than we found it. So what to do? The following items come to my mind. First, the city needs to require one-to-one mitigation planting for protected trees that are removed at the very least. Second, city staff and I rewrote the tree protection ordinance to update it and strengthen it over a year ago.

But the revised ordinance has never even been considered much less implemented. Third supposedly we are a Tree City USA but technically I don't believe we qualify as there are conditions which are not being met. Two conditions having an active tree board or department And having a community forestry program with a required budget of $2 per city resident, which is about $15,000 a year.

Finally the city desperately needs a City Arborist and no that won't be me who can be responsible for keeping track of what's going on with the trees in the city. I encourage the City Council to take up these issues. I've been living here for nearly six years, and I've been visiting Ojai for over 35 years. I have seen the city forest decline. It's slow, incremental, hard to notice but it is happening.

We need to wake up and take some serious steps to ensure that we continue to support our incredible urban forest. Thank you.

Thank you, Jan. Next we have Michelle Thomas then Ron Solarsano and then Garrett Clifford.

Hello, I'm Michelle Thomas. I've lived in the Golden West neighborhood for 40 years. I'm very pleased to see your goals making some mention of public safety. Thank you on Friday evening. I saw the aftermath of a speeding driver who blew a turn on Golden West he I saw, oh my goodness. I saw the aftermath of a speeding driver who blew a turn on Golden West in the space of six houses. This man managed to T-bone a parked car which was pushed towards the house along with his truck. He traveled so fast he went, pushed the car through my neighbor's fence which was made of bricks, two cement blocks Bricks were shattered. If our neighbor's house was closer to the property line, the car would have gone into their bedrooms.

This is a family neighborhood. There's kids out there all the time through Facebook for once it was handy. I realized this similar accident happened on Anita and Golden West which took out a neighbor's fence and this happened a year ago. I see traffic increasing exponentially I understand there was also a serious accident on Creek Road this Friday, about three hours after my neighbor's house almost got taken out.

So traffic and traffic accidents are a serious public safety in the city and the larger valley. I see reckless driving and speeding with increased traffic flow that we are enduring everywhere. This issue appears to be woefully understudied by the city. I was looking through the general plan, which is laborious reading and it hurts my eyes but in the circulation element there's very little mention of this So, I encourage you to do two things. Please agendize an item or a meeting on this topic.

Please think about voting to commission a valley-wide traffic study. I know the city is only responsible for the city. Please talk to the county, find some funding. We need an independent study not one funded by developers who only study rights in front of their place and don't see the whole big picture. Councilwoman Lange, never met you before. Hi. Golden West is your district so I'm hoping to follow up with you individually and move this forward.

I even got an idea from the circulation element. Before I close, I want to say to the whole council please get ahead of this issue. Before the El Roble Hotel.

Thank you, Michelle. Thank you. Next we have Ron Solorzano. Then we have Garrett Clifford and then Jennifer Fleischman.

All right. Good evening, members of council. My name is Ron Solarzano and I am the regional librarian for the Ojai Valley here today to give you a quick update again on some of what we have going on at the Ojai Library. So we have a few fun programs happening at the library in the next few weeks. First of all, on Saturday March 23rd, we have Ventura author P. Scott Corbett who's going to visit the Ojai Library to speak about his new trilogy of books beginning with his first installment Harvest of Hunger. Corbett will talk about writing historical fiction, his creative process and publishing your work.

Then the following month, we will have Associate Professor of Sociology Dr. Rachel Soper joining us on Saturday April 13th to give a talk titled Defining Regenerative Agriculture in California. The talk is going to focus on how public comments from listening sessions and working group meetings have influenced the California Department of Food and Agriculture on this subject.

Dr. Soper is writing a book currently about sustainable, organic and regenerative farmers in Ventura County and she comes to us as part of the California State University Channel Islands Library Lecture Series so that'll be Saturday April 13th Then on the more crafty side, the library is going to be hosting a rock painting activity for children and teens on Sunday March 24th at 1230.

Participants can design their own rocks paint them up and then take them home to add to their own home gardens On the other hand, on Sundays for our adult customers we have the Ojai Libraries Wonder Workshop which is going to continue every week on Sunday at 2.30 and these sessions will be facilitated by library staff who will assist with projects including crochet, visible mending and Coptic bookbinding This is a drop-in program, no registration is required and the programs are followed by additional crafting time that's a little more open form for anyone interested in that.

We have so many more other activities also happening at the Ojai Library including one-on-one career coaching, adult literacy support, ukulele poetry and Shakespeare clubs, book club kits, story time, Lego play sessions and more. For details on any of these programs drop by our library or visit us online at www.vencolibrary.org That's all I have for you thank you so much and have a great evening

Thank you Ron. Next we have Garrett Clifford, then Jennifer Fleischman and then Lynn Claife.

Ojai Trees is planting trees this coming Saturday and April 20th, and we've had an incredible winter. The rain has been spectacular the ground I'm already digging holes in the ground is like butter so it's gonna be a fun time. We'll be planting seven trees on city property two of them going into Libbey Park one to replace one of the oaks that came down another one that you want to get Over by the Blanche area and then four, five street trees in other locations.

There's other trees that are going to be going in on private property so it's an exciting time. If people want a tree we've got the planting coming up on the 20th and we can do that one. And if you want to come and plant trees and get real dirty show up at the park behind Behind the tennis courts at 830 and we'd love to have you join us. So thank you very much

Thank You Garrett Next, we have Jennifer Fleischman and then Lynn Cleif

Good evening. I'm Jennifer Fleishman and I am an Ojai resident, an Ojai homeowner, an Ojai voter. And I want to thank you first of all for the long hours you put in. I admire and respect the effort of every one of you. I don't always agree with everything but I admire and grateful that you're putting in the time. Meetings are long, and I happened to watch one a few weeks ago. And you were about to vote on instituting a 90-day minimal rental term which got me very concerned. My rent to an Ojai local who leaves every summer for about two or three months varies.

And I would like the option to be able to rent the space out. So this ordinance would take that away from me. And there's a whole lot of other types of circumstances that visitors and locals would be alike, would be impacted by this. I understand the intention behind it in the heart you want to address the short-term rental issue people abusing it and I think it should be addressed. I'm not promoting that. I just think there has to be a nuanced plan and a way of carving out situations for people like me that generally want to offer different types of housing.

Having somebody rent a room in your space is very personal, and to have to force us to only start out with 90 days is a bit dramatic. You wanna have that time, I actually had one lady rent from us who started calling this town on my neighbor's wind chimes so you have to be able to bring things to close. The other issue is it needs some carve outs and I made a post about it this week because I wanted to bring some attention cause I was worked up about it and somebody reached out to me who owns a condo and is a lawyer And her concern was that there's a, you know, some civil codes that were passed. And I don't feel it's my—I don't have the background to get deep into the weeds on it but it is concerning because their HOAs and conduit associations all already seem to have protections from the state that was—you know, I can read it too but I will follow up with an email because I think our city manager and lawyer need to look at these.

That basically there are prohibits a rental that shall not be subject to provision and government document that prohibits the rental leasing of a portion of the owner occupied separate interest in that common interest development. To a renter less your tenant for period more than 30 days. In other words, the HOA can't tell them They can't put that provision on that you're trying to impose on us. So there may be some issues rising out of that if you do it without carve-outs or without considering these things, so thank you for your time.

More to follow. Bye. Thank you, Jennifer.

Next we have Len Clay.

Good evening, Leonard Klaif. I live in the city of Ojai. Before I get to what I came here for, I wanted to say how fortunate we are to have Ron as our librarian here in Ojai, it's just a fabulous job that he does and I would like to add dittos to the speaker about speeding traffic and the importance of trees in our community. The reason I'm here has something to do a little bit with traffic.

Caltrans has apparently decided that it's okay to dig up all our intersections, leave the holes and not come back. And I know Caltrans you have nothing to do with it directly but I'm curious as to whether or not the city has made inquiry As to why the post office has these two huge holes in front of it for the last three months. And if you have not made inquiry and not filed complaints with Caltrans, I would ask you to do so. It's dangerous.

It is idiotic. I mean, nobody else could get away with it. Can you imagine a private person digging a hole in the middle of the street and leaving it? No, you can't do that. So please make inquiry. The other related issue with Caltrans—and I've complained about this on and off for is if you head eastbound on Ojai Avenue, the speed limit is 35 miles per hour until you get to the Bank of America.

If you head westbound, the speed limit is 25 miles an hour until you get to Clough Vista Park. I know of no other place in America where the speed limits differ by 10 miles an hour depending on the direction in which you are going. The idea of having a 35 mile an hour speed limit through our downtown, through any portion of our downtown is intolerable. And I would again ask you to contact Caltrans if that doesn't work, contact our state legislators. If that doesn't work, contact the governor but this is not safe for the people and you have some responsibility to making sure that we're all safe. Thank you

Thank you,

Len. Lenny, could you forward me those emails again? I have them somewhere the ones that you already sent to Caltrans and I'll forward them

tomorrow. Well, I haven't I don't know if it's in the Caltrans they sent them several inquiries to our county legislators office And never got a response even you know, I mean I send an email. I'm promised something will happen Nothing happens. I send another email promise something will happen nothing ever happens

But if you have it handy key for

I will try and find them yeah in my morass of emails Thank

you

Thank you, Len. Next we have Barbie Kafka and then Randy Roth and then Bill Miley. And we have five comments left so it's okay with council to go ahead and finish those? Okay.

Hello. Good evening. I'm Barbie Kafka. My name is Barbie Kafka. opportunity to talk about some issues this evening. It's about the community in part. There were things that I had noticed and I think it's important

to talk about.

What is the project that takes care of the coffee We need

more than just the help of the copy room there, and we have

other

things

to be helping. And my heart broke because his sweater and his pants were soiled. They were really badly soiled, and I told myself what is going on? I don't know what's happening. Though, I was thinking maybe we need a person like myself to become an outreach person that can improve things and have things personal to help the people do their work. I think it's a good idea that we have a washer and dryer, and a shower there.

It would've been, I think, it's a good idea because we'd be within the community. And also, it would help the people who cannot walk. Although that coffee room, I think it's too small. We need more

rooms

so that maybe we can have the table and a kitchen. I know there's one room like that. Why don't we could have more events? Like a class for sign language, fun and games. It felt like a talk about education, smoking, dignity of life. These are good ideas to have more informed. So we really need a big move but I really think the most important thing is the House of Washington trial and I hope this works out.

Me, like myself, to come out and reach to help that person. Like here there are clothes, here there is a shower, there's a washing tray, people need to wash their clothes and they need to wear more clothes because we are living in a completely different environment so we need more attention.

Is the light on the microphone? There should be a mic or light on the base.

I can hear you, yeah. Thank you.

That better? I'm just asking the City Council if you can provide things like this for this Encanto. I notice it because the portable toilets are there, but they're not cleaned on a daily basis or Some people are using them and not leaving respect for the next people to use them. Why do they leave a mess? Something needs to be done, so you're saying there's one more person that would have been helping? So one more person that could also help out with things like these?

That outreach person maybe could help with this? You work something like that out? Thank you. That's all I want to say. Thank you.

Thank you, Barbie. Next we have Randy Roth then Bill Miley and then Rachel Hunt.

I'm Randy Roth. I am a citizen of Ojai.

Please adjust the microphone.

I'm Randy Roth, a citizen of Ojai. I'm here to express my appreciation to the new city manager Ben Harvey for his energetic approach towards getting the Soule Park Pickleball program underway and I encourage all the members at the City Council to continue to support Ben in his efforts Also I'd like to express that it's really important as part of this program that we extend the bicycle path all the way out to Soule Park.

As you probably know, most of the people or many of the people who play pickleball at City Hall now ride their bicycles. Riding bicycles out to Soule Park is not practical. It's just not feasible. So, I would encourage you to take whatever steps are necessary to obtain the funding and get the approvals to complete the bicycle path as part of the Soule Park project. Thanks.

Thank you Randy. Next we have Bill Miley then Rachel Hunt and then Alan Greenberg

Hello, this is about the Ojai Pickleball Association's initiative petition. Signing the Ojai Pickleball Association's initiative petition to take over the City Hall land on which four courts are located is a dangerous crack in our city government foundation. Please do not sign. On January 30th of this year, the special meeting of City Council reduced play at the courts two and a half days a week with a permanent closing on June 1st.

It's all focused on opening the new Soule Park Pickleball Courts. There are two major problems about this initiative proposal. One, it removes permanently the city's control over its own land. Two, the growing spread of pickleball produces new sounds and noise as it is being played contaminating the surrounding area. This initiative makes pickleball play sound like fun and a healthy sport. It is, but it's a noisy sport and produces sound which becomes intruding noise for those nearby. Some employees in City Hall can hear it all day long.

Some of us are concerned about the play, now including the City Council have worked to get a development agreement with county government to build new pickleball courts at Soule Park by June of this year starting with six new courts. The Pickleball Association has refused to collaborate with others concern groups and city council to produce a win-win deal. At the January 30th meeting, Councilwoman, excuse me, Councilmember Ruhl stressed the need for spirit of compromise and voted yes.

I watched the meeting's video and was surprised that Councilmember Ruhl was so willing to compromise. Good, I thought, but this is what I understand. She is the one leading the initiative to take over at the courts permanently Please save city government rights to its own land and decision-making. Losing it is a bruise to the city's body. Be aware that these courts are not necessarily 100% played by people in Ojai.

In a recent petition that they submitted to the City Council, 73% of the people who played there and signed live outside the city So please do not sign the petition. Soule Park Pickleball Play will soon open, protect our city government from being fractured. Thank you.

Thank you Bill. Next we have Rachel Hunt then Alan Greenberg

Hi, I'm Rachel Hunt and I came to support Barbie in her requests. First off, I want to say I am so grateful to see some increasing compassion to the people living in an encampment. Just today a woman reached out to me who's been bringing food over there, casseroles and quiches, and is happy to cook for them when it's short on some ingredients. And so I was able to bring her a pound of cheese So she could keep doing that.

And she informed me just how appreciative the members are over there and how kind they are and what a joy it's been for her to be able to do that. So I also just want encourage everybody else to just keep growing with their compassion for that and coming over there I heard some speakers earlier, kind of with a lot of fear about their children and safety here. And I myself also did grow up here and most recently was living with my two children before my current place across the street directly with the two-story house next to the field. And even before that though, I grew up here because my family right here in this garden was displaced at times and we spent a lot of time getting help from our little house And so I called this my secret garden growing up.

So, I really believe that we have to protect these plants and the people but we also have to protect the most vulnerable citizens here honestly first because from there that ripples out in creating a better community for all. With regards to that cleanliness is becoming an issue like she said there was a gentleman I'm going to go ahead and get started. So I'm going to go ahead and get started.

And so I think that getting more volunteers involved from Rick Rain or possibly hiring another employee to fill in for him when he can't come to open the coffee room, to make it accessible and help to come up with ideas to start facilitating a shower system here and stuff like that. Anyway, there's so much more I could say on this subject but that's all I'll say for now. Thank you so much.

Thank you Rachel. Next we have Alan Greenberg

And I don't need any notes. Now you can start to call. Obviously, you know why I'm here. I'm very disappointed in the results of the resolution I think since last November it could be described as a three-ring circus, a roller coaster ride and other pejorative adjectives that I can't come up with at the present time. I do appreciate Andy's summation that he made at the last meeting. I thought it summed up the issue perfectly.

Actually, it would make a great documentary of how not to conduct a situation like that. But unfortunately, not all of it was filmed. I can't help but remember when I came to the January 9th meeting where only myself and Robin Gerber were in attendance except for a mass of the ceasefire people who insisted on public speaking when no public speaking was permitted.

And yet they were allowed to speak for six minutes, video their speech with all kinds of placards and boards and posters behind them so that they could create a propaganda video. And I can't help what happened after that. I went to the Oxnard meeting and they all went there and were joined by an equal number of their people, and they proceeded to speak there and demonstrate. And every time someone spoke up against it, they booed and hissed.

And finally after an hour of that, the mayor cleared the room and then they decided not to put it on the agenda. I called the city clerk about two weeks ago and I asked him if they had come back again to try to pursue it, and he told me no. He doesn't know why they haven't come back but if they do, they will not be permitted to speak and they will be ushered out of the building which you people have no, you know, gumption to do.

In closing, I'll just say that I think another resolution should be considered before you bring forward the ordinance about the future resolutions. With all the women we have on this council I think it would be a resolution to affirm the Geneva Convention that rape is a violation of war crime, and not just rape in Israel but rape in Ukraine and other third world countries. I think it would be appropriate resolution to put forth before the public before you allegedly are going Forbid any fruit future resolutions except in 9302 We'll

move on to consent calendar is there a motion to approve

mayor sticks we actually have a couple comments online if

can we We will return to the rest of them after our first agenda. Thank you. Thank you motion to approve consent Okay, okay all in favor I would just like to say congratulations to Sonia. Thank you for joining us and really we're excited to have your enthusiasm, expertise, wisdom and emotional intelligence so thank you.

And now I'll just add to that, congratulations Sonia. Welcome and for those of you who don't know her she really brings a unique perspective and that is of someone who has a background in fine art, in jewelry. Her jewelry's amazing and so I'm really excited to have you as a part of our commission.

She has a history background too.

Okay, I'm sorry. We just realized we have two comments on consent So can we go ahead and take those first? It's on a 8 e and H so first we have Bill Miley on Consent item E and then Brian Akins on consent item H No, okay. Never mind Brian Just bill thank you

Please press the button on the

microphone. Thank you, I'll take a turn now. It continues to put a lot of energy into housing. I do have one specific item needing clarity in chart D which is on page 1E-9 item 16 entitled Retention of affordable units. The objective is facilitate and improve affordable housing, and I provided a screenshot of the chart in my email to you. I suggest that this work item needs redirecting as ADUs listed in this report are all at above moderate income levels. They're not affordable necessarily And when illegal or non-compliant and they became compliant, we didn't know whether they were affordable when they were non-compliant.

It would seem this effort could and should be focused on older housing, on housing of lower income folks needing rehab not ADUs. Thank you.

Thank you, Bill. Okay all right we will move on to our discussion item number two adoption of City Council goals and objectives for fiscal year 2024-25. We have a staff report Mr. City Manager thank you

Yes, thank you Mayor and I'm going to wait a moment for the presentation to be put up on the screen. And I'm going to be joined in this presentation with excuse me by the Assistant City Manager on a couple slides so thank you very much. Okay so we are here to talk about the formulation of our city council goals I would like to point out to those in the audience that there should be hard copies of the proposed goals and objectives out there if you are wanting to see that.

Council should also have a hard copy in front of them at the dais. Everybody have that? Okay, thank you. All right so next slide please. So why are we doing this? Well, this is one of the most important things that you do as a City Council. This is how you set your policy priorities. You are a policy board and you were giving direction to me and the city attorney and the rest of your city staff so we're here to formulate that policy.

This is an amazing opportunity for you as a body to think about how you want to work together. What policy objectives do you have in common that you can give to us to work on for the next 12 months? It's a great opportunity. This is also a time for us to figure out what's going to be, what I'm calling inbounds and what's gonna be out of bounds. Basically your goals and objectives become the roadmap.

This is what we're gonna be working on. If we're going to be talking about things that are not within the goals and objectives you have a couple choices. You can either modify your goals and objectives or you can think maybe this is not the time to talk about whatever you want to talk about so inbounds out-of-bounds This is also, as I'm pointing out, a living document. So during the year if we do need to tweak it we certainly can. Next slide please.

So Mr. Assistant City Manager you want to cover the next couple slides? These are in your area.

Thank you very much for that. So these are somewhat definitional to set the table so we're all talking the same lingo as we go through the exercise tonight but goals defined, so that's the top line item that you have on the bullet points in the sheet that has the Roman numerals So these goal statements are somewhat items that should be evergreen. They should be more enduring and last multi-year, so these goal statements are things like having a responsive and effective city staff something that would carry over obviously beyond one year.

So in the larger context these goals are things that would carry over an extended period of time And they should describe the broader conditions and attributes of how the city will be different once these goals are worked towards. So there's an end outcome that we're looking to seek or that outcome might be something that is sustaining, that might hold true 10 years from now or 20 years from now.

The goals should inform the development of this underscored objectives that we'll be looking at tonight And we'll talk more about resources. So these goals, the objectives will inform how resources are allocated because we have a finite amount of staff time. We have a finite amount of monetary resources and time not just staff time but also council time commission time as well. So this will help inform how the budget is developed, how the city manager allocates staffing resources as well.

If you can go ahead and skip to the next slide. So the objectives, so these are the bullet points that are underlying the goal statements. These are getting more specific to results of how these goals will be achieved. They're specific usually to performance or operational activities across the city And then these are going to be used to inform a work plan that the city manager will develop that's more task oriented. So when we get to the task level, that gets very detailed into a specific task that has a finite timeline and also resources if there's a monetary need or staffing need.