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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-09-23 City Council Summary MinutesCITY COUNCIL SUMMARY MINUTES Page 1 of 8 Special Meeting September 23, 2024 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers and by virtual teleconference at 5:30 P.M. Present In Person: Burt, Kou, Lythcott-Haims, Stone, Tanaka, Veenker Tanaka Arrived at 5:33 P.M Lythcott-Haims Arrived at 5:35 P.M. Present Remotely: Lauing Absent: None. Roll Call Mayor Stone called the meeting to order. Mahealani Ah Yun, City Clerk, called roll noting five present. Vice Mayor Lauing invoked the Just Cause Provision of AB 2449. He disclosed 1 person over 18, his spouse, was present in the room with him. Agenda Changes, Additions and Deletions Kiely Nose, Assistant City Manager indicated there were no changes. Closed Session 1. Tentative: PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION Authority: Cal. Gov. Code section 54957(b); Title: City Attorney, City Clerk Item Removed Off Agenda AA1. PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS Authority: Cal. Gov. Code section 54957(b)(1) Titles: City Manager, City Attorney and City Clerk Public Comment: SUMMARY MINUTES Page 2 of 8 Sp. City Council Meeting Summary Minutes: 09/23/2024 1. Tom H. expressed disappointment in the City Manager’s decision in response to his complaints about the City’s management of middle school athletics program. He stated the City Manager and staff refused to discuss cooperating with the nonprofit organization he founded as an alternative to the City program. He asked that his feedback be considered during the City Manager’s performance evaluation. 2. Weifeng P. spoke about the City Manager and his department denying the opportunity for the JLS Cross Country Team run by Coach Tom's nonprofit to participate in the league competitions. MOTION: Council Member Kou moved, seconded by Council Member Veenker to go into Closed Session. MOTION PASSED: 7-0 Council went into Closed Session at 5:38 P.M. Council returned from Closed Session at 8:46 P.M. Mayor Stone announced no reportable action. Public Comment Mayor Stone outlined the Council’s policies on public comment and laid out ground rules. 1. Tom H., pastor of First Presbyterian Church Palo Alto, spoke about the City’s withdrawal of support of the recent Multifaith Peace Picnic and due to objections raised regarding the participation of a long-time co-sponsor of the event. He understood some feeling the need to withdraw support with the last-minute controversy popping up but urged everyone to know what they were getting into in the future when supporting multifaith work. 2. Avram F. discussed a controversy over a poster entitled “Stop US Aid to Israel”. 3. Steve R. commented about “no parking” signs placed in front of businesses on El Camino. He wished Palo Alto and Caltrans could have included businesses along El Camino Real and stated that parking is the lifeblood of retail business. 4. Samina S., founder of American Muslim Voice Foundation, talked about discrimination her organization has recently experienced having been labeled as a terrorist organization. She requested to know what basis this decision had been made on. 5. Thomas S. spoke about his sister leaving him at the hospital with MRSA and about a towel he invented for women at the beach. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 3 of 8 Sp. City Council Meeting Summary Minutes: 09/23/2024 6. John K. suggested providing a light so people could read the version of the agenda. He requested that the tables presented in the staff reports be accompanied by a CSV or Excel file to make it more accessible. Council Member Questions, Comments and Announcements Council Member Veenker announced that the Sibling City USA sponsored town hall on democracy, voter access and turnout on Sunday at 1:00 would be online only. The second one on housing in October would be in-person. She mentioned that the Bay Area Air Quality Management District would be attending the Clean Air Day to answer questions about the upcoming appliance rules and other clean air things. Council Member Burt shared that about 8000 people attended the Palo Alto Intermodal Center event. He encouraged the Mayor, Vice Mayor and City Manager to bring the review to determine whether they will take positions on state and local ballot measures to an earlier date. Council Member Lythcott-Haims mentioned the upcoming election and urged people to attend the candidate forum being held at Mitchell Park from 7 PM to 9 PM on October 3. Council Member Kou gave a report on the Retail Ad Hoc that took place on September 18 where the Retail Committee discussed recommendations from staff as well as what Planning and Transportation Commission had discussed and recommended to enhance and facilitate retail and economic vibrancy throughout the city as part of the City Council's Economic and Development Transition Priority for 2024. The Retail Committee recommended City Council move on some immediate, near-term and longer-term items. This would be coming back to Council for formal action on each of the phases. The Retail Ad Hoc Committee did have some formal action to take place in immediate phases in the near term. Some will be going back to Planning and Transportation Commission for review and discussion. At the longer term, staff will be working on Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance update. Mayor Stone encouraged everyone to go to the Clean Air At Home event at the Mitchell Park Community Center September 28 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM and Bike Palo Alto on October 6 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM at Fairmeadow School. Consent Calendar 1. Jade C. - Item 8 – spoke in support of Item Number 8. 2. John K. - Item 3 – submitted that there is not information nor language in the ordinance that would accomplish the goal. He explained how enacting this would create impact- free zones for huge swaths of R1 districts in Palo Alto and the issue of what to do about proportionality analysis for ADUs not being charged impact fees for homes that are scraped or rebuilt. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 4 of 8 Sp. City Council Meeting Summary Minutes: 09/23/2024 3. Penny E. (Zoom) shared about the Bike Palo Alto event. 4. Carol B. (Zoom) – item 8 – spoke in appreciation of the Council’s support of Item 8. 5. Amie A. (Zoom) – commented on Item 3 stating that single family fees are substantially lower than multifamily fees and represent a real source of embedded inequality in our housing system and that they are showing 0 units approved to meet the housing element goals. They have a long way to go in removing barriers to housing including high and inequitable fees. She looked forward to the fee study that will be coming in December 2025 and substantive and what we hope will be important changes in 2026. Council Member Tanaka registered a no vote on Agenda Item Numbers 4 and 6. Council Member Kou registered a no vote on Agenda Item Numbers 6 and 9. Council Member Lythcott-Haims, Veenker, and Stone requested to pull Agenda Item Number 3. MOTION: Council Member Veenker moved, seconded by Mayor Stone to approve Agenda Item Numbers 2, 4-9 and to pull Agenda Item 3 of consent (to be heard at a date uncertain). MOTION PASSED ITEMS 2, 5, 7, 8: 7-0 MOTION PASSED ITEM 4: 6-1, Tanaka no MOTION PASSED ITEMS 6: 5-2, Kou, Tanaka no MOTION PASSED ITEMS 9: 6-1, Kou no Council Member Tanaka voted no on Item 4 because there was no range of bids and the scope of the task order was unclear. He voted no on Item 6 because it was an extension but there had been no performance review of the vendor. He thought the City’s procurement process was in need of improvement. Council Member Kou echoed Council Member Tanaka’s views on Item 6. On Item 9, she could not certify the environmental report when there are mitigations on paper that do not equate to living through the impacts and having no parking for people with disabilities seemed to be discrimination and a legal issue. 2. Approval of Minutes from September 9, 2024 Meeting 3. Adopt an Ordinance Amending the Municipal Fee Schedule to Modify the Calculation for Park, Community Center and Library Development Impact Fees From per Unit to per Square Feet for Residential Development. CEQA Status: Exempt Pursuant to 15061(b)(3). 4. Approval of Four (4) Professional Services Contracts for Reliability and Resiliency On-Call Services for a Period of Up to 5 Years to Support the Implementation of Palo Alto’s SUMMARY MINUTES Page 5 of 8 Sp. City Council Meeting Summary Minutes: 09/23/2024 Reliability and Resiliency Strategic Plan as Needed: 1) Contract Number C25189412A with Buro Happold in an Amount Not to Exceed $450,000; and 2) C25189412B with EcoMotion, C25189412C with Energeia, and C25189412D with Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc. (E3), in an Amount Not to Exceed $250,000 (Each); CEQA Status – Not a Project. 5. Approve a Revised Project Boundary for the Ongoing Downtown Housing Plan Project. CEQA Status: Exempt per 15061(b)(3) 6. Approval of Contract Amendment Number 3 to Seven Contracts in the amount of $750,000 for On-Call Services to Provide Expertise for Long-Range Planning Projects, Application Processing, Environmental Review, and Other Planning Analysis in the Planning and Development Services Department. CEQA Status: Not a Project. 7. Approval of Two Audits as Recommended by the Policy & Services Committee: Public Safety Construction Audit and Parking Permit Technology Contracts Audit 8. Adoption of an Ordinance Updating Palo Alto Municipal Code Chapter 4.64 (Permits for Retailers of Tobacco Products) to Conform with County Amendments and Approval of the Updated Agreement Between the County of Santa Clara and City of Palo Alto for a Tobacco Retail Permit Program; CEQA Status – Not a Project 9. REINTRODUCED FIRST READING: Adopt an Ordinance Adding Chapter 18.29 and Amending Chapters 18.14, 18.24, 18.70, and 16.65 in the Palo Alto Municipal Code as well as Amendments to the Zoning District Map, and Rezoning of Parcels Within the NVCAP area (PREVIOUSLY INTRODUCED: August 5, 2024 PASSED 6-1, Kou no) City Manager Comments Assistant City Manager Nose thought it best to do a date uncertain regarding Item 3 and she would work with the Mayor and Vice Mayor to find a date. She noted that staff had shared the National Weather Service Heat Advisory in effect for that day and the next day. Temperatures were expected to rise over the coming weekend. She provided a slide presentation discussing upcoming community events and activities, opportunities to engage and volunteer, the Junior Museum and Zoo pricing changes, notable tentative upcoming Council items and ways to share input and stay informed. Action Items 10. Review the Procurement Process Review Audit and Supplemental Information Regarding Competitive Solicitation Outcomes and Approve the Audit Mike Chimera, Baker Tilly Manager, gave a slide presentation about the results of the Procurement Process Review Audit to include a highlight of the objectives, 50 contracts sampled from FY22 and FY23, finding 1: supporting documentation for contract award, finding SUMMARY MINUTES Page 6 of 8 Sp. City Council Meeting Summary Minutes: 09/23/2024 2: purchasing manual inconsistencies, finding 3: needs assessment and market analysis and finding 4: vendor record creation. Kate Murdock, City Auditor, joined the presentation discussing ASD management response. Council Member Kou explained a change of management was the reason this was not unanimously voted on and was brought to Council. Council Member Burt remarked that the use of a checklist and the needs assessment were sound recommendations. He requested implementation schedules on the audit recommendations from staff. Lauren Lai, Administrative Services Director/ CFO, instructed finding 1 relates to the checklist that will roll out by December of this year. Finding 2 relates to updating the purchasing manual and will be updated in November. Finding 3 relates to the needs assessment and is being incorporated at this time. Finding 4 relates to developing a fix to adjust the SAP issue and is being worked on currently. Council Member Tanaka asked for explanation on finding 1 in terms of failed testing of 2 contracts. He wanted to know how this issue would be mitigated. He talked about not having a range of bids on contracts. He wanted to know if any research had been done on that issue. He felt there was a breakdown in the procurement process with single bids. He advised investigating why they only get one bid. City Auditor Murdock explained they had an original sample of 50 contracts and 2 did not have the competitive bidding process exemption form filled out. She stated that the mitigation of this issue was part of the checklist recommendation. She recalled that they looked at the staff reports as part of if the information was being communicated but not that specific issue. She remarked that there were instances where there was only one vendor in a particular contract space. She felt not putting more detail in the audit report about all the work that was done was a failure on their part but they did look at the competitive bidding process and whether it was reasonable and that is why there are no findings related to that in the report. Director Lai summarized the practice of how bid summaries are reported. She commented subsequent to the P&S committee meeting she asked staff to aggregate all the formal bids we did in that past year to follow up on this. It turned out that purchasing staff does research on solicitations that have zero or one bid results. They contact other vendors that might have pulled down the solicitation and inquire as to why they did not submit a bid. They keep a record and a notation in the SAP. In their research, it was found either some of them don't have the time to respond or some responded that they did not have the availability or bandwidth to take on the City project or the products or expertise as described in the scope of work. She remarked when they have low bids they do research to find out why some of the vendors did not respond. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 7 of 8 Sp. City Council Meeting Summary Minutes: 09/23/2024 Assistant City Manager Nose explained each of the contracts are attached to the staff report and they all have a Schedule C which shows the hourly rates depending on the individuals within that contract that will be working on a task order or a project. Council Member Tanaka suggested adding the reasons people refused to bid in the staff report. He thought it would be helpful to benchmark other cities and to think about why vendors are reluctant to bid on their projects. He did not understand why there was no explanation in the staff reports when a bid was disqualified. City Auditor Murdock indicated benchmarking was something they do in some of their audit reports but they did not in this report. She admitted they went over budget with this project and there were constraints. She remarked that benchmarking is very difficult. Mayor Stone clarified that the summary of the vendor feedback was actually in the staff report. He wanted explanation about the six contracts found to not have included all the key documentation. Council Member Lythcott-Haims agreed with Council Member Tanaka’s premise that one bid is potentially problematic. She indicated they learned at P&S that the questions they were asking about one bid were beyond the scope of the audit sought. There was a lack of familiarity at Baker Tilly owing to turnover. She wanted to know why only 11 contracts were checked. Ms. Murdock answered budget and time constraints were the limitations on checking the contracts. Council Member Veenker appreciated Council Member Tanaka's concern and persistence on this issue being good stewards of the city's budget and resources. She appreciated the audit and supported the motion. She commended the staff for their willingness to receive feedback. Mr. Chimera remarked that it was undetermined why the documentation was not included in the six contracts. David Ramberg, Assistant Administrative Services Director, commented in two cases disagreement was had with the City Auditor. There were two instances in which they indicated that their opinion was that they should have an Appendix E for two exemptions. The current practice is that there is a broad array of exemptions that are outlined in the municipal code in which they require an exemption approval process through the Appendix E form for those that require a judgment call by staff and need to be authorized all the way through the organization. There are a number of exemption points in the municipal code that point to exemptions by definition. One of those examples is legal contracts are exempt by definition so they do not prepare a form when they are exempt by definition. There is a host of other examples in the municipal code that have those similar types of defined exemptions. To lessen the burden of administrative processing, they do not push a form through the process for that. They have worked closely with their partners in the organization to validate that as an appropriate process. There were two examples where the City Auditor thought that they should have had SUMMARY MINUTES Page 8 of 8 Sp. City Council Meeting Summary Minutes: 09/23/2024 an Appendix E in those. They talked with them and acknowledged that they were going to go forward with that opinion. They subsequently pointed out that they did not have an Appendix E for the stated reasons. Vice Mayor Lauing opined that as it was normal procedure to use sample sizing in an audit, they received a high quality audit. Council Member Tanaka expressed appreciation for Baker Tilly’s work on the audit and hoped in the future they would do more around the performance of the procurement. He clarified that he was talking about missing information in other staff reports. He emphasized the importance of vendor management and review when renewing vendor contracts. Ms. Murdock thought that there were ways to work performance measures and expectations into contracts. She did not know if there were liability concerns with putting a vendor performance in in a document like a staff report. She would need to research the issue. MOTION: Council Member Lythcott-Haims moved, seconded by Mayor Stone to approve the Procurement Process Review Audit. MOTION PASSED: 7-0 Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 10:07 P.M.