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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-11-25 City Council Summary MinutesCITY couricii MINUTES ITEM Oral Communications Regular Meeting November 25, 1985 Item #1, Vacancy on the City Council Item . #2, Presentation by the Barron Park Community on the 10th Anniversary of their incorporation as part of the City of Palo Alto Consent Calendar Referral Action Item #3, Police Uniform Cleaning Item #4, Pl ginning : _Commission and Architectural Review Board unanimous recommendation for approval, with conditions, of application of _4. E. Bowen & Associates, Inc. for site and deeign approval for building located at 1010 Corporation Way Item #5, Resolution declaring 'election results of the Consolidated Municipal Election hold on Tuesday, November 5, 1985 CITY OF PAV() ALTO PAGE 6 5 5 7 6 5 5 7 6 5 5 7 6 5 6 0 6 5 6 0 6 5 6 0 6 5 6 0 6 5 6 0 6 5 6 0 Item #6, Grant from California'- Arts Council in 6 5 6 0 support of Cultural Center Master Class Program Item #7, Ordinance re Moratorium on issuance of demoltion and building permits for substandard lots in R-1 Districts (2nd Reading) Agenda Changes, Additions and Deletions Item #8, PUBLIC HEARING: Planning Commission recommendation re application of the City of Palo Alt© for a zone change for Lot 15 and for Lot 16 located at 3530 Ross Road 6 5 6 1 6 5 6 1 6 5 6 1 Item 09, PUBLIC HEARING: Planning Commission 6 5 6 2 recommendation re application of the City of Palo Alto for a zone change for Lot 15, and for Lot 3 located at 3120 Stockton Place Item #10, PUBLIC HEARING: Planning Commission recommendation re application of the City of Palo Alto for a zone change for property located at 301 Cambridge Avenue Item #11. Policy and Procedures Committee 6 5 6 3 recommendation re Overnight Parking Ordinance 6 5 6 3 6 5 5 5 11/25/85 IltM Item #l3, Draft Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement for Rail Service in the Peninsula Corridor Item #14, Undergrounding Districts 26, 27, and 23 - property owners electing to pay costs over a period of ten years Item #14-A, Request of Vice Mayor Coub re request of Barron Park Association for a letter from the Council endorsing their appl icetion for a grant to investigate a flood warning system Recess Item #12, Report of Council Legislative Committee Item #12-5, Council Legislative Committee to support the strongest possible resolution against apartheid in South Africa Item #15, Request of Councilmenbers Klein and Fletcher re Direct staff to prepare an ordinance prohibiting the deposit, investment, or use of City funds with banks, financial institutions, investment firms or others who do business with either the public or private sector of South Africa or Namibia so lony as apartheid is the official policy of those countries P A -G E 6 5 7 1 6 5 7 3 6 5 7 3 5 7 9 6 5 7 9 6 5 8 3 S 5 8 3 ADJOURNMENT: 11:30 p.m. 6 5 8 9 6 5 5 6 11/25/85 Regular Meeting November 25, 1985 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers, 250 Hamilton Avenue, at 7:30 p.m. PRESENT: Bechtel, Cobb, Fletcher, Klein, Levy, Menzel, Sutorius, Woolley Mayor Levy announced that a Special Study Session re Emergency Preparedness was held in the Council Conference Room at 6:15 p.m. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None ITEM #1, VACANCY ON THE CITY COUNCIL (COU 1-9) Mayor Levy said a vacancy was created on the City Council due to the resignation of Anne Witherspoon. The City Charter, Article III, Section 10, provided a vacancy on the Council be filled by a majority of the remaining members of the Council or by calling an election to fill the vacancy. The present vacancy was only through December 31, 1985, at which time Frank Patitucci, who was elected to Council in the recent election, would be seated. Because of the circumstance, he believed it appropriate for Coun- cil to appoint Mr. Patitucci to fill the vacancy. MOTION: Mayor Levy moved, seconded by Cobb, the appointment of Frank Patittacci . MOTION PASSED unanimously. Mayor Levy congratulated Mr. Patitucci. The Oath of Office was administered by City Clerk Gloria Young. Councilme Aber Patitucci thanked his family for consenting to his running for Council and being willing to endure the costs, time, and Whet .it took to b a Councilmember. He -introduced his wife, Jean, and his daughters, Serena aed Anna. He also thanked the people who worked on his campaign, especially his campaign man- ager, Susie Richardson, and her husband, George, and his campaign treasurer, Bill Simon, He looked forward to serving with the Council, and hoped to continue the quality of effort observed on the part of all the Councilmembers acid demonstrate the support he had in the community over the next few years. IYEM a2 PRESENTATION BY THE BARRON PARK. COMMUNITY ON THE 10TH -ANNTv Y —TitlR INC ALTO (PRE 2-1) Doug Graham, 984 it ima Way, was the Historian of the Barron Park Association that year. As with much of the rest of South Palo Alto, the Barron Park area started with the Rancho Ricon de San Francisquito in 1841. The original grant was purchased by Seconds no Robles in 1847, who had 29 children with his wife, Donna Maria. Alicia Crosby bought the, section of the rancho in 1853, which was when their history started. It was called Mayfield Farm, which was approximately one xgUare mile along the so_'ith of the tract, which since became` El Camino. In 1857, the local judge and his wife Sarah. Ual l i bought Mayfield Farm, which then had the Crosby's victorian Cause on it, and put a mansion on the front of the same design of the house. 1n 1878, Edward Barron, arrived in the area joining his friend, Leland Stanford who had purchased a farm to the north. The key date was in 886, two years after Leland Stanford decided to found the University to honor his 6 5 5 7 11/25/85 deceased son. He met with all the people of Mayfield, which for 30 years nad flourished as a railroad stop, industrial area, a residential arei, and a farm town, and asked them to get rid of their 13 saloons which he did not believe were good for the future students. It was a key date because it was when the original con- frontatipns were set up between Barron Park and Palo Alto. Mayfield teefused to divest itself of the saloons, and Leland Stanford created Palo Alto. Palo Alto got all the University sup- port and money, and Mayfield was. cut off. A fence was built across the road between the University and Mayfield, with a prohi- bition against students using the saloons. Mayfield stood up against. Stanford and, as a result, the town declined. Palo Alto prospered and. in 1925 it annexed Mayfield, which brought Palo Alto's border up to. the border of what was then considered the Barron Park area, although it was not known as such. Also in 1925, the first subdivision went into Barron Park, and it was called "Barron Park." It was a small area around Magnolia planted by Colonel Jones who ran the military academy in the old Barron Mansion. When the Palo Alto border went up to the Barron Park area by annexing Mayfield, immediately there was some interest in annexing further into what was now known as Barron Park. During the 1930s, many subdivisions went in, a lot of individual homes were built along the north side of El.Camino, presently called the Ventura neighborhood which was then also known as Barron Park. Barron Park used to go all the way clown to Arastradero on both sides of El Camino. Saloons were built. Being_County, and Palo Alto having annexed Mayfield and kicked out the saloons, tee saloons moved down to their area. A lot of people at Stanford drank, and they could not drink on campus nor in town, so they drank An Menlo Park and Barron Parka In the 1940s, the water and sewer went in from Palo Atlo to serve the Barron Park area acid annexation became seriously considered. David Packard .was the first prominent citizen who stood up and said Barron .Park should be part of Palo Alto, and it would save honey with the school dis- trict. However, when there was interest in Barron Park, the WCTU blocked the first annexation movement twice in 1947 based on the saloons up and down El Camino. Finally, the City recommended an- nexation. The Barron Park people became incensed with the WCTU attitude and voted it down 338 votes to 261. In 1951, the Chamber of Commerce recommended annexation which got everybody in Barron Park upset; "Vote down big land grants," was the letter that went out to all sorts of people claiming the City would grab Barron Park and make a lot of money off it. However, by then, a lot of subdivisions went in, and younger families had different atti- tudes. In 1954 and 1955 there was a movement in Barron Park to annex, which brought about the creation of the Barron Park Associ- ation (BPA) , which was then :mown as the Barron Park Maybell Tax- payers improvement Association, created specifically to fight an- nexation. They produced 846 written protests, far more than a majority of the landowners at that time. There was another attempt in 1958, --which was fought by Mr..Silte, who used to live on Maybell, and who created a document., _called "The Battle Cry of Freedom," which was about a 17 -page close -spaced mimeographed dia- tribe against communism and all sorts of horrible things repe. resented best by the City of Pa;o Alto. - The third annexation attempt alsb' _failed. In the `meantime, -the- Ventura neighborhood gave up and went into the -City as did a lot of other areas. The: Foothill annexation was coaapeised of the areas around Arastradero Road, tlreenacres I, Greenac-es I1, and the Highway Gardens are,. Meanwh$ie, the other side the Stanford Research Park was created to do research and development work,. which_ was annexed in 1952., - 1953, 1954, and 1956 in a see es. Barron Perk_woke up:in 1959 with t'rai f th'ir area in the -City, eel totally surrounded Ally the City except fob a-100 foot wide eerie wraith connected them to, the rest, of tt e county;.. without a road. In 1967, ,there was a public poll by the BPA which .icy_ then had .changed its _spots and decided ,annexat i o' wet . serrsi bl e, but the community was _;;not ready. The poll_ discovered less tharf half .would rote in favor. At that'time, the Movement was effectively ki l led by the City staff because they responded to question,.,. "Are we going to hav€, to have, curbs and 6 5 5 8 11/25/85 gutters," with the response of, "Of course you' . e going to have to have curbs and gutters, and every possible improvement the City might want to rake in your area to bring it up to full Palo Alto standards." The fifth movement 1n 1973-1975, the one he per- sonally remembered because he became a Barron Park resident in 1972, was after the BPA and the Barron Park Community created Bol Park through setting up a special tax district and voting them- selves for creation of the park, and under the tutelage of Dick Placone. The BPA began a careful, reasoned approach; an appeal based on careful tax analysis. They spent two years holding pub- lic meetings every few months in the community, many City staffers helped, many people from the County helped also by saying the County wanted the area annexed, and would not help much longer. There was still an anti -annexation movement and even a group formed to incorporate Barron Park, which quickly found they were too small for that. The final vote on November 4, 1975 was 2 -to -1, approximately, 936 votes to 478 to annex. One reason was probably because of the volunteer fire department which was creat- ed after Palo Alto cut Barron Park off in 1947. It did not work well given the modern, densely -populated urban area. For fire and protection, the people voted themselves into Palo Alto. There was a big picture in the newspaper of the si aa on their fire house saying, "Barron Park Forever," which appeared the day before the election. Based on the people who recently spoke about the past 10 years, most did not feel much differently, not many people changed their opinions, especially the ones that were there since 1975, but did not feel so strongly about things aey more. With the passage of time the consensus was being in the City had not hurt them one bit. On the other hand, being in the City had not helped them as much as the advocates expected and believed it would. John Joynt, 3589 Laguna, Chai rmae of the Barron Park Association (BPA), presented Mayor Levy and the Council with a proclamation and flowers from the BPA. The proclamation said ten years ago on November 25, 1975, the area known as Barron Park officially became annexed to the City of Palo Alto, and the FiPA maintained a proud history of solid community involvement for over 30 years. The joint activities between the City of Palo Alto and the BPA in- creased to include positive community efforts as the Quakesafe Pilot Proeeram, the new Barron Park traffic study, and the recyc- ling pilot program. The involvement of the residents in Barron Park in local activities continued to mount including the Indus- trial Park Relations Committee, Creeks Advisory Committee, Traffic Advisory Committee, Land Zone and School Use Committees, Neighbor- hood Beautification Committee, Emergency Preparedness Committee, Neighborhood Watch Association, Annual Mayfield Entertainment Com- mittee, the Parks and trees Advisory Committee, as well as the School Lieisons Committee. The BPA was the proud sponsor of Cub Scout Pack 52 and a new Boy Scout Troop 52, both initiated from scratch by BPA Board members, .and he, as Chairman of the Barron Park Association, thanked Leland D. Levy, Mayor of the City of Palo Alto, and the members of the City Council and staff for the outstanding working rel at i onshi p and encouragement received, and looked forward to a mutually building a better community for all of them to live and share. Mayor Levy thanked Mr. Joynt on behalf of the City and said the City of Palo Alto was a combination of small neighborhoods, and Barron Park was one of the most cohesive and active, and its citi- zens were amongthe most concerned He believed Barron Park was a major participant in all they held high and good in Palo Alto. Mr. Graham said after 10 years, he believed the Barron Park resi- dents were happy to be in Palo Alto and were concerned about the future. Probably the major issues.: for. Barron Park and Palo Alto for the next 10 or 15 years were what happened to the school sites if mote schools were closed, what the land use would be, and what community values could be retained both for recreation and other other community use. They were also concerned about what they could do about the El Camino strip, which had been a problem since the 1920s. Flftee:i years ago, they were happy to get the neigh- borhood commercial zone, and sincerely believed it was the solu- tion to the problem of _development os. El Camino, but they were not as sure now. Their strip was. deteriorating, and there was no sig- nificant development. They queried where to go. They did not have a lot of answers, but they were concerned and desired to con- tinue to work with the City perhaps with innovative id.:as to up- grade the stretch of, El Camino to be in line with what -Mountain View did. CONSENT CALENDAR MOTION: Councllmember Bechtel moved, seconded by Sutorius, approval of the Consent Calendar. Referral None Action ITEM #3, POLICE UNIFORM CLEANING (SAF 3) (CMR:611:5) Staff recommends the City Council authorize the Mayor to execute the agreement with Economy Cleaners, to provide uniform cleaning services ?,r the period December 1, 1985 to November 30, 1986. Funding for the contract is included in the Police -Department's 1985-86 budget. AGREEMENT POLICE UNIFORM CLEANING, LA NDRY AND PRESSING SERVICES Economy Cleaners ITEM #4, PLANNING COMMISSION AND ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD UNAKIMO-US RICOMHENDATION FOR APPROVAL, WITH CONDITIONS OF THE APPLIOAti M - li.. d W'N SSOCIATES, INC. FOR SITE AND DESIGN APPROVAL OF AN AODITfON 1'0 (IFFICF SPACE Ta AN FXIST1iir7FTTCE BuILTI FTFATTUR WAY CPLA 3:T) ITEM #5 RESOLUTION DECLARING ELECTION RESULTS OF THE CONSOLIDATED MUNICIPAL ELECTION Hai) ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1.985 e r) It is recommenced 'chat Council adopt the resolution declaring the. results of the General Municipal and Special Elections held on November 5, 1985. RESOLUTION 640 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL Of THE CITY OF PALO ALTO DECLARING THE RESULTS OF THE CONSOLIDATED . MUNICIPAL ELECTION HELD ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER S, 1985' ITEM #6 GRANT FROM CALIFORNIA ARTS COUNCIL IN S'IPPORT OF CULTURAL ZNTCR MASTER CLASS P> — - Staff recommends the City Council 1. Adopt the .resolution accepting the California Arts. Council. Grant AC -5722 of $6,612 for the Master Class Program at the Palo Alto Cultural Center, avid 2. Approve the budget amendment ordinance to accept. the funds into the 1-985-86 Arts and Sciences Division Visual Arts. Program iledget.. 6 5 6 0 11/25/85 CONSENT CALENDAR CONTINUED RESOLUTION 6448 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO ACCEPTING A GRANT FROM CALIFORNIA ARTS COUNCIL FOR MASTERS CLASS PROGRAM OF THE PALO ALTO CULTURAL. CENTER" ORDINANCE 3649 entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITE 8.' PALO ALTO AMENDING THE BUDGET FOR THE 'FISCAL YEAR 1985-86 TO PROVIDE AN ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION FOR THE ARTS AND SCIENCES DIVISION AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE RECEIPT OF GRANT FUNDS FROM THE CALIFORNIA ARTS COUNCIL ARTISTIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM" ITEM #7, ORDINANCE RE MORATORIUM ON ISSUANCE OF DEMOLITION AND BUILDING PERMITS FOR SUBSTANDARD LOTS [N R-1 DISTRICTS (2nd Reading) (PLA 3-16), -� ORDINANCE 36bO entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE rriTlirllitiTALTO AMENDING ORDINANCE KO. 3637 TO EXTEND THE MORATORIUM on THE ISSUANCE OF DEMOLITION AND BUILDING PERMITS FOR SUBSTANDARD LOTS IN R-1 DISTRICTS IN THE CITY OF PALO ALT©" (1st Reading 11/12/85, PASSED 8-1, Woolley "no.") MOTION PASSED unanimously, Woolley voting "no," on Item 17, Ordinance re. Noratoriva on Issuance of Demolition and Building Permits for Substandaod Lots in R-1 Districts. AGENDA CHANGES, ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS MOTION: Mayor Levy moved, seconaed by R1ein5 to bring forward Items 113, Draft Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement for Rail Ser- vice in the Peninsula Corridor; and Item 114, Undergrounding Dis- tricts 26, 27 and 28 ahead of Item 112, Report of Council Legisla- tive Committee. MOTION PASSED unanimously. Vice Mayor Cobb added Item #14-A, re Request from Barron Park Association for a letter from the Council endorsing their applica- tion for a Grant to investigate a flood warning system. ITEM #8, PUBLIC HEARING: PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION RE APPLICATION or Tait` CITE ZONE CHAS FOR LOT 15 R� d L R N U A 5 i D Y L $i`tR Lt:X eFOTM — " OAD S 3-1) � L R-7, OE Planning Commissioner Helene Wheeler said her comments were directed to both the item before the Council and Item #9, zone change application for 3120 Stockton Place. The Planning Commis- sion recommendation was before the Council hopefully as a lesson learned from the development of the. BMR unit's on the Crescent Park and Ortega School sites. It was discovered design:of those units was made difficult by the choice of lot placement for BNR units by agreement between the Palo Alto Rousing Corporation, tee Palo Alto Unified School District, and by recommendation of the Planning Commission to the .City Council. The _Commission hoped future deci- sions were better t1oggnt out on the proposed change and would make the design of the units more satisfactory. Mayor Levy declared the public hearing open. Deceiving no requests from the publle to speak, he declared the public hearing closed. 11/25/85 MOTION: Counciii ember Woolley moved, seconded by Fletcher, to adopt the staff recommendation for approval of the proposed rezon- ing to twitch lots for development of a BMR duplex, fl ding that the rezoning will not have a detrimental impact on the physical environment. ORDINANCE FOR FIRST READING entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCil. OF" THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING SECTION 18.08.040 OF THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CCOE (THE ZONING MAP) TO CHANGE THE Z0iE CLASSIFICATION OF PORTIONS OF THE PROPERTY KNOWN AS 3530 ROSS ROAD (FORMER ROSS ROAD SCHOOL SITE) FROM R-i TO R-1 (743) AND FROM 1-1 (743) TO R-2)" MOTION PASSED unanimously. ITEM #9, PUBLIC HEARING: PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION RE APPROVAL OF rHE APPLICATION or THE CITY OF PALO ALTO FOR A ZONE b ' L LOCATED) AT 3120 STS 'PLACE, TO SWITCH LOT DESIGNATED FOR OE-YELOPMEfT OF4A 3MR DUPCrX (FO_R!E-R DeANZA SCHOOL SITE) (PCA 3-1) Councilmember patitucci understood the {tensity of the development on the sites would eventually be settled by a overlay zoning ordi- nance. He asked if the design in the subject units would be sub- ject to the same criteria. as the other units to be built on the lots, which he presumed would be some sort of floor area ratio or different se0acks. Zoning Administrator Bob Brown said the proposal to return to the City Council on December 16, 1985 would he an overlay zone for the R-1 zoned lots in the subdivision. The lot being rezoned that evening to R-2 would eventually return to the Council as a Planned Community zone change. Incorporated with the Planned Community zone change would be a specific design. The combining district to be approved in December would not specifically apply to the future planned community BMR duplex for the property. Cauncilcnember Patitucci clarified the unit might have signifi- cantly greater bulk or a design which might be inconsistent with the remaining number of units in the development which would have to adhere to the overlay zone. Mr. Brown said potentially yes, although the City Council would have the ultimate authority in approving the size of the BI4R duplex. Staff would recommend to the Palo Alto Housing Corpora- tion (PAHC) the duplex -design be consistent with the adopted com- bining district for the remainder of the lots so it would not be conspicuous as a larger un;t. Mayor Levy declared the public hearing open. Receiving no requests from the public to speak, he declared the public hearing closed. MOTION: Councilee ib+ r 8edhtel ;Wed, seconded by Fletcher, to adopt the staff recoeeeRdet i on for approval of the proposed rezon- ing to switch lets for ;development of a BMR duplex from Lot 15 to Lot 3, finding that the rezoning Will not have a detrimental impact on the physical environment. ORDINANCE FOR ;FIRST READING entitled "ORDINANCE OF T'C_ ALO ALTO ANfODIN+R SECTION 18,t1 .040 OF THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE (THE ZONING NAP) TO CHANGE TICE ZONE CLASSIFICATION OF PORTIONS.. OF THE PROPERTY KNOWN AS 3120 STOCKTON PLACE (FORMER lam AIIA SCHOOL SITE) FROM R..2 TO 1.1 ;Ail$ FROM R. 1 TO R-2*. MOTION PASSED unanimously. 6 5 6 2 11/25/85 ITEM #1D; PUBLIC HEARING: PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION RE APPROVAL OF APPLICATION OP lH CITY OF PALO ALTO FOR A ZONE CHANGE FOR PROrE-RI-Y LOCATED AT 301 CAMBRIDGE AVENUE FROM PF (PUBLIC FACILITIES; TO CC -2 ��OMMUM w A PPING ERROR (PLA 3-1) Planning Commissioner Helene Wheeler said the issue was easily resolved. The Planning Commission believed it was incumbent upon the City to correct its own mapping error. Most of the discussion was about the development potential of the lot. Mayor Levy declared the public hearing open. Receiving no requests from the public to speak, he declared the public hearing closed. MOTION: Councilmember Bechtel moved, seconded by Cobb, to adopt the staff recommendation for a change in zoning designation for 301 Cambridge Avenue from PF to CC -2, finding that the change in district boundaries through a mapping error will -mot have a sig- nificant impact on the physical environment. ORDINANCE FOR FIRST READING entitled 'ORDINANCE 0"r THE PALO ALTO AMENDING SECTION 18.08.040 OF THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE (THE ZONING MAP) TO CHANGE THE ZONE CLASSIFICATION OF THE PROPERTY KNOWN AS 301 CAMBRIDGE AVENUE FROM PF-TO CC -2' MOTION PASSED unanimously. ITEi1 ill POLICY AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION RE L: : Councilmerber Woolley said the reason for discussing the matter was a visual concern for the quality of Parr Alto's neighborhoods. The present ordinance required vehicles with commercial plates t:>ver 7,000 pounds could not park on the streets from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a,m., and the staff recommendation cut it back to vehicles of 5,000 pounds. Wheu the initial recommendation was before the Council the past summer, a survey shower 1300 vehicles fit into the category of commercial vehicles whicr parked on the street, which were all below 7,000 pounds, The staff recommendation to set the limit at 5,000 pounds would pick up 57 of the 1300 vehicles. the Policy and •Procedures (P&P) Committee wanted to include more than 67 vehicles, and the recommendation was to drop the poundage to 3,800 which would pick up approximately another 500 vehicles. She said the motion was only for R-1 districts and only for vehicles with commercial plates, which had one letter with ail the rest beiny numbers. The enforcement would be on a complaint basis so that citizens would have to share the responsi- bility and it would be a low priority for the Police Department. MOTION: Counctlmer ber Woolley for tie Policy and Procedures Committee moved to amend the ex• ng overnight parking ordinance to prohibit commercial vehicles, in excess of 3,800 pounds unladen weight, from parking on R-1 zoned streets between the hours of 2:04 a.o._ and 6:00 a.m. Also, that the existing provisions regarding hardship permits and the prohibition of campers. trail- ers, and house cars in all residential areas remain in effect. Shield any change in the ordinance occur, staff will provide violators with warnings and inform/Weil for a 60 -day period. If the Police Department finds that additional •resources are needed, they shall return to the City Council. ORDINANCE FOR FIRST READING entitled 'ORDINANCE OF THE CUONC1E ©1F TIE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING SECTION 10.44.020 OF THE PALO, ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE TO PROMI$IT STANDING OR PARKING OF CERTAIN "COMMERCIAL VEHICLES IN N. ZONES UETWEEM - ENE HOURS OF TWO A.M. AND SIX A.M." 6 5 6 3 11/25/85 Vice Mayor Cobb asked if the enforcement problem for the lower weights was in the context of the complaint only system. Assistant Police Chief Chris Durkin said there might be some frus- tration because the Police Department might not be able to respo;.d to a complaint. When no action was taken by the Police in a day or two, it might generate some frustration and dissatisfaction. Vice Mayor Cobb clarified it was a timing question. Assistant Chief Durkin said it was because of a conflict of other enforcement needs. Vice Mayor Cobb said the point seemed to be whether the weight limit recommended by staff or the P&P Committee was the right one. He queried whether there might be an intermediate point which represented a reasonable compromise. For example, a three-quarter ton pickup and some of the four-wheel drive pickups were hefty vehicles, whereas a Chevrolet El Camino was essentially a car with a pickup bed. Lieutenant Ed Austin made a slide presentation beginning with a group of vehicles currently prohibited which exceeded 7,000 pounds, including a, tractor -trailer weighing 16,750 pounds, a GMC delivery van weighing 10,820 pounds, and a UPS van weighing 8,040 pounds. The next series of photographs si'sawed vehicles in between 5,000 and 7,000 pounds, including a delivery van with a lift gate on the rear weighing 6,940 pounds, a GMC 5000 tow truck weighing 6,850 pounds, a Ford tow truck weighing 6,280 pounds, a delivery van weighing 6,020 pounds, a Times Tribune van weighing 5,500 pounds, and a Ford flatbed weigh ng 5,480. The next series of photographs were all vehicles which weighed under 5,000 pounds. Those were a Ford F250 three-quarter ton pickup truck weighing; 4,960 pounds, a 0odye four-wheel drive half -ton pickup weighing 4,450 pounds, a Chevrolet El Camino weighing 3,850, a Ford Econo-- 1 i ne van weighing._ 3, 840 pounds, a Nissan-four,wheel drive pickup weiyhiny 3,004 pounds, and a Toyota pickup weighing 2,602 pounds. Assistant Chief Durkin ,said the vehicles were registered either as a commercial vehicle, a passenger vehicle, or a house car. The larger trucks were commercial vehicles; the vans had the option of being registered as -a passenger vehicle, a commercial vehicle, or as a house car determined by DMV based upon the design and use of the van. For example, a van similar to the one shown without any windows and used for commercial purposes was probably, but not necessarily always, a commercial vehicle; whereas a van of the same size but with windows and seats was probably registered as a passenger vehicle; whereas a van with or without windows with a sink could be registered ac a house car. Usually pickup trucks were registered as commercial vehicles but occasionally as house cars if they had a pernanental y attach d shell or camper on them. Vice Mayor Cobb asked to return to his question as to an inter- mediate way that made a reasonable compromise. Assistant Chief Durkin clarified if Council wanted to reduce num- bers, more information was necessary about the types of vehicles causing the .problem and where their efforts should be targeted. Councilmember Bechtel .clarified with staff just exactly what they considered the problems tb be if the P&P Committee recommendations were adopted, which picked up an additional 500 vehicles as opposed to 57. 6 5 6 4 11/25/85 Assistant Chief Durkin classified them as concerns. They were not sure what the impact would he, but some concerns were the quality enforcement might differ depending on where complaints came from. One .ieighborhood might receive a lot of enforcement because there were many 'complaints where another neighborhood might not get any enforcement A re complaints. L There .....��CVVNIV!{1. b..Z'ui.3L7� there were no �.vu{�.+;aina.aF There was a pos- sibility of some conflict with other enforcement efforts .which might have a spinoff result of some dissatisfaction from citizens not getting service as rapidly as they liked, and he believed there was presently an abandoned vehicle program in place where they towed approximately 15 vehicles per month .and acted upon about 200 complaints a month, causing many of the �vehi.cles to be moved. Councilmember Bechtel said in the report attached to the P&P Com- mittee recommendation, it recommended the 5,000 pounds and said it could be done with existing staff. She asked if the implication of going to a lower weight would require more staff. Assistant Chief Durkin said it was a possibility, but staff wanted to be satisfied whether the program worked before making a judg- ment. Councilmember Bechtel understood the P&P Committee made the recom- mendation and went before Council in the first place not only because of aesthetics but also because of residents' safety. She asked if a heavier, larger vehicle created more danger. Was 3,800 pounds safer on the street than 5,000; and how did staff make the judgment. Assistant Chief Durkin had difficulty making the judgment. He nad no data about any of the vehicles and incidents of injury or crime occurring between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., which was the period being discussed for enforcement, and concerning a parked vehicle as opposed to rolling whether on the property or street. Rolling safety was another issue. They were getting into how tall or wide the vehicle was and whether it created any problems for bicyc- lists, but then were talking about the 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. hours. Councilmember Bechtel said the assumption was if the vehicles were gone between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. hopefully they would be gone some of the longer hours. Staff wanted to be sure it was not parked 24 hours because during the day was really when the safety problem existed with people bicycling by and driving, etc. Councilmember Sutorius clarified the proposal at either limit applied only to the R-1 zones. He asked if all the a umbers referred related just to the R-1 or to residential zones as the. present ordinance spoke to the problem. Assistant Chief Durkin said the survey related to R-1 zones only and approximately 1,315 vehicles curbed once last May. Councilmember Sutorius asked whether staff had any indication of what it might be on a total residential zone basis. Lieutenant Austin said no since only R -1's were surveyed; however, staff understood R-1 zones made up the vast majority of residen- tial zones so an estimate could be made from there.. Councilmember Sutorius was not sure it tracked geographically con- sidering the density of tho other residential zones and the poten- tial parking on -street versus off-street. . Councilmember Patitucoi asked whether a heavier truck, like the moving van or similar sized vehicle, could be registered as a 6 5 6 5 11/25/85 As corrected 1/20/86 passenger vehicie of were 14obe always commercial vehicles, even if an individual owned it for his use. Lieutenant Austin said pickup trucks and above had to be regis- tered as a commercial vehicle or a house car depending on their use. Mayor Levy clarified it was acceptable for commercial vehicles to be parked in a driveway. Assistant Chief Durkin said yes. Mayor Levy asked whether the City ' had any restrictions as to how close to the sidewalk the car could park when in a driveway. Assistant Chief Durkin said the general rule was that it not block the sidewalk. A standard used was a pedestrian could get by, par- ticularly a wheelchair. Mayor Levy asked whether there were any other restrictions as to parking vehicles on private property. Assistant Chief Durkin said some restrictions involved parking and storing a vehicle on the front laws, and were handled by the Com- pliance Inspector in the Building Department. Mayor Levy clarified it was legal to park as many vehicles on one's property as there was driveway space for them. Assistant Chief Durkin said yes. Don Price, 960 Addison, said when he saw the slide show and realized. what a 7,000 pound vehicle was, he could not imagine why the limit was set so high in the first place. When one saw the array of large, ugly vehicles weighing 3,800 pounds, there were hundreds parked on the streets of Palo Alto at all times. They spoke to the 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. period, but had to realize those- vehicles were there probably always during evenings and weekends, when Most of them enjoyed their neighborhoods. He was concerned about the safety of the streets. Another neighbor blocked their exit with a large vehicle for three years making it impossible to go eta_ of the driveway safely because one could not see what was coming up and down the street. H3 was also concerned about_. children on the streets and also bicyclists who could not see through the vehicles, and drivers could not see through them to children exiting the driveways. The City needed .,ore control of vehicles on its car -lined streets in the residential areas.of Palo Alto. He hoped the Council would take action with the pro- posal to reduce the poundage to a somewhat more reasonable limit. Russell Phillips, 861 Garland Drive, saw his neighborhood go down- hill with parking up and down the street all day and night during the past 29 years. Next door to him, the family had four drivers and five cars, including one of those F250 pickup trucks which weighed about 4,800 pounds. The family did not use the garage so one car was always in front of his house with the truck parked in the driveway projecting over the sidewalk and into the street, as well as another car, too. Another family with three cars parked only one in 'the garage. They never saw a patrol car in .their street sine it was developed. He did not believe a fire truck could get in eaeily; the street sweeper just went up the middle and back out again and could not get the leaves and trash in the gutters because cars and trucks blocked the curb. It was a dis- agreeable situation ee d- he hoped Council would at least accept the recommendation of the P&P Committee to bring the level down to 3,800 pounds. Willi4m ClaLk, 2350 Siss*.-ca Cou:: i, agreed with the previous speakers although he had a four-wheel drive truck. It was a sad situation oecause with the weight limit restriction they basically said one could buy a four-wheel drive foreign vehicle and park it on the City streets, but one could not buy an American vehicle, at least not a full-sized truck. Unfortunately, most four-wheel drive trucks were obnoxious. He was concerned Council was writing off the problem to a weight restriction which was not a fix. He had the same situation, living in a cul-de-sac built during the 1950s with one -car garages and space for one car in the driveway. The majority of the homes had a minimum of four cars, some had six. People double-parked in the streets. His concern was Coun- cil would let the issue drop, hoping the weight restriction was a fix when clearly it was not. Council needed to adopt a measure stating vehicles could legally only be parked in the street directly adjacent to where one's property line met the ,street; in_ other words, not in front of another man's house, and two people on his. cul-de-sac could not park in front of his house so he had to walk four or five houses to get into his home. Councilmember Woolley said the_P&P Committee agreed it was not a solution to the total _problem because they were more concerned with the visual problem and perhaps a safety problem of width. The reason staff recommended the weight was it was available quickly when an officer stopped and could determine by radio what the weight was because it was on the registration cf the vehicle and obtainable within about a minute. It was a concrete piece of information, whereas other kinds of information involved the officer- making measurements, or something more difficult to define. it was for ease of definition. It boiled down to a matter of whose lifestyle they interfered with more --the truck owner who was being asked to park in his driveway instead of on the street, or the resident who had _ to look at the truck parked across the street from his house. The only person who was going to be in a di `fir.ult strait was someone who hived in a single- family house wh.. -had more trucks than driveway space. Frankly, she did not have much sympathy for someone who had -zany trucks and little driveway space as they usurped their neighbors' goodwill. She wanted to see the overnight parking ban restored, but the chanye in the way of life made it impossible. Going to 3,800 pounds was a comp-omise between having a complete ban versus banning just vehicles over 7,000 pounds. She urged Council to support the P&P Committee recommendation. Assistant Chief Durkin said the weights of vehicles could be obtained by radio from the DMV through the computerized .system only if the vehicle had commercial plates. A van might be regis- tered as a passenger vehicle, weigh 3,800 pounds, and park legally on the street; or, it might possess commercial plates and be parked illegally on the street. Vice Mayor Cobb asked whether there was some kind of a hardship provision for someone who could not park the vehicle in his drive- way for Various reasons. Assistant Chief Durkin responded if therr_. was not adequate off-~_, street parking, there was a hardship provision, but it did not apply to commercial vehicles, only to house cars. Vice Mayer Cobb said some of the vehicles with passenger car plates were more obnoxious in the street than a half -ton pickup. He asked if staff had any ideas about how to deal, with that prob- lem because those were typically the vehicles left in the streets. Assistant Chief Durkin said no; it was subjective. Councilneaber Klein said at the P&p Committee meeting, he spoke against the majority position and supported the staff position of keeping the limit at 5,000. It was appropriate to reduce the 11%2g/85 weight from the existing 7,000 pounds, but people complained about the neighbors with our and five cars Many unrelated young adults lived together, each had a car, and there were all types of situations where people had four, five; and six cars which spilled over onto the street. Regardless of what form the ordinance took, it would have zero effect on the problem, Council should concen- trate on what they were trying to accomplish, since as Council - member Woolley observed, they could not get at the other problem given the change in lifestyles and density of people who lived per unit, etc. The difference between 5,000 and 3,800 pounds was they banned the Ford F250, the Dodge four-wheel drive, the Chevrolet El Camino, and the Ford van. He queried whether those were so obnox- ious on the streets from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. that Council should ban them. He agreed it was a subjective judgment, and it was the sort of invidious discrimination against people with par- ticular lifestyles. He did not find them so objectionable as he mentioned at P&P Committee. He found big Cadillacs which weighed about the same, if not more than,3,800 pounds, more objectionable than some of the vehicles proposed to be banned under the P&P Com- mittee recommendation. Big Cadillacs, by and large, were driven by elderly people, whereas Chevrolet El Caminos, etc., were pri- marily driven by younger people,, which bothered him, particularly in a community trying to attract younger people because of the aging population of the community. Re asked Council to stand back and take a second look. It was easy to say, -"Let's do something about this problem," but he queried whethee it was something which made sense in the long run. He did not believe so and would not support the P&P Committee recommendation. AMENDMENT: Councilmember Klein moved, seconded by Bechtel, that c.he weight described in the motion be changed to 54000 pounds unladen weight. Councilmember Renzel urged her colleagues to support the P&P Com- mittee recommendation and defeat the amendment. She did not buy the argument i; one could not achi.e:e everything one wanted, one did not do anything. She believed there was clearly something Council could do, and even though it was not everything they would like, it did something to help keep the neighborhoods pleasant and safe, hopefully. She also did not buy the idea that it was discriminatory to try to get commercial vehicles to park in their own properties rather than in front of their neighbors. It did not., unduly regulate lifestyle. With the exception of a few neighborhoods, most neighborhoods -in Palo Atlo were built with at least one garage and one driveway. They had purposes; the City required them for the intent of storing people's vehicles, and it was perfectly reasonable to request commercial vehicles be pet there. There were many streets, some from which Council had complaints, and it was reasonable to try and encourage people to put some of those vehicles were they belonged. She. urged her colleagues to defeat the amendment and -support the main motion. Councilmember Fletcher also urged her colleagues to accept the P&P Committee recommendation and vote down the amendment. The ban did not apply to large Cadillacs, but rather to large, oversized, bulky vehicles with commercial plates which used public property causing visual blight to their neighbors. The enforcement was only 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.,, so there was temporary parking per- mitted, bet many vehicles seemed to use the public street as per- manent storage, and it would do a lot to remove some of the vehicles from the streets during the daytime too. She also wanted to expand the coverage to all residential zones, but did not believe it was feasible because a lot of the multi -family zones did not have driveways to park" the vehicles off-street. Menlo Park -and Mountain View, as mentioned by one of the members of the public, had .even : more stringent regulations. Basically, they were enforced on a complaint basis, and as the police explained when a complaint was made, they might not have immediate response. As ca�rrec e 1/20/86 • SY P1 j • •�%�lt. is However, over tr°e period of time the vehicles were parked in the street, eventually action would be taken and the _neighbors would not resent it. As far as some neighborhoods not getting as -. much enforcement because, there were fewer complaints, -if there were no complaints, she doubted there was much cause. Where there was a problem with the neighbors, they would -complain and the ordinance, if adopted as recommends by the 'P&P Committee, would solve those problems. Counc i1 memt+er Bechtel said about four years ago she was one of the supporters of bringing back the ban on overnight parking of any vehicles. Unfortunately, too many pe6nle had too many cars_ and not enough room in their driveways, etc. It was an issue Council did not deal with other than to put the ban of 7,000 on commercial vehicles. Many of the complaints Council now heard from the pub- lic, and she heard from many individuals, were of the many cars on their public streets. The reason she supported the amendment was as she looked at the slides, she realized they were being somewhat arbitrary in picking a magical figure of 3,800 pounds. The Chevrolet El Camino, for example, which looked much like a pas- senger vehicle, was about the size of a passenger vehicle, and would be one of those banned. Therefore, she believed the staff recommendation of 5,000 pounds was one Council was able to be responsive to. In fact, the citizenry would be satisfied Council was able to he responsive, and would not be frustrated by not get- ting the kind of action they wanted. Councilmember Fletcher asked staff whether a car like an El Camino was likely to have commercial plates. Assistant Chief Durkin said yes. Councilmember Fletcher asked whether- it was used for commercial purposes. Assistant Chief Durkin responded is was because its design was similar to a pickup truck as opposed to a passenger vehicle. Counc`ilmember Fletcher did not see any great hardship for the owner of that car to drive on his own property. Councilmember Woolley was not on the Council when the "hot issue" was debated, but there was an editorial of support i',n the Palo Alto Weekly that week, so it was publicized several times, yet there were only three speakers that evening all in support. Coun- cil could read there was not a lot of opposition at that time and she asked her colleagues to "Strike while the iron wasn't hot." Mayor Levy believed residential areas should have a residential appearance and commercial vehicles detracted from it. Therefore, he supported an ordinance for a lower weight as apparently they all dida The only question was whether to reduce the weight to 5,000 or to 3,800 pounds for commercial vehicles. The key to him was "commercial vehicle .". Every property owner in an R -I area had two place, on `heir property for vehicles. It seemed the solution was simple -put commercial vehicles on one's own property and not blight the street with them whether they were 3,800 pounds,: 5,000 pounds, or more. • Council was not talking about depriving individuals of a lifestyle, but about dealing with a commercial practice. If a person used a pickup truck for commer- cia! purposes, then it was fair to ask that person to put the vehicle on their own property during the evenings. If the person used the vehicle for ;er°sonal purposes and did not require commer- cial plates, then Council was .eot dealing wits them by the ordi- nance. The 3,800 pounds was a _fair level. It wa3 true as they got down towards the 3,800 °pound figure the decisions were more marginal, but Council had every right to make themargin in favor of a more attractive residential area. 6 5 6 9 1L ?5/85 Councilmember Klein said in response to Councilmember Woolley's comment that few people actively protested, there were also few who actively supported the issue, so instead of, "Strike while the iron __wasn't hot '! it eight_ he__a eless1c case of, "Things aren't so 7 a.. v. case v "Things yJ aren't Y JV broken; maybe we shouldn't be trying to fix them." Mayor Levy seemed to set up some type of assumption that cars with commercial plates were used commercially, and, if he heard Assistant Chief Durkin correctly, it was really not the case. Councilmember Patitucci had difficulty understanding what Council was trying to accomplish. Some of the problems discussed and brought to his attention, were not covered by the ordinance, and needed some attention. 'The question of safety was the primary issue about which Council should concern itself. Aesthetics were one thing and important, but large, cumbersome vehicles in resi- dential areas during the day and at times when people were backing in and out of .driveways, riding their bikes, and kids were going back and forth to school, was something that needed to be addressed, and he hoped Council would do so at some later date. Regarding the issue` of parking commercial vehicles cn one's own property, it seemed if Council was dealing with aesthetics and had neighborhoods in which they argued vociferously about the numtaer of feet of setback required, and adhered religiously to eh foot limit and did not allow people to build fences or t. .race obstructions, somebody parking one of those vans in their d1 iveway between the sidewalk and their house created, in effect, : nine - foot fences if it was done every night, and Council told the l.er- son to take the vehicle off the street and put it into their driveway, he did not see what they had accompl is led aesthetically. He related a personal experience in which a 6,000 or 7,000 pound van parked in a driveway adjacent to theirs for a peeiod of months, off the street, and caused untold difficulty and close moments trying to back out of his driveway and see both direc- tions, having kids coming down the sidewalk and on the street, especially if':eie left at a time when kids were going to school. The ordinance did not touch on that. He had an amendment on the setback area to propose later. Councilmember Renzel said with regard to enforcement between 200 a.m. and 5:U0 a.m., what really happened through the enforcement process, hopefully, was that people's habits changed with respect to park:i_g their vehiclesa. After failing to park off-street a few times and being cited, people routinely would start parking off- street to avoid moving their vehicle later on. She believed it would have a significant effect, in the parking habits of people who owned the commercial vehicles aed so believed it made a dif- ference, which was what Council ought to be dealing with. Vice Mayor Cobb still believed the El Camino was too Much like a car to snag is the net; but on the other hand, some of the larger four-wheel drive pickups were pretty obnoxious looking. He would vote against the amendment because he believed there might be a better dividing line. AMENDMENT FAILED by a vote of 2-7, Bechtel and Klein voting �:yeas AMENDMENT:. Vice Mayor ..Cobb sired, seconded by Patitecci, to change the weight to 4,000 poondt unladen weight. Councilmember Fletcher pointed cast, in opposition, Council was also approving the oversized van. The neatehbors of the Chevrolet El Camino were not likely to complain about it being in the street overnight and therefore, the owner would not be harassed or inconveniences[. She urged her colleagues to not support the amendment and return to;, the original P&P Committee recommenda- tion. 6 5 7 0 1.1/25/85 Councilmember Renzel hoped there were enough votes one the Council to do something, but believed the vans ware as much of a problem as some of the pickup trucks, and would reluctantly vote against the amendment. Councilmember Patitucci believed the 3,800 pounds was probably as arbitrarily arrived at as the 4,000, and nobody gave a cogent argument why it should be 3,800. It could be adjusted from time to time, and Council should act then, and review it in six months, conslderine how many complaints were received and the administra- tive difficulty of implementation before adjusting it up or down. AMENDMENT PASSED by a vote of 5-4, Fletcher, Levy, Renzel, Sutorl as voting "no." Mayor Levy clarified the main motion, as amended, amended the existing overnight parking ordinance to prohibit commercial vehicles, in excess of 4,000 pounds unladen weight, from parking on R-1 zoned streets between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Councilmember Patitucci said regarding setbacks, he was told by the City Attorney it was not an appropriate issue for the particu- lar ordinance. He suggested the issue of parking of commercial vehicles covered by the ordinance be referred to the Planning Com- mission to see if there was some 'way to deal with the issue of parking in the setback between the sidewalk or the City property lines and the setback, through the planning process. He asked if it met the legal requirements. City Attorney Diane Lee said yes. MOTION TO REFER:'-Councilmember Patitucci moved to refer issue of perking in the setback -area to the Planning Commission. MOTION TO REFER DIED FOR LACK OF A SECOND. MOTION TO RECONSIDER: Councilmember Woolley moved, seconded by Renzel, reconaider•atioi of Amendment which set weight at 4,000 ponds unladen weight. MOTION TO RECONSIDER PASSED by a vote of 7-2, Klein, Patitucci voting "no." RECONSIDERED AMENDMENT FAILED by a vote of 4-5, Bechtel , Klein, Patitucci, Cobb voting "aye." MOTION PASSED unanimously. ITEM 113 DRAFT JOINT EXERCISE. OF POWERS AGREEMENT FOR RAIL R Vice Mayor Cobb asked about the power of eminent domain, and how powerful it was in terms of the organisation. A Southern Pacific (SP) right-of-way ran through .Palo Alto, and if there was a desire to put a BART system down through there; he envisioned a situation where an oreanizatior, if their powers were strong enough, could widen the rig ht-ofewa,y as was done in other communities in the East Bay, afid take out a lot of homes in Palo Alto to put in the system. He asked if that was conceivable under- the structure being discussed. He as cooterned about how much of, the store the; were giving away, and to what extent they had control without same damage to the community. City Manager Bill Zaner said it was conceivable. Joint Powers Agencies, with their right of eminent domain, had exercised that. kind of authority. BART was a good example. It could be. done, which was not. to smy it could not be contested io a court and set aside especially another government agency. 6 5 7 1 11/25/85 ' MOTION: Coenc i i •ember Fletcher moved, seconded by 5utori us , to adopt staff recommendation supporting and encouraging partici- pating agency approval of the draft Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement between City and. County of San Francisco, San Mateo County Transit _District; Santa ClAra_ County Transit nictrlct a!d State of California, establishing an association of public transit operators responsible for rail service in the San Jose to San Francisco Peninsula corridor and direct staff to transmit Council's comments in writing to the PENTAP Committee and the four proposed member agencies. Further, that the Council urge- the County Board of Supervisors to designate that the board Member representative of the Transit District on the new board be the board member that represents District No. 5. Councilmember Fletcher said it was a big step forward in hopefully getting -and planning for improved transit service in the 101 corridor. The present service was not really an all -day, frequent transit service, which was the ultimate goal., In response to Vice Mayor Cobb's concern, it was absolutely essential for the group to have the power of eminent domain because the first item they would face was acqu i si t io of the SP right-of-way corridor in order to eventually plan for the type of service they needed to provide. Presently Caltrans contracted with the Southern Pacific Railroad and there were many problems with that arrangement. A study was done and various options proposed about whether to replace the service. with something else, contract with another type of railroad provider, or go all the way to putting in a BART system, but they needed to acquire the right-of-way. In order to do so, eminent domain was an essential ingredients. As tar as the makeup of the governing board of the new agency, it was not a perfect formula, but she believed they had to go with it. One of her concerns was the fairness of the people represented and the weight of the votes. For instance, San Francisco presently provided only five percent of the fundiny--Sarita Clara County, San Mateo County and Caltrans made up the rest --and yet still got three votes. She believed the intent was for them to eventually also participate financially on an equal basis. Caltrans had three votes because the group believed if they gave Caltrans the votes they would come up with the money. She was not optimistic and did not particularly like the idea of Cal trans having that many votes on the board. Finally, it gave their supervisors two votes because they did not have a separate transit district like the other properties did. MAKER AND SECOND OF NOTION AGREED TO INCORPORATE THAT THE COUNCIL URGE THE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TO DESIGNATE THE BOARD MEMBER REPRESENTATIVE OF THE TRANSIT DISTRICT OP THE NEW BOARD BE THE BOARD MEMBER THAT REPRESENTS DISTRICT NO. 5. Councilmember Fletcher said most of the line was in District No. b, more so than any other District of the County. Mayor Levy commented poblic transportation demanded some kird of joint powers agreement. It could not have an individual city designate its own type of service because they had to coordinate service up and down the complicated Peninsula which had two large cities at either end. MOTION PASSED unanimousl-y3 1 6 5 7 2 11/25/85 ITEM #14i 1iNDERGROUNDING DISTRICTS 26 ' 2? AND 28 - PROPERTY OWNERS ELECTING TO PAY COSTS OVER A PERM -DT —TEN YEXS (l3'ff 8-8j (UTI 8-9) (UTI 8-10) (CM.:6UU:5) MOTION: Coun=i lae.ber Sutori us moved, seconded by Cobb, to approve staff recommendation to adopt the following: 1. A resolution determining properties electing to pay cost over a period of years, determining and classifying unpaid assess- ments, end funding loans to property owners from the Electric System Improvement Reserve; and 2. A budget ordinance amending the Budget for the Fiscal Year 1985-1986 to increase the Reserve for -Underground Service Connections in the Electric Utility. RESOLUTION 6449 entitled "A RESOLUTION DETERMINING pkiiTIES ELECTING TO PAY COSTS OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS, DETERMINING AND CLASSIFYING UNPAID ASSESSMENTS, AND FUNDING LOANS TO PROPERTY OWNERS FROM THE ELECTRIC SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT -RESERVE - UNDERGROUND UTILITIES CONVERSION - UNDERGROUND UTILITY ASSESSMENT DISTRICTS NOS. 26, 27, and 28." ORDINANCE 3651, entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE`t[TY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING THE BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1985--86. TO INCREASE THE RESERVE FOR UNDERGROUND SERVICE CONNECTIONS IN THE ELECTRIC UTILITY. MOTION PASSED unanimously. ITEM #14-A, REQUEST OF VICE MAYOR COBB RE REQUEST OF BARRON PARK ASSOCIATION FOR ' A LETTER FROM Ti r UN I D .N HE R APPLICATION FUR A GRANT TO-INVESTIGA1E A FLOOD WARNING SYSTE, PR (2-3) Vice Mayor Cobb received a request from members of the Barron Park Association (BPA) for a letter from the City endorsing their application for a grant to investigate a flood warning system. He wanted to give BPA an opportunity to present their argument for such an endorsement premise. The City Manager recently reviewed the Matter briefly, and some unanticipated questions were raised to. -which it was important for staff to comment. He put the matter on the agenda as an emergency because if a letter from the Council was to have any effect, it had to be done that week. Douglas Graham, 984 !lima Way', said at the last !meeting of tine Santa Clara Valley Water District, Northwest Flood Control Advisory Committee, they discussed the time sehedul a for the creek improvement works to be done in Palo Alto on Adobe, Matadero, and Barron Creeks. Adobe was to be done first, Matadero second, and Barron, which recently created the biggest problem-, last. Matadero Creek work would be done about 1998, and Barron Creek in the Year' 2004, or 2005, assuming there Were no major disasters before ethen which used up moneys otherwise available in small amounts every year° out of the benefit- assessment, In Barron Park, they faced, especially in the .flood zone of Barron Creek, below the Choke point at Laguna and Los Robles, up to 20 years exposure .to' floods from an inadequate culvert .which was asse«ed as ade- -quate. only for the three. -year. flood, which flood had ..s 33 percent Ch ace,. Of 'occurring in any given year. Therefore-, there ewas a god chance there might_.be something on the order of six or seven floods- from that creek between now and the year 2004. As -Vice MayorCobb stated, they knew nothing --of the opportunity until the previous Friday, but the purpose of the . grant, -which was money _frets the State at no cost to l.he City, was to invest igage the. need - for -and possieil,ity of. setting .up .a flood _warning system to co ie,r them In,;that interim period. 6 5 7 3 11/25/85 Mayor Levy asked whether BPA had discussed the matter with the Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD). Mr. Graham said the principal of the firm BPA intended to do the work on the grant had conversations with Stan Wolfe of the SCVWD. Mayor Levy asked whether the SCVWD endorsed the BPA's approach. Mr. Graham deferred to Mr. Jim Owen for response. Bob Moss, 4010 Orme, said the BPA first heard about the matter the previous week, received clarification on Friday, November 22, 1985, and held an emergency meeting of the BPA Executive Committee Sunday night. At the end 'af September, the California' Department of Resources sent a letter soliciting proposals up to $20,000 for organizations who wanted to propose to either maintain urban creeks in a rural and open condition, or install flood warning systems. Jim Owen, a professional in the field, decided to apply for one of the grants. The grant was structured such that an individual could not apply; it had to be sponsored by an organiza- tion, preferably a community group. Mr. Owen went .to the BPA because he knew they were interested in the flooding condition and the lack of movement by the SCVWD to do anything about it on both Matadero and Barron i;reeks . Mr. Owen lived in the area so it was convenient to him, and he offered to do a design study for the $20,000. The BPA went over some of the proposal with him, and it was revised in many respects as a result of the comments by the BPA. Their request was for a position of support by the City of Palo Alto for the conceptual study, end the deadline for sub- mitting the proposal was %ovember 30. At the end of the perform- ance period they would he e a design for a data gathering and flood warning system on both Matadero and Barron Creeks and the water shed of the two creeks. He hoped to end `,up with a state- of-the-art system which allowed them to monitor rainfall and stream flow. When the stream flow and level got to a critical level, it would automatically sound a warning, an alarm system hooked up to appropriate people's homes, government organizations, and allow people to -take action, The Creek Committee currently had an informal creek watch, flood warning system, and had a tele- phone tree in operation for three years. When they visually saw the creek going-over a bank, they could warn the people on th.e telephone tree about six to eight minutes, but it was a limited number of people, less than 30 people in the entire community. There was also provision for contacting the City and the Flood Control District for assistance, which allowed them to auto- matically alert people to flood danger. They needed the City to approve and sign the actual grant application. The grant would be given to the Barron Park Association who would administer it from the State. As Treasurer of the BPA, he was responsible 'for receiving and disbursing funds. BPA intended to try'and work out an agreement with Jim Owen to actually do the work and prepare the documents which were the result of the ;grant. The State would tell the BP(, whether they were selected for the. grant by January 30, and BPA then had until March 1 to accept ,or reject .,the grant. There was a period of about a. month when the BPP could finalize their decisions, the contract, and either agree to go ahead or cancel the entire triny. There- would be no cost to the City.- for the initial study program. I3PA anticipated implementation would be funded by the SCVWD acid City participation would be minor. Counc i l member Sutor i us .apprec i ated Mr. Moss' comments about there being a jumping off point before any moneys were -expended, but was unclear about what type of support and participation were antici- pated on the. part of the .City -and the associated costs, because the City was referred to in part of, the $5,000. item. G 5 7 4 11/25/85 Mr Moss understood the Ci *yi s y participation iii the $5,000 i . Moss ..s .� 4 7 only l was to provide maps of the areas, identify public versus private property for the purpose of getting access arid easements for set- ting up rain gauges, and a minimal amount of conferring with staff of the Public Works Department, and the City Manager's office to keep them informed of what was going on and to solicit opinions and assistance. He believed the bulk of the money, even though the City was mentioned, would be from either the Weather Service or the SCVWD, but Jim Owen had the details because he prepared the budget. The k$PA had not accepted the budget. BPA wanted to nego- tiate an agreement; and, if the proposal went forward and the State agreed to give them the $20,000, during the one month they had during February to decide the details they would work out the details of the budget. Jim Owen, 4145 Maybell Way, said there were about 1,000 communi- ties in the United States which already tried to address their flood problems with warning systems. The proposal was to investi- gate the possibility of a system. The SCVWD favored the proposal and gave him a letter of support. With regard to the $5,000, in making up the budget it was only necessary to indicate the use of the funds to be obtained from the State. He believed it would be more attractive to the State if they could see there was also local input. The $5,000, in which the City appeared along with the National Weather Service and the SCVWD, was only to recognize the contrihetion invnlved because they expect' i to y nn to the Cit J " " J staff for maps, data, reports on the area, to maintain close coor- dination and anew staff as much pa;•`i: ipation as they wanted to attend the meetings and offer technical advice. The preponderant part of the input from other agencies would be from the National Weather Service for the provision of ;aeteorological data. A ques- tion also arose concern my the flood control basin at the lower end of the creeks. It was of no importance to the proposal and was put i, to recognize eventually the system, if installed, woul d provide actual data for what was going on in the basin, but it made no difference in terms of the work to be done. The question as to whether the BPA was a legal appl icant, the attorney with whom they counseled read the application guidelines as being ambi- guous and was unsure whether there was any need for BPA to be non- profit. In the event A was required, the attorney assured the SCVWD that incorporation as a non-profit organization was no great step for them nor a time consuming one, and there was: time to com- plete that by March 1. Mayor Levy asked Mr. Owen about his consultation with the SCVWD Mr. Owen said he was picking up the letter of support the next morning when the SCVWD assured him it would be ready. Councilmember Renzel said it sounded as if the kind of information they proposed to develop would be interesting. She was concerned the grant proposals were for stream restoration projects and no- where in the grant did she see any discussion of stream restora- tion or prevention of channelizing the streams. Working with the local government agencies to improve the capacity of the stream channels usually meant channelizing, which destroyed the natural creeks. She wanted to know how BPA saw the proposal fitting in with restoration of streams. Mr. Owen said the grant materials from the Department of Water Resources for theprogrem pointed out the program was operated by two agencies, Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Water Resources. It had a two -pronged purpose; a restoration of urban streams that had become degraded, and the reduction of flood damages. It provided explicitly for proposals, that were cost effective, non-structural, and without great environmental impacts, etc. He consulted with the grant manager and she se ed favorably impressed with the idea. 6 5 7 5 11/25/85 Councilmemher Renzel asked !Tether the BPA proposed to show taey could manage the damage from floods by warning people to move their things to high ground, or that they would only do that until such time as structural improvements were made to the creek. She asked if the grant proposal intended to find a warning system as a permanent solution or an interim one. Mr. Owen said warning systems across the country were usually undertaken as an interim solution until other measures were adopted. In the subject case, he understood there were plans in the distant future to expand the culvert. There were uses for the warning system after the channel capacity was ',Expanded through the planned addition; namely, the policy of the SCVWD provided 100 year protection. The warning system could still serve a useful purpose to identify whether the floods were in the capacity of the channel even after it was improved. Councilmember Renzel asked Mr. Owen to attach his curriculum vitae to the grant application. She asked him to tell a little bit about his background. Mr. Owen said he was a private consultant engaged primarily in warning preparedness. He was the consultant to the National Weather Service on flood warning systems and wrote their staff manual; con ,ul tant to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and wrote their staff manual on warning and preparedness; consultant to the Army Corps of Engineers and wrote their staff manual on warning and preparedness; and, with a legal associate, prepared the study by the Corps of Engineers, the legal investigations on warning and preparedness programs, and was currently the author of the Corps of Engineers regulations on emergency planning for dams, and the author of 16 plans pursuant to those regulations. Councilmember Renzel asked if Mr. Owen was an engineer or hydro- logist. Mr. Owen said he was an engineer. Vice Mayor Cobb referred to the City's signing off on the pro- posal, and said it originally went to him as the idea of the City signing a letter sayiny it was a good idea for BPA to be given the grant. Now he heard the City was to sign some documents it had not yet reviewed. He asked if the BPA only needed a letter from the City stating it was something it encouraged the State to grant, and the question of the non-profit organization did c±et have to be signed off at that point by the City. Mr. Owen said the lettether reason was that, as a single individual, on did not carry as much weight and influence as one did as an elected body taking a position, itted an application, it had to be endorsed by a governmental body. The application guidelines stressed the fact it did not want to give money for people to do things contrary to what was already officially being done. Vice .Mayor Cobb asked about the likelihood of getting an extf:ns1 on of a few days. Mr. Owen had no idea. The grant n _'tiger was on a two -reek . vaca- tion extending beyond the deadline. Their guidelines were specif- ic that only materials received. by November 30 would be con- sidered. Councilmember Patitucci Asked when the RFP was received. Mr. Owen said it had been ,around for six or eight weeks, but only went to his attention about a week previously. Councilmember Patitucci, knew Vice Mayor Cobb only received the documents the previous evening. He asked if staff had a chance for review and comment on the long-term implications. 6 5 7 6 11/25/85 Mr. Laner said staff received the documents at 6:3( that evening and had not had a chance to carefully review them. There were a couple of implications for the City, and he believed Council needed to be a little cautious. The City Attorney had not seen the documents so he could not guarantee Council had no involve- ment. On the surface, it appeared they did not. Second, he was not sure whether the $5,000 match was as an "in kind" match or a match the SCVWI) put up, or shared, or how it worked. Council was, in effect, endorsing a proposal for a consultant contract which he did not believe Council would do on its own vol ition. Tney had a consultant appearing before them about whom they knew nothing; neither did staff. He had no question in his mind the qualifica- tions Mr. Owen gave were accurate, but staff had not had an oppor- tunity to provide any information to Council along those lines. There were a couple of other things in the body of the application which specifically related to tha City of Palo Alto. While it did not appear to commit Council to anything, it appeared to imply the use of the report when completed would be such it would assist the Council in- resolving at least one local controversy over the nec- essary si ze of a flood control basin. Council al ready went through that discussion, and it would apparently reopen it. It also indicated it would be a guide for further implementation of a planned City of Palo Alto project, which was not defined. There were many other places in the submission where staff was unable to tell Council the implications for the City of Palo Alto. Councilmember Patitucci asked why the City of Palo Alto did not apply for some of the money if, in fact, it was available. Mr. Zaner said it was a good question. It was in the jurisdiction of the SCVWO, who were the ones to do such a study. Looking through the materials quickly, it appeared the application preeess was such a community organization or a non-profit corporation —it was unclear in the guidelines --could apply and what was required was one, and only one, letter of support from some local agency. If the SCVWD- intended t0 endorse the program, ne believed the problem was covered. It was all they needed to get the applica- tion In. If at some subsequent date, Council wanted to go on board, it could be done. Counc-ilmember Patitucci asked whether, without rejecting the issue, there was some appropriate com=mittee or staff to which Council could refer the matter. If the SCVWD was going to pursue it and the application was going to go ahead, then he believed at some future date Council would like to know more about it. Maybe they could send a letter in later if it appeared to be something Council supported. Mr. Diner saw nothing wrong with staff looking over the proposal:, the next week and returning to Council , who could .send a letter of support if they wished. Apparently the SGVWD was going to move ahead; and, as he read the application form, what was requi red .was the non-profit corporation plus a letter of support from a local jurisdiction or agency. MOTION TO REFER: Councilsember Patitucci moved, seconded by Renzel , to refer matter to staff. Mr. Owen said the $5,000 was no prohlem to the grant because they were not looking for a cash contribution from the City, the Weather Service, or anyone else. As he read the application requirements, there had to be a signing by a governmental body --a letter of support was insufficient. The SCV1rD would give a letter of support leaving them still in need of a signer. Counc i l member Klein reminded his colleagues the SCVW€O had primary responsibility for flood control projects, and it should be the one to sign. He asked Mr. Owen why the SCVWD would not sign. 6 5 7 7 11/25/85 Mr. Owen said the SCVWO had a long battle over it, and ;-sad in- stalled two systems already, one in . Guadalupe Creek and Coyote Creek, but had drawn the line. The SCVWD believed it was in the business of forecasting flows, but the warning of floods was the City's responsibility. The SCVWD would not sign because it did not see warning and preparedness fell within its area. Councilmember Klein said the answer bothered him. He felt sand- bagged as he learned things as they went along. He could not sup- port Councilmember Patitucci's motion at that time because he did not know what Council was getting into. He was shocked by the SCVWO's attitude and asked if staff was familiar with it previous- ly. Mr_ 7anpr cai 1 nr;_ Councilmember Klein believed Council should take no position. He did not believe there was enough time and there were implications Council was not in a position to know about. Vice Mayor Cobb said much as he wanted to see it go ahead in a timely mariner, it was asking a lot because none of them, including staff or' the City Attorney, analyzed it. A City signature was a lot different from a letter of support. He strongly suggested Mr. Owen actively pursue getting the SCVWD to give the necessary siynature and get an extension of the due date which was often granted in those things. He wanted staff to take a look at the proposal , because it was a worthy idea, but until they had a chance to do so, they would not be responsible for the City to sign. Mr. Zaner said notwithstanding the i!lformation they just learned about --the SCVWO not wanting_ to sign the application --he reread the application, although the City Attorney had not had a chance to look at it, and was convinced it was not necessary for the SCVWD or the City to sign off to make the application work. h. non-profit or community organization was required to make the application, and some yov ernrent agency needed to support i t . That was all, just support it. He believed the BPA had it. Councilmember Patitucci believed if a community organization with such a respected history as the Barron Park Association was going to support it, it should be referred :to staff so Council would know more about it. Therefore, he urged his colleagues' support of the motion. Mayor Levy asked whether staff would report back by December 9 at :he latest if Council referred the matter to staff. Mr. Zaner said yes. Mayor Levy said with that in mind, he would support the referral, but he associated himself with the comments by Vice Mayor Cobb to Mr. Owen. Vice Mayor Cobb said if a letter of support was what was needed from the City after staff had a. chance._ to look at it, the items which needed to be In by a date certain on an RFP were the specific grant applications themselves. A letter of support could follow and Council could still do it after staff had a chance to review it, if it carve :out to be a positive recommendation. Councilmember Klein wanted some reassurance Council was not spend- ing a lot of staff time. He could go along with the motion, but given the. fact it came up in such an irregular way, he was con cerred about the amount of staff time necessary. Mr. Zaner did not anticipate spending a great deal of time on the matter. 6 5 7 8 11/25/85. Councilmember Klein asked if Mr.. Zaner was comfortable it was reasons. le staff assignment. Mr. Zaner said yes. Councilmember Klein believed staff should also communicate with the SCVWD on the matter because he was concerned the City not get at cross purposes with the SCVWD on it. MOTION TO REFER PASSED unanimously. Councilmember Fletcher apal og i zed to the members of the public who came for the items legitimately agendized. The item was put ahead of the others; it was re)resented as being a quick item rather than taking 45 minutes. She urged Councilmembers in future to agen/itee items they would in proper orb t� d ..y.. .� � and would take them up proper order instead out of sequence as they did that evening. COUNCIL RECESSED FROM 9:30 p.m. TO 9:45 p.m: Mayor Levy said Item #12 was a report from the Council Legislative Committee, and Item #15 was a request from Councilmembers Klein and Fletcher regarding -endorsement of activities in South Africa or Namibia. So the public understood what was before them, Item #12 was five recommendations from the Legislative Committee, the last one of which was a resolution opposing Apartheid in South Africa to be voted on at the National League of Cities Conference. He proposed Council hear Items 1 through 4 of the report from the Legislative Committee as individual items, then take up Item #5 and Agenda Item #15 together. Council would discuss them together since they both dealt with essentially the same subject matter, and then vote on them separately. ITEM #12, REPORT OF COUNCIL LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE (LEG 4-2) Councilmember Fletcher, Chairperson of the Council Legislative Committee, said the first item dealt with the "oeep pocket" legal liability issue. Council previously endorsed a bill which limited the awards to that which was proportionate tc the degree of liability. A petition drive essentially did what the bill was intended to do, and Council was asked to endorse the initiative and pass a resclution in support. MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher for the Council Legislative Committee moved that Council adopt the resolution endorsing °The Fair Responsibility Act of 1986"' initiative. The Committee further recommends the message be conveyed to our State legis- lators that the Council urges passage of SS 75 as swiftly as possible rega,rdles of the progress on the initiative. Councilmember Klein said the item was crucial to the City and any number of businesses of concern to the City ranging from ice- skating rinks, physicians, to some of their local government organizations. He noted the City of Mountain View was presently without insurance. He understood the City of Sacramento was with- out insurance ' and it all traced back to the so-called *deep> pocket" problem. As one who dealt with legal problems and insur- ance, he had to say they really had a crisis on their hands in the State, and the motion was an important step to resolving it. Council had to be clear the State Assembly was a major roadblock. Bills along those lines passed the State Senate on several occa- sions only to be tied up in the State Assembly. He believed the Council's letter had to get out Of the ordinary `Please vote for this," to adopt a tone. of emergency, and every legislator with whom they dealt must do something, even if they were not on the. relevant committees, to resolve the problem or the City would miss i; lot of important services to our community. Council would see E,._ al government "going without insurance at great risk An extremely serious problem was already there, and getting worse, and h!e hoped they could do something to get it resolved. 1 7 9 11/25/85 Mayor Levy endorsed Councilmember Klein's comments. MOTION PASSED unanimously. Councilmember Fletcher said the next item dealt with the expir- ation of a bill which gave tax incentives to rideskaring, tax credits for van pooling, etc. The bill expired as of January 1, 1987 unless extended by new legislation. M0TI0N. Councilmember Fletcher for the Council Legislative Com- mittee moved to urge our state legislators to introduce or support legislation which will extend the `provisions of SB 321 and SB 1940, ridesharing legislation due to "sunset" on January 1, 1987. MOTION PASSED unanimously. Councilmember Fletcher said an issue came up regarding the County's ability to disregard local zoning regulations in City municipalities, and they had a request from the Mayor of Milpitas to support the position of the Council of Mayors in the County. MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher for the Council Legislative Com- mittee moved to direct a letter be sent to the Santa Clara County Beard of Supervisors avking the Board to adopt a policy which states the County shall conform to local regulations if develop- ment of non -governmental buildings or facilities is proposed on County -owned land within a City's jurisdiction. MOTION PASSED unanimously. Councilmember Fletcher said Item #4 dealt with the issue of nu- clear crisis control centers. A Joint Assembly Resolution was passed by the legislature, authored by Assemblyman Cortese, which encouraged local jurisdicti .:ns to voice their support for the creation of nuclear crisis control centers to minimize the possi- bility of accidental nuclear war or misinterpretation of data which led to commencement of nuclear war. MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher for the Council Legislative Com- mittee moved to endorse the concept of nuclear crisis control cen- ters as described in Assembly Joint Resolution No. 52, and convey that support to the President and our representatives in Congress. Martin Hellman, 730 Alvarado Court, Stanford, was a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, whose area of expertise was information security, which came into question with the crisis control center because Counc.l proposed sharing infor- mation with an adversary just before war might be starting. Accidental nuclear war was probably the only kind that would occur, but the Cuban missile crisis set the precedent for how a crisis could escalate out of control. The existing hot line was established in response to the Cuban missile crisis. In contrast to the popular depictions, it was not two red telephones at either end. It was oraginal ly teletype machines basically 1940's tech- nology, and presently was in the process o,f being upgraded to fac- simile machines which again were not exactly state-of-the-art The idea of the crisis control center was one had military person- nel from both countries present in Washington and in Moscow work- ing with one another on a daily basis, understanding each other's personalities, and then when °a crisis occurred being in a position to deal face to face with 4l i the extra: communication that went in a personal interchange. He imagined one of the big questions would be was it a local issue, because certainly it dealt with national security, and the answer was an unequivocable "yes." It was a global issue because the entire globe was at stake, and certainly a local issue because in a nuclear war Palo Altowas one of the first places to get. The next question was whether crisis control centers were needed. The answer again was "yes.' The 6 5 8 0 11/25/85 visible crises, like the Cuban missile crisis, .were the most obvious, but it was important to note they were in a state of constant crisis. Right then, ;with virtually no warning, they could be destroyed _through an accident, computer malfunction, etc. As. an example of where the existence of crisis control centers would have helped; he pointed to the 195 Suez oriel- which -occurred in the same timeframe as the Hungarian revolution. There were two crises of major proportions, and at the same time, a radar mistakenly thought a flock of swans flying over Turkey was a swarm of MIG's instead, and several accidents occurred during that time with the final being the Soviet fleet moving toward the Dardanelles, which was believed for sometime to be one of the first signs of hostilities so they would get out of their bottled up position. If there was a crisis control center, it would have been discovered it:. was a long planned Soviet naval maneuver and not part of imminent hostilities. The last question was whether the establishment of crisis control centers would hurt' their national security. The basic argument against crisis control centers was they shared information just before they believed a war was about to -start with their adversary, and if one hoped to win a War, _one would not want to share information with an adversary. The fundamental misunderstanding was if one hoped to win a war, then one wanted to keep information secret, but in the nuclear age, they could not hope to win a war with the Soviet Union. Their only hope was to prevent it, and so secrecy, which was useful in an attempt to win a war, actually was harmful in preventing wars. The secrecy proceeding World War I was an important factor in precipitating the war and was presently helping to'., fuel the arms race and provide other uncertainties and tensions between the two countries. He urged the City Council to support the resolution for the establishment of crisis control centers Vice Mayor Cobb said such items caused i,im difficulty because ha did not believe they were local issues. By Mr. Heliman's defini- tion, every single issue discussed in Washington was a local issue. Council was placed in a position if they voted "for," they voted for national issues, which he believed was wrong; if they voted "against," people interpreted it completely incorrectly; and if they abstained, it was a non vote, so they were put in a posi- tion of being "Damned if you do, and damned if you don't," if they felt as strongly as he did that Council should not debate national issues. Regardless of how he voted, he believed the crisis con- trol centers were a superb idea, but not a superb idea for City Councils to discuss. Councilmember Sutorius acknowledged he was the member of the Legislative Committee who voted against the recommendation before Council, and his rationale was identical with that of Vice Mayor Cobb. His 3.0 plus year professional career was in the telecom- munications arena, so he fully understood the outdated nature of the comwunidation procee es referred to as the so-called "hot line" at the present time. He endorsed the concept as a private citizen for the upgrading of the facilities, the concepts spoken to in the Joint Resolution sponsored- by Mr. Cortese, and the observations made in the resolution regarding recent and current actions and recommendations on the part of the administration as well as recent and current actions on the part of the U.S. Senate. He believed those were the appropriate agencies to deal with the matter and underscored what Vice Mayor Cobb said regarding the unfortunate nature of how the public might perceive a vote on last,°ee of that nature, He trusted those listening and in the audience heard first-hand, and for the press .who covered the subjacts, there was recognition a negative vote on the item was was not to be taken as indicative of how by personally felt, but he sustained the negative vote cast in the Committee. Councilmember °f`1etcher realized nuclear war was an international issue for their national government to deal with, but the days of wars being fought on far off shores were over and the next war was going to effect them in Palo Alto. If Council could do their bit 6 5 8 1 11/25/85 to urge Congress and the President to upgrade a system in order to jive a little added edge of Safety, she believed it was their duty and responsibility to take action to try to protect their con- stituents, City, and those around them. Councilmember Woolley agreed with Councilmember Fletcher in that she believed if they could help one little bit, it was their duty to take action. She also agreed with Vice Mayo: Cobb and Council - member Sutorius they should do it as individuals at the local level, not as a Council body, because she did not feel they were elected to take up that type of question. Individuals and advoca- cy organizations were the appropriate place at that level to take the positions. Councilmember Bechtel said one reason they were elected was to take positions, and the issue affected them locally. The other reason was as a single individual, one did not carry as much weight and influence as one did as an elected body taking a posi- tion. They were obliged to work to prevent nuclear war and the motion was one way to do it. For those people voting "no" she believed they were shirking that responsibilty, and for those abstaining, their bylaws said an abstention was in fact a "yes" vote. Mayor Levy concurred with those who said not all matterswere the responsibility and authority of the City Council. The essence of democratic government in America was federalism where there were marry layers of government each with areas of jurisdiction and responsibility. He elected representatives to Congress, for example, and in the election he expected them to speak out on matters of national concern, but not on matters of local Palo Alto concern. He did not want them limiting their `purview to whether the City of Palo Alto streets were well paved, and whether the creeks were properly maintained, but he expected them to spend a lot of time looking into the larger picture and voting for or against them depending on their stance on the item. However, those who ran for local office did not let their personal views on national issues be known. As a matter of fact, they did not even run on a partisan basis, Democrats or Republicans, because the goal of a federal differentiation locally was there be as strict as possible adherence, and not confusion, so someone did not vote for a local official because of how the person stood on a national issue, but rather how they stood on local issues. Secondly, the Cite ..dial not have the staff support locally to analyze national issues clearly. Thirdly, as part of the lack of staff support, they simply did not have a thorough view of national issues. For example, on the item in the packet was a'. statement of what the legislature did and a letter of advocacy by one'individual. .It was more important if Council was going to represent its constitu- ency, if it acted on important matters, it act on them only after analyzing them in the detail they deserved, Again, it was what he and his constituents looked to in their national representatives, their congressmen and senators, to do; and Council, represented them directly in that regard. So, he was one who alweys abstained on natters not the direct purview of,the City Council and would abstain on the issue. He did not want to go an seecord as opposing it because he did not oppose it,, so would abstain. Abstention, by the way, was not a "yes* vote, but a vote that simply said, "To me, this is not an item 1 think this Council should bee counted on.". Councilmember 1ein supported the motion before Council and responded_ to those Councilmembers who believed they could not vote for it oecause it was not a local issue. It was stated Councilmembers were not elected on the basis of where they stood on those issues to which he respectfully disagreed. They ell recalled the extensive debate and vote on nuclear disarmament resolutions about three years previously. Since that time, sev- eral Councilmemb ere_ who were participants stood for reelection and had not been recalled. Therefore, for almost everyone on the Council, the electorate knew lI/35,8 As corrects 1/20/86 where they stood on the issue, mitt with one or two exceptions, he had more positive feedback from voters in the community on his stand than anything else he did during his nearly five years on the- Council. He believed - voters understood Councilmembers took such nnsteinns - and. a_nnl aiudad it it gnus _nnt-.cav voters nxncrtcv Council to take a position on every bill before JCongress, but he believed it was appropriate on -major issues which affected them all. He did not sense citizenry opposition, and believed it was welcomed and understood. It was suggested Council did , not have the staff support and analysis to. make a proper vote on _such matters, and he disagreed. I,t might be true in talking about a position on ,a complicated tax bill oi�.farm support bill, but the subject issue was not like that. They were not talking about something which required hundreds -of years of study, and he also believed he could occasionally vote without having a staff "eport before him which analyzed the issue. Councilmembers had views and he was prepared as were others, to do his own research. It was suggested Council did not have a thorough enough view of national issues to take such a position, and he again disagreed. He did not go along with the idea the experts always knew the answers, and believed that was what got them into so mu6, trouble in Vietnam. War was too important to be left to generals, the issue of a safe world, one free of nuclear war, was too important to be left to the so-called experts in Washington. He was comfortable having views on national issues and believed his colleagues should also because they were intelligent, thoughtful citizens of their county and prepared and able to analyze those things which went before them on a such major basis. Beyond those rebuttal points, the major overriding issue facing the entire planet was how to maintain a world which d,id not kill itself off, and when Council was given the opportunity to influence the final decision -maker's in Washington, perhaps evert elsewhere in the world, they 'should take the opportunity. They were doing a service to their City, its residents, aind perhaps most of all to their own consciences and the future of mankind. He woiald-.eithusi astical ly vote "yes." councilmember Renzei associated herself with the remarks of Councilmembers Klein, Bechtel, and Fletcher. She believed if each of t'tem restricted themselves to voting on those issues on which they -expressed themselves during- elections, real paitalysi s would appear. She believed the voters voted more for what they felt was their ability to judge the issues. She did not choose to seek national issues on which to speak out, but when she sal one with a direct effect oe them and was one she understood and on which they could provides some input, she believed it was important for her as an elected official and for her colleagues as well, to express themselves so they could use every power they had to achieve posi- tive goa'i s at the national level. She joined her other colleagues in supporting the motion. MOTION PASSED by a vote of 4-3, Cobb, Sutorius, Woolley voting "no,' Levy, Patitucci "abstaining." Mayor Levy said he was going to change his vote to a "no," not because he disagreed with the crisis center but because he believed that was an inappropriate measure for the ,Council to take action on. MOTION .FAILED ,.by a vete of 4-4, Menzel, Fletcher, Klein, Bechtel voting 'aye,' Patitucci "abstaining." ITEM f12-(5) COUNCIL LEGISkATIVE COMMITTEE TO SUPPORT THE STRONGEST POSSIBLE R: SOLUTIU GA PAR D I U wicra (IEG 4 ITEM 'I5 REQUEST OF COUNCILMEMBERS KLEIN AND FLEICHER RE DIRECT STAFF TO '1St AN ORDINANCE PROHI8;Mite THE DEPOSIT INVEST T, .. 0R UST Zr N1 v . Nog lrt H - .�`� � li ST I i Ti Olt S Y tMEM lS ,OR OTHERS ►H0 60 BUSINESS WITH EITI1 R THE PUBLIC OW PRIVATE SECTOR O S0dTH AFRICA O`4 H , T TRtE OFFICIAL POLICY OF 'MOST COIJNTR1Es (FIR 16-1-1) 6 .5 8 3 11/25/85 1 f 1 where they stood on the issue, and with -one or two exceptions, he had more positive feedback from voters in the community on his stand than anything else he did during his nearly five years on the Council. He believed voters understood Councilmembers took such positions. and applauded it. It was not say ,roterc p peeew w Council to take a position on every bill before Congress, but he believed it was appropriate en major issues which affected them all. He_,did not sense citizenry opposition, and believed it was Welcomed and understood. It was suggested Council did not have the staff support and analysis to make a proper vote on such matters, and he disagreed. It might be true in talking about a position on a complicated tax bill or farm support bill, but the subject issue was not like'that. They were not talking about something which required hundreds of years of study, and he also believed he could occasionally vote without having a staff report before him which analyzed the issue. Councilmembers had views and he was prepared as were others, to do his own research. It was suggested Council did not have a thorough enough view of national issues to take such a position, and he again disagreed. He did not go. along with the idea the experts always knew the answers, and believed that was what got them into so much trouble in Vietnam. War was too important to be left to generals, the issue of a safe world, one free of nuclear war, was too important to be left to the so-called experts in Washington. He was comfortable having views on national issues and believed his colleagues should also because they were intelligent, thoughtful citizens of their country;, and prepared and able to analyze those things which went before them on a such major basis. Beyond those rebuttal points, the major'. overriding issue facing, the entire planet was how to maintain a world which did not kill itself off, and when Council was given the opportunity to influence the final decision -makers in Washington, perhaps even el sewhere in the world, they should take the opportunity. They were doing a service to their City, its residents, and perhaps most of all to their own consciences and the future of mankind. He would enthusiastically vote "yes." Coenc i l member• Fenzel associated herse i f with the remarks of Councilmembers Klein, Bechtel, and Fletcher. She believed if each of them restricted themselves to voting on those issues on which they expressed themselves during elections, real paralysis would appear. She believed the voters voted more for what they felt was their ability to judge, the issues. She aid not choose to seek national issues on which to speak out, but when she saw one with a direct effect on them and was one she understood and on which they could provide some input, she believed it waS important for her as an elected official and for her colleagues as well to express the ;selves so they could use every power they had to achieve posi- tive goals at the national level. She joined her other colleagues in supporting the motion. MOTION PASSED by a vote of 4t3, Cobb, Sotor1os, Woolley voting "no,* Levy, Pat1tuccf °abstaining.$ Mayor Levy said. he was going to change his vote to a "no," not because he disagreed with the ;risis center but because he believed that was an inappropriate measure for the Council : to take action oh. MOTION FAILED by a vote of 4-4, Wenzel s Fletcher Klein, Bechtel voting *aye,'° Patitocci °abstaining.$ ITEM '#/2-(5)„ COUNCIL LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE TO SUPPORT THE STRtiNGET O SIBLf kESULUTi6)N AGAINST APARTHEID IM SOUTH AFRfCA ITEM #15 TifftSt$EA RE i ULST_OF COUMCILMEMBERS KLEIN AND. FLETCHER RE DIRECT i ' „' T TIi1G TR 1 E! i T' TIMSTIfrFir. 4$S OR DINERS Wii5 40=_ dust P En WITH CT'%ER- THE PUBL'IG1. }LNG AS APARt 1 ID comitia ZFIN i6Li_1) IS THE OFFICIAL'POlICY OF THOSE 6 5 8 3 11/25/85 Mayor Levy suggested Council deal with part 5 of the Council Legislative Committee report and Item #15 together and then vote on them separately. Council and members of the public should include both items in their comments. Councilmember r Bechtel id. It Aa r • �v1 d he - vv.,�,a. inc�ua� Bechtel emu` �u tiic ���f nVtve �ic,f auk ��$u �lt'1' sIIC I.:Ut,I1Q not participate on the items because she was employed by a finan- cial institution whose owner previously did business, and con- tinued to do business in South Africa. Councilmember Fletcher said the Legislative Committee discussed the action Palo Alto's voting delegate would take at the National League of Cities where there was the possibility one or more resolutions might be introduced dealing with the issue of apartheid in South Africa. Since the Committee did not know the final ,wording that would go before the General Assembly of the National League Conference, the wording was left a little broader than endorsing any one resolution. MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher on behalf of the Council Legislative Committee moved, to authorize Palo Alto's voting delegate to the National League of Cities Conference to support the strongest possible resolution against apartheid in South Africa, incorporating said resolution as part of the National Municipal Policy promulgate) by the National League of Cities. MOTION: Councilmember Klein moved, seconded by Fletcher to direct staff to prepare an ordinance prohibiting the deposit, investment, or use of City funds with banks, financial institu- tions, investment firms, or others who do business with either the public or private sector of South Africa or Namibia, so long as Apartheid is the official policy of those countries. Mayor Levy clarified the motion before Council to discuss first was t''e resolution from the Legislative Committee just made by Councilmember Fletcher. He awed City Attorney_ Diane Lee for guidance on whether Council should have two motions officially made. Ms. Lee believed it was in order. Council was going discuss then at the same time so it was all: right to have then on the floor at the same time, .and separate them for the purpose of voting which came at the conclusion of all discussion. Councilmember Klein said the motion was directed towards the idea of the City's investments. "Investment" was the key word. Palo Alto invested significant sums in various financial institutions. They had no ownership of common stock so that was not an issue, but did have various certificates of deposit, and Treasury Bills, and notes, etc. The motion was directed solely at what the City did with those funds. Other cities, Oakland for example, went further and talked about the purchase of various commodities. He deliberately did not include that as part of the motion because it was too complicated and involved too much staff time, and might nut be productive. It was directed toward the City's "investment policy; that was the intent. Second, the paint wa- raised as to whether the motion intended staff should survey what other cities did; after ail they were not the first >to consider apartheid, and of course, his answer was "yes." He did not believe they needed to make it part of the motion. He always _ regarded staff as having discretion when Council directed them to prepare an ordinance to use what sources they believed appropriate in doing = it as expeditiously and wisely as possible. Similarly, he expected, and did not feel it was necessary to have it in the motion, staff would, as -part of their professional obligation to Council, point out problems in the proposed ordinance if they saw them. Say, for example, staff saw using certain language created problems, they would tell Council. He assumed staff would also get as much help as, they could if Council ` passed the motion from organizations such 6 5 8 4 11/25/85 as the National League of Cities or the League of California Cities through programs like the Logan Program, etc. He did not intend for Palo Alto to start from word one on the ordinance. He believed they had help from other organizations and cities and. certainly. expected staff to use them. Mayor Levy asked the City Attorney, as he read the second motion before Council, whether he had a conflict of interest. He was employed by an investment firm and, to his knowledge, they did not have an office in either South Africa or Namibia; however, he was sure in one way or another they did business with companies, that themselves did business in South Africa. Would that disqualify him. Ms. Lee needed a moment to think about it. She believed under the present wording of the ordinance it was an indirect conflict. Mayor Levy said the motion did not use the term direct or indir- ect. Councilmember Sutorius believed there was some confusion and had the same problem. When Councilmember Klein made his motion, he believed he read from the bottom portion of the memorandum. He asked for clarification. Councilmember Klein did not believe they were significantly dif- ferent. !t was one of the drafting problems the City Attorney's office had to work on. In the body of the memo it said, "Do not invest directly or indirectly," whereas in the summary he did not use the same language. He did not intend any difference because lawyers were forever dealing with the problem of what was indirect and direct because if one just used the word "direct" then one always ran the risk somebody would use subterfuge, Mayor Levy's indirect conflict went the other way. Ms. Lee said the analysis she had to yo through to determine whether Mayor Levy could vote had to do with whether his company was a Fortune 500 company. Those companies were under the regula- tions of the Political Reform Act. She personally did not know the answer. The next question was whether the gross revenues of his company, if it was a Fortune 500 company, was affected by $250,000 or more if it was, or $100,000 or more if it was not, or the net assets or liabilities. The analysis of any such question was involved, and she did not know if she had enough information to make a determination. To be safe, Mayor Levy could not vote. Sta rf could analyze it and before it returned to Council as an ordinance, staff could give a definitive opinion. Mayor Levy asked if he owned shares in banks or financial institu- tions doing business with companies doing busi nens with South Africa, would he also be excluded. Ms. Lee said if his ownership interest in a business entity was $.1,000 or more, and if the entity did business in South Africa, then they had to go through the same analysis: Was it a Fortune 500 company Mayor Levy clarified they were only talking about investment firms and banks, not abort industrial corporations. Ms. Lee"a+join had to refer to 'the maker of the motion, but did not know what the term "others" meant in the title. It was a problem she had when she read it, arsd at one point ignored the subject and went down to the body. The comments made by Councilmember `Klein led her. to believe they were talking about financial institutions for the most part. ee 5 5 8 5 11/25/85 Councilmember Klein said he intended to talk only about financial institutions. The "others" obviously referred to other types of financial. institutions. He did not want to limit it. He believed it was pretty clear in context . he was not talking about_ Chrysler or General Motors, or companies 1 ike that, but the First National, and Bank of America, etc. which were financial institutions that Palo Alto might possibly invest its money with and whom they knew did business at present in South Africa. Mayior Levy asked whether it included firms such as his which acted as brokers of money but did not take the investments directly for their own use. Councilmember Klein believed they would be. As far as he saw, Prudential Bache was indeed a financial institution. If they placed the money with Mayor Levy's firm who placed it with South - Africa, it would be precisely what they had in mind. Mayor Levy said one did not place money with his firm; one placed money witrr someone else and his firm acted as the broker, Councilmember Woolley asked if a savings account with a financial institution was included. Ms. Lee said a savings account was not considered an investment. Councilmember Woolley asked about a mutual fund. Ms. Lee said a mutual fund was an investment. Councilmember Woolley said it had not occurred to her to check into it and go through the list, and compare her list with the Fortune 506 list, so she had no idea whether she had investments. Ms. Lee said the Fortune 500 list only had different financial thresholds. An investment was an investment, and if it etas in a financial institution that did business in South Africa, then they analyzed it in financial terms differently depending on whether it was or was not a Fortune 500 company. One could still be disqual- ified from voting even if it was a Fortune 500 company if one had sufficient quantum of interest and the effects were there. Councilmember Woolley clarified sufficient meant c,ver $1,000. Ms. Lee said if it was in investment, yes; if it was a source of income, $250. Councilmember Woolley was unclear as to whether she should parti- cipate or not. She asked if Ms. Lee • had a list of companies involved. Councilmember Klein suggested Council could quietly disqualify themselves and lose their quorum or try to find a way to take the public testimony that evening since everyone was there, but to continue any action until they ascertained who could vote. He asked if it was re.zlisting for the City Attorney, to make the dcterminwtions that evening. Ms. Lee responded if Council wanted her to sit through the discus- sion, she did not believe she could ' do it, and the Clerk would have to go with ;ler to give her the conflict of interest state- ments everyone filed. If there were any changes, it was also an issue. 6 5 H 6. 11/25/85 1 1 Coune!ilmfolbPr Sutor1 'u had 75 sharee in Manufacturcre Hanover which, at preeent market, had a value of approximately $3,000. He queried whether he could participate in the subject because based on what the City Attorney said, there was a good possibility he could not. He hoped if it turned out a quorum remained who could act on the issue, they had an opportunity to discuss policy relative to the nature of those issues on an ongoing basis. Councilmember Klein believed it was always in the interest of their system for the maximum number of people be able to partici- pate. Council should take a time out so Councilmembers could determine whether they were able to participate on the issue. !NOTION ,TO CONTINUE: Conncilmember Klein moved, seconded by Patitucci, to continue for one week to December 2, 1985, the City Council meeting. Vice Mayor Cobb recognized the many people present was a problem since they came out and stayed through tedious items, but he asked their indulgence to return if the motion to continue passed. He did not believe it made much sense to hear public testimony when Council did not know who could vote. The dialogue should end on the same night it started. If the motion passed, Council should adjourn. The City Attorney asked whether any member of the public had a list of the financial institutions regarded as doing busi- ness in South Africa, because it would help in determining the conflict of interest situation. "City Manager Bill Zaner noted there were two public hearings scheduled for the December 2, 1985 agenda so Councl was aware there might he some conflict in terms of time. One public hearing was rezoning of Stanford Shopping Center, the other was a rezoning of Town and Country Village, both of which were apt to generate some public comment. Ms. Lee asked if anyone else believed they had any problems, .to let her know as soon as possible so everyone's issues could be resolved before the meeting. As she understood it, the one com- pany in which they were presently interested, if anyone had infor- mation on it, was Manufacturers Hanover, which was a specific. If anyone had lists, she would appreciate getting them as soon as possible. 1 Councilmember Renzel referred to the Legislative Committee's recommendation, which was the voting delegate support the strong- est possible resolution against apartheid, and said while it was a resolution, she did not see how it could be tied directly with the investments any of them held. She asked whether Council could act on that particular issue that evening and hear it because it was a policy issue rather than a specific financial issue. The motion of Co ecilmembers Klein and Fletcher dealt with the investments the City had. She only directly owned shares in the phone com- pany, and had a hard time believing AT&T was not in South Africa. She did not know whether it reached the threshold level of a con- flict. She derived some income from a trusto and it was reported in the Palo Altan that a couple o€ the stocks owned by that trust invested In South Africa. She had no idea at present whether any of those stocks were still held by the trust. It seemed Council might`;bl able to hear from peo .1e that evening and deal with the Legislative Committee recommendation and then determine whether there was a conflict with reseec•t to the original Item #15. It still required people to return a second time, but at leaat the one issue relating to the National League of Cities Conference could be dealt with. it//5,83 As col/20/86 Ms. Lee did not see there would he any financial effect .fi:oisE the National League of Cities condemning apartheid. The financial effect was what the City did with its money, or would not do that it might have done, whicn could affect the revenues, assets, or =iabilities of some of the interests Councilmembers might or might not have. Whether the City did business was not the same as what motion NLC would make. Councilmember Renzel referred to the rulings of conflict which occurred so far, and said the nature of the conflict had to be the City's action, and its impact on the intermediate institutions investing in South Africa needed to have a financial effect on the Councilmembers' interests. She assumed the potential for conflict arose with the impact of the City's investments, and the impact those investments had if they detracted from Councilmembers' investments. Ms. Lee said the conflict arose if there was a foreseeable mater- ial financial effect. One of the elements of foreseeability was in the case of City Corps Savings where the City had, in fact, done business with them in the past. It was foreseeable, depend- ing on the interest rates, the City would do business with them in the future. To the extent it was true of Manufacturers Hanover, and she believed the City had directly dealt with Manufacturers Hanover, it was information she did not have. She -did not know Couaci?member Woolley's investments, and could not answer the question. She knew the City dealt with Manufacturers Hanover, but had to investigate in what quantities and what capacities, and what the result was in terms of the changes which could occur .in ters of gross revenues or changes in assets or liabilities it order to determine whether it met the test under the Political Reform Act. Vice Mayor Cobb confirmed the City Attorney's answer would be part of the analysis she would return to Council with on December 2, `\. 1985. Councilmember Fletcher tended to agree with Councilmember Klein that she would rather have the issue of conflict dealt with before Council took up the issue. As far as taking up the National League of Cities item separately that evening, she would rather not because she believed the people there would not want to return after waiting all those hours. If Council heard them that eve- ning, with the number of cards, Vice Mayor Cobb could tell them how long it might take, but she was sure it would be an hour or more, so maybe the public who had taken the trouble to be present would rather return and have the, issue dealt with earlier in the evening. With regard to deferring the item until the next week, she clarified if Council took it up as a continued item, it would be early. Councilmember Klein clarified Councilmember Renzel spoke about investment in the telephone company being a potential problem assuming they had investments in South Africa. He did not see how it was a peoblem because they did not invest in the telephone com- pany, and he only. spoke about their investments. The only com- panies he saw as a possible, source were the ones mentioned, such as Manufacturers Hanover. The telephone company could not be a source of conflict. The only sources of conflict he saw were bank stocks, or such as Mayor Levy's company, a quasi -bank. Vice Mayor .Cobb asked Councilmember Klein whether he still wanted to target his motion for the December 2, 1985 agendae or whether there alight' be a lighter agenda in December _Council could use to deal with the issue. 6 5 t1 8 11/25/85 Councilmember Klein believed it had to be the next, week because National League of Cities weetIrry was the following week. Councilmember Patitucci clarified Councilmember Fletcher wanted to hear from people who wanted to speak that evening. Councilmember Fletcher said no. She did not believe the shopping center items on the December 2 agenda would be that lengthy because she had not heard from citizens, by phone or by mail. She imagined the issue would generate some discussion by Council and by the property owners, but did not envision them being lengthy. Mr. Zaner noted for the Council if the item was continued, it would be taken up first under their rules as as an unfinished item from a previous agenda. Then Council had the other public hear- ings. Vice Mayor Cobb said his wife recently inherited some investments from her mother who passed away, and he honestly did not know what those investments were and would have to analyze them. The City Attorney had a lot of work to do during the next week to determine who could participate. He agreed the public should only have to go through it once and it was certainly better for Council's deli- berations to hear their comments once and put them all together. MOTION TO CONTINUE PASSED unanimously, Bechtel, Levy "not par- ticipating." Councilmember Renzel referred to Item #12, the report from the Council Legislative Committee. There was a copy of a telegram in the Council's packet sent with respect to HRA, which was a section of the Clean Water Act, related to permit requirements for storm water sewers. Council might have taken action on it under some other title or language, but she did not recall it. She was con- cerned about how the position of the City of Palo Alto went forth without Council seeing it. She asked how it occurred so Council could tighten up its procedures. When they formed a Legislative Committee, she understood all actions returned to the whole Coun- cil. She might well have supported it, but would have liked the opportunity to see the background_. Mr, Zaner said staff would check it out. Often bills carried from one year to the next; numbers changed, but the principle stayed the same. It might be an item vin which Council already took a position. ADJOURNMENT Council adjourned at 11:30 p.m. ATTEST: APPROVED: 6 5 8 9 11/25/85