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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-05-12 City Council Summary MinutesCITY COUNCIL SUMMARY MINUTES Page 1 of 15 Regular Meeting May 12, 2025 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers and by virtual teleconference at 5:30 PM Present In Person: Burt, Lauing, Lu, Lythcott-Haims, Reckdahl, Stone, Veenker Present Remotely: None Absent: None Special Orders of the Day 1. Proclamations Honoring Ella Cohen – California Interscholastic Federation State Wrestling Champion, and Angelina Jiang – State Runner Up NO ACTION Vice Mayor Veenker read the proclamation aloud. Angelina Jiang thanked coaches, teammates, the City, and the school, and expressed appreciation for the recognition. 2. Proclamation Recognizing National Police Week as May 11-17, 2025, and National Peace Officers' Memorial Day as May 15, 2025 NO ACTION Mayor Lauing read the proclamation aloud. Andrew Binder, Police Chief, thanked the Mayor and Council for their support and expressed appreciation for the Palo Alto Police Department. Chief Binder invited the public to Cogswell Plaza on May 14 for the annual Police Officer Memorial Grove at 9 AM. 3. Review List of Applicants and Select Candidates to Interview for the Architectural Review Board (ARB) Vacancies; CEQA Status: Not a project SUMMARY MINUTES Page 2 of 15 City Council Meeting Summary Minutes: 05/12/2025 NO ACTION Francesca Reyes, Deputy City Clerk, reported three candidates were interviewed for the Architectural Review Board on March 24. On March 27, Staff opened the extended recruitment. The recruitment closed April 30 and yielded a total of 9 new applications. Voting was conducted via an emailed survey link to all Council members and all final votes were received prior to the current meeting. Deputy City Clerk Reyes provided a slide listing the candidates that were selected to interview on May 27. Agenda Changes, Additions and Deletions Ed Shikada, City Manager, reported there were none. Public Comment 1. Liz G. spoke requested Mayor Lauing look into the structural structure of Mayfield Place, 2500 El Camino Real, due to deteriorating living conditions and progressively increasing rent. 2. Jennifer L. asked for a City response to the announced expansion of San Francisco Airport at the San Francisco Planning Commission on May 20. 3. Carol G., founder and producer of Third Thursday California Avenue Music Festival, invited everyone to the second anniversary celebration the following Thursday from 6 to 9 PM. 4. Tingrun C., Vote 16 Palo Alto, hoped to begin a collaborative process with the City Council to move towards a more formal ordinance that would enfranchise 16 and 17- year-old youth voters in local elections. 5. Sven T. warned about the dangers of CH4 and indicated the utility bills should have an Prop 65 warning insert every month to encourage moving to all electric. 6. Julia Z., director of 2024-25 Bay Area Heat Mapping Campaign, provided a slide presentation including the partners of the organization, the campaign, heat maps, analysis of the maps, the Cool Cities Coalition – building resilience against extreme heat and longer-term policies. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 3 of 15 City Council Meeting Summary Minutes: 05/12/2025 Council Member Questions, Comments and Announcements Councilmember Stone described having attended the Messages in Media event the day before along with Vice Mayor Veenker. Vice Mayor Veenker mentioned having attended a meeting of the Recycling and Waste Reduction Commission for Santa Clara County the prior week. The Commission acted to direct Staff to explore adopting a household hazardous waste extended producer responsibility ordinance for the county. Vice Mayor Veenker requested the agendizing and closed session to address joining in lawsuits regarding cases entitled American Federation of Government Employees versus Trump and City and County of San Francisco versus Trump. Councilmember Lythcott-Haims conveyed interest in joining the lawsuits. Councilmember Lythcott-Haims discussed attending the employee appreciation picnic in Mitchell Park the prior week. Councilmember Lythcott-Haims would be cosponsoring an event at Third Thursday’s second anniversary celebration. A flyer slide was presented with information. Mayor Lauing discussed speaking at the Youth Art and Creative Connections event at the Art Center. Mayor Lauing attended the organization of a faith leaders conference driven by the HRC to continue dialog with faith leaders to see how their leadership in their respective belief systems can be leveraged to fight bias. There is now a list of connections of people that can be called to spread the word. Mayor Lauing had an overlap with Third Thursday but hoped to attend after dessert. Mayor Lauing discussed attending two appreciation week events. Councilmember Stone and Mayor Lauing supported the Vice Mayor's suggestion to go into closed session on the two cases. City Manager Shikada suggested adding the closed session to the agenda for the following week. Study Session 4. FY 2026 Proposed Operating and Capital Budget - Finance Committee Update and Council Budget Discussion NO ACTION Lauren Lai, Chief Financial Officer, provided a slide presentation of the FY 2026 proposed operating and capital budgets including budget conversations and calendar, FY26 proposed budget overview, “Parking Lot” of general fund budget, “Parking Lot” as of May 7, multi-year general fund balancing, retain minimum of $6 million in Uncertainty Reserve, FY26-30 capital improvement reductions 5%/10%/15%, fire and ambulance service augmentation, nonprofit partnership workplan phase 1 recommended adjustments, non-general fund: gas utility rates, community encouraged to join the budget conversation and Council discussion.