Santa Cruz City Council has completed its work in closed litigation session and personnel session. We are back in open session Let me move through this This would be the opportunity under oral communication for anyone to Excuse me Let's do a roll call Council member is new some present Brown here Watkins here winner present Calentary Johnson as it by smear golder here and Mary Keeley here Quorum having been established We are under oral communication. This is the opportunity for anyone to address us on a matter Under our jurisdiction, but not on today's agenda, sir Right here. There we go Welcome Hi, my name is Tom Nelson. I work downtown on Locust Street and my office Last there's been a few things in the recent weeks. They've just caused me to come up here and speak today because it's Discerning but last week Somebody living in a van across from my office first out of his van screaming yelling demons in his head and shouting at people telling them they'd get the f out of here Counting on one woman's car where she was so scared that she left I came outside told me need to leave and he threatened me I called the police department police said they would take care of it and follow up with me Came back to my office the next day the guy's in his van again. I followed up with the police department Told him and they said yeah, we spoke to him and we'll try to get him out of there I go. Well, he threatened me.  So yeah, well, there's nothing we could do the police don't do anything I was in a restaurant downtown Person came in with a cup filled up their soda drink it left the cup and walked out I asked the employee did he pay for that? No Well, what do you do? Well, there's nothing that we could do So just as somebody that works downtown and trip tries to promote to the city of Santa Cruz I just feel that all these things are very harmful for business I think it affects getting people to want to work downtown and finally just Decide to come up and say something. Hopefully the council acknowledges this and works with the police department to take care of this All this petty crime that seems to go on Taking care of I'm a citizen if I do anything wrong. I know I'm gonna get a ticket. I'm gonna get fine. But why do People get distinguished. I think everybody Thank you, sir Anyone else under all communication? Good afternoon, Mr. Thompson. Good afternoon. Thank you for that The reason I'm here today is that I care I care about our what you're going through and what you will go through as council members I want to thank you for the taking the time and energy to do what you think is right for our community You have a very difficult job You understand the issues and you have to work through them when our jobs get difficult It's easy to do the right thing. It's easy to quit. It's easy to give up The easy thing to do is react emotionally The hard thing to do is think logically about an issue. I Think I ask you to think critically about all issues I understand that as council members you are going to have to make a political decision today that will alienate One group or the other? That's why we have polarization. We need to change So let me ask you a question. I'm speaking on the issue of polarization. Okay, so I am saying that the system the problem that the duel in the game that we need to change is Polarization we need to think about polarization differently. We need to we need to come together Take time to understand each other and really think Am I doing the right thing? So I'm here asking you to recommit to the grinds. I'm asking you to recommit to building consensus among our community I'm asking you to take the time and do your jobs for the betterment of our community and not yourselves This can take the form of educating yourself with experts on the issues This can mean taking more time to navigate difficult issues But most importantly it means recognizing the humanity and every single person in this meeting I hope you will lean on the support of your community members in these difficult times and that you will find a Way to articulate your reasoning and guiding philosophy on these complex issues The role of an elected official is to listen first Seconds. Thank you Miss Bush. Do we have someone online on oral communication person online? Good afternoon Good afternoon The community mayor council members. This is Robert homeless United to friendship and freedom Robert Norris Where is the walk-in winter shelter that we need with the coming rains coming up in the next two weeks? We have some pop-up shelter for flooding and severe cold but nothing to do with the rain It's coming up before you meet again on the 23rd now until there's adequate indoor housing and shelter Those outside must be at the very least now left alone because they have to provide their own shelter It would be nice to assist them restore basic decency with porta bodies or bathroom access warming centers, but at least direct The hounds of the police department to lay off the ticketing the seizing of property the destruction of survival gear The majority of homeless folks in Santa Cruz City and County live outdoors That's the way it's going to be through year-round. We just do not have their shelter I know you're trying to get some shelter. That's commendable. I think it's being done Or a false pretense of pathway to housing that isn't happening really Nonetheless little shelter is for those who get it better than none But for the majority it doesn't help that much if police are destroying the shelter they make Now you the city council I should say and I'm really addressing the community because I don't think the council is going to act on this The council doesn't mind voting three hundred thousand dollars for city mangler Matt Huffaker That's a professional indoors man Matt Huffaker the most powerful man in the city government You know Matt the bulldozer of the bench land under his humanitarian hands Survival gear and shelter of hundreds Where it was crushed compacted and dumpstered 15 months ago This is the same Huffaker who removed but did not replace the portable toilets Leaving scores of refugees in the Pogonep without dignity or safety. Of course, we can also mention Santa Cruz police chief Thank you very much Good afternoon. Good afternoon. I've been here before some of you may recognize That I don't live under the bridge My roots. I'm here to say thank you for those of you who have taken the time to listen. I have But I think it's the best idea vice-president My quarterback is doing his homework to create a business like Paul Newman I want Sunday to see this come to our county and particularly to Santa Cruz and That is a business like Paul Newman Where a hundred percent of profit comes back to the community? Well, I'm here to ask you all of you to see what it would be like if we At a senior center in Watsonville step one And then we bring it to loud Nelson a senior center and we change but one block in one neighborhood And you are involved in putting it on an agenda of what it would look like as we did for a long time We did some planning in beach flats If it was centered there You have our local police department salvation army and more important a boys and girls club if you take on a block and a neighborhood so I don't ask For someone or all of you in a closed session to take on what it would be to bring youth voice and student empowerment That could Create what it is at Cabrillo and you see to build on your good ideas Well, those of you who know me. I am that I am a community organizer and When we can sit down and have that cup of coffee It's what my quarterback. I'll call him I'm not Nicholas Whitehead You have a name I'm Richard Lewis. Thank you. Thank you. Let's do look forward to next steps. Thank you, sir someone next person online Good afternoon Yeah, hi Yeah, this is good. Hey, one of the top stories of 2020 can be summed up with a question Why is our government allowing a national invasion of our southern border and why do you still support this invasion with sanctuary? City status three million illegal aliens showed up last year and they sure look like military age men And we have no idea who they are what they want what they believe in or what they will do In those years 85,000 unaccompanied minors have gone missing probably to sexual predators Who knows looking under the covers of the last jobs report It was kind of clear that there has been zero job growth to citizen workers in the United States since 2018 all new jobs went to foreigners many working two jobs a recent survey from a Harvard Harris poll found 80 percent of voters say local authorities should be reporting to federal agents the illegal immigrants They come into contact with 77% say there should be immigration law reform such as Trump's statement at least one parent should have a citizen or a legal resident to qualify their children for citizenship In reference to changing the erroneous reading of the 14th amendment birthright citizenship Which was never intended that children born or foreign visitors to the US be granted citizenship let alone those entering criminally According to data from the Federation for American immigration reform the total number of US born children of illegal aliens in United States as of June stood at 5.7 8 million a population more than two times that of Chicago They estimate that illegal aliens and their US born children impose a net annual cost of 150.6 billion on American taxpayers as of the beginning of 2023 and over the past five years the annual cost has risen 35 billion a year Center for Immigration Studies says at least 59.4% of illegal immigrant homes use one or more welfare programs Compared with 39 percent of households headed by a citizen according to last month's that December 19th report It's past time for you Welcome hi hi I get three minutes or two to I'm John Golder and I When Greg Larson who was our planning director for While I'm quite a good one. I was working in planning For years in building inspection When he retired he gave a speech There was a luncheon party and the focus of that speak Talk was you can't manage what you can't measure wonderful talk so It's the it's the key to getting problems out you can't you got to get the data first you got to understand So I'm going to give you some examples here, you know How many youth linger on waiting to listen never get to play because we don't have enough ball fields and you know over over many years What's the response time for City and personnel to get back to people on emails or phone calls What's What's I'm sorry Here's a simple one to sell that you already got the date all you got to do is catch it the parking structures How many what's a vacancy rate on a given? Hour and day and season they already automatically collect that information it's posted right there and And it and I asked him I said did you Collect that data do you actually know can you actually make a map of What available parking is and when it is available? They don't know You can also the other thing people are scared to go up in the top because the cars can be broken into easily and there's a good argument to say the parking structure is a what they call a A criminal and not a criminal nuisance, but a nuisance and So you could have the cameras up there cameras Take a picture, you know your once an hour. Thank you motion. Okay. Thank you anyone else online Let's hear the next person online. Good afternoon Good afternoon council Bradley Snyder I wanted to I know this is my I know this might seem a little obtuse, but I'm gonna talk a little bit about Oakland, California and East Palo Alto Because you know what happens in the greater barrier it does funnel into Santa Cruz because we're you know a destination entertainment hospitality, you know Tourism destination for these areas But so in the recent debate between Gavin Newsom and and DeSantis hosted by Sean Hannity of Fox News They there was this this kind of interesting exchange between the two governors about the city of San Francisco and all of the You know all of the Human feces it's found on the streets.  Well, actually people Absolutely visually confirm this when they go there and there's all kinds of reasons why San Francisco is just in such terrible shape. Well, you look at Oakland and you look at the crime rate in Oakland and you look at the The socioeconomic segregation that happens You know in the Bay Area where Oakland is you know has this high violent crime rate and high petty victimization to you know like car break-ins and Over an EEP a each pal allowed to I guess they had a zero Homicide rate last year. Well, Oakland had 120 which is one every three days To put it in perspective if per capita if that were happening in Santa Cruz, that would be one homicide every 20 days and You know, it's just outrageous. It's no note. There's no question Thank you for your testimony anyone else online miss Bush one more. Good afternoon person online Hello, this is Jasmine and I Want to express concerns about lack of public transparency with SCPD or police department I did a records request for an incident That was, you know, highly publicized. It was on November If where an RV that was deemed stolen was surrounded by police with it seemed like assault rifles And I'm just very disturbed that at just sort of the channels that we have to get Transparency and how they're dealt with because what I got back was literally like cover sheet that just said You know report of an RV theft and locating the stolen vehicle There's even an area that's supposed to have description of weapons used and there's just a license plate number So that is not a public record, you know That's like a summary of what literally happened when I asked for the records like of why, you know What which weapons were used and why and what the standard protocol is another issue? I've been having is similarly and trying to figure out my rights with the police I called our Santa Cruz County's loyal lawyer referral service and was told by them that this would be a civil matter And they could not give me any referrals if it had to do with my rights regarding police So my husband lodged a complaint with the state bar who then just called the lawyer referral service Who lied to them about what they told me and then the case just got closed So this is just I just want people to know that even the channels we have are not working I mean, there's no public transparency. I can't figure out anything that's going on with SCPD I can't get my questions answered. I can't even figure out and ascertain my rights I've had to talk to ACLU and they have some good resources on their website But I just think this is really just this is very disturbing that like there's no transparency for SCPD I really want you guys to look at that and figure out why they're not responding to our records request properly or why the lawyer Referral service is not giving referrals. So thank you Well, thank you. Ms. Bush anyone else online? Nobody else with our last call on oral communication We are on item five. This is a mayoral proclamation declaring January 9th, 2024 as drumroll autumn haze day The vice mayor is recognized Welcome autumn and I'm so glad some of your fans came down to celebrate with you today And I just say I'm so pleased to read this proclamation on behalf of the mayor and the city council So autumn haze as we know grew up in Santa Cruz and learned to surf At the Mission Hill Middle School surf club and she's gone on to achieve great things and she's currently a professional surfer and finishing her bachelor's degree and She's ranked number 25 on the North America North American qualifying series She's competed all around the world including chili Tahiti Barbados Australia France and Spain, but loves local waves and on October 19th 2023 autumn was the first local surfer since 2008 to win the title of Champion at the Cold Water Classic so We do proclaim that on January 9th 2024 autumn haze day in the city of Santa Cruz and Encourage all citizens to join me in congratulating her for making a name for herself in the surfing world and her victory in the O'Neill Cold Water Classic. I just want to thank everyone for coming out today and supporting me and all my friends and family For being here and for the proclamation. I mean so much and I can't believe January 9th is autumn haze day We are on item 6 is a proclamation declaring January 11th 2024 as Doug Engford day and Councilmember Brown has presentation Thank You mayor So we do have a proclamation prepared for someone who has a long Committed and an illustrious Relationship long time work with the city and just so thrilled that you're here today so we can recognize you So I'll I'll go ahead and read the whereas Doug Eng for a long time Santa Cruz resident with a history of investing in our community through volunteer activities focused on Arts culture and natural resources was an active member of the city council appointed Water supply advisory committee that met between April 2014 and October 2015 again for this is your life Whereas Doug was appointed to the Santa Cruz water commission in January of 2016 and has served with distinction as a commissioner Including multiple years in the role of chair and vice chair Doug has consistently demonstrated interest and active engagement throughout his association with the water department on Diverse topics such as water supply augmentation planning climate change vulnerability analysis Financial planning management reporting water rates and charges infrastructure rehabilitation and replacement watershed health and strategy and communications and In recognition of Doug Engford's investment and engagement in his work as a city volunteer He was approved by multiple Santa Cruz mayors to serve on the Santa Margarita groundwater agencies board of directors and alternate for the Santa Cruz mid-county groundwater agency And there's so many more things here. I want to just to get to the I'll let you read it And I imagine that Rosemary Menard will have something to say as well I want to highlight Doug Engford's famous attention to detail in preparing for meetings Resonating yes by reviewing materials identifying communicating doing all the things that are required of someone who? You know takes the job seriously Doug Engford's wisdom willingness and willingness to listen and learn and openness to sharing his clear-headed perspective And long history of executive leadership to provide an informal sounding board for staff And Get an outsider's perspective that's been highly valued Respected by staff through our long period of association now therefore. I councilmember Brown on behalf of mayor Fred Keely Do hereby proclaim January 11th as Doug Engford day in the city of Santa Cruz an Acknowledgement of his long service to our community and urge all citizens to join me in recognizing and honoring his exemplary citizenship For many many contributions listed also in this resolution or proclamation Miss Menard good morning. Excuse me. Good afternoon. Thank you so much for that recognition for my friend and colleague Doug Engford I just do want to say that in my long history of Local government. This has been a really wonderful partnership with the citizen that I think is exemplary of the kind of Engagement we have in Santa Cruz that makes it really a great place to work So I really appreciate it Doug and I appreciate you're appreciating him Mr. Engford Thank you, sir. Thank you all I Received this recognition with humility and gratitude on behalf of myself and my family who have patiently Long endured and will no doubt continue to endure my interest in water policy once you get into water You can't get out To the mayor and council. Thank you for the opportunity to serve to learn and to grow I appreciate the investment the city's made in me during my tenure And I pledge to apply what I've learned about governance process and respectful discourse to my continuing public policy work The rosemary and the and the water department. It's been an honor and a privilege to work with you over the past decade My goals always to strengthen the teams I joined in this case I can only hope I didn't in any way diminish the amazingly strong functional and focused group at the department and To my fellow Santa Cruz and governments not a spectator sport as we see daily It's easier and more convenient than ever to critique and criticize society and governmental actions But we are the government and I urge you especially those younger than me Which is the majority of folks in town If you see a situation that you can improve or a problem you can help to solve please engage We're better together In closing My goal in life is simple to leave things better than I found them This ethic was instilled in me at a young age by my dad Always return tools cleaner and in some way improved after you borrow them. I Sincerely hope I've managed to leave our water plans and policies better than I found them if if only in a small way and once again Thank you so much. Thank you, sir So those of you may be sitting there uncomfortably saying when can I leave? Right after the next item. There we go. I'm gonna recognize council member Calentari Johnson for one more resolution Thank you. Thank you mayor It's my honor to present the mayoral proclamation for the O'Neill cold water classic So I'm gonna read portions of this Whereas since 1987 the O'Neill cold water classic held at steamer Lane has been northern California's premier professional surfing event and steamer Lane's natural arena like setting provides the perfect backdrop for northern California's Preeminent surf competition with its steep vertical cliffs overlooking the fabled right-point peak and has become known as one of the world's greatest spectator venues for a surf contest the cold water and rugged conditions of steamer Lane have become a rite of passage for aspiring surfers as they set their skills against the elements and a Field of world-class surf stars, which we have one in our chambers today And Whereas the cold water classic is an association of surfing professional professionals world qualifying series Top local surfers have the opportunity to compete in trials round with hopes of securing a birth in the O'Neill Coldwater classic where a field of 16 will compete for one of four coveted slots and the WQ WQ's Men's round of 160 showcasing the incredible surfing talent and passionate fans in the community Now therefore I shepherd Calentari Johnson on behalf of our mayor Fred Keeley Do hereby proclaim Tuesday, January 9th as O'Neill cold water classic day in the city of Santa Cruz and encourage all Citizens to join me and join us in expressing gratitude for its contribution to the surfing culture the promotion of local talent and The spirit of sportsmanship and to participate in the festivities and support this prestigious surfing event each year And I believe I'm presenting this to mr. Burns I have a whole lot to say I didn't wasn't expecting this I think we're all here because Yeah, we see what the O'Neill cold water classic surf contest can do having one of our You know lady winners autumn taking it out this year is a Shows how special the contest is you know the last person to win it since 2008 wasn't that young? I think we all know who that is Coming out of Santa Cruz and so there's a lot of good surfers in Santa Cruz. I think Having this contest is just I don't know It's like the one time a year that all the locals can kind of like come together showcase their talent on a world tour stage And so hopefully just want to keep making it come back every year That's our goal here at O'Neill ever since 1987 one of the longest contest in North America. So Thank you very much City Council mayor Fred Keely. Thank you very much for the proclamation. Thank you all very well. Thank you very much this is Water proclamation day apparently So this is you you can please this don't feel compelled to stay around for the next eight and a half hours of our council And we thank you for your presence here and congratulate you for everything you've done Good stuff Okay, we are on presiding officer announcements What I would ask We just hold for a second we are on presiding Officer announcements there are none we are on statements of disqualification This would be the opportunity for a member who has a disqualifying circumstance to make that announcement Seen here none additions or deletions to the agenda as I indicated earlier on item 29 there is an additional Item that has been submitted and is now online as well City Attorney report from closed session. Mr. Kandadi Good afternoon mayor Keely members of the city council this afternoon or this morning at 1045 or 1015 rather the city council met in closed session to Consider the following items first was a conference with legal counsel concerning liability claims Those are the claims of Jonathan Ordonez and David W. Turner. Those are also listed on your open session agenda Consent calendar as item 15 this afternoon Second was a conference with legal counsel concerning existing litigation case entitled don't morph the wharf Versus the city of Santa Cruz an item related to that is also on your afternoon agenda as agenda item number 27 Item 3 was a conference with legal counsel concerning significant exposure to litigation prior to the Council convening in closed session council member bruner recused herself on the basis of a potential conflict of interest on that case Council received a report from legal counsel on that matter Item 4 was removed from the agenda prior to going into closed session and there was no reportable action taken Thank you today. Thank you We're on item 7. Let me ask miss bush. Do you have any items you would like to bring to our attention on? I don't with regard to calendar. Thank you so much. We're on The consent agenda how this works is that we will be taking up items 8 through 23 on one motion however Council members will have the opportunity to pull an item comment on an item or ray or have questions on an item Members of the public will have an opportunity to comment one time on any and all of those items for a period of time Not to exceed two minutes Let me start with council members. I will start with council member bruner. Do you have items on consent? Comment on 14. Please go forward with it This is an award contract for purchase of a type 6 fire engine And I just wanted to thank staff and thank the USDA for a service The grant that was awarded is four hundred thousand dollars and as we know our fire engines are critical in emergency response and so Thank you for for bringing that and I'm very pleased to see that I know that it will benefit the community Thank you. Ms. Contar Johnson. No items madam vice mayor just two brief comments 14 I was had the same 14 I had the same comment on 14. I'm really thrilled to see that on there I know it's much needed and for 12 I was also super excited to see that on there as looking at the feasibility of doing a living shoreline and the sand Management idea so I just am super excited to see that in the in the context of what's been happening And it seems like a really exciting thing. So I wanted to thank staff for bringing that forward as well Thank you Council member council member Brown One on item five. I guess I'll echo my support for those other two items and and also think the coastal conservancy for supporting that Effort so I wanted to just make quick excuse me not item five item eight Five in my head. This is the city manager evaluation and merit increase. I wanted to just make a quick comment about this I am supporting it today And there were some folks who had had reached out to me and said they didn't have any they didn't see any information in the packet to Justify an increase or to warrant an increase and they were Concerned that there wasn't a process. There was a process That was that was conducted through an evaluation and but I it occurred to me be just because we've gone through that process It doesn't necessarily mean the public is aware and so I have asked I asked the assistant city manager Since we didn't meet this week that in the future when we do this that there'd be some That we asked the consultant or somebody to write up something that can be provided as part of the packet so People are aware that this was not just something that was done without some serious Conversation and some great work on the part of our city manager So I just wanted to put that out there. I won't be here for the next one But hopefully there can be more info for folks. Thank you Mr. Newsome no items on item 13 With regard to the appointments to external bodies and so on Council member Newsome has agreed to be the alternate to myself with regard to the community choice aggregation policy board The other council member that I had indicated on there has requested not to be on there And so without objection mr. Newsome will be Slotted in as the alternate Further Questions and comments by council members on the consent agenda We will go to the public with regard to the consent agenda Ms. Bush, please come forward sir miss bush. Do we have folks online? We will good afternoon, sir Exciting year 2024 is going to be so I wanted to pull off the minutes and Make comments about the awards number 20 and Number 13 and unfortunately I missed public comments Darn it Okay, so You know let me let me ask you to make your comments on both items All three with the however many items on consent you want to comment on you have two minutes Well, you have two minutes minutes, please proceed. What happened with three minutes for each one? Let's proceed right. Thank you. Okay, so the As far as the minutes number 10 The clerks actually have the most important job in this room because they're the historians You know one of the things that 2024 is promising to give us is a great deal of censorship now It's not my phone Rowan Atchison presented a short speech about ten years ago where he thought Only next to food and water the next most precious thing to life with free speech It was more important than a roof over their heads So I'm actually questioning a lot of stuff. I guess many things are going to change in 2024 I Am glad that there was some kind of Break-free area with an item that's going to come up at five from what I read and I am just questioning jurors prudence in this room I don't have a timer a Lot of time well As far as the consent agenda item number 20 Which has to do with some Electric vehicle upgrades, you know, it's not totally clear and I'm wrong all the time But maybe this is an expenditure of about nine hundred and sixty thousand dollars with possibly reallocation of funds of 650,000 dollars What I see going around and what happened in 2021 with the cold snaps Electric vehicles just didn't work and It's not really an answer to anything But what are the processes that totalitarian Dictatorships want which is a population decrease of 90% They're well on their way particularly in this county So I will go switching to number 13 I'm just gonna have to read more into Is actually being appointed there So that's enough. I wish I would have been here for public comments. I had some interesting things to say. Thanks Thank you, sir We'll take the person online Good afternoon That's a low. This is good. Hey number 12 I suppose if somebody else is paying some people might think oh Why not do studies of nature-based solutions as long as the state is throwing money around the word solution though? Implies a problem to be solved and exactly what problem is going to be solved isn't defined here Other than the vague phrase protect the shorelines promote ecosystem health yield co-benefits. I see you later While protecting the cities and private property Which seem not to figure into it It would be nice to know which specific locations have been defined to do this study And if it is more than a study, perhaps more of an engineered experiment if that's the goal It should be clearer as to what develop 30 percent designs that accomplishes I don't know what a 30 percent design is good for do you as I mentioned in my letter the council has a habit of Approving funding that encumbers future commitments that then require additional future funding of which you frequently Have no idea where that additional future money is coming from even the amounts of such And I suspect that sort of appropriating style is one reason the city is always running out of money and keeps raising fees And taxes and coming back for more Then more and more monies a lot prop L as if the citizens don't know best what to do with their own money and government spending shouldn't have a tax-raised limit is This one of those items similar to the beach flats redevelopment grant involves future unfunded commitments If so I see a pattern developing along these lines coming from the climate change fear mongers on staff Don't get me wrong quiet adaptation is exactly where your focus should be and not making people buy a lot of stuff and regulate their Freedom out of existence using on proven fear-based speculations about see rise for as far as extreme weather and the causes of climate change a Standard question that should arise a how much grant unfunded staff time will be Contributed what level of proof of design concept where you'd be willing to accept before making all these future Monetary commitments in the August 8th meeting approving the application for this grant as with nearly all grant application approval agenda items The actual grant application is never provided Which is where the actual meat of what will be done and the commitments and the deliverables are all described The public would like to see those and I would kind of think you would like to see those So you're not just voting blind. We're on summaries of you know, use of flowery words and so forth I am God smacked is that the phrase Environmental equity and justice somehow didn't worm its way into this item summary today But I see priority green solutions did whatever that means Of course, this item is buried in the consent agenda. So nobody has to answer any of these questions I predict the usual suspects will move the consent agenda without any questions Good afternoon, sir Thank You mayor council. I'm Robert Acosta recreation supervisor here with the department the city um I'm Speaking on item number eight, but not for the reason that everyone's gonna think automatically because I'm up here I support I support this and one thing that Matt has in common with every city manager in every city I've worked for is I don't want their job ever So props to Matt. I I think the deserve is the raise is deserved. The reason I'm up today is to speak about The rest of us, you know, it got contentious for a while. There was a strike, which I supported even though it wasn't my group Striking and we're at a calm place now things aren't crazy Yeah, Matt Matt and all the city employees deserve to get paid more. There is a Podcast I listen to that's a comedy podcast and one of the characters is a fake law enforcement and he goes out and Helps out when there's emergencies like storms and but what this character does is When the storms hit he instructs all of his People to go home and have a warm cup of soup to see if you're really ready to to get into this and he's a crazy character But I will say that when the storms hit our parks and rat guys still go out They still make sure the things that need to happen happen Our wharf crew as everybody here knows has worked hard these past couple weeks because of what's going on at the wharf with with mother nature doing what she does and So I just wanted to say to remember When things come up again, you know, we would like to be Compensated fairly our public works department. I don't work for public works, but I know they're not slowing down They're not going to have a warm cup of soup first. I know all of our people that work here our public safety our parks and rec Whatever happens out there doesn't slow them down and I think Now that I took advantage of this item being on the agenda so that I could come and say that on one hand I do support Matt's increase and on the other hand I just want us to keep remembering that there are other people out there, too there are other people that are not being paid enough and You know, I know a lot of football fans always think that they know what the coaches need to do for their teams to win and So I know the public doesn't know what we all have to do in order to get a raise And they know it's a lot of work and as Sandy mentioned When I saw that Matt was getting an increase, I didn't think it was just going to be give the guy an increase I know the process. I know what happens. So I just wanted to Remind you about the other staff full-time or temp and just keep them in mind when things come up later in in The future and then the last thing I want to say which is very profound and this will I Guarantee you when you hear this this will change your life for the rest of your life Nicely played sir Do you have anyone else online mrs. Bush? Oh the war plan thing That's that's on the this agenda here, and I can talk to you a little bit It is on the regular agenda, and yes, you will be able to do that when we get to that item We'll be on it in just a few minutes. All right. Thank you, sir anyone else Wish comment on the consent agenda matters back before the council motion would be in order. So moved Madam vice mayor may I make one comment in response under discussion under discussion I'd just like to say it looks like Robert has stepped out But that really was the second part of the comment. I wanted to make Today, and I changed my notes page So and in one time Robert Acosta was inspired by something I said and said that he felt like it was he could step up and make some comments about the workforce and the need for living wages the need for equity in In compensation, and so I did want to make that comment that Part of the reason that I feel good about doing this today is that we have made some progress I believe that we have a lot more work to do and I am concerned about the potential for a Growing wage gap between the highest and lowest paid workers in our city so I do think that it's important to remember that in light of You know Comments made and the fact that there's so many workers out there who are really watching what we do. Thank you For the debate or discussion clerk will call the roll Can I just confirm who the second was with that by smear vice mayor? Councilmember of Newson. Hi Brown. I want to say hi Brunner. Hi Valentine Johnson. Hi, I smear golder. Hi, Mariculia. Hi Mushing carries and so ordered We are on item 24. These are items 24 and 25 are Consent public hearing items members Let me ask if council members have questions comments on either item 24 25 Seen hearing none anyone with us today wish to comment on items 24 25 Anyone online wishing to comment on 24 25 Councilmember Watkins is recognized. I'll move items 24 and 25 There's a motion to prove items 24 and 25 as presented. Is there a second second by Councilmember Callentary Johnson debate or discussion seeing and hearing none the clerk will call the roll member Newsome. Hi, Brown. Hi Watkins. Hi Brunner. Hi ice Callentary Johnson. Hi ice mayor golder. Hi and Mariculia. Hi Mushing passes and so ordered We are on item 26 This is collective of results evidence-based update. There will be a staff presentation by Mitch Schmidt And there will be Let me see If we have that presentation Mitch Schmidt there she is. Good afternoon Thank you Laura Schmidt assistant city manager Sorry, I got behind on something and didn't make it over to the chambers. I will head over there shortly I would very much like to acknowledge our partners from the county Kimberly Peterson and Amanda guy If you could please introduce yourselves, that would be great Good afternoon Hi, I'm Kimberly Peterson and with the county of Santa Cruz human services department Good afternoon. My name is Amanda guy and I'm the director of planning and evaluation with the Santa Cruz county human services department Thank you very much for being here Mitch Schmidt Thank you, mayor Kimberly and Amanda are going to walk us through and present our core item We are coming to you with an update that was supposed to be at council in our first meeting in December Our only meeting in December, but we had to postpone it. So this is a conversation that the core team has had already with the County board and we are doing a little bit of catch-up with you all as well as including additional direction from the county board of supervisors that The team received there and we will Walk you through that and I will get the slideshow Set up for our county partners and then I'll hand it over to Kimberly and Amanda We do have an available Laura to share that word Oh, it looks like is somebody else sharing screen right now. Can you try now Kimberly? Yep, it works now. Thank you Bonnie and Amanda All right, you should be able to see the PowerPoint on your screen now You guys are muted just as a heads up. We cannot hear you Got it. Can you hear me now? Yes Thank you Okay, so Good afternoon mayor and city council Visit and Kimberly Peterson. I'm the deputy director with the human services department And I'm heard Amanda bite. She is the director for planning and evaluation within the department Amanda's played a lead role with the core administration over the last year and a half Including the annual report and community engagement that you'll hear about today Randy Moore is the director of the department. I will just know what I'm able to do with that today Before we delve in I want to take a quick moment to set the frame for the topic for The collective of results and evidence-based practice It's a framework for a movement Have to be building collective impact for common goals measured by data and also a funding model framework You may recall we were here in April and shared lessons learned from the prior request for proposals profit And a timeline for the next funding cycle Today is one of the report out points on that timeline Information and materials in your packet. I'll just check. Can you hear me? Okay? Yes, I believe we can. Okay. Thank you The information and materials in your packet were developed with the lessons learned feedback We heard from the community and elected officials And the commitment to continuous improvement, which has been a key component of core sense inception We did give a similar presentation to the board of supervisors in december The results of which I will share with you a little later today And at that time we also highlighted that while there's a lot of attention given to core funding It represents about 1% of funding provided for services to the most vulnerable in our community When compared to the approximate 600 million dollars through county health and human services and our contracts Each dollar does matter greatly for the cbo's Maybe based organizations And I only mentioned this because um for the broad perspective that there's also other funding going into the community So today we will provide an update on the results of the first year of activities under the last core funding cycle As well as the community feedback received on what the next are we should look like We can go to the next slide Thank you So to a brief review of recommended actions We'll look at the annual report This full year 2223 was the first full year contracted services under the current RFP cycle And we want to share some highlights, which is attachment one in your packets We will summarize the feedback from the community engagement process we conducted to inform the next RFP cycle And that is summarized in attachment two of your packets And then finally we'll look at prioritization, which is attachment three in your packets A consistent message we heard During the last four boards Was that the was the importance of prioritizing how the core RFP funds should be used So we will share the methodology we've identified to help set policy priorities for the next RFP process And then finally not explicitly listed here, but an important point Is I'll update you on the action taken by the board of supervisors on this issue on December 12 Next slide please And so looking at recommended actions, um, we will be asking that you please accept and file the materials Approve or provide direction on staff recommendations And direct, um, staff to return by April 30th With the draft RFP Next slide and I will turn it over to Amanda Guy Thank you Good afternoon Continuous improvement and applying lessons learned has been integral to core from inception to the present Annually HSD has provided a report on the core funded programs This year's report builds on prior feedback And lessons learned and moves us closer to being able to see the collective impact and results across the core programs With a multi-faceted equity lens this year There's more detailed data collection including the on the number of unduplicated people served Disaggregated by race ethnicity Age language and location as previously requested by the board and elected officials And the overall structure allows for easier measurement and reporting across programs And results based accountability framework was utilized for all core programs Which tracks how much was accomplished? How well were the services carried out and is anyone better off? This year's report also includes a description of how each organization internally practices equity There were challenges and successes most programs encountered some type of challenge in this first year Some common challenges were with staffing Data collection for some of the client demographics and working through the impact of the local disasters Despite these challenges. There were also notable progress where programs served 100 600,935 participants 5,970 more than the contracted goals Some level of demographics data was reported across these programs allowing us to see who was served And 94 percent of surveyed participants reported they were very satisfied or satisfied with program services Collectively 81 percent of the better off goals were met across the core programs Lastly, thanks to the creation of an online reporting program portal core programs submitted their annual reports and data electronically which streamline the collection process And reporting process and enable us to include a two page snapshot report of each program as part of the annual report for transparency As kimberley mentioned though, this is one percent of the funding that goes through critical services The ability for us to begin to see this level of data across various programs Will allow us to better gauge the impact of core funding and further analyze potential gaps and needs next slide While we are just off of the first year and into the second year of the current core contracts We are moving quickly to prepare for the next rfp Continuing to apply what we learned through experience Formal and informal feedback during the last rfp and the lessons learned process that we presented to you last April we conducted nine community engagement sessions and provided access to an online survey The intent of the community engagement was to discuss opportunities for improvement Receive general feedback and explore ways the county could prioritize core funding building off of the pain points that emerged during the last process Throughout the engagement sessions one common areas of alignment emerged data and transparency One of the things that we'd heard from the last rfp was that people wanted to know what the priorities for funding were During the community engagement. There was alignment that data should continue to be the driver in the core process Equity the last rfp was targeted at addressing inequity And the collective impact received through community engagement pointed towards support continuing to center equity in this process We also asked a handful of more technical questions on the structure of the rfp following up on those areas of more intense feedback We heard this last time So during the last rfp there is a limit to how much any single organization could apply for and we heard this should be continued Last round the ability to leverage funds was not weighted in the scoring process And we heard feedback that leveraging should not be prioritized the next round either People felt both of these parameters created more opportunity for the smaller and mid-sized organizations With less infrastructure to compete and allowed for more distribution of funds During the last rfp any agency could apply for any size grants small medium large or targeted impact There was alignment and feedback that during the next rfp Large agencies should be restricted from applying for small grants Small grants should be an opportunity for small less resourced organizations to receive limited funding Past contract performance was not a factor in the last rfp And the feedback was that should not be included as a factor in scoring future applications either Some felt it may give an advantage to organizations that were previously funded versus providing a clean slate for each rfp Other saw it could be a disadvantage if the program was not as successful as anticipated But changes had since occurred There are also a few areas without alignment We heard interest in having the purpose of core funding be clarified And whether it was for new and innovative programs or traditional safety net services But there was no alignment on what that should be and the definition of safety net can be seen as evolving over time No alignment emerged regarding how to prioritize the funding such as by geography specific population or core condition And there was no alignment in whether a portion of the funds should be held for distribution by the elected officials Following the recommended awards We'll not note it on the slide We also heard general feedback that people want to see the scoring rubric in advance And that there be increased diversity in the review panels and that the application process be simpler Next slide, please Considering the collective feedback regarding prioritization and the support for continuing to center equity and use data We tried to identify a data driven approach To how limited funds could be prioritized We landed on an approach that uses the core conditions of well-being as a foundation And then considers a representation of available data reports that connect to these eight core conditions Combined with a high level analysis of the county budget to determine where the current county general funds are directed relative to the core conditions The data reports on their own does not lead to a clear funding priority The hsd can recommend because there are needs everywhere However, the combination of available data plus high level funding analysis Completed thanks to hsd's data team in partnership with our cao and budget liaison Allows us to use a data driven approach to prioritization Which will incrementally get us closer to greater collective impact and results with very limited funds Next slide This table represents the high level funding analysis completed by county staff And as detailed in attachment c Based on the percentage of general fund contribution in each of the core conditions Staff recommend narrowing from eight core conditions to three core conditions Lifelong learning and education Thriving families and stable affordable housing and shelter with these core conditions approved It will support programming such as child care emergency shelter Family services like thrive by five immigrant supports master plan on aging and job readiness Over half of current core contracts currently fund in these three core conditions Importantly narrowing the focus does not prohibit cbo's from applying in the prioritized conditions recommended Because the core conditions are interconnected by the nature of the framework For example, approximately a quarter of the current core contracts are in health and wellness Health providers do support education They do assist families in their well-being to thrive and shelters a key component to wellness HSD discussed this narrowing of the core conditions with our partners in health And they support the shift and will work with hsd on the rfp language There are also emerging opportunities through calein for cbo's that will support the services being provided to the community Turn it back over to king rookie. Thank you, Amanda So what you see here is the same timeline that we showed you in april With the decision-point opportunities called out represented by the numbers one through four Today is the first of four opportunities for input We're asking you to decide on and improve the recommended priorities to help us focus for core funding We will use the identified priorities and other feedback To return in april with the draft rfp at which time there will be another opportunity for input in additional direction Applications would then be due in the summer of 2024 and we anticipate in the fall Following receipt of all applications We would then return again with a report summarizing the proposals received And provide elected officials another opportunity to weigh in prior to final awards being recommended Then in the winter of 2024 we would return with recommended awards And use the city council and separately the board of supervisors would have an opportunity to approve the recommendations Or provide other direction I do want to share a reminder that this timeline Has recommended awards being determined six months prior to the start of any new contracts Which may allow organizations for currently receiving funding To adjust to any budget or program changes as a result Of the future core funding decisions So if somebody who's currently getting funding applies and does not get funded for the next round They would have time to adjust that I also want to note That we did not include specific recommendations on the other items discussed during the engagement sessions As reported out by amanda, but we will address them when we return in april with the draft rfp Next slide please And then finally As I mentioned, we did present this information to the board of supervisors on december 12th And at that time they approved prioritizing the three recommended core conditions With the added direction to also prioritize healthy environments The board also provided general feedback on things that they would like to see in the next rfp such as the ability to leverage funds And having some portion of set aside funding to provide flexibility for the elected officials during the award process Based upon the board of supervisors voted upon direction from that december 12th meeting HSD would build the request for proposals around those four core conditions lifelong learning writing families stable affordable housing shelter and healthy environments As a city council if you support the three priorities initially recommended You may also consider adding healthy environments for more alignment and a more streamlined process for the local cbo's applying for funding One of the benefits of our city county coordination that i hadn't mentioned previously As that we're able to combine our administrative efforts Provide a single more streamlined process for cbo's requesting funding and also support common goals towards the collective impact part of the board Next slide please And with that I will turn it back to you Mr. Schmidt Is that the extent of the presentation? Yes mayor it is councilmember questions Vice mayors recognize I'm sorry that I didn't ask this before but it just came to me. So where does the core funding come from? In terms of our contribution as a city For our contribution it comes from our general fund and the budget sits in the community programs activity within the city manager's office And the other cities from the county that contribute. This is to the county folks aside from us the Mayor city the city of Santa Cruz is the only other city that participates in our funding process. I understand Other cities may have their own programs that they do separately I know that this might not be a popular I know that this might not be a popular Thing that I'm gonna say it and I know that some of these programs provide valuable Resources to people in our greater community But I guess I have a little bit of a concern About contributions in general coming from the general fund of our residents Of the city of Santa Cruz, especially when budgets are tight that Other cities watsonville scott's valley capitol aren't Also contributing and some of the programs our residents might not even be eligible to participate in and So i'm just wondering what is there been a past amount or like Is You know Is this something when we're looking at budgets in may Where you know if we have to look at something that we can know it's it's you know In my from my perspective, although they're important kind of charitable contributions what we have to do is pay our employees We have to keep the water going we have to keep The roads paved, you know, we have to there's things we have to pay and this is like a nice to do But if it's some if when we're looking at budgets if we have to cut something this is something where You know anyway, I don't I don't have a question for that But is there a set percentage or a set dollar amount that we're expected to contribute or we've contributed in the past Or that's going to be asked of us to contribute again I see so our our current contract with the awarded recipients for this round of core is It's a three-year commitment. I understand that I was just thinking about moving forward so Above and beyond that I think we would need to signal to the county as much ahead of time as possible if we were not going to contribute In the next rfp cycle And kimberley Um, I I was realizing during part of our presentation. I can't understand a freaking word these people are saying I'm sorry, but yeah, no, let me just say that this is an audio problem Um, it is almost impossible. Maybe it's because I'm so damn old, but it is almost impossible to understand what you're saying And this is not helpful to a public discussion and deliberation. This system is terrible Uh, this is a very important issue and I can barely understand what you're saying So I need to take a recess here for five minutes while we figure out what to do I can try Go ahead kimberley. I can hear you now. We had you muted. Can you please um, Run a couple tests I can really say a few sentences again. Can can you hear me better? That's much better Okay, thanks Miss Schmidt when you're ready Thank you very much for for coming into chambers. We're back. We're back in session Thank you, mayor vice mayor and council. Um, I believe we were in process of answering uh, vice mayor golders question I had given my answer and kimberley From the county was about to give hers and we believe she's on a different audio feed and hopefully will be able to be heard Thank you. Just to confirm. Can you hear me better? Order of magnitude better. Thank you very much Great. Thanks. Thanks for your patience and I apologize for that So I just wanted to say that I Probably should have clarified during the process that um, like this is, you know, this is a partnership the funding that the city provides towards core um, goes directly to um residents that to city services basically, um City of santa cruz funding is not going Towards um towards services outside of the city. That was part of the arrangement when we did this the last round Um, I also just for context Part of what you saw us describe in terms of the comparison of funding In the examples of general fund versus Other funds it was it was a little bit more county-centric I've just acknowledged That county contributes about five million dollars in the city. I know it's just just close to a million So it's the partnership, but we you know, we go about it Together and then we decide we agree that um of how the funds are distributed. Um, so just to note city of santa cruz services Funds aren't going towards other services outside the city You see if there are other questions comments by members. Ms. Contari johnson is recognized Thank you Maybe just more comments um, I saw that one of the feedback from the community Listing sessions was that To not ask for performance measures from prior years And i'm a little confused by that because you know with any grant and with any organization or any agency There are accountability measures, and I know that the county and the city collect Reporting um regularly. I think annually on these funds, but I would encourage us to not completely do away with that I think it's important to see that if organizations were funded that they are meeting the goals and objectives and outcomes that were outlined before That I think that should be part of the scoring scoring criteria. That's a best practice that's used in the Grant world and in the philanthropy field. Um, and the other thing I wanted to note is um I Actually, I read this before the holidays So we're gonna hear it at the at a previous meeting, but I noted that uh only 77 percent of what was anticipated To be served for the city of santa cruz was actually met And and now I can't find it in this packet, but I'm wondering if anyone could speak to The thinking behind that or what we could do to make sure that that's increased and that's that we meet 100 percent Of serving the city of santa cruz residents with the funds that were allocated I can start with that and then I'll turn it to amanda for any additional comment uh for all of the So what you're looking at was was probably exactly that the goal of how many people were to be served So it doesn't mean that the programs weren't happening But for some programs there was ramp up time So they didn't quite meet their targets And one way that they're we are approaching core all of the core contracts Is through this um through the progress report and through our um Working with them is to help them be successful to meet their goals All of their goals. And so somewhat just as this core, you know, the rp process in general's iterative We're working with the cbo's to help them You know iterate to get to be able to be successful. I see any addition Yeah, go ahead Yeah, we have we're receiving mid-year reporting is happening now during the month of january So one of our Goals with the analysts at the county that supports core is to look at programs that aren't meeting their goals And as Kimberly just said to Understand what those barriers or challenges are it could have been that some of those We're experiencing the staffing shortages or ramp ups that were identified as some of the problem spaces this first year So but we are definitely working to figure out how we can better support and meeting those contracted goals I see. Thank you. Um, I actually did have one other Um, maybe two other things to know. Um, I noticed that 60 percent during these community sessions 60 percent said that they didn't need ta with data collection But that data collection was also one of the top challenges as you named in the presentation It was in the report So that's just something to note that maybe they they said they don't need ta and data collection, but um Maybe we can simplify during this process, but um It there's that's contradictory. Um, and then just I just wanted to respond to vice mayor golders comments around Expending of funds of our general funds. I hear vice mayor golders I hear your concerns and I would say that the Role and purpose of the cbo's is to really provide some of these services that are essential for our community members That are outside the scope In capacity of the city to provide but it ultimately does help us with what we're doing and keeping the city going No, that's kind of a broad Comment, but I think they serve a really important role and and they fit in our role as a city council And and they do a lot of hard work for us, so Councilmember Watkins is recognized and then councilmember brown Councilmember brunner. Do you have questions on this item? Will you be? Okay, so we'll go here here here good councilmember walking great Thank you for the presentation and the improved audio. It sounds much better Um, I appreciate you you calling that out I will ask councilmember brown to add anything But I thought I would just briefly cover a little bit about my experience with core When we were first elected it was definitely a transition time But giving and having community giving dollars that are investments into community programs has always been something the city has done As far as I've been aware of the process is what's different So in terms of these investments there has always been that but now moving forward since 2015 or so the process changed to partner with the county um, and the the hope is essentially to move from What was sort of shared with me historical kind of contributions to certain programs towards a more collective Results-based process and that's when all of these kind of metrics and applications and I think it's fair to say growing pains and Challenges along the way have kind of occurred because it's shifting what was historically in place to a different method so all that to say It has definitely improved over my time on council in terms of how we're thinking about it In terms of equity for folks to apply for the funding And hopefully in partnership with the county and I think it'd be fair to say ideally with other jurisdictions Although they have their own processes for giving most of them do Really just a bigger bang for the buck for the impact. So To count some recalentary Johnson's point about kind of collecting those data points I think that's really critical to measure those bigger shifts We hope to see that this collective results-based process is designed to shift so So all that to say It has it has been rocky and challenging along the way But I think the partnership and the attention and the continuous improvement mindset is something to note and to Continue as we move forward with these investments and and certainly has been not only challenging for us at the city those folks at the county and Mostly for our community providers who were sort of used to one way of doing things And now have had to shift and it was hard and and some people, you know, I think Came out with more funding and others had a shift in their traditional funding. So I I think it's in terms of the bigger Goal of core. I really agree with that. I think it's really important to think about holistically where we're trying to go And what we're trying to shift If there's things that we can do to encourage our other jurisdictions to join us wonderful If not, however, we can continue to improve our Partnership with the county to ensure our dollars here are invested at the local level in a way that feels Clear to our priorities and our residents priorities. I think we can fine tune that um So I'm happy to answer any questions in terms of my experience for the other years of the core because it was hard And it's been hard in the past the community programs Committee was the committee that I served on I think councilmember brown served on that for a while. I'm really trying to get through this It's still something we're all trying to continue to get through and um, I know this is another milestone as we continue our journey together um, so that's a summary and and short and again if you have any more questions, let me know No, thank you. That that is helpful. Okay good. Okay good. And then um, I do have just one question if I may I um, I apologize if I missed this in the gender report I don't think I saw it But I think what I heard from the presentation was that healthy environments were added at the last board meeting and I'm wondering how that impacts or potentially Provides opportunity for synergy if if the city was looking at doing something similar or what does that mean? I guess in terms of next steps So What that would mean is if uh, if you chose to also add healthy environments And we continue with a joined rfp as we've done in the past then it would it would be seamless in a sense um, if you opted not if you supported the other three priorities, but opted not to add healthy environments then of course, I feel like We would coordinate with the with the city administrators, but I would envision that then when it came to core ward time that Basically, no funding from the city would go towards any of the healthy environments Core related applications Okay, and it's the request to have us make that decision this afternoon Yeah, okay Um, I mean based on what my understanding would be is that makes a lot of sense And I think there's probably certainly a lot of need and potential folks who would apply under that category So I'm inclined to to include it. Um, but I'm happy to you know have that discussion with my colleagues Um as well. So anyways, okay. Thank you. Thank you councilmember brown. Thank you mayor. Thank you Uh Kimberly and laura and your and amanda amanda for the presentations Um, I I'll just add a little bit more on the context and I'll since we're making comments I'll make a couple of comments. It's my uh cliff note version So quick, um historically prior to the implementation of core and the changed approach Uh, the city at least in the time that I've been paying attention since about 1995 or six Um, and I believe this started in the 80s had made a pretty significant contribution to community programs for all of the reasons that our colleagues have suggested and That had and it hovered around two million for a very long time Um, it was up to three million. I think in like around 2000 So, um, it's been reduced over time in large part because of so so also I'm saying this to suggest that When the city is in dire financial circumstances, um, those Those funds do get cut. Um, they have and they haven't returned to pre You know, uh housing financial crisis levels So, um, so there is it's not like we are entirely locked in but we make that commitment and partner with the county In terms of the transition to this new approach, um, I think you all know I've been a critic of some of the particulars of this. Um, I I agree with um council member Watkins assessment of kind of the holistic the the need for in the goals I mean, I totally agree and I have seen this play out in a way that um We could call it growing pains and we could also call it a reduction of critical services in our community and what I see is that You know, one the movement away from elected officials having involvement in the decision making And ultimately we're the ones who answer to the public. So I think we actually should have more of a role I'll just make that point Then, you know, what I so what I have seen is really a shift towards, you know, the way that foundations seed grant You know seed money For for programs and so it this from now on what is I believe will happen is this will not be a stable source of funding For programs for critical community services So we should no longer call it that this is really about seed grant innovation Um programs cannot rely on getting this funding again So we may see lots of progress or performance And they just won't get funded. I agree that that should be a factor in considering future proposals I mean the whole point is we're developing metrics and for evaluation. Why would we not use that? um, I also have some real issues with the um Some of the other statements and so i'm going to wrap up and with a question about this, uh, the Your presentation and the the packet suggested that there were Quite a few Opportunities for engagement which there absolutely were so surveys Focus group kind of meetings with different sectors. We've been involved others have been involved and But by see comments that are kind of universally Or creating a universal narrative that most believe the rfp should not prioritize Applicants that have the ability to leverage funds most believe the rfp should not score past performance And most believe large agencies should be limited from applying for smaller grant amounts Um, and so and I I I'd like to better understand that what does that mean? Because I was never in a conversation where that actually was said that that belief was expressed And so I I could understand that we I may have been in minority conversations, but that feels very, um Like like we are kind of accepting some some statements as um, you know The way that we should move forward without really understanding who that is And how many? I agree with the county board of supervisors Contention that that that actually should be included in the future And so I'll I'll support the move forward given what the county did But I'd like to know Who is this most people said made these statements Survey respondents focus groups Etc I'm happy to answer that question. So this was explicitly the community engagement sessions with The the focus groups that occurred there were six Sessions and then three specific focus groups with Councils that was offered to all as well as surveys. So this was this was a report back just on that community engagement Um in terms of how it was presented. So I it wasn't inclusive of elected feedbacks and all of it. It was specific to Um The community engagement process and what we heard from those experiences from those specific Events just can I if I could clarify my the question then it can you give me an estimate? I can't recall if that was in the material What are we talking 30 40 people and those are mostly service providers? or new grantees um civil service How many I just would like to have some understanding of this most this universe Sure, um, I don't I will locate the exact numbers for you. I do have those There was approximately. Oh, thank you 59 attended in total. Okay. Thank you. Thank you councilmember brunner Thank you Thank you for the information and the report was very interesting to read through Um, I guess my question is just to kind of gain clarity on the three recommended core conditions and how those Were landed as the recommended core conditions Because my understanding is we can opt to change that at the city level and have our own recommended In core conditions, is that correct? So If we can bring the slide that back up bonnie, we can get to the formula. So the county did data analysis of investment areas and life life long learning and education thriving families stable affordable housing and shelter were The three lowest percentages So those got because they were the lowest Got translated into the potential next core rfp top priorities And then the county board of supervisors added And that's up for conversation with you all healthy environment If the city chooses to change priorities on These and not go with the same ones that the county would do We would then have to work with the county partners to adjust the rfp process And that would make the rfp process and the rubric associated with it much more Challenging and complex to do the evaluation if we are working against different priorities for county versus city funding versus all of core And kimberley and amanda, I don't know if you had anything to add to that I could add a little bit The one additional piece of information I would share is that Behind those we really did try to see based on available Reports based on you know community level data and from the county cities And other partners whether there was some Need that we could clearly point to as a High priority need that then we could make the priority or priorities in core but but There's there was no data that demonstrated one clear priority because we know that there's there's needs everywhere And so that's when we fell back to looking at okay How does the budget fall and where are there gaps there? So that was our reasoning behind that and I I agree with what laura said regarding The complication that would Arise if we went in different directions Thank you for that helps clarify how we landed on the three recommended and So then just one more clarity healthy environments was a fourth Priority that the board has So they have four total versus three Yes, they added That fourth one at their december meeting in that conversation And so if we were to add a let's say we go with the three recommended priorities and we add A fourth one. Let's say health and wellness What does that do It it would it would impact similarly if we whether we choose three out of four different One out of four different it impacts the rfp evaluation process and the complexity of the Panelists and how we do the evaluation Because we would have to have different criteria for different funds Great that helps clarify my question and um when I had initially looked at All of the core conditions which we in a perfect world would fund And prioritize all because they're all necessary You know health and wellness really stands out For city of santa cruz uh residents And even in our oral communications. We had someone speak to very distinct health and wellness topics And economic security and social mobility is another category that all bring Very important Conditions that you know, hopefully we can fund but if we're narrowed down to Three In this cycle That helps provide clarity as to why these three are recommended. So thank you May I add a little bit? Yes Thanks, I just wanted to um also Reinforce that while we were identifying three or four priorities health and wellness in particular Organizations that provide health and wellness related services would still have an opportunity to apply for core funding Because most of what they do Also supports thriving families that also supports that people need help to be Housed as to be healthy. So there's still avenues for those organizations to apply social mobility that also there's There's services that within that category that also fall into the lifelong learning and education category So I think there would still be opportunities for people who are interested to apply They would just want to tailor their applications Within the prioritized conditions Yeah, thank you. There is a lot of intersection and and I appreciate you calling that out Thank you council member for the questions A couple questions mish mit first of all, thank you And thanks to the folks from the county online Council member brown talked about the early 90s I was elected to the county board of supervisors in 1988 and In that year The brand new CAO at that time susan mariello Made a determination that rather than having a parade of non-profit organizations coming in front of the board each year Saying here's all the good things we can do that it would be better to create a system Which led to the human care alliance, which was you all go figure it out Amongst yourselves and bring us a package that you believe serves the needs of our community that went on for many years That was also compound and complex now. There's another yet another way to do this. I think however it is done. It is Complicated by the fact that the needs are great and varied The money is limited, of course and how to try to match up the highest priority needs in the community with the available funds from Either the county's general fund or pulling down state and federal money or individual cities contributing It's always going to be Imperfect and and very compound and complex The reason I say that Is that this is not a new issue To city and county government it's been around for decades how it is we deal with that So I do have a couple of questions in that regard One is the total county contribution to the core Programmatic efforts Is it that two hundred fifteen million? Two hundred and fifteen million dollars that's listed On their general fund contribution The county general fund contribution to core is just under five million just about five million Uh, this chart is showing other county expenditures separate from core Okay, so the core expenditures on this chart are where They are not listed on this chart. This is They are not listed on this chart Okay, let me ask the general question then the county contributes how much from its general fund to core programs About five million dollars five million dollars The city of santa cruz Contributes how much from its general fund to these a little bit over one million dollars over one million City of scott's valley contributes how much? None directly the city of Capitola contributes how much none city of watsonville contributes how much none. Okay So With regard to the city's contribution of a million dollars, which If we had five million dollars, I'd spend five million dollars on it because I there's not a question in my mind About the need issue So if my question becomes When we commit a million dollars to these programs We're trying to do that presumably unspoken The the spoken issue is we're trying to take a million dollars from our general fund Improve the lives of people in the city of santa cruz through contributing to these various cbo programs, which are wonderful right, so When we make a dollar contribution into that Is that service going to santa cruz residents? Yes, what we did when we Combined in the rfp in the last go around we combined the dollars and the overall administration with the county But for our contribution within the evaluation of the respondents We specifically stated that the Benefited recipients of the services for the applicant needed to be in the city of santa cruz So we are aligning the recipients of the services that get funded to be santa cruz community members city of santa cruz not the overall county So I'm sorry, please. I just wanted to make sure if the county partners had any edits to my response County. Yes. No, you're I yeah the funding goes to city residents so when I would look at And we can pick any one of these organizations, but Pick out the boys and girls club or something and and that's not to criticize them. I think they're wonderful And they operate inside the city of santa cruz. And so some of our money of a million dollars is going to them And then as somebody comes in to the boys and girls club or Whatever the organization happens to be operated in the city of santa cruz Somebody from scott's valley comes in or capitol or whatever and they want to Get the services from the boys and girls club We say what? The program that we would have funded with city money With the boys and girls club would have been for a program that benefits santa cruz residents If the boys and girls club applied for another Grant from core that was county based That money would go to the a different boys and girls club not in the city of santa cruz are serviced directly for the city Okay, I don't want to go where i'm going to describe next but understanding So Little sally comes in and lives on market street and she goes to the boys and girls club That's great. She's and then a little joey from scott's valley shows up at the boys and girls club What do they say to him? If it is a program that we funded What were their names selly and Joey joey's from scott's valley joey's from scott's valley So joey from scott's valley goes into our boys and girls club down the street. Yes, and he participates in a program But that doesn't have money from the city core funding Or he participates in one that has Funding from a city core funding I don't know the details of what we funded at the boys and girls club But theoretically the program that we funded through our money at the santa cruz boys and girls club would have been for city residents Okay, so I'm not sure that's exactly what these individual programmatic reports say I'm not sure it says it it indicates in here. There's a This is very helpful information by the way and really well formatted But when we look at location, there's a location chart in for each one of the organizations and It indicates How many recipients from each jurisdiction during the previous year and so in almost all of these there are Folks who have come from One of the three cities or more than the three cities who Appeared to be available and I have no issue with that. That's fine I want little joey to get to play basketball at the boys and girls club. That's how my issue My issue is what scott's valley doing about that Or do we tilt port little joey? When he wants to go out on the basketball court and we're supporting the boys and girls basketball operation I'm sorry joey, but your city hasn't given us any money I don't know the Policies of the boys and girls club But a for instance would be for a parks and rec program When I tried to register my daughter for junior lifeguards in capitolah I was deprioritized because I did not live in capitolah So I don't know if the boys and girls club does that and joey might get to play basketball But he could be on the wait list because there are other Kids in Santa Cruz and the classes are full I don't know enough about the specific programs to be able to answer that but I would also Conjecture that whether or not the money flowed through Our shared core partnership with the county or if we were to have directly funded the boys and girls club We would have the same conundrum about if joey got to play basketball and if he was from scott's valley Exactly my point. That's exactly my point. That's what I thought it was and that that that's very helpful Do we have any reason to understand in either your conversations with your counterparts in capitolah scott's valley in watsonville Why they choose not to expend general funds in this way? I have not had Those conversations directly with my counterparts, but I see council member brown with her hand up council member brown I can't speak to the Management staff of those cities, but I can say in my conversations with elected representatives from those bodies Each of the jurisdictions does give some limited funding to What we would used to call community programs. It's very limited in scott's valley and capitolah watsonville Um does uh, I think it's almost half a million dollars. They do make contributions. They have Not opted in none of those jurisdictions have opted into participating in core They do support community programs. Um, there's a whole story there. I'd be happy to share another time Let me ask on on I want to I want to go back to this issue about Uh, that is mentioned at least in our packet on 26.3 Which uh at the top of the page Is 2023 core rfp community engagement listening sessions about halfway down. There's a series of bullet points I want to go to where A couple of my colleagues have gone In the third bullet down it says most Believe the rfp should not prioritize programs ability to leverage state and federal funds um, that seems counterintuitive to me it would seem if the city of santa cruz is Contributing a million dollars of discretionary general fund money. We would want to fund programs which in fact do Leverage state and federal money So that our dollar goes further more services provided That would occur to me. What is the argument? Aside from well That continues to fund Established organizations that can pull down state and federal funding Uh, what is the argument for and and is that part of the policy you're asking us to adopt? I I'll hand that over to kimberley. I it is not that is just a report back of opinions. So I'll hand that over to kimberley Thank you Uh, yes That was feedback that we heard from the community engagement sessions And the reasoning that some people gave behind that perspective Was they felt that it um, it favored a larger more established organizations And did not provide as much of an opportunity for smaller organizations with smaller with less administrative infrastructure um I feel like it I may also note that core funding often is just a portion of funding For programs. Um, we very rarely is core the only source of funding for Any of the programs or organizations if that helps for the moment or your earlier conversation Thank you. Let me follow up on that because Because I want to understand is there anything we're doing today which would Ratify that which is to say is there anything the city of Santa Cruz is doing today? Which would align us with the idea that the rfp should not prioritize programs ability to leverage state and federal funds Are we agreeing with that in any way you can perform? so for If from hsd, we are today just asking For you to vote on priorities And if there if you do have a sense like we've noted the feedback that you're hearing from you that It you would like to have Uh performance measures or the ability to leverage Be a part of the request for proposals Some of the board of supervisors said that same thing though today the one thing that we're asking is for You to make a decision on the priorities That are listed on the screen. Um in front of you And to the thank you. Do those priorities reflect Agreement that the rfp should not prioritize those programs The priorities just reflect the jet these broad policy priorities They when we come back in april with the draft rfp, that's where we would include feedback around the performance measures and Leveraging of funding being weighted in the applications Am I answering your question? We'll get there. I'm pretty sure because I think we're pretty close. Um, so Let's say that we're looking at the rfps That are to be funded right the decisions haven't been made now now we're looking forward We take an action today Here's a million dollars. We adopt these priorities As folks are then Being pushed through the various screens in an application process Is one of the screens Going to be that the rfp does not Give you any additional points if you will for being able to leverage state and federal funds How is the state and federal fund leverage question Going to go into the evaluation if we take the action you're asking us to take today I I believe the action that we're asking you today is whether or not you want to Go in line with the four Priority areas I believe that action is silent on your question on the state and federal side And that I believe what Kimberly answered in my interpretation is the state and federal criteria Is not a part of the decision making and would be part of the draft rfp that you would then see in april Okay, so miss bush. Let's put that is that accurate back up Okay Okay, not a problem not a problem So I make sure that I've got this because because my feeling is Which now starting to align with my thought about it Is that I understand from the point of view of established organizations new organizations If you're some new organization don't have a lot of track record Maybe you've been around a year or two You haven't been able to pull down state and federal money and so on But you're doing something in that list that we really like we adopt the list You're asking us to adopt and let's say we do that And then within those categories there's going to be applications right to operationalize those And be able to provide services in those general general areas So Along comes an rfp to do that. I'm sorry along comes an application to do that and I'm interested in knowing How you would treat how how the evaluation process would treat Two applications one come in says I'd like a hundred thousand dollars to do x good thing in the community The other one says I would like to get a hundred thousand dollars to do that in the community But what we bring is the ability to pull down a half a million dollars in state and federal money Whereas the other one can't So from my point of view I'm interested in outcomes, which is the recipients of the programs If we could get somebody we give them a hundred thousand dollars that then Leverages a million dollars in now. We got one point one to spend on this rather than point one My what what what would be then if if we move forward? In some kind of evaluation process, which one of those is Rated or evaluated or ranked higher than the other I'm going to take a little bit of a circuitous route to answer your question But hopefully it will be brief. Thank you between now and april. We need to work with um, the city council and our community partners to Fair it out the details of the rfp and within the rfp some of the Detailed criteria that you're describing would be in there Historically what we have done is as we've had the community outreach meetings and the conversations around different aspects Leading up to the rfp the training and so on We have used a subset of the council in the form of the community programs committee to help Bounce ideas off of and get feedback essentially on behalf of the larger council before we take something to the larger council This type of conversation I think is appropriate for what we would have done with the community programs committee So we have two groups within the city council that might help with that We could either go at it from a function perspective and have the health and all policies Group be that replacement for that conversation that used to happen at this cpc Or we can also look at it from a funding perspective and go to the council budget and revenue ad hoc committee those would be my suggestions of give us a Pinging point a subset of you to work with on some of these questions as we lead up to the april conversation Thank you for that because I I have this sense and the reason I mentioned Haven't been involved in this since 1988 Is that there's an echo coming around for me on this? which is That If the community organizations Who compete for this funding? Are the folks with whom we're asking that question and and They then get to Provide advice. I'm imagining those that are able to leverage think that that's a good thing Those that can't think it's not a good thing because it prevents a barrier to entry if you will for their organization to be able to move forward That's an interesting conversation for them to have Organizationally, but for us. I think the issue is how many residents are being served? When we put a dollar in what does that get us? By way of whether it's food service or help for little kids or whatever the program may be What is the best outcome for our community? It seems like more is better and so I'm interested in knowing when it is we're going to get For us to get to weigh in on whether programs Should be prioritized should get extra credit if you will if they leverage state and federal funds or not When will we get to weigh in on that question? So It would be offline of this conversation and kimberley unmuted herself between now and April I don't know if they have a specific timeline on that rfp conversation set of conversations I uh can say that we We The approach that we've been taking We took it with the board and we can do it here too You know if you like is that we take this general feedback again, we heard some similar feedback from the board and Take it incorporate it into the draft request for proposals And then when you look at that draft in april As a city council you will have the opportunity to say yes I like you how you captured my feedback or no I don't like that and here's I want you to do something different um, so we're We we're trying to we intend to try and incorporate the feedback that we're hearing Well, thank you so much for that I appreciate that so in sometime in april we'll get to visit this question if we want to make a policy choice Or not make a policy choice that's a time and place to do it Yes, with the send Councilmember brown if I could just because the so the way that we've traditionally done this is as um, uh, mish mit mentioned the community programs committee has made a recommendation And so we don't really open it up and do a lot of conversing about it The whole council does approve that but we don't study it and discuss it in the same way We since the health and all policies committee was established We um, kind of had a conversation amongst the four of us who were represented Those two committees combined that the community programs committee would sunset So I am now Not and I said I'll step out because we have council members who are on that High-up committee and that's a great place. Um in terms of giving additional feedback prior to like so staff doesn't need to make a lot of changes before the whole council gets the um The proposal the rfp and is asked to approve it We could ask that it come also to the budget and revenue committee. I think that was that was an idea or just kind of Share you've shared your concerns I think I've shared mine and and we could ask the high-up committee to take those into account when they're really Digging into it. So it could be a recommendation or any comments also coming from our committee Or we could just kind of hope that there, you know, folks will hear and I I see head shaking so Um, either way. Um, so we wouldn't necessarily want to be make like Big changes at that point if there are concerns it feels like it would be good to resolve those prior to the final vote Sorry, I interrupted Laura. Maybe I wasn't actually Helping that that was great. I just wanted to clarify that it would probably be good for The council to direct either health and all policies or the budget and revenue ad hoc committee to be the go-to sanding board for core rfp questions and You know design guidance Because with that direction if something should come up and there's an opportunity to have these conversations between now and april Hopefully that makes the april conversation easier And I think that is what council member brown was also saying So I'll leave on on that point. I will leave it to others about Which committee it goes to and when it comes up if it's budget and Revenue then I'm on that and if not, it'll come to us somehow, but I'll register my Initial thought which is we ought to give extra credit Organizations that can leverage state and federal funding because from my point of view, that's more services to the community I understand the other argument, but that's my view let me ask about The next bullet point which talks about that the rp should not score past performance and programs that just is antithetical to Everything I've experienced in government for 50 years now To say no, we're really not going to look at your past performance to me. That's that's a critically important component part Because that helps us evaluate the efficiency of the use of our general fund dollars help me understand Two things one That comment and number two Whether that's another thing another element that is likely to be included in the rfp Whether or not past performance gets given any kind of more less points I do not recall and perhaps kimberley or amanda Can recall in the last rfp if that was part of the rubric and they can also help clarify my Instinct of why that would have shown up in the feedback is If an agency is relatively new or the program being Proposed is new or innovative. It would have no past performance and I'll hand that over to kimberley That that response is exactly correct regarding Part of the reasoning for why some people expressed that viewpoint during the community engagement sessions And in terms of whether that was a factor during the last rfp It was not For the same reason So basically if someone had risk if some organization had not received core funding in the past They wouldn't have past performance to rely upon And with regard to your development of the rfp In this cycle You are Going to or not going to Look at past performance We we heard We we were trying we heard some of that that same statement from the board of supervisors And we haven't developed the new rf the next rfp yet So we've said we would try to incorporate the feedback That heard heard from the board and in you And If there was some reason we couldn't we would statewide and then of course again in april with whatever is presented to you whether that is Whether someone would get extra points for high performance or not or however that would be operationalized You could choose to support it or choose to Ask that it be done differently Thank you. And let me conclude by thanking mitch mit and the two county folks If this was easy, there'd be this uniform way to do it's been done for a hundred years and that isn't how we do it Things are always changing For a wide variety of reasons. I know this is terribly difficult work to do and Thank you for your deep engagement and thoughtful and professional approach to all this very much appreciate it Let me ask if there's anyone who's with us in the public today who wishes to provide any comment on this item And miss bush do we have anyone online we do how many Currently one. Thank you very much. Good. Good afternoon Good afternoon Nice to see everyone. Thank you so much for your time and service and attention to this really important matter My name is tracy weiss and the executive director with the ony lc odyssey and have been a long time partner with the city And has served the residents here as a community-based partner for many years I'm going to keep my comments really brief, but we all know that concern from the environment is at an all-time high A healthy resilient environment is an important indicator for the reflection of our health of our community and for the inhabitants within I appreciate the allocation of funding from the city to the core process And for all your work to navigate this. I know it is not easy But i'm here to ask that you really consider Reflecting the county's guideline and adding healthy environments as a fourth priority While nonprofits and community-based organizations could apply and continue, you know, kind of finagle ourselves under a different heading I think it's important that we honor and acknowledge that A healthy environment serves not only our mental and physical well-being, but it serves the residents within Um when we invest in the natural world, we're investing in ourselves and our environment today Is crying out for it? So I really ask that you reflect what the county has done and include healthy environments So thank you so much. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your fine work Ms. Bush, let's take the person online person online. Good afternoon Hello, it's jasmine me again As a licensed manager family therapist here based here in santa cruz I want to emphasize the need for health and wellness to be a top priority and to get more funding Health and wellness was shown to be proposed to get 10 of the general fund contributions To core versus the safe and just community getting 30 65 percent of the general fund contributions to core And most of us have heard the saying that you know an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure Policing which I presume falls under safe and just community is no cure even And if we fund social services that increase survivability, we will see a reduction in the need for police response Many what are called crimes are acts of desperation and poverty Funding more of health and wellness will create a more safe and just community Also last year chief escalante said that the majority of police time has been on houselessness and mental health and addiction issues And that these calls will be better handled by those by services That signals to me that the majority of funding needs to be on social services I also empower you to increase funding from our general fund for stable affordable housing and shelter Which I agree should remain a top priority right now. It's only getting three percent of the contributions It's one of the most basic needs ever I'd like us to look more holistically when we fund things while we're talking about 1 million from city's general fund and contributions to core funding scpd is slated to get 33 million of our general fund in the fiscal year 2024 I don't really see why that is as a mental health provider I think we need to be spending most of our general fund on social services that increase survivability To me it makes no sense again that police are going to get 33 million and we're talking about 1 million being distributed to all these core priorities. Thank you Thank you Good afternoon, sir My name is still james ealing Whitman. I'll be brief You know, I too had some questions or a very similar question that you brought up mr. Keeley As far as what was what was that 5 million or 1 million? But actually what it seemed like was 215 million so i'm glad that you uh clarified that Besides that, I don't want to confuse the situation anymore. It's just fascinating to know that you were Board of Supervisors when gary patin was a board of supervisor and you've been doing this for 50 years So Hopefully all of us will be around for another 50 years. Oh, there's nothing sad. It's true. Thank you That's very kind of you. Thank you for saying that Matters back before the council motion would be in order I'm going to go to miss brown them. Yeah, miss brown. I was I was actually going to Mayor you could you could I do you have somebody else on mine? Well, I'm sorry. I thank you for bringing that to my attention miss push the other person online. Please proceed uh mayor keely uh council Uh, it's brad snider again. I just uh, uh, what do I think about all the spending, uh, you know, like Uh, even though it's uh, it sounds like it's 1 30th of the police uh budget I feel like I feel like the idea that you can uh, squelch crime by uh, uh treating mental mental illness kind of like Assuming that the only thing that causes crime is mental illness It's kind of like Sutton's law. Okay, you know what we're you know, you uh, you rob banks because that's where the money is, but um Yeah, actually, I don't know. You know, it's it doesn't doesn't seem like terribly, um incidental that the uh, the guy who uh, first uh formulated fentanyl You know, which everybody's so so alarmed about was is the guy who also uh, who the company that all these uh, uh Anti-psychotic drugs that they prescribe and cost about seven thousand dollars every injection Uh, it's nant jansen pharmaceutical same guy invented Fentanyl that they're giving these anti-psychotic drugs to everybody and just paying tons and tons of money To inject people with drugs um now if you go on to You know the internet or uh wikipedia, uh, you know a good great resource for information Uh, you look at political abuses of psychiatry. You're gonna see that. Yes psychiatry is something that is used as a tool Um, I'm not going to go overboard. Uh, you know wasting everybody's uh moments here, but that's my five dollars worth. Thank you Well, thank you very much anyone else online. Let's push Very good matters back before the council Councilmember Watkins is recognized Thank you and thanks to um our staff and the and our colleagues for the questions and the Further clarification and refinement. I'm happy to move the recommendation. I'd like to add the fourth element similar to the county's which is healthy environments With additional direction to have the health and all policies subcommittee be the first council committee to review The rfp prior to it coming to the full council. There is a motion. Is there a second second? Brown Please open on your motion. I just have a brief um suggestion for for future consideration Um, I having been a part of this for a long time. I I also know that every time there's often more questions that come up And so thinking about transitions of councils in the future At least two of us will be off. Um, next next cycle that there's four thought in how you're Preparing our colleagues and future colleagues for understanding of what this is and the history as well as how to potentially proceed further because I think frequently we have these discussions and I think that sort of history and um background could be helpful In the future. So that's just a suggestion for uh, senior from a senior council member The other senior council member Believe it, uh, so I would um, I Thank you council member Watkins for making the motion that was um, I wanted to just clarify that we the intention would be for the high up committee to be the The moving kind of responsible subcommittee given the amount of work involved in Moving through this. I don't it's not really in the wheelhouse of the budget and revenue committee um, and I just it wanted to make sure that um, I associate myself with your comments about the, uh, which I kind of already said But just really be clear that it for the committee members as you look at this I really want to see um those elements included the ability to leverage funds and um performance metrics for past work Whether through core or organizational work Funded elsewhere. So I just want to make sure that's really clear. Um, does not only need to be in the motion, but um wanted to You know, hopefully we don't have to have a real long conversation about that when it comes back If please I'll just add that I yeah, I'll just add that I'm very much on the same page is what I've heard from my Colleagues here around those components. Um, I'm one of the members of the um health and all policies committee and I'm aligned with that and um In my role, I'll I'll make sure that we have that discussion and we recommend that that's in there Thank you. Let me ask the maker of the motion and the second uh with regard to this additional If I understood it correctly this additional category that the board of supervisors is interested in Is this the time and place for us to weigh in on whether we agree with that My and is that in your motion? That is in my motion to add that in your motion. Okay, very good. Ms. Bush, we're clear on that Okay for the debate or discussion Seeing and hearing none the clerk will call the roll Council member is nuisance. I brown. I runner I Calentary johnson. I vice mayor golder. I miraculously. All right motion passes and so ordered We are on item 27 and Here's what we're going to do. Uh, I know you've been waiting patiently 10 more minutes of patience is what I would request We're going to take a very brief 10 minute recess. We'll be back in at Let's call it 225. So it'll be about eight minute recess. We'll be back then When you're ready, okay, thank you Santa Cruz City Council is back in session following our afternoon recess and thank you for your forbearance those of you who've been Waiting For your items to come up. We're on item 27. This is a revised Santa Cruz wharf master plan and environmental determination We will be receiving a staff report from mr. McCormick from the economic development department And mr. Lipscomb Who heads that department? Good afternoon Good afternoon, and thank you for having us today My name is david mccormick. I'm the the project manager for the wharf master plan with economic development and housing I just get this presentation up and running. Let's see. Ah There we go. All right. Thank you again, and I'm joined today by sabrina teller our outside sequa council Good afternoon. Welcome All right So today I'm just going to give a quick overview of the of the presentation We'll have a little slide on context for it. What the wharf master plan is why it's needed um more on the a brief summary of the the top lines from the the revised er analysis and then we'll follow in recommendations in next steps I'm going to try and keep it brief. I apologize for council members who who haven't had the benefit of the very many presentations on this, but We'll go ahead today. Uh, so just a quick glimpse at the wharf today It's generally we estimated to attract around 2 million visitors or more each year. It's the top three regional destination It's got over 20 local business partners And is home to over five or nearly 500 employees or about 10 of the city city's restaurant workforce Annually we we receive about there's about 30 million dollars in sales generated by the wharf And the city receives about almost 3 million dollars in revenue to sustain the wharf from that In 2018 the the wharf was assessed for insurance purposes at just under 120 million dollars likely more today So what is the wharf master plan? first and foremost as a result of public engagement And the engineering reports and analysis. It's a framework. It's not a prescription for what comes next It's a 20 to 30 year plan and a financing tool that is essential to getting outside resources to help sustain and improve our wharf And it sets goals rules and guidelines For expanding public access and public space on the Monterey Bay Most importantly the wharf master plan will not immediately authorize any development There's still a long road before we can deliver on any of the visions in it It won't bring ocean liners or cruise ships to Santa Cruz It won't remove the sea lionholes and it won't mandate that we build buildings tall It does provide an outside envelope, but it does not say that any of them have to be that size Uh, and more significantly it won't impact bird or marine life in a negative way and that cannot be mitigated as shown in the ir and typically associated with construction in that regard And then going forward it will not reduce fishing or sightseeing opportunities And it won't close the door on community engagement. Each project will have uh opportunities for that To date the wharf master plan has included this will be the fifth council meeting on it 10 commission hearings eight focus groups 15 stakeholder meetings 10 interagency mailer meetings over 4 000 mailers and notices There was a open house showcase and milestone meetings held during the drafting of the plan and broad news coverage throughout So to say that it uh, it was not a public process Does not really hold up A glimpse at all of the stakeholders who are involved. These are the ones that easily I could find logos for there are more Particularly among the businesses so the over 20 wharf businesses that were engaged in the process But we had representatives from all of the types of groups and industries there that provided input into drafting the plan So and through the process it's been heard and advised upon by numerous commissions The green lines show prior discretionary approvals with the one red rejection Most recently by the historic preservation commission Who did you know disagreed with the west walkway and a design language that was proposed by staff The need for the wharf master plan really boils down to the outside the outstanding infrastructure backlog so, you know to say that the The The wharf crew does an excellent job keeping up and maintain the wharf We're one of the few wharves in california that has a dedicated staff working full time to repair it But the life of living on the with 110 year old wharf on the open ocean is that they just don't have the resources to keep up with The you know the degradation and wear that occurs there so that's resulted in What the engineering report estimated was about 11.6 million dollars If we adjust an outside infrastructure needs just to repair what we have today If we adjust for inflation, that's over 14 million today. However, if we look at recent Bids that we received for the miramar site restoration. It's quite likely that this work would be quite a bit more expensive The report also did and you're likely here today that it reported that the wharf is in generally good repair And with a little over 200 around 200 pilings needing replacement or about 5 percent of the wharf And to say that that's a small number is is miscaracterization that's Around two-thirds of the the entirety of the capitol of wharf if you wanted to compare So you can imagine driving Recreating all of that while you have an operating wharf tearing up all the infrastructure needed there. It's it's no small task We most recently replaced 26 of them on the miramar site and the wharf crew has been able to replace a few year But they struggle with outdated equipment our wharf Crane that they use for pile driving is over 50 years old And you know has issues with that so It's not an easy task to catch up on this and we don't have the resources to get there Along those lines the the wharf financials have proven to be insustainable As you can see there we're sort of on a downward trend over the past seven eight years And in the last few years Needing to be subsidized to the tune of about a million and a half a year To keep up with the wharf operations including parking Wharf maintenance and marine safety So part of the master plan's goal is to balance the the natural Sorry the the social Environmental and economic considerations the wharf to create a sustainable wharf going forward and to help write this ship So we have the resources we need So within the wharf master plan there are a number of new features Proposed there's the life station the lifeguard station upgrade. There's the the relocation of the entrance gates There's an east promenade which is a multimodal Trail or a path along the east side of the wharf that extends farther than shown there as well as a small boat landing and a south landing for larger vessels New overlook and lateral strengthening at the end of the wharf As well as the the proposed landmark building Which would be a multi-use large public-facing facility a westward extension at the end of the wharf to again Strengthen the lateral resilience at that. It's narrowest point or not narrowest point, but it was most vulnerable point Um An all-season events pavilion over the existing stage to improve seasonality and and encourage more events out at the wharf at the west walkway, which is a multi-benefit facility providing recreational access as well as emergency response and Access a sort of a defensive barrier on the west side of the wharf against marine debris and wave action To protect the the buildings atop and the pilings underneath them that can't be repaired While the building is standing And then finally a welcome center near the entrance to help orient people and serve community sort of You know provide information services as well as a potential open water swim facility with saunas and showers and things like that The the wharf master plan was a last approved by council in november 2020 However, um, we were quickly challenged by a group called don't morph the wharf We have a number of representatives there today Who held objections to several facilities, particularly the the west side walkway and the landmark building that were highlighted on the last image um And they raised More arguments than this, but the court ultimately ruled in their favor on inadequate recreational analysis similarly to land use policies related to recreation and disagreed with our That are rationale for rejecting alternative to Which would have removed the west walkway the the court felt that it wasn't adequately supported by the evidence And so as a result, uh, we were ordered the city was ordered to rescind approvals of the master plan in the ar Which has been done in october of 2022 and we have spent the last year conducting the additional environmental analysis and Revisiting our findings and things to address the court's concerns I would quickly go through what was studied So for the recreational analysis, uh, the team used the most expansive definition of recreation and california law To ensure that we covered every base of what could potentially be What is and what could potentially be recreation at the wharf through these improvements? there's a You know a comprehensive write-up in the staff report on it as well as Links to the the parks and recreation commission staff report, which really gets into detail And then of course the the revised er has all the details going over 100 pages worth of analysis For the purposes of this meeting to keep it brief. We'll just talk on the the the two most High-profile elements the first the concern was that the the city's prior commitment to preserve or relocate the sea line viewing holes Also fishing holes Was not adequately analyzed or supported in our record and it couldn't be shown Through that commitment that we could feasibly do so So in the revised er the the attached exhibit was was entered showing that with modifications to either the holes Or the layout at the end of the wharf Including potentially the landmark building the sea lion holes Could be relocated could be modified to create new opportunities at the end of the wharf or even along the length of the wharf and would also Have additional opportunities through the west side walkway or the the stepped overlook To see sea lion viewing in other locations and in different ways and experiences The study also Or in the process we also identified that none of the the near-term projects such as the east promenade Shown here in the progress plans Would not impact the existing viewing holes as they are So those projects Really it would come down to how things are modified regarding structures in the landmark building things like that Recreational fishing was the other hot topic There was concerns that with these new improvements, there would be less fishing opportunities Through the analysis based in gis modeling and actual measurements of what was there This the team looked at not just the presence of fishing and the allowability along the wharf perimeter But looked at different styles of fishing and different catch Opportunities that exist in different zones along the wharf And with the full project builds out this would result in a 21 increase in overall allowable fishing Particularly for reef style fishing which is sort of in and around the pilings Which today can only feasibly or really be achieved From those sea lion viewing holes where you conflict with the sea lions But with the east the west side walkway that could expand dramatically There'd be all sorts of new opportunities to get in there and and try your your skills The most notable actual negative impact while those are positive impacts the negative impact would be the that tailgate fishing Would be reduced by about 1705 feet That's a significant reduction in the availability of tailgate fishing Which is driving up the back of your car to the edge of the wharf and you know setting up shop And the main reason for that is to reduce conflicts So in the recommendation here in the analysis It would tailgate fishing would not be allowed in any space less than 10 feet wide where there's a path less than 10 feet wide Because that conflicts with ADA access So it's still preserved in a number of places As shown in the next exhibit it would be down by the sort of by the Lifeguard station in the east parking lot and a little section past Stagnaro's So all the allowable fishing zones that it exists in would be maintained There would also be an estimate of between 80 and 100 spaces preserved for tailgate fishing So there's still plenty of opportunity for it. It's just more restricted to areas where it's not conflicting with other uses And not taking up, you know, unnecessary unnecessary parking potentially In addition along the east promenade, there will be dedicated seating areas for fishing separated from multimodal pathway uses All of which again reduces those opportunities and then there's the expanded boat and west side fishing That would be engaged to confirm that this would be It would be, you know, a realistic That we realistically would preserve that opportunity We reached out to the department of fishing game who goes out there regularly to monitor fishing activities and check catch for their data purposes And they returned the this average of daily fishers counted By their staff so they're not out there every day But throughout the the past year what they found is a peak of about 58 fishermen at any given time In the month of july down to a low of about four in january So we feel pretty confident that that fishing opportunities will still be there for anyone who wants to And again, here's that detailed analysis shows you exactly where we we think that fishing is most feasible Some of the red areas could modify a little bit here and there Based on the final design of of project elements like the boat landings For instance the the small boat or the south landing. We actually think we have some alternative designs that are a little smaller It might free up some fishing area but Overall we we expect to see a net increase in fishing Throughout the war particularly if the entire project is built We also analyzed the land use policies for recreation based in um Approved existing documents so the general plan the low coastal plan coastal act everything there To make sure that we were consistent with recreational policies per the court's mandate And we found that the master plan is consistent with each of these approved documents It would protect and enhance public access and coastal recreation It wouldn't intrude on beaches And it would expand economic Everything there so really is consistent with all of the plans that we have in place guiding our work And then the the final aspect of meeting the court's order was You know strengthening up our Alternatives analysis And the the blue project objectives are the ones that we feel are most aligned with the west walkway There's actually two additional ones there Related to economic activity that I didn't make it on this list, but they should be That aren't strictly really related to the west walkway though But we feel that in the analysis the the west walkway If you were to remove it per alternative to We would not receive the additional lateral stability or that defensive barrier to protect the buildings And the jobs and businesses that lie above them So while we think about you know potential impacts to views and things like that Of course, none of which were found to be valid in the eir But nonetheless are perceived by by some people in the community The the reality Is much more tangible for the people that work and have their livelihoods attached to the build businesses on the wharf that this need is there To protect those businesses those buildings And the the experiences that we get through them We would also not receive the the new pedestrian access along the west side a topic that was encouraged by the coastal commission We'd see a reduction in fishing opportunities Although nominal about about a hundred feet compared to current existing conditions Which is about I believe it was less than five percent Compared, but nonetheless it would be a reduction in fishing without the west walkway Depending upon final design of other elements And then we would not have new accessible water access on the west side of the wharf on the cowl beach side There'd be no new wildlife viewing or sightseeing from the west side of the wharf And there would be a loss of emergency response access on the last side of the wharf So there's a lot of downsides to adopting alternative to and that's thus Staff's recommendation is is to maintain the west walkway for these reasons. We know the climate is changing We know there's increased risk the engineers hav