e of the studies and I I can look also quickly and get back to you on this Because I have cited some sources that did talk about what those impacts might be and again, they're they're minimal But uh, yeah, that's all I have for you. Thank you. And I and I also agree with my colleagues. I really appreciate this Amazing amount of research that you've done to help help guide us in in our decisions here today One other question I have um, they the governor or the in the development of sp3 They did add a clause that allowed the governor to Pause the increases if there was a major downturn in the economy Was there any thought given to that if if something severe were to happen uh to be able to Mitigate some of the some of the pain of a of a dropped economy on the employers right before the increase happens Uh, so not for this ordinance. Um, the if I recall correctly the governor has only uh, the ability to use that off-ramp twice If there is I think what we had discussed here and during the study session is if there is a negative cpi that There would be no change, but we did not discuss and nor did we consider An off-ramp. Okay. Thank you Thank you the only question I had um, I couldn't find it in the ordinance about third party complaints Who do we accept those or how would we investigate those? Um, I did look that up and Anybody has the ability to make a complaint. Um, and they would go to the state Said with confidence. Thank you I was trying to look at my notes real quick Great. Thank you Okay, those are all questions we have from council. We have plenty cards here So you'll have two minutes of opportunity to share your views with the council don't feel like You have to use all two minutes. You could also just acknowledge what previous Speakers have said that you would agree with them So first up is dwayne dwitt followed by daniel pablo Did dwayne leave? All right, daniel pablo followed by valerie Hingham, okay Is dan there you go dan? Yeah Hey everybody, my name is daniel pablo and I actually serve on the board of trustees and I serve as a student voice But beforehand I like to apologize to the city council. I know I'm a little short So I know it's some of you can't see me But the fight for 15 is an issue. I've been fighting for a year for And I'd like to thank you I like to thank jack tibbetts Especially for joining our student government meeting at 3 p.m. Yesterday listening asking questions and actually hearing the student perspective at the junior college as well But I would like to ask the city council as a recommendation for the voting process To actually approve this I know a lot of students and a lot of friends who first handedly go through homelessness And just working at starbucks barns nobles or any other place 12 dollars is barely enough For a lot of these students to make Have money on for their side Some gas for their car going to class Feeding themselves every day in school So this would be great if we could pass the fight for 15 And this will just be a slippery slope Santa rosa is one of the biggest cities in sonoma county The city's sonoma actually passed it first the city of paloma fell in hand as well And if we pass it it's just going to be A chain of commands. It'll be Eventually sought out to the city of skeelsburg Every other city and will be the ones to actually fight that on So I would recommend to the board to approve this. Thank you for the time Thank you valerie hinshaw followed by susan lamont Good evening. Mr. Mayor and city council members. My name is val hinshaw. I'm a resident of san aroza And i'm here on behalf of the sonoma county democratic party as well I'd like to read a letter into the record which has been distributed to all members of the council From our chair pat sable Dear mayor schwedhelm and members of the council The sonoma county democratic party is writing to voice our organization's support For the north bay jobs with justice proposed ordinance to raise the citywide minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020 With an annual bay area cpi chain each year thereafter in a time of skyrocketing cost of living and stagnant wages We believe that local government should do everything in their power to address this imbalance directly by implementing policies such as a minimum wage increases The sonoma county democratic party passed a resolution for support of a $15 an hour minimum wage in 2014 The california state democratic platform includes specific and direct language supporting a statewide $15 an hour minimum wage A number of you council members read this platform and pledged to support it when seeking the democratic party endorsement By increasing the minimum wage and Santa Rosa to $15 an hour by 2020 and including an annual relevant cpi increases Not only do we give our poorest residents some measure of economic security by putting an average of $2,900 annually in their pockets But we also improve their health Better their educational outcomes stimulate the local economy at the same time Low wage workers have been found to spend a significantly higher portion of their income Locally on basic necessities and the increased spending power of these workers would return to our local economy Providing a boom to our small businesses sincerely pat sable chair of the sonoma county democratic party Thank you So I do uh before I get yelled at by the city attorney I do have to open this public hearing. So this is a public hearing that is now open So we have Susan Lamont followed by debbie mccon Present the green party of sonoma county and to add its voice in support of the north bay jobs with justice Proposed ordinance to raise the citywide minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020 The green party stands with labor and believes that the prosperity of the city of santa rosa And the county of sonoma cannot continue to rest on the backs of poorly paid workers Everyone in this room knows that working people cannot live and work here without struggle and precarity if they can live here at all Everyone in this room knows that rents have skyrocketed while wages have not kept up Everyone in this room knows that we are in the midst of an environmental crisis And that it makes no sense to force workers to live hours from their work and with inadequate public transportation Everyone in this room knows that economic instability creates stresses affecting health Relationships family education and so much more Everyone in this room knows that income inequality has reached levels that are obscene and inhumane Everyone in this room knows that past minimum wage increases have not destroyed local economies But have boosted them because those increases are returned to local businesses But this is not just a monetary issue. It's an ethical one Though you will hear protestations to the contrary Everyone in this room knows What the right and ethical thing to do is and that is to support the people who make this county what it is That is to share the prosperity That is to recognize that the worker using the vacuum cleaner the worker carrying The tray and the worker behind the cash register are just as valuable as workers and as human beings As the worker wearing a suit They have been waiting far too long Their struggle is real and they are desperate The green party of sonoma county asks you To please Act on what everyone in this room knows and raise the minimum wage to 15 dollars per hour by 20 Thank you. Debbie mccown followed by george eberti I'm debbie mckay and i'm here on behalf of the league of women voters And we sent a letter to the council members to each of you But i would like to read our letter into the record As you are aware the california cities can set their own minimum wage higher than the state which is what you're considering this evening The league of women voters of sonoma county support a living wage designed to help as many covered employees as possible Earn a wage at or above the poverty level And i'd like to add a side comment that i'm really pleased you're not carving out teenagers Very often teenagers are a very important part of low income households Making it and being able to pay their rent and buy and put food on the table So i'm glad you're covering everybody underneath this ordinance The league urges the council to take this important step towards a living wage by approving this ordinance this evening The league has long been concerned with the lack of affordable housing in our community Low wage workers cannot make ends meet in this high-cost county Particularly given the skyrocketing rents and housing costs As you know sonoma county rents have increased by approximately 25 percent from 2000 to 2016 While the annual medium income for renters has only increased nine percent Increasing the minimum wage will make housing more affordable by offsetting rising rents This is really important step that you can take to make sure that our residents can stay in our community We have lost approximately 3 000 of our community members post fire And this is an important step to make sure that people can stay live and work in our community In addition raising the minimum wage is good for our local economy Low wage workers are not going to put their money into the stock market They're going to spend it. They're going to spend it in our community on local necessities And it will boost our economy. It will help us prosper Boosting the minimum wage will help cut poverty rates and make all effect Less reliant on public assistance. Thank you, uh, george Folks we kind of have a um a practice in this chamber if you agree with one of the speakers Just wave your hands because the applaud delays the meeting and we're going to be here for quite some time Feel free to acknowledge that you like me, but please hold the applause george uberte followed by sandi reynolds Yeah, wow, what do you think here? Do the people 115? I think so. Yeah Looks like it to me pretty unequivocally I just wanted to say that I was ecstatic to uh hear that cpi considerations Are going to be factored in to the minimum wage as we go forward, right? We're we're thinking really about what a sustainable wage is going to be like for the future everything else goes up The wage goes up with it. I just want to add that uh, you know $15 an hour was not scientifically arrived at in any way It's about like 10 years ago people, you know, it was just a kind of a it's hard for low-income people to organize We picked a kind of snappy number that was higher than what we were getting and we've stuck with that for 10 years so I I think it's great that we're considering the cpi as we go forward But let's think maybe a little bit more about this 15th thing I mean, it's it's a good way of getting us all on board for the same idea But I don't know that it's enough You know, I don't know that it's enough I think that we should maybe take some time to really think about what a living wage is for this community And and something that's not just I mean, we're talking about a bare minimum We're talking about a living wage, right? We need to we need to aim higher than An amount of money that we need to realistically stay alive As a side, I mean, I don't know that that's our goal as western civilization to, you know Put all these people here on life support and And you know call it a day, right? Let's think about really elevating civilization Let's think about calculating a wage That's not just a way for us to organize what we're asking you for Right, let's think about a wage that is what these people need Right, let's be a government Okay, and let's think about what our people need and find a way to give it to them before they have to beg It's for 10 years Um, so that's that's what I think I have to add to this discussion I'm happy to see everybody here. This is what we want Thank you Sandy Reynolds followed by Lee Pierce Good evening. Good evening, mayor and city council members I address you tonight on behalf of the santa rosa democratic club The largest membership of democrats in santa rosa who are activists your constituents Regarding the uh proposed Ordinance by the north bay jobs with justice Last week you received a letter from me on behalf of this organization Which directed me to write you with unanimous support Giving clear directions to you as your constituents To raise the minimum wage in santa rosa to $15 an hour in 2020 You've heard from a lot of people already tonight, so you're aware of the reasons that this needs to happen And you know that in the coming two and three years to postpone this raise $15 an hour is no longer worth the value that it is today That's not really progress more is needed now It's important that you do what's right and what's critically needed for our workers in santa rosa You've done a good job with an important work with including Creating affordable housing and given the housing crisis However, if the workers don't earn enough to live in these homes Then a terrible gap exists between what you've created and what's possible for them to afford Tonight you can make a substantial difference in the lives of our workers in santa rosa Increased wages makes housing and other necessities more affordable The increase in income gives workers an increase in spending power right here in the local economy It's a win-win for santa rosa We are sincerely counting on you to do the right thing and pass an accelerated minimum wage ordinance tonight Thank you. Thank you. Lee Pierce followed by natalie Siller's oh Good evening, mr. Mayor members of the council. My name is lee pierce resident of district two council seat um I'm the president of the north bay black chamber And that's what I rise to tell you this evening that the north bay black chamber Supports the 15 dollar minimum wage I sat there at the dais a year ago As a candidate for that district two seat And I made it clear that I support that wage But I also thought it was too minimum Uh, I think there are people out there Who would argue that While the increase to 15 dollars In 2020 might put a few more groceries in the in the food cart Or a little bit more gas in the tank But it's not going to touch rent and mortgages and that kind of thing Black and brown people are typically typically at the bottom of the economic, uh Schedule, uh, there are statistics here tonight That will support that and I'll leave that to the folks who have done that work I urge the council to do all green lights tonight That will show that you have done your homework and you studied this issue. Thank you Thank you. Lee natalie Siller's oh followed by susan mcdenna Good evening, mr. Mayor santa rosa city council members. My name is natalie Siller's oh I'm the co-owner of russian river brewing company at 725 fourth street with a second location in winzer I would like to start this by saying that I do support a minimum wage of 15 dollars It may not seem like it as I'm speaking, but I want everybody in the room to know this In 2004 we opened with 28 employees when minimum wage was 675 an hour We now have over 200 employees 80 of whom are employed at our santa rosa brew pub and 33 of them are paid A base hourly rate of 12 dollars per hour the current state minimum wage 100 of these employees earn tips either directly like bartenders and servers or indirectly by being tipped out We also have known for a long time the minimum wage is not a living wage in our community And have been paying our next least paid position at least 15 dollars per hour My point is that no one in our company earns the current minimum wage Each year since 2017 california restaurant owners have been required by state law To provide raises to our employees who need at the least I would much rather be handing out larger raises to our dishwashers cooks security and other non-tipped positions As a minimum wage increases year after year We must respond accordingly by raising our prices to cover increased costs of not only wages But payroll taxes and workers comp insurance There is also a compounding effect of raising other employees wages to offset the increasing inequity We would also need to raise minimum wage for our Windsor employees for equal pay for equal work Therefore if santa rosa passes this ordinance as it is about 70 of our employees will receive A two dollar an hour per raise or 15 increase the financial impact to our company is upwards of 200 thousand dollars Not including taxes and insurance I am in support of 15 dollars per hour minimum wage But please consider a moderate modifying the proposed ordinance to keep tipped restaurant employees at the state minimum wage Thank you very much Susan mcdonough followed by tom woods Yes, good evening. My name is susan mcdonough I am speaking tonight on behalf of a businesswoman in Santa rosa who was not able to make it so I will quote her words I am olivia walton owner of live fashion boutique in santa rosa I have had my boutiques for 13 years now and i'm proud to say I do and have paid well above the minimum wage for my employees I've found that even being in retail and employing young people the longevity of their careers here at live Are much greater with a higher pay. I always start at least one dollar above minimum wage If there's no customer service or retail experience and then raise them after probation to 15 dollars I continue to raise them higher as they take on new tasks and I give raises each year Most of my employees start in high school or college and stay until graduation and move on to their final careers I also have employees move away from college and come back during the summer and winter breaks Although retail is tough It's a tough business I find offering a higher base pay and commission when they hit higher sales Has really paid off for both my store and for my employees Please pass a minimum 15 dollar minimum wage by 2020 tonight and thank you. Thank you tom woods followed by tom amato Council thank you for this opportunity to speak to you First thing I want to do is I want to look around this room And I want to tell you how proud I am to be a part of this group labor and community organizations It's great to be on the side of righteousness I want to point out that we're talking about the minimum wage We're not talking about the living wage of 23 dollars an hour. We were talking about the minimum wage people that are earning So little that they are not able to pay their bills week to week These people are not saving. They're not putting money in the bank. They're not saving for a future They're not taking their families to Disneyland. There's people that are surviving hand to mouth When we're talking this minimum wage here All of this money every cent of it is going to be recycled right back into the community and into local businesses They're not leaving. They're not traveling They every every penny every penny that they get Get spent right back at the same stores that we're talking about that don't want to raise that minimum wage We need to do it. We need to protect our workers. Thank you Thank you. Tom Amato followed by Erica Galera I'm Tom Amato and I'm Really happy to see first of all so many oak miners here because this is an issue that a lot of oak miners are concerned about And I'm chair of the oak mine democratic club And we strongly support raising the minimum wage to 15 dollars an hour I'll be very brief because you got a lot of speakers here Um, coincidentally, I had a conversation this morning with one of the catholic priests who serve this area And one of the things he was uh, lamenting was the high cost of rents and the low cost of wages And and the relationship between the two and how many Members of his parish have a time hard time making it to the end of the month Because the wages just don't match the rents And particularly like a young couple how can a young couple get by with like a one bedroom apartment? So, uh, we asked you tonight to consider that and consider the young families in our city and to raise the minimum wage Thank you. Thank you. Erica Galera followed by Maddie Hirschfield Hi, my name is Erica Galera and I'm a long time resident of san riza And I currently work for a very small nonprofit called food empowerment project, which is based here in Sonoma county We are encouraging a yes vote for 15.1 As a vegan food justice nonprofit a part of our mission is working for equal access to healthy foods and black and brown communities And low-income neighborhoods It is a very complex issue and one that varies from community to community However, as part of our focus groups one consistent issue that continues to come up Is the individuals living in these communities emphasize that cost is a huge factor as they don't make a lot of money Which is why we strongly support this effort Also, although we are a very small organization with a staff of four We feel it is imperative that businesses take the responsibility of paying their employees at least $15 an hour starting in 2020 If not sooner I hope you will take a minute to digest that this equals before taxes 28,800 a year with that salary is difficult to live in Sonoma county Paying your employees at least $15 an hour and increasing it each year should be A part of your budget every year should just be a part of your budget A small nonprofit like ours pays our employees much more than 15 Not only because it is the right thing to do But because we value our employees and we know how difficult it is to live in this area. Thank you. Thank you Maddie Hirschfield followed by Marty Bennett Hirschwood home and council members Maddie Hirschfield on the political director with the north bay labor council I'm with those groups that did some of those studies So i'm going to be talking to you about that one of my least favorite sayings is studies show But i'm going to be saying that to you a lot tonight Um, I want to address first of all one of the concerns that always comes up when this is discussed And that's about small business Being exempt It should first be noted that none of the 27 cities in california that have past minimum wage ordinances have exempted any size business Including the following cities that either went to 15 this year or are going to 15 january in 2020 That includes santa clara richman el serrido Fremont almeida san liandro redwood city billmont los angeles city and county San mateo san francisco berkeley and emory vell Of those cities only la and santa clara and fremont gave an extra Year for small business to phase in santa rosa Most certainly can and should phase all businesses in the 15 plus cpi together in 15 months on january 2021 The second concern is that res restaurants will struggle to keep up A study of restaurants across san azea as well as a separate study of los angeles san francisco Seattle chicago dc in oakland found that above all businesses restaurants are able to absorb minimum wage increases the best Because they spend the most money Then other businesses on constantly replacing their their staff and the the tips that was mentioned are Considering tips against minimum wage or as part of the wages against california law so that just can't be done Studies also show that since low wage workers Um are the most likely to spend increased wages They also tend to spend it mostly locally which you've already heard and in restaurants eating out as a luxury Workers who work hard to serve and feed the middle class at their restaurants Want to also enjoy eating out and studies showed they do when they get a raise in their wages The only Okay, that's it. Thank you marty bennett followed by jack buckhorn marty bennett north bay justice And we have three consecutive speakers Who are all presenting on behalf of hasis guzman masters of public policy From the uc berkeley goldman school And the author of the state of working sonoma 2018 And i'm the first speaker I come before the council To offer our assessment of the research and evidence with respect To the minimum wage and its effect on the local economy Uh begin by addressing a point of concern That claims that the effects of the minimum wage will Exorbitantly increase business operating costs and prices The empirical evidence would suggest otherwise An accounting of operating expenses would obviously show a rise in payroll costs However, what the accounting often fails to calculate is the positive effect of an increase in a minimum wage Which is reduction in turnover and subsequent next savings We know from industry reports that even in a labor intensive restaurant industry That labor costs constitute about one third of the operating expenses The uc berkeley labor center 2018 report on the economic impacts of 15 minimum in the north bay Estimates a seven percent increase in payroll costs due to the 15 minimum wage that accounts for three factors one the increase in wages two changes in payroll taxes workers compensation and three the net savings from reduced turnover It's that last factor which an increasing minimum wage reduces and helps prevent That can be difficult to account for but which empirical research has shown time and time again Can significant net savings for business? Thanks, marie jack but corn followed by mara ventura The point here is obvious pay workers and they'll be less likely to leave For the restaurant industry that in recent years has reached an almost an average annual turnover rate of more than 70% Those can be significant savings on that turnover rate A 2014 paper by erin dubie found that within nine months after a minimum wage increase of 10% A corresponding 2% reduction in turnover occurs with teens and restaurant workers Studder a study by uh, heather bosley and sarah gwen in a in 2012 paper estimate That the average cost of losing and replacing an employee earning between 30 k and 50 k annually Is between 16 and 20 roughly speaking a $30,000 employee who departs for a better paying job For example would cost that firm about $4,800 to replace Given a tight labor market at around 2 to 3 unemployment and a turnover rate of about 10% Almost twice as high for workers ages 19 to 24 A reduction in turnover turnover as a result of a minimum wage increase can mean significant savings for business Especially those with high turnover rates and persistent job vacancies The remaining difference in increased operating expenses Are mostly passed off to the consumer in terms of marginal increases in price of about 2 to 4% This range in price increases increases actually very consistent with the 2013 study Measuring the effect of a minimum wage on the restaurant industry in san jose In the study, they collected menu prices from almost a thousand restaurants from inside and outside san jose They then measured the effect of the minimum wage increase in san jose pre and post Comparing san jose to surrounding cities. They found that the restaurants increased by about 2% on it Marvin tera followed by miles bergen Hi, marvin tera executive director north bay jobs with justice So should the minimum wage be staggered by business size and perpetuity as jesse rosting at uc berkeley has noted There's good research to suggest that larger businesses have greater flexibility To increase payroll costs than smaller businesses in the short term Giving smaller businesses a bit more of an on ramp through a staggered minimum wage schedule a year So after large businesses to adjust to the minimum wage can be can be helpful However, it doesn't follow that there should be a long term or permanent staggering of a minimum wage that differs by business size Doing so may only further compound the disadvantages smaller businesses face by allowing them to pay less wages Which rather than helps them actually makes them less competitive and attracting talented employees to help them run their businesses In a tight labor market over the long run Why would an employee choose to work for a local retailer for example that offers a lower minimum wage than a business like target That would offer a higher one Rather it behooves the council to create a level playing field in which smaller businesses are giving an on ramp to adjust To the minimum wage increase in the short term, but then merge the wage levels to match that of a larger business in the long term There's robust research demonstrating the net benefits for a local economy of putting additional dollars in the pockets of low-income workers Given their marginal propensity to consume Increasing the income of low-income workers has a much higher multiplier effect and helps increase local consumer demand Given that the likelihood that both a low-income worker will spend that dollar And the statistical likelihood that they're going to spend that dollar locally is significantly more impactful than raising wages for high-income workers Given what we know about the average price increase of goods and services as a result of the minimum wage There is no evidence that consumers discern a significant price increase Especially not one when a cost-benefit analysis is done between Small price increases for a good and the relative price and transportation to go get that burger at another nearby city That's it. That's my time. Thank you. Miles Bergen followed by a felt beard Good evening mayors who at Helman members of the council. My name is Miles Bergen. I'm here in a couple different capacities today I'm on the board of Sonoma county conservation action and wine country young democrats which have both endorsed unanimously Incent letters of support for the ordinance in front of you, but also as a member of the job to justice committee for san aroza Specifically, I want to dive. Well, first let me thank you for bringing forward this ordinance tonight And hopefully we'll be taking the first step for making san aroza a more deliverable place for everyone The one concern that we have with the ordinance is the 3.5 cap on cpi The whole point of putting a cpi chain in this ordinance is to make sure that the wages that our lowest wage workers make Keep up with inflation every day or every year Keep in mind that over a third of the cpi percentage is based on housing costs And according to a study done on Sonoma county's housing costs in 2019 Our housing costs here are rising faster than any other county in the bay area including san mateo county and in san francisco county We don't implement any cap on cpi for landlords being able to raise rents on renters under rent stabilization ordinances Including those in the mobile home park ordinances Yet for some reason we decide to have a 3.5 cap on the wage increases that our lowest wage earners can make This is inconsistent with the goal of keeping our minimum wage ordinance Which is designed to help low-income residents be able to keep up with the rising cost of living And it's something that we should look at when we pass the final ordinance tonight In my last little bit of time, I like to talk about enforcement and predictability The biggest lesson we learned from santa clara county where every city has the same minimum wage Is that we need to be consistent in terms of what we pass petaluma did not cap their cpi Now that is the county cap their cpi for their county workers or do we cap cpi for our rent increases By putting a cap in the ordinance We're going to create a more difficult job for the state and local labor and commissioners office to help our cities and the county enforce their ordinances We also make it more difficult for business owners who do business To know what to pay their workers where thanks philip beard followed by gabriel matcha bansky Good evening. I'm philip beard I'm here on behalf of the senate the friends of public banking santa rosa And i'm here to report that my organization Enthusiastically endorses the proposed ordinance raising the minimum wage to 15 dollars per hour. Thank you. Thank you Gabriel mashabansky followed by colin williamson Um, my name is gabriel matcha bansky I'm the associate director at the great and day labor center as well as a member of the north bay jobs with justice steering committee I want to present to you tonight Just under a thousand petition signatures These were collected around santa rosa To support the 15 dollars by 2020 ordinance proposed by north bay jobs with justice We spent hours having conversations with everyday santa rosans All across town as well as members of the great and Great and day labor center most of whom are santa rosa residents And their concerns with losing valuable residents due to the rising cost of living Overwhelmingly people agreed that 11 and 12 dollars are too low For our community and want to see the 15 dollars as soon as possible So I ask that you please accept our almost 1 000 petition signatures in support of the ordinance. Thank you Thank you Collin williamson followed by dr. tony ramirez Hi, i'm collin williamson About three years ago. I opened up a restaurant here in santa rosa I've been in the restaurant business for most of my life. So I feel Pretty comfortable. I know how to run a business and know how to run a restaurant and I know what What my expenses are and how I can deal with those expenses and I just think Like madly said, I'm not against 15 dollars an hour I just don't want to see it ramped up that quickly You got to give me some time to make some adjustments to my business to be able to Be able to adapt to that I think The studies show that, you know, it's only going to be a 2.1 percent increase It's going to be a lot more than that I'm a pretty small business and I think that I'm going to have a harder time dealing with this than the bigger guys the mcdonald's apple bees Those guys are going to be fine because they're going to just come in and figure out how technology is going to be able to help them cut labor And so I think the local independent restaurants are the ones that they're going to suffer And you're going to see more and more of us go out of business downtown santa rosa is already Littered with a lot of empty storefronts tex ristavi just closed their doors yesterday I think you're going to see more of it. Um, I I know that We have a responsibility to do the right thing for the community and I feel like I've been trying to do that all my life in this business And I've got some long-term employees. I've got some people that I think really like working for me And most of the people that you're trying to help are already making more than $15 an hour in in my business the only ones that aren't are The servers the bartenders the hosts the ones that make tips So it's not really going to help. It's going to I think hurt In the long run Thank you, uh, dr. Tony Ramirez followed by laura larku Good evening council. My name is tony ramirez and i'm a family doctor here in santa rosa speaking on behalf of hp So along with my colleagues here are other health professionals in santa rosa We're a local health professionals advocacy organization that encompasses representatives of all health care delivery system In the county and we are here in support of the ordinance So one of the most common and most important questions I ask patients is Are you concerned about being able to afford your medications or food that you need? health care health care providers do not exaggerate when we say that families are making decisions between medications foods Roof above their heads are going to the emergency room versus waiting it out If health care providers do not ask patients about their financial circumstances We are failing them and thus advocating for moving people out of poverty is an obligation of ours And this minimum wage ordinance can have incredible meaningful impact on the health of our community A 15 plus minimum wage is an antidepressant. It is a sleep aid. It is a stress reliever It is a contraceptive preventing teenage pregnancy. It prevents premature death. It shields children from neglect Poverty can be unrelenting shame inducing and exhausting Some people live so close to the bone a small setback can quickly spiral into a major trauma and cause significant health effects From evidence-based studies and ucsf center for vulnerable populations We find that when patients have a bit more money in their pockets, they exercise more They are less stress and can quit smoking their mental health improves pretty dramatically Their sleep gets better and people start eating healthier almost immediately Sure, we doctors we can prescribe a new expensive heart drug that the industry spent an incredible amount of money on But if we increased wages by even one dollar, we'd save more lives You could save more lives and we are with you raising the minimum wage rights prescriptions rest in broccoli But it also provides something less tangible dignity. This translates into empowerment in a better community for all Please consider passing this including Removing the cpi Thank you. Laura Larku Followed by Isabel Fisher Good evening major and members of the council. My name is Laura Larké and I am here representing the faculty All faculty association Which represents all of the faculty of santa rosa junior college We are here to encourage you to consider Approving the 15 dollar minimum wage an hour Given that many of our students work full-time go to school full-time and have family responsibilities It is difficult for them to focus on their classes when they have to work full-time and they are making only $23,000 a year that is before taxes making only 12 dollars an hour We know that the majority of our people who are making 12 dollars an hour are people who are poor and who are people of color Pockets of poverty we can find here in Sonoma county and santa rosa is the largest city in this county We cannot argue that the Minimum wage of 15 dollars will bring Harm to people who own business Because how can a person who makes 12 dollars an hour can pay a rent of more than $2,000 a month? That is only a very small apartment plus. They have many other responsibilities. I encourage you along with my peers The faculty of santa rosa junior college to seriously consider raising the minimum wage Thank you. Thank you. Isabel fischer followed by judef gaipo Good evening. My name is isabel and i'm here speaking on behalf of north bay organizing project to urge you to pass This $15 minimum wage in santa rosa Say a single person is working one 40 hour a week job and making the current california minimum wage of 12 dollars an hour That means they're making about $1900 a month if you're not including taxes or if they're funding their own health care, etc Let's say the single person is living in a one-bedroom apartment When the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment here in santa rosa is also about $1900 a month Well, hold on that scenario is already impossible But for the sake of this example, let's just say that they were able to find an apartment for $1400 a month They're still paying almost exactly 75 of their income towards rent 75 They've only got $500 left per month for additional expenses like utilities Groceries Groceries extra medical payments or anything else they might need finances for It's the constant cycle of barely making ends meet month after month without the ability to save money This is why people get second and third jobs And let's not forget that women are still making less on the dollar than men are Data from 2017 and 2018 show that in california White women make 80 cents on every dollar a white man makes as do asian-american women African-american women in california make only 60 cents on the dollar Native american women only 49 cents and latinx women only 41 cents on the dollar It couldn't be more necessary to pass a $15 minimum wage at this time It's an important step in the right direction It's essentially raising an unlivable wage to a slightly less unlivable wage But it is still an important step For working people your constituents. Thank you. Thank you. We need a gapo followed by logan harvey Hello, good evening mr. Mayor and city council members I'm here to basically emphasize what she just said Making most of the people make $12 an hour some of them. They still make $11 an hour in the city Uh, that makes them to 1920 a month out of that if they're lucky they can get an apartment for One bedroom if they're very lucky they can get to an apartment for 8 50 But let's say we get an apartment for 1400 Out of that you have 520 left So if you can figure it out and send me a letter to let them know how they can pay their bills because they have to decide Out of that 520, they have to pay federal taxes state taxes insurance health insurance car insurance food electricity is like What are you gonna pay? So like I said, you can figure it out. Let us know. I think it's more than than fair to To raise this minimum wage because a lot of people they're already feeding their kids with mac and cheese if they're lucky with water and milk And with hot dogs does no nutrition Not only that but they already gave away their um Being able to to live by themselves, you know, basically they gave away vacation is out of the question You know, so they have given being given away Too much stuff privacy And now they're give some of them. They're giving away their dignity because like single mothers making minimum wage They have to sell their dignity or give away because they're living in a sometimes in a living room And people telling their kids don't do that. Why are your kids? That's hard for a mother. That's heartbreaking So please it's a necessity and I'm asking you as a human being To raise the minimum wage to 15 that will give them $500 more per month Thank you. Logan Harvey followed by dana bellwether Thank you, um I'll do my best to stay within time. I've had a time limit in a while one thing I'd like to point out i'm the i'm logan harvey on the vice mayor of the city of sinema The one thing I'd like to point out with regards to sinema's minimum wage is that we do have a 3.5 Percent guaranteed wage increase At the moment it wasn't listed on our website. So that's no fault of your staff But I I would like to address that first and then we'll be coming through with the cpi as well Another point I'd like to make is that you know, we heard a lot about Tip credits as well during our minimum wage fight Our city attorney determined that it was illegal under california state law as did the your city attorney The north bay jobs of the justice city attorney also declared that it was illegal under california state law and The california restaurant association was active during our minimum wage campaign And if it were legal they would have argued that it was legal So they didn't believe it was legal either. So there's no way that that is a legal Proposition for you In addition, you know just remind you who these workers are they're making Sub 25 thousand dollars a year. They're living completely hand to mouth These are not workers that are capable of going to their boss and demanding a raise These are not workers that are capable of standing up for their own rights And it's up to the city government to stand up for them to support them That is where you need to be and I I really hope that Santa Rosa does not become the first city to say no To their low-wage workers and I appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. Dana bill there followed by fred alabak Hello, I'm Dana bell weather. I live in santa rosa I think that $15 an hour is the minimum that anyone should be making in this county $15 an hour 40 hours a week enables One adult to support him or herself and one child Not easily but without Having to live in a place that's so ill maintained. It's not warm enough in the winter It enables them to have a lifestyle that is At least helpful for them When people are in good health and at ease they work better and If They have enough money to know that they will be able to continue To afford their apartment. They're going to be a lot more relaxed um if you don't want Tourists to see So many homeless people on the street The thing to do is not to emulate the medieval prince who had his soldiers go out and kill all the beggars The thing to do is make sure that everyone can afford their apartments. I think that's in keeping with the the council's overall vision for the city If there's no rent control it must have been decided with the idea that Wages would be rising. So this is the opportunity To allow the wages to rise so that people can earn Enough to keep themselves and their children housed um Please do pass the $15 an hour minimum wage. Thank you. Thank you friend alabak followed by lori fong Good uh, good evening mayor and council. My name is fred alabak and i'm here representing the sinoma valley housing group And i would strongly encourage you to adopt the uh north bay jobs with justice template ordinance And i agree with the people who are saying to take off the uh cpi limits And i also agree with the woman who was just up here that said it was more than fair To raise minimum wage and i had thought that maybe that i would save some time saying who i agreed with But there were so many people here. I would just like to List the people that i did agree with uh strengthen numbers The north bay jobs with justice the green party league of women voters santa rosa junior college student council county and Santa rosa democrats and young democrats lee pierce north bay black chamber I agree with lee all green lights tonight. Please. Uh, jesus guzman and the state of working sinoma is an excellent document that i've looked at a lot The great and day labor center the health care folks santa rosa junior college faculty and the north bay organizing project 15 is going to put three thousand dollars more in in the pockets of low-wage workers That's a north bay jobs with justice figure and that's money that will ripple up into the economy We've heard of for years about trickle down. I think this is a great opportunity to ripple up Some effects into the economy and uh, I think that's a great idea affordable housing It's not going to what what these workers really need is 28 to have a real living wage in sinoma county But it will help with housing and affordable housing is an indicator that brings on a lot of other indicators with it So if you have a good roof over your head Then you're in good shape. So i'd encourage you to uh do the right thing tonight And uh pass 15 and ripple it up to the people who needed the most Thank you. Lori fong followed by louise to rato Have to see you Mayor swelledham said santa rosa city council members My name is lori fong and i'm representing the santa rosa city school boards as the vice president We consider the city And all businesses and all nonprofits are partners in preparing our students to be life ready learners The santa rosa city school board passed a resolution at september of this year In support of the city of santa rosa's ordinance raised in the minimum wage to 15 dollars an hour As we all know and are working on together the cost of housing in our area is one of the highest in the nation According to the bureau of labor statistics and zillow a real estate data firm santa rosa is the fifth Okay, listen to this santa rosa is the fifth most expensive city in the nation for teachers in rent as a percentage of salary Our strongest thoughts Were that this would help our families santa rosa residents As over 50 of the students we serve are eligible for free or reduced lunch 50 percent Even though single wage earners need more than 15 dollars an hour to meet basic needs much less thrive This would improve the lives of families and helping our students While the schools are exempt from the city ordinance We have our own intent And timeline to raise our classified employees wages to 15 dollars an hour and are working within our means to do so With a target date of july 2021 We honor the city's intent And moral imperative to support our most vulnerable citizens Therefore the santa rosa city schools board of education has presented to you the resolution that we passed in september Thank you Thank you. Luis turado followed by peter rumble Hi, thank you for for the opportunity to talk Yeah, I um I'm a student at santa as a junior college a political science major I'm also president of the students for bernie sanders club at the jc and a former member of north bay organizing project um One of the reasons why I um support bernie sanders because he was the first presidential democratic candidate to support the $15 minimum wage in 2016 He was the only candidate willing to go as far as $15. I remember hillary clan was only um capping it at 12 50 But I think that um, let me just tell you a little bit about myself. Um, I was I was brought to this country. Um at the age of three By my mom who migrated From mexico to here without knowing a word of english And I got to see firsthand how much she had to struggle to put food on the table I remember how much she had to work two jobs for 20 years. She didn't have a single day off And like the things that we were able to afford that weren't even like the best of quality things Like we had to eat like macaroni and cheese and stuff like that To this day minimum wage, I I would say that it's not Enough to be able to afford a decent standard of living here in sinoma county And I just wanted to say that Increasing the minimum wage is um is super important as um also for the economy It's one of the best ways to stimulate the economy. Um when you put money and disposable income in the hands of Working-class people They they they will Buy here in uh locally um Yeah, to this day i'm a student and um like You know one of the guidelines for for um attending classes. Well, I ran it Thank you. There's peter rumble followed by thomas ells Good evening council peter rumble from the san rosa metro chamber of commerce I want to start by being absolutely crystal clear that The san rosa chamber is not here to argue against a minimum wage indeed Increasing income and wages in a community is fantastic for all of the reasons cited For being able to pay living expenses for the health reasons that were cited all of that is absolutely true And workers are extremely well represented here tonight I do want to make sure to be as crystal clear though about Some of our businesses here in the community particularly our family owned restaurants We have restaurant owners who have literally paid themselves zero for the last several years While trying to pay their employees as much as they can Including health benefits in some cases and for those small businesses that are able to pay more like we heard from Liv that's wonderful. Uh, and they will often do that. They care about their employees like they do family We do not have the same levels of turnover as We're cited in studies. We do not have the same levels of personnel cost. I think we'll hear greater data From that more specific data But there will be very real negative impacts for our businesses including closing and laying off workers Uh, I just want to be sure that we are making this decision with that Fully conscious fully in mind That that is also not good for the community This is a I know a difficult choice But because of those negative impacts the chamber's advocacy committee has voted To recommend staying consistent with the state and not moving out in front of that taking on more debt and doing business plans Is not going to help uh when there's zero revenue for Thank you. Thomas Ellis followed by Gary lens Thank you for the opportunity to speak and uh, and thank you for taking up this issue This is really important and I want to point out that uh The cpi is uh, is a cola everybody has heard of cola as a cost of living adjustment So those were yanked out of seniors and various things. It was attempt to take it out of of social security and and That was not allowed. But in many places in for workers It it was taken out even for workers that cost of living adjustments were taken out of their income It was a very concerted effort The bureau of labor statistics Creates a basket of goods that looks at the cost of living and it's based on sale prices for for Workers baskets for consumer baskets. It's based on a sale price So if you look around and you see at the store you see a sale price and you go, wow, that's really low That's really great. I should buy that That is used at prices. You're not the regular price That sale price is what is used to create the basket of goods to create the the cola And the cpi whichever cpi is going to be used they're using these sale prices And not everybody can afford to stock up on the goods at that price because it can be six months before that Good is on on sale at that price again, and you can't buy With these wages you can't buy six months worth of goods So it's really important to have that understanding of that adjustment that it shouldn't be cap to 3.5 And that you should come back is very important to review this statistic within six months And i'll explain that in a second as to why Marginal propensity you consume in the end the velocity of money is really important for local stuff, but There was just on the 17th. There was a 10 Overnight rate on a money market and what that's called is a as an inversion of interest rates That was a huge inversion of interest rates From a real very lance and followed by michael hersberg Hi there I think it's you know, obviously a worthy goal to want to help Our less advantage citizens people who are making 12 dollars an hour to make more And if we as a community decide that this is something we want to do I guess I wonder why we want to do it on the backs of business owners who are the people that hire them It's a very difficult decision to start a business. I've never done it Because i'm scared. I mean it's very difficult to meet a payroll and to make a business profitable And I worry that we're going to make things worse because While you can pass this law What you can't repeal is the law of supply and demand economics If there are fewer businesses in business or they're cutting employees That's going to hurt the people you're trying to help What what makes people make more money is when more jobs are chasing fewer people if we have more people employed They have to raise wages to bring those people on board or else they'll reject the wage that they're offered So if we as a community have decided this is a problem we want to solve I guess I don't understand why we want to do it on the backs of businesses Why don't we as a community decide to give money out of our? You know city treasury to folks to help them out What I mean why put businesses out of out of business? I mean that's what's going to happen. Unfortunately, so I you know there's lots of ways to solve a problem But do it on the backs of the people that have the courage to start a business. I think is misguided Um, I I think it's a very worthy goal. I I hope that you know everybody can be lifted up And we can have more money circulating in our economy and people can make their rent and their medicine payments and everything Trust me. I think that's a worthy goal. I just think making fewer Out of business signs in our downtown and more restaurants going out of business Is not a great way of going about doing it and that will Happen, unfortunately, so thank you for your time. Thank you Michael Hirschberg followed by Merlin Good evening. My name is Michael Hirschberg and I have owned restaurants in Santa Rosa for 30 years and for the last 15 years I've been a partner in a company called central books, which is a bookkeeping company Exclusively devoted to doing the books to restaurants And so as you may have noticed the only trend here the only people speaking In any way against the minimum wage increase or people in the restaurant business I wanted to explain that to all of you who don't really understand the restaurant business And it's something it's probably the only thing I can speak about Authoritatively and that is that 40 to 45 percent of the money that comes into every restaurant goes out to labor Restaurants controlling their labor costs is the most important factor between being in business and being out of business All of my clients and I'm talking my clients. I should say right up front are Our restaurant tours who have tipped employees and that's what's throwing this whole thing out of whack And we all realize that the council here cannot change that But I want to just kind of educate everybody as to what this really means All of these clients all of these restaurant tours who are running tipped employee table service restaurants are all in favor of Everyone making $15 an hour and all of their non tipped employees for the most part 95 of all the employees are making the minimum wage already But because of of the minimum wage the only people that receive minimum wage are the tipped employees and That means when the minimum wage goes up the tipped employees are the ones who are all getting the raises The tipped employees are already making 20 25 or 30 dollars an hour So this is a hardship for for restaurants and I wanted you to understand why and so It is going to have an impact an increase of 25 percent To the minimum wage, which is what 12 to 15 dollars represent Is going to be a four or five percent hit to the bottom line of restaurants And it's not that they're worried about their profits It's so worried about their viability and their ability to pay off loans and things like that So I just want everyone to understand that as that's the counterbalance to this picture. Thank you Thank you.  You're taking whatever excuse you think you can take To push everything down to what will just barely keep us from getting out on the streets and demanding more And shutting things down Well, we can still do that I've got about 40 seconds left and I would like everyone who's been shut up by the mayor to be able to express their gratitude To the great speakers before me that were here and deserve your apology Deserve your applause Please take 20 seconds of that to give them your great applause because it won't take up more of these city council members time I don't appreciate being shut up by an authoritarian Dismercineries with guns that came over to me and said you cannot use your freedom of expression. Fuck you I Carey if you get followed by lisa fackowski Liz fackowski I want to thank you mayor and members of the city council for having this conversation tonight and my name is carey fugit I want to quickly draw the link between climate resilience for our community and The importance of having a $15 minimum wage or higher Um our community we know is ground zero for climate impacts from droughts fires and floods And we know that the impacts of climate change are only going to get worse based on the ipcc reports We have 10 years to avoid catastrophic climate impacts We know that the cost of food will rise the costs to stay cool will rise during heat waves And that the related health costs, especially mental health will rise This decision today to support a $15 minimum wage is a critical first step to help us adapt to climate change Adaptation means looking to lower the risks posed by the consequences of climate change on our most vulnerable populations We know that our low-income workers are going to be the ones most hardest hit by climate change our farm workers Our teachers our youth and our communities struggling with mental health We need to make sure that they don't have to pick between turning on the air conditioner during a heat wave Or buying groceries so that they don't have to live check to check hoping that the next disaster and fire doesn't hit them There are so many reasons tonight to support this and I just want to make sure that we make sure that we recognize The growing instability we're going to be facing due to climate change and that the additional Financial support this offers can help mitigate that and have a large ripple effect on our community as a whole Thank you. Thank you. Liz fikowski followed by sonu shandy Good good evening mayor and council members I'm speaking on behalf of the north bay labor council and also as a resident and a Pro living wage person We've heard from quite a few Restaurant owners and small business owners who were afraid of the viability of their Businesses after a $15 an hour wage goes into effect And I I just want to speak to that. I'm actually finishing maddie hershfield's Notes, but we felt that this is such an important Point that we wanted to make sure it got made The there the only data that correlates Raises to wages with failures of small restaurants was done in santa clara in 2013 and the study showed that Restaurants that closed Earlier than the owners would have expected Were on their way to closure anyway in other words there is no correlation between an increase in the minimum wage And a failure rate of restaurants Most of the customers who were surveyed Of restaurants that were closing or had closed talked about Customers said talked about that their their satisfaction was lower and that Even though the restaurant was able to pay more Perhaps pay more money or workers were quitting less often because they were getting a higher wage The restaurant was still the customers still expressed dissatisfaction So we understand the position of small business owners, but the ordinance is evidence-based And we want you to pass it Thank you. So new shandy first Thank you I I can see this issue is such an important to our community and all of you know We hear one of the key things we do is is As a company is do whatever it takes to make sure that we're doing the right thing for our community And supporting many of these folks that I've seen spoke speak today. We have supported them With you know from our businesses various businesses one of the key things I think the Through what santa rosa has been through in the last two years with the with the destruction We've seen many businesses close. I know the the restaurant issue Many of our employees are already paid a lot more than Minimum wage because of the because of the tip That tips that exist So one of the key things I really like the council to look at if there could be a modification can be done I think the state that this the plan that is proposed by the state Timeline would be more sensible because increasing if we're shifting in july 25 increase Which is more than 40 of our employees are in the front of the house What it does is there's no way we can increase prices by 25 And the time as we're looking at the downturn upcoming in future I really would like to I appreciate the staff all the study that they the the reports that they have done But I think it's important to consider that the the restaurant industry cannot All the sudden increase 25 percent on their on their Prices and that's the key issue that the adjustment is too quick that it would be a hard for many businesses I do want to say that I support minimum ways to go up. I want our living wages for employees to be Where they do they do have their living space that they deserve, but thank you Thank you Patrick side on Hello, I would just like to say I'm strongly supportive of $50 minimum wage and a lot of businesses close just because they suck like All right, those are all the cards we have this is a public hearing You don't have to fill out a card if you would like to address the council Is there anyone else who would like to address the council on this issue? Please please identify yourself My name is josh silvers. I'm the owner of a Jackson's bar in oven and I I also support a minimum wage And like all the other restaurant tours here. I have to be honest It's a very huge hit for us all our staff makes More than the minimum wage in the back of the house. It's all the front of the house people And I employ 40 plus people Which is a huge chunk. I've been in the restaurant business in Sonoma county since 1999 And I actually have An employee who started the second day. I opened so the idea of turnover My general manager worked for me for 18 years my dining room manager Who's 35 started when she was 17? It's not it's not a real thing. I'm sorry. I've just been doing this for so long And it's just such a huge hit for a small restaurant I mean we're classified as a large restaurant, but we feel like a small restaurant We have one location And and to just put that big of a hit on us is is rather a difficult way to go You know every year we get a rent increase every year taxes go up We pay taxes on Equipment that we bought so you have a use tax We pay $400 every time we go to the Staples to get supplies You know we get asked I'd say in a week 30 times for donations and a lot of times we give money When the fires happened my restaurant alone We clumped it came out to about $30,000 with the food and wine for people when they lost their house We just said we're going to take care of you. You're part of our community We're not going to charge you just eat and enjoy You know have a little relief we went out and we bought phone chargers so people could charge their phones We feel like we're part of the fabric of this community. We I lost the house in the fire. We're rebuilding now But it's just more and more difficult to do business here Um, I don't want to be It just you know Thank you. Would anyone else like to address the council? Please sir My name is uh, Richard savage I grew up in a family that uh, ran a small business It was a grocery store that my father Grandfather built from the bottom up We supplied a lot of restaurants. You're in a tough business and so is a small grocery store To run and operate and buy equipment and hire staff and the like So I know and understand what you're going through I also ran my own business in a little county south of here And I hired employees too And it was rough running that business But I was able to in the 1980s and 1990s To pay them $15 an hour or more Yes, I was able to do that And so if we're to run businesses which are not just businesses and I know how tough small business is To make a buck For you and your families as well as your workers, but without workers. You don't have a business So at the same time you need to understand that we're part of a community socially Economically as well as in other ways And so 15 bucks an hour all you can do is raise some of your prices That's what I had to do to my customers. I know it's competitive I know it's tough, but it's the right thing to do to pay people So they'll come and visit your restaurant if you're running it well As many of you have over the last 10 20 or 30 years You'll figure out a way to keep it going and make a buck Anyone else like to address the council on this item? Seeing no one else rise. We'll close the public hearing right back to council Do you have any questions over any of the comments that we heard that staff might be able to answer who's comes I have several questions that I think staff might be able to help with Based on testimony that we heard from the public Do we have any data on Price increases with I thought I heard you give us some data on price increases As a result of Increasing minimum wage well In other areas obviously right um You know one of the issues is the studies where we're relying on are based on areas outside of santa rosa and outside of our santa rosa economy. So I'll preface it with saying there are studies that address price Increases they're mostly based around Seattle San Jose San Francisco Oakland So sort of those denser areas different kind of market right so What's the trend the trend on grocery stores on the report that I read from the international journal of environmental research and public health Said that there was minimal to no increase on grocery store prices And then as I mentioned earlier In the presentation there was a statement in the report from the uc berkeley Report that we heard earlier that I believe They said that there was a two percent Increase in restaurant prices, which I will tell you the local restaurant tours Disagree with for our local market And a one proceed percent pass through To the consumer Okay and Do we have data on turnover rates for any of the studies again data Is called mostly from Reports outside of the area There is one report that I can point to That is from the national bureau of economic research, which is a 2018 report That indicates that there is a 8% reduction in turnovers Resulting from increase Does does a reduction in turnover In some way equal Financial benefit, I would write so then they did they did equate it to A Like I just don't have it in my notes Right here, but they did equate it to a Cost savings that's a much of financial increase, but a cost savings to business and again It was not specific to restaurant or retail. This was a general study that was done Again by the national bureau of economic research Thank you for for Stretching your memory on some of these Was there data on closing? There's no data that I recall reading about on closures. Okay Is there any data on an increase in customers or an increase in income Following an increase in there may be but again that is not something that I Noticed in the research that I thought I heard somebody give testimony to that. I wondered if you'd had it What are our current unemployment figures for the area three percent three percent? Gee, I'm remembering six and nine percent Three percent unemployment is pretty much employment. That's correct. Okay, so We don't have a situation where We have a lot more employees looking for work Than jobs at this point I heard some supply and demand kind of comments about employment and three percent unemployment seems to me to not be likely to trigger low wages You don't have to make a an answer there, but I'm making a guess about that Can you tell me why we've not chosen to go to 20 in 2020? I'm just asking if you know why because I mean this was that was not a question that was asked of the council Okay, just asking because I'm keenly aware that 15 doesn't feel like enough, but I'm I'm happy to work with the Folks who are working on this project and appreciate what they think is is achievable Thanks very much Any other questions from council? Okay Mr. Sorry, you have this Item, so what I'd like to do is get a motion see if we get a second and we'll get feedback Thank you, mayor I'll introduce an ordinance of the council of the city senator rosa adding chapter 1 0-4 5 To the center of the city code to establish minimum wages to be paid by employers and wait for the reading of the text Do we have a second on that mr. Tibbetts? I'll second that Okay, we have a motion a second. Let's start over here with comments Would you accept a friendly amendment? Which is to remove the 3.5 cap on It's the it's the wage cap that i'm looking to not the Not following cpi, but the cap on limiting how much Wages can increase by cpi. No, I wouldn't be willing to accept that you would not accept that as a friendly amendment. I would not Mr. Mayor, could I make a substitute motion sure to Pass the ordinance is written with the removal of the 3.5 cap second So madam said the attorney That last one then trumps the first one Yes, you would take the the substitute motion first If that does not pass and you go back to the original motion So before we start I'd like to add a friendly amendment to mr. Rogers is A couple of them if that's possible One is I would like to add enforcement language That uh except we're prohibited by state or federal law upon determination of a violation of this chapter After hearing that affords a suspected violator due process city agencies and departments may revoke or suspend any Certificates permits or licenses held or requested by the employer until such a time as a violation of this chapter is remedied So and I do believe councilmember that that was in the latest version of the ordinance It is it was on it. I don't have to show that the version. I have does not show that. Okay. Thank you So was that was that that you're accepting it because I don't see it in this version. Yeah, I'm fine with accepting it I was Under the impression that was in the latest ordinance. It's been in all versions of it. The problem is that we call our Business licenses business tax certificates. And so if you do a search for permit that does not come up Okay, and then additionally I was hoping wait can we before we go on that Can you share with me where that language is since I wasn't capturing all the words you said there? 10-4 5.070 under enforcement c four Okay, thank you I'll let it go at that But to be clear it's in there Correct. There's an old ad. They said prego Are there any other friendly amendments on this that motion Are there any other Motions before we can have a discussion on this motion in second Seeing Mr. Tivitz if you'd like to make comments on that motion sure. Thank you, mayor A lot of the times when you deal with public policy at least in the three years that I've sat here You find that the issues that touch people's pocketbooks are always the most controversial Regardless of who's on what side of the issue So to kind of help formulate my own decision and I and I'm going to get to a punchline here that I hope Sinks in with this whole community I I looked to the own business that I helped run I looked at our budget I looked at what increasing our folks to $15 an hour would do And across the board it would cost us about $55,000 a year It's about one third of our net proceeds from from our retail sales revenues And so I I want to say that because this this does come with real impacts to the businesses And I want the businesses to know that as a one council member of seven up here. I do acknowledge that that's not lost on me But the other side of what I do is is I deal with folks that live in extreme poverty every day and folks that You know, I get choked up talking about it because they I'm thinking of one example. I'm meeting with a woman tomorrow to give her a check to leave town and You know, I I think when we talk about being a city of excellence when people are working two jobs And they are living not just paycheck to paycheck But penny to penny to the point where when they want to leave to go move to a cheaper community They can't they're trapped because they can't pay a security deposit in that cheaper community and When they come to me for the organization I work for for help to say can you help me with a security deposit to leave this town That just we are obviously off track and again, I share that because Nobody should have to go through that in this community. And so I'm I'm very eager to support this ordinance the one that you've made mr. Rogers And I hope that this council can see that see that reality and vote in unison tonight to make that happen. So Thanks for letting me speak on the issue Miss flowing Thank you, mr. Mayor I do appreciate the concerns of the business community and how much work you guys do in providing jobs However, I heard somebody speak with uh, and And I'm just very clearly over the weekend that There are false equivalencies when we do when we talk about both sides that it is really hard on businesses But when we talk about the business owners compared with the 30 000 earners in our community And in in in addition to that that we will have compaction that will pump Over a billion dollars back into our local economy here with some back at the envelope math And that we have to think about 30 000 people And that that means that there will be food on their table And their children will have maybe a few more hours with them because they won't have to work a third job Growing up I had a father who was a strong wage earner and a mom who was a teacher and Was going to school at night and I know firsthand what a difference it makes to be able to have a parent who can be around And how lonely it is for children when they don't get to see their parents I think about the fact that women of color African-American women don't earn the same amount as white male earners until August I believe that that's equal wage day for women of color for for caucasian women It's in april this is a civil rights issue And while I feel for the bottom lines and the performers of business owner business owners I get choked up Because this will mean that We here in the last couple of weeks if we're able to pass this have done some things that will house people and feed people And we look at our federal government in such disarray and we shake our heads But here at the local level we have an opportunity to come together and do something meaningful Collaborative and stabilizing for not just our women our children our family our people of color But it also will ripple out into the economy And I really do hope that we don't lose jobs and I don't think we will and I couldn't be prouder to be Part of this council that's taking on these issues. Thank you all for coming out miss comes I'm looking forward to supporting the $15 by 2020 I'm also looking forward to some time in the future Having folks come before us and talk about How important it is for all of their employees to be able to be housed in our community I'm really looking forward to hearing from all those businesses who have employees that are like family understanding that those families are struggling and speaking toward that struggle I'm Very frustrated when we have the same group of people who fight rent control Fighting increases in wages I find that I find that very difficult And I want to appreciate the work of marty Bennett Mara North Bay Jobs for Justice North Bay organizing project A variety of political entities that have shown up here today Thank you for this persistent long-term work On behalf of our population are the people of our town. Thank you Mr. Sawyer Thank you mayor Well, I was a little amused actually when I saw that I had the the Ordinance to read in front of me this afternoon being one of the most vocal council members over the years fighting an increase in the minimum wage because of the Reality of messing with labor markets and markets in general There will be there's always a bit of of fallout and some of it's Predictable some of it's not as predictable I do Feel for the restaurateurs. I wish the state could have come up with a reasonable way to deal with the reality of tips because of the Those employees are not Are not making $12 an hour We all contribute to that as we support our restaurants And I hope you continue to do that because they will be one of the largest hit In in our in our city Don't decrease your tips just because they're the minimum wage went up potentially So there are lots of stresses in our community I know that that income is one of the social determinants of health And I'm the immediate past chair of the Santa Rosa community health And we offer health care to one out of four people in Santa Rosa So I know it's it is there are so many stresses that are hitting You know Santa Rosans and many other people not only in this in california, but but nationally Stresses that didn't exist 10 years ago when I closed my business After 65 years But I know what part of what I why I fought Why I questioned the the validity of Of raising the minimum wage is because I never paid the minimum. It was always higher and we gave full medical So I was I was I know what it would have done to us We would have had to close before 2010 the last couple of years before we closed We paid the employees and the landlord And and took no draw ourselves because Because that was the right thing to do And I really appreciate the research done by the by staff I know that racy you weren't alone probably in in compiling that But we had a couple of good conversations and the the fear that I had gained over the years As a as a longtime retailer I may be one of the only retailers sitting at the dais tonight Was to me real But I also understand those stresses that are happening in our community now I can't imagine what it would be like to be a teenager or someone in the early 20s Trying to make a go of it in santa rosa given how expensive it is to live here And the the rents are just a part of that So I will be um, I'll be supporting the increase in the minimum wage tonight I know that it's it's it will come as a surprise to many but But I also you know I I always say give me a reasonable give me a reason a good reason to change my mind and There will be there there will be fallout From our businesses and and I those that are capable of making changes That are not on the on the edge We'll do that we will probably lose some and and perhaps it is true that that maybe they were challenged to begin with But again, I I realize this is um for me and for our community the right thing to do so I will be hitting that green light Mr. Vice mayor Thank you, mr. Mayor First of all, I want to just thank raise for all of your work that you've done on this I've heard nothing but good things across the board from folks about how much time and energy you've put into this I also want to thank professor guzman who I've had a chance to talk to a number of different times About the reports that he's done the additional information that he's provided He's gotten back to me a number of times on individual questions that I had as well And I know he couldn't be here tonight, but I thought he needed to be thanked as well Folks have heard me talk about this before from the dais But oftentimes what we talk about at the council is economic inequality and poverty without actually calling it economic inequality and poverty Every time we have a conversation about affordable housing and how we're going to drive Housing production so that folks can find a place to live We're talking about one side of the equation and that's on what people are spending And we've very rarely had a chance to talk about what people are making and what type of capacity that they have for that housing When we talk about climate We're oftentimes talking about systemic changes because we know that folks Particularly the those who are struggling in our community don't have the funds in their pocket to be part of an individual change They can't drive a tesla. They don't have solar panels if they don't own their home And so how do we draw them in on the other priorities around our community? And that's all talking about poverty without actually talking about poverty We currently are at the highest level of economic inequality since the census started tracking that that's new data that came out three days ago It's even worse as we heard for women and people of color And I think that that needs to be acknowledged as well What we're trying to do tonight is return the purchasing power to low-income workers To make sure that they can stay in our community and that they are part of our local economy being able to spend money We know that they're not saving money. We hear that weekend and week out And I also want to make sure that we're very clear that we're not trying to leave Particularly small businesses behind That's why I asked the question of raisa about what we're going to do to try to also help small businesses that we know Might need a little bit of help might need some strengthening From our community And there was a comment that was made to me in the outreach and I apologize I got flooded with emails and phone calls and I promise I'll get back to folks if I haven't already I know the other council members were flooded as well But one person told me it's easier for the council to help a few struggling businesses than it is to help 25,000 struggling workers. This is a systemic approach to solving what hits so many of us on a personal and individualistic level Anybody who's followed us on social media has seen these conversations wage about how great the economy is And leave things alone because the economy is great The reality is that wages have been stagnant for 20 years And I keep asking folks if not now when when is the market going to put that upward pressure? When are we actually going to see wages rise? The answer is tonight. We're doing that from the dais tonight The final comment that I wanted to make and I those of you who are here for the study session Know that this is a particular pet peeve of mine, but I enjoyed the gentleman who was Educating us on tips and how that applies And again, I want to just point out again The historic origins of tip prevalence in this country Was so that folks of color or women could make a different wage in the amount that people were paying And I as a consumer when I go into a restaurant and I'm expecting to buy a five dollar beer I already know the price is six dollars because I know that that tip is going to be in there So adding an additional amount Raising the cost of that to actually be able to afford for the service of somebody coming in is something I already expect I know we'll see it a little bit But that's just my own personal pet peeve With that I'll turn it over to the mayor Thank you, mr. Vice mayor I just want to talk a little bit about the process because I think as a community Those of us who have been on council for a little bit We've had some adversarial conversations and what I really appreciated My conversations not only with staff which they ought to be friendly, but with some of the other groups That sometimes people would think it's an adversarial conversation And I just really appreciate the amount of information that's been shared because it's a tough call up here It's it's not exactly a black and white issue because there are impacts And I you know, I think councilmember fliming mentioned it I'm proud to be part of a council that we actually do listen to all sides And I know some people say you guys already had your mind made up before you came in Yeah, not me and I don't think any of my colleagues because there's so much information And they're I don't want to say there's winners or losers, but I think each of us and for me specifically I'm going to be making the decision that I think is in the best interest of the city of sanderos at this time for our entire community And so, you know, you're very predictive if lee pierce is still here I think you are going to get unanimous consent on this because I think it is the right thing to do for this city And any of the unintended consequences that this may cause I think we are also a community that can come back together and try to address those unintended consequences if they raise up to Our level here. So with that, we have a motion to second your votes, please And that passes unanimously So with that, miss mcglenn council is going to take a Council is is there something else on that? I'm council is going to take a 15 minute break Then when we come back, we'll be on the second public hearing item 15.2 when we come back after our break. Thank you Okay, we'll reconvene mr. McGlynn item 15.2 item 15.2 public hearing ordinance of the council of the city of santa rosa amending title 21 of the santa rosa city code updating chapter 21-02 housing allocation plan To modify the requirements and incentives for providing on-site inclusionary housing units A resolution updating the housing impact fee and a resolution to establish a commercial linkage fee For new commercial development within the city of santa rosa Claire hartman deputy director of planning leading us off Great Thank you Mayor swelledham members of the city council I'd like the first to introduce the city team and the consultant team that put this package together This was truly an interdepartmental effort And for many different Perspectives so with the city team, obviously david guin our assistant city manager myself andy gustason Jessica jones our resident now in windsor Ryan sedela rosa for economic development make ambassador for housing ashley crocker city attorney's office Everybody contributed a great deal to this effort in our community outreach and the preparation of the draft ordinance Also, we couldn't do this without our consultant team heather hines and jim carney of mgroup Karen warner or karen warner associates sarah graham and bob spencer who's not present tonight Strategic economics, but the rest are here and available for questions as we walk through the ordinance So what we have before you tonight is a draft one draft ordinance and two resolutions that address fees And this is brought to you because this is part of our housing action plan So in program one of that housing action plan This is intended to address inclusionary housing or specifically the production of affordable housing in the city And looking at it from a couple of different ways Reconsidering our inclusionary housing ordinance and also evaluating Whether or not the city of santa rosa is ready for a commercial linkage fee So the housing action plan is many different initiatives that we've been working on several of these that you see here are Accomplished and in effect at this moment others were still working on But it's never one of these initiatives that's going to make housing happen for santa rosa It's really this collection of integrated comprehensive effort. So This is no different. This is just another tool in that toolbox that we're working on So tonight we're going to it's a two-part presentation The first part is inclusionary housing. We're going to look at the Analysis that set up for the draft ordinance that's before you tonight The options of building the units on site are paying a fee or both hybrids What type of project types and sizes would be Relevant to either of those options Areas and needs to address innovation things we haven't thought of or heard of Alternatives to these things and how we're going to address that flexibility is what we've heard a lot through this process implementation And then Revisiting the impact fee itself and what levels wish you set that up Second part of the presentation will be commercial linkage fee And again, how does that fit in with the overall housing strategy? So how does how do we evaluate the responsibility or the opportunity for our non-residential uses to contribute to housing? So a little bit of background before we head into the draft ordinance itself This slide is essentially just showing our progress to date Um in terms of production of housing As you can see in recent years, there's a significant decline in housing production. And so The housing action plan all the initiatives including the one tonight Needs to be written in a way that is incentivizing housing production and it works with A development market so be to not detour the production of housing. So we work with that in mind This is how we are doing In our current housing cycle. This is not unique to santa rosa, but as you can see The two different colors here the remaining need is in red and the permits issued in our current housing cycle, which is 2015 the 2023 you can see that There's a lot more to to do in our in our time And again, it's not unique to santa rosa But what is is our toolbox needs to be a fit for santa rosa This slide is Identifying what we mean by affordable housing in terms of different income groups And then this slide talks about the two primary options that are before you tonight in the ordinance one is On-site inclusionary housing, which means you're putting it on site Has pluses and minuses will go over that but essentially it's where we get typically the low income Units are just the nature of how inclusionary housing Manifests itself through partnerships and whatnot But we looked at different ways of how we would write inclusionary so that you could get other types of income levels in inclusionary And then the housing impact fee is another primary option and with that We tend to work with in partnerships and and leveraging The fees that we collect is often used to fill a gap or You sort of the last the last dollar if you will to Complete a affordable housing project So we have in the past Since 1992 have varying different Housing policies related to inclusionary housing And in the more recent cycle of our ordinance The default was paying a fee, but what we wanted to do is present So how we've done since 1992 How much housing how we produce either by fee or by inclusionary as you can see here Not a whole lot in either category But what you can see is there's 1500 in the housing impact fee and one thing I Do feel we need to recognize is Those aren't outright provided by the housing impact fee again the impact fee goes toward making those 1500 units accessible feasible so it's It's a partnership with other monies and leveraging of other monies that make that happen So with that, uh, we're going to move into and he's going to go over our draft ordinance and our outreach comments And we received a date that helped formulate that draft ordinance and andy. Thank you claire So I think you rule call we had a study session in august and that really culminated a Six-month period that we were actively Reaching out to the development community affordable housing providers community members as well as Presenting to the housing authority and planning commission to vet the ordinance concepts Uh this program was that outreach program resulted in some key issues or comments that Are part of the ordinance that will be presented to you one is that the inclusionary and uh fee Should be blended that the ordinance itself shouldn't rely exclusively on one tool or the other And that flexibility is really important to promote residential projects throughout the city We need to be able to adapt or modify requirements to fit the individual project circumstance and that Incentives are really important to promote higher intensity development particularly Downtown where our downtown specific plan is now Looking at ways of getting more housing In part of the city where we can support it most Thank you Some of the key points that the public raised was um, and I'll I'll say also affordable housing developers that the housing impacts fees are a critical tool funding source to support projects that rely on low-income tax credits and inclusionary projects Given opportunity interestingly enough for market rate developers and affordable housing developers to collaborate Um to build a blended project Each taking responsibility for the type of housing that they know how best to build and there are some efficiencies there The other concept that was brought up was that our inclusionary percentage requirement Should be tiered that the level of affordability and the percentage really should work together um and and and that way Unburdened not just be so burdensome to a developer who's contemplating building affordable units on the site We learned also that um land dedication while It it sounds good often has a lot of hidden costs so when We were if we were to accept the land dedication for a future housing development site There are a lot of costs that aren't recognized upfront that often make a future project challenging to finance and then finally in terms of flexibility there was a desire to incorporate some of the uh Flexibility that's built into the density bonus to allow for dispersion requirement to be relaxed particularly when we have a circumstance where A blended project where affordable units are mixed with market market rate units in a building Makes it difficult to finance the um Key part of this program that we went through is based on a nexus studies and a white paper That summarized the findings which really gave us a snapshot or an understanding of what our development context is um the residential impact fee nexus study took a look at the type of residential delve development that we were likely to see here single family detached single family detached 2000 and 1600 square feet each and then multifamily development apartment buildings and based on the cost of constructing those units in this marketplace and um The the the average sales price cost versus what the the the units can be sold for or rented for It was established that There's a certain amount of financial return The developer needs and on the right hand column there is the return on investment cost or or uh yield that's needed for a developer to Decide that santa rosa is a place where it's feasible to actually build so we're looking at 15 to 18 percent for products that are sold and about six to seven percent for products that are being rented and the the The challenge we have with this ordinance is to balance the different um factors or variables that come into play in an inclusionary ordinance how much For inclusionary do we require the percentage what type of affordability are we mandating and then does it apply to all project sizes all those work together to Make the on-site inclusionary requirement Work or not Likewise, it's counterbalanced the housing impact fee We need to really look carefully at the fee that we were requesting in lieu of building units on the site to make sure that we're not Dipping deeply into the developers financing to Exceed those rates of returns that we saw on the previous slide that those fees don't jeopardize the financial feasibility of a project So again, we're we're looking at the balance. That's what we're trying to achieve and In the ordinance that I'll present now those key elements We'll go through those in detail so It's kind of a good time to pause if you have any questions about those particular points of Our issues great counseling questions. Ms. Fleming Thank you very much clarin andy. I want to go back to slide 11 and um go over the Our just confirm that you are suggesting that we have an exemption for Inclusionary units or inclusion Developments that wouldn't pencil if they were required to do inclusionary housing This is on the dispersion Exemption or implementation which item are you referring to? Yeah, so the This this provision mirrors what the density bonus Ordinance provides that in certain cases the developer Would have to show that the financing that is being proposed for a project Would not be feasible or would jeopardize the project If mixed income development occurs So feasibility it seems like a financial standard is jeopardy Would that be another standard and i'm wondering because what i'm trying to understand here is that If it's not something that somebody wants to do they could say it jeopardizes my project How can we determine that it does jeopardize their Project or is this simply a financial matter and they have to prove it via a pro forma or something We would require some level of of proof or standard of evidence to show That there is a bonafide risk to the project financing We understand from comments we received that low-income tax credit financing Is challenging in a mixed income project I always hear that it's challenging right, but nobody ever says it's impossible. So i'm i'm hoping You know that we can get toward I think as andy mentioned we did hear loud and clear in terms of the direction of the council We have the realities of tax credits and what that does So one of the things we'll be looking at is working with the housing authority and the housing department to figure out what those projects are and Really make sure that that's what's required for the financing You're going to hear later in the presentation the flexibility. So this is one of the elements that did change from the original of the previous policy that allowed Projects to have units around now. We're saying that has to be mixed unless you can show this And so I think this is an extra step that we're trying to put in place. Okay, that's helpful. Thank you This comes Thank you. I'm looking at slide six Um, mostly Because it sure looks my sense of our community is that we really need to be building Extremely low very low low moderate housing, but when I look at a chart like this it Sure looks to me like Above moderate is desperately needed in our community because of the way the chart is shown using Unit numbers instead of percentage of gold Um, so I mean a quick calculation shows that for a moderate to extremely low We're falling short 80 percent In the extremely low and very low. We're falling short 90 percent Whereas we're at about 60 percent on the above moderate So it concerns me to show this without showing also the percent Of how much we're attaining just that's that's Perhaps more of a comment than a question, but I think that If I saw this and was less informed I would Wonder why we are concerned about very low income And and I think that story is necessary and I'm hoping that you'll use percentages in the future We're certainly going to look at different ways to illustrate the information. I think that's a good point But rina is Targeting specific numbers. It's a quanta quantitative exercise, but I I think it's a great point We should look at different ways of illustrating information for our public. We definitely thank you. We definitely need to meet our housing goals And it will be interesting to see the future of how our rina numbers look Because I really don't think that we're matching Our housing numbers with our incomes in the community But I'm hoping we can get there at some other meeting and not this one just In a slide. I think more than anything. Thank you Any other questions All right, please continue. Thank you. So the next series of slides will go through the Key components of the ordinance update We'll just kind of look at what the existing ordinance requires and what's being proposed here This first slide looks at the inclusionary requirement. Currently The developer has discretion to Choose to build units on the site or pay the fee What we're proposing is to basically continue that same policy But to insert a project size threshold that says For smaller projects and that should read one to six units. I apologize The developer pays an impact fee and for projects that are larger Seven and above they have a choice to either build the unit on site or pay the fee What this does is enters into and much earlier in the process a conversation about what works best For a specific project I would also like to note here that the developer who is building a small project Can through the innovative Compliance approach say hey look it works better for me to build a unit on site because for instance I may choose to couple some of the advantages of a density bonus on my project to get more concession So just because we say one through six should be Efficient shall be paid. It doesn't preclude the option for a developer to come in with you with units So that's a critical theme about flexibility That we inserted here are we are we and forgive me. You're probably about to come to this I Would hope that we're leaning toward Encouraging building on site And i'm trying to when I see the somebody has a choice My feeling about this line has to do with How we're encouraging folks to build on site So I I hope that you'll clarify that when we get to that point. Yes. I think you'll yeah I think what we'd like to do is present the whole of the Ordinance that way as you as you remember when we went through the study session These are inner of things so it's really the comprehensiveness that shows you how this is put together So we'll walk through the draft ordinance and then that's a great time to pause for questions about the elements of the ordinance and how they fit together So this this slide really talks about it really talks about Does the inclusionary ordinance apply to all residential development as it does now? or Are there built-in exclusions or exceptions Based on size and what we're saying here is the ordinance will apply to all residential development There will continue to be exemptions that we have in place exemptions for ADUs owner builder units community care facilities The types of uses which are are providing By definition a an affordable supportive type housing that we need so One of the key changes that we're proposing in terms of inclusionary requirement is a tiered approach as was Brought to our attention during the review process Currently, we have a flat 15 percent low income household requirement If a developer elects to build on site The proposal is to have a city-wide tiered Inclusionary requirement that for for sale 10 percent moderate and that at 120 am i Doesn't so overstress a project that it it doesn't preclude the developer from Seriously thinking about building the units on site and as that chart we looked at now Just previously the rena chart that would definitely help a needed housing category For the for rent category We're we're tearing low and very low at eight percent and five percent respectively This again helps to lessen the financial burden of providing on-site development and We think this is one of the key changes to the ordinance to help incentivize on-site development to your point Another thing that we heard and what we're responding to here is to provide Encouragement for development downtown so for downtown multifamily and mixed-use projects only we would Reduce the inclusionary requirement to five percent for moderate for sale products. So those could be condominiums in a multifamily type building Or for rent four percent and three percent for low and very low income households This we think might Really bring a developer downtown and and unlock potentially that Financial puzzle to make a project go forward successfully There there is a Recommended modification here that we want to be able to present to you And that is that when a project does come forward downtown at these lower percentages we want to Add a provision to the inclusionary requirement of the ordinance that says essentially If you come forward and you comply with this include this affordability You will earn an incentive or concession because without that provision we would not be able to go to the density bonus regulation and Expect that very low and low income projects even moderate income projects downtown would earn a inclusionary Or excuse me a concession or an incentive. So that's a provision that At the end when you take action on the ordinance We will Read into the record or recommended The language and you have that there in front of you in bold Before you move on just a point of clarification Because we were trying to explain also existing versus what's proposed so Currently if an applicant complies with our inclusionary housing ordinance, then they The code currently says you are granted a concession. So that is a built-in incentive And in fact the amendment before you tonight We want you to include with our recommendation would be to continue that incentive. So if you comply And I would say the recommendation is not just for downtown But to be consistent with our current policy because it is an attractive again We're trying to build an incentives not require them to do an inclusionary but to want to have them want to do inclusionary because Because of a whole package of other incentives So that that one incentive where you get a concession if you comply with our inclusionary is really key So that is definitely an amendment before you tonight Thank you claire I do and I apologize Want to note also that There was a provision of our ordinance that defined project size that we need to add to this same section And we will also add that to the record to clarify that projects with six or less units Would be subject to the impact fee And and that the larger units larger projects would Have the choice of doing inclusionary units as or pay the fee The next series of slides deal with development standards We're we're really not changing The existing requirements dramatically though we are clarifying that it's really important that the inclusionary units on the site On the outside appear The same as the remainder of the project But recognize that on the inside of the units We're we're wanting to make sure that the bedroom mix and the size are similar to the the remainder of the market rate projects Are units on the site? So that's really a continuation of policy And then here in terms of uh flexibility on how to comply with the ordinance For the inclusionary aspect currently we have mechanisms that allow off-site construction of affordable units within the same quadrant of the city We talked about land dedication And then we have an innovative alternative all three would continue with this current with the proposed ordinance But we would add something new We would allow developers to convert Existing units on a site to affordable and then also Allow credit for or recognition of preserving at-risk affordable units This will be helpful to promote protection of Existing housing stock within the city and then for something New to this city but not new Elsewhere in the state we would establish a Credit for affordable units that are built on the site in excess of the inclusionary requirement Which a developer from another project in the future Might be able to benefit from And we we can talk more about the details of that if you have questions. So Those Those elements we hope will help incentivize on-site Development of affordable units Finally We have In terms of the ordinance provisions We're recommending extending the term of the Affordability on inclusionary units to 55 years that's consistent with our density bonus and other housing related regulation and Here I wanted just to show the list of exemptions that are available to projects to different types of housing That already provide needed housing for special Needs populations in the city as well as extend that exemption to owner builders And and not apply it to additions and replacement units So that kind of wraps up the the ordinance mechanics The next set of slides talk about the housing impact fee which Evaluated the The amount of fee that would be appropriate to charge for these different housing types And and not jeopardize the financial feasibility of projects And I'm going to tell you right now the next slide is going to help explain this table visually But I just want to point out here a couple things Our for sale fee now is based on two and a half percent of the sales price We're proposing to leave that metric that unit of measure And apply a fee uniformly based on a square footage We continue to recognize in our fee structure going forward the distinction between small units and larger units Small being defined as a hundred nine hundred and nine square feet or less large is 910 square feet and above We would have essentially a fee program established that would for city-wide housing projects Be staged over five years in in three steps to bring up the fee to An amount that can be supported By development and not exceed the development feasibility threshold In addition here on the bottom line, you will see that we have also a discounted fee A reduced fee that will help. We believe incentivize multi-family type development both for sale and rent downtown Which is what is being targeted for that area? And the next chart will hopefully illustrate The first so this is the existing fee structure Which is which is based on at the Left side the smaller units is a dollar or a square foot and then beyond 910 square feet that per square foot rate increases as you see there on the graph and it caps out at I think it's 2700 dollars Excuse me two thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars per unit 12,750 dollars per unit excuse me The maximum fee that was determined to be Supportable and not drive a project below Financial feasibility is ten dollars a square foot and that's plotted across the unit sizes What we were proposing is this staged fee program, which would start out at In the first years one and two For the small units would be two dollars a square foot And then for the larger units would be five dollars a square foot that explains that jump in the In that curve in years three to five The fee would increase to Five dollars for a small unit per square foot and eight dollars per square foot and then After a year five it jumps from five it goes to Five dollars a square foot For the small units and then to ten dollars for the larger larger units So you can see after five years This transition brings us up to a basis which of a fee program which could have a substantial contribution to Our funds to help support and fund affordable housing projects here in the city But it's done in a way stepwise so that Current pending projects would not be adversely impacted and there's enough time for Residential developers to factor in these increases into their pro forma Without disrupting necessary projects in the in the near term The next slide shows again the base fee that applies in this case for downtown And and this is the maximum fee The curves here are in reverse order, and I apologize for that The the first Year The fee would be would remain at a dollar per square foot downtown for the small units and it would go up to Three dollars a square foot for the larger units and then in year Three and thereafter Downtown the small units would go up to two dollars per square foot And the larger units would remain at three dollars. So you can see that it's a much lower fee Level assessment downtown again in keeping with The idea that We want to incentivize developers to come downtown and build housing Finally this slide just kind of provides a snapshot of fees that are charged or assessed in the area What I'd like to call your attention to is the center rows are proposed fee That number there reflects the current fee and for each of those items Types of units there in the top The fee would increase to ten dollars a square foot after five years on the citywide basis So you can see a ten dollar per square foot fee is right in the mix of the range of fees that are charged locally We're not an outlier That concludes The fee component of the inclusionary ordinance. There's a resolution for you to act on to adopt this Then it can take questions now on this particular matter before we commence with the Commercial linkage fee. Great. Thanks. Mr. Chibis Thank you, mayor. I'll try to be as brief as is possible. Thank you for this report One of the questions I had is you talked earlier in the slides and forgive me I'm I'm pretty brained at at this point but convert existing units that are that are um I think it had to do with extending the deed restriction But one question I know this or at least I'm pretty sure this isn't what it was proposing but Is is there an was it slide 19? Do you mind going to slide 19? Yes, this was it and I know this isn't what what it's asking for but is there a situation where in this ordinance Let's say you're a developer owner And because I understand some of the times when I talk to developers the fear about Doing inclusionary onsite mixed door is that The units it just it's they've got a mortgage and it's one of those costs Those expenses on their books that becomes difficult to deal with if you've got certain units restricted You don't have the ability to increase those Would it be possible to add to this? Uh The opportunity for let's say you've got another property somewhere in the city of santa rosa It's been paid off. There's no mortgage on it anymore To dedicate those units to to kind of meet the requirement Am I making any sense or talking gibberish? No, I think you're you're speaking of an off-site fulfilling the inclusionary requirement by identifying an off-site existing off-site project The problem with that is we're not getting new units Um, so that that would be a policy consideration If you're developing new units off-site, then then That does increase the overall housing production as well as provide affordable units I understand that we want to do both we want to produce housing a new unit to market and produce affordable housing But would that example of converting an existing market rate to a deed restricted unit fulfill the onsite Or the off-site requirement, excuse me So in that scenario, I think we would probably have to um use the innovate in innovation Policy in the ordinance and and the test there is Would would that approach further our housing element goals and policies And Megan bassinger housing and community services manager. I think the answer is yes We would use our affordability agreements to restrict the Dedicated off-site units for 55 years in compliance with the ordinance. Okay I mean nobody's actually talked to me about that But it was something while you were talking I was thinking of would that be Some way that we could troubleshoot some of these issues with developers who may not have the sophistication to be honest To do mixed income housing the mixed doors with deed restrictions. I know that's kind of a complaint that we face a lot um And also just just trying to get these these new units to market But I do know that some of the folks we work with in our planning department Own existing properties free and clear elsewhere that it might be Less of a bottom-line impact, but but help so I just want to throw that out there I hope that we have those conversations either as a council or a staff to make that option available um can we The other thing I wanted to ask is can we lock in the fees at plan submittal? Because it's my understanding that we do have some some projects in our pipeline right now and I'm recently getting experience in this field on a personal level And I do understand that it is at a certain point costs tend to increase And it usually happens the real cost incurs After you've done plan submittal. Is it possible to lock those in? At that point versus issuance of building permits And I think that timing issue is a part of our Resolution i'm taking a look at that right now when those fees come do Yeah, they're currently do when you pull the the permit. I think that's that's something we are looking at for a number of fees We have in terms of when they're due One of the things that does lock in the one that we're looking at potentially modeling is the building code cycle So when you when you submit your permit, that's when the you're you lock in at that building code cycle So we're looking at to see what that would take to change the fees potentially to that same date So everything locks in at that same point. That is a Something that we've been talking about and trying to figure out if how to figure how to address that Okay Also, I was curious to what are the current rates for capital facilities fee water sewer and park per square foot Are we are we looking at one slide? I didn't see up there was Kind of the overall picture, you know by making these increases What are we doing to the overall fee level in the city and what's that look like? So those fees were factored into the total cost of construction in the the nexus study to look at How much remains? Capacity in a project to carry the housing impact fees. So those were built in Um, I can try to point you to that in the packet, but that was a part of the analysis Okay, yes, can you You said you could point to it We'll pull that out for you. I think yeah, I think so the question is what what what impacts does this have on the overall fee impact So because we did adjust the fee so just a heads up on the downtown and others It might be a little different but we could look city-wide and give you that number Because we do have the downtown incentive program which changes those fees The reason why what I wanted to get to and I'll try to spare the effort Is because are there opportunities to reduce some of the rates in other areas? I mean one one clear example. I think is the park's impact fee that we have my understanding is that that fee is on New park development yet a couple meetings ago this council had a conversation about using new park revenue to maintain the parks that we have Which signaled to me sitting up here that we may not be have an appetite to start rapidly developing more parks So would that be an area that we could look at kind of reigning in a little bit as we try to attract new development? And I do want to note The this evening's discussion is on the housing impact fees We're not here really to talk about the other development fees that might attach to projects In I think what I'll add I think is that when we Did the impact fees the park fee and cff fees? We talked about that that this Inclusionary fee was coming And that we tried to hold those fees to make sure we had capacity to have this conversation that we're having tonight But I think we hear your point in terms of looking at the overall impact now that if this fee goes into effect We will be looking at the overall package to see what we need to do moving forward Thank you. That's that was kind of the what I was driving at David. Appreciate it Miss commons Thank you mayor and thank you for bringing this forward. I really appreciate it. I'm sorry that I did not get to have the separated meeting with you to clarify some questions that I might have so you're Unfortunately, we're doing it late tonight. Um, so thank you very much. I wanted to ask Follow-up to my colleague's question. I understand you lock in costs At time of permit application or when the permit is pulled That doesn't mean that they're due at that time So I didn't know if we were looking at any flexibility in due date Versus date when you're locked in on the amount That's correct. So we have two two different number two different dates the date when it's the fee is Locked in which is when you pull your permit We do have a defeat referral program that defers the fees till the end of the basically the end of the project So that's that's an option. No, that's a that's a defeat referral. That's open to anybody that wants to apply for that And my question is still on I think this slide 19 It looks as if we're creating a market Allowing the transfer of inclusionary units from One entity to another entity where we're kind of doing a you know This this person builds a whole lot of inclusionary units and then does some kind of market thing Sort of selling them to someone who needs extra needs units when they have extra ones. I'm just Asking if it sure looks like we're establishing a kind of market. Did we talk about it that way? I Have not looked in detail at What are the implications of creating this kind of market? I'm assuming it it's a good thing or you wouldn't have brought it forward But can you clarify the implications of creating this kind of a market? Well, what I can clarify is how we came up with the The the option what we heard loud and clear from all stakeholder groups is to To add some element of flexibility and some room for innovation because past policies on on inclusionary and Impact fees have been you you must do this and you must do it in this exact way and that has not incentivized nor has it been easy to work with because the The financing of housing the world of housing is constantly changing our markets are changing and so One thing we heard loud and clear is to have Some element in the ordinance that has a process of vetting process And so you know some of these we have never done and so we will be learning together what the implications are specifically but What this ordinance does the way it's written is it allows the option to be considered an option to be considered that That maybe is new to us. So that's where that's where that comes from. Let me clarify that I think creating a market is a good idea that the individual who built extra units Can benefit from having done so i'm more concerned About having whether or not this really means the kind of thing that happened in rona park where they get a calculation in an area And decided they had enough affordable units and then somebody who came in with a big project They didn't require affordable units Because they said the region had enough But the individuals who had built all those affordable units Didn't benefit in the way that the individual came in later benefited from their work and that didn't feel fair to me to the previous development group So i'm concerned about understanding whether what we're doing here is making a market Or what we're doing here is saying we're going to draw an arbitrary boundary And if there's enough units in it, we're not going to require the next one Did we am i clearing what my question is? Okay Yeah, and i would ask karen Warner here to maybe describe how this type of a program has been implemented elsewhere in the state But it's my understanding is we're not drawing a boundary or regions within the the city In establishing an affordability number or quota Thank you Right andy Is is correct. It's it's not Reducing The net number of affordable units But both novato and ronald park have an inclusionary credit program Where the the initial Um donor project is first And then the receiving project is second so you can't you can't have it the other way around I understand this sequence. I'm trying to understand who benefits From the initial donor project Coming in because it didn't wasn't clear to me that in ronald park the initial donor project benefited from providing extra units It seemed as if the only benefit came from the second group that came in and said Oh, there's already units so we don't have to do any So I don't under I'm trying to understand I don't like that sort of imbalance system Yeah, I think I think the way it should work And I think this is helpful helpful enough this conversation is that if a developer puts these into place that The developer would own the Those credits owns the credits. Yeah, so it's not coming to the city that we divvy those out I think the intent is that if a developer builds a project and they have another project coming they could use those credits So it's their credit. Okay, and it's it's it's an independent market from the government. Correct. Yeah So but we would need to imagine an odd person to be saying how much I like that Well, but I think but it's I think you're making a good point though That it's up to us to make sure that that is being not abused right So that's part of this innovation component that claire talked about We're trying to add flexibility in this but it's also going to take some Some oversight from from us to make sure this is done right. I appreciate the flexibility I appreciate the rural government has his oversight, but I I and I like the market idea I just wanted to make sure that it was a fair market. Thanks I look up miss Fleming So I think my my questions around that I've been somewhat my concerns have been somewhat of late But I'm wondering would the with the units in that scenario be transferable be or would they be required to Stay with that. So if I'm a developer and I build extras can I Transfer them to another developer to help them with their Development project to meet their inclusionary goals That would be the attempt that the units themselves would not Leave they would continue to be allocated under a 55-year contract, but the The credit for those units could be liberated from the site and and applied to a separate site That's what I'm asking. Are there credits transferable? Yeah from one entity to another entity. Well, so One time transfer I would assume would be allowed be but but it would land and stay at its Final destination Is it like mitigation? So I think because this is a new program s