CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
City of Campbell, 70 N. First St., Campbell, California
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CAMPBELL CITY COUNCIL
Thursday, February 24, 2022 – 8:30 a.m.
Campbell Community Center - Room Q80 – 1 W. Campbell Ave
NOTE: This Special meeting of the Campbell City Council was conducted pursuant to the Brown Act.
CALL TO ORDER
The City Council of the City of Campbell convened in session this special day of February 24, 2022.
ROLL CALL
Attendee Name Title Status
Paul Resnikoff Mayor Present
Anne Bybee Vice Mayor Present
Elizabeth 'Liz' Gibbons Councilmember Present
Susan M. Landry Councilmember Present
Sergio Lopez Councilmember Present
STAFF PRESENT:
Brian Loventhal, City Manager; Dusty Christopherson, City Clerk ; Bill Seligmann, City Attorney; Rob Eastwood, Community De velopment Director; Will F uentes, Finance Director; Cecil Lawson, Information Techn ology Manager ; Jenny L e-Christensen, Human R esources Manager ; Natasha Bi ssell, Recreation & Community Services Director; Gary Berg, Police Chie f; Andrea Atkinson, Support S ervices Manager; and Dan Livingston, Captain.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Jim Sullivan, Campbell resident, spoke in support of new housing in Campbell and urged the City to allow the Uplift Family Services site to move forward with their development.
Sean Mendelson, Campbell resident, spoke of his concerns relating to climate change and urged the City to adopt a Climate Action Plan.
PRIORITY SETTING SESSION
1. Develop Fiscal Year 2022-23 Citywide Priorities
Recommended Action: That the City Council review Fiscal Year 2021-22 citywide priorities and receive updates on department workplans; and develop Fiscal Year 2022-23 citywide priorities.
Minutes of February 24, 2022 City Council Meeting Page 2
City Manager B rian Loventhal introduced the matrix of adopted Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Co uncil priorities and updated the Council on the workplan items for the City Manager’s Office including providing guidance and support to the General Plan process, keeping abreast of pe nding legislation and updating City ordinances as appropriate, and providing overall coordination and guidance on Meaure O projects (Library and PD Building).
Police Chief Gary Berg reviewed the citywide priority ac tivites for FY 2022 including Mea sure O as it relates to the PD Building not ing the Departm ent is working through the necessary furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E) for the building and has identified additional funding opportunities for this purpose.
Police Chief Berg noted that outside of the PD Building, the remaining top priorities for the department is recruiting and hiring and updated and increased technologies.
In response to inquiries, Chief Berg not ed the current Fire Services Agreement with the Santa Clara County Fire Department runs through 2028, and as housing is built and there is an increase in populatio n there could be impacts to this contract in th e future. In addition, the Santa Clara County Fire Department a lso funds two police officers as arson investigators who are on-call when needed for those sp ecialized services and funded by the County Fire Depa rtment but are City employees and are a resource for the Campbel l Police Department as well.
Chief B erg noted delays in delivery of the Bear Cat and other police vehicles ordered in 2021 due to staffing and supply chain issues with the vendors.
In response to inquiries relating to the citizen proposed consideration of a safe gun storage ordinance, Chief Berg stated that he has not seen stati stics proving that such an ordinance w ould impact overall community safety. Chief Berg noted that in order to enforce such an ordinance an officer would need legal authority to be inside someone ’s home. There are current laws aimed at keeping guns away from children and felons. If an incident occurs, there are laws in place that w ould allow action if a gun was improperly stored.
In response to inq uiries relating to g host guns, Chief Be rg clarified that a ghost gun is a firearm with no serial number that is untraceable. There has been an uptick in the se types of weapons in recent years and there have been discussions in the law enforcement community about par tnering to identify any potential sources of these weapons.
City Attorney Bill Seligmann revie wed the workplan items for th e City Attorney ’s Office and noted tha t the bu lk of the work remains outs tanding as it is lar gely related to the General Plan and the H ousing Element. The existing draft elements of the General Plan have been reviewed . Other workplan items for the City Attorney relating to Measure O ha ve been completed including a review of the contract documents and draft construction documents although a final review will be needed. City Attorney Seligmann noted that a restruc ture of hi s worklist was completed for transparency to Council and clarity to Staff.
Minutes of February 24, 2022 City Council Meeting Page 3 In response to inquiries, City Attorney Seligmann not ed that additional resources may be requ ested in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Operating Budget in preparation for the work required to update the City’s Zoning and Municipal Code relating to the Housing Element and recent State legislation relating to housing.
Councilmembers discussed their priorities for the City A ttorney’s Office including sole source contracting, proactivity to protect against lawsuits, and the necessary budget requests to complete the Ordinance Code amendments for new housing laws.
Public Works Director Todd Capurso noted the large number of workplan items associated with the Public Works Departme nt and organ ized t he report by funding source for clarity to the publi c. The Department has prior itized the Measure O project s, noting that the Library Building is re ady for plan check review. Staff is currently in discussions relating to FF&E. Director Cap urso noted the successful completion of the park facility reno vations and additions and expressed the need to consider the s train the increase in population will put on the resources for the open spaces in the Ci ty. Director Capur so discussed the transportation concerns relat ing to an inc rease in population and the n eed to increase ped estrian and b icycle access across the City specifical ly noting the challenges around Highway 17.
In response to inquiries, Director Cap urso noted that the Pu blic Works Department invests approximately $200,000 per year in improving sid ewalks and ADA accessibility across the City, has a plan to continue this work into the future, and includes any necessary ADA improvements into all applicable public works projects.
In response to inquiries Director Capurso noted the discussion regarding the Hamilton/Lightrail overcrossing ha s begun with Valley Transportati on Authority (VTA) but no viable solutions have been identified at this stage. Director Capurso stated the project to address maintenance on the overhangs at the Community Center are included in the FY 2021/22 buget and if the work is not completed by the end of this fiscal year, the funding will be carried into the FY 2022/23 budget.
Director Capurso dis cussed the staffing challeng es in the Public Works Department noting that just abo ut all neighbor ing juri sdictions are experiencing the same issues and th at Staff may transfer funding from salary savings into contract services to address any work backlogs.
Councilmembers discussed their priorities for the Public Works Department including the need for an asset management plan , future open space needs/utilization, and sustainability.
Recreation & Community S ervices Director Natasha Bis sell re ported on operations of the Community Center noting that through COVID the Department’s direction was to be less depe ndent on the General Fund and was required to redu ce its workforce in August 2021 . Th e demands to meet community expections with l ess Staff was met with increased automation and contracting out work where possible. So far in FY 2021/22 the Department is
Minutes of February 24, 2022 City Council Meeting Page 4 seeing an increase in revenue as residents continue to participate in more in - person offerings at the Community Center. The Department is currently recru iting for a Recreation Manage r and an A dult Center Coordinator which will free up other Staff to co ntinue to pursue the identified workplan goals. One major workplan goal of the Department is to co mplete the hazardous ma terials assessment of the Community Center and to address and mitigate any hardous materials at the facility.
In response to inquiries, Di rector Bissell noted that participation in 50+ activities continue t o improve and outdoor children ’s activities have improved but youth classes/groups have not yet returned to pre -pandemic levels. The He ritage Theatre is on track to hav e a pre -pandemic sea son and work is currently underway to develop shows for the ne xt season . Director Bissell noted the frequently changing requirements for large in per son gat herings which require frequent staffing analyses and changes for each event.
In response to inquiries, Dire ctor Bissell noted t hat all of the private schools on the campus are now back to in-person settings and are renting the playg rounds and sports fields, but the large sporting gr oups continue to push out their seasons and are delayed in renting out the sports fields.
Community Development Director Ro b Eastwood reviewed four main workplan items for the Department including the General Plan/Housing Element, ordinance code updates, housing programs, and operational/staffing changes. The General Plan/Housing Ele ment work will continue through calendar yea r 2022, and internally Staff has begun discussions around future planning needs, open space, service level needs , tran sportation and infrastructure needs including strategies/fees to meet those needs . Director Eastwood discussed his wholistic approach to u pdating the City’s Ordinance Code noting the consultant services needs and the coordination of the City At torney’s Office to m eet this workplan item. Director Eastwood noted that Staff is reviewing the City ’s online permitting system and is working to enhance the City ’s online services with a goal of going entirely paperless.
In response to inquiries, Director Eastwood stated that with the mid -year budget modifications, the City approved additional help in Code E nforcement which will help to clear u p any o utstanding cases, but noted that code enforcements are complaint driven as is industry standard. The Department a lso gained an Administrative Analyst position which will h elp the Department to be more active in responding to Environmental Impact Reports (EIR) for projects that abut a City border. Director Eastwood noted that additional Code Enforcement tools an d programs will come before Council this spring for consideration . Director Eastwood recommend ed Council consider implementing development impact fees which are seen as industry standard at this point.
In response to an inquiry to advance project applications in advance of the Zoning Code changes being made as part of the General Plan/Housing Element, Director E astwood noted that there is a pathway fo r some projects to move forward wit h application reviews once the appropriate zoning desi gnations are identified.
Minutes of February 24, 2022 City Council Meeting Page 5
Councilmembers discussed their priorities for the Community Develo pment Department including the need for objective standards, a climate acti on plan, population growth needs, impact fees, and housing programs.
Council recessed at 10:42 a.m. and reconve ned at 11:00 a.m. with all members present.
Finance Dire ctor Will Fuentes noted that the work o f the D epartment is very cyclical in nature, rotating from budgets to audits each year . Currently Staff is working on the FY 2022/23 Operating Budget and Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Director Fuentes noted the upcoming Council a genda items relating to new revenue sources and reserve accounts and discus sed the next round of Measure O bonds set for issuance in July. Director Fuentes noted the exten sive work completed by Staff relating to improving long range projections.
In respon se to inquiri es, Direct or Fu entes discussed the Business License Program an d noted th e updates an d software improvements coming before Council for consideration. These updates will imp rove the C ity’s online business license processes and allow for collection of business specific information to aid in outreach and analysis efforts.
In response to inquiries, Director Fuentes noted that Staff is looking to undertake a needs assessement of the city’s financial software platforms and identify ways to enhance connectivity between the payroll/accounting/accounts payable/human resources/business license platforms.
City Clerk Dusty Christopherson reviewed the workplan items for the City Clerk ’s Office noting the implementation of the electronic filing system for the Statement of Economic I nterests Form 700 and the Campaign Filing Statements, and the completion of the Redistricting process for the City with a final public hearing and ordinance adoption scheduled for March 1, 2022. City Clerk Christopherson discussed th e r emaining workplan items to implement a n automated public records reques t system and to review and update the City ’s records retention schedule. These workplan items are expected to continue into FY 2022/23.
In res ponse to an inquiry, City Clerk Christopher son discussed the outreach efforts relating to the Redistricting pro cess and the challenges in reaching interested community members that are not connected to the City through the traditional mechanisms.
Councilmembers di scussed their indi vidual priorities relating to e ach Departmental area and confirmed consensus for the following four main priority areas:
1. Land Use/General Plan/Housing
2. Financial Stability
3. Measure O
4. Sustainability
There was no Council consensus to move for ward with the requested gun safe ordinance.
Minutes of February 24, 2022 City Council Meeting Page 6
ADJOURN
Mayor Resnikoff adjourned the meeting at 12:29 p.m.
APPROVED:
________________________
Paul Resnikoff, Mayor
ATTEST:
__________________________
Dusty Christopherson, City Clerk