02/23/2026 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 5
MINUTES OF THE DAVIS CITY COUNCIL
Meeting of February 23, 2026
The City Council of the City of Davis met in special meeting session beginning at 12:01 p.m. in the Veterans Memorial Center Club Room, 203 East 14th Street, Davis, California.
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Donna Neville.
Councilmembers Present: Josh Chapman, Linda Deos, Gloria Partida, Bapu Vaitla , Donna Neville
Councilmembers Absent: None
Other Officers Present: City Manager Daryel Dunston, City Attorney Inder Khalsa
1. Approval of Agenda. City Council approved by consensus.
2. Introduction and State of the City Presentation
City Manager D. Dunston: Key accomplishments of 2025 include advancing the Vil- lage Farms development project to voters, catching up on financial audits, prioritizing critical infrastructure maintenance, and improving resource allocation efficiency. On- going challenges include a financial deficit and internal communication gaps, with fu- ture priorities focused on updating the General Plan, streamlining permits, moderniz- ing payment systems and city website, implementing an ERP system, and strength- ening economic development to grow the tax base.
L. Deos: Want to know staff constraints to providing services.
B. Vaitla: Want to hear from department heads what can be improved and what is needed to make that happen.
D. Neville: Would like to see information related to impacts on staff, resources, and other fiscal impacts included in staff reports provided to Council.
Economic Development Director Katie Yancey, Parks & Community Services Director Deanne Machado: More specificity in direction provided by Council may be helpful .
Department heads often encounter constraints when directed to provide a new service or project without an accompanying budget allocation. In those situations, staff must identify and reallocate resources from existing programs or make reductions else- where in order to fulfill the request.
Fire Chief Paul Swanson, Police Chief Todd Henry, Public Affairs and Intergovern- mental Relations Director Jenny Tan, Social Services & Housing Director Dana Bailey, Assistant City Manager Stan Gryczko, Community Development Director Sherri Metz- ker: Often have difficulty tying work to Council goals. Creating goals tailored to specific departments may be helpful. Knowing the Council's aspirations or vision for the city will be helpful to tie operational implementation to Council goals. 02/23/2026 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 5
3. Public Comments
• Dan Carson: Should start addressing infrastructure maintenance backlog in the budget. Make reductions in services and address the rising costs for personnel. • Elaine Roberts -Musser: Suggest c ity adopt principles that lead to a balanced, transparent, fiscally responsible budget, protect core services, plan for external impacts, and support effective long -term operations. Need t o spur economic de- velopment.
Council recessed at 1:37 p. m. and reconvened at 1:52 p.m.
4. Workshop: City Council Goal Setting Retreat
Bill Mueller and Jerry Azevedo, ICS Consulting, facilitated City Council discussion re- garding individual interests, priorities, and perspectives; and consensus focus areas, required resources and conditions, and strategies for success.
J. Azevedo: Highlighted feedback from department head survey:
• Challenges: Staff concern regarding budget deficit, impact on level of services provided, not meeting community expectations, falling behind on infrastructure maintenance, and technology constraints or lack thereof. • Opportunities: Staff sees increasing economic growth as a long term solution to budgetary challenges. Identified business recruitment and retention, har- nessing the General Plan, linkage to UC Davis, and modernizing city technol- ogy systems and procedures as key.
• Performance: Staff believe they are delivering a high level of service to the community; however, they perceive that the community may not share this view.
• Community Engagement: Staff sees the General Plan update, communication on tradeoffs in providing services due to budgetary constraints, and implemen- tation of Council policies as important topics to inform the community. • Other: Staff believe that updating programmatic technologies and procedures can help streamline current processes and improve efficiency. Staff are often diverted from performing core work duties when issues arise that need imme- diate attention. Potential in util izing volunteers to help short -staffed depart- ments.
City Council’s Vision for the City
G. Partida: Need to be successful so we can provide services to the vulnerable.
L. Deos: Need to provide essential services first such as water, sewer, infrastructure maintenance, housing, and updating city technology to increase efficiency.
02/23/2026 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 5 B. Vaitla: Important to fund street and park maintenance and address homelessness.
Balance competing needs, tension in finding resources for the vulnerable . Hope the city can innovate and coordinate solutions to provide services for the vulnerable.
J. Chapman: Strive to be a welcoming community and provide services for all. Need to work towards a balanced budget without cutting services ; be innovative, creative, and take risks.
D. Neville: Provide services to everyone in the community, including the vulnerable.
Possibility to work with local partners, state, federal, and private organizations to pull resources and provide services to the vulnerable.
Goal 1: Achieve Fiscal Resilience
Finance Director Alberto Preciado and K. Yancey: Current goal lacks specific dead- lines, numbers, or objectives. Developing clear strategies helps staff implement and effectively achieve the goals.
B. Vaitla: Ranking the policies by priorit y can help staff in planning, allocating re- sources, and facilitate decision making to align funding with Council priorities.
Policies
1. Tech replacement / ERP
2. Deferred maintenance on infrastructure
3. 15% reserve
4. Fulfilling OPEB funding obligations (prefund v pay as you go)
Council consensus on policy order. Staff to come back with refinements in a draft framework.
Goal No. “TBD”: Public Safety
Policies:
• Equitable public safety protection and response for all • Flexibility in utilization of technology with oversight • Uphold and improve police/fire response times
• Maintain emphasis on community policing/prevention
T. Henry and D. Bailey: Improve officer efficiency with the implementation of new tech- nologies, updated strategies, and procedures. City can provide messaging around the policies' intent to provide public safety for all.
Goal 6: Economic Development
Policies
• Community development improvements and streamlining (supply) 02/23/2026 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 5 o Eliminating barriers to private investment
• Financial best practices, revenue capture and data tracking • Growing demand for spaces in Davis
o Business attraction, retention
o Workforce development
• Outreach with regional partners
• Build trust and equity with all business stakeholders
K. Yancey: Need to define targeted industry sectors, align economic growth strategy with community expectations. Growing the tax base is essential to long term fiscal health.
Council consensus to have Economic Development as a standalone goal. Staff to come back with refinements in a draft framework.
Goal 5: High Quality, Climate Resilient Infrastructure and Services
Policies
• Community engagement, responsiveness, and well being (across all goal areas) • Integrate infrastructure plans with the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP)
S. Gryczko: Have not had available funds to implement policies identified in the CAAP in terms of infrastructure changes to reach carbon neutrality.
Staff to come back with refinements in a draft framework.
Council consensus to keep Housing and Social Services goals separate.
Goal 3: Housing for All
Policies
1. Prioritize building “in and up” before “out.”
2. Eliminate City barriers to infill residential and mixed-use development (pending and future)
3. Explore opportunities for citywide upzoning
4. Consider long-range peripheral growth to meet housing needs and housing ele- ment requirements
Mayor Neville reopened Public Comment:
• Bob Traverso: Should also focus on existing housing stock through the resale pro- gram.
Council discussed building infill projects and taller buildings before annexing new land for developments, exploring options to implement upzoning citywide to build “up”, and eliminating barriers within the city's control to spur development. Staff to come back with refinements in a draft framework.
02/23/2026 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 5
Goal 4: Social Services
Policies
• Draw from existing plan
• Building sustainable infrastructure /systems to leverage resources and align ser- vices
• Maintain equity in the provision of social services to vulnerable populations
D. Bailey: Prioritize deployment of city services based on achievable and available resources. Work with regional partners where able.
Council consensus to provide services to all vulnerable populations. Staff to come back with refinements in a draft framework.
B. Mueller: Is the re interest in creating a standalone Communication goal or have it woven through all goal areas?
J. Tan: No preference, b ut all goals have a component of communication, whether it is messaging for on going project or proactive messaging. See the benefit in providing information to the public as it builds trust and confidence in city management.
B. Vaitla: The communication component should be woven into all goals.
B. Mueller: Will prepare a summary of the discussion and develop draft goals for re- view and consideration.
5. Long Range Calendar
D. Dunston: Need to review items on the long range and refine as needed.
6. Adjournment. Meeting adjourned at 6:02 p.m.