03/02/2026 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 3
MINUTES OF THE DAVIS CITY COUNCIL
Special Meeting of March 2, 2026
The City Council of the City of Davis met in special meeting session beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the Community Chambers, 23 Russell Boulevard, Davis, California. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Neville.
Councilmembers Present: Josh Chapman, Linda Deos, Donna Neville, Gloria Par- tida
Councilmembers Absent: Bapu Vaitla
UC Davis Officials: Karl Engelbach, Associate Chancellor and Chief of Staff; Clare Shinnerl, Vice Chancellor of Finance, Operations
and Administration
Yolo County Officials: Sheila Allen and Lucas Frerichs, Supervisors
Other Officers Present: City Manager Daryel Dunston, Yolo County Administra- tive Officer Mike Webb
1. Approval of Agenda. City Council approved the agenda by consensus.
2. Welcome Message
A. Mayor Neville: Support collaboration between city, county, and UCD.
B. Chancellor G. May: Video welcome message. Appreciate partnership and dia- logue. UCD #2 public university in U.S., school of veterinary medicine best in na- tion, greenest campus. Total enrollment 40,000+. Increased collaborative efforts with Hate Free Together and Picnic Day activities.
C. Supervisors S. Allen and L. Frerichs: Support local efforts to collaborate and solve problems together. Annual meeting highlights current and future opportunities for mutual programs and projects.
3. Public Comments
• Dorte Jensen: Implementation of Hate Free Together programs is not equitable for all viewpoints.
• Beth Bourne: Hate Free Together—should schedule public comment after presen- tation. Oppose programs and policies that support gender ideologies. • Liam: Transgender people should be able to live their choices without controversy and feel unsupported by their community.
• Chad Pugliese, ASUCD Housing and Transportation Advocacy Committee: Posi- tive changes over the last decade to increase housing opportunities. Crisis still exists, more work is needed. Many students are n ot able to live close to campus, need more housing and transportation infrastructure to meet diverse needs of stu- dents and residents.
03/02/2026 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 3 • Henry Rosenbach, Housing Advising for Undergraduate Students: Serve as stu- dent advisory on Transportation Commission. Thank city for opportunities for stu- dents to represent themselves.
4. Informational Reports:
A. UCD & City Update on Housing
Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Housing, Dining, Divisional Operations and Technology Donelle Allen and UC Davis Executive Director of Campus Planning Lucas Griffith: Since 2018, 6,266 on-campus beds built exceeding total enrollment growth of 2,195. Students living on campus 15,127, 42% of enrollment. Vacancy rates for rental units within city are increasing and rent costs are decreasing.
City of Davis Community Development Director Sherri Metzker: Recently com- pleted multi -family projects include The Green Haus and The Axis totaling 360 units combined. Upcoming housing projects are single family home projects Cen- tury Communities Harvest Glen and Signature Properties . Completed 657 multi - family units since 2023, 965 units pending construction and 211 pending approval.
Two additional projects will require approval by the voters: Village Farms and Wil- low Grove, potential 3,000+ units.
B. Hate-Free Together Update
Yolo County Interim Public Information Officer Laura Galindo and Yolo County Of- fice of Education Public Information Officer Anthony Volkar: HFT partners include Yolo County, City of Davis, UC Davis, Yolo County Office of Education, and Davis Joint Unified School District. Prior focus has been on community engagement, strengthening partnerships, and resource development. Five strategic priorities identified: 1) resource mapping, 2) trainings and learning, 3) community events, 4) community touchpoints, 5) funding. Draft Strategic Plan developed for 2026-2029.
Implementation of plan is based on funding and staff availability. Next steps focus on community feedback. Moving forward, focus will be a countywide initiative to work together toward shared goals of inclusion, safety, and belonging.
C. Picnic Day Update
City of Davis Public Affairs and Intergover nmental Relations Director Jenny Tan and UC Davis Local Government Relations Director Kelly Fong Rivas: Event draws 75,000+ people to campus, run by ASUCD Picnic Day Board of Directors. 2026 Picnic Day is April 18, 2026. Safety efforts on campus include incident action plan- ning, enhanced Fire and EMS staffing, augmented police staffing, Emergency Op- erations Center, outreach to student body, fraternities, and sororities about safe celebrations. Increased collaboration with city, collaborative messaging, conn ec- tivity and staffing presence, community-wide pledge system. City of Davis is dou- bling police presence and expanded fire coverage, no special event permits throughout city, aerial real time drone monitoring, Emergency Operations Center 03/02/2026 City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 3 activation, enforcement/education efforts, continuing safety enhancement zones and increased fines. Outreach to public include mailers, social media, press re- leases, presentations, emails, lawn signs, and website info.
D. HR1 Impacts to CalFresh Update
Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency Director Monica Morales and Yolo County Service Centers Branch Director Tico Zendejas: HR1 signed into law July 4, 2025, extends numerous tax cuts and makes sweeping cuts to social safety net and health programs including SNAP (CalFresh) and Medicaid (Medi-Cal). Da- vis area participants (city and campus, primarily students) total 9,096 residents; 27,821 residents countywide. New work requirements effective June 2026, non - citizen eligibility changes effective April 2026, administrative cost sharing effective October 2026. Changes will make it more difficult for residents to access benefits and for county staff to issue benefits.
5. Adjournment. Meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.