Agenda Item 8.1
DATE: February 4, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Colleen Tribby, City Manager
SUBJECT: 2025 Draft City of Dublin Legislative Platform Prepared by: Jordan Foss, Management Analyst II
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City Council will receive a report and provide direction to Staff on the draft 2025 Legislative Platform which guides the City’s response to potential and pending legislation, policies, programs, ballot measures, mandates, and budgets at all levels of government.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Receive the report and provide direction.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
None.
DESCRIPTION:
Each year the City Council approves a Legislative Platform that includes the goals, strategies, and priorities for organizing the City’s legislative advocacy efforts. The draft 2025 Platform (Attachment 1) was prepared to initiate discussion with the City Council on the fundamental legislative issues important to the City over the next year. This attachment includes tracked changes to identify proposed revisions to the Platform.
The draft 2025 Platform is substantially similar to the 2024 Platform, however it includes modifications to account for changes in state law, anticipated issues for the current legislative session, and non-substantive grammatical and wording changes.
The General Legislative Principles will guide the City’s legislative advocacy efforts. These Principles were first adopted with the City’s initial Legislative Platform in 2015 and have been reaffirmed by subsequent City Councils, demonstrating their continued relevance and importance.
These Principles include:
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Preserving and/or increasing local government discretion. Promoting or enhancing revenue sources.
Advancing the City of Dublin’s Mission and Vision Statements.
The draft 2025 Platform includes eight Public Policy Priorities which have been shaped over the years through alignment with the Tri-Valley Cities Coalition (TVCC) Legislative Framework, input from legislative advocacy groups, and City Council feedback. The draft 2025 Platform Public Policy Priorities remain unchanged from the prior year and include:
1. General Administration
2. Fiscal Sustainability
3. Community and Economic Development
4. Transportation and Public Works
5. Public Safety and Public Health
6. Parks and Community Services
7. Climate and Environment
8. Technology and Cyber Security
The Public Policy Priorities guide the City’s position and advocacy on relevant legislation. Each year, the Executive Team and the City’s legislative advocacy firm, Townsend Public Affairs, reviews the Legislative Platform and updates advocacy positions based on anticipated legislation, policies, programs, ballot measures, mandates, and budgets. Townsend Public Affairs reviewed the draft 2025 Platform to ensure it includes relevant language for upcoming legislation.
It should be noted that the list of Public Policy Priorities is not exhaustive. In those instances where potential legislation, policies, programs, ballot measures, mandates, and budgets do not fit within the specific Public Policy Priorities, the General Legislative Principles will guide City action.
New or modified advocacy positions that are in line with the Public Policy Priorities include:
General Administration
Supporting legislation that adds flexibility in governing open government initiatives, as well as principles of the open meetings including provisions of the Ralph M. Brown Act at all levels of government. (NEW)
Fiscal Sustainability
Opposing legislation that limits or delays the imposing or collection of development impact fees. (MODIFIED)
o Priority 2.15 includes the added language of “limits, or delays the imposition or collection of development impact fees, thus restricting the City’s ability to….” to address any future legislation that may cause delays with impact fee collection. 192
Public Works and Transportation
Supporting legislation that focuses on resilient transportation communication networks. (MODIFIED)
o Priority 3.5 includes the added language of “resilient transportation communication networks” to address future legislation that supports the City’s ability to deploy this technology.
Supporting legislation that provides funding for climate-resilient transportation infrastructure to withstand weather events, wildfires, and other climate-related challenges. (NEW)
Community and Economic Development
Supporting legislation that makes the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process more transparent and equitable. (MODIFIED)
o Priority 4.3 includes the added language of “and transparent” to address future legislation that will create more transparency around the RHNA process. Supporting legislation that would modify funding and policies that require additional staffing resources be deployed by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to ensure uniformity within the housing element compliance and review process. (NEW)
Supporting legislation that would provide for local input and control over the development of high-density development in areas prone to fire and natural disasters. (NEW) Public Safety and Public Health
Supporting legislation that provides public safety reforms. (MODIFIED) o Priority 5.10 includes the added language of “insurance availability, and emergency preparedness” to address any future legislation that may provide reforms to insurance availability for residents and funding for emergency preparedness activities.
Supporting legislation that provides for the stabilization and equitable assessment of property insurance premiums in fire-prone areas. (NEW)
Parks and Community Services
Supporting legislation that provides access and funding for the provision of before and after school childcare through local programming. (NEW) Supporting legislation that supports funding for vital regional and community services delivered by parks and recreation departments, specifically that impact access to parks, open space, bikeways, after school programming, youth services, senior services, food programs, and facilities that promote physical activity, as well as protect natural resources and strengthen safety and security. (NEW)
Opposing legislation that strives to capture or divert local park and recreation revenue or shift responsibility for State services or programs to parks and recreation departments without commensurate revenue. (NEW)
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Technology and Cybersecurity
Supporting legislation that provides for the thoughtful and measured deployment of artificial intelligence technologies to enhance local government capabilities, including public safety alerts. (NEW)
STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE:
None.
NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH:
The City Council Agenda was posted.
ATTACHMENTS:
1) Draft 2025 Legislative Platform (redlined)
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2024 2025 LEGISLATIVE PLATFORM
FEDERAL AND STATE POLICY PRIORITIES
FEBRUARY 20242025
Attachment 1
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Introduction
Many public policies intersect with City priorities, programs, and services. This 20242025 Legislative Platform (Platform) outlines the City of Dublin’s legislative priorities and positions on these policies to inform residents, representatives, and policymakers. These priorities are applicable to all relevant legislation, policies, programs, grant funding opportunities, ballot measures, mandates, and budgets.
The Mission of the City of Dublin is to promote and support a high quality of life, ensure a safe and , secure, and sustainable environment, foster new opportunities, provide equity across all programs, and champions a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This Mission shall guide the City’s Legislative Platform.
This Platform provides Staff with direction and authorizes them, on the City Council’s behalf, to quickly respond in support of or in opposition to bills and other legislative or gubernatorial actions in time-sensitive situations. Additionally, the Platform enables Staff to communicate Dublin-specific issues and impacts with state legislators. Staff may draft letters, direct our legislative advocates, or speak on behalf of the City regarding the legislative priorities this document outlines.
Any correspondence signifying the City’s support or opposition of a given bill must be signed by the Mayor and / or City Manager with notification to the City Council.
Any questions regarding this Legislative Platform can be directed to Jordan Foss, Management Analyst II at [email protected].
Platform Overview and Coordination
This Legislative Platform serves as the foundation for City legislative advocacy at all levels of government. It informs the City’s legislative representatives of the key issues and legislation that could have a potential impact on the City and the process in which the City will participate in the legislative process. The City will employ several strategies to advocate or advance the City’s public policy interests, which include:
• Position Development
o Reviewing analyses and positions by the League of California Cities (Cal Cities), legislative advocates, and other local government / professional associations in formulating the City’s position.
o Working with City departments and, legislative advocate(s)s to develop this platform and identify positions on proposed legislative measures. • Status Tracking
o Tracking key bills through the legislative process.
• Communication and Advocacy
o Communicating the City’s position, in accordance with this Platform, through correspondence, testimony, and meetings.
o Working cooperatively with other cities (including the Tri-Valley Cities), associations, and Cal Cities on advocating the City’s legislative position. o Meeting with legislators and their representatives, as well as other federal, state, and county government officials on a regular basis, to discuss local government issues, proposed legislation, requests for funding assistance, and City programs and services.
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The City Manager’s Office will exercise day-to-day oversight of legislative matters. In addition to coordinating formal action through the City Council, the City Manager and their designee will manage the City’s Legislative Platform.
Staff will follow the process below when responding to all proposed and relevant legislation, policies, programs, ballot measures, mandates, and budgets.
1. Review and determine whether a proposal will impact the City.
2. Prepare a letter outlining the City’s position for the Mayor’s or City Manager’s signature.
3. Distribute the letter to the legislation’s author(s), key legislative committees, the City Council, and other relevant parties.
In scenarios where a proposal or regulation arises that may impact the City and is not covered by this Legislative Platform, Staff will prepare a draft position letter for the City Council to review prior to distribution.
General Legislative Principles
The guiding principles for the City’s legislative advocacy efforts include:
Advancing Existing City Mission, Vision, Values, and Policies Preserving and/or Increasing Local Government Discretion Promoting or Enhancing Revenue Sources
Public Policy Priorities
This Legislative Platform identifies specific Public Policy Priorities by topic area. Informed by the General Legislative Principles, these priorities will guide the positions the City will take on all relevant legislation, policies, programs, grant funding opportunities, ballot measures, mandates, and budgets.
The Public Policy Priorities are categorized as follows:
1. General Administration
2. Fiscal Sustainability
3. Community and Economic Development
4. Transportation and Public Works
5. Public Safety and Public Health
6. Parks and Community Services
7. Climate and Environment
8. Technology and Cybersecurity
1. General Administration
Staff recommends that the City Council support legislation that:
1. Enhances or streamlines local control and allows cities to address the needs of local constituents within a framework of regional cooperation. 197
2. Streamlines the process to apply for, to receive approval of, and to receive state or federal funding.
3. Assures every person the right to equal treatment in and access to all government- sponsored benefits or funded programs.
4. Provides the ability to conduct public meetings using a hybrid approach that allow for equitable access and participation of elected officials and the public while considering privacy, health, and safety of all stakeholders.
5. Provides alternative methods of meeting public noticing requirements through cost- effective, innovative, and technological methods of communication, and changes the definition of “newspaper of general circulation” due to realities of consolidated newspaper publications and the increase in on-line publications.
6. Increases the voting requirement for future measures to be approved by the same proportion of votes cast as the measure requires, and preserves agency rights to place advisory questions on the ballot.
7. Support additional flexibilities governing open government initiatives as well as the principles of the open meetings including provisions of the Ralph M. Brown Act at all levels of government.
Staff recommends that the City Council oppose legislation that:
7.8. Attempts to restrict local authority or decision-making whether by state or federal legislation, regulations, or ballot propositionsvoter initiatives.
8.9. Diminishes or eliminates local governments’ ability to contract out for the provision of services.
2. Fiscal Sustainability
Staff recommends that the City Council support legislation that:
1. Maintains or enhances ongoing revenues to the City.
2. Updates the tax structure to enhance local government revenues that have declined due to the expansion of e-commerce, increased consumption of services rather than durable goods, and innovations in technology.
3. Ensures timely distribution of mandated reimbursements owed to the City.
4. Removes unnecessary state-imposed mandates.
5. Provides for the use of incentives for local government action rather than mandates (funded or unfunded).
6. Establishes new and innovative revenue options and resources to finance public infrastructure construction and maintenance.
7. Streamlines the establishment and utilization of infrastructure financing districts or other funding mechanisms for infrastructure improvements.
8. Changes the Communications Act of 1934 that removes the distinction between “capital” and “operating” funds to provide more local control for community television stations in the use of their public, educational, and government (PEG) channel fees.
9. Supports measures to increase transparency of all public employee salaries and benefits.
10. Supports measures to provide sustainable public pensions and other post-retirement benefits.
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11. Lowers the necessary voter threshold from a two-thirds supermajority to 55-percent to approved local general obligation bonds and special taxes for affordable housing and public infrastructure projects.
Staff recommends that the City Council oppose legislation that:
12. Undermines and preempts local authority over local taxes and fees.
13. Shifts funds from local governments to the state or federal government.
14. Imposes unfunded or inadequately funded federal and state mandates on local governments.
15. Eliminates, limits, or delays the imposition or collection of development impact fees or limits the ability of cities to levy such fees to, thus restricting the City’s ability to provide for infrastructure or services.
16. Requires or expands state involvement in City financial audits, fiscal monitoring, general oversight, or assistance by the State Treasurer, State Controller, or other state agencies.
17. Defers reimbursements for state mandated programs.
3. Public Works and Transportation
Staff recommends that the City Council support legislation that:
1. Ensures the City receives its fair share of transportation funding and that keeps the funding decisions at the local level.
2. Provides for more stable and equitable long-term funding sources for transportation, such as the Cap and Trade program and various programs funded through the revenue generated via Cap and Trade.
3. Leverages local funds to the maximum extent possible to implement transportation improvements through grants and partnerships with regional, state, and federal agencies.
4. Reduces Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and encourages developing and implementing Transportation Demand Management (TDM) plans and strategies.
5. Expands opportunities and funding for connected and shared autonomous vehicles, high occupancy vehicles, managed lane policies, improved enforcement, new technology deployment, resilient transportation communication networks, and reducing traffic congestion and delay.
6. Improves multimodal freight movement between the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Valley and projects that reduce freight traffic on I-580.
7. Encourages active transportation, enhances the safety of all modes of transportation, particularly bicycles and pedestrians, and reduces vehicle speeds and traffic congestion.
8. Increases and funds local control and local regulation of shared mobility, transportation network companies (TNCs), and other emerging industries that use city infrastructure to offer private services.
9. Enables the sale of traffic data to recover the cost of data collection.
10. Enables innovative rail connectivity projects which aim to address the regional jobs, housing, and transit imbalancejobs/housing/transit imbalance (i.e., Valley Link).
10.11. Provides funding for climate-resilient transportation infrastructure to withstand weather events, wildfires, and other climate-related challenges.
Staff recommends that the City Council oppose legislation that:
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11.12. Infringes upon the ability of local governments to effectively administer and modify state and local construction provisions and standards.
12.13. Takes away local control of managing and operating local streets and roads.
13.14. Reduces the City’s condemnation authority regarding acquisition of properties required for public projects.
14.15. Reduces local government’s ability to enact transportation impact fees that fund transportation improvements.
15.16. Diverts traffic from freeways or highways to local streets.
4. Community and Economic Development
Staff recommends that the City Council support legislation that:
1. Maintains the City’s authority over land use decisions.
2. Strengthens local regulatory authority and control over the siting of medical or recreational marijuana dispensaries.
3. Creates a more equitable and transparent Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process.
4. Creates more flexibility for local jurisdictions to work together to provide housing that counts toward RHNA requirements.
5. Eliminates redundant, costly, and cumbersome mandates and restrictions required by CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act).
6. Provides incentives or new funding mechanisms for affordable housing and transit- oriented development.
7. Increases financial assistance to provide affordable, transitional, special needs and emergency housing to the homeless, seniors, veterans, and people with special needs.
8. Expands STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programs in K-12, higher education, and libraries.
9. Enhances the City’s efforts to retain existing businesses and attract new businesses.
10. Provides tangible and productive tools and incentives to support job creation, business attraction, and business retention.
11. Advances or encourages innovation, entrepreneurship, start-ups, small business opportunities, and/or workforce development.
12. Support funding and policy modifications that require additional staffing resources be deployed by HCD to ensure uniformity within the housing element compliance and review process.
11.13. Provides for local input and control over the development of high-density development in areas prone to fire and natural disasters.
Staff recommends that the City Council oppose legislation that:
12.14. Interferes with or reduces local land use control and decision making.
13.15. Diminishes or eliminates the authority of cities to zone and plan for the development of telecommunications infrastructure, including the siting of cellular communications towers or transmission sites.
14.16. Diminishes or eliminates cities’ authority to regulate condominium conversions. 200
15.17. Interferes with the ability to provide productive incentives to support job creation, business attraction, and business retention.
5. Public Safety and Public Health
Staff recommends that the City Council support legislation that:
1. Increases funding for local law enforcement, fire suppression and prevention, hazardous materials mitigation, and emergency medical services.
2. Funds local agencies for training, disaster preparedness, crime prevention, public outreach, and emergency planning.
3. Ensures cities have control of regulating local medical marijuana facilities instead of the state, protects public safety with standardized security requirements, protects public health with uniform health and safety standards, and ensures patient safety with a quality assurance protocol.
4. Improves data and information dissemination, preparedness funding, and first-responder training for oil-by-rail shipments.
5. Maintains or increases grant funding for the Community Oriented Police Services (COPS) program.
6. Provides a greater share of asset forfeiture funds for cities and increases latitude for spending local funds.
7. Supports funding to prepare, mitigate, adapt, and respond to extreme weather or emergency events.
8. Supports alternative crisis response programs for mental health, substance abuse, or homelessness related calls for emergency service.
9. Expands access and resources to public health care services, including mental health, behavioral health, and substance abuse services.
10. Supports sensible public safety reforms, especially regarding retail theft, burglary, and assault, insurance availability, and emergency preparedness..
10.11. Provides for the stabilization and equitable assessment of property insurance premiums in fire-prone areas.
6. Parks and Community Services
Staff recommends that the City Council support legislation that:
1. Creates new funding opportunities for parks and community facilities.
2. Provides funding for ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) facility and park upgrades.
3. Increases available financial assistance to local non-profit and community-based organizations who that provide social services and mental health services to residents in need.
4. Efforts to pProvides funding for the rehabilitation, development, and capital improvements for park improvements to enhance the active and passive recreational infrastructure.
5. Supports funding or regulations for cooling strategies in local and regional parks. 201
6. Supports funding or promoting parks and park-related amenities to increase community resilience, including mitigating climate change effects and increasing access.
7. Support or pursue legislation to expand funding sources available to make technological updates to existing and new parks and recreation spaces.
8. Support access and funding for the provision of before and after school childcare through local programming.
9. Support funding for vital regional and community services delivered by parks and recreation departments that impact access to parks, open space, bikeways, after school programming, youth services, senior services, food programs, and facilities that promote physical activity, as well as protect natural resources and strengthen safety and security.
Staff recommends that the City Council oppose legislation that:
7.10. Reduces or eliminates the City’s ability to levy park impact fees.
11. Imposes regulations that create cost prohibitive administrative burdens which may result in the reduction of parks programming.
12. Oppose efforts to capture or divert local park and recreation revenue or efforts to shift responsibility for State services or programs to park and recreation departments without commensurate revenue.
7. Climate and Environment
Staff recommends that the City Council support legislation that:
1. Assists and funds local governments in meeting or exceeding local or state climate adaptation goals to, reduce global warming pollution levels, to develop alternate energy resources and fuel efficiency programs, and to reduce fossil fuel dependence.
2. Streamlines development of and provides funding for electric vehicle (EV) charging and hydrogen fueling infrastructure locally and regionally.
3. Supports current waste diversion goals, local compliance efforts, and associated measurement and reporting requirements.
4. Assists the City in meeting or exceeding established goals of reducing water consumption and increasing water supply without preempting local planning decisions.
5. Supports circular economy solutions, extended producer responsibility, and requires manufacturers be responsible for the end of useful life cost of collecting, processing, recycling, and disposing of products they manufacture.
6. Protects the interest of California’s Community Choice Aggregators, like Ava Community Energy, that provide renewable and clean electricity providers andto their customers.
7. Incentivizes regional and local government efforts to develop and implement programs to reduce air pollution.
8. Funds compliance and full life cycle costs of current and new mandatory storm water quality permit requirements.
9. Addresses litter control and abatement problems in California. 202
10. Reduces the financial impact of state and federal funded and unfunded mandates related to compliance with environmental programs and regulations.
Staff recommends that the City Council oppose legislation that:
11. Preempts local planning decisions regarding solid waste facility sites.
12. Preempts local solid waste and AB 939 fee setting authority or imposes taxes or fees on local solid waste programs to fund state programs not directly related to solid waste management.
8. Technology and Cybersecurity
Staff recommends that the City Council support legislation that:
1. Promotes the use of data and technologies to create efficiencies, promote economic development, enhance public safety, improve transportation and mobility, improve sustainability, increase transparency to public information, enhance municipal quality of life factors and help solve other civic challenges.
2. Maintains local control over municipal assets in the deployment of next generation technological infrastructure.
3. Increases the City’s capacity to protect against cyber security attacks.
4. Provides funding for programs that seek to expand digital access for residents and businesses.
4.5. Provides for the thoughtful and measured deployment of artificial intelligence technologies to enhance local government capabilities, including public safety alerts.
Staff recommends that the City Council oppose legislation that:
5.6. Limits or removes local review and permitting of emerging telecommunications technologies, such as Small Cell technology.
Regional Collaboration
The City of Dublin is a member of the Tri-Valley Cities (TVC), a coalition of the five Tri-Valley municipalities who work together to advocate for issues and funding at the regional, state, and federal levels. The TVC is governed by the five Mayors of each municipality who develop and adopt a TVC Legislative Framework which guides the advocacy efforts of the TVC.
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Draft 2025 Legislative
Platform
February 4, 2025
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Background
• Each year the City Council adopts a Legislative Platform to guide legislative advocacy efforts for the upcoming year. • Structured in three tiers:
– Guiding Principles, which set the broad goals for advocacy efforts.
– Public Policy Priorities, which guide the City’s position on relevant legislation.
– Advocacy Positions, which provide more specific positions in each Public Policy Priority.
• Not an exhaustive list.
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Background, 2
• The draft 2025 Platform is substantially similar to the 2024 Platform.
• The 2025 Platform makes modifications to account for:
– Changes in state law.
– Anticipated issues for the upcoming legislative session. – Non-substantive grammatical and wording changes.
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Modified 2024 Advocacy Positions
• The Platform modifies 2024 positions:
– Reference to limiting or delaying the imposition or
collection of development impact fees.
– Reference to resilient transportation communication
networks.
– Reference to transparency in the Regional Housing
Needs Allocation (RHNA) process.
– Reference to insurance availability and emergency
preparedness public safety reforms.
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New Policy Priority Additions
• New additions to the Platform include supporting legislation that:
– Creates flexibility in governing open government initiatives. – Provides funding for climate-resilient transportation infrastructure. – Modifications to funding and policies that require additional staffing resources be deployed by CA Dept of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
– Provides for local input and control over high-density developments in areas prone to fire and natural disasters.
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New Policy Priority Additions, 2
• New additions to the Platform include supporting legislation that:
– Creates stable and equitable assessment of property insurance premiums in fire-prone areas.
– Provides access and funding for the provision of before and after school childcare through local programming.
– Pursues expanded funding for vital regional and community services delivered by Parks and Recreation Departments.
– Provides for the thoughtful and measured deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance local government capabilities. 209
New Policy Priority Additions, 2
• New additions to the Platform include
opposing legislation that:
– Strives to capture or divert local park and
recreation revenue or shift responsibility for State
services to local jurisdictions.
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Staff Recommendation
• Receive the report and provide direction.
• Questions? Comments?
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STAFF REPORT
CITY COUNCIL
Agenda Item 8.2
DATE: February 4, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Colleen Tribby, City Manager
SUBJECT: Direction on Enhancements at Fallon Sports Park Field G Prepared by: Colleen Tribby, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City Council will consider potential improvements, in both the short and long term, that will enhance the City’s marketing and use of Fallon Sports Park Field G, including a pilot program to allow advertising signage on the outfield fence. This field is the City’s singular 90-foot, lighted, regulation baseball field, is home to the Dublin Leprechauns professional baseball team as well as the Emerald High School team, and is heavily utilized by Dublin Little League and other local community groups.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Receive the report and provide direction.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Staff has not yet evaluated the cost associated with all of the improvements identified in this report. Upon direction to proceed, Staff will return at a future meeting(s) with a budget appropriation request.
DESCRIPTION:
Background
Fallon Sports Park (FSP) is a multi-sport community facility that provides baseball and softball fields, artificial turf soccer fields, basketball and tennis courts, sand volleyball courts, a premier cricket field, batting cages, a BMX course, bocce courts, playgrounds, group picnic areas, and associated parking lots. The facilities are available for and have been primarily used for rental by community groups and competitive local teams. Some of the amenities also provide walk-on opportunities (e.g., the basketball and volleyball courts, etc.) when not rented. 212
This 90-foot baseball field (FSP Field G) at the corner of Central Parkway and Fallon Road is the only fully enclosed field that can accommodate regulation, higher level competition. The field has recently become home to two major tenants for their respective seasons: the new Emerald High School Baseball Program, which will utilize the field during the school year season (spring), and the Pecos League Professional Baseball Club Dublin Leprechauns (summer).
The City expects that these two tenants will attract more local participants, potential playoffs and tournaments, and greater attendance and use of Field G. As such, Staff has been engaging in discussions internally and with the Leprechauns organization on potential improvements to the field that will not only encourage higher level usage for professional and high school teams but will enhance the experience for our community groups seeking to host tournament play. Below is the list of improvements for City Council consideration.
Items for Consideration
Short-Term (Items Requested for 2025 Season)
1) Install a flagpole in center field.
The City Council previously authorized the flagpole, and Staff is currently working on this, with the goal of installing it by May 2025.
2) Install public address system (PA) and Wi-Fi for use by patrons.
Staff would need to evaluate the cost and environmental impact of this. 3) Authorization for outfield fence signage.
Staff has evaluated outdoor signage at other professional parks and community fields and recommends implementing a pilot program at Field G. This topic is discussed further below. 4) Installation of weather protection on the back of the dugouts.
Weather protection can take the form of windscreens, solar screens, or other materials and structures to protect dugout users.
Long-Term (Items Requested for 2026 Season)
1) Bleachers and improved stadium design to support attendance and concessions. 2) Scoreboard upgrade and relocation to right field.
3) Permanent Storage – Shipping container placed adjacent to first base bullpen.
Outfield Fence Signage Discussion
Advertising at sports fields is a widely used tool for generating revenue to support a club or team’s activities. For the Leprechauns, in particular, it is a way to compensate and provide housing for its roster of professional players. Staff looked at some examples of how such signage looks at ballfields that house other professional teams (Attachment 1) and evaluated how signage is managed in the cities of San Ramon, Pleasanton, Modesto, and Palo Alto to help inform potential options for Dublin. The specific requirements put in place by the agencies vary, but the general concepts are similar: certain groups (primarily co-sponsored or approved sports organizations) 213
can put up signage for a defined period (either a weeks-long season or the duration of the rental) as long as it complies with certain standards.
From Staff’s perspective, such advertising in Dublin would need to be approved in advance and not conflict with the City’s values or be controversial in nature. Staff would also want to ensure that signage would not create a visual blight or a distraction to drivers along adjacent roads. To that end, Staff recommends installing a dark green backing material to which the signage would be attached so that the view from outside the park is clean and consistent.
Staff also recommends piloting this program beginning spring 2025 only at FSP Field G and making it available to any group renting that field for the duration of their rental or period of exclusive use. Expanding the signage to other fully enclosed City fields could be considered upon the success of the pilot. Policies surrounding such signage would include the following:
– Signs must be approved by City staff prior to installation. – Advertisements shall only be displayed on the field’s outfield fence and shall only face the field’s interior.
– Advertising copy and/or logos shall be limited to one side and shall be made of durable cloth, bunting, plastic, or similar approved material. Individual advertisements shall not exceed a “footprint” of six feet by 16 feet.
– The advertisement’s surface must be tautly and securely fastened to the outfield fence of the field by a minimum of four contact points.
– The renter will maintain all advertising materials in good condition and will remove or replace any damaged, torn, faded, dirty, or defaced advertisements. – Advertisements shall be installed no sooner than three days prior to the season’s commencement and shall be removed within three days of the season’s close. – Specific dates and times for the advertisements’ installation and removal may be subject to change by the City to minimize impacts to the public.
Next Steps
If the City Council desires to pursue the improvements discussed in this Staff Report, Staff will do the following:
1) Finalize policies and standards surrounding the pilot signage program and implement the program for the 2025 spring season.
2) Return to the City Council at the February 18 meeting with a request for a new Capital Improvement Program (CIP) project, including a budget appropriation for exploration of and/or implementation of the other short-term items identified in this Staff Report. 3) Seek approval and funding of the long-term improvements through the normal CIP budgeting process (April – June 2025).
STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE:
None.
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NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH:
The City Council Agenda was posted.
ATTACHMENTS:
1) Fence Signage Examples
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Attachment 1
Fence Signage Examples
1. Oakland Ballers
2. Martinez Sturgeon
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Attachment 1
3. San Rafael Pacifics
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