FAIRFAX TOWN COUNCIL MEETING
STAFF REPORT
1 AGENDA ITEM #11
MEETING DATE December 4, 2024
PREPARED FOR Mayor and Town Council
PREPARED BY Christine Foster, Deputy Town Clerk
SUBJECT Receive report on Councilmembers’ assignments, committees, and activities in November 2024.
RECOMMENDATION
Receive Councilmember activities report.
DISCUSSION
Every month, each Councilmember provides a list of the meetings they attended in the preceding month on behalf of the Town, for inclusion in this report. Under the agenda section entitled “Council Reports and Comments” Councilmembers may choose to highlight one of those meetings.
Mayor Coler
1. November 2 – Ribbon Cutting at the Alex Quanbeck Playground at Niven Park – Alex was the 7 year old who died tragically by a rolling gate. His parents developed the playground working with Larkspur staff and their PARC. Coler brought requirements for inspections and retrofits for these gates to Fairfax.
2. November 5, 19, 26 – Met with Town Manager on various Council matters.
3. November 13 – Ross Valley Fire Board meeting – Board approved: FY 2024 Audit Report; Wildfire Preparedness Coordinator position; acknowledged receipt of the Ross letter for one-year delay of closure of station (no decision to be made at this time).
4. November 14 – Countywide Priority Setting meeting (PSC recommends allocation of HUD $$ and some State $$) – interviewed Community members for PSC (appointed: Nancy Johnson - Countywide, Tracie Palmer -Center Marin, Crystal Lewis - Novato, Craig Yates – San Rafael, Hal Russo – West Marin; reviewed/approved option for reallocating program income $1.2M – proposed reallocations will be provided at the Dec 5th mtg; received an update on the 2025-29 Consolidated Plan.
5. November 18 – Community Media Center of Marin (CMCM) – Building Subcommittee meeting.
6. November 19 & Nov 22 -Agenda setting mtg for Dec 4th Council mtg with Vice Mayor Blash, Town Staff (Abrams, Foster & Coleson)
7. November 21 – Marin Wildfire (MWPA) Board meeting – The Board: acknowledged the CEQA Compliance and Approved the “Novato Zone Marin Valley Long Range Acoustic Device Warning System Project;” authorized the EO to sign a Task Order for the SR/SA Fuel Reduction Zone Project (not to exceed $410K) for ~8 acres; received a progress update on implementation of the FY 2021-22, FY 2022-23, FY 2023-24, and FY 2024-25 Work Plans – highlights: chipper days (in its 8th month) - completed 4,351 pickups and removed 14,035.5 cubic yards of vegetation surpassing the 2023 season; approximately $2.55M in DSpace, home hardening, direct assistance and voluntary abatement to support wildfire resilience at homes around Marin -this work along with the Chipper Day Program ($1.5M) and the 20% DSpace allocation ($4.1M), Measure C will fund up to $8.15M this fiscal year on home hardening and defensible space.
8. November 21 – MCE Clean Energy Board meeting – Councilmember Ackerman attended as my alternate.
2 9. November 22 – Age Friendly Fairfax meeting – held/hosted at Bennett House – discussed 90+ Celebration (and ideas for 2025); possible showing of “Do I Need this Documentary” (Feb 26 or 27), possible showing of FX 10 Year Celebration video at the Commission on Aging. FX Library will hold mini Senior Faire on May 3rd 2025.
10. November 25 – Marin County Council of Mayors & Councilmembers (MCCMC) Legislative Committee. Senator Mike McGuire attended – highlights: Special Session next week will cover immediate budget appropriations to DOJ and some non-profits for work related to respond to Trump Administration & open the Legislative session – new bills will be introduced & legis. to return Jan 6; focus of the Senate will be homelessness, affordability, job creation & housing; insurance – there will be a package put forward to mandate coverage if homeowners do wildfire mitigation, move 85% off of CalFair Plan; locals ordinances for home hardening etc. (stay tuned); SMART priority is to get it passed in 2026.
CalFire is hiring 3,000 new firefighters – 14 will be permanently housed in Marin. Other: Cap & Trade – CARB plans to lower amount of free allocations for industry & Legislature to reauthorize C&T by 2030; the budget is roughly balanced for this year ($2B deficit) yet State still is outspending revenues so look for cautious spending in 2025 budget ($12B was used from reserves in 2024 and $12B in 2025 to balance budget – won’t have this in out years). No meeting in December. MCCMC LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE SCOPE OF ADVOCACY: Fiscal Protection: protect city revenues from state Local Control: support legislation that enhances local control of resources to provide services while supporting regional cooperation. Oppose unfunded mandates and preemption of local authority and control of land use.
Transportation Investment: promote stable transportation finance structure for state and local government. Multimodal, enhancing livable communities Housing/Land use: protect local government land use authority. Oppose punitive housing legislation, and legislation that restricts or reduces local discretion on land use decisions. Other legislation can be recommended to MCCMC at a regular meeting.
11. November 25 – Chamber of Commerce meeting – with Chamber ED Minna Kim & two Chamber Co-Presidents – Janabai Owens, Solstice Mercantile, and Brenna Gubbins, Live Water and Town staff (Abrams, Foster) & Mayor Coler.
Vice Mayor Blash
11/05: Visited Encampment residents with Council Member Cutrano 11/05: Met with Town Manager, Town Attorney, and Council Member Cutrano about homeless issues 11/06: Talked with Gary Naja-Riese, Director of Whole Person Care 11/06: Town Council Meeting
11/06: Ross Valley Paramedic Authority Meeting. Received detailed report on ambulance deployment and legal issues surrounding possible exit of Larkspur from the JPA. Report also addressed clarifying the structure and financial arrangements of the JPA, and performance goals and monitoring. The Board approved an extension of the lease with the Town of Ross for use of the ambulance station through December 31, 2024.
11/08: Met with former council member about encampment issues and strategies 11/12: Met with KQED reporter and Council Member Cutrano about Measure J and broader issues re:
infrastructure bonds
11/16: Met with former council member about resident engagement 11/19: Visited Encampment Residents with Council Member Cutrano 11/19: Special Town Council Meeting
11/21: Homebase webinar on the unintended consequences of sweeping encampments in rural and semi-rural communities. Participants described adverse impacts such as loss of support networks and possessions for encampment residents, loss of trust that impeded the ability to provide housing and services, and extra time and stress for case workers who found themselves hiking through remote areas 3 searching for clients who had been dispersed and who had ended up in wilderness areas far from services.
11/21: Visited Encampment residents, communicated with social services and town staff about the need for check-in with residents about flooding issues due to atmospheric river. 11/21: Talked with expert on homeless and encampment issues. 11/21: Ross Valley Paramedic Authority Meeting: The Board adopted a set of goals and actions based on the study provided by consultants. These included ceasing any further legal or logistical research on splitting up the JPA and creating two working groups to assess and revise various protocols, policies, and financial arrangements to streamline operations and enhance transparency and consistency in RVPA operations. The regular agenda was followed by a special meeting in closed session regarding lease negotiations with the Town of Ross re: ambulance station. There was nothing to report-out. 11/22: Agenda setting meeting
11/22: Visited Encampment residents. Resident reported that outreach workers had come to check-in and it was noted that another tent had been moved onto a pallet to keep it dry. 11/22: Talked with former council member about resident engagement, etc. 11/25: Talked with advocate on homelessness
• Miscellaneous meetings with town attorney and/or town manager on emergent issues.
Councilmember Ackerman
Not received in time for publication.
Councilmember Hellman
Not received in time for publication.
Councilmember Cutrano
Not received in time for publication.