City Council Minutes
January 28, 2025
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CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF JANUARY 28, 2025
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor White called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL
PRESENT: Mayor White, Mayor Pro-tem Rodriguez, Councilmember Jones and Garcia
ABSENT: Councilmember Ortiz
STAFF: City Manager Wood, Chief Mixer, Public Works Director Tugel, Economic & Community Development Director Mugan, Science Workshop Coordinator Sanchez, City Attorney Thompson, IT Director Espinosa, City Clerk Rathbun GUESTS: Gail Stuart-White, Angelia Besenaice, Cynthia Zavala, Stephanie Garcia
EXCUSE COUNCILMEMBER ABSENCES
A MOTION by Mayor Pro-tem Rodriguez, seconded by Councilmember Garcia to excuse Councilmember Ortiz. All in favor. Motion carried.
INVOCATION
Invocation by Mr. Valenzuela.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
All recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
AGENDA REVIEW
City Manager Wood asked that the Council pull J-4, Update – Public Works Department, and stated that it would be on the next agenda. City Council concurred.
PUBLIC COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE REGARDING ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA Angelia Besenaice stated that she was representing many people, and she came to the City Council to asked them to leave the on-call services for the bus. She stated that RIDES was not the same and it was for medical appointments only and sometimes it was late. She stated that the on-call services were the best and it picked up at their homes and a lot of people used it. She stated that the community needed this service and asked that the Council please not end the on-call services.
COMMENTS FROM CITY COUNCIL
Councilmember Jones stated that she attended the League of California Cities Academy and that it was very informative. She stated that she attended many sessions and one of the sessions she attended was regarding suicide prevention for students and their parents. 23 City Council Minutes
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Councilmember Garcia stated that that she also attended the conference and that it was very informative. She gave a shout out to the Neighborhood Pet Project that helps with the feral cats and that it was headed by Dorothy Jones and Maria Villagomez.
Mayor Pro-tem Rodriguez stated that Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST) had been receiving a lot of phone calls and many residents have shown up at the meeting regarding the on-call bus service. She stated that the vote to end the service had happened over two years ago at a MST meeting. She stated that this was so far in motion that MST was not going to stop the process. She also stated that MST was working on some sort of limited on-call service or something else to help the residents; however, wanted the residents to know that things do take a long time but they were working on some type of solution.
She also stated that there was a big sense of fear in the community regarding the ICE activity and stated that she had reached out to Chief Mixer regarding this. She encouraged everyone to know their rights regarding what they could and could not do. She also stated that the executive order on the freeze regarding education funding that was given was not affecting the students at this time and wanted the students to know that. She stated that she would share information regarding this matter as she received it.
Mayor White stated that there were cards at City Hall for residents regarding their rights. He announced the different senior activities that were going on such as yoga, art, cooking, etc. and the senior social. He stated that the recreation department was looking for people to become Jr. Giants ambassadors for the Jr. Giants baseball program. He also stated that he, City Manager Wood and the developers from Mira Monte development met to try to make the project more attractive. He stated that he was happy that the Council had set the Teambuilding session for March 19th.
CONSENT ITEMS
A MOTION by Mayor Pro-tem Rodriguez, seconded by Councilmember Jones to approve the consent items including Warrants #323589 through #323689 and Bank Drafts #6437 through #6454 in the amount of $986,842.25 approve Minutes of the January 14, 2025 City Council Meeting, receive and file the departmental reports – Police Department and adopt Resolution #2025-08, “A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Greenfield Adopting the Final Salinas Valley Safe Routes to School Plan Prepared by the Transportation Agency of Monterey County (TAMC)”. All in favor. Motion carried.
MAYOR’S PRESENTATIONS, PROCLAMATIONS, COMMUNICATIONS AND RESOLUTIONS PRESENTATION – URBAN COUNTY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT FUNDING BY
DAWN YONEMITSU, COUNTY OF MONTEREY
Powerpoint presentation was given by Darby Marshall, County of Monterey.
UPDATE – PARKING PILOT PROGRAM
Update was given by Chief Mixer.
There was discussion among the Council and staff, and it was the consensus of the Council to have an extension of the pilot program and that this item be brought back to the Council for approval.
UPDATE – COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DEPARTMENT
Powerpoint presentation and update was given by Community Engagement Coordinator Lopez. 24 City Council Minutes
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CITY COUNCIL BUSINESS
ADOPT A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GREENFIELD AWARDING THE
FIRE DEPARTMENT APPARATUS BAY DOOR PROJECT TO CALIFORNIA OVERHEAD DOOR IN THE AMOUNT OF $91,150
RESOLUTION #2025-09
Staff report was given by Public Works Director Tugel.
A MOTION by Mayor Pro-tem Rodriguez, seconded by Councilmember Garcia to adopt Resolution #2025-09, “A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Greenfield Awarding the Fire Department Apparatus Bay Door Project to California Overhead Door in the Amount of $91,150”.
All in favor. Motion carried.
DISCUSS AND PROVIDE DIRECTION TO STAFF REGARDING ADVISORY BODY MEMBER
APPOINTMENTS
Staff report was given by City Attorney Thompson.
Cynthia Zavala recommended that the Council extend the area to appoint members to boards beyond one mile; maybe include Arroyo Seco area.
Stephanie Garcia asked if the Council could change the by-laws of the Planning Commission or did the Planning Commission do that. City Attorney Thompson stated that the City Council could change the bylaws; however, the Planning Commission does review and recommend any changes.
Mayor White stated that he would like to keep the process as is.
Mayor Pro-tem Rodrigez stated that she disagreed and that it should be open to all residents. She also stated that she found discrepancies between the Government Code and the Municipal Code. She asked the City Attorney look into it and stated that it should be corrected.
Councilmember Garcia stated that she wanted to be fair to everyone and that everyone should have to apply. She stated that if the current Commissioner was the best person for the job, he/she would be reappointed.
Councilmember Jones stated that she wanted to keep it as is.
There was additional discussion among the Council.
City Attorney Thompson stated that she would review the Government Code regarding potential discrepancies and past appointment practices and bring it back to Council for their review.
BRIEF REPORTS ON CONFERENCES, SEMINARS, AND MEETINGS ATTENDED BY MAYOR AND
CITY COUNCIL
Councilmember Jones reported on the League of California Cities Academy. She stated that there were great sessions such as social media, financial responsibilities and the ethnics classes. 25 City Council Minutes
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Councilmember Garcia stated that she also attended the League Academy and Greenfield was doing pretty well compared to other cities. She stated that the key to being an effective Council was to address each other with respect and professionalism.
Mayor Pro-tem Rodriguez stated that MST was awarded a $22 million dollar grant to help fund the construction of the SURF Bus and Bus Rapid Transit project. She stated that they gave service awards to Mike LeBarre and Dave Pacheco for 10 years of service; presented that two-year action plan and spoke about having the buses go cashless; however, that might affect some of the ridership.
Mayor White reported on the Monterey County Mayors Committee. He stated that he was selected as the Chair for 2025.
CITY ATTORNEY REPORT
City Attorney Thompson stated that her firm just recently published a housing law handbook which was intended for elected and appointed officials and any staff members that were not planners. She stated that it was a free resource and would be sending everyone a link. She also stated that she and one of her colleagues were going to be doing a webinar on February 13th which would be focusing on certain elements of housing law, with the focus on what cities could and could not do when it came to approving or disapproving housing developments.
CITY MANAGER REPORT
City Manager Wood stated that the Council building workshop was on March 19th, from 5 to 9. He gave an update on the ADA improvements and inclusive play structures. He stated that staff had been working with a master’s student from Cal regarding park designs and everything that was going on with all the city parks and which parks were or were not ADA compliant. He also stated that staff had reached out to our play structure vendor, and they have already done an analysis of what the City’s had that was inclusive, and the costs associated with it. He stated that staff would be combining all the information and then bring it back to Council.
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor White adjourned the meeting in memory of Leonard Dart, former Mayor of the City of Greenfield.
Meeting adjourned at 8:04 p.m.
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Mayor of the City of Greenfield
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City Clerk of the City of Greenfield
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