CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF HOLLISTER
Minutes of Special Meeting
January 8, 2022
REMOTE PARTICIPATION DURING THE COVID-19 EMERGENCY
CALL TO ORDER
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Council Member Tim Burns led the Pledge of Allegiance.
CALL TO ORDER
The Special Meeting of the City Council was called to order by Mayor Ignacio Velazquez on January, 8, 2022 at 9:00 AM in the City Council Chambers at 375 Fifth Street, Hollister, CA 95023.
Attendee Name Title Status Arrived
Ignacio Velazquez Mayor Remote
Rick Perez District 1 ! Present
Rolan Resendiz District 2 Remote
Dolores Morales District 3 Present
Tim Burns District 4 Present
Jason S. Epperson ; City Attorney Present
Christine Bl
ack City Clerk Present
Carlos Reynoso Police Chief Absent
Brett Miller City Manager Present
Council Member Morales arrived in Chambers at 9:03 a.m. Police Chief Reynoso was absent.
VERIFCATION OF AGENDA POSTING
The Agenda for the City of Hollister City Council Special Meeting of January 8, 2022, was posted on the bulletin board at City Hall on January 5, 2022, at 1:30 p.m. per Government Code section 54956.
A. CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HOLLISTER
1. PUBLIC HEARING: Lapkoff& Gobalet Demographer Census Redistricting Process Public Hearing #3
City Clerk Black reported this was the third of four required Public Hearings on Redistricting; introduced Shelley Lapkoff, with Lapkoff and Gobalet Demographic Research, Inc.
Shelley Lapkoff provided a report to City Council, we have done our due diligence in advertising for public participation, and need to place a hard stop/deadline on submitting maps, with consideration for allowing time for analyzation from Lapkoff and Gobalet.
Council Member Burns - suggested the City set a hard stop to map submission.
Council Member Morales - questioned if there was any way to highlight the areas that are required so that it may be seen from a glance the various requirements for proper analyzation. Make the process simple, easy to understand, and for people to be able to easily identify the areas that are required but then also the best interest for our community members.
Opened Public Hearing at 9:23 a.m.
Closed Public Hearing at 9:24 a.m.
Mayor Velazquez - questioned that we do have four (4) good options submitted and believes that if we postpone we will have people at the last minute state we are not being open to the public and we have been.
Shelley Lapkoff- stated that we would need to hold four (4) public hearings, and then adopt a plan; the Fair Maps Act requires any map adopted by City Council be available to the public for seven (7) days. That means we would not be able to have a plan come in at that last minute and adopt it.
Council Member Burns - stated we need a clearly defined hard stop date, and get that out there even if only through social media platforms. He questioned from Information and Technology if there is a way to see the number of hits our website has received since the start of the Redistricting process and have that presented at the next meeting. We may only do so much, we have made more than a good faith effort. He would like to hear City Attorney Eppersons thoughts on the City's efforts to this point on this process.
Vice Mayor Perez - requested the tracked information to be emailed prior to the next meeting.
Information Systems and Technology Director Dasilva - stated we do have the ability to track the hits and he will email the information to City Council today.
City Attorney Epperson -There is the minimum we have to do, and it certainly seems to me the City staff has done more than the minimum. That does not mean that more can't be done, that is your discretion, but if you are asking if we have satisfied the requirements, we have and have gone somewhat above those. It is always up to the discretion of the Council if you want to do more.
Council Member Burns - stated we could get have an exception, to the January 18, 2022, Council Agenda going out on Friday, January 14, 2022.
Council Member Morales - understands that we want to move forward in terms of trying to meet various deadlines, for complete transparency, community input, we need to have the four public meetings, analyze the maps, and bring it to Council so it does not seem like we are rushing or pushing through something without fully involving our community for clearly following the rules that were set forth. There is a lot of effort to push it forward. Council Member Burns stated we have community members who are thinking about submitting maps. COVID has impacted a lot of families this holiday season and people had several deaths in their family.
Redistricting isn't really on peoples minds right now as they are dealing with a lot of emergencies, health and deaths in the family. We need to follow the process and allow our community to deal with community issues but also have an opportunity to fully participate in the process.
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Council Member Resendiz - that is exactly what we are doing. We are having four (4) Public Meetings and bringing it to the regular scheduled Council to adopt it. That is what Council Member Morales said, and that is exactly what we are doing, is that correct Christine?
City Clerk Black -that is correct. Instead of adopting a plan on January 18, 2022, we will wait and Introduce on February 7, 2022. We will adopt on February 22, 2022, and it will not be effective until March 22, 2022 which is later than we wanted, and will still meet the April 17, 2022, deadline.
Council Member Burns - wanted to be clear that because we have a hard stop date, does not preclude anyone from coming to us as a Council Member to express their concerns and we could take that into account when we are reviewing the maps for consideration. I believe we have it covered here and I am frustrated about the folks that reached out to me. I was reached out to Monday and as of Saturday, I have not seen anything or heard anything further. It is a public process, and would prefer to see a higher level of public engagement, and it does not appear to be. And would love to see what the number of hits on the website are.
Council by consensus requested January 12, 2022, be the deadline for qualified redistricting maps to be submitted to the City of Hollister for the City Council Agenda on January 18, 2022. The deadline date to be posted on the City of Hollister Website and Social Media page.
The Ordinance for Redistricting Map will be introduced on February 7, 2022, at such meeting one of the submitted maps will be chosen. The Ordinance will go for Adoption on February 22, 2022, and be effective March 22, 2022, meeting the April 17, 2022, deadline.
Mayor Velazquez - realizes that this puts a little pressure on Lapkoff & Gobalet, but seeing what you have created so far, he is sure they are able to make this magically happen for us and the public.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to discuss Council Member Resendiz moved to adjourn at 9:48 am. Motion seconded by Vice Mayor Perez.
City Clerk Black called the roll call vote with the following results: Council Member Resendiz voted Yes, Council Member Morales voted Yes, Council Member Burns voted Yes, Vice Mayor Perez voted Yes, and Mayor Velazquez voted Yes, and carried by a unanimous vote.
Respectfully submitted,
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Christine Black, MMC
City Clerk
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