CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL
MEETING
AGENDA
September 22, 2026 - 5:30 PM
In Person
THIS MEETING WILL NOT BE RECORDED OR BROADCAST FOR VIRTUAL VIEWING.
Members of the public may participate by being present at the Los Altos Council Chamber at Los Altos City Hall located at 1 N. San Antonio Rd, Los Altos, CA during the meeting. Public comment is accepted in person at the physical meeting location, or via email to [email protected].
RULES FOR CONDUCT: Pursuant to Los Altos Municipal Code, Section 2.05.010 "Interruptions and rules for conduct": Understanding that the purpose of the city council meetings is to conduct the people's business for the benefit of all the people, in the event that any meeting of the city council is willfully interrupted by a person or group of persons so as to render the orderly conduct of the meeting impossible, the mayor, mayor pro-tem, or any other member of the city council acting as the chair may order the removal of the person or persons responsible for the disruption and bar them from further attendance at the council meeting, or otherwise proceed pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.0 or any applicable penal statute or city ordinance.
SUBMIT WRITTEN COMMENTS: Prior to the meeting, comments on matters listed on the agenda may be emailed to [email protected]. Emails sent to this email address are sent to/received immediately by the City Council. Emails sent directly to the City Council as a whole or individually, and not sent to [email protected] will not be included as a public comment in the Council packet.
Please note: Personal information, such as e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, home addresses, and other contact information are not required to be included with your comments. If this information is included in your written comments, they will become part of the public record. Redactions and/or edits will not be made to public comments, and the comments will be posted as they are submitted. Please do not include any information in your communication that you do not want to be made public. The Mayor will open public comment and will announce the length of time provided for comments during each item.
AGENDA
CALL MEETING TO ORDER
ESTABLISH QUORUM
DISCUSSION ITEMS
1. Conduct Interview Sessions for City Commissions
Conduct interviews with applicants for the following city commissions:
• Complete Streets Commission
• Environmental Commission
• Planning Commission
ADJOURNMENT
SPECIAL NOTICES TO THE PUBLIC
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Altos will make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting. If you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the City Clerk 72 hours prior to the meeting at (650) 947-2610.
City Council Staff Report
Meeting Date: September 22, 2026
Prepared By: Melissa Thurman
Approved By: Gabe Engeland
Subject: Conduct Interview Sessions for City Commissions
COUNCIL PRIORITY AREA
General Government
RECOMMENDATION
Conduct interviews with applicants for the following city commissions:
• Complete Streets Commission
• Environmental Commission
• Planning Commission
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Not Applicable
FISCAL IMPACT
Not Applicable
PREVIOUS COUNCIL CONSIDERATION
This is an annual item
BACKGROUND
From early July to mid-August 2026, staff conducted a citywide recruitment for the following commissions:
• Complete Streets Commission - Two full-term, four-year seats • Environmental Commission - Three full-term, four-year seats • Historical Commission - Two full-term, four-year seats • Planning Commission - Two full-term, four-year seats
ANALYSIS
At the conclusion of the recruitment period, the city received the following number of applications for each commission:
• Complete Streets Commission - Two
• Environmental Commission - Seven
• Historical Commission - Zero
• Planning Commission - Four
DISCUSSION
Earlier in the year, the City Council made significant changes to city commissions. Most notably, the City Council reduced all commissions to five seats. Previously, some city commissions had seven seats. This transition was to occur through natural attrition, not by removing a sitting member to meet the new seat total.
For the 2026 recruitment period, the Complete Streets, Environmental, and Planning Commissions will transition from seven-seat bodies to five seats.
The Complete Streets Commission currently has seven members. However, four of those seats are expiring in September 2026. Of those four, the city received only two applications, both from incumbents (Wesley Helmholz and Clara Roa), to be considered for re-appointment to the commission. If the City Council appoints the incumbents to another four-year term, the Complete Streets Commission will have five members.
The Environmental Commission currently has three members. However, one of those members did not reapply to continue serving, and his seat expires in September 2026. At the time of the interview sessions, this leaves the Environmental Commission with only two members and three vacancies. The city received seven qualified applications during the recruitment period.
However, two of those applicants have subsequently withdrawn their applications from consideration. This leaves five qualified applications for this recruitment period.
The Historical Commission currently has five members, but two eligible incumbents did not reapply to continue serving. The city received no other applications during the recruitment period, and by the end of September, the Historical Commission will have three members and two vacancies.
The Planning Commission currently has seven members. The commission currently has one vacancy, and three seats are expiring in September 2026. One of those seats is held by a member in their second term, and that member is ineligible to reapply for consideration to continue on the commission. Two incumbents (Joe Beninato and Daphne Ross) applied for possible reappointment to continue serving on the commission. The City Council also received two applications from residents interested in serving on the Planning Commission. If the City Council appoints two applicants to serve on the Planning Commission, the membership will drop to five. However, if the City Council appoints four applicants to the Planning Commission, membership will remain at seven.
ATTACHMENTS
None