Approved September 17, 2026
Town of Los Altos Hills
City Council Special Meeting Minutes
Monday, August 31, 2026 at 3:00 P.M.
Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, California & T Contrada Sovareto, 92019, Sciacca AG, Italy
Present: Mayor Rajiv Bhateja, Vice Mayor Linda Swan, Council Member Stanley Mok, Council Member Kavita Tankha, and Council Member George Tyson
Absent: None
Staff: City Manager Cody Einfalt and City Clerk Arika Birdsong-Miller CALL TO ORDER (3:00 P.M.)
Mayor Bhateja called the meeting to order at 3:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL
Mayor Rajiv Bhateja, Vice Mayor Linda Swan, Council Member Stanley Mok, Council Member Kavita Tankha, and Council Member George Tyson were present.
Council Member Kavita Tankha participated remotely at T Contrada Sovareto, 92019, Sciacca AG, Italy.
1. PUBLIC COMMENT (Public Comment is Limited to Items which are the Subject of the Special Meeting)
1. Jim Waschura, Los Altos Hills, commented on the proposed law enforcement services agreement and the allocation of Sheriff’s Office overhead costs. He stated that his review raised concerns regarding the methodology used to allocate certain costs to contract cities and referenced the independent assessment prepared by Vasquez & Company. Mr. Waschura recommended that staff continue efforts to address the allocation methodology and asked the Town to obtain legal advice regarding whether execution of the agreement would preserve the Town’s ability to subsequently seek a remedy for costs it believed were improperly allocated.
There being no additional speakers at that time, Mayor Bhateja concluded public comment.
2. ONGOING BUSINESS
A. Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Five-Year Law Enforcement Services Agreement with the Santa Clara County Office of the Sheriff City Manager Cody Einfalt presented the staff report and provided an overview of the history and terms of the proposed five-year agreement. He explained that the existing agreement dated to 2014 and had subsequently been extended, with the current 12-week extension scheduled to expire September 30, 2026.
City Manager Einfalt stated that the proposed agreement would become effective October 1, 2026, include a five-year term and one-year termination notice, and transition to a full- Los Altos Hills Special City Council Meeting Minutes Page 2 Monday, August 31, 2026
cost-recovery structure. Unlike the prior agreement, which limited annual increases to CPI plus two percent, the proposed agreement would not contain an annual cost cap.
City Manager Einfalt reported that the Town’s cost would increase approximately 22.6 percent, from approximately $2.76 million to $3.38 million. Approximately 44 percent of the proposed cost represented direct services, with the remaining amount attributable to indirect and overhead costs. He explained that direct deployment hours and overtime would be reconciled annually, while indirect costs would not fluctuate based solely upon the number of direct service hours requested by the Town.
He further reported that the agreement would provide for weekly and monthly reporting, including calls for service, response times, and service hours; annual reconciliation of direct deployment hours; and discussions between the Town and Sheriff’s Office if service levels varied by ten percent or more from the established plan.
City Manager Einfalt reviewed several issues that had remained outstanding following prior Council discussions. He reported that the indemnification provision had been resolved by returning to language substantially consistent with the 2014 agreement.
Regarding the West Valley substation, a party terminating the agreement before expiration of the existing lease would remain responsible for its share of the lease obligations. The agreement also expressly incorporated Government Code Section 51350 and included service-level protections related to the annual plan for service, the ten-percent threshold, and monthly reporting.
City Manager Einfalt also discussed the independent overhead assessment completed by Vasquez & Company. He stated that the assessment identified approximately $10.67 million in overhead that the consultant believed was not allocable to the contract cities.
The assessment had been provided to the County; however, the County had not modified its allocation methodology based upon the findings. City Manager Einfalt emphasized that the assessment was neither an audit nor a legal opinion.
City Manager Einfalt explained that execution of the agreement would not waive the Town’s rights under Government Code Section 51350 or constitute agreement with every component of the County’s cost methodology. Staff recommended adoption of the resolution authorizing execution of the agreement to ensure continuity of law enforcement services after September 30.
Council Questions and Discussion
Vice Mayor Swan asked whether the Town would have any financial obligation for the West Valley substation after the existing lease expires in 2029 if the Town terminated the agreement. Staff and legal counsel clarified that the Town would remain responsible for its share of the existing lease if it terminated before 2029 but would not be responsible for costs associated with an extension of the lease unless the Town specifically agreed to participate.
Vice Mayor Swan also asked whether the Town would continue receiving monthly reports regarding service hours rather than waiting for the annual reconciliation. City Los Altos Hills Special City Council Meeting Minutes Page 3 Monday, August 31, 2026
Manager Einfalt confirmed that monthly reporting would continue and noted that staff had received service-hour information for July and August.
Council Member Mok raised concerns regarding the changing demands of modern policing and whether the Town had budgeted an adequate number of service hours.
Captain Valenzuela explained that calls involving mental health issues and other complex circumstances may require multiple deputies and additional time to ensure the safety of residents and responding personnel. He stated that the Sheriff’s Office could shift resources when additional deputies were required.
Council Member Mok asked whether the Town could increase service hours under the agreement if circumstances warranted additional coverage. City Manager Einfalt confirmed that the agreement allowed the Town to obtain additional service through overtime or potentially through an additional full-time deputy. He explained that a fulltime position would result in an additional cost estimated at approximately $400,000 to $450,000, depending upon the applicable salary and timing.
Mayor Bhateja presented information regarding the Town’s options under the proposed agreement. He stated that the primary concern was the allocation of overhead costs and noted that the agreement allowed the County to pass through cost increases, including potentially retroactive increases.
Mayor Bhateja discussed the independent Vasquez & Company assessment and the Town’s rights under Government Code Section 51350. He explained that the Town had proposed additional contractual language to the County to preserve its ability to challenge costs it believed were not properly attributable to providing services to the Town. Mayor Bhateja reported that the County had advised the Town that afternoon that the proposed additional language was acceptable.
Mayor Bhateja outlined several options available to the Council, including executing the agreement as presented; executing the agreement with the newly agreed-upon language; delaying execution while seeking further resolution of the overhead-cost dispute; reducing service levels; executing the agreement while immediately pursuing the contractual dispute-resolution process; requesting an audit by the County’s contract auditor, Harvey Rose & Associates; and requesting review by the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury.
Mayor Bhateja stated that although reducing service levels was an available option, the Council had previously directed that existing service levels be maintained. He expressed concern that reducing expenditures to approximately the prior-year amount could significantly reduce the Town’s law enforcement coverage.
Mayor Bhateja also identified potential longer-term alternatives for Council consideration, including community service officers, Sheriff’s Protective Service Officers, alternative law enforcement arrangements with neighboring jurisdictions, a model similar to the Town of Danville in which officers are assigned through the Sheriff’s Office while operating under a local police identity, a potential joint powers arrangement, and resident volunteer patrol programs similar to those used in Atherton and Danville.
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Sheriff Johnson stated that the Sheriff’s Office considered it a privilege to serve Los Altos Hills and expressed a desire to continue the long-standing partnership.
Sheriff Johnson stated that several of the longer-term alternatives identified by Mayor Bhateja were viable concepts. He discussed community service officer programs, explaining that such personnel could handle lower-level incidents and reduce the workload of sworn deputies. He noted, however, that access to law-enforcement databases and other infrastructure could be subject to Department of Justice requirements depending upon whether the employee worked for the Town or the Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Johnson also discussed the Sheriff’s Protective Service Officer model and indicated that, although it had primarily been used within the County’s hospital system, a community-based model could potentially be explored.
Vice Mayor Swan asked how overhead costs might be affected if another contract city withdrew from the agreement. Sheriff Johnson stated that termination required one year’s notice and that future allocation issues would have to be addressed if a participating city ultimately withdrew.
Sheriff Johnson emphasized that without an executed contract, the Sheriff’s Office would have no contractual obligation to provide routine law enforcement services to the Town after expiration of the existing agreement. He stated that, as Sheriff, he would nevertheless ensure a response to life-threatening emergencies, but lower-level services ordinarily expected by contract communities could not be assured without an agreement.
Council discussed specialty services such as SWAT response. Sheriff Johnson explained that specialized resources were included within the overall service and overhead model and were available when necessary rather than being separately billed on a per-incident basis.
Council also discussed the potential implementation timeline for alternative staffing models. Sheriff Johnson explained that creating and filling new Sheriff’s Office classifications could take approximately two to three years due to classification, recruitment, background investigation, training, and other requirements. A Townemployed community service officer could potentially be implemented sooner, although the employee’s duties and access to law-enforcement systems would affect the appropriate structure.
Mayor Bhateja reopened public comment.
Jim Waschura asked whether indirect and overhead costs would be reconciled at the end of each year in the same manner as direct service costs. He questioned whether the Town would be charged based upon budgeted overhead amounts or actual expenditures.
City Manager Einfalt explained that the annual Exhibit E would identify the Town’s direct and indirect costs. Direct service hours would be reconciled based upon actual service received; however, overhead costs would not automatically be reconciled in the same manner.
Jasmeen Pombra, Los Altos Hills, asked whether the Town had experienced an increase in calls involving mental health or related issues in recent years. Sheriff Johnson confirmed that calls involving mental health services had increased and discussed changes Los Altos Hills Special City Council Meeting Minutes Page 5 Monday, August 31, 2026
to the County’s mental-health response model, including the previous Psychiatric Emergency Response Team and the current coordination between deputies and County Behavioral Health. He also noted that deputies receive crisis-intervention training.
Ms. Pombra asked whether increased mental-health training and similar requirements were among the factors contributing to increased overhead costs. Sheriff Johnson explained that overhead includes various costs necessary to support law enforcement services and cited body-worn cameras, vehicle cameras, and associated data-storage costs as examples of expenses that are allocated across deputies and contract jurisdictions.
Mayor Bhateja clarified that overhead costs were not fixed for the entire five-year term and could be adjusted annually. He stated that, in his understanding, Government Code Section 51350 would provide a basis for the Town to challenge costs that were not actually attributable to providing the contracted service.
Vice Mayor Swan expressed concern that the Town might need to independently monitor the County’s actual costs and initiate a challenge if overhead expenses decreased rather than relying upon the County to identify a potential reduction.
Council Member Mok commented that the County’s cost-allocation model was relatively new and expressed his expectation that it could be refined over time. He stated that he did not believe all of the current figures were necessarily correct and anticipated that future amendments could improve the methodology.
Council Deliberation
Vice Mayor Swan stated that the Sheriff’s Office had been responsive to the Town and reiterated the Council’s commitment to maintaining its existing level of law enforcement service. She distinguished those efforts from her concerns regarding the County’s response to questions about overhead costs.
Vice Mayor Swan proposed that the Town formally request an audit using the audit resources available through the Board of Supervisors and not execute the agreement at that time, in order to maintain pressure on the County to provide additional information and address the Town’s cost concerns.
Mayor Bhateja clarified that Vice Mayor Swan’s proposal was to defer execution of the agreement and request an audit by Harvey Rose & Associates.
Sheriff Johnson cautioned the Council that if an agreement was not in place by September 30, routine contracted law enforcement services would cease. He also explained that there were administrative and labor timelines that had to be met before the agreement could be approved and staffing restored.
Council Member Tyson stated that he would not support the proposal to defer execution of the agreement while pursuing the audit. He acknowledged the desire to obtain additional information from the County but did not believe withholding execution was the appropriate means of doing so. He also expressed concern that the proposed 40-hour audit might not be sufficiently timely or effective.
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Mayor Bhateja asked Sheriff Johnson whether collective bargaining requirements and staffing decisions would be affected if the Town delayed action. Sheriff Johnson confirmed that staffing notices had already begun because there was not yet an executed agreement and explained that positions previously allocated to the Town would ultimately need to be reallocated once an agreement was approved.
Council Member Mok also stated that he would not support delaying execution of the agreement. He emphasized the Council’s responsibility to ensure continuous protection for Town residents and noted that the agreement contained a one-year termination provision, allowing the Town to continue exploring alternatives after ensuring uninterrupted service.
Council Member Tankha stated that the Town should execute the agreement with the additional language agreed upon with the County. She supported continuing to work with the Sheriff’s Office and County regarding the allocation of overhead costs and developing an appropriate formula, while also evaluating other law enforcement options over the longer term. She stated that, for the immediate decision before the Council, the agreement should be executed.
Mayor Bhateja moved to authorize execution of the five-year Law Enforcement Services Agreement with the Santa Clara County Office of the Sheriff, including the additional language agreed upon with the County, and to immediately initiate the agreement’s dispute-resolution process regarding the contested costs, beginning with informal negotiation, followed by non-binding mediation and, if necessary, litigation.
Council Member Mok seconded the motion.
AYES: Mayor Bhateja, Vice Mayor Swan, Council Members Mok, Tankha, and Tyson NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
MOTION CARRIED 5-0.
3. ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 4:05 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Arika Birdsong-Miller