MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
CITY OF MONTEREY
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
4:00 PM
SCHOLZE PARK CENTER, 280 DICKMAN AVE.
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA
Councilmembers
Present: Barber, Garcia, Rasch, Smith, Williamson
Absent: None
City Staff
Present:
City Manager, Assistant City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk, Parks and Recreation Director, Assistant Urban Forester, Public Works Director, Finance Director, Fire Chief, Assistant Fire Chief, Assistant Police Chief, Library & Museums Director, Community Development Director, Human Resources Director, Parking Superintendent, Deputy Public Works Director Administration, Deputy Public Works Director/City Engineer, Sports Center Manager, General Services Superintendent, Recreation Manager, IT Applications Engineer II, Housing Manager, Recreation Supervisor, Recreation Coordinator
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Williamson called the meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. City Clerk Klein called the roll.
PUBLIC APPEARANCE
1. Conduct a Workshop to Provide Feedback on the 2025 City Staff Work Program, Establish and Adopt City Council Priorities, and Adopt its Value Drivers (Not a Project Under CEQA Article 20, Section 15378 and Under General Rule Article 5, Section 15061) Action: Conducted workshop, Discussed City staff work program, Identified Council priorities
City Manager Uslar and Assistant City Manager Rojanasathira gave a brief verbal introduction.
Public comment was received from: Mabel Lernoud, who requested that smoking in residential buildings be prohibited; Ursula Gallichotte, who asked for a scientific evaluation of Del Monte Beach; Mari Lynch Dehmler, who spoke about requested increased education regarding bicycling laws; Esther Malkin, who praised the work of numerous departments and thanked the City for its outreach efforts; LisAnne Sawhney, who requested greater access to meetings; and Mitchel Sawhney, who requested a focus on homeless and pedestrian issues downtown.
Assistant City Manager Rojanasathira led the Council in a series of exercises. First, referencing the City Staff Work Program, the Councilmembers recognized many successes and achievements they were most proud of in 2024. Appreciation was expressed for the City's good relationships with other agencies and military installations. The Council stressed that Monterey had a friendly community and a caring staff that helped keep the City beautiful and well run.
Next, the Council identified opportunities for the City. Opportunities highlighted by a quorum (three or more) of the Council included, in no particular order: discussing with the community the potential to renew the Measures P & S sales tax; ensuring the City's readiness for disasters and evacuations and communicating the same to residents; addressing homelessness and City Council Minutes January 29, 2025
2 assisting the unhoused population; considering making Alvarado Street pedestrian-only; strategizing on and increasing outreach to residents and businesses; continuing to prioritize affordable housing and the related allocation of resources including water credits; and focusing on economic development, which could include hiring a dedicated economic developer.
Opportunities highlighted by two Councilmembers included, in no particular order: improving pedestrian infrastructure; strengthening rental protection policies and programs; banning smoking in multifamily housing; enhancing the cleanliness of the downtown's sidewalks and facilities and supporting its businesses; partnering with the Chamber of Commerce and Monterey County Business Council; pursuing allocation of water credits; bolstering the Council's relationship with the Neighborhood and Community Improvement Program (NCIP) Committee; adopting a "dig once" undergrounding policy; and holding a town hall meeting on the subject of trees, defensible space, emergency readiness, and other fire-related topics.
Opportunities identified by individual members of the Council included, in no particular order:
thinking big with regard to the Waterfront Master Plan and improvements to Commercial Wharf 2; incorporating video surveillance for public safety; prioritizing a public safety building, potentially with Measure S renewal dollars; focusing on the Del Monte tunnel and signal controls to improve the flow of traffic; prioritizing cultural exchanges and business partnerships; investing in all business districts to take advantage of the City's assets; updating the tree management ordinance; revisiting the boards, commissions, and committees appointment process; prioritizing undergrounding of utilities; prioritizing residents and neighborhood associations; increasing code compliance activities; focusing on youth and families in crisis; incorporating Spanish interpretation into City meetings; thinking bold with the Climate Action Plan; adopting a sidewalk infrastructure policy; working on how to pay for deferred maintenance; considering term limits for board, commission, and committee members; revisiting the sign policy as relates to political signs; investing in City volunteer programs; considering Project Labor Agreements; and considering a living wage ordinance.
The Council identified challenges that included: the lack of available water for development, limits on financial resources, limits on staff capacity and time, lack of community engagement and support, unexpected crises, and deferred maintenance. It was suggested that when there were prioritization challenges between City staff's regular work program and additional initiatives from the Council, that the City staff agendize the matter so that the Council could assist in the prioritization.
Lastly, the Council did a prioritization exercise, where the Mayor and Councilmembers forceranked 15 provided topics and then placed each into a matrix of urgency and importance.
The results are listed as follows, with each member’s placement of Urgent = 3 points, Not Urgent = 1 point, Very Important = 3 points, Important = 2 points, and Less Important = 1 point.
Subject
Sum of Urgency
Points
Sum of Importance
Points
Community Engagement & Government Transparency 15 15
Public Safety: Police, Fire, Emergency Management & Code Compliance 15 14
Fiscal Stewardship: Stabilize Future Revenue Sources 13 13 Housing: Homelessness Services 13 13
Fiscal Stewardship: Economic Development 15 12
Infrastructure: Maintain, Repair & Replace 13 12
Quality Workforce: Attraction and Retention 13 12
City Council Minutes January 29, 2025
3 Housing: Affordable Housing & Secure Water Sources 10 12 Community Services: Recreation, Wellness & Sports
Programs 9 11
Community Planning: Sustainability & Planning 11 11
Community Partnerships & Legislative Advocacy 11 11
Infrastructure: Build New or Expand 11 10
Community Services: Library 9 9
Infrastructure: Active Mobility & Accessibility 7 9
Community Services: Museums & Lower Presidio Historic
Park 5 7
Undergrounding Plan (One Councilmember Only) 3 3
Water Sources (One Councilmember Only) 3 3
Housing: Affordable Housing (One Councilmember Only) 1 1
ADJOURNMENT
The Council adjourned at 6:17 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted, Approved,
Clementine Bonner Klein Tyller Williamson
City Clerk Mayor