CITY OF PACIFICA
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
Council Chambers
2212 Beach Blvd
Pacifica, CA 94044
Mayor Sue Beckmeyer
Mayor pro Tem Christine Boles
Councilmember Mary Bier
Councilmember Mayra Espinosa
Councilmember Greg Wright
City Council Regular Meeting 1 March 10, 2025
SPECIAL AND REGULAR MEETING
March 10, 2025 (MONDAY)
www.cityofpacifica.org
Mayor Sue Beckmeyer called the meeting to order on March 10, 2025 at 6:00 PM 6:00 PM - CLOSED SESSION
Mayor Beckmeyer called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m., stating that all councilmembers were present, and announced that the Council would meet in Closed Session. 00a. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL—ANTICIPATED LITIGATION-Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9(d)(2)(e)(1) (One Case). 7:00 PM OPEN SESSION
Call to Order
Mayor Beckmeyer reconvened the meeting at 7:13 p.m.
Attendee Name Title Status Arrived
Sue Beckmeyer Mayor Present
Christine Boles Mayor pro Tem Present
Mary Bier Councilmember Present
Mayra Espinosa Councilmember Present
Greg Wright Councilmember Present
City Clerk Coffey took a verbal roll call.
Staff Present: Kevin Woodhouse, City Manager; Michelle Kenyon, City Attorney; Yulia Carter, Asst. City Manager; Denise Bazzano, Asst. City Attorney; Samantha Updegrave, Community Development Director; Marisol Gómez, Financial & Administrative Services Director; Scott Leslie, PB&R Director; Louis Sun, PW Interim Director; Roland Yip, PW Deputy Director (Field Services/Engineering); Daniel Patten, Wastewater Engineering Manager; Tara Schiff, Economic Development Manager; Vicente Romero, Police Captain; Sarah Coffey, City Clerk, Emily La, Dep. City Clerk.
Reading of Land Acknowledgment
Mayor Beckmeyer read the Land Acknowledgment.
City Council Regular Meeting 2 March 10, 2025
Salute to the Flag led by Councilmember Wright
Closed Session Report
City Attorney Kenyon stated there was no reportable action.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated she would like to pull Item #7.
Mayor Beckmeyer opened public comment on consent calendar and, seeing none, closed public comment.
Councilmember Bier moved to approve consent calendar, minus Item #7; seconded by Mayor pro Tem Boles.
CONSENT CALENDAR (EXCLUDING ITEM #7)
RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mary Bier, Councilmember
SECONDER: Christine Boles, Mayor pro Tem
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
1. Approval of Disbursements for 02/01/25 through 02/28/25.
PROPOSED ACTION: Receive and file the Monthly Check Register Report for the month of February 2025.
2. Approval of Minutes
PROPOSED ACTION: Move to approve the minutes for the January 27, 2025 City Council Special and Regular Meeting and the February 10, 2025 City Council Special and Regular Meeting.
3. Continuation of Proclamation of Local Emergency of the Pacifica Coastline from Westline Drive to the End of Beach Boulevard.
PROPOSED ACTION: Accept report and make a determination that conditions of local emergency continue to exist within the Pacifica Coastline from Westline Drive to the end of Beach Boulevard.
4. Quarterly Financial Reports for the quarters ending September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2024
PROPOSED ACTION: Review and accept the Quarterly Financial Reports for the quarters ending September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2024
5. Quarterly Treasurer’s Reports for the quarters ending September 30 and December 31, 2024.
PROPOSED ACTION: Review and accept the Quarterly Treasurer’s Reports for the quarters ending September 30 and December 31, 2024
6. Notice of Completion for the Anza Pump Station Repair Project PROPOSED ACTION: Move to Adopt the Resolution of the City Council of the City of City Council Regular Meeting 3 March 10, 2025
Pacifica accepting completion and directing the City Manager to file Notice of Completion for the Anza Pump Station Repair Project; and authorize the City Manager to release the retention funds to the contractor.
7. Approval of Services Agreement for Street Sweeping between the City of Pacifica and Sweeping Corporation of America
PROPOSED ACTION: Adopt a Resolution Authorizing a Services Agreement for Street Sweeping between the City of Pacifica and Sweeping Corporation of America; Establish budget authority of $200,304.00 annually ($635,000.00 for three (3) years) from Gas Tax Maintenance Fund 10; and Authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents.
Agenda Item #7 Discussion
PW Dep. Director Yip was available for questions.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked about how streets that were not swept were decided and if there is a particular schedule. She stated one issue in the commercial areas is that, if the cleaning is happening late in the day, the parking spaces get filled and the cleaners cannot clean the curbs.
City Manager Woodhouse stated this contract, to meet our budget, cuts the frequency of the program but covering the same streets and doubling in the commercial areas. He thought the schedule in the commercial areas is yet to be developed.
PW Dep. Director Yip stated the current schedule sweeps most of the city within two weeks (northern the first week, southern in the second week, and repeat for twice a month). He would have to reach out to contractors to figure out exact times. Regarding parking policies, the City currently does not have a no parking policy like other cities, as it would take enforcement from the Police Department and we do not have the resources. He stated that the change we are making is to reduce the frequency, i.e., sweeping the entire city once, but the second time we will only sweep the commercial areas (roughly around 17 miles of commercial areas). The Dept. of Industrial Relations passed a requirement for street sweeping that is required to pay prevailing wages and, because of that, the cost of the new contract has gone up significantly, almost double the price. Therefore, with the current amount of roughly $200,000, we are only able to sweep the City a little bit more than once per month. In terms of miles, in our commercial areas, it is only around two miles of street sweeping; therefore, with 17 miles, we are able to cover a good amount of commercial areas. He referred to the trash generation areas of the City and stated it would be sufficient for a lot of the commercial areas to be addressed with this reduced scope.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked what the FTC drainage area was.
PW Dep. Director Yip stated that the FTC are full trash capture devices. Street sweeping is one mechanism where trash is captured before it goes into the storm drain system and the other ways are all the drainage areas would drain into catch basins which have trash capture devices which get cleaned. We also have another project with funding from Caltrans to install a large trash capture device near Manor and Bill Drake which will cover a huge amount of area from the City and collect trash in that way as well.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked, with Manor and Bill Drake, if that is capturing trash in the storm drain.
City Council Regular Meeting 4 March 10, 2025
PW Dep. Director Yip agreed, stating installing a large trash capture device in a close to 50+ inch storm drain in a huge portion of the City, most of it in Caltrans right-of-way, which is why Caltrans gave the funds to install this trash capture device. It is a very large storm drain so there is a lot of drainage areas draining into that 50+ inch storm drain.
Councilmember Bier stated she had questions about a few streets in Vallemar and Rockaway that were a concern to our constituents, one of them was Copeland in Rockaway and the other was Angelita in Vallemar. She asked what is being done to assure that the streetsweepers or cleaners are not doing more damage to these streets that are already so damaged.
PW Dep. Director Yip stated a pavement is designed as an equivalent single axle load and it gets damaged when there is significant weight from a vehicle. Something like a sedan or SUV would be very minimal, and the street sweeper would be considered relatively minimal; what is considered very heavy are garbage trucks, school buses, or dump trucks which generate an incredible amount of weight. The street sweeper does not carry a ton of load so it will not damage the road. He stated that our resources for funding our pavement program are limited and we have a huge backlog on our repairs at this time.
Councilmember Bier asked whether it would be damaging for potholes that have just been filled.
PW Dep. Director Yip stated that it is not a huge factor in terms of damaging the pavement.
Councilmember Wright asked how the City takes into consideration schedules regarding trash pickup and street sweeping.
PW Dep. Director Yip stated he will have to look into it more closely and we can readjust it with this upcoming contract as we will be moving around some schedules, i.e. moving some of the commercial areas into the front part of the two-week schedule so they can come back on the second time around. We can adjust it for the garbage pickup as well.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked if we have any idea about when we will be working on the scheduling for that second pass through the commercial areas.
PW Dep. Director Yip stated that we are trying to make that adjustment effective almost immediately after the meeting; within the next two weeks, we should be seeing a change.
Councilmember Espinosa asked about the established budget ($200,304) and asked if another cost is added to that.
PW Dep. Director Yip answered affirmatively. He stated that after this annual contract is complete, the next one will have to get adjusted with something called a Consumer Price Index (CPI) and that is noted in their contract.
Mayor Beckmeyer opened public comments.
Tygarjas Bigstyck, Pacifica, stated he is saddened to hear there will be a slight reduction in service and suggested issuing a postcard to households with the street sweeping schedule.
Bill Meyerhoff, Pacifica, stated he is a long-time business owner in Manor District and he shared his concerns about the efficiency of this program. He emphasized that if people knew City Council Regular Meeting 5 March 10, 2025
when street sweepers were coming then everyone would be able to work together effectively.
Clif Lawrence, Pacifica, suggested putting up signs for street sweeping and asked whether the City receives complaints about the dust from the street sweeping operations and, if so, are the street sweeping services using enough water to address the dust.
Sue Digre, Pacifica, agreed with Mr. Meyerhoff’s public comments and stressed the need for sufficient street sweeping in commercial areas. She also would like to see an ongoing evaluation on whether the machines are cleaning the streets adequately, specifically regarding dust, and whether we are saving money with these contracts.
Mayor Beckmeyer closed public comments.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked how early do they start, and she asked if we can look at the schedule more carefully and work with the business owners.
PW Dep. Director Yip agreed stated that we have the street sweeping schedule posted on the website and we can show a 3-4 hour time frame of when they will be by and that we will communicate with the commercial areas.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked if there have been complaints from people in terms of dust, etc.
PW Dep. Director Yip stated he hears about when they have missed streets, but nothing about the dust.
City Manager Woodhouse added that he has heard complaints about the dust, mainly from a former councilmember, but not broadly. He stated that, in terms of enforcement, monitoring, and contractual obligations, we do track and enforce and work with all the vendors to improve.
Regarding Councilmember Bier’s comments earlier on streets that are broken up, we have evaluated one of the streets and determined that the street should not be street swept because it is not productive on the street. He stated that it is an ongoing improvement process to work with contractors on it.
Mayor Beckmeyer spoke in favor of regular communication. She is open to any creative ideas that do not cost a lot of money such as a major enforcement effort. She stated that, with the street sweeper on her street, she notices an immediate difference, but her area is not a high traffic area like commercial. She is hopeful that the two times a week begins to address it. She asked if there would be an opportunity to circle back, such as six months, so we can get a check in about any improvements or opportunities we see to carry on improvements.
Councilmember Bier added that she thought the communication piece was important, whether getting more specific times on the website or a postcard or on Connect with Pacifica.
Mayor Beckmeyer thought, once that is settled, that would be helpful.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that he wanted to be clear regarding the postcard concept if that is something Council wants to direct. He stated that the basic costs are probably between $6,000 to $10,000 to mail out the postcard. He does not think it will be that effective for clearing off streets and spoke in favor of an effort to promote digitally through all their resources.
Councilmember Bier stated that Council could go out and visit their neighborhoods.
City Council Regular Meeting 6 March 10, 2025
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that having more specific information and time ranges on each street would be helpful.
City Manager Woodhouse stated one caveat on that time frame is that the street sweepers come from out of town and is not a City program with a time window, parking enforcement, etc.
He thought, on certain streets, we can refine it within a 3-4 hours window typically and there might be days when they streetsweepers are caught in traffic and do not get a start until later, falling outside the window and resulting in complaints; that will be what it is, as it is better to have a window that is smaller than a large day to work towards that.
Mayor Beckmeyer knows that Manor area has been a trouble spot for a long time and, if much effort can be put into that one, we can see a big improvement.
Mayor pro Tem Boles moved to approve Item #7; seconded by Councilmember Bier.
AGENDA ITEM #7
RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Christine Boles, Mayor pro Tem
SECONDER: Mary Bier, Councilmember
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
8. Approval of Construction Services Agreement for Tree Maintenance services and Emergency Tree Maintenance between the City of Pacifica and Davey Tree Expert Company
PROPOSED ACTION: Adopt a Resolution Authorizing a Construction Services Agreement for Tree Maintenance Services and Emergency Tree Maintenance Services between the City of Pacifica and Davey Tree Expert Company, in the amount of $150,000 annually ($450,000 for three (3) years); and Authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents.
9. Award FY 2025-26 Sidewalk, Curbs, and ADA Ramps Improvement Project PROPOSED ACTION: Adopt the Resolution entitled "A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Pacifica Approving the Construction Contract with John Boylan Engineering, Inc. in the amount of $335,119.00; Authorize a budget authority in the amount of $435,654.70, which includes contingencies in an amount not to exceed thirty percent (30%) of the Construction Contract amounts; Authorize staff to Execute Future Change Orders not to exceed the contingency amount; and Authorize the City Manager to sign Contract Documents related to the FY 2025-26 Sidewalk, Curbs, and ADA Ramps Improvement Project.”
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ITEMS NOT ON THE POSTED AGENDA
Joaquin Jimenez, Half Moon Bay, spoke on the March 4 Special Election and the results of Measure A on the ballot and shared his concerns about the state of democracy in San Mateo County.
Haley Bouyea, Pacifica, stated she was here to address a major injustice at Sea Cliff Apartments for people with housing vouchers and spoke on the discrimination taking place in the hostile environment.
City Council Regular Meeting 7 March 10, 2025
James Bouyea, Pacifica, stated he lived at Seacliff Apartments and described issues with imposed fees, visitor parking enforcement, and threats of eviction under current management.
Natalie Hopner, Pacifica, stated she was advocating for the residents at Seacliff Apartments and shared the actions they have been taking to bring attention to the ongoing issues. She asked from City Council for methods and resources to hold management accountable for equitable housing access.
Tokuko Hirano, Pacifica, shared her concerns about signs in Pacifica and asked for certain pieces of artwork to be removed from specific City buildings.
Clif Lawrence, Pacifica, thanked City staff for upgrading and issuing a new active application spreadsheet and looked forward to the reconstruction of the map with it.
Irene Lee, Pacifica, shared her concerns about two car accidents on Manor Drive and asked for traffic mitigation measures on the street. She also provided suggestions on generating more revenue for Pacifica, such as food trucks or a farmer’s market at Manor Plaza.
Mayor Beckmeyer closed public comments.
Councilmember Espinosa asked to move Council Communications to the end of the meeting.
Councilmember Wright stated he would prefer doing them in writing in the future.
Mayor Beckmeyer suggested they agendize that for a future discussion. She then stated Council Communications will take place at the end of the meeting. She re-opened public comments.
Lisa Reed, Belmont, described her difficult living circumstances at Seacliff Apartments as well as the discrimination she faced by tenants and current management.
Amanda Kraft, Pacifica, stated she is speaking on behalf of Lisa Reed and explained that there were many victims in uninhabitable living spaces at Seacliff Apartments who were targeted for being Section 8 tenants. She also asked for recommendations for the victims to speak their testimonies before Council.
Mayor Beckmeyer closed public comments.
COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS
Councilmember Espinosa stated that, in February, she participated in a two-day leadership program for newly elected officials in San Mateo County where they focused on building strong working relationships with other elected leaders, learning about economic development and demographic changes in our county, and finding ways to foster more inclusive community. She is trying to find herself, her voice, and what character she will play in this role as she does not have experience from any political position. She attended the Pacifica Age Friendly Community Initiative Chapter of the Village of the Coastside Network and it was an excellent opportunity to learn how the program can benefit adults, 55 and older, in our community to stay connected and supported. She spoke with a church in District 1 to bring the resources to the District. She also participated in a workday on Palmetto.
City Council Regular Meeting 8 March 10, 2025
Mayor pro Tem Boles was on a panel for one of the Leadership Council events for new Councilmembers and talked about standing up for what you believe and being brave in the position you are and the power of democracy. She appreciated Roy Earnest and what he is doing with the Age-Friendly Coalition. The League of Cities dinner in Daly City was great and she had a great conversation with Debbie Ruddock, Chair of OneShoreline. She stated Mayor Beckmeyer and she went for a nice walk the day prior and discussed coastal issues and a possible design competition in our future. She met with several groups of residents that have been speaking about fire issues and trying to explain some of the opportunities where they can get involved. She asked the City Manager if he could touch base on the new fire maps. She had discussions at the Chit Chat Cafe over the weekend to update whoever came about the different things the City is working on. She wanted to start discussions about oversized vehicles in the area. She then referred to Natalie Hopner mentioning some of the Seacliff Apartments issues and trying to understand what the City’s role is.
Councilmember Wright stated he has been attending so many different committees and commissions. He stated it has been an incredible learning experience. He stated that it means a lot to him to be able to serve and give back and express back how he feels about Pacifica. He stated that there are too many things to list individually and he will leave it at that.
Councilmember Bier spoke with Congressman Sam Liccardo at Supervisor Ray Mueller’s office, as well as community members who showed up. She will be sitting on a panel with our City Manager at the City Leader’s Summit in April and will be planning the panel discussion. She had countless constituent meetings. She got to meet with AGE-WELL National Innovation Hubs and talk about their living laboratories and it will be wonderful to see how they and the AgeFriendly Coalition come together and support each other. She thanked Horace Hinshaw for the Sports Hall of Fame and thanked Greg Larson for the Strategic Planning meeting on March 1.
She met with the Mayor’s Mental Health Initiative and they will be meeting with the County and with Stanford to start to create a mental health workshops for elected officials and hopefully also appointed administrators. She stated that Commute.org came to the Pacifica Collaborative and that was great. She stated that HOPE had a town hall meeting at Pacific Coast Television about opioid overdose awareness. She also encouraged the Seacliff Apartment tenants to contact Project Sentinel, Tenants Together, Faith in Action Bay Area, Legal Aid Palo Alto, and Pacifica Housing for All and she looked forward to hearing about the tenant’s association that has created in that building.
Mayor Beckmeyer had an opportunity to participate in a Safe Routes to Schools Walk Audit.
She thought it was amazing all the ways people were coming together to get to school on time and it was very eye-opening to watch it unfold before her. She stated that the Local Government Working Group of the California Coastal Commission met on January 23 and are working on a plan to look at various adaptation opportunities and that the Coastal Commission is meeting in Santa Cruz on the following Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. She stated that the Coastal Cities Group welcomed a new member for San Diego and Del Mar area. She has heard conversation from two different bodies that made up the former Joint Articulation Committee, a gathering of one or two elected staff member from each of Jefferson High School District, Pacifica School District, City of Pacifica, and North County Water District, and now there might be interest in reconstituting that. She stated she and Councilmember Wright at the San Francisco Foundation and did an urban planning exercise where they had to design a city with parameters of housing, transportation, etc. in six hours. It was beneficial and she was glad about the timing in light of us finishing our Housing Element and where things are going in the near term in Pacifica with more housing coming.
City Council Regular Meeting 9 March 10, 2025
STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
City Manager Woodhouse mentioned the recently released fire severity zone maps. The City posted a link on the City’s website to the webpage on the North County Fire Authority website that has the maps and explains what they are about. Those maps have been released and show medium, high, and very high severity zones. He stated that the maps are posted and the obligation of cities is to do that within 30 days and they are available for people to comment on; within 120 days, the cities have to adopt the maps in an ordinance so that process is unfolding now. He will be talking with Chief Meyers about North County Fire Authority’s monthly call about fire preparedness issues and it would seem that this would be an appropriate topic for that call. On the past Friday morning, he had the opportunity with Councilmember Wright to go to San Jose for the Annual State of the Valley Presentation of Joint Venture Silicon Valley.
They annually release the index report and he recommends that index and City staff will certainly use that as they are looking at issues of housing, affordability, etc.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that we received word from Katrina Rill of some town hall type opportunities upcoming. The focus is County Department of Emergency Management talking about steps residents can take to protect themselves in their homes in terms of fire, as well as the County office of Community Affairs speaking about the uncertainty about ICE raids in our communities, and lastly in April “Be Wildfire Safe and Aware”.
PUBLIC HEARINGS - NONE.
CONSIDERATION
10. Introduction of Ordinance to Revise Section 6-5.103 - Section 6-5.105 Garbage Collections of the Pacifica Municipal Code
PROPOSED ACTION: Introduce by title only and waive further reading of an Ordinance repealing and replacing sections 6-5.103, 6-5.104, and 6-5.105 of Chapter 5, “Garbage, Collection and Recycling” within Title 6, “Sanitation and Health” relating to the size of waste containers and frequency of collection.
PW Consultant John Mullins presented the staff report.
Councilmember Wright asked if Mr. Mullins was satisfied with the current code regarding needing a lid on the garbage cans.
Mr. Mullins stated it is critical that the lids be down, particularly on windy days. He stated that we do not have any current complaints, aside from windy days.
Councilmember Wright asked if he sees a need to address that or is it sufficiently covered in the current code.
Mr. Mullins stated that the complaints are driving us to make an amendment at this point. He has only heard one complaint in the last eight months, which took place on a windy day, and the complaints are driving us to make any kind of amendment to that.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked if it is the trash behind the Manor businesses, such as the alley where the apartments are, is the issue and asked what the actual problem area is.
City Council Regular Meeting 10 March 10, 2025
Mr. Mullins stated that the trash cans in front of the businesses have been fine; it is more of the transient folks who stop there and leave garbage in the parking lot area and cleaning up the parking lot area on the frontage portion. Regarding the back, he stated that there was a history of people leaving excessive materials not related to the restaurant and that has been resolved presently. The association has also been cooperative with helping keep the fronts clean.
Mayor pro Tem Boles assumes that, at this time, we are not seeing additional trash from the apartment but more from the unhoused community that lives along there and taking the space of the restaurant and other businesses.
Mr. Mullins stated nothing currently, but in the past there has been that challenge.
Mayor pro Tem Boles added that not all the businesses are restaurants either.
Mr. Mullins agreed.
Mayor Beckmeyer opened public comments.
Kimberly Finale, Pacifica, mentioned the Recology Yard is open to the public for responsible disposal of most debris, but green waste is not accepted, and shared her concerns for green waste when living next to open space and Recology’s slow response to the issue.
Mayor Beckmeyer closed public comments.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked Mr. Mullins if there has been outreach to the businesses and restaurants in Manor Plaza in letting them know this ordinance is in the works.
Mr. Mullins stated staff are currently working with some of the business owners and will bring this particular subject to their attention.
City Manager Woodhouse emphasized one point related to this ordinance revision is that it is an action we are taking as the outcome of the civil grand jury report and it gives the City more authority to enforce more frequency or more containers but it does not change what our collaborative approach in working with businesses and Recology to ensure that the right type of service is set up for them. In the end, if there is a business owner that refuses to solve the problem, the City has this authority, but he emphasized the voluntary approach which is our normal practice.
Mayor Beckmeyer appreciated the willingness of Economic Development Manager Tara Schiff to work with staff in contacting businesses.
Councilmember Bier moved to introduce by title only and waive further reading of an Ordinance repealing and replacing Sections 6-5.103, 6-5.104 and 6-5.105 of Chapter 5, “Garbage Collection and Recycling” within Title 6, “Sanitation and Health” relating to the size of waste containers and frequency of collection; seconded by Mayor pro Tem Boles.
City Council Regular Meeting 11 March 10, 2025
AGENDA ITEM #10
RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mary Bier, Councilmember
SECONDER: Christine Boles, Mayor pro Tem
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
11. Resolution of Intention to Establish the Pacifica Tourism Marketing District PROPOSED ACTION: Adopt the resolution entitled " A Resolution Of The City Council Of The City Of Pacifica Declaring Its Intention To Establish The Pacifica Tourism Marketing District (PTMD) And Fixing The Time And Place Of A Public Meeting And A Public Hearing Thereon And Giving Notice Thereof" and set the date of March 24, 2025 for the Public Meeting and April 28, 2025, for the final Public Hearing on the formation of the '94 BID District.
Asst. City Manager Carter and Consultant Emily Brown, Civitas, presented the staff report.
Mayor pro Tem Boles assumed the BID Board consists of hotel owners and asked if that will change and what voice with the STR owners have as part of this discussion.
Consultant Brown stated that is something we can decide moving forward, as there would be an opportunity for STR representatives to join the Board and participate. She stated that, in other Districts, they tend not to participate as much, but we can extend the invitation.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked if there is some balance, such as a hotel with a certain number of units.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that presently, the BID consists of one representative from each hotel and they have an equal vote, not weighted based on the number of rooms, etc., and all hotels, not STRs. She stated that she had a question about formation of the Board. If this is moved forward to a public hearing and, if there is not a majority protest on April 28, and if Council approved it, then the new District would be formed and then Board would be established or would the existing Board continue. Another option is that it needs to become a private nonprofit organization. She does not believe the BID is a private non-profit corporation.
Consultant Brown answered affirmatively. Technically there would be two paths forward: 1) The District or City would contract with an existing non-profit organization and they would carry out the day to day tasks, run the program, provide the marketing services, etc. and they would have a governing committee which would likely be made up of the same Board members on the Board today and they could decide what the structure of that Board looks like, such as if it mirrors the structure of the existing Board or if they want to open up a seat or two for STR operators to participate; or 2) The formation a new non-profit, which has a cost associated with that, would be another path. The focus for now is informing the District and decisions on the governance could be made by the Board.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked if the estimated cost to guests was per stay or per night.
Asst. City Manager Carter agreed that it was per night.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated, if you stayed at the hotel for three nights, it would be an assessment of $1.00 per night or 0.5% or 0.75% or 1.0% assessment of the total mount for the lodging.
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Asst. City Manager Carter answered affirmatively.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked about the difference between $1.00 rate vs. 1.0% rate.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that the total assessments for the percentage rate will be slightly more but the cost to guests in hotels will be less than the cost to guests in STRs.
Mayor Beckmeyer opened public comments.
Sue Digre, Pacifica, referred to the assets the City already has, i.e. environment, history, arts, music, etc. and stated those entities should be part of the conversation to work together for revenue. She also asked for public transparency in the BID meetings.
Clif Lawrence, Pacifica, referred to mention of cost per night and asked it is not per guest and wanted clarity on if the fee is applied to entire party or each individual in the party per night. He also asked if those who will be taxed will be able to vote on this measure.
Bill Meyerhoff, Pacifica, asked if the charges are to the guests, does the City collect and manage the money, and is there a plan on including STRs.
Mayor Beckmeyer closed public comments.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked whether the fee applies to the number of people or to the charge for room occupancy.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated the charges would apply to the room in the hotel or the unit in STR and does not apply to the number of guests.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked if everyone who will be taxed will be provided opportunity to give input.
Consultant Brown responded affirmatively, adding that after this meeting, a notice will be mailed to each lodging business owner with instructions on providing protest or public testimony at the upcoming two meetings.
Mayor Beckmeyer concluded it will include the STR businesses. She asked if the City collects and manages the money or does the BID body collect and manage the money.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that, currently, the BID assessments are remitted to the City together with the TOT so the hotel collects and remits assessments to the City. The City does not charge any administrative fee at this point for managing the BID.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that the BID of $1.00 per room per night is collected by the hotels and remitted to the City when TOT payments are remitted.
Asst. City Manager Carter answered affirmatively, adding they are deposited in separate funds for the BID to use, and are not City funds.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that there is no charge from the City for the handling of those funds.
Asst. City Manager Carter agreed, adding at this point.
City Council Regular Meeting 13 March 10, 2025
Councilmember Bier stated, if a non-profit doing that, the money will go through them.
Asst. City Manager Carter agreed, hence why they assessed no more than 5% of the administrative charge.
Councilmember Bier thought it was good to see the numbers as it will be important for the BID to see the numbers. She thinks we have a good opportunity to move it from the City to a nonprofit and to the BID.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that has been the goal and intention all along, but it has been a process as we have to go through moving from 1989 to 1994 rules. She stated that there has been a lot of action in the realm of TOT and these kinds of revenues. She referenced the San Francisco Peninsula’s transition from 1989 to 1994 rules.
Consultant Brown stated that San Francisco Peninsula elected not to include STRs.
Mayor Beckmeyer added that they operate under the 1994 rules.
Consultant Brown agreed. She stated their initial term was for five years and, at the end of that term, they can reevaluate and determine the renewal parameters.
Mayor Beckmeyer added that they have the opportunity to meet and ratchet the 1.0% up or down by 0.25% annually. She asked if she is understanding those rules.
Consultant Brown does not believe they have that option written into their plan, as currently the assessment rate is 0.75%.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that Pacifica had a measure on the November 2024 ballot for increasing our TOT from 12% to 15%, and that overlapped in time with this discussion. She stated that the decision was made in January 2025 by the BID to approve the 1.0% that they had previously discussed and agreed to. She added that, in reflection of time that has passed, the approval of the TOT measure last fall, etc. one thing they were interested in was including STRs, but they were concerned about the 1.0%. She stated that the hybrid options they came up with and voted on was to change the rules to 1994 but keep the $1.00 and not make it 1.0%.
She stated that packet pages 270 and 271, under alternate action, there is an analysis of what the $1.00 per room per night would generate, which is $125,000 per year. Looking at 0.5% assessment, not 1.0% assessment, it turns out to generate $143,000 a year, thus, more funds and estimated cost to the guest is less ($0.75 cents versus $1.00). She stated that it has been an accumulation of all of these among all of the hotel nights and the STRs. This is new information and she thinks this should be discussed with the BID prior to the hearing.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that we are looking for direction from Council as to whether we want to go back to communicate this information. The alternative would be to proceed with what the BID recommended ($1.00 per night per stay) and Council can make this determination at the public hearing at the end of the process. She stated that we can communicate this information and numbers to the BID and ask them if they want to stay with the recommendations they made in January meeting or change them. There is still time to do this and bring this information back to Council.
Mayor Beckmeyer personally thinks this should be referred back to the BID for an in-person meeting. She feels they need the opportunity to understand this next piece. She asked, in the City Council Regular Meeting 14 March 10, 2025
process of sending the letter, if it would be feasible to include some printed information about the rates.
Consultant Brown agreed that we can include a cover letter or informational handout.
Councilmember Wright sees wonderful opportunities for STRs and hotels to work together for the betterment of all. He asked if there has been any possibilities of any divisions.
Consultant Brown stated we tend to see them work very well together as they have the common goal of increasing visitation and stays. She stated, especially in a small city like Pacifica, any kind of promotion or event is going to bring guests to the City and both will benefit equally.
Councilmember Wright stated, with eight hotels and 150 potential STRs, it seems that there would be a power difference in setting up a board, and there also seems to be a difference in terms of contributions with the overwhelming majority of the contributions coming from the hotels. He asked how we propose resolving that difference.
Consultant Brown thinks it is something we can discuss with the new Board in determining what the structure of the Board looks like and they can set certain parameters with a certain level of representation that could be based on how much they are paying in the assessment or based on the numbers of operators, whether STR owners or hotel owners.
Councilmember Wright asked if it is better to have them both together as opposed to having them separate since they are different business models.
Consultant Brown agreed, stating that they would be agreeing on the programs together and it would have to be one Board working together.
Mayor pro Tem Boles likes the idea of meeting with the group prior to the public hearing. She asked if that will be able to happen before March 24.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that the plan would be for staff to go back to the BID and have the meeting before and keep the schedule as it is now.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked about the calculations for the amount being projected for the STRs in light of STR numbers possibly going down.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that she agrees that the numbers will probably change when the STR ordinance goes into effect, but it is hard to project that now so we are just estimating on the number of STRs currently and the gross rent they are charging.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked if there are any other cities that charge based on number of rooms instead of a number of stays, like a hotel would have one bedroom and STRs might have 2-5.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated administratively, it will be very difficult to manage and determine that number.
Consultant Brown stated that there are none that she knows of as it applies to STRs. There are districts where they have a room count threshold for hotels, i.e. only hotels with 50 or more rooms have an assessment, but she has not heard that for STRs. She agreed with Asst. City Manager Carter that it would challenging administratively.
City Council Regular Meeting 15 March 10, 2025
City Manager Woodhouse added that, if it is the percentage model, that is built in so a 2- or 3- bedroom STR is going to be more expensive to rent than a one-bedroom STR.
Councilmember Bier thinks it is important to get the information to the BID before the public hearing. She encourages an in-person meeting.
Councilmember Bier moved to adopt the resolution entitled “A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Pacifica declaring its intention to establish the Pacifica Tourism Marketing District (PTMD)” and fixing the time and place of a public meeting and a public hearing as stated in the agenda; seconded by Councilmember Wright.
AGENDA ITEM #11
RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mary Bier, Councilmember
SECONDER: Greg Wright, Councilmember
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
Mayor Beckmeyer called a break and then reconvened the meeting.
12. Appointments to the Beautification Advisory Committee; Economic Development Committee; Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission; and Planning Commission PROPOSED ACTION: Move to appoint
A) one (1) applicant to the Beautification Advisory Committee for a full 4-year term to expire March 2029;
B) one (1) applicant to the Economic Development Committee for a partial term to expire October 2028;
C) one (1) applicant to the Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission for a partial term to expire May 2028; and
D) one (1) applicant to the Planning Commission for a full 4-year term to expire March 2029.
City Clerk Coffey presented the staff report.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that there are questions that come with the application and questions Council asks in interviews. For people who are not able to attend, if the questions for the interviews are being sent to them for written answers before, she voiced concerns about fairness due to scheduling and additional time for responses.
Councilmember Bier stated that they are sent the questions if they cannot be there, not if they do not want to be there.
Mayor pro Tem Boles understood.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that it has not happened often. She noted that night that there were many written answers to the questions.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that is something the City Clerk offers when someone is unable to City Council Regular Meeting 16 March 10, 2025
attend.
City Clerk Coffey stated that is the case and we have done that in past recruitments because it involves full Council and needs to be an open, publicly agendized meeting. Therefore, we do not have the flexibility to navigate individual schedules and, if someone has preexisting conflict with the scheduled date and time, we offer to provide the questions for written responses and provide them to Council in the packet for review.
Councilmember Wright thought it might be fairer that, if we provide the questions to one person, we should provide the questions to all persons.
Councilmember Espinosa stated she agreed, and the people interviewing should have the questions ahead of time as well to give them the same opportunity for research.
Councilmember Bier thought, when Council talks about committees and commissions, we can talk about that as that is a different conversation.
City Attorney Kenyon states she has questions she would want to look into with regard to public availability of all the answers, if that is our formal process. She does not think it is something she would want Council to decide at this time.
Mayor Beckmeyer agreed but appreciated the notion of putting it for future discussion.
Councilmember Wright spoke to how happy he was to see so many different applicants and how hard it is to make this decision and how glad he is that so many of the community showed up and wanted to serve. It makes him proud to be a Pacifican and glad that other people feel strongly about our community that they are moved to serve.
Mayor Beckmeyer reiterated what Council says at every interview: if someone is not chosen this round, she asked that they feel free to apply in the future. She stated that these committees are Brown Act compliant and the public can attend and participate, and many of the committees have subcommittees that are actively doing projects and there are many ways to engage.
City Manager Woodhouse highlighted what Councilmember Bier said; if Council is interested in revisiting the interview question process, as we go through the committee/commission review of charters, following that is administrative tasks like revisiting the Commission and Committee Handbook and that would be an appropriate time to talk about that topic and build in a section in the handbook about the interviews question process for committees and commissions.
Councilmember Wright asked if it would give Council the opportunity to talk about appointing an alternate. He stated it would be an opportunity to give another citizen an opportunity to serve in addition and make it easier to get a quorum on some of the committees.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that we can do it during that process or at the discussion about each commission or committee’s charter.
City Attorney Kenyon stated that it definitely should be part of the charter and committee annual review as there may be some commissions that would not work well with an alternate, such as the Planning Commission. She agreed it may be appropriate for some committees or commissions but not all, as it makes sense to do it on a case-by-case basis when dealing with the charter for each committee.
City Council Regular Meeting 17 March 10, 2025
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that we have been talking about revising the questions we ask in the meeting and she asked if that is something we need to wait for the handbook or is it something Council could have an ad hoc committee to review those questions.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked if we have an ad hoc committee, not specifically for the questions, but for committees and commissions.
Mayor pro Tem Boles agreed for the committees and commissions but not necessarily the questions that we ask. She thought that could be assigned to them.
City Manager Woodhouse stated, to be flexible, the ad hoc committee could take that up as a matter of refreshing interview questions. He stated that the committee is intended to shape survey questions to be asked to the different committees and commissions whose charters are coming before Council and he think it relates.
Mayor Beckmeyer opened public comments.
Clif Lawrence, Pacifica, stated the Planning Commission is one of the real strengths of the City and encouraged the City Council to appoint Marjory Davis to the Planning Commission.
Kimberly Finale, Pacifica, advocated for Cherie Chan for the PB&R Commission and Marjory Davis for the Planning Commission.
Suzanne Moore, Pacifica, shared Councilmember Wright’s gratitude for everyone who expresses interest in serving on the various commissions. She advocated for Cherie Chan for the PB&R Commission and Marjory Davis for the Planning Commission.
Mayor Beckmeyer closed public comments.
Councilmember Bier moved to appoint Linda Jonas for a full 4-year term to expire March 2029; seconded by Councilmember Wright.
APPOINTMENT TO THE BEAUTIFICATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE:
Linda Jonas (full term to expire March 2029)
RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mary Bier, Councilmember
SECONDER: Greg Wright, Councilmember
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
Mayor pro Tem Boles moved to appoint Paige Miller for a partial term to expire October 2028; seconded by Councilmember Wright.
City Council Regular Meeting 18 March 10, 2025
APPOINTMENT TO THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE:
Paige Miller (partial term to expire October 2028)
RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Christine Boles, Mayor pro Tem
SECONDER: Greg Wright, Councilmember
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
Councilmember Espinosa appreciated Michael Watkins from District 1 applying to the PB&R Commission and spoke in support of appointing him.
Councilmember Bier thought, based on the interviews, she would support Cherie Chan.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thought it may be helpful to know district representation across the committees and commissions.
There was Council consensus to appoint Cherie Chan.
Councilmember Bier moved to appoint Cherie Chan to the Parks, Beaches & Recreation Commission for a partial term to expire May 2028; seconded by Mayor pro Tem Boles.
APPOINTMENT TO THE PARKS, BEACHES & RECREATION COMMISSION:
Cherie Chan (partial term to expire May 2028)
RESULT: ADOPTED [4-1]
MOVER: Mary Bier, Councilmember
SECONDER: Christine Boles, Mayor pro Tem
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Wright
NOES: Espinosa
Councilmember Wright moved to appoint Marj Davis to the Planning Commission for a full 4- year term to expire March 2029; seconded by Councilmember Espinosa.
APPOINTMENT TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION:
Marj Davis (full 4-year term to expire March 2029)
RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Greg Wright, Councilmember
SECONDER: Mayra Espinosa, Councilmember
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
ADJOURN
Mayor Beckmeyer stated she would like to adjourn tonight’s meeting in memory and honor of Tony Corten, who was the principal of Ocean Shore School. Many people, including herself, worked with him for years at the School District. She realized how kind he was and how much care he poured into the students at four different schools. He was a teacher at Ortega K-5 School for 11 years before becoming an administrator and moving to Sunset Ridge School as Vice Principal. The students and families of IBL Middle School clearly were touched by him and last year he was the principal of Ocean Shore School. They grieve and ache with his wife, Kelly City Council Regular Meeting 19 March 10, 2025
Corten, who is a wonderful business owner in town at the Royal Bee. She wanted to acknowledge him and his loving mark on the city of Pacifica and its citizens.
Mayor Beckmeyer adjourned the meeting at 10:27 p.m. in honor of Tony Corten.
Transcribed by Barbara Medina, Public Meeting Stenographer.
Respectfully Submitted,
Sarah Coffey, City Clerk
APPROVED: 5 - 0; 4/14/2025
__________________________
Sue Beckmeyer, Mayor