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 June 09, 2025
SPECIAL and REGULAR MEETING
June 09, 2025 (MONDAY)
www.cityofpacifica.org
Mayor Sue Beckmeyer called the meeting to order on June 9, 2025 at 5:30 PM 5:30 PM - CLOSED SESSION
Mayor Beckmeyer called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
A. CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS - Government Code section 54957.6 - Agency designated representatives: Mark Wilson, Allison Hernandez of Burke, Williams, and Sorenson; Employee organizations: Fire Battalion Chiefs, IAFF Local 2400; Fire Fighters, IAFF Local 2400; Management Unit, Teamsters Local 350 ; Miscellaneous Employee, Teamster Local 856; Pacifica Police Officers Association; Police Mgmt. & Police Supervisors; Wastewater Treatment Plant Teamsters Local 856.
7:00 PM OPEN SESSION
Call to Order
Mayor Beckmeyer reconvened the meeting at 7:03 p.m. for the Regular Meeting.
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; Samantha Updegrave, Community Development Director; Maria Sarasua, Police Chief; Melissa Tigbao, PW Director; Scott Leslie, PB&R Director; Marisol Gómez, Finance & Admin. Services Director; Louis Sun, PW Dep. Director-Wastewater Div.; Roland Yip, PW Dep. Director-Works/Engineering; Bill Amable, Dep. Fire Chief; Joel Abelson, Dep. Fire Chief; Stephanie Coy, Financial Analyst; Sarah Coffey, City Clerk; Emily La, Dep. City Clerk.
City Council Regular Meeting 2 June 09, 2025
Reading of Land Acknowledgment
Mayor Beckmeyer read the Land Acknowledgment.
Salute to the Flag led by Mayor pro Tem Boles
Closed Session Report
City Attorney Kenyon stated that there was one reportable action. In light of the risks posed by the executive orders issued by the U.S. Administration, the City Council has voted to initiate litigation alongside jurisdictions such as the City and County of San Francisco, Santa Clara County, and numerous other agencies across the country. This legal effort seeks to prevent the federal government from penalizing sanctuary jurisdictions by withholding lawfully appropriated funds.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that she and Mayor pro Tem Boles will be recusing themselves from the vote for Item #6 due to a conflict of interest as they own real property within or near the Fire Hazard Safety Zones being considered but may remain in the room and on the dais so long as the matter is not contested. She asked if any councilmembers wish to pull items from consent.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked to pull Item #4.
There were no public comments.
Mayor pro Tem Boles had one question on Item 2 (Minutes), packet page 32. Regarding the RCD presentation she wanted to clarify that staff had direction that at least three Councilmembers wanted to come back with a presentation from RCD, as the draft minutes state that Mayor Beckmeyer agreed, but Mayor pro Tem Boles thought that Councilmember Bier nodded approval, also.
Councilmember Bier moved to approve the consent calendar with Item #2 as amended and excluding Item #4; seconded by Councilmember Wright.
City Clerk Coffey stated that the vote passes unanimously 5-0 for the Consent Calendar (Agenda Items #1, #2 as amended, #3, and #5). For Item #6, Mayor Beckmeyer and Mayor pro Tem Boles were recused, and the vote for Item #6 is 3-0.
CONSENT CALENDAR (AGENDA ITEMS #1, #2 AS AMENDED, #3, AND #5) RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Mary Bier, Councilmember
SECONDER: Greg Wright, Councilmember
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
City Council Regular Meeting 3 June 09, 2025
CONSENT CALENDAR (AGENDA ITEM #6)
RESULT: ADOPTED [3-0]
MOVER: Mary Bier, Councilmember
SECONDER: Greg Wright, Councilmember
AYES: Bier, Espinosa, Wright
RECUSED: Beckmeyer, Boles
1. Approval of Disbursements for 05/01/25 through 05/31/25 PROPOSED ACTION: Approval of Disbursements for 05/01/25 through 05/31/25
2. Approval of Minutes
PROPOSED ACTION: Move to approve the minutes for the May 12, 2025 City Council 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. Cancellation of July 28, 2025 City Council Meeting
PROPOSED ACTION: Move to approve cancellation of the July 28, 2025 regular City Council meeting.
AGENDA ITEM #4 DISCUSSION
City Manager Woodhouse stated there is an alternative depending on whether Council is interested in cancelling the first meeting of August also.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated upcoming on the agenda are short-term rentals and the Housing Element. She wanted more clarity, if cancelling a meeting, on what the potential repercussions might be. She was not sure cancelling two meetings was an option.
City Manager Woodhouse brought some items for consideration regarding how other cities handle their summer recess and how busy and productive Council has been with significant items. Based on the survey in the staff report, some take meetings off consecutively, some one a month during the summer, and other cities only one meeting off. There are a few cities that only have one meeting per month that do not take summer recess. He stated that months ago the idea came up whether Council wants to consider a second meeting break during the summer and in the intervening time the agenda workload has gotten busy with numerous important items. Council would need to consider that impact as mentioned by Mayor pro Tem Boles. He stated if taking off both of those meetings, it could create unnecessary delay. Those are some factors involved in Council’s deliberation. He stated one alternative would be, if Council thought it was a great idea but not this year, to consider or plan on it for next year.
They can also make that decision later next year.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked when the STR ordinance and Housing Element might be coming to Council with or without these breaks.
City Council Regular Meeting 4 June 09, 2025
City Manager Woodhouse stated that we are planning on the STR ordinance coming back to Council on the July 14 meeting. The Housing Element is undetermined as it is going back to the Planning Commission at the beginning of July; thus, the earliest the Housing Element could come to Council is the first August meeting or the second meeting in August if the first meeting is cancelled. They also have the final adoption of the Climate Action and Resiliency Plan that might be as early as June 23 or July 14.
There were no public comments.
Councilmember Wright stated that he would not want to set a permanent precedent of only the August break and precluding people who work in schools from spending time with their family if they wanted to additionally serve with Council.
Councilmember Bier did not think Council needs to take an August meeting date off.
Councilmember Espinosa thought, if we will schedule other meetings, she needs a break.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated she is okay taking off July 28 and that any urgent needs could have a quick meeting scheduled by the end of July. She is okay taking off one meeting but not two.
City Manager Woodhouse stated we are comfortable with the second reading adoption of the STR ordinance occurring the first meeting of August and having time for that implementation outside of the coastal zone during the October permit renewal.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that taking this meeting is a break for councilmembers but also a break for staff. She thought Council were giving staff more time to spend with their family and City Manager Woodhouse told her that they do not take vacation, but instead do not prepare for the Council meeting and not have this additional work on their work plate. She concluded that July 28 is fine but she also is acknowledging impacts to staff as well as on Councilmembers.
Councilmember Wright moved to approve cancellation of the July 28, 2025 regular City Council meeting; seconded by Mayor pro Tem Boles.
AGENDA ITEM #4
RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Greg Wright, Councilmember
SECONDER: Christine Boles, Mayor pro Tem
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
5. Seventh Amendment to Consultant Services Agreement for On-Call Planning and Related Services Between the City of Pacifica and M-Group PROPOSED ACTION: Move to adopt the attached resolution to approve the Seventh Amendment to the Agreement for Consultant Services between the City of Pacifica and M-Group to increase the cost ceiling by $175,000, for a total amount of $1,250,000, and to extend the term of the Agreement to December 31, 2025, and authorize the City Manager to execute the amendment.
6. Adoption of Ordinance to adopt Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) for the Local Responsibility Area (LRA) Map for the City of Pacifica
City Council Regular Meeting 5 June 09, 2025
PROPOSED ACTION: Move to waive the second reading and adopt by title only, “An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Pacifica Adding a New Article 3, “Fire Hazard Severity Zones” within Chapter 3, “Fire Protection” to Title 4, “Public Safety” of the Pacifica Municipal Code to Adopt the City of Pacifica Fire Hazard Severity Zones Map”; and finding the ordinance exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3).
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ITEMS NOT ON THE POSTED AGENDA
Larisa Vaserman, San Mateo, stated that she has deep ties to Pacifica as a member of the Pacifica Art Guild and Sanchez Art Center is her home away from home. She shared her personal history with art in Pacifica and her concerns about the Art Center’s future in the Housing Element.
Reannah Karstedt, Pacifica, stated she is present on behalf of the Fog Fest Organizing Group and shared information on events and reservations leading up to Fog Fest on September 27-28.
Leiana Hren, Pacifica, stated she was representing Sharp Park residents to address the RV situation on Paloma Avenue. She shared concerns about residential use compliance, impact on homeowners, quality of life, and health and safety.
Joyce Toomey, Pacifica, shared concerns regarding the RV situation on Paloma Avenue, including the RVs’ proximity to schools, the businesses being run out of the RVs, health and safety, and the conduct of the RV occupants. She urged Council to remove Paloma Avenue from the list of streets permitted for oversized vehicle parking.
Albert Romero, Pacifica, shared concerns regarding the RV situation on Paloma Avenue, including the RVs’ occupation of the street, the RV occupants’ background and conduct, the RVs’ proximity to schools, and health and safety. He urged Council to address this issue.
Paul Lavorini, Pacifica, stated he is a former City employee and shared concerns regarding the RV situation on Paloma Avenue, including the RV occupants’ conduct, the mistrust between the community and the Police Department, and health and safety.
Anthony Azzaro, Pacifica, shared concerns regarding the RV situation on Paloma Avenue, including the RV occupants’ background and conduct, the RVs’ obstruction of traffic, the RVs’ proximity to schools, and health and safety.
Ava Nuevo, Pacifica, shared concerns regarding the RV situation on Paloma Avenue, including the RVs’ obstruction of traffic, the RVs’ proximity to schools, the RV occupants’ conduct, and health and safety.
Cindy Abbott, Pacifica, stated she is speaking as the Executive Director of Sanchez Art Center and shared her thoughts on the Center’s contribution to the City with events and asked that it be removed from the Housing Element.
Lyla Reinero, Pacifica, shared her concerns about the City’s RHNA numbers, the ability for the City to deal with emergencies, as well as the numerous STRs. She also opposed the practice of developers providing in-lieu payments to avoid building below market rate housing.
City Council Regular Meeting 6 June 09, 2025
Robine Runneals, Pacifica, stated she was part of the Fog Fest Organizing Group and she shared its contribution to Pacifica and process for everyone being involved and all available activities on that day.
Kendra Langer, Broadmoor Village, stated that she volunteers in Pacifica and attends our events, and shared her concerns regarding the Mildred Owen Concert Hall and Sanchez Art Center’s future with the Housing Element.
Dinah Verby, Pacifica, referred to the Notice of Violation sent to the developer of 801 Fassler townhomes and opposed the practice of developers providing in-lieu payments to avoid building below market rate housing.
Helena Pachuluk, Pacifica, shared concerns regarding the RV situation on Paloma Avenue, including the RVs’ occupation of the street, the RVs’ proximity to schools, and health and safety.
Clifford Lawrence, Pacifica, opposed the practice of developers providing in-lieu payments to avoid building below market rate housing.
COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS
Councilmember Wright shared that there are numerous committees, commissions, and ad-hoc subcommittees that Council participates in and hopes the public knows how much time goes into their job.
Councilmember Espinosa stated it has been six months since she and Councilmember Wright were elected to Council and it feels like four years. She stated that they are learning a lot, adding that it is a big commitment and challenge for her. She wanted the public to see what they do and that it is difficult to make decisions. They care for all the issues of the community and she thanked all Council for their help. She thinks it is a great Council, and they are all different but all bring something to the community.
Mayor pro Tem Boles recalled that, when she hit her six months, she thought it was overwhelming. She knows there is more work they want to accomplish and cannot always do what they wish they could do for everyone in the community because of laws and constraints.
She stated that the Airport Roundtable is looking at an expansion due to lack of outreach about their EIR and impact. She stated that this group is working to lower airport noise impacts in communities and it has been bad in the north end of town. She stated that, if you have a complaint, it is important to log it in at stop.jetnoise.net. She has been having a few meetings with OneShoreline Director Len Materman, Mayor Beckmeyer, and City Manager Woodhouse about getting them involved in certain projects in Pacifica. They are looking to talk about a few things that are already identified in our Capital Improvement Projects. She and Mayor Beckmeyer were on a call with the Coastal Conservancy about grants last week; the federal government is not giving us anything and has taken $50 million away for the sea wall we were applying for, but the voters of California approved a $10 million bond for climate projects. She congratulated Councilmember Bier on her San Mateo Leadership County graduation which was a great group building partnerships among public officials, nonprofits, and businesses across San Mateo County.
Councilmember Bier thanked Mayor pro Tem Boles for being there and encouraging her to participate in the San Mateo County Leadership Council and she thanked Pacifica for providing her the opportunity. She thanked everyone who showed up at Pride, as well as the Pride City Council Regular Meeting 7 June 09, 2025
planning team, especially Lauren Smith and everyone who took so much time out to plan a great event. She gave a shout-out to Cathy Alderson, the principal at Ingrid B. Lacy school, as they could not have done it without her. She stated that there have been three recent executive orders by the federal government that have raised significant concerns for the safety and financial well-being of Pacifica due to their threat of withholding federal funds from jurisdictions deemed sanctuary jurisdictions. In 2017, Pacifica adopted an ordinance affirming its status as a Sanctuary City and it prohibits the use of local resources and personnel to carry out federal civil immigration enforcement and is consistent with Senate Bill 54 which restricts the involvement of state and local agencies in federal immigration enforcement efforts. These orders place an immediate risk of approximately $12.9 million in federal funding that has been awarded or pledged to the City for essential services, including public safety, infrastructure, disaster relief, and community planning. This includes funding for programs that serve our most vulnerable population, such as senior transportation, Meals on Wheels, and childcare support. These executive orders could also jeopardize future funding causing immediate and irreparable harm to critical local programs and safety operations. In light of these risks posed by these executive orders, Council has voted to join litigation alongside jurisdictions such as the City and County of San Francisco, Santa Clara County, and numerous others across the county; legal efforts seek to prevent the federal government from penalizing sanctuary jurisdictions by withholding lawfully appropriated funds.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that there was a report of a child being harmed at the beach by stepping on a hot rock which came from a fire, which are illegal at Linda Mar Beach. She wanted to alert them to that issue and let people know that staff is talking about it. She referred to all the people from Paloma and stated that we hear them and understand the issues. She is actively working with staff on this issue.
STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
City Manager Woodhouse gave a shout-out to the PW team for two recent awards that were received by the American Public Works Association, Silicon Valley Chapter: Awards of Excellence for the Anza Pump Station Repair Project, which falls into the Disaster or Emergency Repair category, and for the Civic Center project, which falls into the Historical Restoration Preservation Project. Both were very large projects that the City endeavored recently and took many years on both of them and they were recognized by the Silicon Valley Chapter of APWA.
Mayor Beckmeyer thanked PW for all their efforts in keeping our City functioning, which is a constant challenge for them. She called a short break and then reconvened the meeting.
PUBLIC HEARINGS - NONE.
CONSIDERATION
7. Fiscal Year 2025-26 Recommended Budget Program Options PROPOSED ACTION: Review and discuss the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Proposed General Fund and Other Funds Budget and provide additional policy direction on the desired budget options and strategies for the upcoming budget.
City Manager Woodhouse, Asst. City Manager Carter, and Finance & Administrative Services Director Gómez presented the staff report.
City Council Regular Meeting 8 June 09, 2025
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked if staff can go over the calculations of expenditures from the Housing Action Fund, as packet page 77 shows $1 million.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that the budget forms go into specific details and impact on each individual fund. In the staff report, staff separated General Fund and other funds.
Finance & Administrative Services Director Gómez stated that packet page 92 is the portion of the housing activity that has to do with Economic Development reorganization, which has a portion taken from the General Fund and a portion from the Housing Action Fund. She stated packet page 92 shows more of that breakdown.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that is for the staff person and thought there was an error in the calculation of 60% Housing Action Fund and 40% General Fund in the job description.
Asst. City Manager Carter agreed that the description had an error, but the amounts are correct.
She stated that the $72,000 represents the 40% from the General Fund and $108,000 represents the 60% from the Housing Action Fund.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated it is 60% for the Economic Development staff people for both and asked what is the total.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated the total is $246,000 roughly.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that is $246,000 for one year but the staff report also says that we might need this the second year.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated the limited-term Economic and Housing Development Specialist is funded only for one year, and the new Economic and Housing Development Manager is recommended for two years’ allocation to Housing Action Fund with reevaluation at that point. Staff recognizes that it is not a sustainable source of revenues, hence why the form has the discussion. In two years, we hope to make significant progress on the revenue.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked if it is taking out of the total of the balance of the Housing Action Fund at this point.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated one year is included in their recommendations.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that is what she is trying to clarify. She stated it is $246,000 and then she has $150,000 for the master planning of public sites and another $100,000 for the oncall planning services, totaling about $500,000. However, what she saw was about $1 million being taken out. She wanted to clarify if there is something else she is missing.
Finance & Administrative Services Director Gómez stated that those are program requests in addition to the base budget. The Housing Action Fund had a base budget with ongoing costs already attributed to that fund, including $50,000 in part-time salaries for the Community Development Department CivicSpark fellow built into the base budget. She added built into the base budget are contractual services for $431,000 based on the current year of activity for the Housing Action Fund.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that Council approved money for the PRC for the Temporary Safe Parking Program and asked if that is out of that $1 million also or part of last year’s. She stated City Council Regular Meeting 9 June 09, 2025
on packet page 106 that she found the $998,000 coming from the Housing Action Fund for this year proposed.
City Manager Woodhouse believes the PRC payment for the Temporary Safe Parking Program of approximately $400,000 is out of the Housing Action Fund to be paid this year and that is part of that balance reflected.
Mayor pro Tem Boles was also looking for the definition of the funds and what the money was supposed to be used for.
City Manager Woodhouse stated he can answer that generally. Council created the Housing Action Fund to be spent on activities related to developing housing in Pacifica; this was a strategy as housing was a primary priority in the Strategic Plan, where we used to take all of the excess ERAF money and fund the Disaster Accounting Fund, etc. The strategy recommended was to split that and have the other Housing Action Fund completely a discretionary fund with no strings tied to it other than what Council wants to prioritize. The general direction is that it needs to support the development of housing in Pacifica. Therefore, all the recommendations for using that money in this year’s budget directly relates to housing.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thinks the Council priority is affordable housing, not just housing, and what she found in the budget book was recommendation to create a new Housing Action Fund to develop affordable housing programs. She stated that there is a distinction there.
City Manager Woodhouse thanked her for that clarification. He stated it was mostly focused on affordable housing, and all the Housing Element implementation actions and programs would mostly relate to affordable housing.
Mayor pro Tem Boles appreciated staff saying this is a barebones year and we have budget challenges. Her concern is whether next year will be any better or are we facing these challenges in the next few years until we develop some new income strategies that will take time to do. She stated that it applies to taking money out of pensions and things that we do long term because we do not have the funds.
City Manager Woodhouse agreed, adding that there are many aspects of budgeting that are very difficult to predict from year to year. It is hard to say how sales tax will be performing a year from now; now, it is down in Pacifica and down across the State generally, and perhaps that will change. He stated that there could be other revenue source changes and there could be increased assessed evaluation of homes that come onto the market where property tax revenues are going to increase. He generally anticipates financial struggles for Pacifica for many years to come until more development and redevelopment occurs in Pacifica which will also drive more sales tax revenue for the City. Later in the summer when Council holds a revenue generation study session, there may be discussion of a new tax measure in the future in Pacifica to help sustain us, development fee studies for when things are built in Pacifica, etc.
He stated that there are many mechanisms there that are difficult to predict 12 months from now as to where we will be at, and he thinks we will still be struggling and have a challenge but it may not be to this degree.
Councilmember Espinosa asked what other plans we have other than relying on property taxes.
City Manager Woodhouse stated the City is doing a significant amount of initiatives related to revenue generation, such as marketing and sale of property for development for hotels. He City Council Regular Meeting 10 June 09, 2025
stated that there are economic opportunity study efforts underway in this budget as well as funding for the consultant expertise to look at tax increment financing districts, which is a longer term mechanism to increase revenue for the City. He stated that the City is doing everything possible, including regular economic development activities for sales tax generation, and those efforts need to continue. He stated Council budget strategy no. 3 is focused on those tasks that are trying to build revenue for the City into the future.
Councilmember Espinosa asked if we are following through on the studies.
City Manager Woodhouse stated our intention is to do studies and follow through.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked about delaying some expenses related to fire equipment fund allocation as one possible source of funding for Council priorities. She stated that the turnout uniforms and turnout gear are due for replacement with expiration date due for replacement in 2027-2028. She asked if we have been putting money in a fund up to this point allocating funding for that.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that this current allocation of $125,000 is already in the budget, so the fund balance for the fund is about $330,000 currently.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked if we know what we are going to need for that request. She asked what the impact would be of alternative funding strategies for Council consideration, with relation to the self-contained breathing apparatus replacements in six years. She assumed these allocations were planned out on a straight-line basis, i.e. here is how much we need to set aside every year to have the money.
Finance & Administrative Services Director Gómez stated that we have projected with CBAs there are about 22 units that will need to be replaced and they are purchased all at once; that will be a cost of upwards of $300,000. Staff are working with North County Fire Authority who want to start planning for that purchase, and that is why Pacifica has created the fund in order to put aside funding. She stated that the turnout is a smaller cost but it is still a cost of about $150,000 as of today’s date; as time goes on, those costs increase as inflationary increases happen. Those are the two now that we are planning for. She stated there is $207,000 in the fund now with the current proposed allocation of $125,000 to make it $332,000 for FY 2025-26.
City Manager Woodhouse added, regarding replacement of this equipment, in previous years we were able to apply some grant funding towards those, and it might be a future possibility.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked if there was any knowledge about purchasing in bulk, like with other departments in the county.
Dep. Fire Chief Abelson stated that NCFA always looks at those types of strategies. He stated that they are on a five-year replacement plan so it can be hard to consolidate with other departments. There are grants that they apply for but until they get to that fiscal year, they do not know. He stated they have to replace their life safety equipment, hence why they put the funding request in ahead of time.
Councilmember Wright asked if it is true there are known carcinogens in their current turnouts.
Dep. Fire Chief Abelson thinks there are studies out there questioning that.
City Council Regular Meeting 11 June 09, 2025
Councilmember Wright stated it is his understanding it is true and it is a risk to the firefighters.
Dep. Fire Chief Abelson thinks that is a concern and that is something they need to research.
Councilmember Wright thought it was unthinkable that we are not giving the proper equipment for firefighters to go into burning buildings and save people.
Dep. Fire Chief Abelson thinks that will be a consideration when they purchase the next group and that can impact cost too. He stated that they do not know what the new set of technology is going to cost and they are trying to do their best to keep ahead of it.
Mayor pro Tem Boles knows we have been paying into a fund for a new fire engine that we need to save for, and she thinks staff stated that was included in the debt service fund. She asked how much we are putting into that, what the fund balance is, and when do we need the fire truck.
Finance & Administrative Services Director Gómez stated it is for the one we are receiving in the next fiscal year and the first payment is starting July 1.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated we typically include all debt service payments in the base budget; we have a debt service schedule, so we usually follow the schedule on the payments that are due and included.
Finance & Administrative Services Director Gómez stated int the first year it will be $125,000, with the first year being Fiscal Year 2025-26.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thought we put money in last year.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that we did but we did not know exactly at the budget adoption time how the financing will work.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that we will be paying it for some time after the vehicle has arrived.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that the debt service will start this fiscal year and the vehicle will arrive the following year.
Councilmember Bier asked if we take $25,000 from the OPEB trust contribution for Fog Fest, what would the impact be there.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated she was not prepared to say the exact impact in the unfunded liability. Typically, the way it works, every time we contribute towards the OPEB (Other Past Employment Benefits trust), assets of the fund count against the unfunded liability. When we close the books this fiscal year, we will count and take credit for all the contributions toward the unfunded liability plus the normal costs, and it is usually determined by actuaries through actuarial evaluations which are required. She stated there will be an impact in the unfunded but, at the same time, it is City funds, so it is Council’s decision of what priorities they want to allocate it to.
Mayor Beckmeyer opened public comments.
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John Beckmeyer, Pacifica, spoke as the President for the Fog Festival and mentioned that they almost lost Fog Fest last year due to financial issues and huge departure of board members and community groups. He shared what they did to make a difference to their success going forward and emphasized the donation by the City was a big part of that.
Bryan Reinero, Pacifica, asked Council to increase STR permit fees to cover the cost of STR inspections instead of taking it from City funds and questioned the need for $75,000 in STR enforcement. He also raised concerns about the Economic Development Division’s reorganization and the focus on housing development as a revenue source.
Cindy Abbott, Pacifica, agreed with Mr. Reinero about the Economic Development Division’s reorganization, the focus on housing development as a revenue source, and the need for $75,000 in STR enforcement. She asked Council to find ways to reduce expenses relating to the Housing Element and Sanchez Art Center and to prioritize adaptation and resilience.
Kimberly Finale, Pacifica, shared her concerns about Pacifica’s financial stability, especially the focus on housing development as a revenue source. She stated Pacifica was intended to be built as a bedroom community and that we have third dirtiest beach in the State and emphasized focusing on that before more development.
Clifford Lawrence, Pacifica, shared his concerns about potential reversal of funds at the federal or state level. He emphasized moving away from contractors and more towards hiring in-house staff, raised concerns about the reduction in the Housing Action Fund, and asked about the $50,000 for library outreach.
Mayor Beckmeyer closed public comments.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked if we are going into the CIP later after talking about the budget.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated Council discussed the CIP new projects and additional funding requests in the last session and we included the CIP budget book for review.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that Council did not get all the individual forms about the different projects before and she felt there was a lot of new information in here.
Asst. City Attorney Carter stated that is part of the budget.
Mayor Beckmeyer mentioned Mayor pro Tem Boles had asked previously that our developer fees were low based on her work in other communities. She asked if that is accurate.
Mayor pro Tem Boles added our local drainage fees have not been updated in 25 years and that is part of the reason we have no money for these projects because we have not been charging enough for a long time. She stated the fees for capital improvements have also not charged enough. She stated that she is concerned when looking at the CIP that we are pushing things down the road and we may not have funding in the future either. She thinks that is critical but it is only money coming from new development projects. For the ones that are coming in, we make sure that they are paying their fair share as we are going to have to improve parks and roads with new people coming in. The other question that comes with that is whether they are paying enough just to tie in or paying enough for the long-term deferred maintenance.
City Council Regular Meeting 13 June 09, 2025
Mayor Beckmeyer stated, seeing it as part of this budget proposal, it sounds that she agrees that it is a good allocation of funds.
Mayor pro Tem Boles agreed.
Councilmember Wright asked about the efficiencies we might gain with the HR training program.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that it is on the unfunded list currently and the proposal is to essentially revamp the performance management and evaluation system. She stated that we do have a performance evaluation and management system in place, but it is outdated and not consistent with all departments. The intent behind this request was to revamp it citywide and make it more cohesive.
Councilmember Wright knows we have a large structural deficit and asked City Manager how many staff members are we short from a city of our size on average.
City Manager Woodhouse stated, from the study done last year as part of budget development for the current fiscal year, the estimate was 30 to 40, compared to the average of comparable jurisdictions in our area.
Councilmember Wright asked regarding competing salaries if staff are 13% underpaid.
City Manager Woodhouse stated it can range from 5% below median to 30% below median.
Councilmember Wright asked if it was safe to say that staff are having to go to extraordinary measures to balance the budget.
City Manager Woodhouse stated this is one of the more difficult years in the eight budgets he has done for Pacifica.
Councilmember Wright asked if part of our consideration is that we are thinking about not putting in quite as much towards pension obligations.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that is one of the balancing strategies staff are recommending.
There are two vehicles we use for those trusts and, as mentioned, funding the OPEB relates directly more to our annual comprehensive financial statement and not liabilities.
Councilmember Wright asked if we are asking fewer employees to do more work for less money and not funding their pensions in order to try to balance the budget.
City Manager Woodhouse stated we are funding pensions but this is the long-term liability, and the unfunded liability is a necessary financing accounting tool that cities have to acknowledge.
Councilmember Wright asked how many units are we mandated to build by the State and what is the consequence to not doing that.
City Manager Woodhouse stated our regional housing needs allocation is around 1,882 in the Housing Element and we have to identify how those can be built. The City does not have to build them, but we have to identify that in the Housing Element and work towards that.
Councilmember Wright asked how much annual renewable revenue that would represent.
City Council Regular Meeting 14 June 09, 2025
City Manager Woodhouse stated a general calculation in terms of the assessed evaluation increase of building new housing and property tax share that the City gets would be $3.5 million annual property tax revenue per year, if those units were built, and that is factoring in an average cost and evaluation of those houses. He added this is a data point, and we are working towards analysis and information for the summer time study session on revenues.
Councilmember Wright asked what the State will do if we do not follow their mandate and what has happened in the past in other cities that have not met previous RHNA goals.
City Attorney Kenyon knows the Governor’s Attorney General has made it clear that, for cities that are not meeting their housing accountability goals and their RHNA numbers, they will begin enforcement action and it will start with the Housing and Community Development (HCD). HCD will begin their own administrative enforcement and, if not successful, the AG may file suits against cities that are not addressing their RHNA obligations. There are also fines and penalties that they can impose.
Councilmember Wright asked if they can take away local control over building activities.
City Attorney Kenyon stated that they can and, in extreme circumstances, if the city were to litigate it and eventually not prevail, as an extreme remedy the court could eliminate any local land use control from the cities and it would be overtaken by the State.
Councilmember Wright asked what percentage of our revenue stream comes from property taxes.
City Manager Woodhouse believed it is around 35%.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that includes commercial property also.
Councilmember Wright understood and thought it was more than that.
City Manager Woodhouse agreed that it is the largest revenue category for Pacifica.
Finance & Administrative Services Director Gómez stated it is projected at 33% for FY 2025-26.
Councilmember Wright is looking forward to entertaining that discussion in August about additional revenue generation.
Councilmember Bier asked if the summer study session would include an overview of the Economic Opportunity Study.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that it has not been scoped out yet but many of the recommendations in the Economic Opportunity Study directly relate to revenue generation and we can touch on what those actions are and that we are following through on them.
Councilmember Espinosa would like to see some diversification. She stated that we have to start somewhere. She stated she is visiting businesses and a lot of them are suffering. She stated that we need to figure out how to help them because property taxes increase only a certain amount every year, but a business, if working properly, can generate more than that.
She thinks we need to focus on other sources of revenue.
City Council Regular Meeting 15 June 09, 2025
City Clerk Coffey stated she is doing a time check. It is 10:00 and Council may want to consider extending beyond 11:00 p.m.
Mayor Beckmeyer recognized that we have a deadline of June 30 to approve a budget; it is a two-step process, at this meeting, and in two weeks, June 23. If we do not conclude the work now, then an additional meeting will need to be scheduled to meet that second step, which would need to occur before June 30.
City Manager Woodhouse stated the goal is to get all the input from Council at this meeting on the budget and the CIP so staff can package up the final recommended budget for adoption on June 23 and all the other related documents that go with that.
Councilmember Espinosa asked Council if they can do all of that at this meeting.
Councilmember Wright thought we had to and appreciated starting this earlier next year.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thought Council can finish today.
City Attorney Kenyon stated the discussion is to decide if Council can finish it by 11:00 pm.
She stated that protocol requires at 10:00 pm to have this discussion. It does not mean that Council has to vote on it at this point.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that, when we get to 11:00 pm, Council has to make that motion.
City Attorney Kenyon agreed Council makes that motion at 11:00 pm if they need to continue it.
Mayor pro Tem Boles was worried about taking $1 million out of the Housing Action Fund, which is for affordable housing, the hardest housing to build. That is her understanding of our goal when we set up that fund. She stated that there is $100,000 for on-call planning services for housing implementation, which should not be from the Housing Action Fund. She stated lowincome and very low-income housing are extremely hard to build and, without the City helping with some of that financially, we will not get there and HCD may step in. She stated that we have interested nonprofit developers that we need to be investing in to try to move these projects forward so we can start to build these very low-income and low-income housing units.
Councilmember Bier asked if she has a suggestion on another fund for the money.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated she was speaking generally at this time and could go line by line.
The Economic Development Division reorganization was low on the funding priorities so maybe it is not a necessary position. We have someone from HEART, a two-year PBF fellow, and a CivicWell fellow, so we have brought in other housing resources that are helping with their ongoing work. She would like to see us look carefully at that money, as paying 60% of Economic and Housing Development staff salary from the Housing Action Fund bothers her.
She stated it is one thing for a marketing and economic development person who is talking to developers and trying to bring projects in, but Economic Development has more than housing.
She had asked that question when we had the Economic Opportunity Study, as housing costs a lot in services. With the money on property tax that we might make, we will have to pay more police, fire, roads, park and rec., etc. She stated based on data she has been given from someone in the field, with residential, for every dollar you spend, it costs $1.16. It concerns her that we are putting the few resources we have into Economic Development for housing. She is City Council Regular Meeting 16 June 09, 2025
not saying someone should not be working with the developer in trying to bring projects here, but the skills to bring affordable projects here are very different than the skills to bring just any developer into town. To take that money out of the Housing Action Fund is $1 million out of the $3 million we worked hard to put in that fund which we need for the PRC and Temporary Safe Parking Program for our most vulnerable residents.
City Manager Woodhouse referred to Mayor pro Tem Boles mentioning affordable housing developers and stated that was an extremely complex industry. He stated that the person on City staff who will be working with them is the Economic and Housing Development Manager position; that is the goal of that position, having staff expertise very knowledgeable about affordable housing development as well as economic development. He stated this is a trend that has been happening in cities in their Economic Development programs.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked if he had an example as this is completely new to her.
City Manager Woodhouse added that he wanted to comment on the idea that about every dollar we put into housing development costs more than a dollar, and he stated that is not true. The revenue generation from development and redevelopment, whether just housing or mixed-use development with housing, far exceeds what that costs. He stated that we will go into specific examples and analyses of that in the revenue study session later in the summer.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated she was searching for that data and not finding it and had asked for it with the Economic Opportunities Study. She stated, if staff are asking Council to put this money that we do not have in this position, she wanted more confidence this is the right thing.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that the affordable housing development needs that staff focus and we cannot afford a housing expert in Community Development or in the City Manager’s Office, hence why we are consolidating the two, and they do directly relate to each other as development and revenue generation are connected. He stated that it is up for Council decision and discussion, but he also wanted to clarify that is the trend and the focus that Pacifica needs to move this ball forward and have some things built.
Asst. City Manager Carter added to the City Manager’s point that it is a current trend to have Housing and Economic Development Manager positions in our neighboring communities, such as Belmont, Burlingame, San Carlos, and South San Francisco.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated she will reach out to those councilmembers and see what they can learn if it is working.
Asst. City Manager Carter also added that all the cities are about the size of Pacifica or smaller so, to the City Manager’s point, it is the consolidation of two essential functions.
Finance & Administrative Services Director Gómez added that, on a prior question we had, Fund 293, the housing successor, there is $372,000 in that fund balance and that is earmarked for low- and moderate-income housing project, which can be done out of that fund or moved to another fund for those specific projects but is currently kept separate.
Mayor pro Tem Boles is concerned that in our Housing Element on all these sites we have zoned mixed use, but at the Planning Commission meeting, we are only requiring 0.1% of the square footage to be mixed use and, if they have a certain number of affordable housing in it, they do not have to provide any. She does not think housing is going to solve all of our City Council Regular Meeting 17 June 09, 2025
problems and, the way the construction industry now with cost and tariffs and fires, etc., we will not be able to build a lot in the next three years. She thinks putting all this money into that bucket without thinking about where we might need it in other buckets is part of what concerns her. She stated she was looking at the Housing Element implementation, and there are other things we should be doing, including working on funding a Housing Action Fund, which is not in this item and it would take money and a study, and that is supposed to be done by 2026. If we are looking at taking money out of here, she wants to make sure we are working on the study and put money back in because we cannot do that with the funds we have been putting in the last 2-3 years. She stated that is something we told HCD that we are going to do by 2026 and she asked where that is in our budget and planning. She asked, with HE-I-3, if staff can clarify what sites are doing this analysis for $150,000.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated that the work on the Housing Element Implementing Program 3 includes all of the public-owned sites that are listed. That includes state-owned sites, school district sites, and City-owned sites, and it is the beginning of that planning process.
Mayor pro Tem Boles concluded it would include Sanchez Library, Sanchez Art Center, Caltrans Park and Ride, and the Pacifica School District. She asked why it is not something we are looking at now to replenish the Housing Action Fund.
Community Development Director Updegrave believes we are working with HEART on a number of our Housing Element programs and she believes that is one of the areas where they are providing assistance.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated, having spoken to our PBF fellow, she has experience with what LA has done and has brought in money to their Housing Action Fund. She stated, if we are spending this money, we need to be looking at how to replenish it. She stated that the inclusionary housing program was supposed to be done by the end of this year, and she asked if that is something included in their budget already.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated HEART is also working on our inclusionary Housing Element and the City is also part of a multi-jurisdictional nexus study that is a larger project. She believes they are selecting a consultant in July and that will be taking off. That will help with our in-lieu fees, and HEART is working on that and are one of our partners on that as well. We are looking at changes and cleanups we can do to our current inclusionary housing ordinance now and do the bigger reorganization looking at the in-lieu fees and utilizing the information from this multi-jurisdictional nexus study we are a part of.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked if there is an option that we decide not to accept in-lieu fees.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated, legally, she did not know and would have to research that more. She stated that in-lieu fees are one of the ways you build housing funds to provide a portion of an affordable housing financing stack from the City. She believes that is one of the primary ways that cities typically fund their available funding.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that has not worked in Pacifica ever. She asked if the objective design standards are not something that need extra funds.
City Council Regular Meeting 18 June 09, 2025
Community Development Director Updegrave stated that zoning reform objective design standards and permit processing and streamlining is the project that the PBF fellow grant was awarded for.
City Manager Woodhouse stated the City has not compiled very many housing in-lieu funds because no housing has been built. We have a 1% housing build rate since the 1980s and therefore do not have any housing in-lieu funds.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that the one we have is a bad example.
Councilmember Bier thought it would be helpful for her to sit down with HEART to understand everything we are doing.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thought that would be helpful.
Councilmember Wright shared Mayor pro Tem Boles’ concerns. He looked forward to working with all of them on coming with ideas at this discussion in the fall on how we bring in more revenue. He asked if the Sharp Park Specific Plan was a large mixed-use development.
City Manager Woodhouse thinks the intention as many of the designs in there are intended to be ground-level commercial and housing as well as some density bonus and affordable housing-related bonuses.
Councilmember Wright concluded it is outside the Housing Element but inside the Housing Element at the same time, but there is a significant portion of commercial space required for that, more than 1%.
City Manager Woodhouse responded affirmatively. He added that the Specific Plan is a very basic economic development tool for the City in terms of bringing in additional revenue as we are revitalizing an entire neighborhood and drawing more people in as well as building housing for those people to live in and frequent the retail establishments.
Councilmember Wright asked what percentage of the revenue is sales tax.
City Manager Woodhouse stated approximately 6% is the sales tax, and another 6% is our transactions and use tax (Measure Y) revenue, which is about a total of 12%.
Councilmember Wright asked, if we were to build 300 hotel rooms, how much TOT tax would that potentially represent.
City Manager Woodhouse estimated $3 million a year of additional TOT tax to the City.
Mayor Beckmeyer thought it would be beneficial to zero in on the specific questions or debates we need to have on the recommendations brought forward and to talk about Fog Fest.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated, going down the expenditure requests quickly, $150,000 for the shoreline adaptation, maybe we can say $100,000 and try to look for grants. She stated that we do not have that program designed yet and have not talked about the public engagement process. We could get our VLF fees back and have another $2 million.
Councilmember Wright asked if $150,000 represents the cost of the staff person.
City Council Regular Meeting 19 June 09, 2025
City Manager Woodhouse stated the $150,000 for the Shoreline Adaptation Fund is a lowered number than what the department request was to kickstart the Shoreline Adaptation Plan process. It includes the consultant to design the engagement and start the process which is necessary for at least the design part to help with grant applications, and it includes the Coastal Access Resiliency program which will require some funding for various technical studies that may need to be related to those. It is a placeholder dollar amount, reduced from what the initial thinking was from staff in order to balance and, if they reduce it further and, with that $150,000, we will need successful grant applications to carry out this process, as it is an expensive multiyear process. In terms of kickstarting the process and what essential work needs to be done, that is our estimate and, if Council wants to reduce it, we would work with that.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated we are anticipating high levels of public engagement moving into that process, i.e. holding workshops and things outside of traditional study sessions. This is the seed money to get started on that and hire public engagement consultants, framing out all of the things we will need to do and what the milestones are, as well as applying for grants. Capturing some cost-savings by combining public engagement for the Shoreline Adaptation Program and the Coastal Access and Resiliency Plan also fit nicely together in the beginning as we start to work through our public engagement strategies.
Mayor pro Tem Boles was okay with district-based financing study and the fee study. She asked about the library marketing, as there was $50,000 leftover in their budget in this year.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked if the recommendation was to make $50,000 an ongoing allocation.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that it does say ongoing, but it is $50,000 in this next year and we need to see where that effort is going until the lead-up to a successful bond measure to fund new libraries and that is when it would end.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked about the current amount in their budget.
City Manager Woodhouse stated that we have funded that money before and it is running out and, if we want to continue that effort, we need more money for it.
City Clerk Coffey stated that the City currently has an agreement with BergDavis, a Public Relations Firm that has been used along the process for the Pacifica Library’s modernization project and is a firm that is familiar with the City’s engagement and strategy for new and renovated library facilities for Pacifica; they work closely with staff and the Library Advisory Committee with materials and strategy and engagement to bring public awareness and support for the project in order to culminate in polling for a potential bond measure which would be necessary for construction funding for new and renovated libraries. Without significant public engagement, it would not be feasible to expect community awareness and support that would culminate in a successful bond measure.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked about the Library Advisory Committee’s outreach.
City Clerk Coffey stated that the Library Advisory Committee is a committee of volunteers that is appointed by Council and the purpose of the Library Advisory Committee is to be a Brown Act committee that provides transparency to the public. There are ex-officio members that provide valuable insight both to and from the community on the project. The public relations firm provides that expertise in terms of creative engagement basis with hosting the project website, City Council Regular Meeting 20 June 09, 2025
bringing awareness of the project and updating that website, as well as producing materials.
They are the ones providing the expertise as far as public relations and engagement.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that the committee is providing the tabling outreach and helping develop content for the website and the social media campaign, but BergDavis has the overview of the communications plan.
Councilmember Bier asked if it is a different contractor who does the polling.
City Clerk Coffey stated that the polling is separate and the most recent polling that was done in 2023-2024 was not just focused on the library project but also with other new potential bonds for other City infrastructure and gauging the public support for that.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated, under the summary of fund balances on page 105, it says the projected fund balance at the end of June for the Pacifica Library Fund 331 is $53,000; do they need another $50,000 this year or they need $100,000 for this consultant.
City Clerk Coffey stated that the ask is for $50,000 total for the fiscal year.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked if it is needed this year if there is more than $50,000 in the budget.
Finance & Administrative Services Director Gómez stated since the request is ongoing, the request came from the General Fund because the Pacifica library only has that $53,000 balance; it will not be able to support this ongoing request. However, if Council so directs, they can direct for the one-time portion from this year to be covered by that funding source.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked if we need $100,000 a year.
Finance & Administrative Services Director Gómez stated that there is no current expenditure budgeted out of that Pacifica Library Fund so no FY 2025-26 activity.
City Cler Coffey added that the request was made to come from the City Clerk’s Division, which came out of the City Manager’s Office, rather than hitting the library fund itself.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked confirmation that it is a transfer from the City Manager’s budget into the City Clerk’s budget.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated no, as the current request is budget from the General Fund because it was originally thought of as ongoing progress. The Library Fund could only accommodate one-year limited-term allocation. If Council wants to redirect this fund for oneyear to library fund, that is one option. We can charge the Library Fund instead of General Fund. She stated we have $53,000 in the library fund available to Mayor pro Tem Boles’ point.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked if that is from the original money that former San Mateo County Supervisor Don Horsley allocated.
City Clerk Coffey believed so, from the Measure A funds that were allocated.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked if we can do that and save the $50,000 for another funding request.
City Council Regular Meeting 21 June 09, 2025
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that we can make that request or direction. She thinks we will have to have a mid-year or next year, etc., conversation about budget for polling at some point.
Councilmember Wright asked if we could at least fund some of it. He stated it will not show up as previous funded on next year’s budget, and it would be nice to keep a placeholder, even if we only give a smaller amount.
Councilmember Bier asked if we can reallocate the OPEB money.
Councilmember Wright stated he wanted to talk a little more about motor pool also.
Councilmember Bier stated we can take $25,000 out of the trust contribution for Fog Fest.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that there is an extra $1.3 million in there. She asked about the minimal amount we have to keep in.
Councilmember Espinosa would like to see some money put into the Beautification Advisory Committee. It is something she cares about and, if we want to bring tourism, she would like to see some money put into beautification, about $20,000 from the library allocation.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thinks we had to be careful and stated that is the whole reason for having goalsetting as having ideas of where money goes.
Mayor Beckmeyer agreed. She knows when she was a liaison for BAC, the funding source was the Department of Public Works. That is the department that paid for the plants that went into various City projects. It was not that they were not supplied, just not an allocation to BAC as the budget, but Department of Public Works.
Councilmember Espinosa would like to see some money for beautification, maybe $10,000.
She stated beautification is very important to her because, if we want to bring tourists, she feels the City is not well taken care of and that is important.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that would be something we should talk about at goalsetting. It may be part of the Economic and Housing Development Manager function.
Councilmember Bier states she is happy to discuss but it should not be part of this conversation.
Councilmember Espinosa stated she would like to see money dedicated to cleaning up and beautifying the City, especially the places where people come to visit us.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated what she is talking about is staff time and that is not something we have money for. BAC is providing a workforce to supplement and support what staff are stretched too thin to do. She hears what Councilmember Espinosa is saying about improving, beautifying, and making the City more welcoming but the reality is that it comes at a cost. She stated it is a priority, but when Councilmember Espinosa says it is not maintained and not cleaned up, the people who do that is Public Works and we are 30 positions short because we cannot afford the staff we need to do all the things we would wish to have done.
Councilmember Espinosa asked if we have a budget for Beautification Advisory Committee.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated the only committee that has any budget is Economic Development.
City Council Regular Meeting 22 June 09, 2025
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that is why she said that the costs that have been incurred have come out of Department of Public Works from their departmental budget.
Mayor pro Tem Boles suggested that we do more research for next year. She referred to the $1.3 million on packet page 76 which talks about the General Fund balance of $10.1 million but the GFOA has an $8.8 million minimum. Staff confirmed that there is an extra $1.3 million that we could potentially spend, but the budget is an estimate that is not fully accurate.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that there may have been some misinterpretation with the balance. What is being presented to Council is the structure of balanced budget, and now, all the options Council is considering are operating expenses. The minimum balance by the GFOA is $8.6 million, which represents only two months of operating expenditures. Most cities have more than that. She wanted to point out that, even if you were to allocate this $1.3 million difference, your budget would still be structurally imbalanced because you are considering operating cost. The operating cost and operating revenues and operating expenditures should match, and that would not be the case. The only exception to this rule or practice is if you were to allocate the fund balance towards the capital programs. When we constructed the City’s Civic Center, to the contrary, that was one of the decisions that Council made at that time.
Allocation towards or investment into infrastructure is an acceptable use of fund balances, but all the other uses for operating costs, even if they were one-time, would still make the budget structurally imbalanced.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated there was money we were allocating to capital projects, like the $50,000 for the annex lighting, so can we take that out of this and have the $50,000.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that we already count allocation towards capital projects so that is why it sits on a separate line. We are only comparing operating expenses and operating revenues. You have on the previous chart a balance of $57,000, and that is available for Council’s discretion now before they start unfunding other things. If they want to fund more than that, staff recommends to unfund or allocate some other uses.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated what is not in there yet are labor negotiations which are not in this budget which might also have additional cost implications.
Asst. City Manager Carter agreed. She stated that we are planning to use some salary savings for that. The budget does include fully funded salaries and benefits currently.
City Clerk Coffey stated that we are at 10:50 p.m. and motion to extend is needed.
Councilmember Wright moved to about midnight.
Mayor Beckmeyer requested to amend his motion to 11:20 p.m.
Councilmember Wright moved to extend the meeting to 11:20 pm; seconded by Mayor Beckmeyer.
City Council Regular Meeting 23 June 09, 2025
EXTEND MEETING TO 11:20 PM
RESULT: ADOPTED AS AMENDED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Greg Wright, Councilmember
SECONDER: Sue Beckmeyer, Mayor
AYES: Beckmeyer, Boles, Bier, Espinosa, Wright
Mayor Beckmeyer asked if Mayor pro Tem Boles thought the $150,000 for the Shoreline Adaptation Program was not a good allocation of funds.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated we can look for grants.
Mayor Beckmeyer agreed that it saves money and it is not even close to what it will cost us.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated for one year.
Mayor Beckmeyer agreed and stated Mayor pro Tem Boles has concerns about using the Housing Action funds towards the Economic and Housing Development reorganization.
Mayor pro Tem Boles added the on-call planning services. She asked if that was something we need, given our other housing implementation partners that we are working with now.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated the reason why we are requesting a specific allocation is because the Housing Element implementation work has taken much longer than was initially anticipated and we have been finding that we are drawing additional money from our consulting services focused on Housing Element work that is causing them to come back for amendment after amendment on the contract; we are looking for some specific allocation so we have a clear dedicated budget and tasks related to that work to help support the ongoing programming and implementation.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked if the CivicWell Fellow will also work on Housing Element implementation.
Community Development Director Updegrave stated that the CivicSpark Fellow we requested for this coming fiscal year is related to the LCLUP implementation and the Climate Action and Resiliency Plan Task Force.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thought $50,000 for the CivicSpark Fellow was coming out of the Housing Action Fund.
Community Development Director Updegrave believed that might have been for last year.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that it was the original allocation when we first got the CivicSpark Fellow and the existing allocation in the base budget is for implementation of the Housing Element and LCLUP. During mid-year, we will see what work was completed and any unused portion would return to the fund balance. As we get closer to the closing fiscal year, we will clean up and see if there are unused funds that would have to be returned.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that fund was set aside for affordable housing and has been used for many other things.
City Council Regular Meeting 24 June 09, 2025
Mayor Beckmeyer added like the Temporary Safe Parking Program.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated she was referring to things in the budget now, not that we approved already.
City Manager Woodhouse believed all the recommendations for the Housing Action Fund are related to housing.
Mayor pro Tem Boles added but not all affordable housing.
City Manager Woodhouse stated, if focusing on housing development, there is a part of that which is affordable housing because there is the BMR requirement, affordable housing technically versus the more housing you build, then economically more of it should be affordable over time. There is no hard and fast policy or requirement related to it but primarily focused on affordable housing efforts, and a lot of the Housing Element work is focused on affordable housing in the Housing Element implementation as well as housing.
Community Development Director Updegrave added that much of Housing Program No. 3, looking at the public sites, is dedicated to low- and lower-income.
Mayor pro Tem Boles understood and was fine with that $150,000 and the other implementation. She stated that we have 100% Economic Development person who is not doing housing now and 60% of her salary will go to housing, and with this other position, $246,000 of salaries coming out of the Housing Action Fund. She understands what staff are trying to do, but she is not sure.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that it sounds to her that what Mayor pro Tem Boles wants is those dollars to be going toward matching funds for building affordable housing.
Mayor pro Tem Boles added helping our nonprofit that wants to build housing and shelters, not just to build, but to plan for and buy land for.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated her point is that it seems the developer has to work with somebody in staff and her understanding of this position is that is who they would be working with. She recognizes that affordable housing is not a moneymaker and is serving another purpose, i.e. meeting our RHNA and providing homes for people who cannot afford to live in the Bay Area.
She stated, when she mentioned the other cities that are doing this type of a position, she knows that Belmont and San Carlos have developed these kinds of programs on city-owned land, and it seems that is where we are headed with this idea.
Asst. City Manager Carter wanted to emphasize that we are not repurposing the economic development program entirely; we are merging both priorities together and that is the trend in neighboring cities. To the point about allocations, every year, even mid-year, we can review the allocations, and this is a placeholder at this point. If the recommendation is approved by Council today, effective July 1, we will open the recruitment early in the fiscal year and revisit at mid-year. She wants to emphasize that the focus is dual: Economic Development and support of business community and the housing programs as economic drivers, as well as financing district development and SLA process. These are all the strategic economic initiatives that we have as part of the Economic Opportunity Study.
City Council Regular Meeting 25 June 09, 2025
Mayor pro Tem Boles thanked Asst. City Manager Carter, stating it makes her feel a little better.
She asked if we can commit to working on the Housing Action Fund in the next year also as part of this money and bringing back where else we might look for money to build that fund. She stated that we have to find some alternative sources of money. She stated she was told what worked in LA that brought in a lot of money was a tax on property sales over a certain value and for them it was $4 million, i.e. transfer tax.
City Manager Woodhouse and City Attorney Kenyon stated transfer taxes are only available to charter cities.
Councilmember Bier thought Community Development Director Updegrave said we are working with HEART on the Housing Action Fund.
Community Development Director Updegrave responded affirmatively.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated we have $100,000 for planning services for our consultant, and we are only paying a part-time HEART personnel. If we pay more of a HEART person who has that experience in affordable housing instead, that is something to consider.
Councilmember Bier agreed.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated she wants to talk about OneShoreline and Fog Fest.
Councilmember Bier finds it interesting that One Shoreline is asking for money when they are not helping us that much.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated the original funding to all the cities in the county was on a certain program year and it has expired and they are trying to stay accountable. They have only been asked to work on our sea wall and they did not want to work on armoring, but there are other projects in town, especially if we go to our shoreline adaptation and look at nature-based solution and the flooding project, that they are interested in working on. She felt it was money well spent as their value would be a lot more than $40,000 Councilmember Bier stated that is where updates would be helpful for her to understand what OneShoreline is doing.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that we have to apply as a city and that is not in process yet.
Councilmember Wright stated if they may be willing to fund studies for doing a reef or beach nourishment. There may be things that are not armoring that they may be willing to work towards and doing a combination of armoring and natural adaptation.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated we are starting to build that relationship as we will need more money and help because we do not have enough staff to work on all these projects.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked her if she was proposing the $40,000 for this year.
Mayor pro Tem Boles responded affirmatively.
There was Council consensus.
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City Manager Woodhouse asked where the money is coming from for OneShoreline.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that we have $50,000.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated $50,000 from the library reallocation.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated no, there was $50,000 left over.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated there was $57,109 projected variance between revenues and expenditures available for allocation. She stated together, OneShoreline and the Fog Fest, would equal $65,000.
City Manager Woodhouse stated, if we have $57,000, we could do $40,000 for OneShoreline and $17,000 for Fog Fest.
Councilmember Wright would prefer $25,000 for Fog Fest.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated she is not opposed to giving them money but we asked for this the last time as to whether they are a nonprofit now. She stated that this was the first she had any accounting of the money that was given. She was hoping before today that there would come a request and some of these questions could be answered. She stated that we gave them $25,000 last year but also wrote off another $50,000 from the police expenses the year before.
Councilmember Bier stated we also have an unfilled liaison position with the Fog Fest. If we had a regular liaison, that information would be shared and those questions could be answered.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated she would have liked a presentation to understand how it went last year.
Councilmember Wright stated we get value out of it in terms of name recognition and bringing people from outside the City and into the City and he sees a ton of benefit in supporting it.
Mayor pro Tem Boles agreed. She approved the $25,000 last year and we were struggling then. She felt we have to be mindful of every dollar this time.
Councilmember Bier asked if we can take $8,000 out of the OPEB trust contribution so we can give Fog Fest $25,000.
There was Council consensus.
Asst. City Manager Carter suggested, if Council feels strongly about $25,000, then they are trying to find $8,000 variance, she would recommend using the Fire Equipment Fund allocation instead because the OPEB contribution is based on the actuarial determined distribution and we would rather fund it fully. Council can choose not to fund it but staff would not recommend portioning it out.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated that is Fire Equipment Allocation for the Fog Fest.
Mayor pro Tem Boles referred to the money for the library.
City Council Regular Meeting 27 June 09, 2025
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that the alternative would be the library fund for the library project and that is $50,000 in the General Fund.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated, if Council gives instructions to do that, then we do not need to reduce the allocations.
Councilmember Bier asked if it was $8,000 out of the library.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated that we would reallocate, instead of funding the library contract from the General Fund, we would fund it for one year only from the Library Fund.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked Fog Fest if they can do a presentation to Council next year to explain their nonprofit status. She stated that all the other groups we fund are nonprofit and there is financial accountability through that.
Councilmember Bier stated that Council is not sending a liaison to these meetings and it may be good for Council to get together with the Fog Fest Board.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked Asst. City Manager Carter and Finance & Administrative Services Director Gómez if they feel they have an understanding of where to get the money for $40,000 One Shoreline and $25,000 for Fog Fest.
Asst. City Manager Carter responded affirmatively.
Mayor Beckmeyer referred to the Economic and Housing Development reorganization item in the City Manager’s recommendations and asked Mayor pro Tem Boles if she was willing to allocate those funds at this point.
Mayor pro Tem Boles thought we will see it when it comes back and thought as long as we are working on the Housing Actions Fund.
Mayor Beckmeyer referred to the $75,000 ongoing for code enforcement inspections for shortterm rental administration and is that not a cost that is passed off to the short-term rental.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated it will be an additional cost. Our STR permit fee is over $1,600 now and there is a reduction of the allowable rent to 60 days so she did not think we have much room to increase the permit fee. The cost that is presented to Council is the quote given by HdL and the code enforcement piece of that which would cost to enforce the ordinance. She stated that the numbers are real. She does not think we have room here to charge short-term rentals as they are only allowed to rent 60 days now. We have to review this again as we will do the user fee study and look at it together with all the other fees.
Community Development Director Updegrave added that the inspection requirement that Council directed be added to the ordinance for the permit will need to be done by building inspectors and that is an additional cost for our consultant.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated the intention was it was part of their permit renewal and it seemed when we were talking about it before it could be an additional fee that we charged them.
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Asst. City Manager Carter agreed, but the restrictions are so strict that we might have reached the point that it is cost-prohibitive for the City to do this enforcement, but we will have to look into this more closely.
City Manager Woodhouse thought the enforcement cost of the program will be at least that amount of money. In the future, once the ordinance is adopted and implemented and we have some experience with it, as we do the cost allocation studies, Council could consider looking at the STR permit fees, currently $1600, and make a decision in the future to raise those to some level to recompense some of that cost. However, the ordinance is not adopted yet so we are not in a spot to make that analysis and recommendation.
Mayor Beckmeyer believes, with the changes we discussed in the ordinance and the increase in requirements of operators, there are some operators in the City who will not want to play and that is going to require code enforcement. She thinks that will be tapering off over time but, for that first year, there will need to be some vigilance and that costs money.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated that we did not get to CIP at all.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated, when it comes to CIP, the thing she is most concerned about is continuing to upgrade our wastewater system, and she wants to see us continue with investments. She wants to fix that bridge. She knows we are looking for grants as that amount of $350,000 is not funded.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated part of her issue with the CIP is many them have not been updated and some of the projects are finished but it does not say they’re finished and some say they are funded but we are not doing anything.
Mayor Beckmeyer stated her experience with the CIP budget, when she finally grasped how it works, was how disappointing it was when she kept seeing projects that she liked have the status as unfunded. She stated, if there are questions that are specific and, in the course of Mayor pro Tem Boles’ conversation with staff, if she thinks there is something that bears bringing to Council for a study session for them to go over it, she would have no objections.
Mayor pro Tem Boles stated one of the things she pointed out was about the Clarendon drainage improvement and it only talks about adding a new pipe, but she knows our drainage study called for adding a new pump station and that information was not in here.
Mayor Beckmeyer added the priority tracking related to the Council strategies and goals and the General Fund ones; on the CIP one, if they could be tied and related to our climate action goals and/or our LCLUP adaptation strategies, etc., and when we are looking at the CIP pages, we can see how this particular capital improvement project relates to those other goals.
Finance & Administrative Services Director Gómez stated that Asst. City Manager Carter, Dep.
Director Yip and she worked on a template for the CIP book that will incorporate the goals. We will roll it out after adoption and there will be an updated template with that information.
Mayor pro Tem Boles asked when these sheets normally get updated with the different projects.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated, typically, after adoption of the budget, staff spend more time updating the budget before it is published and we were rushing this current format for Council to review the draft, but for the final budget, the new format will be created.
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Mayor pro Tem Boles concluded that all these individual sheets will be in the final budget.
Asst. City Manager Carter stated it will have a different look for the budget document. She thinks the plan is still to use the new format for the adopted budget.
PW Dep. Director Yip stated she was correct that we are rolling out the new CIP format book.
Some of the questions coming up on how these revenues and projections go out from each fiscal year currently cannot be shown on our current spreadsheet, but we will redo the whole book to do these other projections and outputs.
Mayor Beckmeyer asked if we need to make a motion to put these amendments in.
City Manager Woodhouse stated no, as Council was clear on direction and staff will package it all up for budget adoption on June 23.
RESULT: NO VOTE REQUIRED
ADJOURN
Mayor Beckmeyer adjourned the meeting at 11:22 p.m.
Transcribed by Barbara Medina, Public Meeting Stenographer.
Respectfully Submitted,
Sarah Coffey, City Clerk
__________________________
Sue Beckmeyer, Mayor