CITY OF PACIFICA
COUNCIL AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT
3/23/2026
1 SUBJECT:
00a. Joint Study Session of City Council and the Beautification Advisory Committee Regarding Potential BAC Charter Revisions
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Provide direction to the Interim City Manager for the Beautification Advisory Committee charter revisions.
STAFF CONTACT:
Melissa L. Tigbao, PE, Public Works Director
(650) 501-6016
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Yulia Carter, Interim City Manager
(650) 501-6004
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
The City Council’s Priority Work Plan for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-2024 included a review of city Commission and Committee Charters. The following is a brief outline of efforts on this work plan for the Beautification Advisory Committee (BAC).
- May 15, 2024: The City Council adopted FY 2024-25 Strategic Plan and Priority Work Plan, including an updated and continued item related to review of commission / committee charters as a priority for City Council.
- January 27, 2025: Ad-Hoc City Council Subcommittee was appointed (Councilmembers Bier and Wright) to provide input on the Committee / Commission charter review process and timing.
- April 14, 2025: The City Council adopted an update to the 2023 - 2030 Strategic Plan and FY 2025-26 Priority Work Plan, including an updated and continued item related to review of commission / committee charters as a priority for City Council, with the goal of completing the Beautification Advisory Committee (BAC) and Emergency Preparedness & Safety Commission (EPSC) charter reviews in 2025.
- May 6, 2025: The Ad-Hoc City Council Subcommittee (Councilmembers Bier and Wright) met with the City Manager and staff to review and develop questions for the Beautification Advisory Committee and Emergency Preparedness & Safety Commission to facilitate the review and recommendations for charter updates. - August 2025: Based on Ad-Hoc committee direction, charter review questions for the Pacifica City Council 2
March 23, 2026
Beautification Advisory Committee and Emergency Preparedness & Safety Commission were finalized.
To date, Charter reviews and updates have been completed for the following Commissions / Committee’s:
- Library Advisory Committee (LAC) - Resolution No. 67-2023 adopted June 26, 2023 - Open Space & Parkland Advisory Committee (OSPAC) - Resolution No. 21-2024 adopted March 25, 2024
- Economic Development Committee (EDC) - Resolution No. 35-2024 adopted April 22, 2024
- Emergency Preparedness and Safety Commission (EPSC) - Joint Study Session on February 9, 2026
The purpose of this Joint Study Session is to provide an opportunity for the City Council and the Beautification Advisory Committee (BAC) to engage in a collaborative discussion regarding potential updates to the BAC Charter. This includes:
• Reviewing the Committee’s recent charter review process and recommendations; • Hearing directly from BAC members regarding their proposed amendment; and • Providing policy direction to staff on whether and how to proceed with potential charter revisions.
This Study Session is intended to ensure alignment between Council priorities, committee roles, and staff capacity, while recognizing the important advisory role the BAC plays in advancing beautification, community engagement, and environmental stewardship efforts citywide.
CHARTER REVIEW PROCESS AND RECOMMENDATION BY THE BAC
Over the past several months the BAC engaged in a thoughtful and deliberate review process.
This effort reflects a strong commitment by the Committee to evaluate its role, identify opportunities to enhance its impact, and contribute meaningfully to the City’s strategic priorities.
This process included the following timeline:
• October 10, 2025: Committee members were provided with individual survey questions to gather input and perspectives on the existing charter (Attachment A). • November 2025 - January 2026: The BAC held a series of public discussions at regular meetings to carefully consider these charter review questions, reflecting on its mission and goals.
• February 4, 2026: The Committee completed discussion of group questions and voted on one recommended amendment to the BAC Charter (Attachment B).
Through this process, the Committee demonstrated a high level of engagement, collaboration, and ownership of its advisory role and a forward-looking vision for how the BAC can continue to support community beautification and environmental efforts.
As a result of this work, the Beautification Advisory Committee unanimously recommended amending its Charter to:
Establish a formal Adopt-A-Tree subcommittee responsible for developing, implementing, and administering a citywide program.
As included in the BAC presentation, this recommendation is based on several key Pacifica City Council 3
March 23, 2026
considerations:
• The City’s need to expand and sustain its urban forest, including meeting canopy goals identified in the Climate Action and Resiliency Plan;
• Success of prior and current pilot Adopt-A-Tree efforts, which have shown strong community participation and high survival rates so far; • The opportunity to leverage community volunteers to support tree establishment and maintenance in a cost-effective manner; and
• Alignment with broader City goals related to sustainability, beautification, and community engagement.
The Committee’s proposal also demonstrates the Committee’s willingness to take an active, programmatic role in advancing City’s urban forestry goals.
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATION / ANALYSIS
While staff recognizes and appreciates the significant effort, creativity, and commitment demonstrated by the Beautification Advisory Committee, there are important operational and policy considerations that should inform the timing and structure of any Charter amendment.
1. Timing of this Charter Amendment
Council previously approved a Pilot Adopt-A-Tree Program that included 9 trees installed as a part of the West Sharp Park improvements Project in Fall 2025. Given that the program is currently in a pilot phase, incorporating the Adopt-A-Tree program into the BAC Charter may be premature. The Council has previously directed staff to evaluate its effectiveness before considering expansion into a permanent, citywide program.
These key evaluation milestones include:
• A 6-month check-in (currently underway) to assess early feedback from participants and staff and operational considerations to identify and document any operational issues make any adjustments;
• A 12-month evaluation (Fall 2026) to review participation, maintenance outcomes, and initial program performance; and
• A longer-term evaluation (18-24 months) to assess tree health impacts, long-term participation and retention, and overall data-based program sustainability.
It might be prudent to continue the pilot program prior to development of a permanent one, as the pilot program’s data would also help inform the development of Urban Forestry Management Plan. Therefore, allowing the pilot program to mature would provide critical data to inform program design, scalability, and long-term policy decisions. Embedding the program in the Charter prior to completing this evaluation could limit flexibility and result in a structure that may need to be revisited.
2. Alignment with Urban Forestry Plan Development
In addition, the City is planning to develop an Urban Forestry Management Plan, which is already included in the Strategic Plan but is currently off track due to staffing constraints.
This plan is a foundational policy document that will:
• Establish citywide canopy goals;
• Identify priority planting locations;
• Define maintenance standards and responsibilities; and • Provide a comprehensive and defensible framework for long-term urban forest management, including liability considerations.
Pacifica City Council 4
March 23, 2026
The Adopt-A-Tree program is closely tied to these policy questions. Advancing a permanent program prior to completion of the Urban Forestry Management Plan may result in misalignment or require subsequent program redesign at a later date.
3. Staff Capacity and Workplan Impacts
The Public Works Department is currently managing a highly constrained workload and an aggressive Strategic Planning workplan. As reflected in the Strategic Plan workplan, the Public Works Department is already responsible for 58 tasks, of which only 7 have been completed, 19 are on track, and the remainder are either not started, or off track (Attachment D). In other words, the Strategic Plan itself is ambitious and already stretches the capacity of understaffed department.
Incorporating the Adopt-A-Tree program into the Charter would require:
• Development of a comprehensive program framework, similar to the adopted ‘Keep Pacifica Beautiful Through Public Art Program’ Policy (Attachment C: Resolution No. 12- 2019)
• Ongoing coordination between staff and the BAC
• Review and oversight involving risk management and legal considerations • Review and refinement of volunteer policies and agreements.
These efforts would require re-prioritization of existing projects and reallocation of staff time, as staff resources are already at capacity to support the current Strategic Plan.
If the City Council wishes to proceed with advancing this work, staff would recommend incorporating it into the FY 2026-27 work program, along with an understanding that other priorities may need to be delayed or deferred, and these changes would be made accordingly in the FY 2026-27 Workplan that is tentatively scheduled to be presented to Council in May.
Summary and Next Steps:
The membership, purpose, powers, and duties (Charter) of the Beautification Advisory Committee are established in adopted Resolution No. 12-2019 (see Attachment C). Accordingly, any recommended amendments to the Committee’s Charter or name must be approved by the City Council through adoption of a resolution.
The Beautification Advisory Committee has undertaken a thoughtful and collaborative process to evaluate its Charter and identify opportunities to enhance its impact. The Committee’s recommendation reflects innovation, strong community engagement, and alignment with City priorities.
At the same time, staff recommends a measured approach and offers for Council consideration maintaining the Adopt-A-Tree program as a workplan item at this time. Allowing the current pilot program to continue to mature and be fully evaluated would support informed, data-driven decisions regarding the program’s long-term structure, scalability, and resource implications.
As an alternative, the City Council may wish to consider incorporating into the BAC Charter a broader tree advocacy and community engagement role, enabling the Committee to work with public and private property owners to support and advance the City’s urban canopy goals citywide.
This approach allows the City to:
• Complete the ongoing pilot program evaluation;
Pacifica City Council 5
March 23, 2026
• Align future program development with the Urban Forestry Management Plan; and • Ensure that new initiatives are balanced with existing staff capacity and Strategic Plan commitments.
This Joint Study Session provides an opportunity for the City Council to consider both the Committee’s vision and these operational considerations, and to provide direction on the appropriate path forward. Based on that direction, staff will return at a future meeting with a proposed resolution to implement any Council-approved amendments.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION:
Provide direction to the Beautification Advisory Committee and staff on the proposed Charter revisions, including consideration of the following options:
Option 1 - Approve BAC Recommendation:
Approve the Beautification Advisory Committee’s recommendation to amend the Charter to include the Adopt-A-Tree program. If directed, staff will incorporate the additional work into the Strategic Plan Workplan and identify associated tradeoffs, including potential delays and reprioritization of existing strategic plan initiatives due to staff capacity constraints.
Option 2 - Maintain the Program as Workplan Item:
Direct that the Adopt-A-Tree program remain a workplan item for the duration of the pilot program (anticipated through Spring 2028) to allow sufficient time to collect data, evaluate outcomes, and align future program development with completion of the Urban Forestry Management Plan.
Additional (Standalone) Consideration:
Consider expanding the BAC’s role in the Charter to include a broader tree advocacy and community engagement function, including working with public and private property owners to support and advance the City’s urban canopy goals citywide.
RELATION TO CITY COUNCIL GOALS AND WORK PLAN:
Goal 5 - Broaden public communications and collaboration. City Council’s Priority Work Plan for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-26 included Task 5.3.2- Review and update Council Advisory Commission and Committee Charters.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no direct fiscal impact from holding this study session. However, future Council direction may have fiscal and staffing implications.
ORIGINATED BY:
Public Works
ATTACHMENT LIST:
ATTACHMENT A: BAC Charter Review – Individual Survey Questions - Compiled (DOCX)
ATTACHMENT B: BAC Charter Review Questions for Committee Discussion (DOCX) ATTACHMENT C: Resolution No 12-2019 (PDF)
Pacifica City Council 6
March 23, 2026
ATTACHMENT D: Public Works Dept- Strategic Plan Overview (all items as of 7-1-25) (PDF)