CITY COUNCIL
SUMMARY MINUTES
Regular Meeting
May 13, 2024
The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Council Chambers and by virtual teleconference at 5:30 P.M.
Present In Person: Burt, Kou, Lauing, Lythcott-Haims, Stone, Tanaka, Veenker Present Remotely:
Absent:
Call to Order
Mayor Stone called the session to order. The clerk called roll with all present.
Special Orders of the Day
1. Proclamation Recognizing Public Employees and City Service Accomplishments and Acknowledging National Public Service Recognition Week: May 5-11, 2024
NO ACTION
Council Member Lythcott- Haims read a proclamation recognizing public employees and city service accomplishments.
Council Member Kou read a proclamation honoring Sandra Blanch for 30 years of service to the City of Palo Alto.
City Manager Shikada read names of employees who have hit 20, 25, 30 and 35-year milestones of service with the City and a photo was taken.
2. Proclamation Recognizing National Police Week - May 12-18, 2024 and National Peace Officers' Memorial Day May 15, 2024
NO ACTION
Mayor Stone read a proclamation recognizing National Police Week and National Peace Officers’ Memorial Day.
Police Chief Andrew Binder accepted the proclamation and announced a memorial service honoring three Palo Alto officers who gave their lives in the line of duty.
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Agenda Changes, Additions and Deletions
City Manager Shikada observed no changes to the agenda but called attention to Item Number 12 being included on the agenda for the following week and did not require completion of discussion that evening.
Public Comment
Mayor Stone provided ground rules for public comment.
1. Rick F., speaking on behalf of (6): Miriam, Henriette C., Deborah G., Erik G., Rotem, described instances and provided video of antisemitism on college campu ses. He thought everyone should keep their eyes open to prevent such targeting from happening.
2. Adele, speaking on behalf of (6): Avner, Estee, Gadi P., Allyson R., Itai D., also spoke about and provided a slide presentation representing antisemitism pr actices happening on college campuses.
3. Lori M., speaking on behalf of (6): Martin W., Ronit B., Eric T., Jennifer F., Scott S. , commented about an offensive sign displayed across the street from PALY High at Town and Country the previous week and about the signs and chanting heard and seen in marches through the streets of Downtown Palo Alto. She urged that everyone use freedom of speech to promote love and unity and find a way to share messages in a way that supports safety and belonging for all Palo Altoans.
4. Uzma M., speaking on behalf of (6): Yazan, Talha, Tuba, Lubna, Nadir, provided slides discussing racism and violence occurring in college campus protests. She advised that Palo Alto needs to acknowledge there is a systematic racist problem.
5. Christina G., speaking on behalf of (6): Taha A., Humza S., Yasa B., Mona F., Hadi S. , spoke about herself and her two children being violently harassed and threatened since becoming allies to the Palestinian and Arab communities. She provided videos of a child being rescued from a wreckage and of harassment.
6. Emily G., 7-year-old, described being harassed when protesting the Israel-Gaza war.
7. Aidan G., 10-year-old, described being harassed when Biden visited.
8. Jonathan wanted to know why there has never been a resolution proposed to the City Council in regards to actions take n by Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries against other Arabs.
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9. Lisa M. announced a free resource fair being held on Wednesday, May 22 from 10 am to 12 pm at the Opportunity Service Center open to anyone in the community.
10. Noel S. thought money should be cut off for weapons to Israel. He believed Israel to be a racist, apartheid state.
11. Sarit S. advised that the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reduced the reported number of women and children casualties in Gaza by 50 percent. She opined Israel did not start the war; Hamas did, putting Palestinians in harm’s way.
12. Elaine E. remarked that local resolutions can raise awareness about the war and help educate communities about what is happening in Palestine and Israel. She stated continued silence implies Palo Alto’s support for condoning genocide.
13. Talya S., speaking on behalf of (6): Antonia M., Anika D., Evan T., Om R., Aiden M. , spoke as a representative of the Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition with a reminder that it is critical that the City remains committed to sustainability and climate goals. She provided a slide presentation about local schools’ Earth Week events.
14. Avroh S., speaking on behalf of (7): Julia Z., Bella F. , Christopher P., Deborahlise, Phoebe M-J., and Sara S. , gave a slide presentation discussing concerns and issues related to achieving SCAP goals and ways to mitigate those . They requested setting a concrete timeline fo r One Margin implementation, instituting a strict efficiency building code before the Council goes on hiatus and before gas appliances are installed in new construction across the City and setting an end- of-life mandate for furnaces and water heaters by 20 26. They advocated the approval of more projects to make the City more bikeable and urged to have E -bikes incentivized. Lastly, they asked for a stronger public awareness campaign for heat-pump water heaters.
15. Lea G. spoke out about against anti -Palestinian attacks on community members and to demand greater protection for Palestinian solidarity protesters.
16. Mike G. commented that while his family attended a demonstration in favor of a ceasefire, his Jewish -American children were verbally attacked an d threatened by Palo Alto residents and passersby. The PAPD responded that nothing could be done as no crime was committed. He was concerned that the lack of a firm stance was emboldening this kind of behavior and creating an unsafe environment for Palo Al to residents and urged Council to adopt a stronger stance on the ceasefire topic.
17. Bill R. wanted to compliment the Utility Department employees who completed the paving on Amherst Street. He remarked they complied with all City regulations and were extremely informative. He requested his comments be entered into the personnel file for those utility workers involved. He had attempted to get a contract number from the City Manager’s office without a response.
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18. Zaine described herself, her friend and their children being called a terrorist when attending a protest by a man with an Israeli flag.
19. Carol G. (Zoom), producer of Third Thursday California Avenue, announced events planned for their first anniversary.
20. Aram J. (Zoom) regarded the Unity St atement to be a genuflect to the Zionist community. He declared that no justice in Gaza meant no peace in Palo Alto.
21. Azadeh M. (Zoom) remarked that innocent humans in Palestine were being tortured and killed because of the geographics of where they li ve. She considered the City’s continued silence to be an active approval of genocide.
22. Nick G. (Zoom) provided his views against Jewish people.
Council Member Questions, Comments and Announcements
Council Member Kou queried what is planned for the expanded outreach efforts to keep the community informed about the various technical studies and project updates including the outreach initiative to gather feedback and comments from the resident community, especially those that will be greatly affected and impacted by the grade separation project. She asked that Staff make sure they visit the sites of partial and full takings of property and measure and place markers indicating how much of the people’s properties will be taken.
Mayor Stone announced that in consultation with Vice Mayor Lauing $5000 would be allocated from the Council Contingency to the Chamber of Commerce to help fund Third Thursday as requested by the event organizer.
Study Session
3. FY 2025 Proposed Operating and Capital Budget - Finance Committee Update and Council Budget Discussion
NO ACTION
Chief Financial Officer Lauren Lai gave a slide presentation discussing the FY 2025 propose d operating and capital budgets, budget conversations and calendar, proposed budget overview, citywide budget strategies, a summary of the Finance Committee workshops, “Parking Lot” of general fund budget, “Parking Lot” – revenue and expenses, general fund budget balancing with “Parking Lot” items, announcement of upcoming meetings, and Council discussion.
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Council Member Burt characterized this as a modestly conservative budget. He noted that Measures K and L were not fully included in the budget. He expl ained they were eyeballing the BSR at 18.5 percent but when they were done it was at 18.3 and they needed Council feedback from that. He stated there are several items that they do not yet have staff estimates on the cost. He clarified that the Roth building is proposed to be a split on the additional cost that came about from escalating construction cost that occurred because of construction delays. It is for the hardshell of the building, not to build it out as a museum. They had two different items related to Fire Department Emergency Response which they were hoping to be able to come up with creative soluti ons on how to restore additional fire services including the $60,000 for additional staff versus overtime. He stated the Special Events Fund was complimentary to the HSRAP fund established to fund certain important collaborations that did not fit in HSRAP funding. The expansion of the teen library services came about from a recognition of how complimentary the community services efforts on youth wellbeing and other community services are with library services. He recalled the discussion of the increasing re cognition of the public health and environmental issues associated with synthetic turf so Staff is working on doing comparisons of both capital and operating costs of a changeover. There is timing issue with the fields. There was a struggle with the Palo A lto Link Program as it has been relying on a grant but is not highly sustainable. They wanted Council’s sentiment on how to scope thee program to serve people who actually need the service as opposed to the City providing a highly subsidized Uber service for people who choose to use it by discretion.
Vice Mayor Lauing commented when a new revenue number is entered, that is a projection but an expense number is an expense. There are certain services or products that still have to be tweaked.
Council Membe r Kou questioned if the $946,000 for JMZ’s new staff, contracts , and new ticketing system adds would be ongoing in 2026 only or if it would continue and if there has been discussion on whe ther there is a plan in order looking at the Friends of the JMZ taking over the operations. She asked how it would be taken out of the Parking Lot. Regarding amending the gas transfer to the general fund, if 18 percent was voted by voters, how does the Council change it? She was concerned about reducing the BSR below 18.5 but assumed one of the first priorities would be to make it whole again. She wanted to know why the City is paying for the Cubberley Field restrooms. She thought it was a consideration for the Council or Staff to think about where bathrooms are most needed at this tim e. She recalled having a consultant to find and manage grants and wanted to know the cost difference in that and the person being hired for grant management. She remarked that they needed to be thinking of future years and how to make sure the safety depar tments would be ready for population growth and would warrant a discussion moving forward. She thought they needed to look at the nonprofits, the audit that was done and to see whether their services are still warranted and actually serve the people in Palo Alto. She wanted to see if Avenidas is benefitting all seniors equitably. She supported the turf replacement study but wanted more information about it.
Ms. Lai responded that it would be ongoing. She advised that the surpluses at the end of each year could be a priority area of funding the BSR back up. The rebalancing would be a part of the
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discussion that night and described a couple of options. Ms. Lai explained that the consultan t is on the front end to help identify applicable grants and assist in t he ability to be successful in a competitive process. The grant analyst would focus on the compliance component.
Council Member Burt added there was not a discussion of Friends. It was their understanding that the Friends was not looking at a long -term public-private partnership. They addressed that they have fundraising they are doing focused on inclusion, special programs and special projects. He explained that being a study session, the Council would not be voting on this tonight, but the Committee and Staff would be listening to the feedback from the Council to give guidance on the next effort. Regarding the change of amending gas transfer to general fund, the Council has elected to do a phased implementation of up to the 18 percent because last year they had unusual spikes in the gas cost and Council decided to mitigate those costs by not doing the authorized transfer. They already have significant utility increases so the struggle was b alancing the general fund projects with mitigating the impacts of rate increases. He advised that the turf replacement study included determining the capital cost of change and operating cost going forward and the consideration of cost- effectiveness along with health and environmental impacts.
City Manager Shikada explained that the Cubberley restroom siting was a result of a community process that identified the best location and it happened that they are located on the fields.
They do have a continuing consultant contract for finding grants and assisting with completing applications but the person being hired for grant management would ensure they were able to meet all grant requirements once they are awarded. Regarding the turf replacement study, he said the Finance Committee identified a series of criteria they suggested be use d in the evaluation so there would be a number of dimensions to the work coming back.
Paul Harper, Budget Manager , described that the turf replacement study would be to determine whether proceeding with turf replacement is the most cost -effective and viable solution for the City or whether they should be replacing it with grass going forward.
Council Member Lythcott-Haims asked for information about the BSR. She wondered what they were contemplating not funding in the capital budget in order to reduce it by the projected amount. She asked for clarification on the Uncertainty Reserve because she could not make sense of the $4.7 million number. She wanted a rationale for the Ability Path matching gift being asked of the City. She wanted to know what percentage of the History Museum shell building is being funded by the City versus their community partners. She wanted a sense of what is happening under the library for te en services. She supported finding $25,000 for the Fire Explorer Program.
Ms. Lai explained i t is a percentage of the expense budget so with $3.4 million of additional investments or expenses, they have to set aside 18.5 percent of that to maintain their policy level.
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Council Member Burt added the dollars in the BSR would have to go up in order to retain the
18.5. Brad Eggleston, Public Works Director, described going through an exhaustive process for developing the capital budget, including a large number of proposed projects that did not make it into the budget and the five -year plan. He recalle d a couple of projects that only totaled $200,000 that were some of the last ones to make it in that might come out. They determined what their keep -up needs for infrastructure were. A significant cut would likely come out of projects like street maintenan ce, ADA improvements, and sidewalk repairs. The missing piece of the Uncertainty Reserve was that as part of the 2025 budget, they are recommending reducing the BSR by $2 million to put into the Uncertainty Reserve to get to the $4.7 million.
City Manager Shikada instructed that the Parking Lot was the Finance Committee’s efforts to try to accommodate requests to the extent that they could. In the instance of the third -party requests, they were received into a new program to try to address those directl y without any commitment to fully fund those needs.
Vice Mayor Lauing advised that the Committee intentionally left a bunch of asterisks on there in order to get feedback on the requests like this one.
Kiely Nose, Assistant City Manager, explained what i s before the Council for the History Museum shell building is a request for $1 million and is a reflection of a sharing of the cost inflation that occurred during the period of time the agreements were being negotiated. The project is not scheduled to exce ed budget. This would change the terms of the tenant work letter changing the allocation of the HUD funding grant and swap out for some g eneral fund funds if the Council chooses to go down this path. If those HUD funds are unspent on the project, they would be dedicated toward other museum investments. In the tenant work letter, there is a little over $10 million on about a $13+ million -dollar project. Included in that $10 million is about $5 million dollars in TDRs associated with historic preservation projects.
Council Member Veenker commented that they do not have a librarian who can m eet the needs and develop programming specifically for the extraordinary number of teen users who go to the library after school.
Gayathri Kanth, Library Services Directo r, described the teens who use the library after school and their teen advisory board. They have only one teen services librarian for all five libraries.
She talked about how this opportunity would help them expand the teen services.
Council Member Tanaka thought i t was inappropriate to be raiding the Budget Stabilization Reserve at this time. H e explained his belief that raising the gas utility rate from 9 per cent to
12.5 percent was in excess. He felt raising the JMZ tick et price from $10 to $14 would make it inaccessible to people. He did not support giving golf course discounts to people from other cities. He opined they should be transferring people to the vac ancies instead of increasing the head count. He stated capital funding was an exp ense and f ound it bizarre to have it on the revenue list. He thought the nonprofit should take on the Roth building instead of the City . He
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did not support half a million dollars for emergency fire and medical responses. He found the Ability Path matching gift questi onable. He could not justify an extra $200K to PATMA. H e thought there were a lot of special events and programming that the City was losing money on and deemed that inappropriate. He was not in favor of $78,000 for e stablishing an organizational development and safety division or staff members for digital marketing services.
He did not support spending $450K on PA Link. He advised that Tesla was trying to roll out a taxi service and thought they should partner up with them and offer to have them test out thei r vehicles in the City. He did not think they should move forward on bathrooms until they have more money and the issues have been resolved about them.
Mayor Stone was curious if the CDBG would apply to the Ability Path request. He wanted a better underst anding of the likelihood of grant opportunities they could pursue moving forward. He queried if all groups that as ked for funding got included with in the Parking Lot. He asked if ther e was an explanation for the funding request for Magical Bridge. He wa nted to know how much adding a bathroom within a park typically costs and if a bat hroom for Parde e Park was includ ed in the budge t, could it be built in the next fiscal year. He question ed what classification of staff typically supervises the Te en Center. He thought there was a lot of opportunity for the recreation coordinators if they increase the pay for those positions or possibly finding volunteers . He suggested ree valuating that classification. He was cur ious to learn more about trying to continue programming for those who need PA Link and finding ways to not subsidize it for others. He supported the additions to the Fire Department and the Roth building funding. He wanted to know the proc ess for the Council to be able to override the policy for BSR funding being below level.
City Manager Shikada thought it was premature to make that determination because CDBG has its own rules and application process. It would be on the organization's initiative to apply. He explained this was a specific request to support programming in Palo Alto and acknowledged that the current programming that Magical Bridge produces is funded through their organization.
Mr. Harper recalled all of the groups that requested funding were included in the Parking Lot, with the asteri sks indicating that these were the asks from those ag encies and not necessarily the recommended funding level. He explained the policy was to keep the BSR within a level of 15 to 20 percent with a target of 18.5. It is up to the Council ’s discretion as to whether t hey need to bring it up to that level.
Council Member Burt added the context for Magical Bridge funding is that it is an inclu sionary programming.
Mr. Eggleston remarked adding a bathroom within a park was typically on the order of half a million. He did not think a bathroom for Pardee Park could be buil t in the next fi scal year. He stated there is funding in an existing CIP that is not yet allocated to a particular park in both fiscal years 2026 and 2028. The C ommittee had a discussion that there could be a discussion of priorities with the Council and the Community Services Director said they could begin some
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outreach about Pardee Park this fall and if that was the choice of where Council wanted to allocate the funding, they could use the fiscal year 202 6 funding the next year to pursue that project.
Kristen O’Kane, Community Services Director, indicated the Teen Center is staff by recreation coordinators, mostly hourly CSD staff. She needed to look up the hourly rate information.
Council Member Kou hoped Staff would reach out and have further convers ations with Ability Path to look at where and how to manage the matching grant.
Public Commet:
1. Ken H. asked Council to delete the C ubberley lease payments from the nondepartmental budget summary or put i t in the Parking Lot . He opined Cubberley repairs should be paid by the school district. He said ther e was no money for the future development of Cubberley.
2. Bill R. thought a deeper dive was ne eded in to Fire Services to include an analysis of automatic aids, 201 rights , and the impact of the Stanford contract. He encouraged all efforts to be made to have full staffing for both firefighters and paramedics.
3. Nancy K. advocated prioritizing a Pardee Park restroom in the CIP on the 2026 budget.
She wanted the City to change the outreach process so users of the Pardee Park have input on adding a restroom and for City Council to have the final decision after the outreach is completed.
4. Penny P. indicated that her mother designed Eleanor Pardee Park and w anted to add a bathroom but at that time no neighborhood parks had bathrooms. She described how having no bathroom in the park is a problem. She requested for park users to have input in addition to the close neighbors.
5. Fred B. spoke about a house fir e that occurred on March 20 in which the fire engine at the nearby Station 2 was not deployed because there are not enough firefighters staffed there. He did not think they should reduce cross-staffing to no staffing for fire engines.
6. Aram J. (Zoom) suggested taking the million dollars going to the Roth Museum and put it toward the fire stations. He would also like the City to fund Nakba Day. He wanted to know if the City of Palo Alto conducted any business or investments with the state of Israel, how overbudget the City is with the new public safety building , and what the rec coordinators for the libraries is being paid.
7. Judy S. (Zoom) suggested taking some money from certain eth nic holiday funds and move it over to park elements.
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Consent Calendar
Council Member Kou requested to Pull Agenda Item Number 9.
Council Member Kou registered a no vote on Agenda Item Number 9.
Council Member Tanaka registered a no vote on Agenda Item Number 7-8.
MOTION: Vice Mayor Lauing moved, seconded by Council Member Lythcott -Haims to approve Agenda Item Numbers 4-10.
MOTION PASSED ITEMS 4-6, 10: 7-0
MOTION PASSED ITEMS 7-8: 6-1, Tanaka no
MOTION PASSED ITEM 9: 6-1, Kou no
Public Comment:
1. Herb B. requested the removal of Item 10 from the agen da because he believed that removing a committee member without mentioning the name of t he me mber in the agenda was a v iolation of the Brown Act. He ques tioned the City Manager bringing this forward as he opined it was the Council’s purview.
2. Aram J. (Zoom) agreed with Herb B. regarding Item 10. He advised that t he individual in question has not been convicted.
Council Member Kou had concerns about Item 9 because the Commissioners have knowledge of history, architecture, or historic preservation rules and they do not have very many of those members in the community. She thought it bore looking into the number of terms they can serve as well as ensuring that since they advised the Architectural Review Board on the historical and architectural significance of buildings, they sho uld keep their meetings at two times a month and if they do not need the first or second meeting, they can choose to cancel it.
Council Member Tanaka did not understand why they did not get bids from comparable vendors on Item 7. He opined the bid chosen on Item 8 was insanely expensive.
4. Approval of Minutes from April 29, 2024 Meeting
5. Adoption of a Resolution Vacating an Easement at 1020 East Meadow Circle
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6. Adoption of a Resolution Vacating an Easement at 1036 East Meadow Circle
7. Approval of Amended and Res tated Rental Agreement C20175026A with JC Decaux San Francisco, LLC, in the Amount Not -to-Exceed $685,655 for a Five -year Term to Provide the Rental and Servicing of a single Automated Public Toilet with an option to extend for another Five-year term from the Termination date; CEQA Status - Exempt Under CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301 and 15302
8. Approval of a Professional Services Contract Number C24187280 With 3Di in a Not -to Exceed Amount of $443,256 to Provide Rental Registry Program Software Solutions and Professional Services for a Term of Four-Years; CEQA Status – Not a project.
9. CONSENT/Legislative: Amendments to Palo Alto Municipal Code (PAMC) Chapter 2.27, Historic Resources Board, Section 2.27.010 to Reduce Required Members from Seven to Five, Reduce the Required Number of Professionals from Three to Two, and Expand the Professional Fields Consistent with Certified Local Government (CLG) Requirements for Historic Resources Boards; and to PAMC Section 2.27.030 (a) and (b) to Reduce Regular Meetings to Once per Month and Reduce the Size of a Local Quorum to Three Members
10. Removal of Committee Member from the Storm Water Management Oversight Committee; CEQA Status – Not a Project
City Manager Comments
City Manager Shikada provided a slide presentation discussing various cultural celebrations in the month of May , Bike to Work Day and Month and Bi ke to Where ver Days, Cal Ave. Stree t Design Workshop, National River Clean Up Day, and notable tentative upcoming Council items.
Action Items
11. 2501 Embarcadero W ay [22PLN -00367]: Request for Council Approval of a Site and Design Application to Allow the Construction of a Local Advanced Water Purification System at the Regional Water Quality Control Plant (RWQCP). A Design Enhancement Exception to Allow for a Taller Screening Wall is Also Requested. Environmental Assessment: Council Previously Adopted an Addendum to the 2015 Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the City of Palo Alto Recycled Water Project. Zone District: PF (D) (Public Facility with Site and Design Combining District).
Claire Raybould, Principal Planner, provided a slide presentation discussing the proposed local advanced water purification system project , including a background, project location and purpose, project overview, agency partners and grants, PTC review and recommendations, ARB
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review and recommendations, Cali fornia Environmental Quality Act , next steps, recommendation, and Public Works Applicant Team.
Public Comment:
1. Shani K. (Zoom) stated the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society and t he Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club have been advocat ing for an environmentally re sponsible lighting plan that uses light only when and where ne eded, at the lowest intensity needed, and provides saf ety for workers at the plan t and at the same time pr otects birds and other species in the Baylands. She requested the ARB’s recommendations be accepted by the Council.
Council Member Burt asked if the plants were intended to be plants indigenous to the lowl ands adjacent to the Bay where this would be located. He queried what hours of the day the plant would operate. He asked if the directional lighting was LED lighting.
Diego Martinez Garcia, Public Works Engineer, confirmed the plants were based on the North Bay Shore pallet from the City of Mountain View with the exception of a couple of species they were unable to find. The original water quality control plant operates 24/7 but the runs on this facility occur once in the day and once at night so they would typically see st aff once per night.
He explained all lighting is LED and focuses on the work area. As part of the planning process, a lighting study was performed showing how the spillover from light does not go out beyond the canopy.
Council Member Tanaka queried if the capital cost is now based on usage or still fixed among all the cities.
Mr. Garcia answered this project was only for r ecycled water so the capital difference between partners w as different from the rest of the projects. Mountain View mainly pays for it w ith contributions from Valley Water and USBR.
Mr. Eggleston advised that they are updating the long -range facilities plan and will look into recommendations for the issue Council Member Tanaka raised. They plan to bring the consulting contract for that effort to the Council before the summer break.
MOTION: Council Member Veenker moved, seconded by Vice Mayor Lauing to:
1. Consider the previously adopted addendum to the City of Palo Alto Recycled Water Project EIR, provided in Attachment H; and,
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2. Approve the draft Record of Land Us e Action (RLUA) approving the request for Site and Design Review as well as the requested Design Enhancement Exception based on findings and subject to conditions of approval.
MOTION PASSED: 7-0
12. Discussion and Direction Regarding the City Council Procedures and Protocols Handbook - Annual Discussion as Recommended by the Policy & Services Committee Chantal Cotton Gains, Deputy City Manager , gave a background ov erview about the revision of the City Council Procedures and Protocols Handbook.
Vice Mayor Lau ing suggested adding another review of Commission appointments to the list .
He recalled discussion about eliminating call-in on general public comment and that seemed to be a high priority item for that night.
Council Member Burt recommended splitting Commission appointments to two times a year.
Council Member Kou asked if the clerk ’s office should be involved since they do all the recruitments.
City Manager Shikada suggested including flexibility on the timing of workplans coming to the Council.
Deputy City Manager Cotton Gains shared they would make sure that ties together but for the follow-up conversation related to Policy and Services.
MOTION: Vice Mayor Lauing moved, seconded by Council Member Lythcott -Haims to direct staff to shift Boards and C ommissions recruitment process to twice a year at a time to be worked out by the City Clerk and evaluate Boards and Commissions Workplans schedule and present back to the City Council on Consent.
MOTION PASSED: 7-0
Council Member Burt pointed out the Staf f reference of not being able to allow the streamline noticing per AB2449 if remote participation during general public comment during City Council meetings is removed.
Molly Stump, City Attorney , advised that it was thought that Council could follow a pr ocedure where if a Council m ember wanted to access that streamline, the rule could be chang ed on Zoom public comment to allow it for all part s of the agenda just for that me eting. She instructed that the clerk will issue a revised agenda to indicate a chan ge for the following meeting.
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Council Member Burt suggested limiting general public comment to 30 minutes moving additional public comment to the end of the agenda.
MOTION SPLIT FOR THE PURPOSE OF VOTING
MOTION: Vice Mayor Lauing moved, seconded by Mayo r Stone to amend the City Council Procedures and Protocols Handbook , effective immediately and to be implemented at the next meeting:
1. Remote participation is not offered during General Public Comment (on items not on the agenda) during City Council meetings.
MOTION PASSED: 5-2, Kou, Tanaka no
MOTION: Vice Mayor Lauing moved, seconded by Mayor Stone to amend the City Council Procedures and Protocols Handbook , effective immediately and to be implemented at the next meeting:
1. General Public Comment (on items not on the agenda) is heard for 30 -minutes and to move additional public comments to the end of the agenda.
MOTION PASSED: 7-0
Council Member Kou suggested the need for some definition or description of the role of Council liaisons.
Deputy City Manager Cotton Gains explained this was one of the items that w as updated through the last review of the handboo k. It went to P olicy and Services and came back to the City Council earlier this year.
Council Member Burt suggested allowing three minutes for a Counc il member or a member of the public to speak when they vote no on Consent Calendar items.
Council Member Tanaka felt the time limit to speak should be proportioned to the number of items.
MOTION: Council Member Burt moved, seconded by Council Member Lythcott -Haims to update the City Council Procedures & Protocols Handbook to:
1. When Council Members vote no on Consent Calendar Items, they have up to 3-minutes to speak on any and all of their no votes; and,
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2. Requests from members of the public speak to Consent Calendar Items have up to the Mayor's allotted time, 3-minutes or less, to speak to any and all Consent Calendar Items during the allotted time.
MOTION PASSED: 6-1, Tanaka no
Council Member Burt brought up whether Council should refrain from taking posi tions on international affairs that are outside their purview. He suggested using San Jose and other cities that have done that as a reference point.
Mayor Stone provided the San Jose language regarding this issue and had it passed to the members.
Council Member Burt suggested deferring that item to the following week ’s meeting. He advocated updating the language to clarify that the formal title addressing colleagues was applicable for Council Meetings but not Committee Meetings.
Deputy City Manager Cotton Gains noted that in Attachment A, the page numbers for the recommended changes are sometimes incorrect, so use the section reference name.
Mayor Stone announced Item 12 would be continued the following week.
MOTION: Council Member Burt moved, seconded by Council M ember Lythcott-Haims to update language to clarify section 1.4b1 to reflect that the formal title addressing colleagues is applicable for Council Meetings and not Committee Meetings and that Committee Meetings may be conducted less formally.
MOTION PASSED: 7-0
Special Orders of the Day
13. Appointment of Candidates for Vacancies on the Stormwater Management Oversight Committee and Utilities Advisory Commission. CEQA Status - Not a project.
Mahealani Ah Yun, City Clerk , provided a presentation outlining the vote results for the Board and Commission appointments.
Utilities Advisory Commission
SUMMARY MINUTES
City Council Meeting
Summary Minutes: 05/13/2024
First Round of Voting for Two (2) vacancies on the Utilities Advisory Commission with terms ending March 31, 2027
Abraham Bagherjeiran: Tanaka
Ambika Pajjuri: Veenker
Chris Tucher: Lauing, Stone, Veenker
Richard Craig: Kou, Lythcott-Haims
Sean Holman: Burt, Lythcott-Haims, Tanaka
Utsav Gupta: Burt, Kou, Lauing, Stone
Candidate Utsav Gupta receiving 4 votes is appointed to a full-term expiring March 31, 2027.
No other Candidate received four votes required to be appointed to the full -term expiring March 31, 2027. A second round of voting is required.
Second Round of Voting for One (1) vacancy on the Utilities Advisory Commission with the term ending March 31, 2027
Abraham Bagherjeiran: Kou, Tanaka
Ambika Pajjuri:
Chris Tucher: Burt, Lauing, Lythcott-Haims, Stone, Veenker Richard Craig:
Candidate Chris Tucher receiving 5 votes is appointed to a full-term expiring March 31, 2027.
Stormwater Management Oversight Committee
First R ound of Voting for Three (3) vacancies on the Stormwater Management Oversight Committee with terms ending March 31, 2028
Ambika Pajjuri: Burt, Kou, Lauing, Lythcott-Haims, Stone, Tanaka, Veenker Gregory Bennett: Burt, Tanaka
Kevin Mayer: Kou, Lauing, Lythcott-Haims, Stone, Tanaka, Veenker Ronald Owes: Burt, Kou, Lauing, Lythcott-Haims, Stone, Veenker Candidate Ambika Pajjuri receiving 7 votes is appointed to a full -term expiring March 31, 2028.
Candidate Kevin Mayer receiving 6 votes is appointed to a full-term expiring March 31, 2028.
Candidate Ronald Owes receiving 6 votes is appointed to a full-term expiring March 31, 2028.
First Round of Voting for one (1) vacancy on the Stormwater Management Oversight Committee partial term ending March 31, 2026
Ambika Pajjuri:
Gregory Bennett: Kou, Lauing, Stone, Veenker
Kevin Mayer: Burt
SUMMARY MINUTES
City Council Meeting
Summary Minutes: 05/13/2024
Ronald Owes: Lythcott-Haims
Candidate Gregory Bennett receiving 4 votes is appointed to a partial term expiring March 31, 2026.
Closed Session
14. CONFERENCE WITH CITY ATTORNEY - EXISTING LITIGATION Subject: Packard v. Ravi, City of Palo Alto Superior Court Case No. 21 -CV-383384 (One Case, as Defendant) Authority:
Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1)
Lythcott-Haims recused herself from the Closed Session discussion.
MOTION: Council Member Kou moved, seconded by Council Member Veenker to go into Closed Session.
MOTION PASSED: 7-0
Council went into Closed Session at 10:10 P.M.
Council returned from Closed Session at 10:22 P.M.
Mayor Stone announced no reportable action.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 10:26 P.M.