City of Palo Alto I 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, CA I www.paloalto.gov – February 2026
POLICY & SERVICES TENTATIVE TOPICS CALENDAR 2026
Tentative as of February 10, 2026
January
• Nonprofit Workplan item
• Referral (2024): Establish a frequency for joint City Council meetings or Policy & Services meeting with Boards and Commissions, Youth Council, and meetings with Boards and Commissions Chairs; - Kept referral per P&S on Dec. 9, 2025
February
• Council referral (from Jan 24, 2026 retreat): Update City Council Values and Consider Renaming them (linked to adopted values on November 7, 2022 –
https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=31240&repo=r- 704298fc&searchid=0d712abe-b8ef-435e-9045-9198fc7001ae) • SB 707 Brown Act Updates
• Seismic Ordinance Follow up discussion
Note: All items listed for the following months are tentative in date at this time. Items will be moved around based on item readiness and agenda capacity in partnership with Committee Chair closer to the actual meeting date.
March
• Nonprofit Partnership Phase I Improvements
• Consider Policy Tool Options to Encourage Multi-Family Development in Mixed-Use Districts (2023- 2031 Housing Element Program 3.9(A)).
• Audit: Utilities Reserves
April
• Discussion of Local Residential Rental Market Data and Recommendation regarding whether to Pursue a Rent Stabilization Program
• Present initial data from the first-year rental registry program to Policy and Services for discussion and an information report update to City Council.
• Legislative Update
• Fair Chance in Housing Ordinance
• Incentives at Strategic Locations to Shift the Economic Benefit of Redevelopment from Commercial Toward Home Building (2023-2031 Housing Element Program 3.9(A)). • Auditor Report: Junior Museum and Zoo
• Auditor Report: Annual Follow-up on Audit Recommendations
City of Palo Alto I 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, CA I www.paloalto.gov – February 2026 May
• Referral Follow Up: Discussion and Recommendation to Council Regarding Potential New Procedure for Councilmembers to Make Referrals to Staff Besides Colleagues’ Memo • Auditor Task Orders
• Auditor Report: Public Safety Overtime
• Auditor Risk Assessment
• Quarterly Audit Status Report
June
• Review of Proposed Amendments to Seismic Risk Mitigation Ordinance • Present to Policy and Services an analysis related to anti-rent gouging and forward Committee recommendations to the City Council.
• (other items carried forward from April or May)
July – No meeting; Council break
August
• Tentative: Auditor Report
• Legislative Update (State and Federal)
September
• Tentative: Auditor Report
• Review RFI/P solicitation related to Housing Element Program 1.4A October 29
• Tentative: Auditor Report
November 19
• Legislative Agenda and Guidelines; and Brief Legislative update • Tentative: Nonprofit workplan
• 2027 City Council Priorities Discussion (focused on process, the retreat and submitted ideas) December 9
• Tentative: Auditor report
• No Procedures & Protocols Handbook Discussion (every other year and this is an off year) • Informational: Report out on Status of Committee Referrals I
tems removed:
• Referral (2024): Policy & Services to review and make recommendations for any initiatives to support and strengthen neighborhood programs (linked to discussions in 2021) Removed from referral list at Dec. 9, 2025 P&S Meeting1 as the spirit of the referral has been accomplished 1 P&S Discussion, December 9, 2025, Item #5, Link:
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=16351 City of Palo Alto I 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, CA I www.paloalto.gov – February 2026
Referrals from February 9, 2026:
1. Refer to staff and subsequently the Policy & Services Committee for a recommendation to the full City Council on the permissible and recommended practices relating to an item going to more than one standing committee when appropriate (Procedures Section 1.2(a)2).
2. Refer to staff to return with recommended language regarding if staff should provide briefings, respond to Councilmember questions, collaborate with Councilmembers to support City Council representatives on regional bodies. (Not required to come to P&S, but could if needed)
3. Refer to staff and return to Council on the use of verbatim transcripts for PTC and UAC Board minutes using AI. (Not required to come to P&S, but could if needed)
Further Work Requested Related to these Referrals:
1. Discussion of the Creation of the Advisory Committee regarding Council Compensation (Previous Committee action completed. P&S Committee requested on Dec. 9, 2025 to keep this item on the list to bring back)
2. Initial Discussion Regarding Potential New Procedure for Councilmembers Referrals to Staff