CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MINUTES
April 1, 2025
CALL TO ORDER & PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE IN HONOR OF THE US MILITARY TROOPS
The City Council Meeting was held in a hybrid format (in-person and via Zoom videoconference and broadcast) from the Pinole Council Chambers, 2131 Pear Street, Pinole, California. Mayor Sasai called the Regular Meeting of the City Council to order at 5:01 p.m. and led the Pledge of
2. LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Bustrians of i and us pay our aspects to the the one ones past are are there al call this place, Ohlone Land, the land that Pinole sits upon, their home. We are proud to continue their tradition of coming together and growing as a community. We thank the Ohlone community for their stewardship and support, and we look forward to strengthening our ties as we continue our relationship of mutual respect and understanding.
ROLL CALL, CITY CLERK'S REPORT & STATEMENT OF CONFLICT
An official who has a conflict must, prior to consideration of the decision; (1) publicly identify in detail the financial interest that causes the conflict; (2) recuse himself/herself from discussing and voting on the matter; and (3) leave the room until after the decision has been made, Cal. Gov.
Code § 87105.
A. COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT
Cameron Sasai, Mayor
Anthony Tave, Mayor Pro Tem
Norma Martinez-Rubin, Council Member
Devin Murphy, Council Member
Maureen Toms, Council Member
B. STAFF PRESENT
Kelcey Young, City Manager
Heather Bell, City Clerk
Erica Gonzalez, Councilor
Roxane Stone, Deputy City Clerk
City Clerk Heather Bell announced the agenda had been posted on March 27, 2025 at 1:50 p.m. with all legally required written notices. The agenda had been amended on Friday, March 28, 2025 to include Item 8.B3. Written comments had been received in advance of the meeting, distributed to the City Council and staff, posted to the City website and made available to the public to view in the Council Chambers. Following an inquiry, the Council reported there were no conflicts with any items on the agenda.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 1, 2025
CONVENE TO A CLOSED SESSION - Please note: This item will be taken out of order at the 4/1/25 meeting. The Council will convene to Closed Session at the conclusion of the public portion of the agenda (following Item #13).
Citizens may address the Council regarding a Closed Session item prior to the Council adjourning into the Closed Session, by first providing a speaker card to the City Clerk.
A. CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS
Gov. Code § 54957.6
Agency designated representatives: City Manager Kelcey Young, Human Resources Director Stacy Shell, Finance Director Markisha Guillory and Gregory Ramirez, IEDA
Employee Organizations: Pinole Police Employees Association (PPEA), AFSCME, Local 1, Local 512 and Management Compensation Plan (MCP) B. PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
Gov. Code § 54957
Title: City Manager
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
Deputy City Clerk Roxane Stone reported there were no comments from the public.
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
RECONVENE IN OPEN SESSION TO ANNOUNCE RESULTS OF CLOSED SESSION:
No Report
CITIZENS TO BE HEARD (Public Comments)
Citizens may speak under any item not listed on the Agenda. The time limit is 3 minutes and is subject to modification by the Mayor. Individuals may not share or offer time to another speaker.
Pursuant to provisions of the Brown Act, no action may be taken on a matter unless it is listed on the agenda, or unless certain emergency or special circumstances exist. The City Council may direct staff to investigate and/or schedule certain matters for consideration at a future Council meeting.
Deputy City Clerk Stone reported there were no comments from the public.
REPORTS & COMMUNICATIONS
A. Mayor Report
Announcements
Mayor Sasai reported on his attendance at a League of California Cities Transportation, Communications and Public Works Committee meeting where he represented the City of Pinole as an appointee of the League of California Cities Asian & Pacific Islander (API) Caucus.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 1, 2025
Mayor Sasai reported a presentation had been provided on the Power Safety Power Shut-Off (PSPS) Resource Guide from Southern Calitornia Edison and a legislative brieting on Assembly Bill (AB) 939, Safe Sustainable Traffic-Reducing Transportation Bond Act of 2026, intended to fund various transportation projects including transit, passenger rail, local streets, active transportation, zero emission vehicles and freight infrastructure improvements.
Mayor Sasai also honored Kaelyn Matthis, a Pinole Valley High School student, who was one of the 2025 Youth Hall of Fame Awardees honored by Contra Costa County for her perseverance in recognizing César Chávez Day. He intended to invite her to a future City Council meeting to speak on her achievements. He also invited the community to the City's Annual Egg Hunt event scheduled for Saturday, April 5, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Fernandez Park.
B. Mayoral & Council Appointments: None
C. City Council Committee Reports & Communications
Council member Martinez-Rubin reported she attended a joint League of California Cities Revenue and Taxation Policy Committee and Housing Community and Economic Development Policy Committee meeting to discuss shared interests, and received a presentation on green economic development and an informational presentation on recommendations from the City Managers' Sales Tax Working Group. Discussions included the way taxation happened in the state and when it was appropriate to recommend any changes in law for reform in the way taxation worked. The Working Group established a definition about equitable e-commerce sales tax distribution, discussed sales tax rebate agreements and potentially a more equitable distribution of sales taxes so that the effects of e-commerce also include the number of trucks on city roads.
The Revenue and Taxation Policy Committee continued to advocate for the possibility of tax reform and had reached a consensus for the Bradley Burns Sales and Use Tax to be split so there would be an equitable distribution between the origin of the site where a purchase originated and its destination, with each city to receive 50 percent of the revenues. The effects would be statewide and the City of Pinole could see a 10 percent increase from what it currently received.
This was a proposal that did not currently exist, and the Committee had recommended potentially this plus or minus 10 percent for a city to allow for the flexibility of negotiating with the legislature.
The split would be prospective and revenues generated under existing agreements would not be subject to the split but there would be a phase-in of five years and the use of tax dollars in the county pools generated from out of state fulfiliment would be allocated directly to the destination city. All information was available on the League of California Cities website.
Council member Murphy reported he attended the National League of Cities Municipal Bond 101 Training, with municipal bonds a critical tool for local governments since 1913, allowing funding of essential infrastructure projects at lower costs. He detailed the current efforts to tax municipal bonds, which would be an additional tax on local taxpayers, and again detailed the history of municipal bonds to fund essential infrastructure projects that helped cities like Pinole secure funding at reduced interest prices. He highlighted the number of municipal bonds issued since 2023 nationwide and the number of infrastructure improvements that could be funded over the next decade.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 1, 2025
Council member Murphy also highlighted current efforts by some members of Congress to remove the tax-exempt status for municipal bonds to offset federal spending. If that occurred, borrowing costs for local governments would increase forcing local jurisdictions to make more difficult choices. He emphasized as a Council member that he would continue to advocate for policies that protected the City's ability to invest in Pinole's future, educate the public about the importance of municipal bonds and ensure staff had the resources to continue to thrive.
Council member Toms reported she too had attended the joint League of California Cities Revenue and Taxation Policy Committee and Housing Community and Economic Development Policy Committee (of which she was a member) meeting, and also highlighted the discussions, including how to improve the tax income in a city, with much of the discussion related to development. The City was lucky to have a good Community Development Department, zoning codes and policies to promote economic development. There had also been discussion on AB 306, Building regulations: state building standards, which would impose a six-year moratorium on building regulations placing a stay of adopting or implementing any new building regulations to improve costs given the new codes involved higher development costs, and imposing all-electric development may pose issues providing services to new development. This legislation was intended to allow cities to catch up with respect to those codes.
AB 87, Housing Development: density bonuses: mixed-use developments: short-term rentals had also been discussed. The League of California Cities Housing Community and Economic Development Policy Committee would next meet in mid-June to discuss recommendations for additional bills including legislation related to pre-development funding for educator/workforce housing.
Council member Toms also reported she and Council member Murphy attended a Green Empowerment Zone meeting to discuss the High Road Economic Development Framework and priority tech upgrades for Contra Costa County, and taking inventory of manufacturing facilities in the County.
D. Council Requests for Future Agenda Items
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
Rafael Menis reported that March 31, 2025 was Transgender Day of Visibility. He asked the City Council to consider adding a future agenda item for a proclamation recognizing the date in future years.
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
E. City Manager Report / Department Staff
City Manager Kelcey Young reminded everyone of the Annual Egg Hunt scheduled for Saturday, April 5, 2025 at Fernandez Park from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. She also reported the Community Development Department spent many hours with Pinole Seals to have everything ready on time for the pool to be open for use on April 14, 2025. The pool would be open for the general public on April 19, 2025 with the first 20 people in attendance to receive free recreational swims.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 1, 2025
City Manager Young added that Earth Walk would be held on April 19, 2025, from 9:00 a.m.to 11:00 a.m. at Fernandez Park and she planned to be in attendance. Additional information on community events was available on the City website at www.pinole.gov/events.
City Manager Young also reported the Youth Summer Camp had to date brought in $35,000 in revenue which was record breaking for the City of Pinole. She thanked the Community Development Department for its efforts. In addition, she commended the Public Works Department for its new pothole filling program with the use of a new asphalt spreader currently being used on Marlesta Road, Shawn Drive and Wright Avenue. More work would be done in the third and fourth weeks of April.
City Manager Young further commended both the Pinole Police and Public Works Departments for trying to make roads better and safer and reported in the beginning of the month of May speed limits on some City streets would be changed. She asked the public to be aware and adhere to reduced speed limits.
F. City Attorney Report: None
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED (Items 7D through 7F)
City Clerk Bell reported there were no comments from the public.
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
8. RECOGNITIONS / PRESENTATIONS / COMMUNITY EVENTS
A. Proclamations
1. Arab American Heritage Month
The City Council read into the record a proclamation recognizing Arab American Heritage Month, with the proclamation to be presented to community members after the City Council meeting.
National Pet Day
The City Council read into the record a proclamation recognizing April 11, 2025 as National Pet Day, with the proclamation to be presented to Pinole resident Kit, a Shiba Inu in the City of Pinole.
3. César Chávez Day
The City Council read into the record a proclamation recognizing March 31, 2025 as César Chávez Day, with the proclamation to be presented to Ana Aviles Avila, Union President AFSCME, Local 1.
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
Anthony Vossbrink stated as a pet owner and in light of National Pet Day, he asked the City Council to contribute or do its due diligence to improve the conditions of the City's dog park.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Page tes - April 1, 2025
Ms. Vossbrink explained that the restrooms in Pinole Valley Park were missing toilet seat covers, the grounds had eroded with little maintenance other than changing the receptable for dog bags, new recyclable trash bins were needed, old shale rock rather than mulch or dirt had been dumped around the entry to the dog park cutting the feet of dogs trying to enter the dog park and the park fences were in disrepair with one section coming apart near the creek bridge. He suggested this was a quality-of-life issue for all pets and patrons of Pinole Valley Park. He also requested a presentation from the Executive Director for Contra Costa County Animal Services. He understood a presentation had already been provided to the City of Hercules.
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
B. Presentations: None
9. CONSENT CALENDAR
All matters under the Consent Calendar are considered to be routine and noncontroversial. These items will be enacted by one motion and without discussion. If, however, any interested party or Council members) wishes to comment on an item, they may do so before action is taken on the Consent Calendar. Following comments, if a Council member wishes to discuss an item, it will be removed from the Consent Calendar and taken up in order after adoption of the Consent Calendar.
A. Approve the Minutes of the Regular City Council Meeting on March 18, 2025.
B. Receive the March 15, 2025 - March 28, 2025, List of Warrants in the Amount of $1,832,380.32 and the March 28, 2025 Payroll in the Amount of $529,776.26.
C. Stormwater Utility Area Assessment for Fiscal Year 2025/2026. Action: Adopt Resolution per Staff Recommendation (Heba El-Guindy)
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
Rafael Menis reported he had submitted written comments to the City Clerk regarding Item 9A, with respect to the last Citizens to be Heard portion of the meeting that was missing the latter half of his comments, which he felt significantly impacted the meeting. He stated he had transcribed the relative segment of the recording for the meeting and emailed it to the City Clerk. He asked that the meeting minutes be amended to reflect the changes.
City Clerk Bell reported she had received the amended changes at 4:30 p.m. and had not had the opportunity to review the comments.
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
Council member Toms clarified with City Clerk Bell that Item 9A could be continued or staff could be directed to review that small piece and make a small revision working with Mr. Menis.
Council member Toms offered a motion, seconded by Council member Murphy to adopt the Consent Calendar, with the amendment to Item 9A, as stated by staff.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 1, 2025
On the motion, Council member Martinez-Rubin thanked Mr. Menis for transcribing the portion of the meeting minutes he wanted revised.
ACTION: Motion by Council members Toms/Murphy to adopt Consent Calendar Item 9A, subject to staff review of the revisions requested by and working with Mr. Menis, and Items 9B and 9C, as shown.
Vote: Passed 5-0
yes Sasai, Tave, Martinez-Rubin, Murphy, Toms
loes None
Abstain: None
Absent: None
10. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None
11. OLD BUSINESS: None
12. NEW BUSINESS
A. Painted Crosswalk Sponsorship. Action: Receive Update on Painted Crosswalks (Kelcey Young)
City Manager Young provided a PowerPoint presentation on the Painted Crosswalk Sponsorship Program and reported that staff was currently looking for sponsors and volunteers to help enhance pedestrian safety and beautify downtown Pinole by transforming crosswalks into vibrant works of art. Three potential locations had been identified including San Pablo Avenue and Pinole Valley Road (either location or both); Pinole Valley Road at Pinole Valley High School and Pinole Valley Road at Pinole Valley Park (multiple options). She highlighted the potential ideas for artwork, emphasized the City would be open to all ideas based on feedback from artists in the community and clarified the crosswalks would still be required to adhere to standard criteria such as crosswalks near schools must be yellow.
Next steps included: work with the Council Subcommittee on guidelines and strategy; work with the City's Commissions; a call for sponsors, artists and volunteers; request for donations and supplies; and then circle back to the Council Subcommittee for review.
Responding to questions from the City Council, City Manager Young clarified:
• Any formal proposals would be brought back to the Council Subcommittee and thereafter to the City Council for final approval. (Murphy)
• Reference to the "Subcommittee" needed to be clarified by staff whether it was an existing City Council Subcommittee or a new Subcommittee, with staff to get back to the City Council with verification. (Mayor Sasai)
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 1, 2025
• Acknowledged a recommendation for staff to contact the City's Liaison with Republic Services with respect to Republic Services' Household Hazardous Waste Program, where residents were allowed to drop off old paint to determine whether it was possible the used paint could be used as a resource for paint supplies. (Martinez-Rubin)
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
Rafael Menis asked about the level of permanence the City Council was looking for in the crosswalks, whether the paint was intended to last a month, few months, a year, decade or longer; the cost range the City was anticipating each crosswalk would cost; whether sponsorships would be from individuals, groups, businesses or community organizations; whether joint sponsorships would be possible and the magnitude of expected sponsorships. In terms of the types of painted crosswalks, he noted the sample of a painted crosswalk located in the City of Santa Rosa included a Progress Pride Flag, and he asked if that would fit as an example flag for the crosswalk standards. He also asked about the timeline for the process given his understanding this project would go to a Council Subcommittee, then City Commissions would be asked to provide feedback and then the project would return to the City Council. He further asked if the project was intended to be completed this fiscal year or whether it would be a longer-term project.
City Manager Young clarified Council members Martinez-Rubin and Toms had been appointed to the Subcommittee. In response to the public comments, she clarified many of the questions remained to be determined, although when she had done similar programs in the past, the range of cost had been around $5,000 per crosswalk for supplies not including labor which was more expensive. Costs could depend on the level of volunteerism and how complicated the crosswalk.
She acknowledged all road paint wore down fairly quickly unless thermal plastic was considered, which required professional application and was not something volunteers could do. In addition, she acknowledged some data had shown that micro-plastics came off of the thermal plastic, which would be another consideration. There remained a lot to be discussed with the Council Subcommittee on the direction to be taken for this project.
Anthony Vossbrink understood the City had partial funding through a transportation grant that could be secured for part, if not all, of the project. Given the labor costs, he asked who would provide the labor, whether the Public Works Department would be charged or a separate crew considered minus any volunteer work, and whether efforts would be made to ensure the work was done properly. He noted the last time the City had the Public Works Department do some semi- major striping close to crosswalks up and down Pinole Valley Road and other places, they had not removed the old mileage imprints but had painted over the stencil, which had taken four to five people to do half an intersection. Weeks later, the paint job had been smeared due to passing traffic. He hoped the City would ensure the work was done right. He also asked whether the Traffic and Pedestrian Safety (TAPS) Committee would be represented on the Council Subcommittee, whether the TAPS Committee had been asked to provide any feedback on the project, and if not, suggested the TAPS Committee be disbanded since recent meetings had been canceled.
City Manager Young explained that City Commissions would include the TAPS Committee, which would also be asked to provide feedback for this project. She expressed the willingness to meet with Mr. Vossbrink in person to respond to any further questions or could respond to questions provided in writing.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 1, 2025
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
13. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD (Continued from Item 6) (Public Comments) Only open to members of the public who did not speak under the first Citizens to be Heard, Agenda Item 6.
Citizens may speak under any item not listed on the Agenda. The time limit is 3 minutes and is subject to modification by the Mayor. Individuals may not share or offer time to another speaker.
Pursuant to provisions of the Brown Act, no action may be taken on a matter unless it is listed on the agenda, or unless certain emergency or special circumstances exist. The City Council may direct staff to investigate and/or schedule certain matters for consideration at a future Council meeting.
Rafael Menis commented on the number of street lights failing in the community including the lights outside City Hall and various points throughout the City. He asked whether there were any plans to provide an update on the City website including a timeline for repair. He also provided an update on the COVID-19 rate in the community as of March 22, 2025, which was 2.58 per 100,000 nationally, an improvement but still above where they were in October-November 2024.
He urged continued precautions for those who were immunocompromised, elderly and at greater risk from COVID-19, and encouraged wearing masks in indoor crowded settings and receive booster shots.
Mr. Menis also spoke to the extraordinary events occurring at the national level and reported on a series of events planned for April 5, 2025 in many cities including the cities of Hercules and San Pablo, titled, Hands Off, a non-violent, public protest against the actions of the Trump Administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and Elon Musk in particular. He planned to attend the event from 11:00 a.m.to 1:00 p.m. at the intersection of San Pablo and Sycamore Avenues located in the City of Hercules. He hoped to see others participate.
He emphasized the current situation was unacceptable, the people needed to make it clear to the government through public protests, a First Amendment right, that they were not okay with this and needed to stand against it.
Anthony Vossbrink asked about the status of traffic security cameras throughout the City; the number of security cameras and how many were in working order. While a report had been provided six years ago, there had been no updates. Security cameras helped with speed and traffic violations and major incidents around crime in the City. He also asked for an update on why there were so many streetlight outages up and down San Pablo Avenue, many of which had been reported by others for months, and asked about the timing and queuing of stop lights up and down Pinole Valley Road that led to bad carbon emissions and which should be reduced.
Mayor Sasai reiterated the City Council will convene into Closed Session at this time as shown on the meeting agenda.
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
Rafael Menis, speaking to Closed Session Item 4B, reiterated comments he made at the prior City Council meeting in praise of City Manager Young.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 1, 2025
Mr. Menis was surprised this topic was taking multiple City Council meetings, and while he was unaware of what occurred in Closed Session and behind closed doors, he found it odd this topic needed multiple meetings to resolve given the excellent work the City Manager had done.
Anthony Vossbrink also spoke to Closed Session Item 4B, and commented he and others over the past week or two had discussed the Closed Session. He asked what was going on with what he described as a long, drawn-out evaluation of the City Manager. The majority of people he had spoken to were of the opinion the City Manager had down a great job working with the City Council and the Mayor. The last time the City Council evaluated the performance of the City Manager the Closed Session was supposed to last one to one and a half hours, but actually went over two and a half hours. He suggested the voting public had a right to know what was happening behind closed doors.
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
Mayor Sasai reiterated the City Council would adjourn to Closed Session with a report out at the next City Council meeting.
14. ADJOURNMENT to Closed Session and thereafter to the Regular Meeting of April 15, 2025 in Remembrance of Amber Swartz.
At 6:04 p.m., Mayor Sasai adjourned the meeting to a Closed Session and thereafter to the Regular City Council Meeting of April 15, 2025 in Remembrance of Amber Swartz.
Submitted by:
Heather Bell, CMC
City Clerk
Approved by City Council: April 15, 2025
OF
CITY PINOLE
+
1903 E06l
CALIFORNIA
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 1, 2025