CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MINUTES
April 15, 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 Sasa caled the Regular let or the Cly Couns 10 order a 500p pm and ced the Pledge or
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Before we begin, we would like to acknowledge the Ohlone people, who are the traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respects to the Ohlone elders, past, present and future, who 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 identity 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
Eric Casher, City Attorney
Markisha Guillory, Finance Director
indrea Dwyer, Community Services Directo
illv Whalen, Community Development Directo
Kapil Amin, Sustainability Fellow
Mayor Sasai reported the City Council had adjourned its last meeting following a Closed Session for a Performance Evaluation of the City Manager. There was no reportable action from the Closed Session.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
City Clerk Heather Bell announced the agenda had been posted on April 10, 2025 at 4:30 p.m. with all legally required written notices. A written comment 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.
CONVENE TO A CLOSED SESSION - Please note: This item will be taken out of order at the 4/15/25 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. PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
Gov. Code 8 54957
Title: City Manager
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
City Clerk Bell reported there were no comments from the public.
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
5. RECONVENE IN OPEN SESSION TO ANNOUNCE RESULTS OF CLOSED SESSION There was no report.
6. 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.
Irma Ruport, expressed concern with what was occurring at the national level and thanked Council member Murphy for his comments that national situations do effect what happened at the local level. She reported she attended the recent Hands-Off rally in the City of Hercules and met an 86-year-old woman protesting and marching so her 401K was not taken away. In the past two weeks there had been articles in the newspaper about the City of Pleasanton dealing with a deficit where that jurisdiction was considering cutting some of its services such as the library and fire stations. The City of San Pablo was also having issues with money. She suggested the country was in a recession with no money to spend and there was a need to watch and protect what they had. She repeatedly requested information on the financial status of the City, and while it had been reported the City was "fine," she wanted to know how fine. She emphasized the City needed to get moving on budget reporting every quarter, pointed out the stock market had significantly fallen on two occasions in the last week, and many people had lost their pensions. As a former federal government employee, she has gone through a recession and it was not fun.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
Ms. Ruport emphasized the City of Pinole had gone through a recession at which time some of the current City Council and City employees had been present and it was not a pretty sight.
During that time half of the City's employees had been released. She urged the City Council to get a reality check, get the facts on the table and the budget on board.
7. REPORTS & COMMUNICATIONS
A. Mayor Report
1. Announcements
Mayor Sasai hoped everyone was having a wonderful spring so far. He reported he attended the Contra Costa Mayors' Conference and a WestCat Board of Directors meeting at which time there had been feedback from the community about a comprehensive overview of WestCat services.
He was happy to provide copies of the presentation provided. He also attended his alma mater, Diablo Valley College (DVC) for a talk with students about civic engagement and how to be involved more deeply whether on a Board, Commission or come to City Hall to share one's voice.
He thanked DVC for the invitation.
Mayor Sasai invited everyone to the Earth Day Walk scheduled for April 19, 2025 at Fernandez Park from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., an event he planned to attend. He hoped everyone would join him.
Mayor Sasai also referenced a recent dispute between community members in Pinole which had been videotaped and made public. Unfortunately, there had been racist comments made and anti-immigrant rhetoric used. He emphasized the City Council has repeatedly condemned any sort of hate in the community in any form and if anyone had any inclination to make such remarks, he asked that they please not come to Pinole since that behavior was not welcome. He added the City Council had previously mandated in every public facility in Pinole resources from the California Versus Hate Department and he provided examples of some of the flyers that informed people in different languages of the resources available from the state. This information was available via a hotline, website and portal to log incidents of hate crimes. He emphasized that such hateful rhetoric was not welcome in the City and City staff was taking a closer look at the incident. He thanked the Pinole Police Department for its response to the incident.
B. Mayoral & Council Appointments: None
C. City Council Committee Reports & Communications
Council member Martinez-Rubin reported she attended a WestCat Board meeting with the WestCat Evolution Study having been presented at the April 10 WestCat Board meeting, and referred to a report that was part of the meeting packet titled Public Engagement Results Summary, which could be accessed on the WestCat website where more specific detailed information was available via e-mail from her or the Mayor who had access to the slide deck of the particulars. This information and financially-related matters in combination would inform the future direction of WestCat services. She also attended a Community Seder, a Jewish Observation of Passover at Temple Beth Hillel.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
Council member Martinez-Rubin commented she sat next to a couple of people who had expressed concern about the state of affairs at the national level, in particular concerns with federal cuts to scientific research and impacts to fiscal related matters such as the availability of housing and what it meant to make decisions in the short term locally along with the broader community impacts in the long term. She wished everyone a Happy Passover and Easter.
Council member Murphy reported he attended the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors (BOS) meeting, at which time there had been a discussion about the African-American Resource and Wellness Hub. He commented over the past 16-months the County has been working with the Steering Committee appointed by the BOS to create an African-American Resource and Wellness Hub primarily at a location in the City of Antioch, with substations in West County, County had committed $7.5 million for the initiative and Councilmembers, Mayors, local electeds and Special Districts had been fighting for the continuation of funding with African-Americans in Contra Costa County having experienced disparities in health, criminal violations and having been victims of different issues in the County disproportionately as compared to any other race and ethnicity. He, along with other electeds including the entire City Council for the City of Hercules, had written letters to the BOS asking them to continue pushing for implementation of this initiative.
The main hub would be centered in the City of Antioch and many conversations were exploring the possibility of different satellite and substations, including a location in Pinole.
Council member Murphy also reported the BOS reviewed a feasibility report that identified different real estate parcels the hub could be centered in the City of Antioch. More information could be obtained from the BOS and County staff. He was honored to join with so many local electeds in the County to ensure this initiative was a priority.
Council member Murphy added that Marin Clean Energy (MCE) hosted the inaugural Because of Youth Festival at Contra Costa College where young people had been invited to tell their stories and explore climate justice pathways in local communities. Participants had been able to learn about internships and volunteer opportunities, connect with guest speakers and participate in games and live music. He was inspired by the incredible power for the story telling of the young people. The MCE Board Technical Committee also met and decided to move forward with a Proposed Hourly Flex Pilot Program, a pilot program offering ways to lower energy costs and the Additional specifics on the program were provided with more information on the MCE website or Thursday, April 17, 2025.
Council member Toms reported she attended the Egg-Stravaganza event and she appreciated the Community Services Department for putting the event together, which had been well attended by families. She also attended the West County Forum, a group of mostly retired leaders to discuss topics of interest in West County, with a speaker from the Office of Emergency Services (OES) for West County having provided an overview of the protocol in the event of an emergency and the connections between the county OES, state and federal government trickling down to local jurisdictions and volunteers.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
Council member Toms also reported the East Bay Wildfire Coalition would meet on April 16, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. in the City of El Cerrito, to discuss policies related to Zone Zero, which looked at landscaping and other flammable items that one may have from zero to six feet from a property to consider policies related to the hazards in that area. The Coalition would also receive a presentation from PG&E officials on fire reduction. The meeting would be in-person and available on Zoom.
Council member Toms also stated she planned to attend the League of California Cities Legislative discussion on fire issues and insurance. In addition, she attended the Pinole Seals opening evening for swim practice and stated the pool would be open to the general public this weekend. The pool would be open for lap swimming and recreational swimming on weekends from April through June.
D. Council Requests for Future Agenda Items: None
E. City Manager Report / Department Staff
City Manager Kelcey Young thanked the Community Services Department for the Egg- Stravaganza event and all City staff involved in planning the event, which had a fantastic turnout.
She too reported on the season opening for the Swim Center on April 19, 2025 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., with the first 25 participants to receive free entry; Pinole Earth Walk would be April 19, 2025 from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. starting at Fernandez Park and following the walk there would be eco- activities offered with Pinole Artisans. Also, to celebrate Earth Day, members of the Police Department would be at Pinole Library on April 17, 2025 at 10:30 a.m. to read an Earth-themed book during family story time.
City Manager Young added the Police Department had started to issue warnings for those vehicles parked in violation of the daylighting law, which prohibited parking within 20-feet of a crosswalk on the approach side or 15-feet where a curb extension existed. She stated anyone may reach out to staff with any questions. Warnings would be issued in an effort to educate the community on the new legislation and issuance of citations would likely be considered around May 6, 2025.
City Manager Young reported the City Council meeting of May 6, 2025 would include the first draft of the City budget, and if any community members had questions they were asked to attend her office hours from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. every Thursday. On May 13, 2025, there would be a Budget Workshop where the community would be invited to participate and provide feedback.
City Manager Young thanked the Public Works Department for its completion of a substantial amount of work over the past week, including covering up graffiti in several areas including Pinole Creek Trail and Fernandez Park and the repair of potholes and minor road repairs on Doidge Avenue. The Public Works Department would continue to conduct these road repairs which were temporary repairs while the City was working on a larger road maintenance plan and road rehabilitation plan to be considered in the next budget. Further, Community Services Day would be May 17, 2025.
City Attorney Report: None
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED (Items 7D through 7F)
Rafael Menis, commented the City's Events Calendar had shown Coffee with the Cop on April 16, 2025 but the event was no longer shown and he asked if it had been canceled. He also asked about the status of Finance Subcommittee meetings.
City Manager Young clarified Coffee with the Cop would still be held and she would check to see why it had not been shown on the City Events Calendar.
City Clerk Bell announced the Finance Subcommittee meeting had been rescheduled and would be held on April 25, 2025 at 3:00 p.m., with the website to be updated accordingly.
Irma Ruport, commented the City held budget workshops in the past and she sought back and forth questions and information prior to the workshop.
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
8. RECOGNITIONS / PRESENTATIONS / COMMUNITY EVENTS
A. Proclamations
1. Earth Day
The City Council read into the record a proclamation recognizing April 22, 2025 as Earth Day.
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
Noah Slager, coordinator for Pinole Valley High School (PVHS) Earth Team, stated the PVHS Earth Team were the leaders all year, driving the change they wanted to see in their communities.
PVHS Earth Team would have a table at the Earth Day celebration and he was proud of the work done. Earth Team had a vision for the future that was environmentally friendly, inclusive and inspiring and he hoped everyone would participate in Earth Day and meet the team.
Mayor Sasai recognized West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) Trustee Area 1, Jamela Smith-Folds present in the audience, who stated PVHS Earth Team had always been a leader in the WCCUSD, and the reason why the calendar was named Indigenous Peoples Day.
PVHS had an African-American event that was all-inclusive and included all school clubs. She expressed her appreciation to the students and administrators at PVHS who continued to lead with their voices and power.
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
2. Arbor Day
The City Council read into the record a proclamation recognizing April 25, 2025 as Arbor Day.
3. Autism Acceptance Month
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Vinutes - April 15, 2025
The City Council read into the record a proclamation recognizing the month of April as Autism Acceptance Month, with the proclamation to be presented to a recipient after the City Council meeting.
Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month
The City Council read into the record a proclamation recognizing the month of March 2025 as Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month, with the proclamation to be presented to a recipient after the City Council meeting.
5. Parkinsons Awareness Month
The City Council read into the record a proclamation recognizing the month of April as Parkinsons Awareness Month, with the proclamation to be presented to a recipient after the City Council meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
There were no comments from the public.
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
B. Presentations
Framework for Enhancing Climate Education at Pinole Valley High School by PVHS Earth Team
Sustainability Fellow Kapil Amin introduced the PVHS Earth Team members who would provide a presentation on Enhancing Climate Education at PVHS, with a focus on climate resilience strategies and education.
Natalie Szumlas, PVHS Earth Team, explained that Earth Team was a youth Earth Team internship in a non-profit organization, with a focus on empowering youth to become environmental stewards. They planned to achieve this through sharing environmental knowledge through the community and ultimately achieve this goal through promoting different pathways ir college, whether through environmental science or technology careers where students woul spread their peer-to-peer education and environmental knowledge with one another.
A PowerPoint presentation was provided by each member of PVHS Earth Team including Angela Tran, Camila Castillo, Caroline Arreola, Ahmad Dharhan, Donovan Bantay, Melanie Saenz and Dominique Acosta, and included an overview of the Climate Literacy Framework to educate students on climate literacy, with a key focus on tackling environmental challenges affecting West County and with the intent to get the community involved by implementing events within the curriculum, providing engaging and interactive events and community-based events.
The Climate Literacy Framework would also focus on local issues and relevance including wildfire prevention and rising sea levels.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
The various steps to be taken within the school system included an expansion of recycling programs, promotion of reusable materials, mandatory environmental based curriculum for students to take in order to graduate and a three-strike policy to enforce recycling and proper disposal of waste on campus with detention or mandatory community service after three strikes.
The ways in which students and adults could assist Earth Team's mission included community science projects, enforced transition to eco-friendly heat pumps, letting students calculate their community's own carbon footprint and the creation of a public garden.
The Implementation Plan for the Earth Team mission included involvement from the local school board, local communities, Friends of Pinole Creek Watershed, new rising voices, the Rotary Club, Gardening Club and with the required resources including data collections and staff and student surveys on how to improve the plan. The responsibilities for each step of the Implementation Plan, call to action to students and future generations to step up and take action and next steps were all highlighted. The City Council could support this initiative by supporting the benefits of implementing climate literacy into its school systems.
Mayor Sasai commended Earth Team for its important presentation in an effort to preserve the environment.
Council member Toms explained she had recently retired from a career after getting her degree in Environmental Studies and Geography, which was an area of expertise expanding in different jurisdictions and she encouraged Earth Team to keep going on its efforts.
Council member Murphy appreciated the presentation and thanked Earth Team for its proposed framework, setting the intention and knowledge that the framework may change over time. He asked whether the students had read the City's Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) and encouraged them to contact City staff to obtain that information and possibly identify pieces of the CAAP where there could be alignment with Earth Team's efforts. There may also be alignment between the work of RecycleMore and Earth Team.
Mayor Pro Tem Tave agreed there was a lot of alignment with RecycleMore, which involved different jurisdictions in West County, and which organization handled waste in the community.
He thanked Earth Team for its information and presentation. As a Licensed Civil Engineer, he commented that there was a lack of people in the field and as a fan of paid internships, he urged students to pursue the ever-changing industry and the available opportunities. encouraged Earth Team to remain in contact with Sustainability Fellow Amin and voice their comments in a public forum.
Council member Martinez-Rubin detailed the City documents/resources available to students about this topic. The call for support for implementing climate literacy in the school system could be City Hall sharing those documents. The Sustainability Fellow was also a good resource. She emphasized the importance of pipelines and being involved in a project. In terms of keeping the PVHS campus clean, she recognized that was a long-term effort and she was curious how the administration would help with that goal. She also explained she was a Public Health Educator by training. In the schools of public health there were several tracks, one of which was Environmental Health focusing on environmental studies and research and the applications of theory in the field and the epidemiology, collection of data, specific to diseases, new trends, cases and prevalence of certain conditions, such as quality of water as an example.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
As PVHS Earth Team collected data, it was important since data helped to support opinion and they had to balance opinions with information gathered systematically and representatively, which would be the kinds of things one learned in schools of public health.
Council member Martinez-Rubin urged PVHS Earth Team to consider those opportunities. She added she had a Master's Degree in Public Health with a focus on Behavioral Science, Health, Education and Population Family Health. She also spoke to her background as a Council member and commented one of the biggest challenges and skills one learned was interacting with one another toward a common goal. She urged Earth Team to continue its efforts and help keep the quality of Pinole at a high level, and invite guests to enjoy the City. She otherwise asked whether the single use plastic policy was being spearheaded by VHS Earth Team school by school or whether there was a WCCUSD-wide policy that banned single use plastics.
Trustee Smith-Folds advised PVHS Earth Team was the leader in everything. The idea that the students had to ban single use plastics and ensure they were using utensils and other food equipment in a way that was more than just one time was something the WCCUSD took seriously but needed to be led by the students since the WCCUSD was comprised of 55 schools with a lot going on. She understood that Earth Team would be asking the City Council to commit funds for the project in the future in order to get the initiative off the ground.
Trustee Smith-Folds commented in terms of banning single use plastic utensils, as an example, that while the WCCUSD had a process, it also started at the local level. She noted PVHS had extra trash cans because the administrator pushed for it because he saw the problem and listened to the students. She emphasized if a ground swell at one site could pop around to other sites, it would be a benefit for the students to reach out to her to navigate at the WCCUSD level.
Council member Martinez-Rubin understood Earth Team operated on one campus and she asked if Earth Team was also involved with other campuses, and one of the Earth Team members confirmed there were multiple Earth Teams in Richmond schools.
The PVHS Earth Team Coordinator explained there were ten campuses they worked with all around the East Bay and in Contra Costa County, including in the cities of Pittsburg, Antioch, Richmond and Pinole and also in Alameda County.
Council member Martinez-Rubin understood there was a ground swell at PVHS but more work needed to be done elsewhere.
Mayor Sasai asked for more clarification of the three strikes policy and Earth Team members explained if a student was caught littering after three times they would enforce a requirement for community service after school or community service at a public garden, library or other community location. The policy would be enforced through the administration and through students. Earth Team wanted to get that policy implemented and students at PVHS to care about their environment.
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
Rafael Menis, congratulated the PVHS student body on its presentation. On a reference in the PowerPoint presentation that the Fire Marshal had stated all of the City of Pinole was located in a Very High Fire Hazard Risk Area, he stated the City of Pinole website had posted a relatively recent news article that had indicated the High Fire Severity Zones had recently been reclassified as Moderate. He asked whether Earth Team had referenced a different hazard zone.
A member of the PVHS Earth Team explained that an article she had obtained that contained that information was from two to three years ago, and while the information may have changed it was still a relevant issue and why it had been included in the presentation.
Ann Moriarty, Friends of Pinole Creek Watershed, reported Friends of Pinole Creek Watershed had been working with the PVHS Earth Team for several years and was very proud of that collaboration. She was proud listening to the presentation and the comments, and commented the first time they had interacted this year it had been pouring rain, with a number of students having brought family members, and they all worked together and their commitment and work spoke for itself. She loved the fact that while the high fire designation had changed, students still felt it was important to keep in the presentation and they had a reason for what they were doing She thanked the City Council for its support and PVHS Earth Team for the collaboration she looked forward to continuing over the years.
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
Mayor Sasai again thanked PVHS Earth Team for its presentation. He encouraged students to attend future City Council meetings to provide feedback. He stated for the record he was a Political Science Public Service Major and people were needed on this side of the dais as well to move policy and progress the community.
2. Pinole Valley High School Principal Introduction: Todd Irving Community Services Director Andrea Dwyer presented Todd Irving, PVHS Principal, to the City Council.
PVHS Principal Todd Irving provided an extensive PowerPoint presentation to highlight his family and his 36-years in education along with an overview of proven values in education leadership and his first 90-day plan for PVHS including listening and learning, sharing and building, implementing and growing; and why school culture was important. He referred to the Western Association of Schools and College (WASC) process and its principles, identified PVHS' current Mission and Vision Statements to ensure alignment with those of the WCCUSD, and detailed the WASC process that offered the school its accreditation and governed high schools nationwide, with four areas of focus: data collection, multi-tiered support systems, instructional practice and justice and with PVHS information on the status of progress in each area.
Principal Irving's presentation detailed most areas of operation and his goals for PVHS, to continue a WASC focus, early Master Schedule completion, teacher retention and training, successful transition for incoming gth graders, and school-wide grading policy for equity.
Opportunities and growth would be ongoing in all areas and include communication to parents and community, parent participation in school-related activities and more city participation and events.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
Principal Irving advised in order for this to work he needed collaboration and a team effort from all including all VHS faculty, some of whom were present in the audience, and support from school staff and the WCCUSD front office. He was confident those goals could be accomplished.
He thanked the City Council for the opportunity to share his vision and goals for PVHS' future.
Mayor Sasai thanked Principal Irving for taking the time to be present before the City Council.
Responding to questions from the City Council, Principal Irving clarified the following:
• The conversations he had with PVHS staff about their personal backgrounds and efforts to check and ensure students and faculty were mentally well and ready to return to school after the pandemic. (Martinez-Rubin)
• The experiences he brought to PVHS and his 36-year education background. (Martinez- Rubin)
• Emphasized the need to respect everyone's race and what he could offer in conversations as an African-American man in recognition of PVHS's diverse campus and need to create an atmosphere where people were willing to take risks and do some self-reflection while also recognizing every person was at a different stage in terms of reflection on race, class and diversity. (Martinez-Rubin)
• The student population at PVHS was around 1,265 students. (Mayor Pro Tem Tave) • PVHS student population was based on the number of teachers strictly based on the student to teacher ratio in the teachers' contract. (Mayor Pro Tem Tave) • The WCCUSD was doing a lot of work on teacher retention. Whenever there was a vacancy, efforts were made to hire the right teacher given the culture, standard, expectation and desire to build a certain culture at the school. (Mayor Pro Tem Tave) Council member Murphy acknowledged Principal Irving's work and leadership in the WCCUSD and the proposed framework of change management for PVHS. He urged Principal Irving to keep the City accountable to his values of how to support him and looked forward to a future walk through of the schools. He commented on his experience with big issues and noted the DoorDash issue was a big thing for the students and he was glad that issue was passed. He suggested that students had built trust for his leadership in the school.
Council member Toms thanked Principal Irving for the presentation and congratulated him on his first year at PVHS. As an alumnus and having her children graduate from the school she had been very involved through the years and she clarified how she could find out about school events such as sporting events, special presentations and how community members could learn about events where the public could participate even if they did not have children in the school.
Principal Irving described the Parent Portal and Parent Teacher Facebook page that was used and postings were also provided on the campus marquee. Any additional suggestions and ideas to improve communications could be forwarded to him given his desire that the school would be the hub for the community.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
Council member Toms suggested it would be nice to have a school calendar for community members and information in the Parent Portal would be useful as well for various events, which was important for the school and the community.
Mayor Sasai spoke to the anti-racism framework that was important for students to understand as part of the culture of the school. He asked how that would be implemented and how students would be impacted by the framework.
Principal Irving explained when he had initially met with teachers he advised that PVHS would be an anti-racist campus. A consultant had come to the campus and described what that meant, and he had later had grade level discussions with students about what it meant to be an anti- racist campus and there had been discussions about Black, Brown, Asian, Filipino, Brazilian, Puerto Rican, LGBTQ+, and when it had been named, it had been given life and students had expressed to him that they were comfortable approaching him with any concerns since he had addressed it, and this was how to build an anti-racist campus. If a student was of the opinion an adult was making them feel uncomfortable, as an example, the student could bring it to his attention and he would have a conversation with the adult, and it would ensure the creation of a culture where everyone was comfortable. He hoped that comfort would get better and better over the years. School was the place to teach and students to learn.
Mayor Sasai commented on the issues at the federal level regarding immigration and asked about the temperature of the conversations between PVHS leadership, teachers and students around those who had varying immigration statuses, and the response from the school and different protections to students and families.
Principal Irving advised the WCCUSD had addressed this issue with teachers and students. He had a group of students inquire what they would do if someone tried to come on campus and take them away. He emphasized they would not allow anyone to come on campus and remove a student. In that event, he would contact his Director, the Director would come to the campus and support him and that was the way to support the students. He was also dealing with parents feeling uncomfortable coming to campus since they were fearful of something happening to them.
The WCCUSD was working on ways to deal with that situation by communicating through e-mails or phone calls. These issues were being addressed. There was no perfect wall and they consistently evaluate what could be done better.
Mayor Sasai was pleased with the recognition that the beauty and strength of the community of Pinole was its diversity. He was inspired, impressed and proud of Principal Irving's leadership and he looked forward to working with him.
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
WCCUSD Trustee Smith-Folds explained that part of the reason Pinole was so successful was its leadership with a vision, a plan and a framework, and which had the students at the center and the community in its sphere. WCCUSD was an anti-racist district and PVHS an anti-racist school site. Anti-racism was very clear, there was no neutrality in racism, you were either actively working to dismantle racism or not. The WCCUSD was actively working to dismantle racism in all its forms.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
WCCUSD Trustee Smith-Folds added that getting off of WASC probation was a huge step since students could lose the right to a diploma if the school was on WASC probation. She had attended the meeting with WASC, which was impressed with the steps the school had taken. She thanked PVHS staff present in support and emphasized the City Council was needed at PVHS, at Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meetings and volunteering at school events subject to the badging process for the WCCUSD, and needed to support students.
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
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 member(s) 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 April 1, 2025.
B. Receive the March 29, 2025 - April 11, 2025, List of Warrants in the Amount of $923,907.58 and the April 11, 2025 Payroll in the Amount of $558,630.11.
C. Adopt a Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of $952,000 in MTC Climate Implementation Grant Funds, Committing $123,331.18 in Matching Funds, and Providing Assurance to Complete the "Expanding Electric Vehicle Charging in Pinole, CA" Project. Action: Adopt Resolution per Staff Recommendation (Lilly Whalen, Kapil Amin)
D. Prop 218 Process - Solid Waste Collection Rates. Action: Receive information regarding the franchise fee for Republic Services and approve 218 Notice (Kelcey Young)
E. Council Retreat Summary. Action: Receive Report (Kelcey Young) F. Adopt a Resolution Approving a Determination of Public Convenience or Necessity (PCN) for Diosa Restaurant located at 2361 San Pablo Avenue. Action: Adopt a Resolution per Staff Recommendation (David Hanham)
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
Irma Ruport, referenced past agenda items she had requested through Public Records Act (PRA) requests that she would review and provide comments at a later time. As to Item 9E, while the Council Retreat had been held on January 31 and February 1, 2025, she guessed getting the information now was better late than never.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
Ms. Ruport questioned why the agenda items included in the Council Retreat Summary had not been passed on to everyone. There had been 24 comments/ideas/priorities that were listed in the information, in particular Item 7. Selling and/or developing Faria House and the Community Corner, and she noted there was no such resolution for developing the Faria House; it was to be sold. If there was some misunderstanding that needed to be straightened out.
Ms. Ruport thanked the City Manager for preparing the document. The public should be aware of the Council priorities, as listed in the summary, and she hoped the City Council reviewed all items and brought them back to the public and agendized them as a report and/or communication to ensure everyone was on the same page. She suggested the City was heading down a hard road in the next six months due to the budget, and she wanted the City Council to take this matter seriously and verify that the Budget Workshop would be a community workshop. She was concerned that a lot of the City's funds could disappear tomorrow and suggested half of the City Council would be gone, given her experience with a recession at the federal level.
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
ACTION: Motion by Council members Toms/Murphy to adopt Consent Calendar Items 9A through 9F, as shown.
Vote: Passed 5-0
Ayes: Sasai, Tave, Martinez-Rubin, Murphy, Toms
Noes: None
Abstain: None
Absent: None
10. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None
11. OLD BUSINESS: None
12. NEW BUSINESS
Update on Partnership for the Bay's Future Grant and Home Restoration Program.
Action: Receive and File (Lilly Whalen)
Community Development Director Lilly Whalen introduced Jared Murti, Housing Policy Fellow through Partnership for the Bay's Future Grant and Home Restoration Program, and Jim Becker, President and CEO, RCF Connects. In 2024, the City of Pinole had been awarded a Policy Grant from the Partnership for the Bay's Future (PBF) in collaboration with the Richmond Community Foundation (RCF Connects) and the Northern California Land Trust (NCLT). The grant supported the implementation of innovative housing strategies focused on equity, community stabilization, and increased homeownership opportunities for local residents, particularly first-time BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) homebuyers. A key initiative of the policy work was a home restoration program that would use private investment in partnership with the City to acquire and rehabilitate vacant or blighted homes and prioritize BIPOC first-time homebuyers in their sale.
Jared Murti, Housing Fellow through Partnership for the Bay's Future Grant and Home Restoration Program, provided an extensive PowerPoint presentation.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
The presentation updated Partnership for the Bay's Future Grant and Home Restoration Program and included an introduction of the Partnership Model, which was between a few organizations working towards a collective goal of making housing more affordable, accessible, and equitable in the Bay Area. The Partnership Model Design and Site Teams were defined along with the details and objectives for current programs including the Home Restoration Program, Affordable Housing Policy Guide and Rental Registry Program. A Code Enforcement Heat Map, (map identifying code violations) was also highlighted in depth.
Jim Becker, President and CEO, Richmond Community Foundation (RCF Connects), whose mission was to mobilize the power of connection to build healthy, thriving and equitable communities, continued the PowerPoint presentation and highlighted the Social Impact Bond structure and Richmond Pilot Housing Renovation Program.
Mr. Murti further highlighted the Social Impact Bond's Roles and Responsibilities for the City of Pinole, the Site Tea, RCF, NCLT and Capital Partners with next steps including City Council approval of the program, continued work on developing the actual policy and implementing it and once finalized moving forward with the partners identified and begin financial modeling to get housing built in Pinole. Links to reports on the Richmond Social Impact Bond Report and an article from KQED were also provided.
Responding to questions from the City Council, Messiers Murti and Becker clarified the following:
The details for the Richmond Social Impact Bond were again highlighted. An indenture agreement would be required to be amended to continue the bond for another five years.
The City of Richmond was now in its third indenture agreement and the City of Fresno was in its first indenture agreement. The details for the bond process were further explained. RCF Connects worked with the City of Richmond's Bond Counsel who had created all of the bond documents as templates for any city to use and they were working with Mechanics Bank to create a structure that may not require the issuance of bonds.
There were certain values to banks to purchase the bonds but there was also a possibility the bank may be able to create a new banking instrument to allow the same process without the sale of bonds. Whether it was legal or could happen was not known as yet.
For small cities that did not have ongoing Bond Counsel on retainer, this could be a challenge and efforts were being made to address that issue. Bond Counsel for the City of Richmond had developed a model pro bono. Clarified the City of Fresno paid for its attorney's fees out of the bond's funds and it was confirmed those costs and staff costs could be covered through the bond issuance. (Toms)
• The Roles and Responsibilities for the Social Impact Bond, as detailed in the PowerPoint presentation, and who had the role of educating the public through both RCF Connects and the NCLT were noted. In terms of the role of MCE, one of the advantages of private investors was that they had marketing departments. Investors for the Richmond and Fresno bonds had marketing teams who were promoting the role the cities were doing, the values and benefits of the project and how to get into the queue to become a first-time homebuyer for one of the potential properties, all in partnership with the investor's marketing team. RCF Connects reported this project had won several awards and had recently won the East Bay Community Impact Award. (Murphy) Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
• RCF Connects also had strong connections with local first-time homebuyer programs and their graduates had first right of purchase and would work with local realtors and price the property below market, with those graduates able to purchase the home for that price without competition. (Murphy)
• Impacts on funding for code enforcement officers and those departments were also provided and if the City moved forward with this project, RCF Connects acknowledged the need for the City to understand its liabilities in terms of staff time and the ways the City would be saving money, which were great details of the programs underscoring the building of an affordable community, while also recognizing the City of Pinole was a very diverse community. Understanding that data and expanding the program in Pinole was noted. (Murphy)
• The Home Restoration and Affordable Housing Programs were again detailed as shown in the PowerPoint presentation. Potential properties for the program, as examples, could be properties that had been abandoned and the home demolished years ago and would build new or properties where mom and dad lived in the home and the children elsewhere and the parents passed away and no one took on the property and there were unpaid tax liens, could be taken on as part of the program. As another example, if someone lived in the property and the home needed repair, they would be referred to a partner of RCF Connects, Building Together, who would come in if someone was in the home and owned the property with a lot of deferred maintenance where that organization could provide some assistance. That was not a normal property that would be targeted for acquisition for the program unless the property owner wanted to sell the property and it penciled out. • RCF Connects was a not-for-profit community foundation, which had two sides; a grant making side and an initiative side, and programs offered by RCF Connects facilitated or operated directly. The foundation side of RCF Connects had been used to create the model of financing that had been detailed in the PowerPoint presentation. Examples of how it would work were offered, as shown in the PowerPoint presentation, and the time periods to be able to acquire the property depended on the situation. (Mayor Pro Tem Tave)
• RCF Connects has not considered public banks as yet since they did not have the same communitv investment law requirements as private banks. Private banks must do these types of investments in order to grow and get better rates for borrowing from the tederal reserve. Public banks did not have to do that and must invest with a city but was not subject to the same community investment act laws since they were different in that regard. RCF Connects was supportive as a foundation of public banks and of the effort ongoing in the East Bay to create a public bank, which RFC Connects suggested was a good idea. (Mayor Pro Tem Tave)
• Clarified the examples provided of the outcomes for the City of Richmond for this program as shown in the PowerPoint presentation reflected an eight-year period. (Martinez-Rubin) • Clarified the kinds of investors in the proposed Home Restoration Program were mostly institutional investors, such as banks, and while there had been some conversations with insurance companies they had not bought into this idea at this time. (Martinez-Rubin) Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
• Next steps were again clarified as shown in the PowerPoint presentation. A model ordinance had been developed by City of Richmond attorneys for evaluation by other cities, which would be the first next step and advised investors and the community the city was supportive of the program and willing to take this step in partnership with RCF Connects. That process could take 60-days or so depending on meeting agendas. The cities of Richmond and Fresno had considered a number of public hearings before the bond had been put on the market to investors. In the case of the City of Richmond, that jurisdiction had three public hearings over a period of 90-days. The City of Fresno had two public hearings that were 30-days apart. The investor presentations would then be considered and there were a number of investors who wanted to come on board with Mechanics Bank and be the next investor for this model, which had received national attention and had been recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (Mayor Sasai)
• In terms of the ordinance that needed to be developed for this program, the Pinole City Council would be asked to support the program and allow staff to work with RCF Connects to develop the model, prepare the fiscal modeling and return with details on how Pinole's ordinance would work. That would require City Council approval. The model ordinance was an opportunity for this and future City Councils to potentially issue these types of bonds or renew an indentured agreement if the first bond was as successful as anticipated. (Mayor Sasai)
• A Rental Registry as part of the Home Restoration Program would be a separate program and also require separate City Council approval. Some cities in the Bay Area were being interviewed to determine how to best model a Rental Registry for the housing stock in Pinole. (Mayor Sasai)
Council member Martinez-Rubin thanked staff for the continued conversations with Messiers Becker and Murti and thanked both men for the presentation.
Mayor Sasai also thanked the presenters for all of the information provided. He looked forward to more information in the future.
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
City Clerk Bell reported there were no comments from the public.
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
ACTION: Motion by Council members Murphy/Martinez-Rubin to Receive and File the Update on Partnership for the Bay's Future Grant and Home Restoration Program.
Vote: Passed 5-0
Ayes: Sasai, Tave, Martinez-Rubin, Murphy, Toms
Noes: None
Abstain: None
Absent: None
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
B. FY 2025/26 Master Fee Schedule. Action: Review Proposed Master Fee Schedule (Markisha Guillory)
Finance Director Markisha Guillory provided a PowerPoint presentation on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025/26 Master Fee Schedule, which included an overview of the background of the Master Fee Schedule; fees included in the Master Fee Schedule including administrative, building, planning, engineering, public safety and non-developmental related fees such as recreation and licensing fees; how fees were determined; cost recovery policy framework; cost recovery and subsidies; fee updates for FY 2025/26 and next steps. The City Council was asked to adopt the Updated Master Fee Schedule at a public hearing scheduled for May 6, 2025. If adopted, the fee changes, as proposed, would become effective July 2025.
Responding to questions from the City Council, Finance Director Guillory clarified the following:
• Staff prepared a Comprehensive User Fee Study two fiscal years ago, which included a thorough cost of services on all City fees at that time. A number of fees had been added at that time including an encroachment fee, which had seen significant increases in that category alone. Pursuant to City policy, each year staff reviewed and could update the fees based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). For FY 2025/26, staff was budgeting for the next User Fee Study and the City was currently on a three-year cycle, typically the industry standard.
• Interms of salary increases, staff was looking into using a different inflationary index other than the CPI and something matched closer with employee salary increases. As an example, the Employment Cost Index (ECI) was used by some cities. The City's standard practice had been to use CPI but they would be looking at using ECl, which was a better reflection since CPI measured a basket of goods, whereas ECI looked at salaries and benefits and staff would look into implementing ECI in the next round. (Mayor Pro Tem Tave)
• The revenue projected from fees aligned with the fees in the Master Fee Schedule and while that had not been shown separately in the budget, staff had accounted for them separately and they all had accounts associated with each fee, which had been included in the budget. That level of detail could be provided in the budget, if so directed Acknowledged a request to know where the projection was for any given department and how the fees had been subsumed and blended into a department's budget and possibly more explanation could be provided during the Budget Workshop. (Martinez-Rubin) The City Council thanked Finance Director Guillory for her comprehensive report.
PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
City Clerk Bell reported there were no comments from the public.
PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
Mayor Sasai explained this was an informational item and the budget would be presented to the City Council on May 6, 2025.
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025
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.
City Clerk Bell reported there were no comments from the public.
Mayor Sasai reiterated the City Council would adjourn to Closed Session with a report out at the next City Council meeting.
City Clerk Bell reported there were no public comments for the Closed Session item.
14. ADJOURNMENT to Closed Session and thereafter to the Regular Meeting of May 6, 2025 in Remembrance of Amber Swartz.
At 7:56 p.m., Mayor Sasai adjourned the meeting to a Closed Session and thereafter to the Regular City Council Meeting of May 6, 2025 in Remembrance of Amber Swartz.
Submitted by:
Heather Bell, CMC
City Clerk
Approved by City Council: May 6, 2025
PINOLE
CITY 1903
8061 *
Pinole City Council Regular Meeting
Minutes - April 15, 2025