January 18, 2024 1
San Carlos City Council/Successor Agency to the
Redevelopment Agency/Housing Authority Special Meeting
Collaboration Room, City Hall
600 Elm Street, San Carlos, CA 94070
January 18, 2024 9:00 AM
MINUTES
ROLL CALL
City Council Present: John Dugan, Mayor
Ronald Collins, Councilmember
Adam Rak, Councilmember
Pranita Venkatesh, Councilmember
City Council Absent:
Sara McDowell, Vice Mayor
Staff Present: Adam Aronson, Economic Development and Housing Manager Nil Blackburn, Assistant City Manager
Brian Cary, Communications Manager
Jerri Cosens, Administrative Sergeant
Lisa Costa Sanders, Principal Planner Consultant
Greg Da Cunha, Deputy Fire Chief
Lou Duran, Public Works Superintendent
Grace Le, City Engineer
Steven Machida, Public Works Director
Jeff Maltbie, City Manager
Andrea Mardesich, Assistant Community Development Director Rebecca Mendenhall, Administrative Services Director
Tyler Muela, Recreation Supervisor
Crystal Mui, City Clerk
Mark Myers, Police Captain
Amy Newby, Parks & Recreation Director
Lisa Porras, Planning Manager
Al Savay, Community Development Director
Chris Valley, Building Official
1. CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Dugan called the meeting to order at 9:02 AM and announced that Vice Mayor McDowell will be absent from this meeting.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
3. STUDY SESSION
a. Strategic Planning Retreat
Mayor Dugan and City Manager Jeff Maltbie commenced the Strategic Retreat.
January 18, 2024 2
Council and staff shared their top accomplishments from the previous year that they’re most proud of and also shared a source of work concern/stress. The main recurring themes of accomplishments include d community engagement, housing, storm response, culture and relationships (council-council, council-staff, with community) . Recurring themes for concerns included staff retention and recruitment, delivering on projects, community acceptance on all the upcoming change, and funding.
The Council reviewed the City’s 2023 Mission, Vision and Values and agreed to update the Mission Statement to include “events”:
The City of San Carlos provides high-quality services, facilities, and events to its residents in an equitable, sustainable, transparent, responsive, and friendly manner to foster an inclusive, safe, and healthy community now and in the future.
Council agreed that no changes were needed to the Vision and Value statements.
Mr. Maltbie suggested that a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) Analysis be conducted at the February 14th Management Retreat.
Council recessed at 10:15 AM and reconvened at 10:20 AM.
The Council then reviewed the 2023 Strategic Plan and provided the below direction for the 2024 Strategic Plan goals.
Goal – Childcare.
• Continue this goal into 2024.
• Shift the goal to be a child-focused outcome and not oriented on the providers. • Elaborate on tasks for Objective #1 - Develop a plan on how to apply childcare funds that are collected through impact fees:
− How are the funds from the impact fees allowed to be used? − Can the requirements on use of the impact fee be changed since they are limited to capital improvements and not operations?
• Collect more data to try and understand this climate that’s in flux. • Continue to encourage developers to put in childcare facilities.
Goal – Climate Change.
• Continue this goal into 2024.
• Consider pursuing additional funding to address objectives. • Create an objective that focuses on resilience to mitigate barriers to achieving resilience (e.g. permitting timelines).
• Consider an annual study session to discuss how we can be more resilient as a city.
Goal – Downtown.
• Continue this goal into 2024.
• Council expressed interest in expediting the plan and providing a demonstration on the 600 and 700 blocks of Laurel Street to help the community visualize what the closed street and a good future “restaurant front” can look like.
Goal – Housing.
• Continue this goal into 2024.
January 18, 2024 3
Goal – Mobility, Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure.
• Continue this goal into 2024.
• Create a new objective highlighting micro-mobility and address all the different initiatives occurring.
• For Objective #2 - identify and implement citywide street and intersection projects and initiatives to improve traffic flow and parking; include short -term ideas that can be implemented.
• Ensure tasks include seniors in the community.
• Consider conducting a study session on the Brittan Avenue sidewalk construction.
Goal – Northeast Area Specific Plan.
• Continue this goal into 2024.
Goal – Recreational Opportunities.
• Continue this goal into 2024.
• Add an objective for the centennial celebrations.
Council recessed at 12:02 PM and reconvened at 12:30 PM.
The facilitators provided a summary of this meeting’s discussions and the high-level direction from the Council.
Council agreed on establishing a process whereby the Mayor takes the lead in responding to all emails sent to the City Council email distribution group and forwards it to the City Manager for follow-up as needed.
Mr. Maltbie directed staff to hold Council subcommittee meetings before February 14 th in preparation for the Management Retreat.
4. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 1:06 PM.
Crystal Mui
City Clerk