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MINUTES OF THE
JOINT MEETING OF THE RULES AND OPEN GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE AND
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2023
The Committee meeting was held in a hybrid format, both in person in the Council Chambers and teleconferenced from remote locations. The meeting convened at 2:00 p.m.
Present: Councilmembers - Kamei, Davis, Foley, Cohen, Jimenez
Absent: Councilmembers - All present.
Staff: Assistant City Manager, Lee Wilcox; City Attorney, Nora Frimann; City Clerk, Joy Rodriguez; City Manager’s Office, Rachelle Blattman; and Deputy City Clerk, Grace Turner.
A. City Council (City Clerk)
1. Review October 17, 2023 Final Agenda
Public Comments:
Blair Beekman offered public comment.
Action:
Upon motion by Councilmember Dev Davis, seconded by Councilmember Pam Foley , and carried unanimously, the Committee approved the final agenda for the City Council meeting on October 17, 2023, with the Add Sheet. (5-0-0)
2. Review October 24, 2023 Draft Agenda
Public Comments:
Blair Beekman offered public comment.
Action:
Upon motion by Councilmember Pam Foley, seconded by Councilmember Dev Davis, and carried unanimously, the Committee approved the draft agenda for the City Council meeting on October 24, 2023, with the evening session cancelled. (5-0-0)
B
. Consent Calendar
Public Comments: B
lair Beekman offered public comment.
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Action: Upon motion by Councilmember Pam Foley, seconded by Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei, and carried unanimously, the Consent Calendar was approved. (5-0-0)
1. The Public Record for September 28 – October 5, 2023. (City Clerk)
The Public Record for September 28 – October 5, 2023, was received and filed.
2. Monthly Report for Activities for September 2023. (City Auditor)
City Auditor’s monthly report of activities for September 2023 was approved.
3. Update to the August - December 2023 Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support Committee Work Plan. (City Auditor/City Manager)
The following amendments to the August - December 2023 Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support (PSFSS) Committee Work Plan were approved to: (a) Drop the Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Strategies Quarterly Status Report from the November 16, 2023, PSFSS Committee meeting and (b) Drop the Language Accessibility Audit Report from the December 7, 2023, PSFSS Committee meeting.
4. The Cost of Residential Development in San José Study Session. (Housing)
The Committee approved setting a City Council Study Session entitled The Cost of Residential Development in San José for Thursday, October 26, 2023, from 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., in the Council Chambers and approving the Study Session agenda.
5. Request to Travel. (Mayor)
The Committee approved authorizing travel, accepting travel payments to the City of San Jose, and designating Mayor’s Staff, Stephen Caines, as the City representative to attend the Bloomberg CityLab event in Washington, D.C. from October 18-20, 2023.
C. Rules Committee Reviews, Recommendations and Approvals
1. Audit of San Jose Animal Care and Services. (Mahan, Kamei, Torres, Ortiz, Doan)
Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei introduced the October 5, 2023 memorandum.
Public Comments: Karen Blair, Deena, Kay, Kelci, Lynn, and Jennifer Flick offered in-person public comment. Tina Morle, Megan Moylan, Liz Holtz, Jennifer Risic, and Navi offered virtual public comment.
Action: Upon motion by Councilmember Dev Davis, seconded by Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei, and carried unanimously, the Committee moved acceptance of the joint memorandum co-authored by Mayor Mahan, Vice Mayor Kamei, Councilmember Torres, Councilmember Ortiz, and Councilmember Doan, dated, October 5, 2023, recommending the following:
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Direct the City Auditor to prioritize an audit of San José Animal Care and Services (SJACS). This audit should cover the following areas:
1. A comparison of SJACS operations against industry standards for:
a. Staffing and protocols for animal care and veterinary services, paying special attention to protocols for infectious and transmittable diseases. b. Engagement with and utilization of volunteers and rescue groups, including onboarding, training processes, and transferring animals to rescue partners. c. Key shelter metrics such as lengths of stay, live release and euthanasia rates, condition of animals on intake, the number of animals turned away at intake, the number of animals transferred to rescue partners, and other outcome details. d. Availability of services to the public for stray animal intake, spay/neuter programs, TNR (trap, neuter, and release), programs, and adoption services. e. Staffing and protocols for facility maintenance, cleaning, and record keeping.
2. Opportunities to improve compliance with animal licensing through an equity lens, maximize the number of vaccinated pets, and whether residents' ability to pay affects these outcomes.
3. Levels of service provided against agreements with neighboring jurisdictions.
4. Evaluate how the existing Shelter/Rescue Working Group can review available data and inform strategies to improve shelter operations and maximize live outcomes.
5. Dashboards shared with the public on shelter operations; the most relevant metrics, how regularly they’re updated, and methods of data collection.
6. Community outreach regarding SJACS services.
7. Progress toward implementing the 2022 Maddie’s Fund “Shelter Consult” observations and recommendations.
8. Progress toward implementing the 2022 Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters from the Association of Shelter Veterinarians.
9. Evaluate whether the shelter design is meeting the needs of animals and the community.
Including additional direction from Councilmember Davis to include communication and partnerships with stakeholders as a part of the assessments as referenced in Items 1b and 6. (5-0-0)
D. Open Forum
1. Gail spoke on the relationship between Caltrans and the unhoused. Blair Beekman spoke on future Open Forum public comment policy. In-person speakers Andrea Leo, Cassidy, Luong Truong provided public comment on various municipal responses to animal shelter audit.
D. Adjournment
Chair David Cohen adjourned the Committee meeting at 2:26 p.m.
Minutes Recorded, Prepared, and Respectfully Submitted by,
DRAFT-
_________________________________
Grace Turner,
Deputy City Clerk, City of San José
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Approved at Council on:
Attest By:
_______________________________ …..
Toni J. Taber, CMC
City Clerk, City of San José