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MINUTES OF THE
JOINT MEETING OF THE RULES AND OPEN GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE AND
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
SAN JOSÉ, CALIFORNIA WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2026
The Committee meeting was held in the Council Chambers and convened at 2:00 p.m.
Present: Councilmembers - Cohen, Kamei, Foley, Doan, Candelas.
Absent: Councilmembers - None.
Staff: Angel Rios, Deputy City Manager, City Manager’s Office; Neelam Naidu, Senior Deputy City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office; Joy Rodriguez, Assistant City Clerk, City Clerk’s Office; Rachelle Blattman, Senior Executive Analyst, City Manager’s Office; and Daniel Aguilar, Deputy City Clerk, City Clerk’s Office.
A. City Council (City Clerk)
1. Review October 6 2026 Final Agenda
a) Add New Items to Final Agenda
b) Assign "Time Certain" to Agenda Items (if needed)
c) Review of Notice of Waiver Requirements for Agenda Items or Documents (if needed) Public Comment: (In person) Brian Darby offered public comment.
Action: Upon motion by Vice Mayor Pam Foley, seconded by Councilmember Rosemary Kamei, and carried unanimously, the Committee approved the final agenda for the City Council meeting on October 6, 2026; including the add sheet, and with the Civil Service Commission Interviews (Item 3.3) item to be heard last. (5-0-0)
2. Review October 13, 2026 Draft Agenda – Cancelled.
B. Consent Calendar
Public Comment: (In person) Brian Darby offered public comment.
Action: Upon motion by Vice Mayor Pam Foley, seconded by Councilmember Bien Doan, and carried unanimously, the Consent Calendar was approved as a whole, with the following actions taken as indicated. (5-0-0)
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1. The Public Record for September 17, 2026 - September 24, 2026. (City Clerk) Receive and file the Public Record for September 17, 2026 - September 24, 2026.
Action: The Public Record for September 17, 2026 - September 24, 2026 was received and filed. (5-0-0)
2. Update to the August - December 2026 Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support Committee Work Plan. (City Manager)
Approve an amendment to the August - December 2026 Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support (PSFSS) Committee Work Plan to drop the following item scheduled for the October 15, 2026, Committee meeting:
Downtown High-Acuity Referral System Coordination Status Report. Purpose: Provide a status report on progress to strengthen City-County coordinated outreach and referral processes for high-acuity populations in downtown through the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. (Housing/Police) Action: The amendment to the August - December 2026 Public Safety, Finance and Strategic Support Committee Work Plan was approved. (5-0-0)
3. Joint Special Meeting of the City Council of San José and San José/Santa Clara Treatment Plant Advisory Committee Agenda. (Environmental Services) Review the Thursday, November 5, 2026, Joint Special Meeting of the City Council of San José and San José/Santa Clara Treatment Plant Advisory Committee Agenda.
Action: The Joint Special Meeting of the City Council of San José and San José/Santa Clara Treatment Plant Advisory Committee Agenda was reviewed. (5-0-0)
4. Request to Travel. (Mayor)
1. Authorize travel, accept travel payments to the City of San José, and designate the Mayor's Director of Innovation and Partnerships, Amber Kappa, as the City’s representative to attend the Power of Place:
Rooted in Purpose convening hosted by the William Julius Wilson Institute at Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) by their National Impact Team in New York City from October 7-9, 2026.
2. Place the item on the October 6, 2026 City Council Agenda for action.
Action: The Mayor’s Office’srequest to travel was approved for placement on the October 6, 2026 City Council Agenda for action. (5-0-0)
5. Approval of “Free Use” of the Janet Gray Hayes Rotunda for the “Conversations for Good 2026: A Regenerative Future” Event Sponsored by the Office of Councilmember Mulcahy as a City Council Sponsored Special Event to Expend City Funds and Accept Donations of Materials and Services for the Event. (Mulcahy)
1. Adopt a resolution authorizing “Free Use” of the Janet Gray Hayes Rotunda for the private, ticketed annual Conversations for Good 2026 event scheduled on Friday, November 6, 2026.
2. Approve Conversations for Good 2026 as a City Council Sponsored Special Event and approve the expenditure of funds.
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3. Approve and accept donations from various individuals, businesses or community groups to support the event.
4. Place the item on the October 6, 2026 City Council Agenda for action.
Action: “Free Use” of the Janet Gray Hayes Rotunda for the “Conversations for Good 2026: A Regenerative Future” event sponsored by the Office of Councilmember Mulcahy, was approved for placement on the October 6, 2026 City Council Agenda for action. (5-0-0)
6. Approval of the District 9 End-of-Term, Farewell Celebration as a City Council Sponsored Special Event to Expend City Funds and Accept Donations of Materials and Services for the Event. (Foley)
1. Approve the District 9 End-of-Term, Farewell Celebration on December 2, 2026 at the Rotary Summit Center as a City Council sponsored Special Event and approve the expenditure of funds. 2.
Approve and accept donations from various individuals, businesses or community groups to support the event.
3. Place the item on October 20, 2026 City Council Agenda for action.
Action: The District 9 End-of-Term Farewell Celebration was approved for placement on the October 20, 2026 City Council Agenda for action. (5-0-0)
7. Retroactive Approval of the Golden State Valkyries Flag Raising Sponsored by the Office of Mayor Matt Mahan as a City Council Sponsored Special Event to Expend City Funds and Accept Donations of Materials and Services for the Event. (Mayor)
1. Retroactively approve the Golden State Valkyries Flag Raising scheduled on September 25, 2026 as a City Council sponsored Special Event and approve the expenditure of funds.
2. Retroactively approve and accept donations from various individuals, businesses or community groups to support the event.
3. Place the item on the October 6, 2026 City Council Agenda for action.
Action: The Golden State Valkyries Flag Raising Sponsored by the Office of Mayor Matt Mahan was retroactively approved for placement on the October 6, 2026 City Council Agenda for action. (5-0-0) C. Rules Committee Reviews, Recommendations and Approvals
1. Council Transparency and Private Non-Disclosure Agreements. (Ortiz, Campos, Cohen, Candelas, and Casey)
Direct the City Manager’s Office, in coordination with the City Attorney’s Office and the City Clerk's Office, to evaluate and return to the City Council with policy options that would:
1. Prohibit members of the San José City Council from entering into nondisclosure or confidentiality agreements (NDAs) concerning projects, contracts, developments, or other matters subject to City Council approval, funding, regulation, oversight, or legislative action, including data centers and other large energy-use projects and related infrastructure and agreements.
2. Prohibit persons or entities seeking City action or approvals from conditioning access to projectrelated information upon a Councilmember signing a nondisclosure or confidentiality agreement.
3. Establish an appropriate City process to review confidential, proprietary, trade secret, or commercially sensitive information from persons or entities seeking City action or approvals without requiring individual Councilmembers to enter into NDAs. [Referred from 9/9/26 - Item C.1 (ROGC 26-315)]
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Public Comment: (In person) Brian Darby and (Virtual) Jordan Moldow offered public comment.
Angel Rios, Deputy City Manager, City Manager’s Office, announced that the item has received a Workload Analysis with a green light recommendation, and that the item will return for Council consideration in early 2027.
Action: Upon motion by Councilmember Rosemary Kamei, seconded by Councilmember Bien Doan, and carried unanimously, administration is directed to implement this item under its current work plan through coordination with the City's Attorney Office, and will bring to City Council a proposed City Council Policy for consideration in early 2027. (5-0-0)
2. Internal Controls for Automatic License Plate Readers. (Mayor, Foley, Candelas, and Casey) Direct the City Manager to:
1. Strengthen departmental and Citywide policies and explore technological controls that prohibit access of any law enforcement database such as Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) from personally owned devices.
2. Coordinate with San José Police Department (SJPD) and the Information Technology Department to strengthen audits of individual user inquiries, including increasing frequency and number of user-level audits with annual reporting to the Public Safety, Finance, and Strategic Support Committee, to identify:
a. Access without legitimate law enforcement purpose.
b. Suspicious search activity.
c. Violations of City of San José ALPR Policy.
3. Pursue State legislation establishing criminal penalties for unauthorized access or improper information sharing, including potential amendments to Penal Code 13302 and Penal Code 502.
4. Report unauthorized disclosure or data leaks of ALPR data via information memo.
Chair David Cohen announced that items C.2 [Internal Controls for Automatic License Plate Readers. (Mayor, Foley, Candelas, and Casey)] and C.3 [Automated License Plate Reader Data Access and Safeguards. (Kamei, Tordillos, Cohen, and Mulcahy)] would be heard concurrently, as well as Public Comment.
Public Comment: (In person) Huy Tran, Christopher, Misrayn, Joanna Becerra, Drew Siegler, Juritzi Torres, Dulce Trejo, Phil Orrselli, Tim McKensie, Cat Woman, Cara, Robert Au, Brian Darby, Greg, Serena, Kimberly Woo; (Virtual) Hansel Aguilar, Bill Coderre, Morgen, Caroline, KBT, Eve, Ashley Ortiz, Sahana, Sean Baker, Jordan Moldow, Jose, and four anonymous speakers offered public comment.
Vice Mayor Pam Foley introduced items C.2 and C.3 and requested a merged memorandum of the two items if the item is referred to City Council.
Action: Upon motion by Vice Mayor Pam Foley, seconded by Councilmember Rosemary Kamei, and carried unanimously, the item regarding Internal Controls for Automatic License Plate Readers was referred for a merged Workload Analysis with item C.3, and is directed to return to the Rules and Open Government Committee on October 21, 2026. (5-0-0)
3. Automated License Plate Reader Data Access and Safeguards. (Kamei, Tordillos, Cohen, and Mulcahy)
1. Direct the City Attorney, in coordination with the City Manager, to develop and present to City Council a draft ordinance defining and prohibiting the unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) data, including potential civil and criminal penalties for violations thereof, and, to the extent legally permissible, authorizing a private right of action against individuals responsible for such violations for individuals harmed by the unauthorized disclosure or misuse of ALPR data, with appropriate safeguards and enforcement considerations.
2. Direct the City Manager to:
a. Prohibit access to ALPR systems and data through personal devices; b. Restrict off-duty access to ALPR systems except for defined law enforcement purposes; and c. Incorporate said prohibitions and restrictions into applicable City and Police Department policies and procedures.
3. Direct the City Manager to evaluate additional authentication, access control, and auditing safeguards for ALPR systems, including: multi-factor authentication and automated tools to identify potentially unauthorized access or use, and to return to City Council with implementation options, associated costs, and any facilitating policy changes.
4. Direct the City Manager, in coordination with the City Attorney, the Independent Police Auditor (IPA), Information Technology Department (ITD), and San José Police Department (SJPD) to explore developing a process that enables the IPA to act as an independent auditor for ALPR practices, within the scope of the IPA's role under the charter. The IPA, ITD, and SJPD should establish and return to City Council with the audit methodology, scope, frequency, and procedures, with appropriate safeguards.
Chair David Cohen announced that items C.2 [Internal Controls for Automatic License Plate Readers. (Mayor, Foley, Candelas, and Casey)] and C.3 [Automated License Plate Reader Data Access and Safeguards. (Kamei, Tordillos, Cohen, and Mulcahy)] would be heard concurrently, as well as Public Comment.
Public Comment: (In person) Huy Tran, Christopher, Misrayn, Joanna Becerra, Drew Siegler, Juritzi Torres, Dulce Trejo, Phil Orrselli, Tim McKensie, Cat Woman, Cara, Robert Au, Brian Darby, Greg, Serena, Kimberly Woo; (Virtual) Hansel Aguilar, Bill Coderre, Morgen, Caroline, KBT, Eve, Ashley Ortiz, Sahana, Sean Baker, Jordan Moldow, Jose, and four anonymous speakers offered public comment.
Action: Upon motion by Vice Mayor Pam Foley, seconded by Councilmember Rosemary Kamei, and carried unanimously, the item regarding Automated License Plate Reader Data Access and Safeguards was referred for a merged Workload Analysis with item C.2, and is directed to return to the Rules and Open Government Committee on October 21, 2026. (5-0-0) D. Open Forum
1. (In Person) Brian Darby offered public comment regarding the moon landing and offered an online video recommendation.
E. Adjournment
Chair David Cohen adjourned the Committee meeting at 2:55 p.m. [Page 5]
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Minutes Recorded, Prepared, and Respectfully Submitted by, ______________________________________
Daniel Aguilar
Deputy City Clerk, City of San José
Approved at Council on:
Number of actions: 4
Attest by:
______________________________________
Toni J. Taber, MMC
City Clerk, City of San José