9b762a31-redacted-845am — San Rafael City Council, November 17, 2025

From: AUDREY MEYER
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2025 5:05 PM
To: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Cc: Mayor Kate <[email protected]>; Maribeth Bushey <[email protected]>; Eli Hill <[email protected]>; Rachel Kertz <[email protected]>; Maika Llorens Gulati <[email protected]> Subject: 350 Merrydale Project - November 17 Public Hearing Comments

PLEASE POST IN THE PUBLIC RECORD

Dear Mayor Colin and Members of the San Rafael City Council,

I am writing to urge you to pause all actions related to the proposed “tiny homes” project at 350 Merrydale Road until your offices can clearly and publicly explain the decisionmaking process that led to its announcement.

I have lived in San Rafael as an adult for more than 30 years and my (deceased) husband and myself raised our 2 daughters here. Also, I was raised myself in San Rafael, so I am a long-time resident. I'm astonished that my elected officials are apparently about to approve a multi-million dollar project to build a tiny homes camp as part of our solution to homelessness, without ANY proactive outreach to the citizens of San Rafael.

My primary concerns are:
• The location (not near any viable services for the proposed residents)

• The cost (is this the best use of these funds given the location isn't ideal?)

• The process in which residents will be approved for housing in this location (i.e. will they be required to be clean and sober/in treatment if appropriate; will they be vetted for prior criminal offenses and most importantly sex offenses?)

I felt quite blindsided when I returned home from a trip in mid-October to a flyer on my front porch stating the City and County "are creating a managed tiny home site at 350 Merrydale Road". I thought I must have missed some important news in recent months about this project and its costs and overall viability in this part of the city - away from downtown services. But I have since discovered that this was news to many others also, and that the city made this decision in closed sessions without any public discourse - was this deliberate in order to simply "check a box" to say something was accomplished?
Please don't misunderstand me; I very much believe the homeless folks in our community deserve support and services; a clean and safe place to live and help to get back on their feet. But the concern I have is the failure of my elected officials to conduct a transparent and inclusive public process to solve the problem. While I want to be supportive of projects like this, I feel like someone is pulling a fast one on us...and this makes me suspicious of the whole thing.

I urge you to to the following to restore our confidence in your intentions:
• Pause the project
• Release a clear timeline of decisions and approvals
• Hold open, well-publicized meetings before any further commitments are made.

San Rafael can address homelessness compassionately while still upholding open government. But that requires a reset. The community deserves transparency, honesty, and a real role in shaping decisions of this scale.

Sincerely,
Audrey Meyer
San Rafael, CA
From: Betty Shea
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2025 9:18 PM
To: Maryellen Mullin Fong
Cc: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]>; Mayor Kate <[email protected]>; Maribeth Bushey <[email protected]>; Eli Hill <[email protected]>; Rachel Kertz <[email protected]>; Maika Llorens Gulati <[email protected]>; Mary Sackett <[email protected]>; KEN DICKINSON Ashley Frost [email protected]; Nena Meola
Subject: Re: 350 Merrydale Project - November 17 Public Hearing Comments Great letter with a lot of detail! Thanks for sending.

Betty
On Nov 13, 2025, at 8:47 PM, Maryellen Mullin Fong > wrote:

350 Merrydale Project - November 17 Public Hearing Comments

PLEASE POST IN THE PUBLIC RECORD
Dear Mayor Colin and Members of the San Rafael City Council and Supervisor Sackett, I am writing to urge you to pause all actions related to the proposed “tiny homes” project at 350 Merrydale Road until your offices can clearly and publicly explain the decision-making process that led to its announcement.

Across multiple neighborhoods, residents have expressed the same concern: this project was advanced through a process that bypassed the very public you are elected to serve.

This is not a rejection of solutions to homelessness. It is a rejection of a breakdown in transparent governance.

SECRECY
Residents learned of this proposal at an October 15 press event — before the purchase agreement was even scheduled for council consideration, and long after a closed-session “tentative agreement” was apparently reached with no public reporting. The sequence strongly suggests the public rollout was timed to present the project as a foregone conclusion, rather than the beginning of a community conversation.

From the start, the 350 Merrydale project has been marked by exclusion. -No residents at 300 Merrydale were notified.
-The superintendent of the San Rafael Public School District was never informed, despite the site’s proximity to school bus stops and children’s daily walking routes.

NEGLECTING SPANISH-SPEAKING FAMILIES
Information in Spanish was provided only after the community demanded it. I personally raised this concern with all of you on 10/20/2025, after speaking with my monolingual Spanish-speaking neighbors and discovering that no Spanish-language flyers had been offered to our community. The only notice we received was an English-only flyer left at my doorstep on 10/13/2025.

This is not public outreach — it is negligence.

WITHHOLDING PUBLIC RECORDS
When I requested a specific June 2024 public hearing transcript, the City Attorney informed me on the 10th day, when the record was due to me, that the City was “not in possession” of it and added a 14-day extension to my request.

This is inaccurate. That public hearing was recorded by a third-party court reporter - who was hired and paid for by the City, and the transcript was provided to the City in June of 2024. Denying possession of that public record misleads the public.

Focus on Public Safety Evidence
The public record of that transcript matters, making it clear that the encampments are sites of violence and serious safety risks to which are not being addressed with our neighborhood community.

And the PUBLIC record of that transcript matters. At that PUBLIC hearing, in the PUBLIC record, unhoused residents of the encampments themselves testified under oath about rape, (sex offenders), battery, assault, and ongoing violence, drug use etc., within those sites.

These statements are part of the public record. They reveal the depth of suffering among our unhoused population — people who need mental health care, protection, and stability, not relocation to a temporary site with no incentive to participate in services, especially under a harm-reduction, housing-first model — Housing improves housing. It does not, by itself, as evidence shows, improve functioning. Harm reduction reduces death — but does not reduce drug use.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS AND CRITICAL HABITAT
Adding to these concerns, no environmental study has been released, even though the surrounding marshland and creek areas are identified as critical habitat for the Marin dwarf flax and the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse, both federally protected species.

This community is asking you to stop this project until there is full transparency — release the records, disclose the environmental findings, and involve the residents you serve. The public deserves truth, not secrecy.

Inviting residents to “give feedback” only after major decisions have already been made is not public engagement — it is damage control. Neighborhoods were blindsided; no proactive outreach occurred; and those most directly impacted were not even informed that the site was under consideration.

This is not how San Rafael handles multimillion-dollar land acquisitions.

This is not how a city builds trust around an issue as sensitive and consequential as homelessness.

And this is not the standard of governance this community expects or deserves.

Even residents who support interim housing have asked critical questions:

Why was the initial site selection conducted in closed session without transparent reporting?
Why were state, county, and city officials mobilized for a public announcement before residents had even heard of the project?
Why was there no early outreach, no public workshops, no neighborhood meetings, and no opportunity for community-based problem-solving before the City moved forward? When the public is treated as an obstacle rather than a partner, trust erodes — not just in the project, but in the institutions behind it. The criticism you are hearing is not about “not in my backyard.” It is about “why were we deliberately kept out of the process?” To rebuild that trust, I ask the City to take the following steps:
• Pause all actions related to site acquisition and development. • Release a full, chronological account of how this site was selected, who approved each step, and when.
• Hold transparent, well-publicized public meetings before any further decisions are made. • Allow genuine, early-stage input — not after-the-fact commentary — to shape the project’s direction, design, and location.

Homelessness is a serious challenge that requires serious, public-centered planning.

Decisions of this magnitude must be made with the community, not to the community.

I urge you to restore public trust by resetting this process and providing the transparency, honesty, and community involvement that should have been present from the beginning.

Sincerely,
Maryellen Mullin Fong
From: Brian Wong
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2025 5:43 PM
To: Mayor Kate <[email protected]>; Maika Llorens Gulati <[email protected]>; Eli Hill <[email protected]>; Maribeth Bushey <[email protected]>; Rachel Kertz <[email protected]>; Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Cc: [email protected]; Cameron Macdonald <[email protected]>; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: 350 Merrydale – For Immediate Posting and Inclusion on the City Council Agenda Dear City Council,
It is appalling that you have advanced as far as you have with the bait and switch on 350 Merrydale without a robust public process. You have all defied the trust of your constituents; if you move forward, it will be in direct contravention of the will of the community at large.

To date, there is no Environmental Impact analysis or report for this site, as required by the State-certified Housing Element or specific to any consideration for a homeless compound. No reporting on how other projects have been established and the results today. We heard from one former Homeless woman who didn't want to turn her camera on, it was the same speech heard at the Press Briefing that was called without the community presence. This is simply egregious, and we demand that you immediately rescind any backroom deals you have consented to or entertained. We do not want our tax dollars – city and county tax dollars – wasted on this pipedream.

Use funds to actually address a successful and thoughtful solution. The homeless are not your political pawns. Neither should we!
Sincerely,
Brian wong
San Rafael
30 plus years resident
cc: Marin IJ Editorial Board and Investigative Reporter Richard Halstead, Marin IJ ([email protected])
Cameron Macdonald, Marin IJ ([email protected])
Steven Rosenfeld, Marin IJ ([email protected])
Adrian Rodriguez [email protected]
From: Charlene Garland
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2025 7:23 PM
To: End Homelessness <[email protected]> Cc: Rachel Kertz <[email protected]>; Mayor Kate <[email protected]>
Subject: Request to Strengthen Good Neighbor Policy for Merrydale Tiny Homes Project

Dear City of San Rafael Homelessness and Housing Programs Team, I hope you are doing well, and thank you for your work on the Merrydale Road tiny homes project. I recognize the City’s commitment to addressing homelessness with compassion and practical solutions, and I appreciate the complexity of navigating community needs while moving forward with supportive housing plans.

As a nearby resident, I am writing to request that the City strengthen the Good Neighbor Policy associated with this project, specifically with respect to safety and appropriate use of the public bike path adjacent to the site.

While the current Good Neighbor Policy outlines several important expectations, it does not explicitly address loitering or panhandling along the bike path. Because this path is heavily used by families, students, cyclists, and pedestrians, clear guidance is essential to ensure that the area remains safe, accessible, and comfortable for all members of the community, including the future residents of the tiny homes.

I respectfully request that the City Council consider adding a clause to the Good Neighbor Policy that:
• Prohibits loitering or panhandling by program participants along the adjacent bike path and other public right-of-way areas,
• Ensures consistent communication of these rules to residents of the tiny home community, and • Establishes accountability and enforcement procedures in coordination with the program operator.

Adding this language would help reassure nearby residents and maintain a positive relationship between the surrounding neighborhood and the new community. It would also create clear expectations that support the program’s success.

Thank you for your time and for considering this request. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further or provide additional community perspective if helpful.

Sincerely,
Charlene Garland
From: Cary M
Sent: Friday, November 14, 2025 12:07 AM
To: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Cc: Mayor Kate <[email protected]>; Maribeth Bushey <[email protected]>; Eli Hill <[email protected]>; Rachel Kertz <[email protected]>; [email protected] Subject: PLEASE POST IN THE PUBLIC RECORD
Dear Mayor Colin and Members of the San Rafael City Council,

I am writing to tell you to pause all activities and plans related to the proposed 'cabin village' project at 350 Merrydale Road. Your offices must first clearly and publicly explain the decision-making process that led to the choice of the 350 Merrydale site.

This site and project were marched through in secrecy and doing so, the San Rafael citizens that you were elected to serve were excluded. Residents learned about this proposal through an Oct. 15 press event — before the purchase agreement was even scheduled for council consideration, and long after a closed-session “tentative agreement” was apparently reached with no public reporting.

You have pedaled falsehoods during the media stunt with city and county officials announcing to the media that this was a done deal, yet two days later a few flyers floated in the Rafael Meadows neighborhood. None were in Spanish, and only a few of us, who would be yards from the encampment, received notices. This is UNCACCEPTABLE!
After some community push back began, you’re attempt at back pedaling and Inviting residents to “give feedback” at the JCC ‘job fair’ style meeting after major decisions had already been made was not public engagement — it feels disingenuous, verging on sinister.

Our pushback is not about how the city can solve homelessness. It is about opposing your poor planning on the details of the plan and a breakdown in transparent governance.

Some facts about the 350 Merrydale site that you all seem unaware of:

1. 350 Merrydale is on a cul-de-sac that abuts a no-man’s area and is dark and a perfect breeding ground for people to collect on the periphery of the compound (direct info from SRPD).

2. The cul-de-sac empties into adjacent Caltrans land that the city and county have no control over. Mayor Colin has stated that the city would impose a camping ordinance around the compound, yet the city does not have authority over most of the periphery of the 350 site.

3. The site is along a road where there are approximately 450 homes, apartments and condos, yet there are no safety guarantees from the city once a resident leaves the compound. Noise, lights, loitering, trash would be immediate issues, yet the city has no plan other than a Draft Good Neighbor Policy.

4. There are about 30 homes and apartments that would be just a feet from site.

5. The 350 site has approximately 15 small businesses on Merrydale and Redwood Blvd. Several are food establishments - A&W, McDonalds and El Prado Market already report problems with petty theft and homeless people sleeping around their businesses.

6. The 350 site has a 90+-unit senior community – the entrance to the senior community on Las Gallinas would be within feet of where the planned compound entrance would be.

7. The 350 site is within 1/4 mile of two to three SR city school bus stops, yet the City of SR School Superintendent was never notified.

8. The Safe Routes to School project would go right along the west side of the compound, which will likely lead to this much-needed project remaining unfunded.

9. 350 Merrydale is in a flood zone and temporary flooding is a common occurrence for some residents who abut the Merrydale site.

10. Access to public transportation is only through an unofficial (and sketchy) foot path. The path is not lighted, making it difficult for compound residents to come and go at night (but making it a perfect area for peripheral homeless people to settle in).

11. If the unofficial path is not used, it’s a 15-20 minutes’ walk to the SMART train pad and 25- minute walk to Golden Gate Transit at the Civic Center.

Because of the many shortcomings of this site, how can we trust how you will handle a multimillion-dollar land acquisition??
This is not the standard of leadership our community expects or deserves. Steam rolling this decision through without public engagement, without providing factual information, without providing any known criteria for success for the homeless ‘bridge’ project, is a slap in the face of the homeless population you’re purporting to serve and to your constituents.

Stop this project and engage with your voters!

PLEASE POST MY COMMENTS IN THE PUBLIC RECORD
Sincerely,
Cary McDonald
San Rafael, CA
-----Original Message-----
From: Fred Pfeifer
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2025 4:42 PM
To: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Subject: Tiny homes
Please not around San Rafael meadow,
Thank you,
Fred, Lynn Pfeifer
Sent from my iPhone
From: Moussie Haile <
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2025 6:39 PM
To: Mayor Kate <[email protected]>; Maika Llorens Gulati <[email protected]>; Eli Hill <[email protected]>; Maribeth Bushey <[email protected]>; Rachel Kertz <[email protected]>; Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Subject: 350 Merrydale – Request for Immediate Public Posting and Placement on City Council Agenda Dear City Council Members,
I am writing on behalf of the neighboring communities directly impacted by the proposed homeless shelter at 350 Merrydale.

To begin, I am formally requesting that this item be removed from any upcoming City Council action. You were elected to represent us, the residents and taxpayers, and your handling of this issue has fallen far short of that obligation. The lack of transparency and community involvement is a violation of the trust placed in you. This site is already identified and certified by the State as a designated housing opportunity site. The public deserves to know when, how, and by whom it was quietly repurposed for a homeless shelter.

Your decision making reflects a complete disregard for effective solutions to homelessness. Choosing 350 Merrydale, a site you yourselves have described as constrained and problematic, shows poor judgment and a fundamental misunderstanding of the needs of the homeless population. It is not a viable, practical, or sustainable option.

Have no lessons been learned from past failures, case in point the Ritter Center? Your actions have severely damaged public confidence. I am asking that you withdraw this proposal entirely and stop attempting to move it forward without genuine community engagement.

Sincerely,
Moussie Haile
From: Mike Mori <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2025 4:38 PM
To: Mayor Kate <[email protected]>; Eli Hill <[email protected]>; Maribeth Bushey <[email protected]>; Rachel Kertz <[email protected]>; Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]>
Cc: Laura <[email protected]>; Marilyn Mori <[email protected]> Subject: Subject 350 Merrydale Interim Homeless Shelter Dear City Council,
I am writing to you on behalf of the adjacent communities to your proposed homeless site, as referenced above.

First and foremost, I demand that this item be continued from any City Council action, since you have failed as the City Council elected to represent us, the taxpayers. This is a clear dereliction of your duties; you have ZERO support for this project and you have been unfaithful to your office and your oath by operating in secret and without input. Specifically, this site is a published housing opportunity site that has been confirmed and certified by the State. I demand you reveal when this site was reconsidered for a homeless shelter and when.

You have demonstrated that you have ZERO regard for solving homelessness. 350 Merrydale is likely the worst possible site to consider to address the real needs of the homeless population and it is not a viable or resilient solution in large part to your very own published constraints of the site. This is remarkably incompetent and callous.

Do you really want to create another Ritter Center? Have you failed to learn from your previous disasters?
You have eroded the public’s trust. Remove this item from any further consideration and cease from any further attempts to bamboozle your constituents.

Sincerely,
MIchael Mori
Laura Mori Riella
Marilyn Mori
--
Mike Mori
Ristorante La Toscana
Address: 3751 Redwood Hwy. San Rafael, Ca 94903
Tel: 415.492.9100
Email: [email protected]
http://www.RistoranteLaToscana.com
From: Maryellen Mullin Fong
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2025 8:47 PM
To: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Cc: Mayor Kate <[email protected]>; Maribeth Bushey <[email protected]>; Eli Hill <[email protected]>; Rachel Kertz <[email protected]>; Maika Llorens Gulati <[email protected]>; Sackett, Mary <[email protected]>; Betty Shea KEN DICKINSON Ashley Frost
[email protected]; Nena Meola
Subject: 350 Merrydale Project - November 17 Public Hearing Comments 350 Merrydale Project - November 17 Public Hearing Comments

Across multiple neighborhoods, residents have expressed the same concern: this project was advanced through a process that bypassed the very public you are elected to serve.

This is not a rejection of solutions to homelessness. It is a rejection of a breakdown in transparent governance.

This is not public outreach — it is negligence.

This is not how San Rafael handles multimillion-dollar land acquisitions.

This is not how a city builds trust around an issue as sensitive and consequential as homelessness.

And this is not the standard of governance this community expects or deserves.

Even residents who support interim housing have asked critical questions:

Homelessness is a serious challenge that requires serious, public-centered planning.

Decisions of this magnitude must be made with the community, not to the community.

I urge you to restore public trust by resetting this process and providing the transparency, honesty, and community involvement that should have been present from the beginning.

Sincerely,
Maryellen Mullin Fong
From: Nena Meola, Realtor
Sent: Friday, November 14, 2025 5:29 AM
To: Maryellen Mullin Fong
Cc: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]>; Mayor Kate <[email protected]>; Maribeth Bushey <[email protected]>; Eli Hill <[email protected]>; Rachel Kertz <[email protected]>; Maika Llorens Gulati <[email protected]>; Mary Sackett <[email protected]>; Betty Shea KEN DICKINSON Ashley Frost ;
[email protected]
Subject: Re: 350 Merrydale Project - November 17 Public Hearing Comments Maryellen,
So well written, you hit every point with truth and clarity. Please let me know if I can help in any way.

Sincerely,
Nena Meola
Town & Country Properties
Dre#01438993
On Nov 13, 2025, at 8:47 PM, Maryellen Mullin Fong wrote:
350 Merrydale Project - November 17 Public Hearing Comments

Across multiple neighborhoods, residents have expressed the same concern: this project was advanced through a process that bypassed the very public you are elected to serve.

This is not a rejection of solutions to homelessness. It is a rejection of a breakdown in transparent governance.

This is not public outreach — it is negligence.

This is not how San Rafael handles multimillion-dollar land acquisitions.

This is not how a city builds trust around an issue as sensitive and consequential as homelessness.

And this is not the standard of governance this community expects or deserves.

Even residents who support interim housing have asked critical questions:

Homelessness is a serious challenge that requires serious, public-centered planning.

Decisions of this magnitude must be made with the community, not to the community.

I urge you to restore public trust by resetting this process and providing the transparency, honesty, and community involvement that should have been present from the beginning.

Sincerely,
Maryellen Mullin Fong

San Rafael City CouncilNovember 17, 2025

San Rafael City Council
November 17, 2025