CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Flores called the meeting to order at 9:04 a.m.
ROLL CALL
PRESENT: Councilmember Coleman
Councilmember Nagales
Councilmember Nicolas
Vice Mayor Addiego
Mayor Flores
City Manager Sharon Ranals
Assistant City Manager Rich Lee
Deputy City Manager Christina Fernandez
Communications Manager Angenette Lau
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer Devin Stenhouse City Attorney Sky Woodruff
Fire Chief Matt Samson
Economic & Community Development Director Nell Selander Police Chief Scott Campbell
Director of Parks and Recreation Greg Mediati
Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation Angela Duldulao Information Technology Director Tony Barrera
Human Resources Director Leah Lockhart
Library Director Valerie Sommers
Finance Director Karen Chang
City Treasurer Frank Risso
Deputy Finance Director Jason Wong
Public Works Director/City Engineer Eugene Kim
Principal Engineer Matt Ruble
ABSENT: None
AGENDA REVIEW
No changes.
MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
CITY COUNCIL RETREAT
CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 08, 2025
8:30 a.m.
In-person
Library Parks and Recreation Building
Social Hall
901 Civic Campus Way, South San Francisco, CA
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING FEBRUARY 08, 2025
MINUTES PAGE 2
PUBLIC COMMENTS – Limited to items on the Special Meeting agenda The following individuals addressed the City Council:
• Mike Swire
• Fionnola Villamejor
The following individuals submitted Public Comments via the eComment portal:
• Jennifer Garstang
• Dolores Piper
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP RETREAT DISCUSSION
1. Conduct a facilitated City Council retreat setting the City Council 2025 Priorities. (Eddie Flores, Mayor; Nancy Hetrick, Facilitator; Raftelis)
Mayor Flores thanked the community and staff for joining the retreat and introduced Nancy Hetrick, the Facilitator from Raftelis. Nancy led an ice-breaker event that set a positive tone for the Council and staff interactions.
Breakout sessions began at 9:45 a.m.
The Council participated in breakout sessions with department heads who shared goals and objectives for their respective departments.
Breakout sessions concluded at 10:30 a.m.
Meeting Break at 10:35 a.m.
The meeting Resumed at 10:51 a.m.
Facilitator Hetrick engaged in discussions with the Council about their goals and accomplishments, reiterating their commitment to the city's progress.
Meal break at 12:07 p.m.
The meeting resumed at 12:34 p.m.
Facilitator Nancy Hetrick engaged in discussions with the Council on priority-setting and council feedback on the 2025 events calendar.
ADJOURNMENT
Being no further business, Mayor Flores adjourned the City Council meeting at 1:19 p.m.
Submitted by: Approved by:
Rosa Govea Acosta Eddie Flores
City Clerk Mayor
Attachment: City Council Retreat Report by Raftelis
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING FEBRUARY 08, 2025
MINUTES PAGE 3
Approved by the City Council: / /
NOTE: The Meeting Minutes represent actions taken during the meeting of the City Council. These action minutes are the City’s record of actions that took place at the meeting.
Complete Council member's discussions of meeting items can be viewed in archived video/audio recordings on the City’s website at https://www.ssf.net/Government/Video-Streaming-City-and-CouncilMeetings/City-Council Pursuant to Government Code section 54957.5 all written public comments submitted to the City Council become public record and will be made available to the public. Public comments submitted via the eComment portal can be viewed in the City Clerk’s repository at https://ci-ssfca.granicusideas.com/meetings?scope=past Client Name / Report Title 1
City Council Retreat
Held February 8, 2025
City of
South San
Francisco, CA
City of South San Francisco / City Council Retreat Report 2 The City of South San Francisco, CA, held a City Council Retreat on February 8, 2025. The retreat was planned and facilitated by Raftelis.
Opening and Welcome
After the City Clerk administered the public comment period, Mayor Eddie Flores opened the retreat by thanking the Council and staff for their time and dedication (a complete list of City attendees is included in Appendix A). He encouraged the group to lead with boldness and intentionality, to pursue a vision that transcends what the City has done before, and to embrace the work ahead with joy, leaving a lasting legacy of a vibrant South San Francisco. Council members were asked to share their expectations and hopes for the workshop and some responses, summarized at right, echoed the Mayor’s welcome.
Council’s Legacy
Council members were asked to think about what they hoped would be said about them after their term(s) on the City Council has concluded. In response, a strong theme emerged that Council members wanted to consider legacy in the collective, regarding what all of Council and staff can achieve together for the City and emphasizing a philosophy of “We, not I.” Additional responses are captured below:
• Doing the right thing • Setting a strong foundation to build on • Compassionate, informed decisions • Working collectively for the City • Making our City the best for everyone • Functional Council and effective governance • Being a welcoming, inclusive City • Diverse City, Council, and elected representatives
Updates and Sharing with Department Heads
To help set the context for identifying priorities,
Council members rotated through table discussions
with department heads on topics of interest,
including current challenges, opportunities, and key
initiatives. Departments were grouped together in
five tables, including:
• Internal Services: Finance, Human Resources,
Information Technology
• Public Safety: Fire, Police
• Community Programs: Economic and
Community Development, Library
• Public Infrastructure: Parks and Recreation,
Public Works
• City Leadership: City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk Expectations and Hopes for the
Council Retreat
Come away with a roadmap of priorities
Collaborate
Look to the future
Focus on the needs of the City
Celebrate and build on
accomplishments
Productive, rich conversations
Appreciation of lasting impact after
each Councilmember’s term
City of South San Francisco / City Council Retreat Report 3 When asked about takeaways from the discussions, Council members highlighted the importance of using staff knowledge and expertise to inform their decisions. Council members also referred several times to balance: in budget development, between taking actions and understanding the community impacts, and for staff workloads. The complete responses are below:
• Time management
- Ensuring requests made to staff are strategic
- Making decisions that are informed by City resource
levels
• Wondering what the ideal budget would be to take care of all City needs
- Using information and tools to inform decisions
- A budget aligned with priorities and informed by
updated Master Plans
• Balance of moving policy forward and making a present impact on the growing community
• Valuing of work-life balance for employees
• Gratitude for and pride in City staff and services
• Recognized the alignment of values between Council and staff
Interview Themes: Accomplishments
Building on the discussions with department heads, the facilitator provided additional context by reviewing accomplishments that Council members had highlighted during interviews prior to the retreat. When asked for any additions to the accomplishments listed below, the Council highlighted that the City was recognized for completing its state Housing Element not only successfully but also on time.
Effective City Operations Inclusive Community
- Passed Measure W
- Revamped website, went live
- South City Shuttle upgrades
- Kicking off the Property Business
Improvement District process
- Expanded Pride Celebration
- Completed Racial and Social
Equity Plan goals
- Established Age-Friendly Task
Force
Expanding Community Spaces Essential Resources
- New Parks/Recreation/Library
Facility
- Centennial Way Park South opened
- Oyster Point Park opened
- Linden Park community
engagement started
- Established Anti-Displacement
Advisory Committee
- Passed Wage Theft Ordinance
- Safeway site construction
underway
City of South San Francisco / City Council Retreat Report 4 True Today, True in 10 Years
To begin the discussion about vision and future focus, the City Council was asked to respond to two questions:
• What is true about South San Francisco today that you hope will still be true 10 years from now? • What do you hope WILL be true 10 years from now that is not currently true? Council members could provide up to three responses to each question, which are listed in the table below.
True Today – Still true in 10 Years Not Yet True – Hope WILL be true in 10 years • Continue to celebrate our diverse communities
• Inclusive, diverse, believing in the greater good of
the community
• Diverse, inclusive, and equitable community
• South City continues to be a tight knit community
• The need for housing
• Fiscally responsible
• A functional city government, not dysfunctional
• A city that is envied by other communities in the
Bay Area
• A safe city
• Emergency prepared
• Building affordable childcare space
• A successful and vibrant business community
• Continue to lead in economic development and
innovation
• Need for public transportation
• Housing will be affordable
• Best quality of life for everyone
• A city where we continue to have all materials in
various languages
• That we increase population of Black community
living in SSF
• Having the best schools/best place to raise a family
in the county
• Robust public/active transit infrastructure so people don’t need a car to get around
• Updated infrastructure to support growing
population
• Traffic/congestion reduction
• The city will be made whole regarding its elected
representatives, legislators, and supervisor
• The city’s financial condition will be truly enhanced by its business community
• Income > expenses, bigger reserve
• That the economic separation of the haves and
have nots is dissolved
The following themes emerged from the activity:
• True Today – what to sustain
- Focus on quality services
- An inclusive community
- Organizational effectiveness
- A safe City
- Vibrant economic development
• Not Yet True – what to make true
- High quality of life for all
- Infrastructure supports transportation needs
- Strengthened relationship with regional elected representatives - Enhanced fiscal stability
- Economic development benefits all
City of South San Francisco / City Council Retreat Report 5 Council members were asked to share their reactions to seeing each other’s responses and the themes that emerged. Councilmember Buenaflor Nicolas noted the alignment of many responses, and Councilmember James Coleman also shared that he didn’t see much disagreement between the responses. Similarly, Mayor Flores mentioned that inclusivity was commonly valued or noted but that there was also diverse thinking from each Council member. Councilmember Mark Nagales highlighted the points of fiscal responsibility and continue to deliver quality services. Mayor Flores had also shared that the fiscal aspect resonated with him, and Councilmember Mark Addiego noted that there was a lot of hope reflected among all the responses.
Council Goals and Priorities
The group began the goal and priority-setting portion of the day with an added public comment period. The facilitator provided additional context by reviewing the “Big Rocks” approach from the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, including the key points to 1) Put the big rocks in first, 2) Don’t fill up the jar with so many small rocks that there isn’t room for the big ones, and 3) Then keep space for the unplanned, emergencies, or new requirements.
The facilitator led the group in a review of topics raised by Council members during interviews prior to the retreat. In reaction to the topics, which are listed in full below, the Mayor highlighted the importance of childcare.
• Westborough Center Expansion • Park development (Linden) • Housing (affordable; “missing middle”) • Community events • Priority-based budgeting • Local hiring preference
• Senior and women’s services • Maximizing City resources • Downtown business improvement district
• Traffic flow
• Equity plan
• Vacant properties (i.e., MSB)
• Removing barriers for reach codes (e.g., EV
charging stations)
The group next viewed a list of ongoing initiatives and prior Council priorities, which came from the prior year’s 2024 City Council Priorities as presented in a City Council meeting on January 22, 2025. In preparation for the retreat, the facilitator collated these ongoing initiatives with the topics raised in Council interviews and drafted a preliminary framework with proposed groupings of the Council-identified priorities.
The draft preliminary framework was provided as a handout (with the below flow of categories) to allow for the Council’s review, discussion, and changes. Many of the items identified by Council were specific Activities and Initiatives, which compose the most detailed level of the framework. These details were grouped by proposed Major Focus Areas that reflected the common themes, and Key Strategies were suggested to summarize potential policy direction by the Council that would tie to their identified Activities and Initiatives.
Major Focus Areas Key Strategies Activities and Initiatives City of South San Francisco / City Council Retreat Report 6 The facilitator shared the proposed Focus Areas for the group’s discussion and asked the Council to voice their reactions and any changes they would make. The Mayor said he thought the buckets were a great framing of the City’s “why.” Council members identified childcare, resilient infrastructure, and space/capacity for unplanned emergencies as additional areas they would like to see incorporated.
The group then reviewed the proposed Strategies, and the Council discussed each focus area. The Council’s discussions to revise the Strategies are captured in Table 1 below, and the updated Strategies are reflected in Table 2 in the subsequent section.
Table 1: Council Discussion of Initial Focus Areas and Strategies Major Focus
Areas and Key
Strategies
Discussion Notes
Housing and
Supportive
Services
• Advance
affordable housing
development
• Encourage
housing for the
Missing Middle
• Implement AntiDisplacement
Policies
• Add creative financing to the Housing area
• Some actions have more detail to them or might even reflect non-City actions o Foxridge Parcels refers to workforce housing, which would involve partnering with the community
• Desire to attract development and generate revenue
• Want to encourage a balanced housing supply, including renters and owners, and the workforce
• The City should be a conduit for information, tools, and resources • Right to Legal Counsel (activity) is broader than Housing alone • A strategy or activity should be “Partnership with providers to support people who are unhoused”
o Partnerships with regional bodies, community organizations Quality of Life
• Catalyze a thriving
downtown
• Support local
workers and
business owners
• Deliver services
and amenities that
address
community needs
• Promote
community safety
and preparedness
• Hesitance to limit focus to downtown or any one area within the City, especially when there are other struggling retail areas
o Should the strategy refer to downtown, retail generally, maybe small businesses? o Want to allocate resources equally, but also like the efficiency of testing a pilot program, then applying learnings elsewhere
o Downtown has many business owners, while other areas (i.e., Brentwood, Sunshine) might have a single property owner who is a landlord to multiple businesses
o Group decided to leave the strategy for downtown but add a strategy for a “thriving retail environment”
• Cleanliness in the City is a factor both for businesses and Quality of Life broadly • Many resident communications to Council about people who are unhoused, which ties to Housing
• Cold weather can add to calls for service to fires at encampments • Ensure Quality of Life includes mental health and explore making the integrated Mental Health Clinician a permanent employee
• Resident complaints to the Council about RVs
o Support residents who live in RVs
o Address community concerns about long-term RV parking/presence Modern and
Sustainable
Organization
• Ensure financial
sustainability
• Conduct long-
• Focus on creating revenue, realize opportunities, and be innovative and creative • Look at initiatives Council had been hesitant about before • Potentially check appetite for a ballot measure for new revenue, but some concern against regressive measures
• Revise “Maximize City resources” to “Optimize City resources” City of South San Francisco / City Council Retreat Report 7 Priority-Setting
The discussion of Major Focus Areas and Key Strategies informed a revised framework for the Council to vote on. Each Council member received six star stickers with different colors from each other, and they could assign one per Strategy, identifying their top
priorities for the next year. The voting activity
is shown at right. Council members and the
facilitator all emphasized that strategies not
receiving stickers remain important for the
City.
Major Focus
Areas and Key
Strategies
Discussion Notes
range planning
• Maximize City
resources
• Communicate
effectively with
residents
Welcoming and
Connected
Community
• Increase access to
childcare
• Foster an AgeFriendly
Community
• Enact policies that
support public
health
• Empower
underserved
communities
• Good example of a positive event was the Lunar New Year Night Market held by the City the evening before the retreat, which was a great opportunity to highlight small businesses
• City’s calendar of events reflects its diverse community • Additional events reflect the changing community and community requests • Missing aspect of City events is community partner(s) to help organize and hold the events
• Peer cities sometimes have commissions that plan events, though serving on a commission is a volunteer service itself
• Hope to establish Senior’s Commission to uplift and hear more from that community • Want others inspired by South San Francisco to say, “we should do that for our city” • Some community initiatives were raised by Communications staff during department sharing
Infrastructure and
the Environment
• Champion
environmental
protection
• Make sustainable
options easier
• Improve traffic flow
• Attention needed for ‘invisible infrastructure’
• Add a priority for the aging infrastructure underground • Regional utilities impact this topic but also impact Housing and Quality of Life • A peer jurisdiction found a way around limits to support sustainability by regulating building efficiency for electrification
City of South San Francisco / City Council Retreat Report 8 Table 2: Council Votes on the Revised Strategies
Major Focus Areas Key Strategies Sticker
Colors Votes Count
Housing and
Supportive Services
Advance affordable housing development
Pursue creative financing strategies
Gold
Green
Silver
Orange
Addiego,
Coleman,
Nagales,
Nicolas
4 Encourage balanced housing supply
(including rent & own, workforce)
Gold
Green
Blue
Addiego,
Coleman,
Flores
3 Be a conduit for public information and
access to tools
Implement Anti-Displacement policies Green Coleman 1
Quality of Life
Catalyze a thriving downtown Blue Flores 1
Support a sustainable retail environment
Gold
Green
Silver
Addiego,
Nagales,
Coleman
3 Deliver services and amenities that address
community needs
Promote community safety and
preparedness
Silver
Orange
Nagales,
Nicolas 2
Implement a cohesive strategy for a clean
South San Francisco Blue Flores 1
Modern and
Sustainable
Organization
Ensure financial sustainability (including
revenue generation)
Gold
Green
Blue
Silver
Addiego,
Coleman,
Flores,
Nagales
4 Conduct long-range planning
Optimize City resources Gold
Orange
Addiego,
Nicolas 2
Communicate effectively with residents Orange Nicolas 1 Welcoming and
Connected
Community
Increase access to childcare Silver Nagales 1
Foster an Age-Friendly Community Blue Flores 1
Enact policies that support public health
Empower underserved communities
Engage community volunteers (events,
Commissions, partners)
Gold
Green
Blue
Orange
Addiego,
Coleman,
Flores,
Nicolas
4 Infrastructure and the
Environment
Champion environmental protections
Make sustainable options easier
City of South San Francisco / City Council Retreat Report 9 Major Focus Areas Key Strategies Sticker
Colors Votes Count
Improve traffic flow Silver Nagales 1
Plan for aging infrastructure (underground) Orange Nicolas 1 Invest in Resilient and Sustainable solutions
Strategies across all five Focus Areas received votes from Council members. Five strategies received a majority of Council votes, meaning three or more votes, including:
• Pursue creative financing strategies for housing (4)
• Encourage balanced housing supply, including rent & own, workforce (3) • Support a sustainable retail environment (3)
• Ensure financial sustainability, pursue creative revenue generation (4) • Engage community volunteers for events through commissions and partners (4) Council Input on the Events Calendar
During retreat preparations, the City identified a few additional items for discussion outside the prioritysetting workshop program. One item, the Events Calendar, was discussed during a working lunch. The following summarizes the discussion:
• The City Manager, Sharon Ranals, discussed the practice of organizing one signature event per year of the mayor’s choosing. One signature event was budgeted/planned for, but the City Manager had heard energy around more events and/or continuing past signature events. • The Council discussed a desire to continue events like the Women’s Conference, though perhaps biannually, and to continue the expanded Pride Event, but they acknowledged limits to staff bandwidth and budget.
• It was suggested that a follow-up action might be identifying ways to partner for or hand off events. • Some of the Council and/or staff noted that they could also highlight events outside of South San Francisco, from the County or other neighboring Cities.
Staying on Track with Priorities
Achieving desired results on the council’s top priorities requires focus and discipline. The facilitator shared best practices for maintaining priorities and criteria for when Council might consider adding additional priorities during the year. The first steps are for staff to incorporate the identified priorities into the budget and department work plans and then to provide regular progress reports. The Council can support successful implementation by minimizing new requests that would take staff away from the identified priorities or by determining what priorities might drop off or be delayed if something new is added.
City of South San Francisco / City Council Retreat Report 10 If the Council encounters new projects during the year, the best practice criteria for evaluating them include:
• Emergency (natural disaster, pandemic, civil unrest)
• New outside funding opportunity that is time-sensitive • New multi-agency opportunity that cannot be delayed
• Community safety issue that must be addressed in the near term • Changes in laws or mandates
Excitement for the Year Ahead
Reflecting on the priority discussion, Council members shared what excites them most about the upcoming year. Their thoughts included:
• Strategic budget development
- Enhance financial sustainability
- Support economic development
• Creative financing and revenue generation
• Having a clear roadmap
• Implementing the mooring ordinance
• Optimistic about the opportunities ahead
Working Together
Council members and staff were asked to think about what they need from each other over the next year to support the pursuit of the identified priorities. Responses included:
• What does staff need from the Council?
- Conscious of a balance of priorities falling on Economic and Community Development or other departments
- Confidence/trust in the staff-Council partnership
- Conscious of staff roles and Council roles
- Mutual respect
- Strategic priorities and direction
• What do Council members need from each other?
- Clear communication
- Clear direction in meetings
- Incorporating shared norms, like those used for the retreat Closing
The facilitator reviewed the next steps, including the preparation of this report, and noted that the Council priorities will inform areas of emphasis for the FY2025-26 budget and that major work plan elements will be developed by staff to track progress on the priorities. The City Manager thanked the Council for their direction coming from the priorities and informed them that the staff would be developing the work plans as discussed. The City Manager and Mayor both thanked the group for their attendance and participation, and the Mayor closed the retreat.
City of South San Francisco / City Council Retreat Report 11 APPENDIX A:
City Staff Attendees
City of South San Francisco / City Council Retreat Report 12 Name Role Department
Eddie Flores Mayor, District 5 Council
Mark Addiego Vice-Mayor, District 1 Council
Buenaflor (Flor) Nicolas Councilmember, District 3 Council James Coleman Councilmember, District 2 Council
Mark Nagales Councilmember, District 4 Council
Sharon Ranals City Manager City Manager's Office
Rich Lee Assistant City Manager City Manager's Office
Christina Fernandez Deputy City Manager/Chief Sustainability Officer City Manager's Office Angenette Lau Communications Manager City Manager's Office Devin Stenhouse Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer City Manager's Office Marie Patea Executive Assistant to the City Manager City Manager's Office Sky Woodruff City Attorney City Attorney
Nell Selander
Director of Economic and Community
Development
Economic and
Community Development
Karen Chang Director of Finance Finance
Jason Wong Deputy Finance Director Finance
Matt Samson Fire Chief Fire
Leah Lockhart Human Resources Director Human Resources
Tony Barrera Information Technology Director Information Technology Valerie Sommer Library Director Library
Rosa Govea Acosta City Clerk Office of the City Clerk
Angela Duldulao Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation Parks and Recreation Greg Mediati Director of Parks and Recreation Parks and Recreation Scott Campbell Chief of Police Police
Eunejune Kim Director of Public Works/City Engineer Public Works Matt Ruble Principal Engineer Public Works
Frank Risso City Treasurer Treasury