2 X 2 COMMITTEE MEETING
April 12, 2023
4:00 PM
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
555 Santa Clara Street, Vallejo, Ca 94590
NOTICE: Members of the Public will be able to participate in-person or remotely via Zoom.
City Hall and the Council Chambers will be open to members of the public 30 minutes prior to the start of the meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Members of the Public may provide public comments during the 2x2 Committee Meeting in person or via ZOOM (https://ZoomRegular.Cityofvallejo.net), or via phone, by dialing (669) 900-6833.
For additional instructions on how to speak remotely during public comment, please visit, www.cityofvallejo.net/publiccomment
This is a meeting of the 2 x2 Committee of the Vallejo City Council and the Vallejo City Unified School District.
Committee Members:
Councilmember Mina Loera-Diaz** Christy Gardner, Vice President, VCUSD Board* Councilmember Diosdado “J.R.” Matulac John Fox, VCUSD Board This meeting will be conducted in accordance with the Brown Act, Government Code Section 54653. Any member of the public may attend this meeting. Questions regarding this matter may be addressed to Mike Malone, City Manager at 707-648-4576. *CHAIR, 2X2 COMMITTEE
** VICE-CHAIR, 2X2 COMMITTEE
AGENDA
2x2 Committee April 12, 2023
A G E N D A
1) CALL TO ORDER
2) ROLL CALL
3) PUBLIC COMMENT
4) APPROVAL OF AGENDA
5) APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES
A. March 9, 2023
6) DISCUSSION ITEMS
A. GRANT WRITING OVERVIEW
B. NEBRASKA STREET CLOSURE TRAFFIC STUDY
7) YOUTH COORDINATION
8) ACTION CALENDAR
9) INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
10) FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION
A. CITY BUS ROUTES NEAR SCHOOLS (SOLTRANS)
11) CONFIRMATION OF NEXT MEETING DATE
12) ADJOURNMENT
I, Narcissa Wilson, Executive Assistant to the City Manager, do hereby certify that I have caused a true copy of the above notice and agenda to be delivered to each of the members of the 2x2 Committee, at the time and in the manner prescribed by law and that this agenda was posted at City Hall, 555 Santa Clara Street, CA on Monday, April 6, 2023 at 4:00 p.m.
______________________________________________
Narcissa Wilson, Executive Assistant to the City Manager
I. CALL TO ORDER
President Gardner called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m.
II. ROLL CALL
All members are present. Superintendent Spalding and City Manager Mike Malone are absent.
Mitchell Romao, Assistant Superintendent of VCUSD Operations and Terry Davis, Assistant City Manager sat in on behalf of VCUSD and the City of Vallejo, respectively.
III. PUBLIC COMMENTS
Carlos Flores, spoke about the potential loss of health insurance coverage for many local students and families and a process to prevent this from happening. Chris Owens, Athletic Director at MIT/Griffin Academies spoke about the lack of indoor facilities for youth sports in Vallejo and would like to explore solutions with the school district and the city. Kimberly Rose agreed with Mr. Owens and would like to be part of the discussion.
IV. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Motioned by: Councilmember Diaz
2nd motion by: Councilmember Matulac
Vote:
Councilmember Diaz - AYE
Councilmember Matulac - AYE
President Gardner - AYE
Trustee Fox - AYE
V. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES
A. Minutes of February 2, 2023 (2 + 2) Committee of the City Council and Vallejo City Unified School District
Motioned by: Trustee Fox
2nd motion: Councilmember Matulac
Vote:
Councilmember Diaz - AYE
Councilmember Matulac - AYE
President Gardner - AYE
Trustee Fox - AYE
Vallejo City Unified School District
2+2
Committee
of
the
City
Council
and
VCUSD
Governing
Board
03/09/2023 - 04:30 PM
IN-PERSON
and
ZOOM
Vallejo
City
Hall
Chambers,
555
Santa
Clara
Street, #3 Vallejo
1 VI. DISCUSSION ITEMS
A. Closure of Nebraska Street (Before and After School) Councilmember Diaz discussed parent concerns and the possibilities of closing Nebraska Street before and after school hours around the area in front of the school and the Vallejo Plunge. Leaving openings for the parking lots near Corbus Field and the John Finney High School and Complex.
Mitchell Romao, VCUSD Assistant Superintendent of Operations spoke about the difficulties it may cause emergency response teams during the hours of the street closure. Councilmember Diaz said she brought forth the discussion to get others' input about whether it's something feasible that can be done. President Gardner said she thinks it's a good idea and a study should be conducted in regards to the closure of Amador Street to the Corbus stadium. Councilmember Matulac said it would be a great start to include the City's Traffic Engineer who should be a part of the discussion about diverting the traffic. Trustee Fox agreed with Matulac and also suggested including a survey for walking traffic as well to know where the students are entering and exiting the campus the most.
Assistant City Manager Terrance Davis said the city would need time to collect the data for the request.
B. Youth Center
Councilmember Diaz said she's all in favor of the youth sports programs that were mentioned in the forum by community members. Ms. Diaz said there's nothing for young people to do in Vallejo and it's going to take at least two years for the potential center. GVRD would continue to do the maintenance and the city, being the owner of the building, could put out an RFP for one non-profit to run the programs at the center. Trustee Fox said the school district did meet with GVRD for discussions and they talked about the Franklin Middle School site, the use of the fields and gymnasium. Mitchell Romao, Assistant Superintendent of Operations, said there will be ongoing talks about the use of facilities. Mr. Romao said those talks are more centered around sports facilities and not a youth center. Trustee Fox believes a youth center may serve more young people with various activities other than sports. Councilmember Diaz agreed with Trustee Fox and would like the conversations to continue in order to get these programs implemented as soon as possible.
Councilmember Diaz is hoping non-profit based organizations can use their grants for use of the facilities. Terry Davis, Assistant City Manager, confirmed the city has grant writers on hand that can assist with writing a grant for this project. Trustee Fox asked about the Vallejo Plunge swimming pool being rehabilitated for school and public use by way of grants.
C. Sustainable Funding/Grants for Resources and Programs Councilmember Matulac said we started out trying to get funding for activities and sports, but working as an Academic Support Provider, it's been difficult to navigate getting centers for young people's needs, activities and resources. Councilmember Matulac said there's a lot of money out there, we just need to find it and that's where the grant writers will help tremendously, but there are other funds out there as well.
D. City Bus Routes Near Schools
Trustee Fox asked how the bus routes are working for students now and, with the talk of a youth center, will there be appropriate transportation for young people after the hours of activities at the center, or other activities. Trustee Gardner asked if the transportation department collaborated with the VCUSD in regards to bus routes and student bell schedules. Mr. Romao said no, he hasn't been invited to meet regarding those schedules. Mr. Davis explained the Sol Trans is under the authority of Solano County, and the City of Vallejo is a member of the transportation authority.
Councilmember Matulac said he knows that Sol Trans has communicated with the district regarding transportation and also provides bus cards for students to use the buses for transportation to 2 schools. Councilmember Diaz would like to invite Sol Trans to a meeting to give the committee an update and information regarding school routes.
VII. YOUTH COORDINATION
A. Career Day Recap
Victoria Grace-Barksdale gave a brief recap of Career Day and the various agencies that participated.
B. Resource Guides
Mrs. Grace-Barksdale provided information and updates regarding resource guides, including information from the Robbin Mackbee Firefighters Youth Academy; over 850 resource guides were already distributed to elementary and middle schools and also working with Kaiser Permanente for distribution.
C. NLC Update
Mrs. Grace-Barksdale reported information regarding the process for selecting our four Student Youth Delegation. Site administrators, staff and members of the 2 + 2 Committee also helped select the talented students for the panel.
1 .
Jessalyn Christine Tan, Vallejo High School
2 .
Julio Vasquez, Jesse Bethel High School
3 .
Adena Rodriguez, John Finney High School
4 .
Ronnie Taylor, VCUSD Student Board Member (Standing position as a Delegate) Mrs. Grace-Barksdale provided a summary of the activities planned for the Delegates during the visit to Washington, D.C., and other local activities and festivals planned for Vallejo artists.
Councilmember Matulac said the applications from these students were exceptional and he would like to see more than one student selected for these conferences in the future.
D. Strategic Plan Support
E. Bloomberg Philanthropies Art Challenge Grant
F. Planning & Development General Plan Update
VIII. ACTION CALENDAR
A. Discuss and Approve the Extension of the 2 x 2 Committee Meeting Frequency and/or Duration of Time
Community member Kimberly Rose was allowed to comment on the item, but her topic wasn't related to this item.
Councilmember Diaz introduced the item and asked the committee to support extending the meeting dates to meet monthly.
Motion made by: Trustee Fox
2nd motion by: Councilmember Matulac
3 Vote:
Councilmember Diaz - AYE
Councilmember Matulac - AYE
President Gardner - AYE
Trustee Fox - AYE
IX. INFORMATION ITEMS
X. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION
1 .
Closure of Nebraska Streets
2 .
City Bus Routes with Sol Trans
3 .
Grant Analyst/Writer, School, GVRD and City Opportunities XI. CONFIRMATION OF NEXT MEETING DATE
The next public 2 + 2 Committee meeting is April 12, 2023 at 4:00 p.m., Vallejo City Hall.
XII. ADJOURNMENT
Public comment: David Belef, community member, would like the school district to engage more with the Participatory Budget. Mr. Belef mentioned the partnership grants that are available, student transportation (school buses/Sol Trans) and other information and resources available for the community.
President Gardner adjourned the meeting at 6:11 p.m.
Mike Malone, Vallejo City Manager
William Spalding, Superintendent, Vallejo
City Unified School District
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