City Council Special Meeting - 9:00 AM No Audio/No Video Tuesday, February 28, 2023
CITY HALL
1666 N. MAIN STREET, WALNUT CREEK
CouncilMembers:
DARLING
FRANCOIS
WILK
mAYOR pRO tEM HASKEW
mayor SILVA
Meeting minutes were approved by the City Council on March 7, 2023.
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING AT 9:00 AM
1. OPENING
a.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
b.
ROLL CALL - all Councilmembers were in attendance.
2. PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS
Mayor Silva reported that under California law, public comments at special meetings are limited to subjects on the agenda only, therefore, public comment would be received during the City Council consideration of the item.
3. CITY COUNCIL 2023-2024 PRIORITY SETTING
City Manager Dan Buckshi reported that in 2021, the City Council identified strategic priorities for the City over the next two calendar years (2021-2022). Significant work has been completed on these priorities and the City Council would be setting new priorities for calendar years 2023 and 2024 at this meeting. City Manager Buckshi provided additional background information and introduced the meeting facilitator, Ken Hampian.
Facilitator Hampian provided an overview on the goal-setting work done in preparation for this meeting. In advance of this meeting, each Councilmember was asked to propose goals for 2023-2024. Due to overlap, a list of seven synthesized goals resulted from the input received. The City Council reviewed and refined the proposed goals as noted in the list below (listed in alphabetical order):
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
Economic Development and Continued Recovery
Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action Plan
General Plan Update
Housing Element Implementation
Parks, Facilities and Other Infrastructure
Public Safety & Social Wellness
Public comment was received from: Jan Warren, Bob Linscheid, Carol Weed, Brian Hirahara, Laura Patch, Jamie Salcido and Audrey Gee. Written public comments were also received and provided to the City Council, and posted on-line as part of the meeting record.
After public comment, the Councilmembers reviewed and refined the recommended synthesized goals.
The meeting was recessed from 10:58 a.m. to11:18 a.m. to prepare the ballots of goals for Councilmember rating.
After break, the Councilmembers discussed the goals. The City Council was then provided ballots to rate the goals. They were able to assign up to 4 points per goal, and no more than 21 points in totality.
The meeting was recessed from 11:44 a.m. to 11:57 a.m. to tabulate the ballots.
The City Council reviewed the final ratings (average points identified below):
Public Safety and Social Wellness, 4.0
Economic Development and Job Creation, 3.8
Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action, 3.6
Parks, Facilities and Other Infrastructure, 3.6
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), 3.4
General Plan Update, 2.0
Housing Element Implementation, 0.4
Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Haskew, second by Wilk,
carried unanimously
, to identify the following five goals as priorities in 2023 and 2024 (listed in alphabetical order):
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
Economic Development and Job Creation
Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action
Parks, Facilities and Other Infrastructure
Public Safety and Social Wellness
The two goals that did not emerge as major priorities were the General Plan Update and the Housing Element Implementation. With respect to the General Plan Update, while not a priority in the next two years, the City Council expressed an interest in gaining a better understanding of the process and associated resources required for an update in the future. Therefore, workload permitting, a staff report addressing these questions would be appreciated in about a year. In the meantime, staff should focus on becoming “General Plan ready” by working on projects, as time permits, that will help with the update process when it occurs. With respect to the Housing Element Implementation, the Council consensus was that implementation is already actively underway and being closely monitored.
City Manager Buckshi reported on next steps. He stated that over the course of the year, City staff will be sharing work plans developed to support these five overarching goals.
The meeting was recessed for lunch from 12:06 – 1:00 p.m.
Agenda Report
Attachment 1 - 2021-22 Priorities Final Report
Attachment 2 - Input from Commissions
Attachment 3 - Priority Setting Agenda
Attachment 4 - Councilmember Input and Synthesized Goal Statements Addendum - 2-28-23 Public Comment - 1st Batch
Addendum - 2-28-23 Public Comment - 2nd Batch
4. CITY COUNCIL ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITTEE
City Manager Buckshi reported that with the approval of the 2023 Councilmember Assignments, a Council/Commission Organizational Committee (Committee) of the City Council was established. The members are Matt Francois and Kevin Wilk. The purpose of this agenda item was for the City Council to discuss and identify potential topics for the Committee to review during calendar year 2023. No public comments were received. The City Council shared ideas and agreed the Committee should pursue the following topics in coordination with staff:
Review the roles of the Public Education and Public Safety Standing City Council Committees, the City Attorney Ad Hoc City Council Committee, and the Design Review Commission.
Review the process for the assignment of City Councilmembers to Council Committees and as liaisons to help ensure all members have an opportunity to serve and attain experience.
Review the framework for the creation of committees - standing or ad hoc; and commissions.
5. ADJOURNMENT OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING at 1:53 p.m. ________________________________________
Suzie Martinez, MMC
City Clerk of the City of Walnut Creek
Approved:
_______________________________________
Cindy Silva
2022-23 Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek