City Council Special Meeting
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
CITY HALL
1666 N. MAIN STREET, WALNUT CREEK
CouncilMembers:
DEVINNEY
FRANCOIS
sILVA
mAYOR pRO tEM Wilk
mayor Darling
Meeting minutes were approved by the City Council at the regular meeting held on March 4, 2025.
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 Darling 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 CALENDAR YEARS 2025 AND 2026 PRIORITY SETTING City Manager Dan Buckshi reported that in 2023, the City Council identified strategic priorities for the City over the next two calendar years (2023-2024). Significant work has been completed on these priorities and the City Council would be setting new priorities for calendar years 2025 and 2026 at this meeting. Additionally, City Manager Buckshi shared information on the fiscal outlook of the city and shared next steps in the budget development process. He 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 calendar years 2025 and 2026. Due to overlap, a list of six 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, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB)
Economic Development and Downtown Vitality
Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action
General Plan Update
Park and Recreation Facilities
Public Safety & Social Wellness
Public comment was received from: Jan Warren, Karen Perkins, Bob Linscheid, Carol Weed, Laura Patch and Falguni Dave. 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 meeting recessed briefly from 10:07 a.m. to 10:11 a.m. Councilmembers reviewed and refined the recommended synthesized goals.
The meeting was recessed from 11:39 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. to prepare the ballots of goals for Councilmember rating. After the 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 18 points in totality.
The meeting was recessed from 12:08 p.m. to 12:18 p.m. to tabulate the ballots.
The City Council reviewed the final ratings (average points identified below):
Economic Development and Downtown Vitality, 3.8
Public Safety and Social Wellness, 3.8
Park and Recreation Facilities, 3.2
General Plan Update, 2.6
Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action, 2.2
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB), 2.0
Discussion ensued amongst the City Council. The City Council further refined the description for the General Plan Update goal. Motion by Francois, second by Wilk, to identify the following five goals as priorities for calendar years 2025 and 2026 (listed in alphabetical order), to include the updated language to the General Plan Update goal description:
Economic Development and Downtown Vitality
Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action
General Plan Update
Parks and Recreation Facilities
Public Safety and Social Wellness
Councilmember Silva provided an amendment to the motion to provide staff the ability to refine the General Plan Update goal language further. Councilmember Francois and Mayor Pro Tem Wilk concurred with the amended motion.
The motion, as amended, carried unanimously, to identify the following five goals as priorities in 2025 and 2026 (listed in alphabetical order):
Economic Development and Downtown Vitality
Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action
General Plan Update (to include refined goal language from staff) Parks and Recreation Facilities
Public Safety and Social Wellness
While Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) did not emerge as a priority in the next two years, the City Council reaffirmed their interest in that it remain as an ongoing effort, with progress to be routinely monitored in the coming years.
City Manager Buckshi reported on next steps. He reported that final language for the 2025 and 2026 goal regarding the General Plan Update would be brought forward to the City Council for formal approval at a future meeting. He stated that over the course of the year, City staff will be sharing work plans developed to support these five overarching goals.
Agenda Report
Attachment 1 City Council Priorities 2023-2024
Attachment 2 Input from City Commissions
Attachment 3 Goal Setting Agenda
Attachment 4 Candidate Goals and Recommended Synthesized Goal Statement Correspondence received in advance of packet publication Correspondence received after packet publication
4. ADJOURNMENT OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
________________________________________
Suzie Martinez, MMC
City Clerk of the City of Walnut Creek
Approved:
_______________________________________
Cindy Darling
2024-25 Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek