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MINUTES
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL, SUCCESSOR HOUSING AGENCY, &
SUCCESSOR AGENCY MEETING
November 18, 2025 City of Watsonville
Council Chambers
275 Main Street, Top Floor
*Pursuant to Government Code Section 54953(b), Council Member Montesino participated in the meeting via teleconferencing from: 1200 River Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 Mayor Pro Tempore Salcido was scheduled to participate in the meeting via teleconferencing from: 65 Peppertree Lane, Watsonville, CA 95076 3:06 p.m.
1. ROLL CALL
Mayor Orozco, Mayor Pro Tempore Salcido (in person), and Council Members Clark, Dutra, Montesino, Parker, and Quiroz-Carter were present.
Staff members present were City Manager Vides, City Attorney Zutler, City Clerk Ortiz, Public Works & Utilities Director Lindberg, Interim Police Chief Rodriguez, Acting Fire Chief Schaefer, Administrative Services Director Duran, Parks & Community Services Director Calubaquib, Library Director Martinez, Airport Director Williams, Deputy City Manager Manning, Deputy City Clerk Pacheco and Interpreter Jauregui.
1.a. MOTION TO EXCUSE ABSENT COUNCIL MEMBER(S) – None
2. NEW BUSINESS
2.a. CONSIDERATION OF PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT (Requested by Mayor Orozco, Council Member Clark, & Council Member Parker)
1) Oral Report by Mayor Orozco, Council Member Clark, and Council Member Parker
2) City Council Clarifying & Technical Questions
In answering Mayor Pro Tempore Salcido, Mayor Orozco stated she had spoken to Member Parker and Member Quiroz-Carter regarding holding a Special Council meeting. She stated she had not spoken to Monterey/Santa Cruz Building and Construction Trades Council CEO Casey Van Den Heuvel since the November 5th Special City Council meeting.
Mayor Orozco, in answering Member Dutra, stated she had not spoken to Member Clark regarding the subject of the Special Council meeting.
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In answering Member Dutra, Members Clark and Parker stated they had spoken to Mr. Van Den Heuvel since the last Council meeting.
Mayor Pro Tempore Salcido requested Council members that had spoken to Mr. Van Den Heuvel provide details regarding the nature of the conversations.
Member Parker stated Brown Act guidelines had been followed to request the Special Council meeting.
Member Clark stated he had requested information from Mr. Van Den Heuvel. He spoke about the reasons he had requested the Special Council meeting and expressed concerns with items requested by Council not being placed on the agenda.
In response to Member Dutra, Member Clark stated he wanted accountability and to ensure work on the Project Labor Agreement (PLA) continued.
City Manager Vides stated she was prepared to work with Mr. Van Den Heuvel to continue negotiating a PLA. She expressed understanding with concerns over repealing the PLA without a replacement.
Mayor Pro Tempore Salcido stated staff was working within the parameters of the direction given by Council. She spoke about challenges with continuously having to re-bid projects.
Mayor Orozco stated she had received and responded to emails from the Building Trades.
3) Public Input
Casey Van Den Heuvel spoke about the importance of reinstating the PLA.
Caroline Chapin, The Don Chapin Company, stated it was not a union versus nonunion issue. She spoke against reinstating the PLA.
Jacob Panovich, Plumbers and Fitters Local 62 Training Coordinator, spoke in favor of reinstating the PLA.
Kevin White, K & D Landscaping founder, spoke against reinstating the PLA and stated the reasons why.
Don Chapin, The Don Chapin Company, spoke in support of Council’s decision to rescind the PLA during the November 5th Special Council meeting. He expressed ethical concerns with a Council member that is a union member being present and requested they recuse themselves from the meeting.
Bryan Shields, Carpenters Local 646 Field Representative, stated it was inappropriate to accuse any City Council member. He stated the Carpenters Union was not a party to the Building Trades and requested they be included in future negotiations.
At Member Quiroz-Carter’s request, City Attorney Zutler stated conflicts of interest were governed by regulations issued by the Fair Political Practices Commission, which Docusign Envelope ID: FA58281A-825C-4F68-983E-47029161CC68 Vol 66 Min-CC111825 Special Meeting
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she reviewed. She stated she reviewed the conflict of interest allegation received against Member Quiroz-Carter and did not find any basis in the law for the conclusion that Member Quiroz-Carter had a conflict under the Political Reform Act, Government Code Section 1090 or a common law conflict.
Daniel Rubio, Sheetmetal Workers Local 104, stated any contractor could bid on a PLA project and spoke in support of the PLA.
4) FIRST MOTION: It was moved by Member Parker, seconded by Member Clark, to approve the resolution listed under Item 2.a.6. below.
5) City Council Deliberation on Motion
In response to Member Dutra’s question regarding impacts of the Side Letter on moving forward with projects, Public Works & Utilities Director Lindberg requested clarification regarding the terms.
Public Works & Utilities Director Lindberg spoke about revisiting projects as needed instead of only considering the three projects that would be exempt from the PLA according to terms of the Side Letter. She stated there were different regulations for emergency work.
Member Dutra stated his duty was to ensure Watsonville was benefiting and that the community be put first. He expressed concerns with how the item was being handled and the issues it was causing amongst Council.
Member Clark spoke about ensuring accountability and continuing to negotiate a PLA that was beneficial to both parties.
Mayor Pro Tempore Salcido spoke about the reasons for rescinding the PLA during a past meeting and about potentially agreeing to a Side Letter at the current meeting.
She thanked Public Works & Utilities Director Lindberg, City Attorney Zutler, and City Manager Vides for their work.
Member Quiroz-Carter clarified that she did not have a conflict of interest and expressed concerns with accusations made about her having a conflict of interest.
In answering Member Dutra, City Attorney Zutler stated the motion would rescind the resolution that rescinded the PLA, meaning it would be in effect again. She stated there could be concerns over the enforceability of the agreement due to its lack of an end date. She spoke about the Side Letter that was being proposed. 1 st MOTION: The above motion was carried by the following vote.
AYES: MEMBERS: Clark, Parker, Quiroz-Carter, Orozco
NOES: MEMBERS: Dutra, Montesino, Salcido
ABSENT: MEMBERS: None
2 nd MOTION: It was moved by Mayor Orozco, seconded by Member Parker, to approve the resolution listed under Item 2.a.7. below, with modifications to the Side Letter as follows.
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Replace Section A with the following language:
Section 1.7 of the PLA is hereby amended and fully restated as follows: “‘Project’ means all public works or improvement projects paid for in whole or in part by City of Watsonville funds with an estimated cost of one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) or more and employing workers in three (3) or more crafts.
Last paragraph of Section E amended with the following language:
In order to do so, the City must first notify the Council in writing via email and may offer to meet with the Council to address the needs of the Project and provide any information that would be helpful to facilitate contractor bidding.
At Mayor Orozco’s request, Mr. Van Den Heuvel approached the podium and stated he was in agreement with the proposed changes.
In answering Mayor Pro Tempore Salcido, Mayor Orozco stated the agreement would be for a three-year term and apply to three or more trades. She stated it was a modification she was requesting to the Side Letter provided by the Trades to the City Council.
Mayor Orozco, in answering Member Clark, clarified language in the Side Letter referring to the Trades Council, not the City Council.
In answering Member Dutra, Mayor Orozco stated the goal was to continue negotiating on all the other language contained in the PLA.
Member Parker expressed her concerns with how the Trades Council was treated during the last City Council meeting. She spoke about continuing with fair negotiations and considering the best interests of residents, workers, and the City.
In answering Mayor Pro Tempore Salcido, City Attorney Zutler clarified language regarding notifying the Trades Council prior to rebidding a project.
Mayor Orozco reopened Public Input.
? male, spoke about including the Carpenters Union in future negotiations regarding the PLA. He stated it would not be binding to them otherwise.
Council resumed clarifying and technical questions following Public Input.
In answering Mayor Pro Tempore Salcido, City Attorney Zutler stated the City would produce the Side Letter to be circulated for signature by all necessary parties.
At Mayor Orozco’s request, Casey Van Den Heuvel approached the podium to respond to Council questions.
Mr. Van Den Heuvel, in response to Member Dutra, spoke about how the PLA functioned with the various trades.
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In answering Member Dutra, City Attorney Zutler spoke about language in the Side Letter regarding the Trade Council’s authorization to execute it on behalf of its affiliated local Unions.
2 nd MOTION: The above motion was carried by the following vote.
AYES: MEMBERS: Clark, Parker, Quiroz-Carter, Salcido, Orozco NOES: MEMBERS: Dutra
ABSENT: MEMBERS: Montesino
6) RESOLUTION NO. 288-25 (CM)
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WATSONVILLE RESCINDING RESOLUTION NO. 287-25 AND REINSTATE RESOLUTION NO. 119- 14 (CM)
7) RESOLUTION NO. 289-25 (CM)
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WATSONVILLE ADOPTING SIDE LETTER TO MASTER PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT (“PLA”)
BETWEEN THE CITY OF WATSONVILLE AND THE MONTEREY/ SANTA CRUZ
BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION TRADES COUNCIL
3. REQUESTS FOR SCHEDULING FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
Member Quiroz-Carter requested an item regarding the bidding process and requirements.
4. EMERGENCY ITEMS ADDED TO AGENDA – None
5. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 4:12 p.m.
______________________________
Maria Orozco, Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
Irwin I. Ortiz, City Clerk
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