On the agenda: Sebastopol Agenda Item Number 2 - September 15 2026 City Council Meeting Minutes FINAL — surveillance camera (Sep 15)

Agenda Item Number 2

CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Regular Meeting of Tuesday, September 15, 2026
6:00 pm Start Time
As Approved by the City Council at their regular meeting of October 6, 2026.
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor McLewis called the meeting to order 6:15 p.m.
ROLL CALL:
Present:

Absent:
Staff:

Mayor Jill McLewis
Vice Mayor Sandra Maurer
Councilmember Phill Carter
Councilmember Neysa Hinton
Councilmember Stephen Zollman
Mary Gourley, City Manager
Alex Mog, City Attorney, Redwood Public Law
Administrative Services Director Ana Kwong
Public Works Director Oriana Hart

REMOTE PARTICIPATION:
None
SALUTE TO THE FLAG
Mayor McLewis led the salute to the flag.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The City of Sebastopol acknowledges that we live and work within the unceded
ancestral homelands of the Southern Pomo and the Coast Miwok people. We pay our respect to the past, present,
and future generations of these peoples, including the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.
REMEMBERING THE HISTORY OF SEBASTOPOL: None
PROCLAMATIONS/PRESENTATIONS/INTRODUCTIONS:
The following were presented:
• Creek Week and Pollution Prevention Week Proclamation
• Proclamation Honoring Jim Corbett (Mr. Music)
• Proclamation Proclaiming September 2026 Latino Heritage Month
• Proclamation – September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
Reference Order Number: 2026-237
STATEMENTS OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: Conflicts of interest may arise in situations where a public official deliberating

towards a decision, has an actual or potential financial interest in the matter before the Council. In accordance with state law, an
actual conflict of interest is one that would be to the private financial benefit of a public official, a relative or a business with which
the Councilmember is associated. A potential conflict of interest is one that could be to the private financial benefit of a
Councilmember, a relative or a business with which the Councilmember is associated. A Councilmember must publicly announce
potential and actual conflicts of interest, and, in the case of actual conflict of interest, must refrain from participating in debate on
the issue or from voting on the issue and must remove themselves from the dais. NONE

Mayor McLewis announced that Item Number 11 was pulled from the agenda and will be heard at a future City
Council Meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA (FIRST COMMENT PERIOD): Up to Twenty (20) Minute Time Limit
(Two Minutes for up to ten speakers). Additional public comment will be held at the end of the discussion and action items for up

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to an additional twenty (20) minutes. Mayor has discretion to allow for additional time beyond the 20 minutes allocated for public
comment dependent upon the subject matter or number of speakers.
Process for calling on Speakers: Mayor or designee shall ask for public comment as follows: Speakers to be called on in an
alternate manner (One speaker in person to be called on first; then one speaker remote to be called on second with additional
speakers to be called on in the same manner) based upon the time limit.

The following member(s) of the public spoke during public comment for items not on the agenda:
Ian Hoff
Sunny G.
Mike
Mary
Kate
James

Candidate
Week without driving challenge
SRJC Bond
Three Minute Comment
Consultants listed on agenda reports; rate payers
Commissions/committees

CONSENT CALENDAR: The consent agenda consists of items that are routine in nature and do not require additional discussion by the City

Council or have been reviewed by the City Council previously. These items may be approved by one motion without discussion unless a member of
the City Council requests that the item be taken off the consent calendar.
The Mayor will read aloud the title of each consent item (either full agenda title or a simplified version of the agenda title), and ask if a
Councilmember wishes to remove one or more items from the consent calendar; and then open public comment to the members of the public in
attendance. At this time, a member of the public may speak for up to two (2) minutes on the entire consent calendar and request at that time that
an item or items removed for discussion.
If an item or items are removed from the consent calendar, the item shall be placed at the end of the regular agenda items unless otherwise
determined by the Mayor. Council Members may comment on Consent Calendar items or ask for minor clarifications without the need for pulling
the item for separate consideration. Items requiring deliberation should be pulled for separate consideration and shall be placed at the end of the
regular agenda items unless otherwise determined by the Mayor.

Mayor McLewis read the consent calendar.
Mayor McLewis asked if any Councilmember wanted to remove a consent calendar item.
Councilmember Zollman requested items number 4 and 5 be removed from the consent calendar.
Mayor McLewis requested item number 6 be removed from the consent calendar.
Mayor McLewis opened for public comment. The following member(s) of the public spoke during public comment:
Hunter
Kate
Kyle
Lee

MOU
Budget at a Glance
Appointments to Commission /Committees / Boards
Budget at a Glance

Mayor McLewis called for a motion.
MOTION:
Councilmember Hinton moved and Vice Mayor Maurer seconded the motion to approve consent calendar items 1, 2,
3, 7 and 8. Items 4, 5, and 6 were pulled.
Mayor McLewis called for a roll call vote. City staff conducted a roll call vote.
VOTE:
Ayes:
Noes:
Absent:
Abstain:

Councilmembers Carter, Hinton, Zollman, Vice Mayor Maurer and Mayor McLewis
None
None
None

1. Approval of City Council Meeting Minutes for Regular Meeting of September 1, 2026
Responsible Department: City Manager

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Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the minutes is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: None
City Council Action: Approved City Council Meeting Minutes for Regular Meeting of September 1, 2026
Minute Order Number: 2026-238
2. Approval of Award of Contract/Memorandum of Understanding Between County of Sonoma and City of
Sebastopol to establish the roles and responsibilities of the parties in the County's providing staff to
engage individuals experiencing homelessness within the incorporated and unincorporated areas of City.
County will assign one 50% FTE Senior Client Support Specialist (SCSS) from the Solving Obstacles for
Unsheltered Lives (SOUL), formerly Homeless Encampment Assistance and Resource Team (HEART), to
operate within the incorporated and unincorporated areas of City. Some overlap may occur with regular
Joe Rodota Trail outreach activities.
Responsible Department: Police/City Council Liaison
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: No payment shall be made to either party. The parties agrees that at all times and for all
purposes relevant to this MOU, the County shall remain the sole and exclusive employer of the SCSS. County
agrees to provide labor and employee costs associated with the SCSS. County also agrees to provide the SCSS
with a vehicle, fuel, laptop, cellphone, and other work-related expenses at no expense to City.
Additional needs with associated costs may arise during the term of this MOU at the request of the City. When
feasible, the SCSS shall first attempt to utilize existing homeless programs and resources to address these
needs. If no existing program or resource is available, the County and City shall jointly evaluate the request,
mutually agree to address the need, and share associated costs equally (50:50).
City Council Action: Approved Award of Contract/Memorandum of Understanding Between County of Sonoma
and City of Sebastopol to establish the roles and responsibilities of the parties in the County's providing staff to
engage individuals experiencing homelessness within the incorporated and unincorporated areas of City.
County will assign one 50% FTE Senior Client Support Specialist (SCSS) from the Solving Obstacles for
Unsheltered Lives (SOUL), formerly Homeless Encampment Assistance and Resource Team (HEART), to
operate within the incorporated and unincorporated areas of City. Some overlap may occur with regular Joe
Rodota Trail outreach activities.
Minute Order Number: 2026-239
3. Award of Contract Corporation Yard Fuel Station Upgrade (CIP 1001-25.03)
Responsible Department: Public Works
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda item is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: This CIP is programmed in the CY26/27 CIP Budget $85,000.
City Council Action: Approved Award of Contract Corporation Yard Fuel Station Upgrade (CIP 1001-25.03)
Minute Order Number: 2026-240
Resolution Number: 2026-6796
7. Approval of the Sewer System Management Plan 2026 Audit and Update. Item is to Accept the 2026 Sewer
System Management Plan Audit Report and authorize the Public Works Director, as the City's Legally
Responsible Official, to certify and submit the Audit Report to the State Water Resources Control Board
through the California Integrated Water Quality System; and Adopt the 2026 Sewer System Management
Plan by resolution and authorize the Public Works Director, as the City's Legally Responsible Official, to
certify and submit the approved Plan to the State Water Resources Control Board through CIWQS. The 2026
SSMP Audit was conducted as part of the City's ongoing program review. The audit evaluates
implementation of the SSMP, the effectiveness of the City's sewer management practices, regulatory
compliance, and areas where improvements or modifications may be appropriate.
Responsible Department: Public Works Director
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact:. There is no direct fiscal impact associated with adoption of the 2026 Sewer System
Management Plan or acceptance of the 2026 SSMP Audit Report. Approval of these documents does not
authorize any new expenditures or appropriations. The activities documented in the SSMP, including routine
sewer operations and maintenance, condition assessment, emergency response, asset management, and
capital improvement planning, are funded through the City's Wastewater Enterprise Fund and existing budget
appropriations. Any future costs associated with implementing recommendations identified through the SSMP

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audit and update would be addressed through the City's normal budgeting and capital improvement planning
processes
City Council Action: Approved Sewer System Management Plan 2026 Audit and Update. Item is to Accept the
2026 Sewer System Management Plan Audit Report and authorize the Public Works Director, as the City's Legally
Responsible Official, to certify and submit the Audit Report to the State Water Resources Control Board through
the California Integrated Water Quality System; and Adopt the 2026 Sewer System Management Plan by
resolution and authorize the Public Works Director, as the City's Legally Responsible Official, to certify and
submit the approved Plan to the State Water Resources Control Board through CIWQS. The 2026 SSMP Audit
was conducted as part of the City's ongoing program review. The audit evaluates implementation of the SSMP,
the effectiveness of the City's sewer management practices, regulatory compliance, and areas where
improvements or modifications may be appropriate.
Minute Order Number: 2026-244
Resolution Number: 6797-2026
8. Receipt of Upcoming Openings as follows: Receipt of Upcoming Openings / Vacancies as follows:
Terms Ending December 31, 2026
Receipt of Upcoming Openings / Vacancies as follows:
Planning Commission:
1. Joan Harper - Resident
Design Review Board:
1. Christian Macke - Category A
2. Lynn Deedler - Category B
3. Marshall Balfe (alternate) - Category D
Climate Action:
1. Lila Newton - Youth Rep
2. Emily Ocon - Local Climate Action Group Member
3. Steve Pierce - Local Climate Action Group Member, Energy Background
4. Sunny Galbraith - Zero Waste, Climate background
Responsible Department: Planning
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact:. The cost to publish one (1) vacancy notice in the Press Democrat ranges from $295.00
to $343.00 for a total of $885.00 to $1,029.00. This amount includes 1½ hours of staff time for preparing the notices
and posting notices in all application locations. The expense is currently budgeted in the adopted FY 2026–2027
budget.
City Council Action: Received Upcoming Openings as follows: Receipt of Upcoming Openings / Vacancies as
follows:
Terms Ending December 31, 2026
Receipt of Upcoming Openings / Vacancies as follows:
Planning Commission:
1. Joan Harper - Resident
Design Review Board:
1. Christian Macke - Category A
2. Lynn Deedler - Category B
3. Marshall Balfe (alternate) - Category D
Climate Action:
1. Lila Newton - Youth Rep
2. Emily Ocon - Local Climate Action Group Member
3. Steve Pierce - Local Climate Action Group Member, Energy Background
4. Sunny Galbraith - Zero Waste, Climate background
Reference Order Number: 2026-245

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4. Approval of Climate Action Committee Recommendation on Zero Waste Grant Stipend Funds ($6500) to
City Council; funds must be used by October 15th; Recommendations for use are as follows: The Climate
Action Committee’s recommendation is to spend the $6,500 Zero Waste Grant stipend on an agreement
with The Rahus Institute, a 501c3 non-profit and known community partner, to provide a public food waste
education event. This agreement will be at no cost to the City and authorizes the City Manager to execute
agreement.
Responsible Department: Planning
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: None
Mayor McLewis opened for questions of staff. The Council asked various questions of City staff.
Mayor McLewis opened the public comment period. The following member(s) of the public spoke during the
public comment period:
Kate
City Council Discussion/Deliberations/Comments:
Council continued discussion of the item.
Mayor McLewis called for a motion.
MOTION:
Councilmember Hinton moved and Mayor McLewis seconded the motion to approve Item 4 Climate Action
Committee Recommendation on Zero Waste Grant Stipend Funds ($6500) to City Council; funds must be used
by October 15th; Recommendations for use are as follows: The Climate Action Committee’s recommendation is
to spend the $6,500 Zero Waste Grant stipend on an agreement with The Rahus Institute, a 501c3 non-profit and
known community partner, to provide a public food waste education event. This agreement will be at no cost to
the City and authorizes the City Manager to execute agreement.
Mayor McLewis called for a roll call vote. City staff conducted a roll call vote.
VOTE:
Ayes:
Councilmembers Carter, Hinton, Zollman, Vice Mayor Maurer and Mayor McLewis
Noes:
None
Absent:
None
Abstain:
None
City Council Action: Approved Climate Action Committee Recommendation on Zero Waste Grant Stipend Funds
($6500) to City Council; funds must be used by October 15th; Recommendations for use are as follows: The
Climate Action Committee’s recommendation is to spend the $6,500 Zero Waste Grant stipend on an agreement
with The Rahus Institute, a 501c3 non-profit and known community partner, to provide a public food waste
education event. This agreement will be at no cost to the City and authorizes the City Manager to execute
agreement.
Minute Order Number: 2026-241
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/PRESENTATIONS: Informational Items or Presentations are items that are informational only and
do not require action by the City Council. Presentations shall be scheduled as necessary for the promotion of an event
or service or general information items to the Council and should be limited to ten (10) minutes total in length of item
(total length includes questions of Council to presenter and public comment). NONE
PUBLIC HEARING(s): NONE

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REGULAR CALENDAR AGENDA ITEMS (DISCUSSION AND/OR ACTION):
9. Consideration of Request for Waiver of Fees:
a. Peacetown Special Event Fee Waiver: Peacetown is requesting $5,000 to be waived
b. Many Moons Special Event Fee Waiver: Many Moons letter requests “a waiver for any City fees
associated”. Fees requested for waiver $750.
Responsible Department: Public Works Director
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: Waiving the event fees will result in lost fee revenue and may result in additional park
maintenance costs associated with the events.
Public Works Director Hart presented the Agenda item.
Mayor McLewis opened for questions of staff. The Council asked various questions of City staff.
Mayor McLewis opened the public comment period. The following member(s) of the public spoke during the
public comment period:
Kyle
Lee

Policy
Structure Policy (types/meets requirements)

City Council Discussion/Deliberations/Comments:
Council continued discussion of the item.
Mayor McLewis called for a motion.
MOTION:
Vice Mayor Maurer moved and Councilmember Zollman seconded the motion to approve the waiver of Special
Event Permit fees for the 2026 Many Moons Festival, to be held at Ives Park on Saturday, October 3, 2026, in the
amount of $750, and to approved the waiver for Special Event Permit fees for the Peacetown Concert Series held
at Ives Park, from June 3rd, to September 9th, in the amount of $5,000.
Mayor McLewis called for a roll call vote. City staff conducted a roll call vote.
VOTE:
Ayes:
Councilmembers Carter, Hinton, Zollman, Vice Mayor Maurer and Mayor McLewis
Noes:
None
Absent:
None
Abstain:
None
City Council Action: Approved waiver of Special Event Permit fees for the 2026 Many Moons Festival, to be held
at Ives Park on Saturday, October 3, 2026, in the amount of $750, and to approved the waiver for Special Event
Permit fees for the Peacetown Concert Series held at Ives Park, from June 3rd, to September 9th, in the amount
of $5,000.
Minute Order Number: 2026-246
10. Consideration for Approval the Citywide Paving Improvement Multi-Year Paving Plan
Responsible Department: Public Works Director
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: Funding for the paving improvements is included in the City's approved FY 26/27 CIP
Program.
Public Works Director Hart presented the Agenda item.
Mayor McLewis opened for questions of staff. The Council asked various questions of City staff.

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Mayor McLewis opened the public comment period. The following member(s) of the public spoke during the
public comment period:
Lee
Kate
City Council Discussion/Deliberations/Comments:
Council continued discussion of the item.
Mayor McLewis called for a motion.
MOTION:
Vice Mayor Maurer moved and Councilmember Zollman seconded the motion to approve the proposed multiyear paving strategy and direct staff to proceed with the FY 2026-27 reconstruction of Eastside Avenue and South
Avenue, begin design and project preparation for the FY 2027-28 overlay projects on Palm Avenue, Maytum
Avenue, and Wallace Street, and continue the PMP-based slurry seal program, subject to available funding and
final project development.
Mayor McLewis called for a roll call vote. City staff conducted a roll call vote.
VOTE:
Ayes:
Councilmembers Carter, Hinton, Zollman, Vice Mayor Maurer and Mayor McLewis
Noes:
None
Absent:
None
Abstain:
None
City Council Action: Approved the proposed multi-year paving strategy and direct staff to proceed with the FY
2026-27 reconstruction of Eastside Avenue and South Avenue, begin design and project preparation for the FY
2027-28 overlay projects on Palm Avenue, Maytum Avenue, and Wallace Street, and continue the PMP-based
slurry seal program, subject to available funding and final project development.
Minute Order Number: 2026-247
11. Consideration and Approval of Library Reconstruction Work
Responsible Department: Public Works Director
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: The reconstruction cost of up to $89,100 would be funded through the City's Building,
Facilities and Infrastructures Reserve Fund (Fund 103)
Public Works Director Hart presented the Agenda item.
Mayor McLewis opened for questions of staff. The Council asked various questions of City staff.
Mayor McLewis opened the public comment period. The following member(s) of the public spoke during the
public comment period:
Oliver
City Council Discussion/Deliberations/Comments:
Council continued discussion of the item.
Mayor McLewis called for a motion.
MOTION:

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Councilmember Zollman moved and Vice Mayor Maurer seconded the motion to adopt a resolution authorizing
the City Manager to execute a construction contract with DMR Builders for the Sebastopol Library Rehabilitation
Project in the amount of $74,250, and authorize the City Manager to approve change orders up to 20% of the
contract award, or $14,850, if needed for unforeseen field conditions, quantity adjustments, and other necessary
work associated with completing the Project.
Mayor McLewis concern
Councilmember Hinton concern
Mayor McLewis called for a roll call vote. City staff conducted a roll call vote.
VOTE:
Ayes:
Councilmembers Carter, Hinton, Zollman, Vice Mayor Maurer and Mayor McLewis
Noes:
None
Absent:
None
Abstain:
None
City Council Action: Approved resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a construction contract with
DMR Builders for the Sebastopol Library Rehabilitation Project in the amount of $74,250, and authorize the City
Manager to approve change orders up to 20% of the contract award, or $14,850, if needed for unforeseen field
conditions, quantity adjustments, and other necessary work associated with completing the Project.
Minute Order Number: 2026-248
Resolution Number: 6798-2026
12. Commission and Committee Work Plans. Review and Consideration of the 26/27 Work Plans for the
Planning Commission, Design Review Board/Tree Board, Climate Action Committee, and Public Arts
Committee (This item was scheduled for the July 21st City Council Meeting; but was not heard due to
adjournment of the meeting per Council protocols). Note: In conjunction with the proposed Work
Plans, the Public Arts Committee has requested a return to a monthly meeting schedule. The
Committee currently meets for two hours on the fourth Thursday of every other month and has
determined that monthly meetings would improve their ability to advance projects and accomplish
Work Plan objectives in a timely manner. The Design Review/Tree Board has requested a return to
meeting twice per month. The Board currently meets once a month for two hours on the fourth Tuesday.
Under the proposed schedule, the Board would continue its regular monthly meeting for project and
permit review and hold a second monthly meeting for 90 minutes dedicated solely to Work Plan
implementation and long-range planning efforts.
Responsible Department: Planning
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: If approved by Council, the estimated fiscal impact of adding an additional PAC
meeting would be $5,376 to $8,064, and the estimated total annual fiscal impact of adding an additional DRB
meeting would be $7,152 to $11,448.
City Council Action: Item 12 was pulled from the Agenda to be rescheduled to a future City Council meeting.
Reference Order Number: 2026-249
13. Direction to Voting Delegate (Mayor McLewis) Attending the 2026 Annual Conference and Expo, Sept.
23-25, on Resolution submitted for consideration at the General Assembly Meeting to be held on Friday,
Sept. 25, at 8:30 a.m. Cal Cities received one resolution: A RESOLUTION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE LEAGUE OF CALIFORNIA CITIES CALLING FOR A WORKING GROUP TO CONSIDER A STATE
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT OR OTHER FORM OF INITIATIVE TO ENSURE FINAL LOCAL AUTHORITY
OVER HOUSING AND LAND USE DECISION.
Responsible Department: Mayor/City Manager
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: None.

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City Manager Gourley presented the Agenda item.
Mayor McLewis opened for questions of staff. The Council asked various questions of City staff.
Mayor McLewis opened the public comment period. The following member(s) of the public spoke during the
public comment period:
Lee
Kyle
City Council Discussion/Deliberations/Comments:
Council continued discussion of the item.
Mayor McLewis called for a motion.
MOTION:
Councilmember Hinton moved and Councilmember Zollman seconded the motion to provide direction to the
voting delegate to oppose the proposed resolution unless amended, to ensure that the State retains power to
penalize cities who try to circumvent State housing goals.
Mayor McLewis called for a roll call vote. City staff conducted a roll call vote.
VOTE:
Ayes:
Councilmembers Carter, Hinton, Zollman,
Noes:
Vice Mayor Maurer and Mayor McLewis
Absent:
None
Abstain:
None
City Council Action: Approved direction to the voting delegate to oppose the proposed resolution unless
amended, to ensure that the State retains power to penalize cities who try to circumvent State housing goals.
Minute Order Number: 2026-250
14. Sebastopol Commons: Building the Commons Final Report Out & Recommendations.
Responsible Department: Public Works Director
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: Additional staff time is requested to evaluate the financial and operational needs
associated with the option chosen. An estimated cost of $40,000 - $50,000 for the fiscal analysis of the O’Reily
Building option.
Public Works Director presented the Agenda item and introduced the committee who provided a presentation.
Mayor McLewis opened for questions of staff. The Council asked various questions of City staff.
Mayor McLewis opened the public comment period. The following member(s) of the public spoke during the
public comment period:
Christine
Kate
Robert
Martin
Craig
Lisa
Oliver
Mary

Support
Have others pay for due diligence
Why District 5 not involved; most West County
Real Estate Team Barlow/Tool Library; support thorough look; offered experience no charge
Proposal not right one; City should not be landlord
Not right decision
County should fund
EIFD; Compared to Davis; discussed senior center

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Brian
Steve
Lawrence
Linda
Kate
Vaughn
Gary
Lee
Paul
Michael
Jen
Linda
Diane
Caroline
Craig
Dena
Philena

Senior Center
Loss of vitality for downtown/walkability/finances of City
Transitional moment; find out answer; then ask people
Depends on what edge of town live in; bus route could be changed
Senior Center; Support; move to next step
What not going to be able to do during due diligence; vote of citizens; ballot measure
Senior Center; space is a challenge
Three key issues; is this legal; finances $10M funding gap; City to pay rent (civic partners)
$900K; may require new taxes
Not think Oreilly is solution; belong downtown
Not support; climate change impact; not waste more time
Foot traffic downtown; not support
Not enough room at senior center
Volunteer at senior center; no place downtown for senior center or library to expand
Husband worked on committee; time/effort; have open mind
Support due diligence
Long time
Community Center; need space

City Council Discussion/Deliberations/Comments:
Council continued discussion of the item.
Mayor McLewis called for a motion.
MOTION:
Councilmember Hinton moved and Vice Mayor Maurer seconded the motion to:
• Consider a new Ad Hoc Committee at the second meeting in December
• Downtown space/location to be considered in the evaluation
• Ad Hoc to be considered in preparation for mid year budget review
Mayor McLewis called for a roll call vote. City staff conducted a roll call vote.
VOTE:
Ayes:
Noes:
Absent:
Abstain:

Councilmembers Carter, Hinton, Zollman, and Vice Mayor Maurer
Mayor McLewis
None
None

City Council Action: Approved:
• Consider a new Ad Hoc Committee at the second meeting in December
• Downtown space/location to be considered in the evaluation
• Ad Hoc to be considered in preparation for mid year budget review
Minute Order Number: 2026-251
5. Receipt of Informational Report from Chief of Police on exigent use of surveillance cameras. This report is
provided pursuant to SMC 8.80.040, to advise the Sebastopol City Council about the temporary exigent use
of surveillance technology, which occurred on Thursday, July 30, 2026. Ordinance SMC 8.80.040 requires a
report to the City Council within 60 days of any exigent use of certain surveillance technologies, including
Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs).
Responsible Department: Police
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: None

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City Council Action: None. Item pulled from consent calendar, continued to next meeting due to adjournment of
meeting.
Minute Order Number: 2026-242
6. Receipt of Budget at a Glance Format and Authorize Staff to Post Such Document on the City Website
Responsible Department: Administrative Services
Fiscal Impact: Staff time required to prepare the agenda report is covered within existing budgeted salaries.
Additional Fiscal Impact: None
City Council Action: None. Item pulled from consent calendar, continued to next meeting due to adjournment of
meeting.
Minute Order Number: 2026-243
ADDITIONAL PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA: Two minutes per speaker for up to twenty
(20) minutes total for public comments but can be reduced at Mayor’s discretion depending upon the number of
speakers or Mayor has discretion to allow for additional time beyond the 20 minutes allocated for public comment
dependent upon the subject matter or number of speakers.
COUNCILMEMBER(S) REQUESTS FOR FUTURE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEMS: None
CITY COUNCIL/CITY STAFF REPORTS/COMMUNICATIONS/ANNOUNCEMENTS/FUTURE MEETINGS:
7. City Manager and/or City Clerk Reports: (This will be either verbal reports at the meeting, or
written reports provided at or prior to the meeting)
a.
August 2026 Departmental Reports
Reference Order Number: 2026-252
8. City Council Reports/Committee/Sub-Committee Meeting Reports: (Reports by Mayor/City Councilmembers
Regarding Various Agency Meetings/Committee Meetings/Sub-Committee Meeting /Conferences Attended and
Possible Direction to its Representatives (If Needed) on Pending issues before such Boards. (This will be either
verbal reports at the meeting, or written reports provided at or prior to the meeting). Councilmembers provided
reports.
9. Council Communications Received (Information/Meetings/Correspondence Received from the General Public to
Councilmembers)
CLOSED SESSION: NONE
ADJOURNMENT OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING
September 15, 2026 City Council Regular Meeting was adjourned by Mayor McLewis at 10:30pm. The next Regular
City Council Meeting is Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 6:00 pm, Sebastopol Youth Annex, 425 Morris Street,
Sebastopol, CA.
Respectfully submitted:

Mary C. Gourley
City Manager
Attachment 1: ZOOM Raw Minutes
Attachment 2: VITAC Real Time Transcription Minutes

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WEBVTT
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: other stuff, and hopefully in that
time, they might figure that out, and then we can keep moving, but rather
than pausing and making all of you wait here. So, give me one second,
just get my agenda here, and Mary, you can tell me when you're…
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: You ready? We're good. Okay, all
right. All right, thank you all for your patience. Apologies,
technology's great till it's not. So, let's see, so we're gonna call this
to order, and Mary's going to do a roll call.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Mayor. Councilmember
Carter?
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Here. Councilmember Hinton? Here.
Councilmember Zolman? Present. Vice Mayor Maurer? Here. Mayor McLewis?
Here. Please note, all Councilmembers are in attendance. Thank you. Let's
see, let me move through this here. We are going to now do the salute to
the flag, if y'all stand with me.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: States of America, and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with
liberty and justice for all.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right, we do a land
acknowledgement at every meeting, and so I'm going to go ahead and read
that. The City of Sebastopol acknowledges that we live and work within
the unceded ancestral homelands of the southern Pomo and Coast Miwok
people. We pay our respect to the past, present, and future generations
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: generations of these peoples,
including the Federated Indians of Grayton Rancheria.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And typically after this, I do a
brief history of Sebastopol, but since we can't pull anything up or any
photos, I'm gonna go ahead and skip that, and we're gonna move right on
to the proclamations. So the first proclamation that we have is Creek
Week, Impleusion Prevention Week.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Proclamation, and our, Vice Mayor,
Sandy Maurer, is gonna read that for us. And before we do that, is there
anyone here who's… are you receiving that, Oriana? Okay.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Creek Week and Pollution Prevention
Week, whereas the third Saturday in September is recognized worldwide as
International Coastal Cleanup Day, bringing millions of volunteers
together to remove litter from beaches, rivers, creeks, and shorelines.
12
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Demonstrating that protecting
inland waterways is essential to the health of our oceans.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas throughout the United
States, the week starting on the third Monday of September is recognized
as National Pollution Prevention Week.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas throughout much of
California, including the Russian River Watershed, cities, counties, and
other stewardship organizations are recognizing the fourth week of
September as Creek Week.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And whereas our pollution
prevention practices are intrinsically linked to the health of our
watershed lands and waterways.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas the Russian River Watershed
Association supports programs to reduce pollution, increase the
environmental quality of our watershed, and provide our communities with
the knowledge to be effective stewards of the Russian River Watershed
lands and waterways.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas the nearly 1,500 square
miles of lands, 150 creeks, and approximately 360,000 residents of the
Russian River Watershed are connected and mutually support each other
18
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas the Russian River, along
with its tributaries and associated features, are important resources to
the people of Sonoma and Mendocino counties.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas pollution in the form of
trash and debris, chemicals from industry and everyday living, and
sediment from construction and many land uses and activities all have the
potential to degrade the quality of life and the quality of resources
within the Russian River watershed.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And whereas the Russian River
Watershed Association strives to protect our land and waterways through
ongoing pollution prevention outreach, which aims to raise awareness of
the harmful effects of the pollutants to our natural systems.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And whereas during Pollution
Prevention Week and Creek Week, river and ocean cleanup campaigns will
take place throughout Sonoma and Mendocino counties. And we're going to
have a Creek Week cleanup here. Councilmember Carter, do you have a date
on that? It'll be in the Laguna. This Saturday?
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Almost in this parking lot beside
the baseball fields at 9am.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But actually, it's all signed up
and all full, so you can come and join, but we've got it going.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: This is our Public Works Director,
Arianna Hart. Thank you. Thank you.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right, let's get to the second
proclamation, and that would be a proclamation proclaiming September 2026
Latino Heritage Month, and we have Councilmember Steven Zolman doing that
one.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Manor Manor. This is a
proclamation recognizing Latino Heritage Month, whereas the City of
Sebastopol joins the State of California and communities across the
nation in observing Latino Heritage Month.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: from September 15th through October
15th, honoring histories, cultures, and contributions of the Latino and
Hispanic Americans
29
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas Sonoma County's Latino
community is an integral part of our region's identity, contributing to
our local economy through agriculture, hospitality, and small business
ownership, and enriching our communities through art, music, food, and
family traditions celebrated each year.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: at events such as Fiesta de
Independencia and other regional gatherings. Whereas Latino residents of
Sebastopol contribute daily to the vitality of our schools, businesses,
farms, and civil organizations, and their leadership and strength.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Service strengthen the social
fabric of our entire community.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And whereas the observation offers
an opportunity for all Sebastopol residents to learn about and celebrate
and support the achievements and ongoing contributions of Latino and
Hispanic Americans, and to acknowledge and to advance a community that is
welcoming and inclusive of all.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Now, therefore, be it resolved that
our Mayor, Jill McLewis, on behalf of the entire City Council of
Sebastopol, thus proclaim September 15th, 2026,
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: There is a misstatement here,
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to be mayor, I think we're gonna
need to refix this, to be Latino Heritage Month. And the executive
director, Margaret Flores McCabe.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: from Secure Families Collaboration
Collaborative, was on her way. I don't know if she made it or not, but
they do wonderful work on behalf of our immigrant community. So I'm going
to give this back to
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: our wonderful city manager to have
this corrected, and then I'll make sure that I give it to her.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right, thank you. And then, our
next proclamation, we're going to do, and just… I forgot to mention,
after we do the proclamations, then, we can take public comment. We do
that up to 20 minutes, so anything related to any of the proclamations,
we will do that right after.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So the next one is Proclamation
September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and our Councilmember,
Phil Carter, is gonna do that one.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, Childhood Cancer Awareness
Month. Whereas childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease
in children, and whereas 1 in 285 children in the United States will be
diagnosed by the 20th birthday.
41
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas 46 children per day, or
16,790 children per year, are diagnosed with cancer in the United States.
42
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And the average age of diagnosis is
6 years old.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas 80% of the childhood Keys
Center patients are diagnosed late with metastatic disease.
44
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas approximately one-half of
childhood cancer families rate the associated financial toxicity due to
out-of-pocket expenses are considerable to severe.
45
00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:13.130
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And whereas researchers and
healthcare professionals work diligently, dedicating their expertise to
treat and cure childhood with cancer.
46
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Now, therefore, be it resolved, the
City of Sebastopol does hereby proclaim September as Childhood Cancer
Awareness Month.
47
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And support this cause that so
deeply impacts families in every community across our country.
48
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I don't know, I don't… do we
have anyone here to accept that proclamation?
49
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, alright.
50
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, alright, no problem. Alright,
so the last one we're gonna do is Proclamation Honoring Jim Corbett, aka
Mr. Music.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Alright.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right, recognizing Jim Corbett,
Mr. Music Day in Sebastopol, September 15th, 2026, whereas the sharing of
music and message of peace contribute to a deeper sense of community and
compassion in all places, including here in Sebastopol.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas the sources of shared music
and messages of peace should be cherished and honored, whereas one of
those… one of those enduring sources has been the musicianship, teaching,
and inspirations from Sebastopol's own Jim Corbett, also known as Mr.
Music.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas Mr. Music has taught
thousands of local young students to sing and love music, whereas Mr.
Music has led his love choir in song and harmony at numerous events in
our Sebastopol Town Plaza and elsewhere in our community. Whereas Mr. Jim
Corbett has been honored as a Sebastopol Citizen of the Year and has lent
his leadership and efforts
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00:09:45.630 --> 00:09:57.419
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: of community building to our
Sebastopol Cultural and Community Center. The Sebastopol Chamber of
Commerce, the Kiwanis annual fireworks shows, and the numerous local
Rotary Club events.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas foremost, Mr. Music is the
founder of the Peacetown USA Summer Concerts and Gatherings in 2012, and
established Sebastopol as the undisputed home zip code 95472 of
Peacetime, USA.
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00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:18.900
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas Sebastopol's Peac Town is a
beautiful place to be, and the door is always open, Mr. Corbett.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Mr. Corbett in Peacetown promotes
the principles of peace as the most powerful source of energy in the
universe, and is an infinite source as it flows among all people in total
abundance.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas Peacetime celebrates the
way of being in Peacetown to include be kind, be happy, be grateful,
create beauty, build community, love your neighbor, choose love over
fear, laugh, sing, dance, and play.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Meditate and or pray every day.
Love yourself as a divine being, and see others as divine beings.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Now, therefore, be it resolved that
I, Joe McLewis, on behalf of the entire City Council of Sebastopol, do
hereby proclaim September 15th, 2026 to be Jim Corbett, Mr. Music Day in
the City of Sebastopol. In honor of Mr. Corbett's many, many years of
bringing music.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: my artist's brain and, allowing and
showing me how to jump through the proper hoops, too.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'd also like to thank the former
councils that declared Sebastopol, Peacetime, USA. That was supposedly,
from talking to Larry Robinson, he said he thought it was about 2008, and
maybe we can figure that, but…
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It is a special place that we have
that piece down, and for me personally, as I say, getting to bring music
to kids, Les Crawford was one of the guys that gave me one of my early
jobs and got to…
65
00:13:03.020 --> 00:13:13.019
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I got to… my job was I took a
guitar, a keyboard, and a puppet to schools, and hung out with little
kids.
66
00:13:13.390 --> 00:13:24.770
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, like I say, I haven't started
working yet, so… and, and then 30 years we've had, Kids with Wrinkles,
which is the love choir,
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00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:26.780
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And,
68
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And we sing, and there's something
very holy about people singing together, and it in itself brings
community.
69
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And then, the Peace Down Summer
Concert Series just kind of started on a whim. We started with 4 concerts
at the park, and we just kind of took over from the Arts Center, because
they had just moved into the

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the vet's building, and they had
done the concerts in the plaza, and it was so wonderful doing it in Ives
Park, and it kind of filled that
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: that front little part, and I said,
I'm not going to be happy until the whole place is full, and if you were
there this year at all, you saw we actually had probably 2,000 people in
the park, and…
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And people, I think, calling it
peacetime, people show up with their good vibe.
73
00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:32.569
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And then that love vibe is
absolutely contagious, so everybody's feeling really good about, you
know, so, I don't know, it's a… it really is a love fest, and it feels
really, really good, and it just shows how…
74
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: If we concentrate on the positive
stuff that's happening, and
75
00:14:37.560 --> 00:14:51.309
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And do those first things. Be, you
know, be kind, be happy, and be grateful. Life can be really, really
sweet, and this is a beautiful place to be, and all we have to do is kind
of keep embracing each other.
76
00:14:51.310 --> 00:14:59.599
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And, building our community on what
we want, and quit waving our fists at things we don't want, because that
adds…
77
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: energy to that, so… and I
appreciate the Council, because you guys are… you have an opportunity.
You can do peacetime here, you can… you should start with a moment of
silence, you know, so… but, it's… And I have your proclamation for you
here, so… Yeah, so anyway, so thank you so much, and the Council, you are
all…
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Caretakers have peace down now, so…
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay.
80
00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:04.240
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And Sandra got the art going, at PStown this year.
81
00:16:04.380 --> 00:16:08.939
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And that's… I have another piece of
music in our, either.
82
00:16:09.100 --> 00:16:12.719
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That's how we create beauty, so…
So, thank you all for…
83
00:16:13.430 --> 00:16:15.260
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: This is a huge honor, and I'm…
84
00:16:19.090 --> 00:16:20.240
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Pretty cool.
85
00:16:23.150 --> 00:16:24.250
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay.
86
00:16:25.570 --> 00:16:26.970
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Alright, Joel.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The good news is we have our
technology going, and for those of you who are on Zoom and hearing this,
we've had IT issues for the last half hour, so we are good to go, and
what we're gonna do is we're gonna go right into public comment, right,
Mary? So if anyone has any… Oh, I'm sorry. I would like to just say one
thing to Jim, and that is, I'm remembering your wonderful toolbox
project.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That you brought to kids in the
schools.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I want to thank you for that,
and for everything you've done.
90
00:16:56.270 --> 00:16:58.890
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yeah. Wonderful. Yay.
91
00:17:00.020 --> 00:17:01.110
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Oh, you like that.
92
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So I… I have to say something as
well. The Toolbox Project, my kids did it. Liz took care of my kids at
Castle. I've known Jim throughout growing up in this town, so thank you
for everything you do, and thanks for helping the city host
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: a beautiful music event through the
summer, like the other cities have, and I don't think we could do it
without you. So, thank you.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Mr. Coup.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right, so anyone here who's
wishing to say anything, we do public comment, and Mary will take it over
here in just a second. It's 2 minutes,
96
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And there's a time limit on that in
total, so I'm gonna hand that over to Mary, and again, for those who are
on Zoom who are listening to this, we had IT issues. That's why you kind
of came in midstream here with, the sounds, so I just wanted to let you
know that that's what's been going on. And now we're gonna go into our
official public comment for the meeting. And Alex, is there anything else
I need to do?
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Did you want to, make… Oh, yes,
thank you, that's why I'm… everything's a little off. I wanted to
mention…
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Let's see… I have… I have… let me
see here…
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: See, Alex, I should have made these
notes.
100
00:18:23.800 --> 00:18:29.660
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Hold on one second, go ahead. I
think staff has,
101
00:18:30.380 --> 00:18:36.840
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Is pushing to a later date the item
that is,
102
00:18:37.320 --> 00:18:41.679
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It is item number, for those that
are looking.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Sorry. 12, 12. Commission and
committee work plans is going to be, continued to a different date?
Correct, yes. So I know 12. Yeah, scheduled.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yeah, so I wanted to make sure
everyone knows that that is happening. And before we go on, I know there
were requests to move things around a bit, but what we did was we tried…
we have a few items on this agenda that actually have, lines in the next
week or so that we have to get to before we can do other items.
Otherwise.
105
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We can't keep moving forward with
items such as, you know, with these items. You'll see what we're going
through, but they have, like, definite deadlines in the next week that we
have to do before anything else. So, all of that, I'm gonna go ahead and
let Mary start with public comment.
106
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Mayor. So, as you
stated, this is public comment. It is a 20-minute time limit. It is about
2 minutes per speaker. We go into council chambers first, and then go out
to Zoom for those that can hear us.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Can I just do a soundcheck IT?
108
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Right.
109
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It is, but we have to wait, we have
to have… yeah, yeah, items that are not on the agenda, sorry, yeah.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Hi, I'm careful.
112
00:22:02.670 --> 00:22:07.459
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Everyone, we are ready whenever we
get our two council members back, so…
113
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I don't know where Sandy went to.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Vice Mayor?
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, for a moment.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: God.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: What a wonky night.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Hey.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Should we just get… I don't know.
120

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00:23:06.810 --> 00:23:08.719
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Vice Mayor Mountain? Sandy's.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Last call for Sandy. Last call.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Alright.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Is it okay if we… I don't know what
to…
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We have… we have a quorum. Okay,
let's go. So, I'm just going to restate that… first, I meant to ask
everyone, do you have… does anyone have a conflict of interest… any
conflicts of interest before we do this? So, just to verify. Okay, for
those who are online, we are going to get back. We had a tech issue
again.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We are going into public comment.
I'm gonna hand that over to Mary to… this is for items that are not on
the agenda currently.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Mayor. So, as we just
stated, it is a 20-minute time limit. We go into… into Council Chambers
first, and then go out to Zoom, come back and go out. Once we hit that
20-minute time limit, public comment stops. There is a second public
comment period at the end of the meeting. If you'd like to talk at that
period, and you did not… were not able to do it in the beginning of the
meeting, there's that opportunity.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, again, this is for items that
are not on tonight's agenda, so I'll come into chambers first, if there's
anyone that would like to make a public comment for an item not on
tonight's agenda.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I just wanted to take a minute and
introduce myself. I'm Ian Hoff, I'm running for City Council. I'm just
here to observe and listen. I appreciate all your work that you do, and
hopefully I'll be joining you soon. Thank you. Thank you for your public
comment. I will go out to Zoom. Sunny, can you unmute yourself, please?
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sunny: Yes.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you. Can you see the, 2minute timer?
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sunny: Yes, I can.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Great, go ahead with your public
comment, please.
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sunny: Okay, my name is Sunny Galbraith, and I'm a member of the
Sebastopol Climate Action Committee. I'm here to invite and urge council
members and city staff to participate in the Week Without Driving
Challenge this October 1st through 8th.
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sunny: And I also want to thank Council Members Carter and Maurer, who
have already signed up for this challenge.
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sunny: The Week Without Driving Challenge is a national annual event
highlighting the barriers faced by those who can't or don't drive. The
challenge invites elected leaders, municipal staff, and community members
to go about their daily lives, commuting, shopping, attending meetings
without driving themselves. Public transit, walking, biking, and
carpooling are all encouraged.
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sunny: Elected leaders shape the systems that either include or exclude.
By experiencing a week without driving, leaders can identify gaps, build
empathy, and make informed, inclusive transportation decisions. And I
wanted to add that it's okay if you have a few trips during the week that
you just can't make work without driving. You can still participate! Your
experience of not having public transit options to make these trips is
really valuable.

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sunny: As a high school teacher myself, of teens, as a parent, and a
daughter and sister of blind and disabled adults, I really see the gaps
in our public transit, and I urge you all to join this Week Without
Driving Challenge. I'll be joining myself, and I will send again the
email invite, to council members, and then also to Mary, so you can share
with staff.
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sunny: staff that wants to participate. And the public! Just look it up,
week without driving.
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sunny: Thank you.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Sandy, for your public
comment. Next, I will come into Chambers, if there's anyone in chambers
that would like to make a public comment for an item not on the agenda.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I will go back onto
Zoom. Mike, can you unmute yourself, please?
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Mike Von der Porten: Yes, hello. My name's Mike Von der Porten, and I
just… I did send you a written communication, but I just wanted to follow
up for a minute here online, or with you in person.
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Mike Von der Porten: And that is when government works, it works across
our community. So success in Sebastopol, success with our schools,
success in the county, state, federal level, when we see that success, we
all benefit.
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Mike Von der Porten: I want to draw your attention to issues related to
Santa Rosa Junior College and the bond that's on the budget… on the
ballot this year. This is a huge bond issue. It's $800 million plus, but
the issue is
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Mike Von der Porten: that the way it's structured is going to be terribly
expensive. That is, for every dollar the taxpayer pays, only 48 cents
actually goes to projects. 52 cents
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Mike Von der Porten: goes into, interest. And I'll contrast that with the
current bond that we passed, that we're still working on, where for every
dollar
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Mike Von der Porten: you pay in taxes, 75 cents goes to projects, and
only 25 cents goes to interest. So this is a really bad construction of
that bond, and it really will paint all of government in Sonoma County in
bad shape.
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Mike Von der Porten: Ultimately, they expect to collect about $1.8
billion from the Sonoma County taxpayers over the next 35 years.
150
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Mike Von der Porten: And only $800 million of it goes into projects.
About $1 billion actually goes to interest.
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Mike Von der Porten: So I'm going to invite you to take a good, close
look at Measure A, B,
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Mike Von der Porten: And I would encourage people to vote no on AB, send
it back to the junior college board, have them restructure that bond, and
when they bring it forward, it is possible to increase the amount of
money that will actually do good by 50%. So, please take a look at
Measure AB. Thank you.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Mike, for your public
comment. Next, I will come back into chambers, if there's anyone in
chambers that would like to make a public comment for an item not on the
agenda.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I'll go out to Zoom.
Mary, can you unmute yourself, please?
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mary cone: Yes.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you. Can you see the timer?
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mary cone: Yep, great.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Go ahead, please.
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mary cone: I'd like to reiterate what I said at the last meeting. I think
we should go back to 3-minute comments, so people can actually have time
to get their points across. Most people are interrupted.
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mary cone: If the council could do something about that, that would be
fabulous. Thanks.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for your public comment.
Next, I will come back into chambers, if there's anyone on chambers that
would like to make a public comment for an item not on the agenda.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I will go back out to
Zoom. If there's anyone on Zoom. Kate, can you unmute yourself, please?
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kate: Thank you.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you. Can you see the timer?
165
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kate: I can thank you.
166
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Alright, go ahead, please.
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kate: One comment I have is that I've been asking for a while that when
consultants are on staff reports, that they'd be identified as
consultants, so there's clarity between
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kate: who are actual employees of the cities, and who are consultants, so
I just wanted to bring that up again. And I also want to just note that,
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kate: Ratepayers are paying for, I think, 50% of this meeting, although
the number percentages keep being fluid by the staff, and if 50% of the
time is not spent on water and sewer, then it is a Prop 218 violation.
Thank you.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Kate, for your public
comment. Next, I'll come back into chambers, if there's anyone in
chambers that would like to make a public comment for an item not on the
agenda.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I will go back out to
Zoom, if there's anyone on Zoom that would like to make a public comment
for an item not on the agenda.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none?
173
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Do I have one more speaker?
174
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, go ahead, please.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Good evening, my name is James
Woodruff, a Sebastopol resident.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I was gonna speak on the issue that
got pulled tonight, so I'm just gonna read my comment real quick.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And, I strongly believe that
community goes… grows through engagement, and I encourage everyone to
join in helping to steward our shared home into the future. A way for
Sebastopol's many diverse voices to participate is through these
commissions and committees.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: These are where passionate
volunteers transform ideas and care for the community into tangible
action, and serve as an essential connection between our residents.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: and the City Council.
180
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: While equipping these committees
with the resources they need makes a strong statement that our city
values the contributions of its residents, we also get a good return on
investment.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The City receives the benefit of
many skilled volunteer hours being contributed to help the City function.
For example, I note the consent calendar.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: item… That you're going to be
voting on.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The $6,500 zero-waste, grant
stipend.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That would not have happened if
that committee had not secured
185
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The stipend funds in the first
place.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: True civic health thrives when
engagement is not just praised, but tangibly supported.

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Investing in these groups is a
direct investment in Sebastopol's social capital.
188
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I urge the City Council to
support a collaborative, connected, and flourishing Sebastopol.
189
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for your public comment.
Next, I'll go back out to Zoom. If there's anyone on Zoom that would like
to make a public comment, please raise your hand.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I'll come back into
chambers. If there's anyone in chambers that would like to make a public
comment for an item not on the agenda.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: CNN public comment is closed.
193
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right, thank you very much,
Mary. We are going to move into the consent calendar. I'm going to read
all of these items, and then I'll see if anyone wants to pull anything.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Number one, approval of City
Council meeting minutes for regular Meeting of September 1, 2026. Number
two, approval of word of contract memorandum of Understanding between
County of Snowman, City of Sebastopol to establish the roles and
responsibilities of the parties in the counties
195
00:32:51.160 --> 00:32:58.820
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Providing staff to engage
individuals experiencing homelessness within the incorporated and
uncorporated areas of the city.
196
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Number 3. Award of contract
corporation yard.

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197
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yard Fuel Station Upgrade, CIP100125.03.
198
00:33:09.970 --> 00:33:18.959
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Number 4. Approval of Climate
Action Committee recommendation on Zero Waste Grant Stipends $6,500 to
City Council.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Funds must be used by October 15th.
Recommendations, for use are as follows, and they're listed on there.
Number 5, receipt of informational report from Chief of Police on Exigent
use of surveillance cameras.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: This report is provided pursuant to
SMC 8.80.040 to advise the Sebastopol City Council about the temporary
exigent use of surveillance technology, which occurred on Thursday, July
30th, 2026.
201
00:33:47.630 --> 00:33:54.850
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Number 6. Receipt of budget at a
glance form… at a glance format, and authorize staff to post such
document on City website.
202
00:33:55.110 --> 00:34:00.200
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Number 7, Approval of Sewer System
Management Plan 2026 Audit and Update.
203
00:34:00.600 --> 00:34:17.720
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Item is to accept the 2026 Sewer
System Management Plan Audit Report and authorize the Public Works
Director as the City's legally responsible official, to certify and
submit the audit report to the State Water Resources Control Board
through the California Integrated Water Quality System.
204
00:34:18.929 --> 00:34:32.660
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Number 8, receipt of upcoming
openings as follows. Pardon me, receipt of upcoming openings, let's see,
terms ending December 31st, 2026. And we have,
205
00:34:32.659 --> 00:34:44.370

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Vacancies for, one vacancy for
Planning Commission, Joan Harper Resident, Design Review Board, we have,
Christian Mackey, Category A, Lynn Deedler, Category B, and Marshall
Valve.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Our alternate for Category D, and
then Climate Action. We have Lila Newton, the youth rep, Emily
207
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Oh, Ackon? Local Climate Action
Group member, Steve Pierce Local Climate Action Group member, Energy
Background, and Sunny Galbraith, Zero Waste Climate Background. So, would
anyone like to pull any items? Go ahead, Councilmember Zolman. Yes, I'm
requesting to pull items number 4 and 5. Let me see what those are.
208
00:35:14.920 --> 00:35:17.320
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Number 4 and number 5?
209
00:35:18.330 --> 00:35:19.380
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay.
210
00:35:20.160 --> 00:35:22.309
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And anyone else over here?
211
00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:23.810
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay.
212
00:35:24.080 --> 00:35:33.420
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right. I'm sorry, did someone
say something? I did. Can I just inter… interject really quick? Number 5,
if we pull it, we should put it at the end.
213
00:35:33.580 --> 00:35:44.080
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The chief is out on a accident
right now that… involved in, so not sure when he's going to be able to
make it to the meeting, so if we don't have him here, we may want to push
that item.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And may I ask with number 4?
215
00:35:47.350 --> 00:36:02.070

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Is that… it says by October 15th,
if we don't get to it tonight, if we put it at the end? That is from Zero
Waste, that is their deadline to use the funds. So, otherwise, we'd… I
mean, there's a grand… great possibility if it's at the end, then it's
going.
216
00:36:02.070 --> 00:36:18.430
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to the next meeting. Then you would
shorten the time frame to be able to use the funds. So typically, so
everyone knows, what we typically do is, whenever anything is pulled, it
goes to the end of the agenda. But, given the information that we have
here, I'm gonna…
217
00:36:18.640 --> 00:36:22.690
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I mean, we need to go to public… do
you want me to go to public comment and then reorder, or do you want me
to…
218
00:36:23.940 --> 00:36:30.750
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: If we… so those have been requested
to be pulled, so we can either take… usually take them at the end of the
meeting.
219
00:36:30.910 --> 00:36:40.570
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But we can re… we can reorder at
that point, but we need to take public comment on the remainder of the,
yeah. Yeah, okay. So, go ahead, we're gonna go to public comment, and
then we'll come back.
220
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, thank you, Mayor. So this is
for public comment on consent calendar items.
221
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Minus number 4 and number 5, which
have been pooled. If you'd like to make a public comment on the remaining
items, please come to the podium, and then it is a 2-minute time limit,
and then we will go out to Zoom after that.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Hey y'all, I'm Hunter Scott, Deputy
Director for Homelessness for Department of Health Services. I just
wanted to thank you for your presumed vote for the MOU between our
organizations. I think we've started a really amazing project together,
and I look forward to continuing it. Thank you.
223

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00:37:14.110 --> 00:37:20.749
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for your public comment.
Next, I'll go out to Zoom. If there's anyone on Zoom that would like to
make… kate, can you unmute yourself, please?
224
00:37:24.870 --> 00:37:25.869
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Am I on… There you go.
225
00:37:25.870 --> 00:37:26.930
kate: Can you hear.
226
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yes, can you see the timer?
227
00:37:28.590 --> 00:37:29.930
kate: Yes, thank you, Mary.
228
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kate: My public comment is the budget, at a glance is terrifically
flawed.
229
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kate: The city receives money in two forms. One, it receives money from
taxes that fund the general fund and cover general fund expenses. Two, it
receives money for fee-for-service to provide water and sewer service.
230
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kate: These monies are completely different and need to be recognized as
such. Therefore, they should not be conflated and combined as what we see
on the first page of a budget at a glance.
231
00:38:10.490 --> 00:38:29.679
kate: The first page should only be related to the general fund,
including revenue to the general fund and expenses to the general fund,
including capital projects related to the general fund. The second page
should only be related to water funds and sewer funds.
232
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kate: And…
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kate: Capital projects related to water and sewer coming out of water and
sewer funds should be denoted as such on the second page. When the city
staff

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kate: inflates the two, it creates confusion for the Council and the
general public, which might be why the Council and the general public
have a
235
00:38:52.590 --> 00:39:00.549
kate: a hard time understanding the finances for our water and sewer fund
versus the finances for our general fund. I ask.
236
00:39:00.550 --> 00:39:14.709
kate: that the budget be corrected to reflect these different,
completely, legally different pools of money. In addition, there are pie
charts for water and wastewater that are unintelligible.
237
00:39:14.710 --> 00:39:28.040
kate: You should not combine revenue and expenses into a single pie
chart, because you can't tell what proportion of either source is going
towards either, or towards expenses.
238
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kate: that's my final comment. Thank you.
239
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Kate, for your public
comment. Next, I will come into chambers.
240
00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:50.240
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Please? Hi, my name is, Christine
Koenig, and I'm a resident here. I'm here to follow up on my email and,
in support of Agenda Item 14, in support of the Commons concept.
241
00:39:50.410 --> 00:39:58.869
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: This is for items that are not…
Yeah, so that'll… this is just for the consent calendar items. Number 14
will be coming up in a little bit.
242
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I apologize. No, no, no, good. No,
it's okay, I just wanted to make sure. Continue this, or… No, no, we'll
call you up when… Come back to me. Okay. When that item… when we're
discussing that item, then you can talk about it. This is just for items
on the consent calendar. Gotcha, thank you. Thank you. So, next, I will
go out to Zoom. Kyle, can you unmute yourself, please?

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243
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Kyle Falbo: Yes, I can.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you. Can you see the timer?
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Kyle Falbo: No, but you can let me know.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, go ahead, please.
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Kyle Falbo: So, I wanted to speak primarily on the commission
appointments and say thank you. I'm very glad to see the City bringing
these upcoming Commission and committee vacancies forward in September,
with enough time to recruit.
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Kyle Falbo: By recruit, I mean active recruitment. I hope we've got some
good marketing behind us.
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Kyle Falbo: interview and hopefully make appointments before the existing
terms expire on December 31st. I think it's important to recognize this
as an improvement, because that has not been our experience over the last
two years. In 2024, the City identified four Climate Action Committee
terms expiring December 31st.
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Kyle Falbo: On October 15th, Council chose to delay the recruitment.
While questions about the committee's composition were resolved.
Recruitment subsequently opened in November with applications due
December 26th. Then last year, the recruitment item for several terms
expiring December 31st didn't come before Council until October 21st.
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Kyle Falbo: For the Climate Action Committee, recruitment wasn't posted
until October 30th, the deadline ultimately extended to December 25th,
and interviews and appointments didn't occur until February 3rd of this
year.
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Kyle Falbo: And the problem wasn't limited to climate action. In 2025,
Planning Commission vacancies persisted long enough that Council was
still conducting interviews and making appointments far after the
deadline.
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Kyle Falbo: That's why I appreciate what's happening tonight. This year,
staff is starting in September, providing approximately 6 weeks of
applications, identifying exist… explicitly identifying the goal of
having a smooth transition into the first meetings in January. Our boards
and commissions and committees depend on volunteers giving their time to
the city.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Kyle, you have about 25 seconds.
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Kyle Falbo: A predictable recruitment calendar respects their time,
prevents vacancies from lingering, and gives these bodies the continuity
they need to do their work. I encourage whoever is
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Kyle Falbo: responsible for agenda Review, that rather than what I saw
this year at Agenda Review, where work schedules and an unwillingness to
hold interviews earlier in the day
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Kyle Falbo: Be understood that these are.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Kyle, that's 2 minutes.
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Kyle Falbo: Volunteering their time.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for your public comment.
Next, I will come into chambers, if there's anyone in chambers?
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I will go back out to
Zoom. Lee, can you unmute yourself, please?
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Lee: Yes, can you hear me?
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you. Can you see the timer?
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Lee: I can.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Great, go ahead, please.
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Lee: Yeah, I just wanted to,
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Lee: add to Kate's comment, it's… it's bad formed, obviously, to mix the
water and sewer revenues with general fund revenues into a single
financial report, since the water and sewer revenues are not fungible.
They cannot be used for general fund purposes.
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Lee: the part that…
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Lee: really irritated me was the first line of this thing is the
combination total revenue 31, total expenses 31, beginning balance 18,
ending balance 17.999. That makes it look like the city's financials are
in great shape, and they're really not.
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Lee: And that is part of the problem of mixing and matching things that
shouldn't be mixed and matched. Thank you.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for your public comment.
Next, I will come back into chambers, if there's anyone in chambers.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I'll go back out to
Zoom. If there's anyone on Zoom that would like to make a public comment,
please raise your hand.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, public comment is
closed.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Alright, thank you. So, we had two
items pulled.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: thus far.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm questioning about, whether or
not we need to reevaluate, number 6, so given the public comments and
everything that's going on.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, I'm gonna go ahead and…
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm gonna pull that and put it at
the end.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So… So I'd just like some more
clarity on that.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, given the situation that we're
in with timing,
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Number 4, I'm gonna reorder, and
we're gonna put that, actually as the next item that we do. We're on
number 9, if you all are. I'm hoping everyone's okay with that, because
of the time frame. We need to get that done very quickly. So I'm gonna
make that the next one that we discuss, and then I'm gonna put 5 at the
end.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Of the, of the day, and then number
6 as well, so… Hmm.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Are we all okay with that,
everyone? Okay, so that's… that's the order we're gonna go in. And did
you have something to say, Alex? Oh, I thought you were, doing that. So,
I guess we just need a motion here for, items 1, 2, 3,
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: 7, 8, 7, and 8, right? As you just
listed, so moved. A second.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So moved by Councilmember Hinton,
and seconded by Vice Mayor Maurer to approve Consent Calendar Items 1, 2,
3, 7, and 8, with items 4, 5, and 6 removed. Councilmember Carter?
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yeah. Councilmember Hinton? Aye.
Councilmember Zolman? Yes. Vice Mayor Maurer? Yes. Mayor McLewis? Yes.
Motion passes unanimously. All right, thank you.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, moving on, we do not have any…
let's see, we do not have any informational items tonight, nor public
hearings, but we're going to go right into our
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: agenda items that, require
discussion and interaction, and given what I just said, we're going to
open up with the number 4 item that was, just on the con… on the,
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Consent calendar, approval of
Climate Action Committee recommendations on Zero Waste Grant Stipend
funds, $6,500 to City Council.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Funds must be used by October 15th.
Recommendations for use are as follows. The Climate Action Committee's
recommendation is to spend the $6,500 Zero Waste Grant Stipend on an
agreement with the Rawhaus Institute, a 501c3 nonprofit and known
community partner to provide a public food waste education event
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: This agreement will be at no cost
to the City, and authorizes the City Manager to execute agreement. Mary,
I don't know, do we have Jane? I thought… We have plenty of staff, but if

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it's a quick question, I can try to address it. Otherwise, we can have
staff give the presentation.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yeah, I pulled it, and as soon as I
saw it, I sent an email to Mary that my concerns, largely, are due
process concerns.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And, Mary, correct me if I'm wrong,
the email you sent confirms the fact that the proposal and what's being
recommended by this committee and also staff, was just brought up.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: For the first time when there was a
vote called on it, correct? So, my understanding was City staff received
notification through this from Zero Waste in
295
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: mid-July, but it was too late to
put it on the July Climate Action Committee agenda, so they discussed it
at the August 11th, meeting, and then at the Climate Action Committee on
August 11th, but there were certain items that did not fall under the
grant, so they brought it back to September 8th.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to… for recommendation for the use
of those funds. Okay. My other… one is noticing, as far as what gets
placed on agendas to give, again, our volunteers that take time out of
their lives to come.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to know what's on agendas. My other
question is also opportunity to respond. So, what materials were sent
out?
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to help these committee members
prepare for a vote when they showed up on September 8th. So they had the
zero-waste,
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the information from Zero Waste was
submitted, is what the grant was. They had a… they had a packet from
August 11th, and then September 9th, they had,

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: recommendations from one of the
members of the community that had some ideas for the use of this. They
discussed it during public comment, and they agreed for this,
301
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the outreach and the education. So
there was 2 months that they had the materials. Right, but my ultimate
question is, did they notice who was coming to pitch this concept before
they showed up on September 8th?
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That I'm not aware of. I do have
planning staff on, so we can check with them. Yes, I would like that. So
either Jane or Eli, can you guys unmute yourself to answer the question,
please?
303
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Steven, can you make Eli, Arreola,
and Jane Riley, co-host, please, so they can unmute themselves and
respond to the question?
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Eli Arreola: Hi, Eli Arreola here. Can you repeat the question for me one
time? Apologies.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Sure, my question was.
306
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: When did the committee members have
knowledge of who was going to come and pitch a recommendation for them?
Did they have any notice prior to their arrival on September 8th?
307
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Eli Arreola: They did. I don't have the exact date.
308
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Eli Arreola: That… That staff received, the…
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Eli Arreola: The pitch that ended up being the recommendation, but…
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00:49:52.350 --> 00:49:58.489
Eli Arreola: the Climate Action Committee members did have an advance
notice that… that we had received a…
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Eli Arreola: An additional offer for, a way to spend those funds.
312
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And that was specifically from the
person the recommendation is in favor of, the Rahalas Institute.
313
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Eli Arreola: That is correct.
314
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, thank you.
315
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I don't have anything else. Okay.
316
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Anyone else have anything?
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right then, Mary, you want to
do public comment? Thank you. So this is for public comment on Agenda
item number 4, which is the use of the zero waste funds. If you would
like to make, a public comment, I will come to Chambers first.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I'll go out to Zoom.
Kate, can you unmute yourself, please?
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kate: Thank you.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you. Can you see the timer
still?
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kate: I can't.

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Great, go ahead, please.
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kate: I think this grant is great, and I totally respect the work that
the committee is doing, but I…
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kate: I am wondering how much it costs to distribute the $6,500, if there
was two meetings, now a council meeting, and the planning consultants are
involved.
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kate: Because it seems to me that it's probably cost over $2,000 to bring
the grant to this point, so that's probably, you know, around a third of
the total granting amount. And I'm wondering if there's a way to expedite
these types of processes so that the cost to administer something,
doesn't…
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kate: outweigh, kind of, the benefit that the community is receiving.
Thank you. Bye-bye.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Kate, for your public
comment. Next, I will come back into chambers. If there's anyone in
chambers that would like to make a public comment, seeing none, I will go
back out to Zoom. If there's anyone on Zoom that would like to make a
public comment, please raise your hand virtually.
328
00:51:49.630 --> 00:51:52.060
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, public comment is
closed on this item.
329
00:51:53.160 --> 00:51:54.890
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Alright, thank you very much.
330
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, we're back here.
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00:51:57.240 --> 00:52:00.019
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Dias, do we have a motion?
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00:52:00.640 --> 00:52:01.920
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Anyone have any?
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Comments?
334
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: A motion?
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00:52:07.050 --> 00:52:25.919
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'll go ahead and make a motion to
approve the recommendation by the Climate Action Committee to spend the
$6,500 zero-waste Grant Stipend on an agreement with the Rajas Institute,
which is a 5013C nonprofit. And I'll second that.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So moved by Councilmember Hinton
and seconded by Mayor McLewis to approve the Climate Action Committee's
recommendation on the Zero Waste Grant Stipend funds of $6,500.
Councilmember Carter? Yes. Councilmember Hinton? Aye. Councilmember
Zolman? Yes. Vice Mayor Maurer? Yes. Mayor McLewis? Yes. Motion passes
unanimously.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you very much. Now, let's
see, we are going… sorry, I'm getting my papers in order here. We are
going to move on to number 9, consideration of request for a waiver of
fees.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Peacetime Special Event Waiver,
Peac Town is requesting $5,000 to be waived. Mini Moons Special Event
Waiver, Mini Moons letter requests a waiver for any city fees associated.
Fees requested for waiver are $750.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I believe we have our Public
Works Director, Oriana.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yes, thank you, Mayor and City
Council. These are two requests that were brought to us at Public Works.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to waive special event fees for
events that are in the parks, Ives Park, the first being for the city to
contribute $5,000 to the summer concert series of Peacetime, and their
total fee this year was $6,400, because we charged them a daily fee, and
they have some amplified music associated with their event.
342
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And then the second request was for
the Many Moons Festival that is going to be in October. This is their
second year, and they're just a one-day event, and they're $750, and so
they've asked for the Council to waive their entire fee.
343
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm not sure if there's anyone here
from either organizations to say anything. I think Mr. Corbett is
outside. So, with that, I'll pass it to the Council for consideration.
Okay, thank you. Does anyone have any questions?
344
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Oh, go ahead. How much, since this
is a second year event for the Mini Moons Festival, we probably did, I'm
thinking of fee waiver last year. Do we have a record of how much it was?
345
00:54:17.630 --> 00:54:22.260
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Maybe I'm missing it. It's in the
staff report. Oh, sorry, I'm glancing through.
346
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It looks like it was $1,200 last
year. Okay, thank you.
347
00:54:28.980 --> 00:54:40.869
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, any other questions? If not,
we'll go to public comment. Thank you, Mayor. So this is for public
comment on the request for waivers of fees. If you would like to make a
public comment, again, there's a 2-minute time limit. I will go to
Chambers first.
348
00:54:41.250 --> 00:54:44.940
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I'll go out to Zoom.
Kyle, can you mute yourself, please?
349
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Kyle Falbo: I can.
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00:54:46.400 --> 00:54:49.040
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you. Can you see the timer
yet?
351
00:54:49.220 --> 00:54:50.000
Kyle Falbo: I can.
352
00:54:50.000 --> 00:54:51.579
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, great, go ahead, please.
353
00:54:52.050 --> 00:54:56.060
Kyle Falbo: For the number of times that I have seen over the last few
years.
354
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Kyle Falbo: Council approve the wavering of… the waiving of fees for
special events, I would propose that we just go ahead and be done with
it. Let's go ahead and eliminate fees for events in our city.
355
00:55:11.170 --> 00:55:21.789
Kyle Falbo: Because every event is going to come for this council and ask
for a waiving of those fees. And every single time, you go ahead and you
waive those fees.
356
00:55:22.000 --> 00:55:31.660
Kyle Falbo: And I understand that there's a lot of really great community
events that are happening, but what I think that we fail to realize is
that these are true economic costs to
357
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Kyle Falbo: the city.
358
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Kyle Falbo: Right? Oftentimes, they're included in these fee waivers are
time, commitments, labor by police, Which are typically overtime.
359
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Kyle Falbo: And these things add up.
360
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Kyle Falbo: But, hey, if we go ahead and stretch them out, and just we
have our fee waivers, right, this is a fee waiver for an event that's
already passed, right? Coming in after the fact and asking for a
reimbursement of the fees that were paid.

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Kyle Falbo: So, let's go ahead and just call it quits, let's eliminate
fees on events in our city, and just have it be a free-for-all. Sound
good?
362
00:56:11.880 --> 00:56:16.949
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Kyle, for your public
comments. Next, I will come back into chambers, if there's anyone in
chambers.
363
00:56:17.200 --> 00:56:20.719
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I will go back out.
Lee, can you unmute yourself, please?
364
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Lee: Yeah.
365
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you. Can you go… see… Sorry,
can you still see the timer? Okay, go ahead, please.
366
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Lee: Kyle is prone to be a little dramatic.
367
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Lee: But he has a point.
368
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Lee: You could, in fact, structure a policy that says that
369
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Lee: fees for certain types of project… of events that are well known and
common, for example, could be waived by policy. You could also structure
it that certain types of events that meet certain requirements could be,
370
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Lee: waived in terms of fees, and then you cut this whole thing out, and
you save a shitload of money. I mean, you're… you're putting staff
reports together for these things, and, you know, doing all the research,
and it's just not worth the money that you're spending on it. Thank you.
371
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for your public comment.
Next, I will come back into chambers, if there's anyone in chambers that
would like to make a public comment.
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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I will go back out to
Zoom. If there's anyone on Zoom that would like to make a public comment
on this item, to please raise your hand virtually.
373
00:57:23.810 --> 00:57:26.219
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, public comment is
closed on this item.
374
00:57:26.450 --> 00:57:43.189
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right, thanks, we're back at
the dais. So, we have comments. Councilmember Zolman? Yeah, I just want
to thank, both, parties for, all the great work. Well, the both entities
for all the good work that they did, and, the time and effort to go
through the application process. I will differ with
375
00:57:43.190 --> 00:57:54.920
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: at least one public commenter, and
the fact that if we default to a policy of just those that are common, I
think is the word that I used, I'm not entirely sure we would have ever
considered many moons.
376
00:57:54.920 --> 00:58:03.370
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: which I will speak in their favor.
The event was really great, and I'm not shocked by the number, that's
reported in the staff report.
377
00:58:03.370 --> 00:58:17.429
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the number of people who turned out
was a great event, and it does contribute to, specifically, to the
diversity and representing and uplifting the diverse voices within our
community. So I just wanted to say that, and say that I'll be supporting
it.
378
00:58:17.690 --> 00:58:37.549
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, any other comments? Oh, go
ahead, Councilmember Hayton. I wanted to ask staff, now, why Peacetown is
such a difference from what we waived last year to what we waived this
year? Was the fees different? Did they hold more concerts? It, you know,
it looks like it's a big difference, so I was curious about that.
379
00:58:40.870 --> 00:58:46.840

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Unless I'm reading it wrong, but
last year we waived $1550, and this year they're asking for a waiver of
$5,000.
380
00:58:50.670 --> 00:58:58.610
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Not positive I have the correct
answer, but I believe that Council did not waive everything they asked
for last year, is my understanding.
381
00:59:00.020 --> 00:59:09.409
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yeah, it would be nice to have seen
that in the staff report, because I do question whether we should waive
the whole thing again this time, although,
382
00:59:10.150 --> 00:59:16.640
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Completely supportive, and they do
do a number of concerts, so it seems like a pretty good deal for the
city, but…
383
00:59:21.700 --> 00:59:35.080
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yeah, I'm sorry, I was reading
that. I just wanted to contribute that I feel like Peacown just simply
respected the city's budget and asked for a lesser amount, and this year
I've requested a more full amount of their costs.
384
00:59:35.850 --> 00:59:37.550
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That's… that's my thought.
385
00:59:40.180 --> 00:59:50.709
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Can I ask one more? Oh yeah, sorry,
go ahead. I mean, we brought it up before, I think, with the Easter egg
hunt, about these coming after the events have happened.
386
00:59:51.080 --> 00:59:57.470
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I do believe maybe we should look
at some sort of policy so that we somehow get them to us.
387
00:59:57.590 --> 01:00:11.340
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: before events happen, and I brought
it up before, so… So, we received this request at the end of June, and
per the policy that we discussed when we had this conversation in the
spring, they need to go to the Budget Committee.
388
01:00:11.340 --> 01:00:21.080

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: There was a hearing in early July
right after the budget, but I didn't have the staff package together to
bring it to that budget committee, and there was not another opportunity
until last week for it to go to budget.
389
01:00:21.950 --> 01:00:30.800
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: it seems like we talked about that
before, too, and that we don't hold things necessarily to go to budget
first. I can't recall the actual…
390
01:00:31.480 --> 01:00:37.909
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: discussion points, but I know that
we talked about it being timely and not getting held up.
391
01:00:38.410 --> 01:00:47.509
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, maybe we need to bring
something forth about that, but thank you. May I ask a clarification? I'm
looking at this chart again, and it says 2024
392
01:00:47.770 --> 01:00:58.189
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: 1550… 2024, 2025, $15.50, and then
2025, 2026. Am I missing it there? I don't see an amount for Peacetown
there.
393
01:01:01.870 --> 01:01:05.460
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm just asking for… Is it…
394
01:01:08.480 --> 01:01:09.920
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Your mic's off.
395
01:01:12.900 --> 01:01:28.410
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'll go to that question in just a
second, but back to your question, Councilmember Hinton. So, last year,
they were… their total fees were $5,050, so it looks like they did have
an extra event for this year, and the Council did waive just the $15.50.
396
01:01:29.230 --> 01:01:36.379
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: For… for Peacetown. For 24-25? For
20… for last year, for sure. So May of last year, 2025?
397
01:01:38.520 --> 01:01:39.740
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Oh, okay.
398
01:01:40.780 --> 01:01:46.210

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I just thought these were in the
fiscal years, because 2025, 26… 2020… anyway.
399
01:01:46.460 --> 01:01:47.670
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Am I?
400
01:01:48.530 --> 01:01:49.390
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Off.
401
01:01:49.710 --> 01:02:07.139
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So you're saying last… it was last
year's that was the 15… So, in May of 2025, when the Council approved
this, it… it would have been the 24-25, it was $15.50, and that is the
last one that I see, but let me go back and just verify that with…
402
01:02:07.490 --> 01:02:08.750
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: another report.
403
01:03:11.930 --> 01:03:14.430
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm gonna have to use Ana's
computer, mine just froze.
404
01:03:14.970 --> 01:03:17.740
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Can you pull up on the share drive,
the minute orders?
405
01:03:18.530 --> 01:03:19.310
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Please.
406
01:03:31.390 --> 01:03:32.939
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Can you find admitted orders?
407
01:03:33.310 --> 01:03:35.009
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Or, Houston.
408
01:04:00.300 --> 01:04:06.280
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Excuse me, I'm just wondering if
this information is critical to making a decision, because I'd be really
happy to make a motion.
409
01:04:06.500 --> 01:04:09.419
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I think the person who asked it
wants an answer.

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410
01:04:12.650 --> 01:04:13.670
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So you can…
411
01:04:14.470 --> 01:04:26.409
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: If somebody wants to… So the last
one I have is May of 2025, was a request. The 1550. Okay. That is
correct. Before the concert started. Okay, go ahead. Thank you. That's
it.
412
01:04:26.410 --> 01:04:35.309
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So I'd like to make a motion to
approve the many moons waiver in the amount of $750,000 and the Peacetown
fee waiver in the amount of $5,000. I seconded.
413
01:04:37.520 --> 01:04:54.099
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you. So moved by Vice Mayor
Maurer, seconded by Councilmember Zolman to approve the waiver of permit
fees for the special event for the Many Moons, as well as Peacetown
Concert Series in the amount of $750 and $5,000, respectively.
Councilmember Carter? Yes. Councilmember Hinton?
414
01:04:54.440 --> 01:05:01.569
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Aye. Councilmember Zolman? Yes.
Vice Mayor Maurer? Yes. Mayor McLewis? Yes. Motion passes unanimously.
Okay, thank you.
415
01:05:03.190 --> 01:05:12.290
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Moving on to item number 10,
consideration for approval, the Citywide Paving Improvement Multi-Year
Paving Plan. Again, Public Works Director, Oriana?
416
01:05:14.080 --> 01:05:15.409
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Good evening again.
417
01:05:15.920 --> 01:05:24.940
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, this item is to look at which
roads we're going to include in our SFY27 pavement Improvement CIP
project.
418
01:05:27.650 --> 01:05:47.189
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We are recommending, just as a
recap here, that we do a reconstruction on east side and south, and then
do a design using some of our money from this fiscal year to do a big

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slurry seal project, and to do an overlay on Palm, Meetingham, and
Wallace. And I'll get into how I got to that decision.
419
01:05:47.890 --> 01:05:57.809
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And just to start with, I just want
to touch again on what a pavement management plan is, and last time we
talked about this, there was a lot of discussion about what PCI is,
Pavement Condition Index.
420
01:05:57.850 --> 01:06:13.529
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So this is sort of just a rough
outline of where roads fall on a 0 to 100 scale. For PCI, 0 to 40 is very
poor. You know, 40 to 70 is reasonably good, and over 70 is
421
01:06:13.530 --> 01:06:31.940
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: in fair shape. And so, when we
traditionally put together pavement management plans, we're looking to do
kind of surface treatment on roads that are on that 70 number, because we
want to catch them with something like a slurry seal or a microsurface
before they kind of go over the pavement edge and start to deteriorate.
422
01:06:31.940 --> 01:06:38.990
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And that's kind of the philosophy
behind a traditional pavement management plan, which the city has one
that was approved in 2025.
423
01:06:39.040 --> 01:06:50.629
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And they're generally meant to look
at the most economical way to spread money, and that money is usually gas
tax money or Measure M money. So, just real quick, these are kind of, go…
424
01:06:50.640 --> 01:07:05.350
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: for the roads that are in those
brackets. So, east side that we're recommending, is very poor. Morris,
right outside here, is a road that's in fair condition. The top is
starting to come off, but it could certainly do an overlay.
425
01:07:05.410 --> 01:07:11.069
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And then Bodega, the road that we
just completed, is in great condition, has a very high PCI.
426
01:07:12.680 --> 01:07:26.489
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And you guys know this, but this is
kind of the money numbers that came out of our current pavement
management plan. 40% of our roads are not in great shape, and the capital
cost to fix those is over $20 million.

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427
01:07:26.510 --> 01:07:37.619
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And so when they put together the
pavement management plan we have, they were… did not have Measure U yet,
and they were only looking at, kind of, the federal and state funding
that we had, and recommended some service treatments.
428
01:07:37.750 --> 01:07:47.979
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: In the interim of that, we did pass
Measure U, and we have some money that the voters have indicated we want
to use for public improvements, specifically roads.
429
01:07:47.980 --> 01:08:01.169
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And other things but roads. And so,
the question that came up when we talked about this in the spring is kind
of, how do we decide which roads are the ones that we should elevate to
be repaired first?
430
01:08:01.170 --> 01:08:07.980
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Is it really just, you know, their
bad payment condition index, or is there another way to kind of look at
that from a scientific level?
431
01:08:08.160 --> 01:08:20.030
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And so this is kind of what I tried
to get as, like, a dual path of, we need to do this pavement management
plan, we need to do service treatment on roads that are recommended so
that we don't, you know, up that $20.8 million.
432
01:08:20.029 --> 01:08:32.260
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But we also need to figure out, how
to prioritize our very, very bad roads, neighborhood streets, and roads
that would never, ever reach the recommendation of a traditional pavement
management plan to be repaired.
433
01:08:33.899 --> 01:08:53.120
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So what I did is I took the payment
condition index at 0 to 100, and then I went through all of our other
planning documents that we currently have, the active transportation
plan, our Safe Routes to school, I looked at which roads are on major
traveled thoroughfares, which ones are near schools, hospitals.
434
01:08:53.120 --> 01:09:04.899
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: How many parcels they serve, and
whether or not we have, you know, priority infrastructure projects under

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the road, so we definitely want to, you know, do a pavement and
infrastructure project as a combined.
435
01:09:04.939 --> 01:09:13.439
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I gave, kind of, a score
elevator to those roads that had any of these indicators. And that
analysis
436
01:09:13.479 --> 01:09:28.760
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: is in this big spreadsheet, which
you can't see, but they're the roads that are… you have it in your
council packet, and you'll see that the PCIs kind of get deflated a bit
in those roads that have any of those indicators that they're other
community values.
437
01:09:28.850 --> 01:09:49.659
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And so this is ranked by what
fiscal year I'm proposing to do the pavement treatment, and so it
combines our total budget, looking at both reconstruction projects for
roads that have those poor PCI scores, and just the package of treatment
projects that was proposed in our current pavement management plan.
438
01:09:49.660 --> 01:09:57.460
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I didn't do anything with those
recommendations. MTC does a good job of kind of picking those rows, and
we need to run both of those
439
01:09:57.460 --> 01:09:58.680
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Paths in parallel.
440
01:10:00.190 --> 01:10:19.469
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, my recommendation for this
current fiscal year is that we do a reconstruct on east side and south.
Those are two of our worst streets after Strout, and they're, near major
thoroughfares, they're on school routes, and we have some sewer,
infrastructure
441
01:10:19.470 --> 01:10:21.980
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Projects in there that have already
been identified.
442
01:10:21.980 --> 01:10:36.140
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But you'll see that I also have a
design pre-build amount that I'd like to use some of this year's capital
money to do. So, when we had this discussion in the spring, and the
Council recommended that we move forward with Strout.

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443
01:10:36.170 --> 01:10:52.809
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We did, but we had to put out an
RFP for design, and then we had to make that contract happen, and we are
in design. It's near completion, but we've substantially lost, kind of,
the pavement window for reconstructing. By the time we put it out to bid
right now, it would be the middle of winter.
444
01:10:52.810 --> 01:11:12.139
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So to prevent that from happening,
next year, if we can get approval for both the recommended streets for
2627 and 27-28, I could put those streets into design and have them
pretty much ready to issue a notice of award once we have budget approval
July 1st of next year.
445
01:11:13.450 --> 01:11:29.300
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So these are the streets that I'm
recommending for the 2728 program. That's Palm, Maiden, and Wallace that
have overlay projects on them, and then that package coming out of our
current pavement management plan for us slurry seals throughout the city.
446
01:11:32.610 --> 01:11:37.900
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And these are the ones that are in
the pavement management plan of just, slurry seal streets.
447
01:11:41.040 --> 01:11:45.109
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So this is kind of what this looks
like across the city. The dark…
448
01:11:45.720 --> 01:11:58.709
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: solid lines are the ones that are
bigger construction projects, where we actually have to either redo the
street or do a substantial grind and overlay, and the dotted streets are
ones that are being recommended for a service treatment.
449
01:11:58.970 --> 01:12:11.420
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So this is through 29, but the 2829
streets, we will certainly revisit. We are going to redo our pavement
management plan next year. The city gets a biannual
450
01:12:11.420 --> 01:12:34.509
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: grant from NTC to evaluate all of
the streets and see how they're doing, and then put together, kind of,
recommendations. And they will work with cities and kind of look at how I
put this together and add their input, so they'll look at, kind of, our
bad streets and the surface streets and make some recommendations

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themselves, and we can reevaluate anything into the future. But this
would get us through this fiscal year and into next fiscal year.
451
01:12:37.340 --> 01:12:56.399
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So what I tried to do here is kind
of do two complimentary ways. There's just traditional MTC pavement
management, most economical way to spend your paving dollars, and a way
to choose kind of our worst streets and start picking away at those.
They're expensive, but they need to happen, and we have some funding that
we can leverage there.
452
01:12:58.420 --> 01:13:12.010
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So that's what I have. I'm asking
Council for approval for, the reconstruction of Eastside and South, and
the design of my 2728 streets tonight, and then continuing into 28 to relook at the pavement management plan.
453
01:13:12.810 --> 01:13:16.080
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right, thank you. So, questions
here at the dais?
454
01:13:17.860 --> 01:13:18.680
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Nope.
455
01:13:19.100 --> 01:13:19.900
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Go ahead.
456
01:13:20.050 --> 01:13:25.519
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Oh, I don't really have a question,
but it's kind of a thank you for the map and getting it organized.
457
01:13:27.150 --> 01:13:30.680
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, so public comment, if we
don't have any questions?
458
01:13:32.540 --> 01:13:47.929
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Mayor. So this is for
public comment on the Pave Me the Streets, agenda item. If you'd like to
make a public comment, again, I will come into chambers first, and then
go out to Zoom, if there's anyone in chambers that would like to make a
public comment on this item.
459
01:13:49.050 --> 01:13:53.609
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I will go out into
Zoom. Lee, can you… whoops, Lee, can you unmute yourself, please?

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460
01:13:54.620 --> 01:13:55.310
Lee: Yes.
461
01:13:55.490 --> 01:13:57.260
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you. Can you still see the
timer?
462
01:13:57.260 --> 01:13:58.210
Lee: Yeah, I do.
463
01:13:58.210 --> 01:13:59.129
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Go ahead, please.
464
01:13:59.480 --> 01:14:07.610
Lee: Yeah, you guys probably figured out that a lot of times I really
don't care what you do, and I'm not a world… the world's leading expert
on streets.
465
01:14:07.610 --> 01:14:25.319
Lee: But I do care that it's done in a responsible and business-like way.
The Council received this street study in April of 2025, 18 months ago.
It was approved on a consent calendar, even though the staff report asked
Council to consider and vote on one of three different investment
strategies.
466
01:14:25.550 --> 01:14:30.200
Lee: That is not… business-like.
467
01:14:32.380 --> 01:14:40.149
Lee: I am pleased now that 18 months after the study was completed, we
actually have a street plan, that, kudos to Director Hart.
468
01:14:40.150 --> 01:14:52.960
Lee: for anticipating and trying to get things going ahead of time to
streamline and shorten timelines to get these projects actually
implemented. Obviously, it's critical in their business because
469
01:14:52.960 --> 01:14:58.159
Lee: weather makes a difference. So anyway, kudos to Director Hart, thank
you.
470
01:14:59.140 --> 01:15:05.469

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Lee, for your public
comments. Next, I will come back into chambers. If there's anyone in
chambers, I can make a public comment on this item.
471
01:15:06.440 --> 01:15:09.290
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none to go out to Zoom.
Kate, can you mute yourself, please?
472
01:15:11.670 --> 01:15:12.699
kate: Can you hear me?
473
01:15:12.700 --> 01:15:14.649
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I can hear you. Can you still see
the timer?
474
01:15:14.650 --> 01:15:15.680
kate: I can, thank you, Mary.
475
01:15:15.680 --> 01:15:16.670
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Go ahead, please.
476
01:15:16.670 --> 01:15:25.230
kate: Yeah, I want to echo Lee's, comment. I think this has been,
Director Hart's, presentation.
477
01:15:25.230 --> 01:15:48.379
kate: has been one of the most thoughtful and clear that we've seen in
many, many moons, and I just want to thank her for her work, and as we
know, infrastructure is capital intensive, and it requires a lot of
follow-through and planning, and you're planning over many, many years.
478
01:15:48.380 --> 01:16:08.090
kate: And as we've seen with water and sewer, capital and projects often
get forgotten and left undone, like the Pleasant Hill Loop that still is
not done. It was identified in 2005. So I think we should all, count our
lucky stars that Director Hart is working for
479
01:16:08.090 --> 01:16:11.020
kate: The city, and on behalf of the citizens.
480
01:16:11.340 --> 01:16:30.599
kate: Because I feel that under her leadership, that we will actually
start to see capital improvements happening, because she has the skills

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and the, ability to structure and to plan ahead, so that we can actually
accomplish some things. Thank you.
481
01:16:31.780 --> 01:16:37.400
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Kate, for your public
comment. Next, I will come back into chambers, if there's anyone in
chambers.
482
01:16:38.320 --> 01:16:45.440
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I'll go back out to
Zoom. If there's anyone on Zoom that would like to make a public comment
on this item, to please raise your hand virtually.
483
01:16:45.750 --> 01:16:56.590
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, public comment is
closed on this item. All right, thank you. We're back here for comments.
Go ahead, Councilmember Zolan. Yeah, I just want to second the, public's
comment, and thank you to Ariana.
484
01:16:56.600 --> 01:17:05.799
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Director Hart, for a very clear
presentation. Thank you for dealing with all the pushback from the last
one, where I just wanted some scientific something to just…
485
01:17:06.110 --> 01:17:09.149
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Be able to identify why we're
funding.
486
01:17:09.340 --> 01:17:16.959
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: what we're funding, and it was very
clear, and thanks for, the staff report. It, too, was clear, and the
slide deck was clear, so thanks.
487
01:17:17.620 --> 01:17:29.349
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Go ahead. Yeah, I wanted to wait to
the comments section, but thanks very much. The map is super helpful, and
we can see it with the color codes for the next 3 years, so really
helpful. Thank you.
488
01:17:29.750 --> 01:17:33.020
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Any other comments before I make
mine? Go ahead.
489
01:17:33.190 --> 01:17:34.680
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Did you have one?

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490
01:17:34.890 --> 01:17:45.069
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Vice Mayor, you look like you were
going to. Yeah, it's really nice to hear the public, comments, of
appreciation for our Public Works Director.
491
01:17:45.150 --> 01:17:55.090
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I'm glad to hear that, and also
to thank you for the work on this. I'm really excited about getting our
roads, at least getting a start on our roads getting repaired.
492
01:17:55.480 --> 01:18:10.210
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So I would like to make a motion
to… I'd like to make my comments, too, so go ahead, and then, okay, well,
you can still make your comments. I'll make a motion to approve the
citywide pavement management and multi-year paving strategy.
493
01:18:11.250 --> 01:18:29.269
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And then I'd like to make my
comment. First of all, thank you. Really happy that you have put
forethought into this and put it together, but I also just have, just a
humorous comment, because I don't know if it was maybe a month or two
ago, I called the city because it looked like a…
494
01:18:29.330 --> 01:18:37.890
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: some type of tank or something was
going down the street, and it was extremely loud, and some neighbors were
asking me, and I didn't know what it was, and I called the city, and they
said.
495
01:18:37.890 --> 01:18:57.400
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: that's the sound of progress.
They're repairing the roads, and I said, it's been so long since that's
happened that we just don't even know what that, you know, it was… so I
was super excited after that, but I had people asking me as well, so I
just, just want to express my gratitude for thinking ahead and planning
this, so that we can get things done sooner, so thank you.
496
01:18:57.410 --> 01:18:59.819
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I'll go ahead and second the
motion on the table.
497
01:19:01.020 --> 01:19:09.560
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Oh, go ahead. I just want to add, I
already thanked you, I'm super grateful you exist, and, you know, we're
getting this on, but,

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498
01:19:10.110 --> 01:19:28.399
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: You know, there's a little bit of a
lag effect in all this, and there's a lot of government processes that
you guys might not see that kind of, like, made it a little bit longer of
a, you know, process than we needed, so this was very, actually,
business-like, and we are very grateful to have this.
499
01:19:28.860 --> 01:19:29.820
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Progress.
500
01:19:30.100 --> 01:19:44.749
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, so we have a first. Do we
have… did you second already? Okay, so go ahead. So, so moved by Vice
Mayor Maurer and seconded by Councilmember Zolman to approve the proposed
multi-year paving strategy and directing staff to proceed with the
reconstruction of Eastside and South.
501
01:19:44.750 --> 01:19:51.109
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And then to be… design the project
preparation for 2020 overlay projects on Paul, Mayton, and Wallace.
502
01:19:51.110 --> 01:19:59.009
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Councilmember… Carter? Yes.
Councilmember Hinton? Aye. Councilmember Zolman? Yes. Vice Mayor Maurer?
503
01:19:59.010 --> 01:20:14.589
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yes. Mayor McLewis? Yes. Motion
passes unanimously. All right, thank you very much. We are moving on to
the next item, consideration and approval of library reconstruction work,
and that, again, is our Public Works Director. You are a busy lady
tonight.
504
01:20:14.620 --> 01:20:34.529
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Back to me. Good evening. This is
the next phase of our library repair. So, as everyone knows, we had an
emergency closure in June when some mold was found. And in July 7th,
Council approved the contract to do the mold remediation of the interior
of the library.
505
01:20:34.530 --> 01:20:49.080
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That work started in the middle of
July, and it finished towards the end of August, so the mold has been
removed, the building has been tested, and it is currently clean, but the
walls are now, studs.

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506
01:20:49.080 --> 01:21:02.620
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, right around when we tested the
building for mold, we opened a brief solicitation for informal bids with
some contractors to put the library back together. And we…
507
01:21:02.620 --> 01:21:27.319
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: decided to exclude, kind of,
exterior moisture repairs. The… what it's looking like from what we can
see on the walls is that the moisture is coming through the brick veneer,
and the waterproofing, the moisture barrier behind the brick veneer has
failed. So there's going to be… need to be a CIP project to do the
exterior siding of the library at some point, to do the drainage around
the library.
508
01:21:27.420 --> 01:21:37.120
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But engineering all of that would
take some time as a government agency, and getting it right so that this
doesn't happen again will take some time.
509
01:21:37.120 --> 01:21:50.910
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And with the goal to reopen the
library as soon as possible, this contract is just to put the insulation
and sheetrock back on the interior walls and paint them so that the
library can reopen, because we can do the exterior work while they're
open.
510
01:21:50.970 --> 01:22:15.769
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So we got 6 different contractors
who came and looked at the project, and we received bids on the 8th of
September, and we're recommending award to DMR builders. They've done
some work for us at the Youth Annex before, so they're a known quantity,
and we respect their work, and they do feel it's going to take them about
2 months to do the interior reconstruction.
511
01:22:15.770 --> 01:22:22.599
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to do the two spots that have some
dry rot issues, that actually will go through the brick veneer, and
there's
512
01:22:22.760 --> 01:22:31.570
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: structural repair that needs to
happen, but they're hoping to be done if we can move quickly with an
award by the end of November.
513
01:22:32.720 --> 01:22:34.499
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right, thank you. Questions?

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514
01:22:36.030 --> 01:22:46.099
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for, the report. Thank
you for all the ongoing work. Thank you for responding to Q&A. I think,
through you and Mary, there's…
515
01:22:46.140 --> 01:22:58.499
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Q&A, FAQ? Is there an FAQ
somewhere? It's on our website, right? Okay, so, because I'm not sure,
I'm sure I'm not the only one that's gotten a lot, a lot of email about
what are we doing with El Nino.
516
01:22:58.500 --> 01:23:07.920
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And are we spending money that's
just going to get washed out with this huge, heavy rain? So can you just
sort of dial that in and allay concerns?
517
01:23:07.920 --> 01:23:25.650
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: that there's reason for what it is
you're recommending, and that if El Nino comes, everything will still be
okay, and there's a plan. So, a couple of pieces. One of the comments
that keeps coming up is that somehow the solar on the roof has caused the
roof to leak.
518
01:23:25.680 --> 01:23:36.390
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the solar on the roof of the
library does not penetrate the roof. There's not a roof leak. And we've
been in the attic, so that's not where the moisture is coming from. It
really looks like it's coming up from the bottom.
519
01:23:36.400 --> 01:23:54.630
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So we are going to ask the
contractor while they're there to work on some, you know, drainage
solutions that'll get us through this winter. Before we start putting
anything back, we're also doing moisture testing to see if there's any
really obvious spots where we can see water coming through. There just…
there wasn't a very smoking gun, but
520
01:23:54.630 --> 01:24:07.319
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the original assessment, I think,
is still true. The wallpaper that was on the interior of the library was
kind of holding the moisture there. So that was a driver of why there was
mold there, and we're not putting that back.
521
01:24:07.320 --> 01:24:20.770

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So we can see if moisture does
start to come in, and we can monitor it through the winter, and we will
work on some interim solutions to get us through El Nino, and then a
bigger project next summer. Okay, thank you.
522
01:24:21.360 --> 01:24:22.620
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Question?
523
01:24:22.730 --> 01:24:29.450
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Vice Mayor. What side of the
building is the… are the drainage problems on, or is it the whole
building?
524
01:24:30.950 --> 01:24:35.989
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It… at this point, without doing
more of the engineering that we need to do to…
525
01:24:36.030 --> 01:24:53.319
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: make that analysis, which is what
would be part of setting up that CIP. I would say it's just because the
kind of dirt is all around the building, and, you know, the building's a
little bit sunken into the landscaping, so the water just kind of sheet
flows there, and it hits the foundation, and it's even kind of built up a
little bit over the foundation, so there's not
526
01:24:53.360 --> 01:25:00.090
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That usual elevation that you see
on the footing around a building. So that's our current assessment. Okay,
thank you.
527
01:25:00.910 --> 01:25:01.889
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Go ahead.
528
01:25:03.370 --> 01:25:08.260
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yeah, I mean, I hesitate to go
ahead and authorize when…
529
01:25:08.930 --> 01:25:20.140
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: we know there's other problems that
still need to be analyzed, and I really don't want us to have egg on our
face and go ahead and spend this money, and then all of a sudden, we've
got a problem because we've rushed to it.
530
01:25:20.910 --> 01:25:22.400
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: You're the expert.

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531
01:25:22.560 --> 01:25:35.279
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, this is your recommendation,
you're standing by it tonight. It is, and we're gonna monitor it, but I
feel the library is such an important piece of this community, and it's
been so missing that holding out for a full
532
01:25:35.280 --> 01:25:43.379
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: drainage design, to fully evaluate
how we can repair those pieces. We keep the library closed through next
summer.
533
01:25:43.380 --> 01:25:53.049
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So this is an interim solution,
it's not the final solution. We do have more work to do. So it's either
this or next summer. That's… there's no in-between?
534
01:25:53.300 --> 01:26:07.090
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: if we have to do a full engineering
look at how the drainage works, and what the recommendations are for the
exterior repair, then I'm going to need to get an engineer and do an RFP
for that engineer to do it, you know, to fully do it right and make sure
this doesn't happen again.
535
01:26:09.570 --> 01:26:20.260
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I understand some of the costs
are being covered by others. For that extensive work, do we have offers
of costs also covered by others?
536
01:26:20.500 --> 01:26:28.269
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We don't know what the cost of that
is, but thank you, I did forget to mention that the library has
authorized $75,000 towards this remediation work.
537
01:26:30.250 --> 01:26:46.040
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So I just want to, ask too, I just
feel concerned about, given the predictions for weather that we have and
all of that, I just don't want to, you know, have… we've been receiving
the emails about concern and don't approve this tonight, and so, I mean,
I just really need…
538
01:26:46.070 --> 01:26:50.909
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: To feel comfortable that, you know,
should we experience this,
539

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01:26:51.120 --> 01:27:03.489
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the winter that they're predicting,
I mean, how frequently are you monitoring this? Who's monitoring? I just…
I just need to understand, like, who's staying on top of this so we don't
get into this situation where we have mold again.
540
01:27:03.510 --> 01:27:18.269
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We will keep tabs on the moisture
of the interior walls. I know it's a concern, and we are moving nimbly to
get the library put back together as quickly as we can. So this is an
interim step.
541
01:27:18.330 --> 01:27:28.910
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But we can certainly do kind of the
moisture testing that our building official has, and that we did on City
Hall with our internal meters, and just make sure that we're not seeing
anything.
542
01:27:28.910 --> 01:27:41.600
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That is also why we're kind of
going to do some of that moisture testing when we have the building…
builder there, because it really does not seem obvious. There could have
been a leak from a couple years ago that maybe the roof fixed.
543
01:27:41.600 --> 01:27:56.109
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: probably… there's no obvious reason
why we were getting mold. The drainage is an assumption. And just one
other question. Is it safe to assume this will be a mid-year budget type
thing? I mean, will you have any idea what the project's gonna end up
costing?
544
01:27:56.130 --> 01:28:02.839
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Anytime in the next… Months? It
will be a mid-year budget thing, yes. Okay, alright.
545
01:28:03.060 --> 01:28:04.140
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you.
546
01:28:04.960 --> 01:28:06.450
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: No other questions?
547
01:28:07.820 --> 01:28:14.290
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, just to confirm, There were,
there were, there were, there were,
548

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01:28:14.350 --> 01:28:22.920
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: proposals between $75,000 and,
like, maybe $200,000. We were very fortunate to get this one through an
expedited process. Again, thank you.
549
01:28:22.930 --> 01:28:35.460
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And we're able to do this for $79ish, and get a $75,000 possible reimbursement from the library. I think
that's… that's fair to say. Yeah, okay, cool.
550
01:28:38.150 --> 01:28:41.400
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Sorry, if there are no other
questions, Mary, we'll go ahead.
551
01:28:41.530 --> 01:28:52.870
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Mayor. So this is for
public comment on the consideration of the approval of the library
reconstruction work. If you would like to make a public comment, I come
into chambers first, and then go out to Zoom. If there's anyone in
chambers.
552
01:28:53.280 --> 01:28:54.100
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Alvin?
553
01:28:58.700 --> 01:29:00.420
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Patty should be fine for this.
554
01:29:00.910 --> 01:29:02.940
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I thought I'd make a sign for a
change.
555
01:29:03.050 --> 01:29:11.080
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I mean, seriously, I mean, it's a
county library, and we're talking about, we have no idea how much this is
going to cost.
556
01:29:11.410 --> 01:29:19.279
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: With… what is… we're leasing the
library building for a dollar a year, I think, to the county. We're
scrabbling around for money in the city.
557
01:29:19.320 --> 01:29:34.230
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And this is like an open-ended
thing, where we, you know, the roof may leak this winter, and it may be a
quarter of a million dollars, or whatever, and the county's saying they

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can chip in $75,000. The county should be paying for the whole thing, and
the county should be paying a proper rent as well.
558
01:29:34.510 --> 01:29:36.189
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So that's my opinion, thank you.
559
01:29:37.830 --> 01:29:46.020
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Oliver, for your public
comment. I will go out to Zoom. If there's anyone on Zoom that would like
to make a public comment on this item, to please raise your hand
virtually.
560
01:29:47.690 --> 01:29:51.049
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I will come back into
chambers, if there's anyone in chambers.
561
01:29:52.230 --> 01:29:56.679
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, public comment is
closed. Okay, we're back here at the dais for any comments.
562
01:29:58.760 --> 01:30:02.929
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Go ahead. No comments, I'll just go
ahead and move staff's recommendation.
563
01:30:03.220 --> 01:30:04.350
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'll second.
564
01:30:04.600 --> 01:30:24.400
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I'm just gonna comment that I
am commenting that I am concerned about doing this. I publicly want to
put that out there. I understand the need and all of that, but it really
is very concerning for me. And I'm going to second that, follow the
Mayor's concern. I hear, get the library back. It sounds like the move is
too quick.
565
01:30:24.400 --> 01:30:30.990
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm not a move-quick person, I'd
rather move a little more slowly and make sure we have our ducks in a
row, but…
566
01:30:31.110 --> 01:30:34.939
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: If you're telling me it's okay, I'm
gonna support it tonight.
567

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01:30:37.240 --> 01:30:52.690
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I'm just gonna say, well done,
because this did happen fast because of fast work, but not because of,
you know, overly hasty work, and because the… it's, like, 4 or 5K over
what the county's gonna contribute, you know, I think that's a great
thing.
568
01:30:54.090 --> 01:31:06.130
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Go ahead, Mary. So moved by
Councilmember Zolman and seconded by Vice Mayor Maurer to adopt the
resolution authorizing the award of the contract to DM and Builders for
the library rehab. Councilmember Carter?
569
01:31:06.130 --> 01:31:25.270
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yeah. Councilmember Hinton? Aye.
Councilmember Zolman? Yes. Vice Mayor Maurer? Yes. Mayor McLewis? Yes.
Motion passes unanimously. Okay. So we're going to move on to this next
item, and just for all of you, let's go through this item, and then after
that, I'm hoping you all will be good for a 5-minute break, because I'm
going to need it after this, before we get into the next topic, so…
570
01:31:25.270 --> 01:31:26.920
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So…
571
01:31:26.920 --> 01:31:42.400
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Direction to the voting delegate,
Mayor McLewis, myself, attending the 2026 Annual Conference and Expo,
September 23rd to the 25th, on resolution submitted for consideration at
the General Assembly Meeting to be held on Fridays.
572
01:31:42.460 --> 01:32:03.270
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: September 25th at 8.30 a.m, Cal
Cities received one resolution, a resolution of the General Assembly of
the League of California Cities, calling for a working group to consider
a state constitutional amendment or other form of initiative to ensure
final local authority over housing and land use decision. So, I don't
know, Mary, if you'd like to say anything before?
573
01:32:03.560 --> 01:32:17.469
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Mary, you just gave the entire
report, so… I just, you know… Yeah, so the city received the resolution.
This is from a Southern California city, city of Murrieta is bringing
this resolution forward.
574
01:32:17.470 --> 01:32:23.770
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: This will be discussed at the
General Assembly Meeting at the Cal City's annual conference, and so…

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575
01:32:23.770 --> 01:32:33.620
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The Council's being asked to
provide direction to the voting delegate whether to support the
resolution, oppose the resolution, or abstain from voting. If this…
576
01:32:33.620 --> 01:32:47.070
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: A resolution is adopted by Cal
Cities. Cal Cities would be directed to, support the development and
advancement of amendment of legislative policy or ballots that restores,
strengthens local authority over housing and land manners.
577
01:32:47.070 --> 01:33:02.670
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And then it also establishes a
statewide working group or other committee to evaluate proposed
constitutional amendments or other policies based on land use matters.
The city staff did reach out, we reached out to ABAG, we also… and they…
578
01:33:02.670 --> 01:33:09.230
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Their staff stated that they're not
aware of any Bay Area cities formally supporting this, but individual
politicians have.
579
01:33:09.310 --> 01:33:21.839
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We also reached out to our local
cities. City of Roanoke Park and Hillsburg have not… are not having any
attendings. City of Sonoma took this last night, and I reached out, but I
have not received what they're…
580
01:33:21.840 --> 01:33:33.580
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: action was last night, and Catati
gave direction to oppose it unless it's amended, to ensure that the state
retains power to penalize cities who circumvent any state housing goals.
581
01:33:33.580 --> 01:33:50.750
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, for the Council tonight, it's
to provide direction, whether to support, oppose, or abstain. City staff
does not have enough information on this proposal based upon the
resolutions that were presented, other than to, discuss that there is a
statewide committee to dis…
582
01:33:50.920 --> 01:33:55.039
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm sorry, did you want to say
something? Oh, Willie and you're done. That's okay.
583

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01:33:55.040 --> 01:34:19.429
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to, you know, provide a statewide
working group to review the local authority for housing. And the other
option was, I mean, I did a lot of work on this, due diligence,
contacting a lot of different people, and I know some people are going to
the conference and waiting to see if they could hear more about it. I
mean, I've spoken to many people at Cal Cities, I've spoken to the
lobbyists, I've spoken to numerous council members
584
01:34:19.430 --> 01:34:29.420
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: throughout, and there are some
people who are just going and have, you know, the ability to learn more
about it and then vote. So that's another option if you want to
585
01:34:29.420 --> 01:34:31.889
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: You know, do that, but anyway,
586
01:34:32.000 --> 01:34:55.469
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I didn't mean to interrupt you if I
did. No, no, no, you were correct. That is one of the options in the
staff report, is to provide no formal direction, but to leave it up to
the voting to delegate to see if any information comes through at the
General Assembly meeting. And I will say, based on my experience in going
to these things, I have yet, honestly, to see where they have a quorum
there. So, that's the biggest challenge, is getting a quorum at these,
587
01:34:55.500 --> 01:35:10.630
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: At these events. I will say,
though, that this is the largest, they have the most attendance they've
ever had at a conference next week. It's the highest ever for Cal City,
so they said that this… if it's going to be possible, it'll be possible
this year to have a quorum, but we'll see.
588
01:35:11.130 --> 01:35:17.670
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, just a little bit of
information for you all. So, I don't know if anyone has any questions.
589
01:35:20.750 --> 01:35:27.000
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I don't think I fully understand
the ramifications of this. Do you want to, explain the pluses and minuses
quickly?
590
01:35:27.550 --> 01:35:37.069
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm gonna tell you, I don't… I
don't… there's not enough details. I mean, a lot of cities, I don't know,
Alex, if you are more versed on this, based on, you know.

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591
01:35:37.250 --> 01:35:45.430
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yeah, well, I would say, just to be
clear, at a high level, this is just a resolution of support. It doesn't
have any binding impact or anything like that.
592
01:35:45.600 --> 01:35:53.819
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I would say at a high level, the
general concept, as the Council knows, the state has created a lot of
housing mandates.
593
01:35:53.820 --> 01:36:09.279
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: both in goals and also limiting the
Council's authority to say no to certain projects. And I think the
general sentiment from the cities who are supporting this resolution is
that that has gone too far.
594
01:36:09.290 --> 01:36:14.430
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And we should limit the
legislature's ability to take away
595
01:36:14.510 --> 01:36:32.810
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: that local control to some extent
by having a constitutional amendment. And that's why they want a working
group, and I will say, in my opinion, you know, we have a lot of Southern
California cities that put the letters in, and in my opinion, you know,
we need balance on… if this passes, we need balance from Northern
California.
596
01:36:32.810 --> 01:36:42.929
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: and Southern California, because
we, you know, we are very different, according to many different people,
and how we… and how we govern. So, you know…
597
01:36:43.140 --> 01:36:48.810
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I would say that it would behoove
us, just given the number of people that are not even attending from
here.
598
01:36:48.950 --> 01:36:53.230
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: To create balance, if it did come
through, it would be good for us to have some, you know.
599
01:36:53.570 --> 01:36:56.050
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Some sort of representation there,
so…

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600
01:36:58.420 --> 01:37:03.390
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I don't know if anyone else has
questions. Those are just some of the things that I've discussed, and go
ahead.
601
01:37:03.570 --> 01:37:10.989
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Are we just voting to support you
doing this, or… To vote whether… to vote yes or no, or… yeah, oh yeah.
602
01:37:11.260 --> 01:37:12.120
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay.
603
01:37:12.960 --> 01:37:21.060
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, I have a question for you. And
so, where do you stand on local control over housing versus state control
over housing?
604
01:37:21.140 --> 01:37:43.510
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Well, I think, in my opinion, I
mean, there are some times where I do feel that the state, you know,
they're really mandating, and I, in talking with a lot of different,
cities, you know, every city, we're all unique in some of our own ways,
and some of these mandates create, a heavy burden on some cities, so I
don't know where this group is going with that. I will just state that
plainly. I don't know.
605
01:37:43.510 --> 01:37:48.000
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: you know, spend as much time as I
could trying to find that out.
606
01:37:48.000 --> 01:37:59.060
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the only way I can find that out, I
guess, is to find some of the people there at the conference to see what,
you know, if they have different intentions than are in the letters. But,
607
01:37:59.060 --> 01:38:14.459
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: for me, it's just a working group,
so I don't know, you know, I don't… I'm assuming… and maybe, Alex, you
could weigh in on that. I mean, it's a working group to have discussions
over this, and then… and then bring things back, right? Recommendations
back. I don't know what the time frame is.
608
01:38:15.530 --> 01:38:22.870

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Is that… I don't know what the time
frame is. Well, I don't either. That would… I imagine they would then
seek,
609
01:38:23.180 --> 01:38:27.230
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Cal City's support for a proposed
ballot initiative.
610
01:38:27.700 --> 01:38:31.009
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yeah, and generally, you know, Cow
Cities has,
611
01:38:31.310 --> 01:38:43.769
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: you know, we have all the
different, policy committees. Like, I'm chair of the governance,
Transparency, and labor relations for the state, and, you know, they have
a housing, policy committee, so
612
01:38:43.890 --> 01:39:04.370
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I could be wrong, but I'm assuming
that would probably come back to that committee and be a part of that
discussion, which usually those committees consist of, like, 60 to 80
people from across the state, electeds to staff to, you know, a variety
of people who work within the city to create that balance in that
discussion, so that's just how some of that works, and for the public to
know how that works.
613
01:39:04.890 --> 01:39:08.019
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So… Thank you. Yep.
614
01:39:09.860 --> 01:39:27.360
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I think if we're done with
questions… Thank you. So this is for public comment on providing
direction to the voting delegate for the Cal cities for the resolution,
related to a working group to consider the state constitutional
amendments or other form of initiatives to ensure final local authority
over housing and land decisions.
615
01:39:27.390 --> 01:39:31.660
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: If you'd like to make a public
comment, I do in chambers first.
616
01:39:32.710 --> 01:39:36.220
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I'll go out to Zoom.
Lee, can you unmute yourself, please?

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617
01:39:36.450 --> 01:39:37.070
Lee: Yeah.
618
01:39:38.000 --> 01:39:38.890
Lee: Oh.
619
01:39:38.890 --> 01:39:40.510
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: You go ahead.
620
01:39:40.510 --> 01:39:45.510
Lee: Yeah. I'm surprised at Phil's question.
621
01:39:45.670 --> 01:39:49.979
Lee: I've been watching this for a while, and it's very frustrating to me
622
01:39:49.980 --> 01:40:14.520
Lee: The city spends hours collecting data, doing reports to the state to
prove that our growth in housing stock and low-income housing stock meets
whatever arbitrary requirement that they establish. It's particularly…
and we do that under threat that if we don't meet those requirements,
then the state takes over, and we have no say in anything that a
developer does in the city, which, in my mind, opens us up to
623
01:40:16.880 --> 01:40:40.050
Lee: what do I want to say? Developers who might take advantage of that
situation and try to create a situation where Sebastopol doesn't meet
those requirements so that they can have a free will here. It's
particularly challenging for Sebastopol because we're a small town, we
don't have a lot of undeveloped land, and we don't have a lot of money to
increase infrastructure to incorporate more people. So we're going to hit
a wall here in the future.
624
01:40:41.710 --> 01:40:52.579
Lee: things like the ADUs. If you put an ADU on your property, if I'm not
mistaken, that… that means you don't have to do CEQA for your
development. And that…
625
01:40:52.760 --> 01:41:13.270
Lee: seems like a problem, because I think CEQA is where we find out
whether or not there's going to be issues with drainage, whether there's
going to be issues with storm drains, whether there's going to be sewer
and water capacity. So I think there's probably hundreds of these things.
These are just the things I've noticed watching meetings that need to be
addressed by somebody, and hopefully that this committee is going to do
that. Thank you.

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626
01:41:14.460 --> 01:41:20.649
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Lee, for your public
comment. Next, I will come into chambers, if there's anyone in chambers
that would like to make a public comment on this item.
627
01:41:20.960 --> 01:41:24.319
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I'll go back out to
Zoom. Kyle, can you mute yourself, please?
628
01:41:25.520 --> 01:41:26.369
Kyle Falbo: I can.
629
01:41:26.970 --> 01:41:28.539
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Please go ahead with your public
comment.
630
01:41:28.960 --> 01:41:37.389
Kyle Falbo: So I want to encourage Council to look very carefully at the
resolution before you tonight, because I think there's an important
distinction between supporting reasonable local control.
631
01:41:37.390 --> 01:42:00.780
Kyle Falbo: and supporting what could become a constitutionally protected
local veto over housing. The resolution does not simply ask the state to
give cities more flexibility in how they meet housing goals. It calls for
exploring a constitutional amendment, legislation, or ballot measure that
would restore or strengthen local authority over housing and land use
decisions, including zoning, density, project siting.
632
01:42:00.780 --> 01:42:06.300
Kyle Falbo: And even the approval or denial of individual housing
developments. That's a very broad proposal.
633
01:42:06.720 --> 01:42:29.529
Kyle Falbo: California's recent housing laws have in large part been a
response to the reality that when every city has final authority to say
no, the collective result can be that the state simply does not build
enough housing. So I think the important question here is not whether
local control is good or bad, the question is whether cities should have
final authority, even when local decisions frustrate statewide housing
goals.
634
01:42:29.610 --> 01:42:32.259
Kyle Falbo: Kattati appears to identify that distinction.

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635
01:42:32.260 --> 01:42:55.119
Kyle Falbo: Their council directed its delegate to oppose the resolution,
unless it was amended, to preserve the state's ability to penalize cities
that attempt to circumvent state housing goals. I think it's a much more
balanced approach. Sebastopol should absolutely have meaningful authority
about how we grow, how development fits into our infrastructure, and how
we preserve the character and livability of our community. But I'd be
very cautious about supporting language.
636
01:42:55.120 --> 01:43:10.399
Kyle Falbo: that could remove the state's ability to intervene when local
land use authority is used to prevent housing from being built. I'd
encourage the Council either to oppose this resolution in its current
form, or at a minimum, to support the kind of safeguard Cotati has
proposed.
637
01:43:12.200 --> 01:43:18.250
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Kyle, for your public
comment. Next, I'll come back into Chambers, if there's anyone in
chambers that would like to make a public comment.
638
01:43:18.350 --> 01:43:24.480
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I will go back out to
Zoom. If there's anyone on Zoom that would like to make a public comment,
please raise your hand virtually.
639
01:43:24.990 --> 01:43:29.519
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, public comment is
closed. All right, thank you. Back here for comments.
640
01:43:29.520 --> 01:43:49.450
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Councilmember Smith? Yes, I just
want to thank Mary for doing her research and finding what Katati did. I
was like, wow, somebody's really on task there. And I'm not surprised,
because as the Mayor had said, there is a lot of shifting of views
politically between Northern California and Southern California.
641
01:43:49.450 --> 01:43:50.959
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, I can't…
642
01:43:51.210 --> 01:43:58.689
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: predict, but I think that they were
in anticipation of what some of the southern cities would do, and
643

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01:43:58.690 --> 01:44:14.160
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: in anticipation of what they're
likely to do, they came up with their own recommendation of not to
support unless there's this built-in part of punishment. So my… where I'm
at is to support Katati's recommendation and have that be the direction.
644
01:44:16.040 --> 01:44:17.350
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Councilmember Hinton?
645
01:44:17.600 --> 01:44:31.410
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm with, Councilmember Zolman. I
don't think we have an issue, of course, here in Sebastopol, at least for
this period of RHNA numbers, we're building… we have a number of projects
in the works, but
646
01:44:31.410 --> 01:44:36.020
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I am familiar with other
jurisdictions. I worked in Marin County for
647
01:44:36.020 --> 01:44:52.660
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: at least 12 or 13 years, and I do
see in other jurisdictions where it can be a problem, which is why the
state stepped in. So I would agree to follow Katati's recommendation, or
a recommendation where we just do not participate in this vote. It's too
broad.
648
01:44:55.760 --> 01:44:57.760
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Oh, Councilmember McCargo?
649
01:44:58.440 --> 01:44:59.540
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So…
650
01:44:59.750 --> 01:45:15.879
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: both things are an issue. Housing
is an issue, and state overbearing on a city is also an issue, and my
preference would be to participate in the process, and I don't know that
a constitutional amendment is the right way to address it.
651
01:45:15.880 --> 01:45:24.729
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But I'm not really sure, so I can't
support that, but I would love to support some kind of remedy, you know,
to protect the city's ability to…
652
01:45:24.910 --> 01:45:35.720

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: do some things in its housing
process. But, you know, the state also, you know, I can see both, so I'd
prefer not to make a strong one-way or another statement.
653
01:45:38.120 --> 01:45:57.210
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, you will be participating, you
will be at the conference, and you will be gathering information while
you're there. Yeah, and how this works, it's on the last day, everyone
gets in this big conference room, and it's a very long process where they
verify every city and its hours.
654
01:45:57.210 --> 01:46:04.780
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: of going through all of that, and
then comment and everything, and I will be gathering more information,
because I've asked
655
01:46:04.780 --> 01:46:19.539
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: so many people. I've spent a great
deal of time trying to suss this out, and you know, because it has been
the majority of Southern California, my knowledge, you know, my ability
to find out, you know, where
656
01:46:19.830 --> 01:46:24.809
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: not the intent, but basically that,
like, you know, it's just been hard to gather information.
657
01:46:25.060 --> 01:46:48.730
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, I'm not a fan of the builder's
remedy. That's where, if you don't, that's a punishment for a city. So,
we could end up with a 7-story apartment building if we didn't meet our
arena numbers, right in the middle, or wherever anybody wanted to put it,
and that's called the Builder's remedy, and we voted as a goal to avoid
that last year. We voted to avoid the builder's remedy, so…
658
01:46:49.840 --> 01:47:00.780
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I… I think I would put my faith in
you, knowing you also want to avoid the builder's remedy, and would
support local control.
659
01:47:00.980 --> 01:47:07.909
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That… and you're there gathering
the information to just have you make that decision while you're there.
660
01:47:08.110 --> 01:47:11.020
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Got it. That would be my
preference.

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661
01:47:11.420 --> 01:47:33.640
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And that's just… that's my
preference, just because I have spent so much time on this and trying to
find out. I mean, I spend… you know, I serve on… for those who don't
know, I serve on committees, with Cal Cities in a variety of ways, trying
to understand our legislation. Just two weeks ago, I was in Sacramento,
working with our senators and assembly members to understand some things,
but I haven't been able to obtain, you know.
662
01:47:33.640 --> 01:47:41.279
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the information I want, so I'm
hoping I can there. So that's where I'm at as well. I mean… Is it
possible that they may even amend it while you're there?
663
01:47:41.960 --> 01:47:53.249
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I believe… Alex, am I wrong? I
thought that it could be amended, but I may be wrong. I don't know.
Whatever Cal City's bylaws, I don't know if that's allowed or not.
664
01:47:53.740 --> 01:47:58.070
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yeah, so, I mean, I could… I could
find that out later, but not right now.
665
01:48:03.370 --> 01:48:15.440
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, so I'd like to… I apologize. So
I'd like to support you going and finding out, but I'm not sure that I
support a citywide, statement one way or the other. I think it's early.
666
01:48:17.730 --> 01:48:19.610
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Oh, I'm sorry, Councilmember
Hinton.
667
01:48:20.850 --> 01:48:39.170
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Since I'm uncomfortable leaving it
open, I'm going to go ahead and move the motion that we give direction to
our mayor, who would be our voting delegate, to oppose the proposed
resolution, unless amended, to ensure that the state does retain power to
penalize cities who try to circumvent their state housing goals. I'll
second that.
668
01:48:44.380 --> 01:49:00.569
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So moved by Councilmember Hinton
and seconded by Councilmember Zolman to provide the voting direct
delegate to oppose the proposed resolution unless amended to ensure that

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the state retains power to penalize cities who circumvent state housing
regulations. Councilmember Carter?
669
01:49:01.060 --> 01:49:07.280
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yes. Councilmember Hinton? Aye.
Councilmember Zolman? Yes. Vice Mayor Maurer? No. Mayor McLewis?
670
01:49:07.990 --> 01:49:08.880
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: No.
671
01:49:09.030 --> 01:49:19.630
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The motion passes 3-2, with Council
Members Carter, Hinton, and Zolman in support, and Vice Mayor Mary and
Mayor McLewis in opposition. Okay.
672
01:49:19.840 --> 01:49:38.469
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right, thank you very much. So
we're gonna… the next item we're gonna do is the, Sebastopol Commons, but
before we do that, we're gonna take a quick break, just because I know
it's gonna be a long, item, and I don't want to break in the middle of
it. So, let's see, if we could be back at 8.10, it's 8.02, so that gives
us…
673
01:49:38.650 --> 01:49:39.810
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: A few minutes.
674
01:49:44.370 --> 01:49:49.509
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, everyone, we're gonna go
ahead and get started here. If you could take your seats.
675
01:50:01.630 --> 01:50:08.190
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, we're gonna go ahead and get
started here, if we could… Bye.
676
01:50:18.890 --> 01:50:28.110
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right, thank… thank you all.
Mary, are you… are you okay with starting, or do you need any more time,
or we're good? Okay.
677
01:50:28.420 --> 01:50:33.160
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right, everyone, we're back
here at the dais, just asking everyone if you could,
678
01:50:33.740 --> 01:50:37.379

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Quiet down for us so that everyone
can hear.
679
01:50:40.830 --> 01:50:55.000
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All right, we are at the next item,
which is the Sebastopol Commons, Building the Commons Final Report Out
and Recommendations, and our Public Works Director, Oriana.
680
01:50:55.160 --> 01:51:05.570
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Are you kicking this off? Yes, I am
just starting us off, and then I will pass it to members of the
committee. So this is… tonight is the final report of the Building and
the Commons Committee.
681
01:51:05.570 --> 01:51:15.400
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That was tasked with, looking at,
you know, the long-term civic facility needs of the city and potential
options for a future commons concept.
682
01:51:15.540 --> 01:51:32.630
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I'm going to pass it to RN, and
Dr. Before we do that, I just want to make a… just for a point of
procedure, typically these… it looks like we have a lot of people there,
and I know typically our presentations, we limit them to 10 minutes, and
I'm recognizing that
683
01:51:32.680 --> 01:51:38.459
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It's gonna be challenging with this
many people, but I think we need to try to keep… keep to…
684
01:51:38.600 --> 01:51:45.480
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to that, so I just wanted to
mention that so I don't have to interrupt anyone, but that's generally
our expectation, but, you know.
685
01:51:45.990 --> 01:51:49.240
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Let's see where we go with that.
So, take it away.
686
01:51:51.130 --> 01:51:59.279
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you so much. It will be easy
for us, I will be the only person speaking, so hopefully we can move
through this. We will move through this on time.
687
01:52:00.050 --> 01:52:06.519

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: As Director Hart pointed out, we
were charged with coming up with a long-term solution that would
688
01:52:06.710 --> 01:52:20.900
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: give us an opportunity to find a
viable solution for several different problems that we're facing in our
city. While this grew out of a library commission, it quickly turned to
looking at a commons solution.
689
01:52:21.520 --> 01:52:36.970
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And the reason that the common
solution became immediately interesting is it offers us an opportunity to
diversify the funding sources so that there is no continued negative
impact or adverse impact to the, to the general fund, but also it means
that it opens it up for possible partnerships outside of the city
690
01:52:36.970 --> 01:52:44.930
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to grow and actually somehow make
it more affordable. So that's what we started looking through. That was
the starting point for our process.
691
01:52:45.250 --> 01:52:56.200
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: we have done a preliminary
examination of this, and so to be really clear, the decision that we're
making today as a committee is a recommendation to the Council
692
01:52:56.300 --> 01:52:57.990
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to investigate further.
693
01:52:58.450 --> 01:53:08.839
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It is not a decision to buy, it is
not a decision to act immediately, it is not a decision with any haste,
it is a decision, rather, to conduct a due diligence examination
694
01:53:10.920 --> 01:53:14.860
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We've spent one year working on
this.
695
01:53:15.000 --> 01:53:28.219
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: As a committee. As a committee of
volunteers, we represent the nonprofit sectors, we represent the business
district, the library, senior center, and various parts of our community,
and so our charge was taken very seriously.
696
01:53:29.070 --> 01:53:35.360

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The situation that we're facing,
It's looking at… the library.
697
01:53:35.910 --> 01:53:40.909
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Looking at the Senior Center, City
staff for City Hall.
698
01:53:41.310 --> 01:53:42.780
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And the Culture Center.
699
01:53:43.650 --> 01:53:46.049
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: As we start looking at just the
library alone.
700
01:53:46.170 --> 01:53:53.010
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We're looking at a rough rebuild,
or a rough build, if it's 10,000 square feet that's being added to the
library.
701
01:53:54.110 --> 01:54:00.900
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The library was built in 1976, and
according to the 1970 census, the city of Sebastopol had 3,700
702
01:54:00.900 --> 01:54:14.709
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: ish citizens at the time. So we
know that the library was a central part to Sebastopol all the way back
to the 70s, and it just doesn't fit for what its needs are now, based on
the heat map. We know how many people come to visit. We know that
building it just by itself
703
01:54:15.090 --> 01:54:18.080
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It's going to cost a substantial
amount of money.
704
01:54:18.440 --> 01:54:28.619
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Getting back to my earlier point,
diversifying who we're bringing into a potential commons means we can
diversify the way we fund doing so, and we can get more for the same
amount of money, or even potentially less.
705
01:54:32.190 --> 01:54:35.530
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, starting in 2016 with the
Lantern Research Project.
706

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01:54:35.740 --> 01:54:37.700
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That's really where this grew from.
707
01:54:39.000 --> 01:54:52.760
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: If we look at the 2019 solution in
Alameda, 2019, to build a 21,000 square foot library would cost $25
million in 2019, so adjusted for inflation, it's about $36 million today.
708
01:54:52.970 --> 01:55:05.269
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And that project will take between
6 and 10 years, so when that's being paid for at the end of this, we're
looking at a construction cost probably closer to $41 million for just
21,000 square feet.
709
01:55:12.000 --> 01:55:15.860
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The County Facilities Master Plan
recommends 20,000 square feet for the library.
710
01:55:16.220 --> 01:55:20.890
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So if we're taking this into
account, we know a rough ballpark figure of what that could potentially
cost.
711
01:55:23.550 --> 01:55:26.900
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Throughout 2026, we've evaluated
several sites.
712
01:55:27.220 --> 01:55:31.800
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: For all… for a solution that would
solve all of the needs from the previous slide.
713
01:55:33.150 --> 01:55:39.020
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And our committee came to the
unanimous decision that the ones that we're presenting today are the ones
that we can stand behind.
714
01:55:47.210 --> 01:55:50.370
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Two independent data sets in the
same picture here.
715
01:55:50.530 --> 01:55:57.550
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Represent a reference to how many
people drive to to these locations.
716

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01:55:58.990 --> 01:56:00.440
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: As you can see here.
717
01:56:01.220 --> 01:56:10.930
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I know that there's a concern about
walkability, and we know from this map that the majority of people
actually do drive to the library and to the senior center.
718
01:56:16.440 --> 01:56:22.399
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: In trying to find an opportunity,
in trying to find a location where we could house these various
719
01:56:22.680 --> 01:56:24.470
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Entities in the same place.
720
01:56:26.200 --> 01:56:34.010
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We looked at these buildings, among
others. We ruled in, through our analysis, and ruled out what might work
721
01:56:34.140 --> 01:56:39.069
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: For our needs. The Rite Aid
building has come up many times, but it's simply not available to us.
722
01:56:40.190 --> 01:56:42.230
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The Calder Creek Civic Commons has
come up.
723
01:56:46.590 --> 01:56:48.020
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The problem with that?
724
01:56:49.410 --> 01:56:52.609
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Sorry about that. My vision is
getting worse through the night.
725
01:56:54.010 --> 01:56:57.940
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The problem with that is we're
looking at a roughly $60 million build to make that viable.
726
01:56:58.820 --> 01:57:02.129
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The railroad forest. We're looking
at $25 million.
727
01:57:02.560 --> 01:57:07.280

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And that's not even certain if
we're going to be able to handle the flooding concerns.
728
01:57:08.240 --> 01:57:11.879
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So we looked at the tow site. It's
only 3,700 square feet.
729
01:57:13.950 --> 01:57:17.120
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We looked at expanding the site of
the current library.
730
01:57:19.120 --> 01:57:22.680
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Now, there's a structural cost to
that. There's a very, very significant
731
01:57:23.550 --> 01:57:33.969
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: a building cost of that. And as
we've talked about before, referencing from the Lantern Project, building
right now is roughly costing, for commercial building, about $1,700 a
square foot.
732
01:57:34.770 --> 01:57:36.040
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, if we're adding
733
01:57:36.610 --> 01:57:46.039
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: 10,000 square feet just to the
library, you can extrapolate how much that could cost, and again, if that
takes years to do, that cost only goes up through the cost… through the
course of the project.
734
01:57:48.100 --> 01:57:50.649
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Looking at the youth annex. Of
course, it's city-owned.
735
01:57:53.870 --> 01:57:56.210
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But it wouldn't also solve that
problem.
736
01:57:57.950 --> 01:58:03.100
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So the downtown rebuild, building
21,600 square feet on a two-story library.
737
01:58:03.460 --> 01:58:20.249

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Again, in 2019, that would have
cost about $25 million, so today we're looking at $36 million to do that,
and it doesn't actually solve the problem. It gives us a library, it
doesn't fix the parking, it doesn't fix the traffic, it doesn't address
the needs for the senior center, it doesn't address the needs for a
commons where we can actually
738
01:58:20.680 --> 01:58:25.110
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Reduce the cost of operations for
several of these entities, which we're trying to accomplish.
739
01:58:27.990 --> 01:58:32.649
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So over the course of the year, we
ruled it… we narrowed things down to 3 options that we can stand behind.
740
01:58:33.210 --> 01:58:42.579
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And this is what you're… this is
what we're asking you to examine. What we're asking you today is to make
a decision about doing a due diligence to examine these options. The
first of which…
741
01:58:42.990 --> 01:58:46.189
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Is that if we did nothing, and we
left the status quo.
742
01:58:46.340 --> 01:58:57.030
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: In the next 6 to 10 years, we're
looking at spending $3.6 million to maintain what we have, with no
increased value, no increased, availability for the needs as we see.
743
01:58:57.290 --> 01:59:01.119
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And no real improvement on the
offerings that the city can provide.
744
01:59:03.290 --> 01:59:06.960
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It is possible that we could look
into doing a downtown complete rebuild.
745
01:59:07.180 --> 01:59:12.479
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Again, if we did that right now,
we're looking at about $36 million in today's revenue to do that.
746
01:59:13.510 --> 01:59:14.859
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Which brings us to…

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747
01:59:15.100 --> 01:59:21.540
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the recommendation that we believe
in the most, that you should be examining, which is purchasing the
O'Reilly campus.
748
01:59:21.960 --> 01:59:24.050
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: For roughly $18 million.
749
01:59:25.590 --> 01:59:33.049
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The reason that we say purchasing
the O'Reilly building for $18 million is somehow less expensive than
maintaining the status quo.
750
01:59:33.050 --> 01:59:55.590
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: is because you're able to diversify
the funding sources to do so, using EIFD funds, using partnerships with
deep pocket donors in West County that want to contribute to this. You
can share the costs through all of these various entities, and the way we
can contribute and come together and collaborate to make it work a lot
easier than you can fund a single library, or a single senior center, or
a single city hall building.
751
01:59:55.860 --> 01:59:58.699
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So putting them in the same place
reduces overall costs.
752
02:00:00.560 --> 02:00:02.770
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I want to be clear, it is a
very good library.
753
02:00:03.090 --> 02:00:22.650
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We saw the heat map. We know that
it is a very good library. It has done its job, and it is a tremendous
asset to our community. It cannot continue to do so based on 1970 census
of 3,700 people visiting it, and we now have almost, you know, 7,500
people living in Sebastopol, and we know that, based on the heat map,
it's serving all of West County.
754
02:00:25.000 --> 02:00:26.180
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Am I down to one minute?
755
02:00:27.470 --> 02:00:29.949
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I am down to 1 minute, I'm gonna
bring it home.

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756
02:00:32.610 --> 02:00:43.439
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The thing you might find hard to
believe is that the Walnut Park, the Walnut Park Library in Davis is
going to open in 6 weeks, and it is 12,000 square feet, and it came in at
a cost of $21 million.
757
02:00:45.560 --> 02:01:04.569
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The way that the O'Reilly Building
would solve all of our options is it provides for a library, a senior
center, a city hall, a community cultural center, and a capital cost of
about $18 million, which can be funded through long-term investments
through EIFD funds, through partnerships, through solicitation of donors
for all of… throughout West County.
758
02:01:06.420 --> 02:01:10.799
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And so, therefore, it is our
unanimous agreement As this committee.
759
02:01:11.820 --> 02:01:17.980
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: that the City Council perform a due
diligence examination. And what we're asking for you to look at
760
02:01:18.100 --> 02:01:19.570
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Are the legal?
761
02:01:20.470 --> 02:01:21.620
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Financial.
762
02:01:22.880 --> 02:01:25.089
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm gonna look at my next page,
sorry.
763
02:01:25.880 --> 02:01:26.950
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The legal?
764
02:01:28.620 --> 02:01:33.699
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The financial, the building, and
the community and library partner options that can come with doing this.
765
02:01:35.830 --> 02:01:39.340
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So those 6 questions, we believe,
can be answered by doing the following.
766

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02:01:40.190 --> 02:01:43.349
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Authorized staff to conduct the due
diligence on the O'Reilly site.
767
02:01:43.850 --> 02:01:47.330
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Appropriate funds from the Budget
Committee with Budget Committee review.
768
02:01:47.470 --> 02:01:55.850
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: for legal review, bond counsel,
financial analysis, and public outreach, direct staff to send a formal
outreach letter to the Sonoma County Library Director.
769
02:01:55.970 --> 02:02:02.040
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: and returned to Council in November
with their due diligence result and recommendation on the library
relocation.
770
02:02:04.520 --> 02:02:05.939
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The choice is right here.
771
02:02:06.540 --> 02:02:13.550
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We can… we can do nothing and spend
$3.6 million. We can investigate the potential to build something that's
really great for the city.
772
02:02:15.040 --> 02:02:18.569
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We can keep waiting, and hoping
that prices are gonna go down.
773
02:02:18.760 --> 02:02:21.299
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Based on historical trends, we just
know that they're not.
774
02:02:22.330 --> 02:02:24.220
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm here to take questions if you
have any.
775
02:02:25.360 --> 02:02:28.440
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Alright, we're back here at the
dais,
776
02:02:28.730 --> 02:02:36.490

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Questions? Go ahead, Vice Mayor.
Yes, could you, help me understand… Okay, hold on one second, I'm sorry,
he's not able to…
777
02:02:36.610 --> 02:02:40.870
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: He needs to have his interpreter.
778
02:02:41.260 --> 02:02:43.060
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: You ready? Okay.
779
02:02:43.530 --> 02:03:00.139
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, can you help me understand if
we do nothing, it costs $3.6 million? Can you break that down for me, so
I understand, you're talking about 10… in 10 years? Because we don't
spend $3.6 million every year, so…
780
02:03:00.470 --> 02:03:06.249
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Help me to understand what that
means. Absolutely, absolutely. So, based on…
781
02:03:07.190 --> 02:03:11.899
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: 10 minutes goes a lot quicker than
you think it does. I know it does. You were right, I am sorry.
782
02:03:12.280 --> 02:03:13.469
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It's okay.
783
02:03:17.970 --> 02:03:22.280
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, the maintenance is going to
continue to come up, and I can defer to…
784
02:03:22.450 --> 02:03:30.330
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Director Hart for some of the
specifics. But the maintenance over the next 6 to 10 years, just for
maintaining the building.
785
02:03:30.650 --> 02:03:38.420
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: is roughly $3.6 million based on
projections that we've received from staff. So if I could turn that
question over to Director Hart, I believe that that can be answered.
786
02:03:40.950 --> 02:04:00.399
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yes, I believe the number that they
pulled together there is looking at what we have approved in our current

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operational budgets for the senior center, the community center, and the
library, and then some of the capital improvement projects that we have
for those spaces as well, like the flood mitigation at the community
center, and then for the operational budgets.
787
02:04:00.400 --> 02:04:03.069
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Assuming that for 10 years was some
escalation?
788
02:04:03.250 --> 02:04:05.099
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And that's how they got to the
number.
789
02:04:05.360 --> 02:04:06.970
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay,
790
02:04:09.040 --> 02:04:28.259
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, we did do about $500,000 on the
community center building, I think, but that was really just a one-time
project. We haven't spent that money yet. There's an approved CIP for it,
but it's planned, but that's part of the financial guess about doing
nothing, what it would cost.
791
02:04:28.500 --> 02:04:31.309
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, my second question is then.
792
02:04:31.700 --> 02:04:36.689
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: What does it cost to bring the
O'Reilly building
793
02:04:36.860 --> 02:04:42.880
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: into a move-in condition, because
I've heard it needs a new roof.
794
02:04:43.010 --> 02:04:54.880
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I was there, I walked around, it
definitely needs new carpet, it needs new paint, it probably needs new
electrical work. I mean, there were some kind of funky electrical stuff
going on while we were there.
795
02:04:54.940 --> 02:05:14.629
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, I mean, I can't assume that
even though it's a beautiful building with lovely parking, I can't assume
that it has no needs for when you need to move in there. There's going to

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be a cost that's going to be over the 18, so have… has your group done an
analysis of how much these things will cost?
796
02:05:16.840 --> 02:05:36.170
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you. Yes, I think that's
actually part of what we're asking of the Council, is to do that due
diligence, to examine those things. I'm not aware that the roof needs
replacing, so that would be something we would want you to examine. Those
would be all… those would be parts of the ask, is to… is to explore that
more deeply before making a decision. We can say that we're looking at
roughly about
797
02:05:36.780 --> 02:05:42.660
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I think… I think we talked about
roughly $2 million on average for an additional build-out, which is part
of the cost.
798
02:05:42.770 --> 02:05:44.160
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: As we projected it.
799
02:05:45.240 --> 02:05:47.989
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Can I ask a question regarding
that? But I can also… I'm sorry.
800
02:05:49.240 --> 02:05:54.849
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: To our Director of Public Works,
you do this all the time. Does that roof need replaced?
801
02:05:56.630 --> 02:06:16.420
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I can't say that I've looked at the
roof. I'm sorry? I can't say that I've looked at the roof, so I don't
have an opinion. I've just had a lot of people ask me about that, so I
just assumed, since you all have been there a lot, so… I asked that
because I heard Councilmember Carter say it. I watched your July 14th
meeting, and he said that maybe the roof needed a new roof, so…
802
02:06:16.740 --> 02:06:23.000
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That's a pretty giant building for
the cost of a new roof. Could be quite a lot, so…
803
02:06:24.040 --> 02:06:35.719
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Other questions for anyone? I do…
oh, sorry, I do appreciate the concern, and that's something that I think
the due diligence process would be able to examine more fully, as we've
804

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02:06:35.720 --> 02:06:45.650
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: as we've sort of done the
preliminary work of ruling this in based on all the parameters that we
found, there are going to be certain factors that the expertise of city
staff and, you know, outside
805
02:06:45.650 --> 02:06:58.050
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: partners are going to be able to
identify for you before you make a final decision in the long term. I
will also say some of the features of the building that might offset some
of those costs are the fact that it's out of the floodplain, and that it
is,
806
02:06:58.050 --> 02:07:14.130
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It is, the entire building has a
high-speed fiber wire internet throughout it, which makes it a really
great communication spot for his needs, and those are things that are
very, very expensive to add to a building after the fact, because we're
talking about tearing out walls and having experts come in to add things,
or, you know.
807
02:07:14.240 --> 02:07:15.970
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Adding things that…
808
02:07:16.200 --> 02:07:22.619
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: that are currently already there.
So some of those offsetting costs, I think, would be there, and that's
part of the due diligence I think you'll find.
809
02:07:22.650 --> 02:07:40.189
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And are you considering the due
diligence under due diligence, like, even the cost for remodeling in
there? Because, I mean, it's just a bunch of offices, so, you know, when
I hear her talking about library and all of that, I mean, everything is
so siloed. Was… has any of that cost been discussed?
810
02:07:41.500 --> 02:07:44.720
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, I'm not sure I understand.
They are? Absolutely.
811
02:07:44.720 --> 02:07:49.039
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Can you repeat the question? I'm
not sure I answered it. Oh, I'm sorry, I just wondered if…
812
02:07:49.040 --> 02:08:08.750

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: if any of the… if there's been any
discussion about the cost to… if you, you know, remodeling in there,
because I, too, walked around, and there's a lot of offices, there's talk
about using it for a library and various things, and, you know, so a lot
of areas are very siloed. Obviously, construction would need to be done.
I'm just wondering, were any of those costs factored into
813
02:08:08.850 --> 02:08:22.550
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: these numbers that you're talking
about? There are absolutely remodel costs involved. Well, I know, that's
why I'm asking if you guys have talked about what those actually cost.
What I wanted to bring up was we need to discuss magnitude.
814
02:08:22.550 --> 02:08:34.460
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, it is a large project. Building
may be around $18 million, we haven't… we don't have a firm… I understand
that. I just wanted to answer that question, I mean. So, I mean, compare…
I,
815
02:08:38.110 --> 02:08:46.400
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I get that. We've budgeted probably
20% or 10%, 10% to 20% for remodel costs for the existing structure.
816
02:08:46.700 --> 02:08:50.419
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Which brings it somewhere between
18 and 20 million total cost.
817
02:08:50.600 --> 02:09:02.150
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Versus 36 for an extra 10,000
square feet at the current site, versus probably somewhere in the
neighborhood of 60 to 100 million to build a whole new structure in some
downtown site.
818
02:09:02.430 --> 02:09:21.940
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So each of those have unknown
costs. Absolutely have unknown costs. Okay, thank you. So part of what
we're asking for here is, we don't have the authority… No, I understand.
We're just kind of in the questions, so we don't need… I don't want
another presentation. I just… I have a council member that wants to ask
some questions, so if you want to go ahead.
819
02:09:23.070 --> 02:09:29.460
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I mean, I don't want to cut anybody
off, but one question I wanted to ask the group
820
02:09:29.560 --> 02:09:40.900

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: is, we asked some attorney
questions, and I think the response to that was that if the city paid
cash
821
02:09:41.160 --> 02:09:45.619
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: For the building, we could rent it
at market rate.
822
02:09:45.740 --> 02:10:04.659
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But if we got financing, we could
not rent it as a city entity at market rate, and maybe our council can
address that. But this was reported to us as we've gone through our due
diligence of question answering, and I'm not sure your group has heard
that.
823
02:10:04.660 --> 02:10:16.370
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So I bring it up right here so that
it could be addressed. Alex, could you answer that question? Yes, so the
issue is not the renting at a market rate. If we obtain tax-exempt
financing.
824
02:10:16.620 --> 02:10:22.220
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Which many types of financing we
might… obtain are…
825
02:10:22.760 --> 02:10:34.850
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: you know, like the iBank, for
example. Not to say that that's what the proposal is, but that sort of
stuff is tax-exempt financing. The IRS has rules about that, about how
much private activity can be involved.
826
02:10:35.320 --> 02:10:41.310
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And so there are caps on that. It
doesn't mean there can't be any, but there are low caps of, you know.
827
02:10:41.600 --> 02:10:45.770
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Depending on what… how it gets
classified, maybe 5 or 10%.
828
02:10:46.350 --> 02:10:47.420
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So…
829
02:10:47.590 --> 02:10:54.150
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Generally, you would think maybe 510% of the square footage overall. So you could have some private…

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830
02:10:54.460 --> 02:11:03.239
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: parties being leased to, and still
comply with that, but there are limits. And individual programs may have
stricter requirements as well.
831
02:11:04.990 --> 02:11:16.480
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Can I ask what that means in
individual… or other… what did you say, other programs? So, those are the
IRS regulations. Individual funding that we might get might have separate
832
02:11:16.950 --> 02:11:20.509
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, alright, go ahead, Councilor
McCarter.
833
02:11:20.810 --> 02:11:34.030
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So I just want to add that if we
wanted to get, like, a conventional loan from a commercial bank, which is
totally available, we would just have to go out to a vote to get it, but
we would be able to rent the other space out, because it's not,
834
02:11:34.130 --> 02:11:37.789
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That's tax-free loan. So, so, the…
835
02:11:38.390 --> 02:11:49.750
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yes, the city can't, to answer sort
of the first half, the city can't take out any debt that is secured by
the general fund without a vote.
836
02:11:49.980 --> 02:11:50.750
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: of…
837
02:11:51.050 --> 02:12:03.780
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: approval of the voters. So, if we
aren't getting tax-exempt financing, we're getting it from our general
fund, from, you know, our reserve, from whatever, those restrictions
don't apply.
838
02:12:06.660 --> 02:12:07.380
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Oh.
839
02:12:08.690 --> 02:12:16.499

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: questions over here? I'm just
trying to go back and forth. Go ahead. I got another question, to the
city staff.
840
02:12:16.620 --> 02:12:22.450
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, Councilmember, I know, I think
the response was sent to all of us, asked.
841
02:12:22.720 --> 02:12:31.950
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to date, how many hours has the
subcommittee spent of staff time on this? And there was both an hour
amount.
842
02:12:32.230 --> 02:12:49.169
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: of 148 hours, and then an estimated
staff hour value. When I divide those two numbers, it comes to a staff
rate per hour of $75, and staff rates came up in a previous agenda item
on a previous date.
843
02:12:49.170 --> 02:12:57.300
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And it was nowhere near $75,
typically, for staff rate. That was the lowest range for, like, an admin
assistant, but…
844
02:12:57.470 --> 02:13:10.819
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: somebody higher, like our head of
public works, would cost a lot more. So, I'm not sure how that amount was
calculated against the hours, and I had a question to who gave that
amount, and if that's accurate.
845
02:13:13.700 --> 02:13:25.340
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We just did a quick hourly. It was
a last-minute question. We didn't go in and do… build in all the… the
overhead yet. So… so those are just the strict hourly rates, but there is
different… we didn't have time to…
846
02:13:25.340 --> 02:13:36.859
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to add, like, the incentives and
the overhead costs and things like that, so that is just an hourly rate
right now, an average. Right, so we'd add another approximate $30 to the
rate of pay?
847
02:13:37.510 --> 02:13:40.970
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, thank you. May I ask, are you
referring to the…

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848
02:13:41.100 --> 02:14:00.609
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to the information we received
around 5 o'clock, is that what you're referring to? Yeah, yeah, it has to
do with the answer to two questions that were asked about staff time.
Okay, I just want to make sure I was following through the same thing
that you were asking. Exactly, that's what I'm talking about. Okay, go
ahead, Vice Mayor.
849
02:14:02.130 --> 02:14:05.800
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Kind of want to look at… look at
you all here this way.
850
02:14:06.320 --> 02:14:21.209
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, in 2031, the cell tower lease
is up, and that frees up all the space right next to the library, as it
is. And that's probably about 4,000 square feet, roughly? Not sure.
851
02:14:21.860 --> 02:14:28.809
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I know what you looked at. I
got some of the paperwork, I watched your July 14th Commons Committee
meeting.
852
02:14:28.850 --> 02:14:42.839
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And it seems like you never
investigated doing an addition. Instead, you looked at doing a second
story on top of the existing building, and so if… if there could be
853
02:14:43.370 --> 02:14:52.629
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So what I want to know is, did you
look at the idea of a second… of an edition, not a second-story edition,
but one adjacent?
854
02:14:55.410 --> 02:15:11.179
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I think the way we addressed it was
calculating the cost per square foot, so whether it was addition on top
or with addition on the side, I think that the only complication for that
would be that we're adding time, and time costs more. So, like I said, we
were looking at about $1,000 a square foot in 2020,
855
02:15:11.340 --> 02:15:28.079
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: in 2016, it's now $1,700 a square
foot on average. So if you can extrapolate from that, in 2031, that same
addition might… might cost even more. And I don't… I don't know that
there's an issue about whether it's up or… or out. That wasn't… I…
clearly, there's going to be a difference in cost

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856
02:15:28.280 --> 02:15:40.099
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But roughly, we're looking at cost
per square foot of adding that, and so if we're talking 4,000 square feet
versus the 20,000 square feet that the, that the expansion needs for the
library, it still wouldn't actually solve the concerns for the senior
center
857
02:15:40.960 --> 02:15:42.840
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Or the other entities that we're
addressing.
858
02:15:43.110 --> 02:15:57.770
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, but if you did a couple
stories, then… then you could get that, space that you need. And, I'm not
going to go too far into that. It's not… not what we're here to talk
about. I just had wanted to know if you had thought about that.
859
02:15:57.950 --> 02:16:09.619
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Because I do believe it's less
expensive to build an edition rather than a second-story edition, meaning
building an edition on top of the existing library.
860
02:16:10.320 --> 02:16:12.109
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yeah, so…
861
02:16:12.190 --> 02:16:24.000
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I have a question, too. Go ahead,
and then I… I can respond, considering I sat on the lantern Board, and
the Alameda study is what RM referenced, and
862
02:16:24.050 --> 02:16:39.019
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: my recollection of that is the fact
that, structurally, there was no way to build a second floor on the top
of the library. Like, architecturally, it was not… it would not be worth
firming up the base of the existing
863
02:16:39.150 --> 02:16:50.939
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: library in order to build off of
that, and that's my understanding. You guys might have more recently read
the Alameda report, the architectural report, and came up with that, but
that was my understanding.
864
02:16:53.080 --> 02:17:09.140
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, I have a question, can I ask?
So this is a direct response, and… Yes. Well, I mean, if it's… Oh, you're

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gonna respond to the question? I thought you were asking the question.
Oh, okay. So, yeah, I don't have questions, because…
865
02:17:09.230 --> 02:17:22.810
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm kind of the problem. So,
anyway, yeah, we looked at an addition, and I really want everybody to
know that I'm grateful for all the responses and the interactions that
we've had up to this point.
866
02:17:22.850 --> 02:17:40.480
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: In two meetings ago, we might have
had, like, Lisa Pierce, I think, put in a request for looking at an
addition to the library, so I spent some time looking at the cost of just
adding an addition, and it is still very much, as RM said.
867
02:17:40.480 --> 02:17:45.809
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That particular cost, so just
adding an addition in any kind of way would cost about $7 million.
868
02:17:46.490 --> 02:17:48.049
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And…
869
02:17:48.889 --> 02:17:57.130
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It looked like about $7 million for
just… for just a little bit of space. And where did that number come
from, that data?
870
02:17:57.280 --> 02:18:20.179
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the average cost of building in
California. So, I have a question, and this is for Alex, our attorney. I
just want to say, I was a little surprised to hear talk about selling our
buildings, because, like, when we… generally, all of that stuff is
discussed in closed session before we actually come out to the public and
say that. That's how… kind of how we handled fire department, but I
heard…
871
02:18:20.180 --> 02:18:22.729
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And correct me if I'm wrong, that
there are, like.
872
02:18:22.730 --> 02:18:32.720
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: there's a lot of stipulations about
when you're selling city… or city properties, that there are a lot of
hoops to jump through and processes. Can you help us to better
understand? Yeah, so the… the…

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873
02:18:33.059 --> 02:18:40.239
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Surplus Land Act, Has requirements
for city disposition of property.
874
02:18:40.490 --> 02:18:47.970
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: There are exemptions, don't think
none appear like they would apply, here necessarily, but…
875
02:18:48.129 --> 02:19:03.410
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: what… that law… excuse me, I'm
jumbling my words. That law imposes mostly procedural requirements. So
the… the requirement is that, the city first make the property available
to housing developers.
876
02:19:03.940 --> 02:19:08.029
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: As well as certain other, eligible
entities.
877
02:19:08.209 --> 02:19:14.889
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That's a notice that goes out. It
also gets sent to HCD. There's a 60-day period to respond.
878
02:19:15.070 --> 02:19:23.469
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The city then, if there are
interested parties, the city then has to negotiate in good faith with
those parties for a minimum of 90 days.
879
02:19:25.139 --> 02:19:29.829
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And then there are priorities for,
you know, who gets selected.
880
02:19:30.010 --> 02:19:34.960
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It doesn't require that the city
rezone property in any way, or…
881
02:19:36.850 --> 02:19:46.319
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: You know, sell a property for less
than fair market value, but it does require it to go through this, you
know, procedural step, and, you know, to the extent there's a…
882
02:19:46.530 --> 02:19:53.149
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: housing provider who is offering
fair market value, the city might be obligated to sell it there.

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883
02:19:53.250 --> 02:19:56.430
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: When a city sells property.
884
02:19:57.200 --> 02:20:01.459
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: If it's selling it to someone who
has responded through this process.
885
02:20:01.860 --> 02:20:18.429
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: There's a requirement, housing is
not required to be built on the site, but there is a requirement that if
any housing is built, 25% of it has to be affordable. And then, for any
property that the city sells, 15% would have to be, affordable.
886
02:20:19.890 --> 02:20:26.390
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: under this… act if it's subject to
the Act, and, you know, that could impact
887
02:20:26.590 --> 02:20:34.119
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the appraised value of it, you
know. I don't know what it is, I don't know if housing is the highest and
best use of that site.
888
02:20:34.360 --> 02:20:38.370
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: There are appraisals for small
properties.
889
02:20:38.940 --> 02:20:50.750
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: that are less than a half acre in
size. I don't believe that that, you know, unless you divided those sites
up, that it would be less than a half acre.
890
02:20:51.960 --> 02:20:53.399
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, thank you.
891
02:20:54.430 --> 02:20:56.589
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Other questions?
892
02:20:57.720 --> 02:21:01.480
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Let's… let's see… Oh, go ahead.
893
02:21:03.320 --> 02:21:10.890

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Madam Mayor, may I speak as a
committee member, please? Well, she… our council member has a question
first, so go ahead.
894
02:21:11.970 --> 02:21:22.880
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: was, did city staff within the last
4 years investigate any other properties
895
02:21:24.220 --> 02:21:28.589
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: For possible purchase to… for
relocating either,
896
02:21:28.720 --> 02:21:31.210
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Some of our city entities, or City
Hall.
897
02:21:33.000 --> 02:21:34.480
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, thank you.
898
02:21:36.230 --> 02:21:41.860
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So… Another ques… okay, thought
there was more.
899
02:21:42.200 --> 02:21:58.470
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Go ahead. I have two questions.
Sure. Okay. Okay, so my first question is, have you all, read the
comments that the City has received in response to your recommendation to
have a commons at the O'Reilly Building?
900
02:21:58.530 --> 02:22:04.799
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: there's a lot of comments that
we've received, so I just want to make sure that you're getting the
feedback from the public.
901
02:22:05.070 --> 02:22:10.070
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And, so… Sonoma County Library has
902
02:22:10.660 --> 02:22:16.249
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: paid money towards improving,
modernizing other libraries, so…
903
02:22:17.020 --> 02:22:28.110

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It's at least $10 million or more.
They just bought… I think they just bought a $12 million building in
Petaluma for their offices. They just gave Occidental a million dollars.
904
02:22:28.580 --> 02:22:32.909
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to move… their library in
Occidental, so…
905
02:22:33.050 --> 02:22:49.489
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Why do you think it is that the
Sonoma County Library, who has stated you need at least 5,000 to 10,000
more space, why haven't… and you've been at this for years, why haven't
they helped Sebastopol?
906
02:22:49.650 --> 02:22:52.990
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: This was a question that was asked
me, so I'm asking you.
907
02:22:56.780 --> 02:23:05.739
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I have a direct answer for that
from my experience, with the Executive Director over the years from
Lantern forward to today.
908
02:23:06.920 --> 02:23:16.219
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The library system is waiting for
the City Council to commit to wanting a bigger, new library. They're not
going to move before you move.
909
02:23:16.860 --> 02:23:20.249
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It's really that simple. You have
to mean that you want one.
910
02:23:20.850 --> 02:23:23.299
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: They're your tenant, then you
negotiate with them.
911
02:23:24.790 --> 02:23:28.759
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: They have money. That's why I'm on
the committee, because I know they have money.
912
02:23:28.900 --> 02:23:38.780
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And the office building is an
example of that. That's a very recent expense. Their dedication of money
to Occidental is a recent expense. So if you want them.

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913
02:23:39.580 --> 02:23:45.460
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: To put money in our library,
because you want our community to have a newer, grander library.
914
02:23:46.020 --> 02:23:53.930
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: a library that could reach its
modern potential, then you have to commit to that and tell the library
commission and the executive director.
915
02:23:57.350 --> 02:24:00.580
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I have a question for, Phil.
916
02:24:01.050 --> 02:24:08.420
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I watched your presentation, your
finance presentation, and I just found myself wondering, where did all
that data come from?
917
02:24:10.120 --> 02:24:10.970
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Ana.
918
02:24:13.730 --> 02:24:33.019
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: No, she supplied some of the city
information, but the owner of O'Reilly gave me how much they spend in
CAM, so I used that. I used averages, you know, like, if there's a
building average or some of this stuff, I used actuals, where they were
available.
919
02:24:33.020 --> 02:24:41.249
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I can… in any… Because it's too
immense to actually explain one, one general answer, it just…
920
02:24:41.250 --> 02:25:02.000
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: let me know, and I'll be glad to
itemize. I was just trying to identify where assumptions were made and
where, like, hard data was, because… Okay, so any assumptions, like,
like, square foot rental, that came from a canvassing of the current
owner of the building, or other building rental owners? So I… that… that
$1.75 figure could be low.
921
02:25:02.020 --> 02:25:11.290
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: because I… I got a spread that was,
you know, about 160 to 210, and then some… some were, you know, like.
922
02:25:12.910 --> 02:25:26.630

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: like, $6 a square foot if they were
small, but if they were big, you know, that seemed to be a very
reasonable answer, you know, common number. So that's how I got that
number, was, like, a lot of professionals gave me that.
923
02:25:27.680 --> 02:25:29.580
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay. Thank you.
924
02:25:30.470 --> 02:25:33.119
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Other questions?
925
02:25:33.600 --> 02:25:37.800
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Looking here to see, going through
mine real quick.
926
02:25:41.260 --> 02:25:57.890
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Sorry, I have them highlighted here
somewhere in my notes, here it is. I do have a question. Oh, okay, go
ahead, because I have… So, if you read all the comments, you'll see that
there is quite a lot of upset that this, recommendation is causing in the
community.
927
02:25:58.250 --> 02:26:02.350
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I'm wondering what your
response is to the
928
02:26:03.120 --> 02:26:07.330
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: To those people who don't want to
move to the O'Reilly building.
929
02:26:15.460 --> 02:26:21.150
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm gonna… I'm gonna let… I'd
prefer not… Who's answering? Who are you asking, Sandy?
930
02:26:22.140 --> 02:26:39.059
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Someone? I'm asking the committee,
because the committee has put forth this recommendation, they put it
forth before it even came to Council for a decision, and they did that
because they wanted to get buy-in from the public to promote this idea.
931
02:26:39.170 --> 02:26:40.810
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And yet, the public
932
02:26:41.090 --> 02:26:47.280

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: is divided. It's actually caused a
lot of division in the community, and people are upset.
933
02:26:47.720 --> 02:26:53.990
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, I'm… I'd like to hear from the
committee, what do you say to about that.
934
02:26:54.940 --> 02:27:10.940
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Well, first, thank you for naming
the elephant in the room. I don't want to speculate as to what may or may
not work politically to encourage people to change their minds. In fact,
our intention for opening up the O'Reilly Building for an open house
wasn't to convince them of our recommendation.
935
02:27:10.940 --> 02:27:26.990
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It was to share them… share with
them our process and why we were working toward that recommendation. It
was also to solicit community engagement, which is, again, if you look at
our recommendation, our recommendation is for you to take on that task
and do more of it in order to find a way
936
02:27:27.050 --> 02:27:36.299
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: for you to bridge the gap between
them. So I… I don't want to speculate as to what could work, but our
recommendation is that we make… we make time
937
02:27:36.390 --> 02:27:45.599
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to do that. We… we don't have that
capacity, as Kent started to say, we don't have the capacity to speak on
behalf of the city or behalf of the Council, so we weren't…
938
02:27:46.640 --> 02:27:51.379
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I don't think we're in the position
to make that type of change and commitment on your behalf.
939
02:27:51.770 --> 02:27:53.210
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It's more of…
940
02:27:53.390 --> 02:28:09.710
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: soliciting where the energy is. So
we had two different subcommittees. We had a finance committee and
analysis… the finance analysis committee, but the other one, it was a
community needs assessment committee. So part of that work was outreach
to figure out what some of the needs are, which brought us to the bigger
picture.

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941
02:28:10.260 --> 02:28:19.939
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: if there is contention to be
solved, if there is work to be done to mend that, I think that that is
actually part of the next stage of what we're recommending.
942
02:28:20.330 --> 02:28:22.049
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Does that answer your question?
943
02:28:23.100 --> 02:28:32.019
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I… oh, everyone's hand's up, but I
have a question, too, so I… Councilmember Hinton had her hand up first,
and then… and then Councilmember Carter.
944
02:28:33.960 --> 02:28:37.909
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, we got some numbers.
945
02:28:38.160 --> 02:28:56.979
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: that show the city buildings, and
our commitment, at least in the current budget, for those city buildings
and organizations, and it included the Senior Center, the museum, the
community center, Sebastopol Little League Bathrooms, Village Park.
946
02:28:57.300 --> 02:29:17.060
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: or, the library, the swimming pool
in the Ives Park shed, to the tune of $561,000 that the city lays out for
those buildings that we currently own. My question is, how much rent are
we getting
947
02:29:17.190 --> 02:29:27.860
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: On the… on the other side, to help
support these outlays that are our current obligations, and they return
each and every year to us.
948
02:29:28.440 --> 02:29:38.170
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: maybe Ana could answer that. I… it
wasn't clear in the report, and I'm curious on the revenue side what kind
of rent we're getting. Part of the plan we've heard
949
02:29:38.170 --> 02:29:48.920
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Is that rent will be coming in to
support the project, but these are current things that we're doing right
now, so are we… are we collecting rent from any of these organizations?
950
02:29:53.230 --> 02:29:59.370

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Well, based on my review of all the
current leases, we are not charging any rent that I'm aware of.
951
02:29:59.610 --> 02:30:00.490
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay.
952
02:30:00.770 --> 02:30:01.770
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you.
953
02:30:02.370 --> 02:30:04.510
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I have a question, too, if you…
954
02:30:04.840 --> 02:30:26.569
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That's regarding… Oh, I just wanted
to make one quick, statement about the process. We were charged to, you
know, come up with some solutions, and this is what our end was saying.
So, like, the community divide, we haven't gotten there yet, and this is
the point where we engage the community to figure out,
955
02:30:26.660 --> 02:30:29.219
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: What the… what the buy-in could be.
956
02:30:30.120 --> 02:30:40.940
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I had a question today, and I think
it, wasn't able to find it, and I thought we received it in one of our
emails, one of the public comments, but one of the questions that was
nagging at me is.
957
02:30:40.940 --> 02:30:52.170
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: If… if we were to purchase a
building, then we're not receiving tax revenue on that, so how much is
O'Reilly Building actually paying in taxes? Do we have any property tax?
Do we have any idea?
958
02:30:52.170 --> 02:30:53.769
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Because we would lose that.
959
02:30:55.980 --> 02:31:10.340
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: No, I just… I know we got it in
some public comment somewhere, and I just… I tried and tried to search
through the emails, you know how many emails we get, so I was trying to
find that out in there. And then another question I had, just more of a
practical, question about
960

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02:31:10.340 --> 02:31:21.400
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, Alex, if we… if we had these
buildings, and we had private renters in there, say we had a cafe, or we
had something, and they're not able to pay their rent.
961
02:31:21.940 --> 02:31:25.200
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Where does that leave us as a city?
Because eventually you're…
962
02:31:25.520 --> 02:31:38.899
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: trying to evict someone, I mean,
and it puts us in a really precarious position as a government entity
now, having this type of dealing with private entities, and so I'm just
curious from a practical perspective. Yeah,
963
02:31:38.920 --> 02:31:46.269
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I mean, ideally, we would have
written lease agreements with them, and we would have all the same rights
as any other land.
964
02:31:46.590 --> 02:31:48.229
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Property owner to a vet.
965
02:31:48.430 --> 02:31:59.210
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: a tenant who doesn't pay rent, you
know, that can sometimes be a lengthy and difficult process, but we would
have those, you know, same abilities as any other property owner.
966
02:32:00.150 --> 02:32:00.980
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay.
967
02:32:06.520 --> 02:32:16.810
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: If anyone ever comes up with that
tax number, I appreciate… and I just… I can't find it anywhere, but I
wanted to understand… The tax value is $13 million based on his sales, so
it would be a percentage of that.
968
02:32:17.110 --> 02:32:25.529
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: well, I understand that. I know
what we pay… everyone pays in taxes. I just wondered, you know, I'm not
going to do math right now, but anyway, that was my question.
969
02:32:25.760 --> 02:32:28.499
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Can I… can I follow that up? Sure,
go ahead.

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970
02:32:28.800 --> 02:32:47.129
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the city is a… doesn't pay property
taxes, isn't that correct? If they buy a building, they don't pay
property taxes? Correct. Property owned by the city is exempt, and so I
think the question is, right now, if it's 13… assessed value is $13
million, we're probably getting around $26,000. That's very rough math.
971
02:32:47.670 --> 02:33:03.779
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: 1% property tax, 20% of that would
be about… So we would not… Losing that 26%. We would be owning an
expensive thing. Yeah, when we own property, we don't pay taxes. Oh,
property tax. Do they pay property taxes right now?
972
02:33:04.700 --> 02:33:06.170
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: For an empty building.
973
02:33:06.290 --> 02:33:17.730
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yes, yes. Wow. That building has
been sitting empty since… for 8 years. Yeah. I mean, if they are, I
assume they are. If they don't, eventually the county forecloses on the
property, and…
974
02:33:17.990 --> 02:33:24.730
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Isn't it within the city limits?
But the county is the administers tax, property taxes.
975
02:33:24.910 --> 02:33:27.950
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I think they're also paying a fire
tax to Goldridge.
976
02:33:28.400 --> 02:33:29.640
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: About 12.
977
02:33:29.880 --> 02:33:37.769
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: $1,000 a year. I'm sorry? They're
paying property taxes to Goldridge for the Fire District, too? Yes, yeah,
so they would lose,
978
02:33:37.970 --> 02:33:40.440
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Revenue as well from there, so…
okay.
979
02:33:44.630 --> 02:34:01.830

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Any other questions? I'm sorry, we
refer those who don't know, we receive lots of documents and questions
for all of this, so I was just trying to go through and understand,
because I think some of the ones that were put in under due diligence
didn't seem like they really went under due diligence, but they are
things that… assumptions that I heard in the
980
02:34:01.830 --> 02:34:06.119
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Meeting that seemed like they could
have been answered, so,
981
02:34:06.910 --> 02:34:20.500
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: One of the things that wasn't clear
to me in the presentation is when you were looking at all of this, and
it's in these questions here, in these assumptions that you made, was
that for all three buildings, or one of the buildings? That wasn't clear
to me.
982
02:34:20.650 --> 02:34:38.370
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I actually, the… the finance… the
finance committee did, one building and three buildings. So, like, if it
were to take one building, that would be, like, an $8 million, expense,
and if all three… Is that, like, the warehouse, or, like, the two… which…
983
02:34:38.610 --> 02:34:54.770
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So the $8 million would be one of
the twin buildings, and you know, they can be sold, as I understand,
individually, or as a package, and the package, you know, I think is
listed somewhere near $18 million.
984
02:34:55.240 --> 02:34:56.659
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I see. Thank you.
985
02:34:57.720 --> 02:35:00.190
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Does anyone else have questions?
986
02:35:00.630 --> 02:35:03.459
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I don't wanna occupy all this, but…
987
02:35:04.400 --> 02:35:06.360
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Vice Mayor, did you have any?
988
02:35:07.240 --> 02:35:08.750
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Any other questions?

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989
02:35:10.750 --> 02:35:12.570
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm sorry, Mary, hi.
990
02:35:13.230 --> 02:35:14.020
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay.
991
02:35:14.550 --> 02:35:15.770
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yep,
992
02:35:17.010 --> 02:35:23.889
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, if I might, could I… could I
reiterate what the due diligence is that we're… that we're asking, that
we're recommending?
993
02:35:26.310 --> 02:35:45.189
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Sure. That'd be appropriate? What
we're recommending in terms of the due diligence is to examine the legal
implications of the library JPA bylaws. We're asking you to do a bond
council analysis, looking at what ruling on private businesses, use of
tax-exempt debt, etc, which was mentioned. We're asking you to look at
the financing.
994
02:35:45.200 --> 02:35:57.210
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So some of the questions that
you've raised are the very questions we're asking you to raise, so if
that makes sense, we're asking you to examine the building condition,
some of the concerns you have about the actual building condition before
making any further…
995
02:35:57.270 --> 02:36:13.439
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: further progress toward it. We're
asking you to continue to do community outreach, and the very concern
that you just brought up about the division between a community, that's
one of the things that we would like to recommend that you continue to
incorporate in the due diligence process, and that you connect with the
library to
996
02:36:13.440 --> 02:36:27.950
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: work on developing the library
partnership in this build, which was also mentioned in terms of the
library's contribution to making this. So I hope… I apologize that I… I
stammered a bit when I got started, but those were the things that we're
really recommending for this council to take action on.
997
02:36:28.020 --> 02:36:32.169

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Go ahead, and then I have a
question, too. Can you repeat the first one, please?
998
02:36:32.360 --> 02:36:35.400
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The first one is to examine the
legal implications.
999
02:36:36.070 --> 02:36:44.200
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The library JPA bylaws, the no-cost
lease obligation versus civic occupancy payment surplus land act review
by City Attorney.
1000
02:36:44.320 --> 02:36:52.509
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: A question I had is, when you've
been working with the real estate agent, I mean, generally, they can give
you an idea of what the utilities cost for those… to run those places?
1001
02:36:52.850 --> 02:36:55.650
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I didn't see that number anywhere.
Does anyone?
1002
02:36:56.510 --> 02:37:08.430
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yeah, it was, like, $240,000 or so.
I have a spreadsheet, and I don't want to say the exact number, too,
physically. For a year? Like, what time?
1003
02:37:08.580 --> 02:37:16.590
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yeah, I think it's… I think it's
for a year, but please let me, let me check in on that, but they… they
were kind enough to send me what they pay.
1004
02:37:16.930 --> 02:37:18.540
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And so I do have that.
1005
02:37:19.120 --> 02:37:23.610
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, all right. If there are no
other questions, we can go out to public comment, Mary.
1006
02:37:23.970 --> 02:37:33.860
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I was going to ask
the committee members to go ahead and, if you want to have a seat, what
will do public comments, so you don't have to stand there. Thank you so
much, sorry about that.
1007

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02:37:41.710 --> 02:37:45.590
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Do we want to wait until she, yeah,
she gets settled?
1008
02:37:50.790 --> 02:38:07.279
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, so this is for public comment
for the discussion of building the commons recommendations from the
Standing Committee. If you would like to make a public comment, it is a
2-minute time limit, and we do chambers first, out to Zoom chambers, so
here's your opportunity for public comment.
1009
02:38:08.230 --> 02:38:24.179
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, and again, my apologies
for speaking out of order previously. My name is Christine Koenig, and I
am coming here in support of this. I did send to the Council a number of
pages of research that I pulled together.
1010
02:38:24.230 --> 02:38:28.570
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: About other cities who have done
this, big and small, and…
1011
02:38:28.660 --> 02:38:36.260
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: as a… I have a background as a
journalist and a communications expert, especially in the mental health
and wellness, and I found that
1012
02:38:36.360 --> 02:38:45.409
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: even an hour away, Middletown in
Lake County has created a combined library senior center. Not only have
they found it to be highly successful for public engagement.
1013
02:38:45.410 --> 02:38:59.369
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: but also for critical emergency
resilience. Nationally, the data packs up what the committee has found as
far as libraries and community hubs that routinely return $2 to $10 for
every dollar invested in the communities
1014
02:38:59.370 --> 02:39:08.420
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: With social… social… with stronger
social ties, also see a measurable, measurably less crime.
1015
02:39:09.800 --> 02:39:19.409
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Additionally, I had, information
specifically about murders and the drop in vehicle theft connected to
higher social connectedness.

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1016
02:39:19.440 --> 02:39:42.400
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: As someone who created the
loneliness Toolkit for Cura Link Healthcare, it's loneliness.tools if you
wish to look that up, I'm acutely aware of the loneliness epidemic as a
public health across this nation. I know that the concept of having a
multi-generational community space is one that helps, not only
1017
02:39:42.400 --> 02:39:46.369
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Reduce barriers between people, but
also helps
1018
02:39:46.370 --> 02:39:59.829
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: reduce loneliness, especially with
generations… Chris, can you have about 25 seconds? I come from Chicago,
where they, ping pong was, they put 200 to 500 tables across the, city
that,
1019
02:39:59.830 --> 02:40:16.719
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: increased engagement with people
who didn't know each other. I'd like to quickly address two things. One,
adding on to a building that already has water damage, and you can't
under… you don't know where it's coming from, that's putting a band-aid
on a huge gash.
1020
02:40:16.720 --> 02:40:20.909
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Christine, that's 2 minutes. All
right, thank you. Thank you for your public comment.
1021
02:40:20.970 --> 02:40:24.369
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Next, I'll go out to Zoom. Kate,
can you unmute yourself, please?
1022
02:40:25.260 --> 02:40:26.650
kate: I am unmuted, thank you.
1023
02:40:26.650 --> 02:40:27.330
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you.
1024
02:40:28.120 --> 02:40:30.210
kate: If there are a lot of West…
1025
02:40:30.240 --> 02:40:46.400
kate: county people with deep pockets that want to see this project go,
let them pay for the due diligence. Specifically, the landlord who's

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trying to unload their building that they can't sell or rent, and haven't
been able to do so for the last 5 years.
1026
02:40:46.400 --> 02:41:04.209
kate: As we've seen tonight, the city cannot even prepare a budget at a
glance without mixing up its accounts and fiscal obligations. As we've
seen tonight, the city takes a long time to fix its infrastructures.
We're all applauding that finally the roads are being fixed.
1027
02:41:04.390 --> 02:41:15.530
kate: This city has water infrastructure that is unstable and vulnerable.
It has unsecured water towers and a water line that does not have any
redundancy.
1028
02:41:15.530 --> 02:41:28.240
kate: The city has been charged by a civil grand jury as owing the
enterprise $5.5 million due to a misallocation of ratepayer funds.
1029
02:41:28.240 --> 02:41:48.220
kate: There is no way the city can handle a project of this magnitude. It
simply does not have the resources. It has an obligation to ratepayers to
pay back the money identified by the grand jury so we can repair our
infrastructure. You can't have a resiliency center without water.
1030
02:41:48.240 --> 02:42:00.400
kate: The library is loved, and it works. The Senior Center is so
successful that they need to expand. These are social services that work
where they are without additional cost.
1031
02:42:00.400 --> 02:42:07.139
kate: I think we've seen this before, when the county purchased the
Sebastopol Inn for 6 times its appraised
1032
02:42:07.140 --> 02:42:27.800
kate: amount, and removed a hotel from downtown Sebastopol, which has had
ongoing negative ramifications for the city, and of course, was a
champagne moment for the commercial real estate dudes who sold the
building and unloaded a hotel for six times its value during a pandemic.
That was a coup for them.
1033
02:42:27.860 --> 02:42:33.630
kate: We do not need to give other commercial real estate guys more
money. Thank you.
1034
02:42:33.910 --> 02:42:41.980

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Kate, for your public
comment. Next, I will come back into chambers. If there's anyone in
chambers that would like to make a public comment on this item, please
step up to the podium.
1035
02:42:44.650 --> 02:42:54.050
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Well, most of what I… oh, my name
is Robert Store, and first I want to say I don't live in Sebastopol, but
I do live in the West County, and
1036
02:42:54.240 --> 02:43:08.450
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the West County, District 5 has 10
times the population of Sebastopol, and we contrib… even though we don't
pay taxes in Sebastopol, we do use the services, the restaurants, support
the business in Sebastopol, and I think
1037
02:43:09.100 --> 02:43:13.439
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: our input should be considered, and
I am also
1038
02:43:14.140 --> 02:43:22.590
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: have a question about District 5
and Linda Hopkins and why they're not involved in this at all, because
all of these people in the West County
1039
02:43:23.250 --> 02:43:37.019
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: are actually involved. As you saw
from the two charts up there, most of the people who come to the Senior
Center and the Library drive there from way out in the West County. In
terms of the question that was asked about
1040
02:43:37.370 --> 02:43:47.529
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the, negative comments that have
been submitted, and I have not seen, and they're not available to me
particularly, but I have heard, just in discussing.
1041
02:43:47.910 --> 02:44:02.570
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: you know, in the general discussion
that's been going on now for months, basically, that the, the merchants
on Main Street and around are concerned that businesses will… business
will be lost there. The…
1042
02:44:02.780 --> 02:44:12.380
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The library is a place where
children go after school and use, and it would be nice for them to be
able to walk there.

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1043
02:44:12.730 --> 02:44:14.480
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: but…
1044
02:44:15.440 --> 02:44:25.209
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And of course, it's the fact that
it's not in the Main Street area, and it's another part of Sebastopol.
Well, that part of Sebastopol could use some help.
1045
02:44:25.900 --> 02:44:32.860
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: we've all been there, and we've
seen that it's… Robert, you have about 20 seconds. Okay, well,
1046
02:44:33.870 --> 02:44:36.429
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I guess that's what I have to say.
I think,
1047
02:44:36.790 --> 02:44:39.879
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I think the fact that it's out
there is manageable.
1048
02:44:40.080 --> 02:44:56.730
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: with shuttles, and it is walkable
from Annalee, and it's walkable from town if you want to do it, but you
can drive there, and a shuttle can be provided to get people there for
the kids and for anybody who wants to go there. Thank you. Thank you,
Robert, for your public comment. Next, I'll go out to Zoom. Martin, can
you unmute yourself, please?
1049
02:44:59.860 --> 02:45:01.310
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, can you hear us?
1050
02:45:01.890 --> 02:45:02.580
Martin Reed: Yes.
1051
02:45:02.630 --> 02:45:04.240
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Can you see the timer?
1052
02:45:04.490 --> 02:45:05.469
Martin Reed: Yes, thank you.
1053
02:45:05.470 --> 02:45:06.280
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Great, go ahead.

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1054
02:45:06.680 --> 02:45:11.710
Martin Reed: Good evening, Mayor and Councilmembers. I'm Martin Reed, a
Sebastopol resident.
1055
02:45:11.850 --> 02:45:20.379
Martin Reed: I run the Reed Group Real Estate Team at the Barlow, and
serve as the Executive Director of the Sonoma County Tool Library.
1056
02:45:20.740 --> 02:45:38.150
Martin Reed: I'll be upfront, the Tua Library would love to call a Future
Commons home, so I'm not neutral, but I'd support a thorough look at this
opportunity either way. I rented office space in the O'Reilly Building in
2018, and saw firsthand its potential as a community asset.
1057
02:45:38.580 --> 02:45:53.770
Martin Reed: Tonight has surfaced important questions about building
condition, renovation, financing, tax impacts, and community support.
These aren't reasons to reject the idea before examining it. They're
exactly what due diligence is for.
1058
02:45:54.100 --> 02:46:06.850
Martin Reed: That comparison should be complete and public, weighing
acquisition, repairs, and operating costs against rental income and the
cost of fixing or expanding what we have now.
1059
02:46:07.200 --> 02:46:18.760
Martin Reed: And the scale matters. The committee's estimate for new
civic construction is around 1,700 a square foot. This campus is listed
under 200 a foot, already built.
1060
02:46:19.100 --> 02:46:21.990
Martin Reed: With parking and infrastructure in place.
1061
02:46:22.650 --> 02:46:27.680
Martin Reed: Even with meaningful repairs, that's a comparison worth
making carefully.
1062
02:46:28.640 --> 02:46:43.040
Martin Reed: As this moves forward, I'd be glad to offer my real estate
experience to the city at no charge, property review, market context, or
any practical support that helps create a clear and credible analysis.
1063
02:46:43.630 --> 02:46:47.409

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Martin Reed: Thank you. I'm rooting for a careful process, and I'm here
to help.
1064
02:46:48.970 --> 02:46:52.690
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Martin, for your public
comment. Next, I will come back into chambers.
1065
02:46:54.480 --> 02:47:07.420
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Greg Boblett, I know most people in
the room, and I really… my heart is here. I hope that we can make a
commons that's workable. I don't think this proposal is the right one.
1066
02:47:07.540 --> 02:47:24.490
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It needs a lot more work. If the
building's so cheap, why has it been on the market for so long? I own
real estate here in town. I own an office building in town, and office
space is difficult to manage, and the city's not… should not be a
landlord.
1067
02:47:24.840 --> 02:47:35.060
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: There are other buildings that are
available, or will be available soon, including the West America Bank,
will be available probably within the next year and a half or so.
1068
02:47:35.270 --> 02:47:39.580
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And one thing… a couple things I
want to point out.
1069
02:47:39.960 --> 02:47:43.850
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We call it the Commons, and we left
out the community center.
1070
02:47:44.650 --> 02:47:48.539
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: What happened there? The most
vulnerable building of all.
1071
02:47:49.080 --> 02:48:01.290
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: No solutions there. And the whole
project has been presented as 90,000 feet, when the need was 45,000 feet,
from what I heard and what I read.
1072
02:48:01.650 --> 02:48:04.610
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Why wasn't it addressed at that
level?

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1073
02:48:04.820 --> 02:48:16.880
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And financing, as we heard from our
legalese over there, is tricky as a city
1074
02:48:17.050 --> 02:48:21.380
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: group to… to be a landlord. It's…
it's very tricky.
1075
02:48:21.940 --> 02:48:30.229
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The library could operate as an
annex. It doesn't have to have 20,000 square feet in one place. It could
be…
1076
02:48:30.330 --> 02:48:36.369
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: served better by having regional
areas, another building somewhere else in town that worked.
1077
02:48:36.930 --> 02:48:45.680
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And that's about it. I'm happy to
work for a solution for some sort of commons, but this one's wrong.
1078
02:48:46.670 --> 02:48:51.750
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Craig, for your public
comment. Next, I'll go out to Zoom. Lisa, can you unmute yourself,
please?
1079
02:48:52.230 --> 02:48:53.519
Lisa Pierce: Yes, can you hear me?
1080
02:48:53.520 --> 02:48:55.420
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I can hear you. Can you see the
timer?
1081
02:48:55.420 --> 02:48:56.569
Lisa Pierce: Yes, I can, thank you.
1082
02:48:56.570 --> 02:48:57.720
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Go ahead, please.
1083
02:48:57.720 --> 02:49:06.130
Lisa Pierce: I want to mention that assuming we would do major flood
mitigation for the community center would be kind of nuts, in my opinion.

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1084
02:49:06.450 --> 02:49:24.289
Lisa Pierce: While I appreciate all the work that the Commons Committee
put into this process, I'm sorry that the only options were… that were
considered were ones that had the Senior Center, the Community Center,
City Hall, and the Library all under one roof. As far as I know, this was
the Committee's mandate.
1085
02:49:24.330 --> 02:49:33.640
Lisa Pierce: However, the library and community center have very
different needs. I feel that the library should be in the heart of town,
surrounded by residential neighborhoods.
1086
02:49:33.640 --> 02:49:44.369
Lisa Pierce: The community center, on the other hand, should, because of
noise issues, be far away from residential neighborhoods, including the
housing right next to the O'Reilly building.
1087
02:49:44.370 --> 02:49:50.390
Lisa Pierce: The community center requires ample and available parking
for the hundreds of people attending events.
1088
02:49:50.680 --> 02:50:01.610
Lisa Pierce: The three options being presented are not our only options.
I think we can do better if we don't limit ourselves to keeping all these
organizations under one roof.
1089
02:50:01.790 --> 02:50:08.830
Lisa Pierce: The Senior Center will likely move to a larger space, no
matter how the Council votes on this decision. Thank you.
1090
02:50:10.530 --> 02:50:15.940
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Lisa, for your public
comment. Next, I'll come back into chambers. Oliver? Here's my sign
again.
1091
02:50:16.290 --> 02:50:35.000
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, fundamentally, I'm not opposed
to this project, wherever the building is, and it's very… I'm sure those
bank buildings are all going to be coming on the market very, very soon,
right in the, you know, in the center of town. My problem is what the
science says, which is… and what this gentleman here said, which is…
1092
02:50:35.380 --> 02:50:52.329
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: My wife drives for the Senior
Center. Most of the people who use the Senior Center don't live in the

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city of Sebastopol. The library, loads of people drive in to use the
library, and that's great. I'm a big fan of it. A lot of people come to
the community center from West County and around.
1093
02:50:52.590 --> 02:51:05.680
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The fundamental problem we have
here is the city of Sebastopol doesn't have very many taxpayers, we don't
have very good sales tax revenue, and we can't keep paying for county
projects. It's really simple. So, here's the sign again.
1094
02:51:05.760 --> 02:51:07.290
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, what…
1095
02:51:07.340 --> 02:51:17.790
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: this next… this specific ask
tonight is for the city to contribute money to research whether this is
feasible or not. So, for example.
1096
02:51:17.790 --> 02:51:28.240
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That's a… we're talking about
specifically buying a 25-year-old building, therefore the roof is
obsolete. Most commercial building roofs last about 25 years.
1097
02:51:28.240 --> 02:51:41.700
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: You're talking probably half a
million to replace that straight away. You've got… because it's going to
be a city building, the city is now going to be a commercial landlord, as
previously been discussed. The city can't do that. I mean, we can't…
1098
02:51:41.970 --> 02:52:00.460
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the city can barely… the staff we
have can barely run the city without trying to manage a commercial
building, with people not paying their rent, and having to chase them,
and so on and so forth. The energy costs are going to be complicated in
terms of HVAC and so on, because the building's 25 years old. Everything
will have to be in compliance.
1099
02:52:00.620 --> 02:52:08.709
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, the county should definitely be
asked to contribute to look at the feasibility of future
1100
02:52:08.820 --> 02:52:18.710
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Commons buildings, but I don't
think the city should be spending any money on this at all, in terms of
researching it. Thank you. Thank you, Oliver, for your public comments.

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1101
02:52:19.030 --> 02:52:22.749
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Next, I'll go out to Zoom. Mary,
can you unmute yourself, please?
1102
02:52:25.770 --> 02:52:26.350
mary cone: Yep.
1103
02:52:26.660 --> 02:52:28.490
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you. Can you still see the
timer?
1104
02:52:28.710 --> 02:52:29.480
mary cone: I can.
1105
02:52:29.480 --> 02:52:30.469
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, go ahead.
1106
02:52:30.860 --> 02:52:36.669
mary cone: So, in listening to all of this, I've come up with little
certain things.
1107
02:52:37.050 --> 02:52:51.670
mary cone: In the Sebastopol Times, Kent said if they're… whoever it is,
the library or, senior center, if they're not paying rent now, they won't
have to pay rent at O'Reilly. I don't know if that's true.
1108
02:52:52.380 --> 02:52:58.959
mary cone: You are comparing Sebastopol with Davis. I don't really think
that's a comparison.
1109
02:52:59.120 --> 02:53:06.110
mary cone: And, so this really is about the EIFD.
1110
02:53:06.630 --> 02:53:15.899
mary cone: I've asked Phil about it, and he said he's in touch with Linda
constantly, but that sentence is meaningless to…
1111
02:53:16.110 --> 02:53:24.799
mary cone: The citizens, because we need to know that the county is 100%
behind this, legal papers signed, all of that.
1112
02:53:25.460 --> 02:53:40.270

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mary cone: I mean, basically, I think this is a great idea. However, I
don't think we should be paying for it as taxpayers. I pay a lot of money
in tax… property taxes, and I… I don't want
1113
02:53:40.880 --> 02:53:51.020
mary cone: my taxes going to pay for all this due diligence. I don't
understand why this group can't raise some money and do it themselves.
Thanks.
1114
02:53:52.180 --> 02:53:55.760
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Mary, for your public
comment. Next, I'll come back into chambers.
1115
02:53:57.410 --> 02:54:02.489
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Hi, my name's Brian Ledig, I'm a
realtor. I'm also on the board of the Sebastopol Senior Center.
1116
02:54:03.980 --> 02:54:12.860
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: what we're looking at here is
whether or not we're interested in starting to do our due diligence. No
decisions are being made tonight.
1117
02:54:14.280 --> 02:54:20.599
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I've read a bunch of the comments
on this, and most of it was that we can't afford it.
1118
02:54:20.990 --> 02:54:28.659
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We don't know that we can't afford
it. We can't know that until we actually start doing due diligence. We
don't know if the roof is shot.
1119
02:54:28.920 --> 02:54:36.270
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We need to do… we need to
investigate that. I'm a realtor, and these are all inspections that
happen in escrow.
1120
02:54:36.530 --> 02:54:40.020
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And we would do the same thing
here, that…
1121
02:54:40.810 --> 02:54:49.659
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: What we have is an opportunity to
move everyone under one roof. The Senior Center has… has… most of their
classes have wait lists.

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1122
02:54:50.010 --> 02:54:56.129
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And because it's not large enough,
we definitely need to expand and double our size.
1123
02:54:56.800 --> 02:54:58.649
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: There's no way we can do that.
1124
02:54:58.950 --> 02:55:07.620
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: You know, we can't afford to build
a new facility, we can't afford to buy a facility. So, in doing something
like this, we would certainly be able to do that.
1125
02:55:07.660 --> 02:55:23.350
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So anyway, but this is just a
start, and everyone's saying, well, wait, we can't afford it. We don't
know those answers. We don't know what the shape of the building is. We
don't know what the remodel costs would be. We don't know any of this
until we start doing our due diligence. Thank you.
1126
02:55:23.540 --> 02:55:28.509
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for your public comment.
Next, I'll go out to Zoom. Steve, can you unmute yourself, please?
1127
02:55:29.400 --> 02:55:30.820
Steve Pierce: Yes, thank you.
1128
02:55:30.870 --> 02:55:32.769
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you. Can you see the timer?
1129
02:55:33.460 --> 02:55:44.650
Steve Pierce: Yes, thank you. I'm mainly concerned about the loss of
vitality for our downtown, and the walkability if the library moves to
the edge of the city.
1130
02:55:45.020 --> 02:55:48.019
Steve Pierce: And I'm concerned about the financial risk to our city.
1131
02:55:48.170 --> 02:55:51.390
Steve Pierce: Speaking of roofs, that 25-year-old roof.
1132
02:55:51.530 --> 02:55:53.749
Steve Pierce: I just looked it up on…

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1133
02:55:53.990 --> 02:56:02.799
Steve Pierce: the cost for the entire campus replacing the roof,
according to AI, is $240,000 to over $480,000.
1134
02:56:02.970 --> 02:56:06.879
Steve Pierce: And I've heard it said, well, the tenants will pay for the…
1135
02:56:07.170 --> 02:56:16.060
Steve Pierce: these costs. Well, it's not really realistic to expect the
tenants will be able to pay all these maintenance costs when most don't
pay rent now.
1136
02:56:16.450 --> 02:56:30.449
Steve Pierce: Moving the community center in its entirety is really not
feasible because of the noise issue with the housing directly next door.
So, the city is still left with the maintenance costs of the existing
community center.
1137
02:56:30.710 --> 02:56:41.160
Steve Pierce: The hope that if the existing city properties are sold,
that there will be an increase, excuse me, tax roll will feed the
commons.
1138
02:56:41.160 --> 02:56:51.409
Steve Pierce: But that doesn't take into account that the new property
rented to nonprofit and government entities takes away from the tax
rolls. Overall, it's most likely a wash.
1139
02:56:51.590 --> 02:57:01.729
Steve Pierce: It was stated in the staff report that the next decade of
maintenance on the library could exceed 20% of their replacement value,
which would be around $2 million.
1140
02:57:01.940 --> 02:57:16.700
Steve Pierce: Where does that estimate come from? The city recently
replaced the roof and the HVAC system. Under any scenario, for the
different options, the city would still most likely be on the hook for
the drainage and the exterior wall repair.
1141
02:57:16.780 --> 02:57:29.329
Steve Pierce: It's good news that the library system committed to
investing $1 million into the Occidental branch. We need them to do the
same in Grayton, in Forestville, and maybe Bodega.
1142

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02:57:29.370 --> 02:57:36.889
Steve Pierce: We need some of the pressure relieved from Sebastopol for
carrying the financial responsibility for expansion.
1143
02:57:36.950 --> 02:57:47.400
Steve Pierce: Before voting to spend money and more staff time, the city
needs to clear commitment from the library and the senior center that
they'll be paying a substantial rent or cash.
1144
02:57:47.400 --> 02:57:48.749
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Steven, that's 2 minutes.
1145
02:57:48.750 --> 02:57:49.340
Steve Pierce: Thank you.
1146
02:57:49.720 --> 02:57:53.050
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for your public comment.
Next, I will come back into chambers.
1147
02:57:53.880 --> 02:58:05.440
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, City Council members.
What a great night of civic debate. I'm Lawrence Jaffe, associated with
the Grange, with the Kiwanis, with SW100, speaking for myself.
1148
02:58:06.020 --> 02:58:12.579
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Henry Ford said, if I'd asked
people what they wanted, they would have told me that they want faster
horses.
1149
02:58:14.120 --> 02:58:27.299
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: This is a transformational moment.
This is as big as putting the train into Sebastopol and taking the train
out. This is as big as adding Regal Park or adding this whole section
where we are, which used to be the sewage treatment plant.
1150
02:58:27.600 --> 02:58:40.750
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The City of Sebastopol is in the
same situation as the County of Sonoma, and the City of Santa Rosa, and
the City of Runner Park. All are actively looking at moving out of their
dilapidated infrastructure.
1151
02:58:41.050 --> 02:58:54.200
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We are not meeting in the city
council chambers because it is outmoded. We are meeting at an adjunct

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place that was always meant to be temporary. Your city council chambers
can't house us.
1152
02:58:54.230 --> 02:59:03.650
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: we are at a transitional moment.
Should we do the due diligence to find out that we can move and transform
Sebastopol? Well, if it only costs
1153
02:59:04.110 --> 02:59:21.579
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: $45,000? $100,000 to find out if we
can move up there and transform the town? We should find out the answer.
And then we should ask the people. You are our representatives, I know
each of you has bold vision, and I know each of you are charged with
evaluating
1154
02:59:22.460 --> 02:59:29.980
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And then deciding whether or not
the risk is worth the reward. We don't yet have enough information to
know
1155
02:59:30.200 --> 02:59:34.279
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: if we… if the risk is worth the
reward. But I do know you have vision.
1156
02:59:34.500 --> 02:59:44.729
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I think, again, Henry Ford
said, if I asked people what they want, they would have asked for faster
horses. And I sure heard a lot of faster horses comments tonight.
1157
02:59:45.140 --> 02:59:46.020
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you.
1158
02:59:46.170 --> 02:59:51.100
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for your public comment.
Next, I'll go out to Zoom. Linda, can you unmute yourself, please?
1159
02:59:55.430 --> 02:59:56.690
Linda Robinett: Yes.
1160
02:59:56.940 --> 02:59:58.860
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you. Can you see the timer?
1161
02:59:58.860 --> 02:59:59.710
Linda Robinett: Yes, I can.

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1162
02:59:59.710 --> 03:00:00.919
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Great, go ahead, please.
1163
03:00:01.360 --> 03:00:07.719
Linda Robinett: Yeah, my comment is probably more emotional, I don't know
all these details on this stuff.
1164
03:00:08.060 --> 03:00:13.810
Linda Robinett: Is, number one, Whether the library's close or not
depends on where you live.
1165
03:00:14.080 --> 03:00:27.299
Linda Robinett: O'reilly Building is an easy walk for me. It's in front
of… it's essentially in front of the, Lucky's and all that, and I can
walk there. So it depends on what edge of town you live in. I live behind
Pacific,
1166
03:00:27.470 --> 03:00:32.809
Linda Robinett: Market, which has a lot of people, a lot of different
condos and other buildings behind it.
1167
03:00:32.930 --> 03:00:46.289
Linda Robinett: So, walkability, and also the bus route could be changed.
The bus route now goes to, stops in front of the Senior Center. It
certainly could be changed to stop in front of O'Reilly, so that, that's
that free bus we have.
1168
03:00:46.650 --> 03:01:01.599
Linda Robinett: But also, the Riley Building has the virtue of it's got
this external structure. I asked about, well, how could you, make new
offices? And they said, all the load bearing is on the outside,
essentially, so…
1169
03:01:01.600 --> 03:01:06.870
Linda Robinett: You can make new offices, you can tear stuff out, you can
reduce stuff down, and I can see
1170
03:01:07.990 --> 03:01:20.570
Linda Robinett: you know, the senior center, the joke there is we… if we
had all the space in the world, it'd all be just taken up by the Mahjong
group, so the senior center definitely does not have enough room. In the
library.
1171

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03:01:20.580 --> 03:01:32.349
Linda Robinett: is, I think, the most heavily used per capita branch in
the whole system. So keep that in mind. Not only the West County uses it,
but Sebastopol and probably some other people.
1172
03:01:36.380 --> 03:01:39.359
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Linda, for your public
comment. Next, I will come back into chambers.
1173
03:01:41.990 --> 03:01:43.180
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Mary.
1174
03:01:43.190 --> 03:01:50.649
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Hi, I'm Katie Davis with the Senior
Center. I first wanted to start with some gratitude for this committee.
It's been…
1175
03:01:50.660 --> 03:02:00.779
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It's a group of volunteers that
have dedicated, over a year of their time. I've seen secondhand the love,
compassion, passion.
1176
03:02:00.780 --> 03:02:12.199
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: care that they've put into this
project, and whether we agree or disagree, I just want to share that
gratitude, particularly for Kent Jenkins, who's the Senior Center
Representative.
1177
03:02:14.350 --> 03:02:27.070
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Of course, I'm here as an advocate
for the Senior Center, and for those of you who are not familiar, maybe
haven't gone, I just want to paint the picture for you of what is
happening at the Senior Center right now. We're cramming
1178
03:02:27.070 --> 03:02:35.139
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Senior centers and their caregivers
into the tiny rooms of this 100-year-old house.
1179
03:02:35.270 --> 03:02:49.410
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We're cramming them into hallways,
as classes are waiting to get in and out of other classrooms. We're
putting them with volunteers in the hallways to learn how to use their
smartphones to stay connected to the world and their grandkids.
1180
03:02:50.090 --> 03:02:58.590

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It's… I know. The Senior Center
gets a lot of incredible accolades. The staff
1181
03:02:58.590 --> 03:03:14.910
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: are regularly commended for the
work that they do. And I think about if we had dignified working
conditions, where we're not crammed 3 and 4 into a, you know, a 20square-foot office, what else we could do for this community?
1182
03:03:15.980 --> 03:03:40.920
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: there, like Brian said, you know,
we've got 30 to 40 seniors a week on wait lists. I'm having regular
conversations with seniors who cannot access services because they can't
find parking, or they can't make it up the hill. And it's just not
acceptable, and so… Katie, you have about 15 seconds. Thank you. So I
implore the City Council to… let's move to the next step, let's do some
due diligence, let's
1183
03:03:40.920 --> 03:03:43.769
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: invest in this idea and have a
vision. Thank you.
1184
03:03:44.450 --> 03:03:47.820
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for your public comment.
Next, I'll go out to Zoom.
1185
03:03:48.560 --> 03:03:51.370
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Google PixCA, can you unmute
yourself, please?
1186
03:04:00.180 --> 03:04:03.510
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: There's someone on Zoom for… there
you go. Can you hear us okay?
1187
03:04:03.510 --> 03:04:07.180
Google Pixel 6a: Hi, my name is Von Whalen, and just a couple of points.
1188
03:04:07.380 --> 03:04:16.450
Google Pixel 6a: If the city staff takes on this project, what aren't
they going to be able to do? What are the consequences of projects that
aren't going to be addressed
1189
03:04:17.260 --> 03:04:20.439
Google Pixel 6a: In this period of their doing diligence.

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1190
03:04:20.690 --> 03:04:31.750
Google Pixel 6a: This is a really important decision. I understand the
need for transformation, but there's a lot of financial issues. If we
looked at the fire department, we're still paying for the hospital.
1191
03:04:31.910 --> 03:04:44.389
Google Pixel 6a: Even though that's gone. I would like to see this put
out to a vote of the citizens. I don't know what that would be involved,
but at the end of the day, if this doesn't work out.
1192
03:04:44.630 --> 03:04:48.519
Google Pixel 6a: We're all gonna be… it's all gonna be on our… our
property tax bill.
1193
03:04:49.240 --> 03:04:54.010
Google Pixel 6a: you know, like I said, we're still paying for the
hospital, we're paying for the fire department.
1194
03:04:54.660 --> 03:04:59.649
Google Pixel 6a: And that's what happens when the city, takes on projects
1195
03:05:00.150 --> 03:05:12.199
Google Pixel 6a: and, you know, who, at the end of the day, that's who
the citizens end up paying for things. So, I'm not sure what it takes to
get a ballot measure going, but,
1196
03:05:12.450 --> 03:05:18.459
Google Pixel 6a: I would like to see that, because I think the debt will
fall upon the citizens of the city. Thank you.
1197
03:05:19.150 --> 03:05:22.590
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for your public comment.
Next, I will come back into chambers.
1198
03:05:23.010 --> 03:05:29.969
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Hi, my name's Gary Batchelor. I'm
on the board of the Senior Center, past president of the board.
1199
03:05:30.770 --> 03:05:39.650
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The challenge that we have at the
Senior Center is… is the space, is, as Katie stated, as Brian stated.
1200
03:05:39.650 --> 03:05:51.700

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We're just running out of room. To
keep in… keep in mind that the Sebastopol Area Senior Center is the
largest independent senior center north of San Francisco.
1201
03:05:51.800 --> 03:05:53.210
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Last year.
1202
03:05:53.310 --> 03:06:05.949
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Last fiscal year, 40,000, check-ins
at the Senior Center. We… our membership continues to grow and grow. The
Riley Building seemed like a godsend for us, because
1203
03:06:06.140 --> 03:06:09.649
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Knowing Tim O'Reilly, that building
was built
1204
03:06:10.530 --> 03:06:14.149
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: To his standards, and his standards
were incredible.
1205
03:06:14.270 --> 03:06:17.860
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, as Brian said.
1206
03:06:18.100 --> 03:06:26.480
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: take a good look at this building,
at these buildings, because I think they offer a lot for the city of
Sebastopol, and
1207
03:06:27.070 --> 03:06:37.029
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: For the senior centers, considering
that, over a third of the population, just looking around this room in
Sebastopolar Sr, so…
1208
03:06:37.580 --> 03:06:38.650
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you.
1209
03:06:39.720 --> 03:06:44.089
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Gary, for your public
comment. I will go out to Zoom. Lee, can you unmute yourself, please?
1210
03:06:46.550 --> 03:06:51.299
Lee: Yes, I just bit into a cracker. Bad planning.
1211

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03:06:51.530 --> 03:06:52.840
Lee: Go ahead, I've got it.
1212
03:06:55.060 --> 03:06:57.350
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Lee, do you want to provide public
comment?
1213
03:06:57.580 --> 03:06:58.500
Lee: Yes, go ahead.
1214
03:06:58.670 --> 03:06:59.760
Lee: I mean, I'll go ahead.
1215
03:07:00.900 --> 03:07:04.280
Lee: I've seen Councilmember Carter's famous spreadsheet.
1216
03:07:04.540 --> 03:07:09.179
Lee: The financials could work based on the preliminary assumptions that
the committees created.
1217
03:07:09.730 --> 03:07:23.350
Lee: There are three key issues, however, that can't be avoided by hiring
a consultant. The council should understand each and be okay with them.
If the majority of the council would not be comfortable with one, the
others don't matter. The project would not… should not move ahead.
1218
03:07:23.610 --> 03:07:35.100
Lee: Number one is, is this legal? There have been lawsuits on the issue
of using tax dollars to fund the purchase of a building with commercial
space. The primary measure by courts has been the proportion of civic and
commercial spaces.
1219
03:07:35.990 --> 03:07:40.689
Lee: this… Small spaces, commercial spaces, are generally acceptable.
1220
03:07:40.930 --> 03:07:46.150
Lee: This project has 40% of the space and 67% of the revenue from
commercial tenants, so…
1221
03:07:46.460 --> 03:07:52.760
Lee: Big question for Alex. Don't need a consultant. The finances as they
exist now have a $10 million funding gap.
1222

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03:07:53.100 --> 03:08:10.920
Lee: The revenues don't support $10 million more debt. The project
feasibility depends on raising $10 million in donations. $4 million?
Right now, they're thinking $4 million in gifts and donations, $5 million
from the county, and a million from state and federal grants. Is the City
Council comfortable that that could be done?
1223
03:08:11.630 --> 03:08:26.490
Lee: The third is the plan, budget requires the city to pay rent. Now,
it's not rent, ask Phil, he'll explain it, but it's like rent. For the
space that's occupied by city staff, the senior center, the community
center, whatever civic
1224
03:08:26.500 --> 03:08:41.090
Lee: partners are there. It's about $900,000 a year in the current model,
probably isn't going to change a lot. You already pay some costs for
existing buildings, so it's going to be about maybe $450,000 to $500,000
in new spending annually.
1225
03:08:41.350 --> 03:08:49.100
Lee: But, you do have a def… $500,000 deficit running right now, so this
would probably require new taxes. Are you okay with that?
1226
03:08:49.240 --> 03:09:02.569
Lee: Like I said, you don't need a consultant to answer the legal
question. If you're comfortable going after 10 million grants and
donations, that hurdle's passed. If you're okay with raising taxes, that
hurdle's passed, and this could work.
1227
03:09:02.980 --> 03:09:12.370
Lee: If it's not, you could send them back and ask them to look at a
scaled-down project. Go back to assessing the library, or maybe just buy
one of the buildings.
1228
03:09:12.370 --> 03:09:13.620
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Lee, that's 2 minutes.
1229
03:09:13.620 --> 03:09:14.579
Lee: Yeah, I know, thank you.
1230
03:09:14.800 --> 03:09:18.469
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for your public comment.
Next, I will come back into chambers.
1231
03:09:19.200 --> 03:09:21.959

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Hi, my name is Paul Fritz.
1232
03:09:22.200 --> 03:09:30.870
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'd first like to say I do
appreciate the look into this. I think the Commons is a great idea.
However, I don't think that the O'Reilly Building is the solution.
1233
03:09:31.050 --> 03:09:41.680
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: These civic functions belong
downtown. They contribute to the vitality of our community. They are the
heart of our community, both figuratively at the heart, but they're also…
they should be literally the heart of our community.
1234
03:09:41.900 --> 03:09:44.959
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Downtown will miss these
organizations if they leave.
1235
03:09:45.590 --> 03:09:50.689
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We're a community that understands
the climate crisis we are facing. We need to get real about it.
1236
03:09:51.070 --> 03:09:57.810
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: This location is a drive-to
location, as evidenced by the enormous parking lot. It's probably the
biggest parking lot in the city.
1237
03:09:58.180 --> 03:10:00.549
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I know some people are super
excited about that.
1238
03:10:00.810 --> 03:10:09.879
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: This is a drive-to location. The
locations where these community facilities are now are walk-to locations.
I get some people drive, a lot of people drive.
1239
03:10:10.050 --> 03:10:20.029
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But you're now saying all the
people that can walk to those places are now going to be driving. We're
adding to the driving and the congestion and the pollution in town.
1240
03:10:20.140 --> 03:10:24.499
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We need to get out of our cars, and
this location no way supports that.
1241

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03:10:27.980 --> 03:10:42.690
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I understand the space needs of
these community organizations, but this is simply not the right solution
for the long-term health of our community. There's a concept called the
15-minute city. We have a 15-minute city because these things are located
at the center of our city. Most people can walk and bike.
1242
03:10:42.830 --> 03:10:48.659
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to these community facilities in 15
minutes. This new location, that's not going to be the case.
1243
03:10:48.860 --> 03:11:08.220
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: more people that live in, you know,
the neighborhood behind Lucky, and they'll be able to walk now, but a
great portion of the people that are already walking will not be able to,
and those are just going to add more cars to our city streets, which you
already… I know we have a lot of complaints about congestion already.
This is not going to solve that problem. Thank you.
1244
03:11:08.390 --> 03:11:13.440
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Falp for your public
comment. Next, I will go out to Zoom. Michael, can you unmute yourself,
please?
1245
03:11:14.580 --> 03:11:21.259
Michael Carnacchi: I can, I'm trying to find the timer. Hang on one
second… where is the timer?
1246
03:11:24.270 --> 03:11:26.499
Michael Carnacchi: There it is. Okay, I got the timer.
1247
03:11:26.870 --> 03:11:35.110
Michael Carnacchi: My name is Michael Carnacchi, and I am a sole
proprietor. I've owned a small business on Main Street for 33 years now.
1248
03:11:35.470 --> 03:11:44.019
Michael Carnacchi: If the… Current City Hall, Library, and Senior Center
property is bought by a housing developer.
1249
03:11:44.840 --> 03:11:50.529
Michael Carnacchi: Okay, that's gonna be a substantial loss Of parking
for retail businesses.
1250
03:11:50.870 --> 03:11:54.179
Michael Carnacchi: Which means a loss of sales tax revenue.

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1251
03:11:54.870 --> 03:11:57.610
Michael Carnacchi: And there is no job infrastructure.
1252
03:11:57.820 --> 03:12:00.110
Michael Carnacchi: To employ those new residents.
1253
03:12:00.770 --> 03:12:07.479
Michael Carnacchi: So, that would be more commute traffic, and additional
climate change impact.
1254
03:12:08.760 --> 03:12:25.329
Michael Carnacchi: You know, and the… you know, I heard one of the
committee members say that there was business outreach, or that they were
representing the business community, and I just don't see that. It kind
of… this reminds me, eerily.
1255
03:12:25.520 --> 03:12:35.840
Michael Carnacchi: of… The next to non-existent business outreach… For
the mixed-use housing project.
1256
03:12:35.950 --> 03:12:40.259
Michael Carnacchi: on the Burnett Street Municipal parking lot.
1257
03:12:40.500 --> 03:12:43.810
Michael Carnacchi: that came to Council when I was on the council.
1258
03:12:44.110 --> 03:12:51.509
Michael Carnacchi: So, I think, honestly, you should not waste any more
time of staff, and
1259
03:12:52.130 --> 03:12:56.560
Michael Carnacchi: And or the taxpayer's money, and denied this request.
1260
03:12:56.970 --> 03:12:57.850
Michael Carnacchi: Thank you.
1261
03:12:58.920 --> 03:13:00.180
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Michael, for your public
comment.
1262
03:13:00.180 --> 03:13:00.960

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Michael Carnacchi: Your public comment?
1263
03:13:04.320 --> 03:13:06.340
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, next I'll come back to Ninja
Chambers.
1264
03:13:07.670 --> 03:13:14.579
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Hi, my name is Jen Kulamayer, and
I'm one of the owners of a business in downtown. And what makes
1265
03:13:14.730 --> 03:13:20.090
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: a downtown feel alive is foot
traffic, the steady flow of people with a reason to be there.
1266
03:13:20.240 --> 03:13:33.129
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The same residents who come to
renew a library book, visit the senior center, or take care of something
at City Hall are the ones that fill our sidewalks, and walk into our
shops and give the city a sense of vibrancy.
1267
03:13:33.450 --> 03:13:39.770
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Take those everyday reasons to be
here away, and you pull the energy and the people out of the heart of our
community.
1268
03:13:40.340 --> 03:13:46.879
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: You also make these services harder
to reach. The O'Reilly site is a place for most of us to get to only by
car.
1269
03:13:47.610 --> 03:13:59.400
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: For seniors, for students, for
anyone without dependable transportation, moving essential services to
the edge of town means longer trips and real barriers. That cuts directly
against the walkable downtown we've all talked about.
1270
03:13:59.750 --> 03:14:12.399
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It also cuts against our own
general plan. General Plan Policy LU72 calls for maintaining downtown as
the focal point for West County commercial, civic, and cultural uses.
1271
03:14:12.420 --> 03:14:26.219
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Also, goal CIR2 commits us to a
network that connects people to key destinations without a car. Moving

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our civic services to a car-dependent site does the opposite of what our
plan asks us to do.
1272
03:14:26.860 --> 03:14:39.539
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Creating the Commons is a great
idea, but I'm opposed to moving City Hall, the Library and Senior
Services, and other core services out of the downtown to the O'Reilly
building, and I encourage you to try to find alternatives.
1273
03:14:40.710 --> 03:14:45.790
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Jen, for your public
comment. Next, I'll go out to Zoom. Diane, can you unmute yourself,
please?
1274
03:14:52.550 --> 03:14:54.559
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Diane, can you unmute yourself,
please?
1275
03:15:01.450 --> 03:15:06.569
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We'll come back into chambers and
go back out. Is there anyone else in chambers that would like to make a
public comment on this item?
1276
03:15:10.630 --> 03:15:22.850
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Hi, my name is Linda Williams, and
I'm a member of the Sebastopol Senior Center, which has a thriving senior
program. For the past year, I've been participating in Tai Chi at the
Senior Center, a very popular program.
1277
03:15:23.040 --> 03:15:35.540
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The classes at the Senior Center do
not have enough room for the very many people to move together. There are
so many students we have to meet in this very room for everyone to fit,
and this room is crowded.
1278
03:15:35.700 --> 03:15:44.749
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But the Youth Annex is not the
Senior Center. There's no staff here to monitor or assist in case of
emergency. There's no security here.
1279
03:15:44.840 --> 03:15:59.850
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The Senior Center's success has
caused it to outgrow its facilities, and I would encourage the Town
Council to formally explore the Commons project to address the growth of
the Senior Center, as well as a library solution, parking, and the City
Hall.

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1280
03:15:59.850 --> 03:16:13.340
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: All of these community programs
deserve additional space and better facilities, and all the questions
that the council members have tonight would be answered during the
process of moving forward in your exploration of this potential solution.
1281
03:16:13.540 --> 03:16:17.310
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: This community deserves this
exploration. Thank you.
1282
03:16:18.110 --> 03:16:23.399
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for your public comment.
Next, I will go back out to Zoom. Diane, can you unmute yourself, please?
1283
03:16:25.110 --> 03:16:25.830
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you.
1284
03:16:25.830 --> 03:16:26.220
diane: Yes.
1285
03:16:26.220 --> 03:16:27.369
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Can you see it? Can you hear it
too?
1286
03:16:27.370 --> 03:16:28.259
diane: How to do it, thank you.
1287
03:16:28.260 --> 03:16:30.819
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: You're welcome. Can you see the
timer?
1288
03:16:31.270 --> 03:16:33.430
diane: I can't, but I'm gonna be very brief.
1289
03:16:33.430 --> 03:16:34.830
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, go ahead, please.
1290
03:16:34.830 --> 03:16:53.329
diane: I live in Sebastopol, have lived here for 26 years now, and I am…
I volunteer at the Senior Center, and I also was using the library before
they closed down. I can walk downtown, I can also walk to the O'Reilly
Building.

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1291
03:16:53.450 --> 03:17:09.930
diane: And I think right now, there is no place downtown, no potential
for the Senior Center or the library to expand in the reasonable future,
foreseeable future. And so we have to look at all different
possibilities.
1292
03:17:09.930 --> 03:17:25.980
diane: And I really think the committee has done a great job of trying to
find a space for all these entities to grow, and I think growing together
at O'Reilly would be a good option, and we should pursue that option.
1293
03:17:26.650 --> 03:17:27.640
diane: Thank you.
1294
03:17:28.140 --> 03:17:34.299
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Diane, for your public
comment. Next, I will come back into chambers. If there's anyone in
chambers that would like to make a public comment?
1295
03:17:41.960 --> 03:17:48.699
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'll make this quick. My name is
Caroline. My husband, Kent, worked on the committee for the Commons.
1296
03:17:48.780 --> 03:18:06.510
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I had a chance to observe some
of the methods and how much time and effort they… the entire committee
put in to put this together. So, I do wish people who like to be, what do
you call, armchair quarterbacks would
1297
03:18:06.720 --> 03:18:17.000
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: ask questions with an open mind.
It's really frustrating to see that people already have a decision in
their head, and they just want to say no to it.
1298
03:18:17.110 --> 03:18:20.249
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And that is very frustrating to
watch.
1299
03:18:20.420 --> 03:18:29.059
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, just to answer a couple of the
questions that came up, research shows that 1% of the people who go to
the Sebastopol Library walk. 1%.
1300

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03:18:29.860 --> 03:18:44.880
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, there are numbers, in case you
want to know where that came from. I think somebody can give you the
source for that. And also, the 24… number 24 shuttle bus, it already
stops at the O'Reilly Media. So, just get on the bus, and go another mile
or two.
1301
03:18:45.690 --> 03:18:51.320
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The town is changing, the area is
changing, Lawrence talked about
1302
03:18:51.420 --> 03:18:59.869
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: People wanting a faster horse, the
best time… you know that saying? The best time to plan a tree is 20 years
ago, and the next best time is now?
1303
03:19:00.040 --> 03:19:03.580
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, it's time to grow. It's time to
take a little risk.
1304
03:19:04.030 --> 03:19:15.859
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I know it means money, and I know
people are afraid of money, spending more money, because of how things
have been, but are you gonna let the whole city be held down for that, or
are you gonna keep growing?
1305
03:19:18.480 --> 03:19:23.360
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for your public comment.
Next, I will go out to Chambers. Craig, can you unmute yourself, please?
1306
03:19:25.150 --> 03:19:26.479
Craig N Litwin: Hello, can you hear me?
1307
03:19:26.480 --> 03:19:27.929
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I can hear you, can you see the
timer?
1308
03:19:27.930 --> 03:19:31.219
Craig N Litwin: I cannot, but I should be less than the time. Thank you.
1309
03:19:31.790 --> 03:19:44.029
Craig N Litwin: So, first off, thank you everybody, really, for the due
diligence. I mean, we're spending money now, right? We're spending city
money, we've had the committee, we spent money and invested our time and
effort on that.

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1310
03:19:44.180 --> 03:19:51.659
Craig N Litwin: I think it's worth continuing the due diligence. I really
do. When I think about the land use issues.
1311
03:19:52.020 --> 03:20:10.300
Craig N Litwin: you know, there are land use considerations, there's
also, you know, kind of the use of what's going to happen, like who's
going to be there, and then there's the actual due diligence. So, I mean,
we're already having this meeting on the edge of town, right? City Hall,
effectively, is on the edge of town, so…
1312
03:20:10.350 --> 03:20:27.429
Craig N Litwin: It would be nice to figure out if this works out, and I
think it's worth a little bit more investment, after all of the effort
we've put in it, to see. Because if it doesn't pencil out, if we do that
work, and it doesn't make sense, well then, that's it. It's done. We
don't have to worry about this, and we can move on.
1313
03:20:27.530 --> 03:20:35.910
Craig N Litwin: But if it does look like it pencils out, and I suspect
when we do the due diligence, we'll find things such as, what we think we
could actually
1314
03:20:35.910 --> 03:20:50.369
Craig N Litwin: rent it out for, what sorts of improvements need to be
made. We probably would figure out some better negotiating tactics, what
the actual bottom line value of the facility is. It should put us in a
much stronger negotiating position to then go to the seller.
1315
03:20:50.370 --> 03:21:04.350
Craig N Litwin: If we decide that we want to move forward. At that point,
when we see that it pencils out, perhaps that would be when we really
look at these land use considerations a little bit more. We know that the
community center is going to have to move. It just will, right? It will
flood again.
1316
03:21:04.380 --> 03:21:12.740
Craig N Litwin: We also know that there's a lot of traffic in town, and
we know that the library and the senior center are regional uses, and on
the edge of town.
1317
03:21:13.110 --> 03:21:21.799
Craig N Litwin: there are a lot of people outside of town that come right
there, so it's an interesting consideration, but I think before we worry
too much about all of the land uses and

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1318
03:21:21.860 --> 03:21:39.540
Craig N Litwin: considerations and who's going to be where, we really
just look at what's the bottom line? Spend a little bit more, figure that
out, get ourselves in a better negotiating position. And I do agree, this
is a pivotal moment and an opportunity, and I'd hate to see us throw it
out at the very end after such hard work. Thank you.
1319
03:21:39.540 --> 03:21:45.670
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you, Craig, for your public
comment. Next, I will come back into chambers, if there's anyone in
chambers that would like to make a public comment.
1320
03:21:46.230 --> 03:21:49.799
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I'll go back out to
Zoom. Dena, can you unmute yourself, please?
1321
03:21:49.800 --> 03:21:50.730
Dena Bliss: I can.
1322
03:21:51.080 --> 03:21:52.129
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Can you see the timer?
1323
03:21:52.130 --> 03:21:54.539
Dena Bliss: I can't see the timer, but I won't be long.
1324
03:21:54.540 --> 03:21:55.359
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Go ahead, please.
1325
03:21:55.360 --> 03:22:09.919
Dena Bliss: First I want to express appreciation to the committee that's
worked so hard on this. Some of you have been doing this for over 5
years. I know Steven has really been working like a slave on this one.
And what I want to say is that at this point.
1326
03:22:10.400 --> 03:22:27.050
Dena Bliss: it seems to me that all this work has gone forward, and
they've looked at all kinds of opportunities downtown, found that there
really weren't great opportunities downtown, have found something that
might be workable, and I agree with the speakers that have said, let's
move forward.
1327
03:22:27.050 --> 03:22:37.989

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Dena Bliss: and check out the last pieces of this to see if we can make
this work in our own lifetime. So, I really want to support the
committee, and I hope we will go forward. Thank you very much.
1328
03:22:38.760 --> 03:22:44.460
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you for your public comment.
Next, I will come back into chambers, if there's anyone in chambers that
would like to make a public comment.
1329
03:22:45.180 --> 03:22:51.519
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, I will go back out to
Zoom. If there's anyone on Zoom that would like to make a public comment,
to please raise your hand virtually.
1330
03:22:52.050 --> 03:22:54.509
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Seeing none, public comment is
closed on this item.
1331
03:22:57.050 --> 03:22:58.950
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Alright, thank you, we're back
here.
1332
03:22:59.150 --> 03:23:12.600
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I had Councilmember Solman first,
and then Vice Stanley. Thank you, Madam Mayor, and when we were
discussing the presentation, we definitely wanted to highlight all of the
people who have spent so much time, blood, sweat, and energy.
1333
03:23:12.600 --> 03:23:23.119
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: which were your presenters here
tonight, but I just definitely wanted to, like, not forget to really
thank those members. They are your fellow residents.
1334
03:23:23.120 --> 03:23:39.310
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: they didn't have to do it, and it
was a lot of work, so I just want to thank them, all the members of the
committee, and also staff for their patience as we work through all this.
So, just want to say that. I'm looking forward to the discussions.
1335
03:23:39.700 --> 03:23:41.369
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Go ahead, placement here.
1336
03:23:43.040 --> 03:23:47.409
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, we heard from a lot of members
of the Senior Center.

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1337
03:23:47.520 --> 03:23:58.030
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I don't think we heard from anybody
at the library. We've heard from Craig Litwin, he's representing some of
the social service groups, and we didn't hear from the,
1338
03:23:58.110 --> 03:24:08.590
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Community Center, and I'm wondering
if the community center spokesperson would like to make some comments. I
know you did send a letter, but I'm just wondering if you want to make
some comments, if that was alright with you.
1339
03:24:09.210 --> 03:24:10.050
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Maybe not.
1340
03:24:11.380 --> 03:24:12.420
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Sure.
1341
03:24:22.490 --> 03:24:37.110
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Hello, I am Felina Chanta with the
Sebastopol Community Center, and we support further investigation, as we
know that we will not survive much longer in our current location.
1342
03:24:37.230 --> 03:24:38.969
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I think that's all I have to
say.
1343
03:24:41.040 --> 03:24:44.549
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thank you. Did anyone have
questions?
1344
03:24:44.910 --> 03:24:45.580
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay.
1345
03:24:48.380 --> 03:25:01.759
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Other thoughts? Yeah, it was a
question that somebody asked. They said, to the staff, so, if we commit
to the $40,000 or $50,000 in staff time, what aren't
1346
03:25:01.940 --> 03:25:06.350
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: that's… what aren't the staff going
to be able to do? So what are we trading for that?
1347

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03:25:08.950 --> 03:25:13.999
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, the $40,000 to $50,000 is for a
consultant to come in and help with the due diligence.
1348
03:25:14.740 --> 03:25:27.319
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So we would be doing a scope of
work, and we will be sending that out depending on which way… if it gets
approved, we'll send a scope of work out to get proposals back to see if
that estimate is a good estimate.
1349
03:25:27.570 --> 03:25:45.399
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And won't that have to come before
the Budget Committee before it's approved? I mean, even if we approved it
tonight, wouldn't that have to come before the Budget Committee to have…
The Council can make a decision tonight to bypass that if they wanted to,
if they're approving authorization to go out for a scope of work for that
amount?
1350
03:25:46.220 --> 03:25:49.110
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That was part of the agenda report.
1351
03:25:49.400 --> 03:26:02.929
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And who would the consultant be? We
don't know. We would have to send out… send it out like we do with any
other consultants. We do an informal scope of work, we send it out to,
you know, consultants that we think may be
1352
03:26:03.570 --> 03:26:10.229
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: would want to apply for the work,
and we want to apply for the contract, we review those contracts, and
then we would bring it back to the City Council.
1353
03:26:10.590 --> 03:26:17.740
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: what kind of consultant would you
be sending out an RFP for? Because there's so many… there's a lot of
complexity.
1354
03:26:17.740 --> 03:26:33.610
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: you know, the building, the
finance, etc. So, what kind of consultant would you be looking for? Our
understanding is that the scope of work for the due diligence is the
financial consultant. There's a small percentage in there as far as the
preliminary layout of the building.
1355
03:26:33.610 --> 03:26:41.780

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: City staff would be looking at some
of the exterior, like the roofing and things like that, based on some of
our city staff expertise, but the financials was what
1356
03:26:42.050 --> 03:26:47.170
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And it's in the Agent Report. The
financial consultant would be the one that would review the numbers.
1357
03:26:47.560 --> 03:26:51.380
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I have a question, follow up with
that. Having been on the FHIRE committee.
1358
03:26:51.780 --> 03:26:59.769
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: When we initially looked at the
building, there were a lot of… there was a lot of talk about, oh, it's
only going to cost this, and when we actually hired the expert to come
in.
1359
03:27:00.030 --> 03:27:03.350
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We learned the cost was
exponential.
1360
03:27:03.520 --> 03:27:18.499
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Where do… I mean, so we're just
gonna settle for someone… a financial person looking at the buildings? Is
that what you're saying? No, I'm saying the scope… the due diligence,
there's… there's multiple aspects, but the scope of work that is key
right now is the financial part of it.
1361
03:27:18.520 --> 03:27:26.339
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So the scope of work would look at
the numbers, the estimates that had been provided, they would do… they
would do their due diligence and come back
1362
03:27:26.340 --> 03:27:39.329
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: with what the… if the financials
work or don't work. Estimates, but not appraisals of the building,
basically, right? No. Right. No, we would… we have not been authorized to
do any appraisals. No, no, I'm aware of that. I'm just saying that's… I'm
just saying publicly that's not…
1363
03:27:39.430 --> 03:27:46.009
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: that's not gonna be in there. I
just know, based on our experience with the fire… the fire, house.
1364

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03:27:46.280 --> 03:27:48.640
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: You know… I think it's to review…
1365
03:27:48.690 --> 03:27:59.000
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The committee can correct me if I'm
wrong, but is to review the numbers that have been presented, is to
review the options, is to have staff time, the city attorney time, to
review any of the legal issues that are coming up.
1366
03:27:59.050 --> 03:28:18.399
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The, you know, the lease
structures, revenue structures, what the city can and cannot do. And then
the financial consultant, again, will be reviewing, is it $1.75? Is it
more? Is it less for a square foot? I see. What are the options for
financing? So, it's doing that due diligence that way. Okay, thank you.
1367
03:28:19.960 --> 03:28:39.680
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Go ahead. Well, I'm looking at the
staff report, and it says the due diligence is to authorize 40 hours of
staff time, to authorize 10 hours of the attorney time, and then
authorize staff to solicit proposals. So, my question was, what are… what
are those 40 out… what would you… what are we losing here?
1368
03:28:39.690 --> 03:28:42.790
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: If 40 hours of staff time is going
1369
03:28:42.960 --> 03:28:45.799
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: To this, what is it not going to?
1370
03:28:46.300 --> 03:29:01.689
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So you could have… so for the
Public Works Director, she would be working with her construction
employee, who could go up and evaluate the buildings, so you could… and I
don't have… I'm going to have to direct you, I don't know what his
workload is right now, so if you want to…
1371
03:29:02.010 --> 03:29:06.509
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: determine what, I think it's Kevin,
as to what he may not be doing.
1372
03:29:15.230 --> 03:29:24.009
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I don't know that I've thought
through an estimate of exactly his time in that 40 hours. We have, you
know, a number of…
1373

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03:29:24.200 --> 03:29:34.939
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: CIP projects he helps with, and
encroachment inspections, but I don't think that it would be… it would
delay anything. It's just a balancing work.
1374
03:29:37.400 --> 03:29:38.710
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, thank you.
1375
03:29:39.270 --> 03:29:41.120
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Hey, other comments?
1376
03:29:44.810 --> 03:29:46.420
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: No other comments?
1377
03:29:47.600 --> 03:29:54.009
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm sorry, gotta put my glasses
back on, sorry. I didn't know. We're in comments at this point.
1378
03:29:55.760 --> 03:30:01.560
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, question. What would be a
smaller commitment, rather than giving
1379
03:30:01.820 --> 03:30:10.520
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: you know, all 40, 50 hours of staff
time and 40 to 50,000 for a consultant. What would be a smaller step that
this council could take?
1380
03:30:20.050 --> 03:30:27.290
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So I… I don't know there is a
smaller step. I think the staff time, we do need that amount of staff
time to really evaluate this.
1381
03:30:27.440 --> 03:30:38.930
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We definitely would need a
financial consultant. We do not have that expertise on staff to review
what those finances, what the lease options would be. We have the legal
on staff, but…
1382
03:30:39.130 --> 03:30:51.829
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I think it is going to take 40
hours of staff time to review this, so I'm not sure. Smaller ask. If
you're looking just at the financials and nothing else, I'm not sure. I
mean, because… But that's still… I do still think that
1383

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03:30:52.040 --> 03:30:57.940
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: and I'll go back to your previous,
like, the Fire Ad Hoc Committee, it was a $50,000 contract just to review
the financials.
1384
03:30:58.580 --> 03:31:10.119
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, again, without knowing what
those numbers are going to be, I can't sit here and tell you that it is
going to be a $50,000. I can tell you that we will go out and do our due
diligence, do the scope of work, and bring that back to the Council.
1385
03:31:10.530 --> 03:31:26.210
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So my thought is that the proposal
that I saw the other night, we didn't see a financial proposal here, but
the one I saw the other night at the O'Reilly building, it was that the
city becomes a landlord and is renting out at market rate
1386
03:31:26.440 --> 03:31:31.800
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: To tenants, and… but that… what… if
I understand the attorney correctly.
1387
03:31:31.800 --> 03:31:36.480
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We'd have to pay outright for that
building and own it before we could do that, so…
1388
03:31:36.480 --> 03:31:56.019
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to me, the financials don't make
sense. So if we just said, okay, let's look just at the financial piece
to make sure that it's actually feasible, then what's that… if you just
did that small step? Because if you can't do the finances, you're not
going to be able to fix any building, etc, etc, so…
1389
03:31:56.840 --> 03:32:08.099
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The financial piece… if you just
did the financial piece, looking at how can the city actually afford
this, considering all the other costs, et cetera, we need, what would
that cost us to look at
1390
03:32:08.100 --> 03:32:16.860
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: getting an accurate evaluation of
the financial proposal that was presented to the Commons at the O'Reilly
Building.
1391
03:32:19.890 --> 03:32:27.259

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I want to make sure I understand
your question, because what I'm hearing… are you asking, is this $40,000
to $50,000
1392
03:32:28.920 --> 03:32:36.920
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: what… is that too much for a
financial, or is that not enough? If we… if you're… is the question we
are focusing just directly on the financials? Yeah.
1393
03:32:37.570 --> 03:32:52.060
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm going to assume it's $40,000 to
$50,000, because I'm going back on just recently, again, when we did a
fire one, just for financial, it was 5… it was $50,000. My understanding,
if an ad hoc was approved from this, they would be doing a lot of the
outreach.
1394
03:32:52.060 --> 03:33:10.559
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: you know, working on their due
diligence, doing more community outreach, work… looking to see who would
be tenants and things like that. But a financial analysis, this $40,000
to $50,000, was to do the financial illness, and then there was a little
bit in there, like a few thousand for preliminary… what a preliminary
layout could look like on the interior of the building.
1395
03:33:12.330 --> 03:33:16.209
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Can you remind me what we paid for
the appraisal? It was also…
1396
03:33:16.860 --> 03:33:20.629
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: If after that, then… I, I do not, I
don't have that information.
1397
03:33:20.730 --> 03:33:22.590
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It was pretty high.
1398
03:33:23.800 --> 03:33:26.170
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We did have that offered for free.
1399
03:33:27.070 --> 03:33:28.120
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm sorry?
1400
03:33:29.210 --> 03:33:48.830
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: we have citizens that would… Oh, we
did that too, but once we actually hired an expert and discovered what we
discovered, we realized the importance of having experts do it. There was

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a lot of retrofitting, and yeah, it ended up being much more than we… any
of us thought it would be, based on friends who were looking at it. So,
just saying.
1401
03:33:49.580 --> 03:33:57.309
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Councilmember Hinton? Yeah, I have
a lot of comments. I'm just gonna kind of…
1402
03:33:57.520 --> 03:34:03.790
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: roll a few of them out here. First
of all, I want to clarify the EIFD. I've worked on that for…
1403
03:34:03.960 --> 03:34:17.750
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: many years, maybe 4 or 5. The EIFD
is a long range. We would have to have it implemented at least 10 years
before we could borrow against it. So the EIFD
1404
03:34:17.750 --> 03:34:25.310
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: is not in our immediate future. So
if somebody brought it up, I want to clarify that that's a reality of the
EIFD, okay?
1405
03:34:25.570 --> 03:34:29.040
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I also…
1406
03:34:29.570 --> 03:34:38.180
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: one of the first questions I said
was, where is our supervisor? A lot of times, supervisors can give their
districts project money.
1407
03:34:38.620 --> 03:34:53.749
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I think that we need all the
stakeholders at the table. It's… it's a little frustrating to have an ask
of $40 to $50K when we're still in a fiscal emergency, and it's not
currently budgeted, and the city's expected to pony up the whole amount.
1408
03:34:53.980 --> 03:34:56.930
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, we don't have a budget for it
right now.
1409
03:34:57.200 --> 03:35:00.190
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, to skip that process.
1410
03:35:00.720 --> 03:35:10.530

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Doesn't feel responsible right now
when we don't even know if we're gonna get our hotel built, and this
city's gonna be broke in 3 years if that hotel doesn't come into play.
1411
03:35:12.130 --> 03:35:23.009
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm like a money person. I'm
fiscally responsible, and I've lived here a long time. I plan my kids to
live here a long time. I'm hoping that they say.
1412
03:35:23.200 --> 03:35:37.529
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm looking at 50 years down the
road, 30 years down the road, I'm not looking to tomorrow or writing a
check. If I had an open pocketbook, it would be different. If the city
was in a great financial position.
1413
03:35:37.760 --> 03:35:49.630
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: it all sounds great and super
exciting, and as pointed out tonight, lots of cities are in the same
boat. We just saw City Santa Rosa making a deal, right, to try to move
into a building, and
1414
03:35:49.870 --> 03:35:56.200
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: blah blah blah. I also, and maybe
it's because I've sat here for 10 years on the dais, but…
1415
03:35:57.620 --> 03:36:07.079
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: we're in a… I need to point out
that we may have a change… changing of the guard coming up. We know we're
in an election cycle.
1416
03:36:07.350 --> 03:36:13.649
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I'll just say that a previous
council in 2017 purchased a park, which is Village
1417
03:36:13.860 --> 03:36:25.529
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Village Park now, and they
purchased it with interest for $1,006,000, which we own today. We've
owned it for 19 years, and we've spent about $85,000 to $100,000 to
maintain that park.
1418
03:36:25.820 --> 03:36:33.380
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And that's another million six,
okay? That was a decision made by the council at the time that put us in
the landlord business.
1419

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03:36:34.250 --> 03:36:52.310
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We also, when I got elected in 16,
had invested a hundred, and I believe the number is $12,000, and it was
referred to by a former council member tonight in the public, Michael
Carnacchi, and that was Pine Grove Square. We spent, in consultant fees,
$115,000.
1420
03:36:52.470 --> 03:36:59.969
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And when the council changed, the
will of the Council changed on that project, and those consultant fees
are out the door, and that project was never built.
1421
03:37:00.300 --> 03:37:08.210
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So I feel really like I want to
pump this decision to the mid-year review, which is our policy.
1422
03:37:08.490 --> 03:37:16.100
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And have the Budget Committee
review it to see if we've, you know, have enough money to fund this
additional ask.
1423
03:37:16.240 --> 03:37:26.700
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So that's not saying… No, but it's
also not saying right now. That's where I'm…
1424
03:37:27.240 --> 03:37:37.560
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: coming from, and it's just a
combination of the past and the things that the city has paid for that
we've paid on consultant fees, and I hate projects that we pay for that
just go on the shelf.
1425
03:37:37.920 --> 03:37:44.159
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I'm really that I'm not sure we
can afford it, and I… and I don't know…
1426
03:37:45.000 --> 03:37:58.720
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I mean, it all sounds great, yeah,
let's just write a check and vet it out. And I appreciate all the work
that's been done, but I think that writing the check should be pushed out
to the mid-year budget review, which is our practice.
1427
03:37:58.880 --> 03:38:08.299
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It's not like that's a surprise
decision. We always look at that mid-year review, and as previous council
members know.

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1428
03:38:08.440 --> 03:38:22.760
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Sitting on the dais and in the
room, that that's when then we decide, oh, okay, we've… we've collected
more money than we thought, or we've saved some money, and we feel like
we can add extra projects at that time, extra positions, etc.
1429
03:38:22.930 --> 03:38:23.950
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So…
1430
03:38:24.580 --> 03:38:34.380
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That's a direction to staff that I
would support tonight, and I have no idea where my colleagues are on
this, but, that's my comments.
1431
03:38:34.800 --> 03:38:36.680
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, well, I'll weigh in.
1432
03:38:36.960 --> 03:38:40.070
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I just… a couple, just a couple
points.
1433
03:38:40.200 --> 03:38:48.230
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Davis has a $95.1 million budget.
In Middletown's, facility, it was paid by the county.
1434
03:38:48.420 --> 03:38:56.250
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And by the Indian gaming and state
and federal grants. You know, so I was just curious, because I've been
trying to figure out how to get to yes.
1435
03:38:56.450 --> 03:39:03.169
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Especially when we sit here and we
talk about being in a fiscal emergency. And I just walked this weekend.
1436
03:39:03.330 --> 03:39:14.090
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I can tell you that all the
doors I knocked on, not one person was supportive of this. They asked me,
what the hell are you doing? We're in a fiscal emergency, we passed this
tax measure.
1437
03:39:14.090 --> 03:39:24.949
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: analogy of this pie-in-the-sky
idea. That's… those are the things that I heard from citizens. I did not

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have one person that actually supported it. I'm just saying, I'm not…
those are the facts.
1438
03:39:25.150 --> 03:39:32.329
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: as I talk to people, more people
are worried about what's happening with our water, and the lack of
funding for that, and also our bumpy roads.
1439
03:39:32.770 --> 03:39:49.789
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So those are the things, just in
my, you know, anecdotal, but in my discussions, this weekend. And I did
attend the town hall, the most recent one, and it's a lovely building. I
mean, it's a really great idea. It's, you know, it's beautiful. I mean,
who wouldn't want that?
1440
03:39:49.860 --> 03:40:02.029
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But I do have concerns, and I've
put a great deal of time in all of this, researching it, and asking lots
of questions, and I mean, I have put a lot of time in this. It's not
just…
1441
03:40:02.420 --> 03:40:14.799
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: You know, on a whim here. And I
actually made a long list of thoughts because I wanted to be very clear
and communicate to people the concerns I have so that you understand
where I'm coming from. You know…
1442
03:40:14.860 --> 03:40:29.280
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I just… I grapple with the idea
that it's the responsibility of the city and our taxpayers, you know, we
have 7,500 people here, to provide facilities, you know, provide, you
know, these facilities for our nonprofits and the library.
1443
03:40:29.450 --> 03:40:41.799
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: you know, where's the funding from
the county? I mean, I saw the heat map, and I've suspected that many of
the people who go to the Senior Center are from the county, and that's a
question that some of the people ask me.
1444
03:40:41.800 --> 03:40:50.150
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It's not an us and them, but it's
just the fact that there's only 7,500 people here in total, 3,300 homes
paying taxes here.
1445
03:40:50.150 --> 03:40:56.039

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Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And should the citizens living here
within this city be responsible for paying
1446
03:40:56.040 --> 03:41:11.489
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: for all the services for people who
are not actually paying into that. I mean, it's just a fact. It's just,
you know, there's only so much to go around, and people are feeling, you
know, they passed the tax measure for us, and I know everyone here is
paying that, because if you shop here, you're paying it.
1447
03:41:11.490 --> 03:41:18.699
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But it's still, you know, I had… I
listen to people talk to me about the fire. Some people are very happy
about… most of the people, I would say.
1448
03:41:18.940 --> 03:41:23.999
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I had one person who wasn't happy
about paying $265 a year, but that's another…
1449
03:41:24.220 --> 03:41:26.359
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: You know, costs that people have
been paying.
1450
03:41:26.580 --> 03:41:29.910
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I personally am very risk…
1451
03:41:30.030 --> 03:41:44.410
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: are very concerned about the risk
of destabilizing our city finances, even spending this money. I mean,
we're getting grief for approving a, you know, credit for, you know, not
charging $5,000. We've been up here at the dais for the last couple
years.
1452
03:41:45.060 --> 03:41:54.320
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: arguing over whether we should
spend 500… or allow $500 or $1,000 here and there for nonprofits, we
actually had to cut back on supporting nonprofits in every way.
1453
03:41:54.400 --> 03:42:09.190
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And just to get us where we are, I
mean, we finally have gotten ourselves to a place, but we do still have
another risky project, which is St. Vincent de Paul that this city is,
you know, on the hook for if it's not successful. And again, we're in a
fiscal emergency.
1454

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Agenda Item Number 2

03:42:09.190 --> 03:42:20.530
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm concerned with moving it from
downtown. That is something that I had, you know, I had some people
communicating to me, too. Again, isn't… isn't one of the priorities of
the city that we all
1455
03:42:20.590 --> 03:42:33.459
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: you know, we all agreed to in our
goals, and the, and the feedback that we got in our surveys was the
vitality of downtown as a priority. And so now we're talking about moving
it from downtown, so
1456
03:42:33.990 --> 03:42:46.749
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: some people that I heard from said
it's very hypocritical. Like, how can we say we were concerned about the
downtown, but yet we want to move it out to O'Reilly? And I hear, you
know, when I was at the presentation, I heard a lot about
1457
03:42:47.300 --> 03:42:52.850
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: you know, it's okay, because West
County… people who live in West County, they're all driving here, they're
driving here, and I just felt a little bit…
1458
03:42:53.360 --> 03:43:09.220
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: like, you know, we're all elected
to represent 7,500 people here, and all I heard was about, like, everyone
who's coming from outside of our city here, and that's what we should be
concerned with. I just didn't hear a lot of concern with our city folks
in that presentation. I felt a little disappointed with that.
1459
03:43:09.450 --> 03:43:14.320
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Let's see, I'm sorry, I'm gonna…
lost my place here.
1460
03:43:14.520 --> 03:43:24.059
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The other thing is, is I don't
understand. We're talking about not driving, we're asking people not to
drive for a week because we want to reduce driving, but yet.
1461
03:43:24.250 --> 03:43:30.370
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We're talking about moving
something further outside of town, which everyone will have to drive more
for, so it just…
1462
03:43:30.830 --> 03:43:39.530

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Agenda Item Number 2

Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I don't understand that, actually,
at all, so I'd like someone to explain that to me, especially people who
are on the Climate Action Committee and all of that, so that's concerning
to me.
1463
03:43:39.710 --> 03:43:42.720
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Again, people were saying it seemed
hypocritical.
1464
03:43:43.170 --> 03:44:00.399
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I personally am concerned about
the city being in the business of, you know, a money-collecting landlord,
and I have concerns about the rental limitations. You know, I've had a
lot of conversations about that over the last couple days, and questions
about how do we do this? You know, if there's all these different
limitations, what happens with that?
1465
03:44:00.660 --> 03:44:14.079
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I just have to say, I mean, I'm
really impressed. The Senior Center, less than 10 years ago, the Senior
Center was really having a hard time. I'm very aware of that. I was on
the board for the Community Center. We all had conversations.
1466
03:44:14.080 --> 03:44:29.190
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I looked at the $990 for you
all last year. I'm… it's quite amazing what you've done in this amount of
time for the, you know, as a nonprofit. I mean, your 990 shows that your
revenue in 2025 was $1.12 million. That's amazing. It really is. So…
1467
03:44:29.810 --> 03:44:45.169
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I have to say, I have faith that
regardless of what we decide here, you're successful in fundraising, and
I truly believe you will find another space, and I just want to give you
kudos for that, because as a nonprofit leader myself, I know how hard
that is, so I was really…
1468
03:44:45.190 --> 03:44:51.930
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I mean, it's like, wow. And then,
you know, I just can't figure out…
1469
03:44:51.930 --> 03:44:57.870
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: You know, again, why 70… the 7,500
residents here, 3,300 houses.
1470
03:44:57.870 --> 03:45:15.210

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Agenda Item Number 2

Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: really need to shoulder all of
this, and I just can't support moving, you know, out of downtown, and I
know that, a colleague wants to push it. I personally am just not
supportive of this in general at this point. It's a great idea, and I
understand, I mean, of getting better facilities, and we all want that.
1471
03:45:15.210 --> 03:45:36.059
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But I just can't see how we can do
that when we have been struggling with getting ourselves financially
stable again. And I hear people saying, you know, oh, just write a check,
or we can just do this and that. I didn't hear anything that was concrete
enough for me. I'm a very responsible person when it comes to money,
living within our means, that's how I've always been, and I just…
1472
03:45:36.650 --> 03:45:48.590
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I personally, I'm not even willing
to push it. I just think that right now, looking at it at this point, and
everything that we've asked our residents here already to fund so that we
could actually just balance the budget, and look!
1473
03:45:48.800 --> 03:45:54.179
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Even a year… was it a year, a year
and a half ago, we could not get a loan to replace our well.
1474
03:45:54.870 --> 03:46:14.569
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And, you know, we couldn't get
approved for it because of our financial situation, so it just seems like
it's a little early for us to be assuming that we can get these loans,
you know, do all of these things when we couldn't even get a loan to
replace a well that provides a large percentage of the water for our
residents.
1475
03:46:14.570 --> 03:46:17.739
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That alone is concerning to me, so…
1476
03:46:17.740 --> 03:46:39.900
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I personally, right now, I mean, I
know you all did a ton of work, and I respect it. I would love a new
building, too. I would love the community center to be in a better place.
I am tired of picking up that floor and moving it out of the way of the
water, and you know, I've been there and done all of that. I was just
there on… this weekend with the emergency preparedness group.
1477
03:46:39.900 --> 03:46:42.070
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Working with the seniors on that.
1478

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Agenda Item Number 2

03:46:42.100 --> 03:46:43.070
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So…
1479
03:46:43.150 --> 03:46:59.250
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm really sorry, I know you've put
a ton of time in, I hope you can understand where I'm coming from with
this, but at this time, it's just not the right time, in my opinion, and
I just feel like it's my responsibility to be very financially
responsible, and to me right now, that is us living within our means
1480
03:46:59.250 --> 03:47:04.189
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: and dealing with what we have for
now, until we can get to a better place. And…
1481
03:47:04.190 --> 03:47:16.569
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And mind you, I mean, I even went
so far as to meet with an aide from Senator Schiff to see if they would
write a letter for us recommending that we qualify for a federal loan. I
mean, you know, I mean…
1482
03:47:17.330 --> 03:47:32.700
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: they're gonna do that, but there's
just no guarantees with all of these things. I mean, seriously, a year
and a half ago, we couldn't even get one. So, anyway, that's where I'm
at. I know that's long, I appreciate everyone listening, but I really
take this seriously, and I just wanted to explain to everybody in a clear
manner,
1483
03:47:32.830 --> 03:47:35.399
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: where I'm at, and so that you could
understand why.
1484
03:47:39.760 --> 03:47:49.009
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, firstly, I'm super impressed
with the work that everybody's been doing for the past year, and I'm
grateful for…
1485
03:47:49.640 --> 03:47:56.080
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the grace that everybody's had as
we've come out watching, you know… we were making the sausage
1486
03:47:56.400 --> 03:48:01.660
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: it's not pretty when it's, you
know, getting made. It's now out of the bag, and
1487

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Agenda Item Number 2

03:48:01.860 --> 03:48:23.090
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Now it's the time for the whole
entire city to take a look at this, and so I'm super, grateful for all
the people that are now taking a look at it, having an open mind and
seeing what the possibilities of a library space could be. I've grown up,
like, in other towns with beautiful libraries, even smaller places.
1488
03:48:23.100 --> 03:48:29.649
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: This one's super well loved, and
what I mentioned at the last, presentation was, like.
1489
03:48:29.770 --> 03:48:41.589
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The library is maxed out at, like,
98%, you know, it's like a fish in a fishbowl. If you get a bigger…
bigger bowl, the fish is gonna fill it out, and it will be well-loved.
1490
03:48:41.930 --> 03:48:47.180
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: One of the biggest concerns that I
feel like I'm hearing you now is physical responsibility.
1491
03:48:47.320 --> 03:48:54.379
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I would like to honor that, and
what… what I think… that I think maybe the right next steps…
1492
03:48:54.380 --> 03:49:08.019
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: are to form an ad hoc so that we
can, you know, address the county money issue, what their contribution
could be, we can address, like, who the tenants might be, and just have
this ability to,
1493
03:49:08.020 --> 03:49:16.179
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Research further to make sure even
more of the ducks are in a row, so that these questions are answered, so
that we're going to the…
1494
03:49:16.310 --> 03:49:34.800
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: you know, like, you know, I held a
workshop at St. Stephen's and was able to hear more about the residences
and, you know, with the kids like mine who… who live near the library,
and what they would actually miss, and what kind of third places are
really important to them.
1495
03:49:36.490 --> 03:49:56.619
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: one of the major things that I'm
concerned about are the businesses downtown, and one of the things that I
thought about when we were overturning a bunch of rocks, and please know,

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Agenda Item Number 2

we tried to turn over every single rock there was, like, every single
building in this entire town we looked at before we even got to the…
1496
03:49:56.620 --> 03:49:58.290
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: O'Reilly Building, really.
1497
03:49:58.700 --> 03:50:07.430
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I came to the conclusion almost
nothing was available. If we're gonna get another library, if we're
gonna, you know, improve it, if we're…
1498
03:50:07.540 --> 03:50:14.359
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: gonna do anything. We're pretty
much gonna have to move to a different building, and the only one
available is the O'Reilly buildings.
1499
03:50:14.360 --> 03:50:28.440
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: if we're gonna add on to this
particular library that we have, and keep it in the city center, it may
not ever happen. I'm almost sure that adding it on, or improving it, or
even a remodel, which would cost $5 million.
1500
03:50:28.440 --> 03:50:36.340
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Because it would instantly, you
know, cause, like, seismic, you know, review and engineering reviews.
1501
03:50:37.030 --> 03:50:41.740
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We know that we're gonna lose part
of the commons immediately.
1502
03:50:42.050 --> 03:50:49.729
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: when the Senior Center finds
another place. You guys have to grow, and we'll figure that out one way
or the other.
1503
03:50:49.890 --> 03:50:58.980
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But if we don't move together, then
it's just a library on its own, and pretty much the downtown has lost a
big chunk of its civic core that we're all missing anyway.
1504
03:50:59.170 --> 03:51:06.520
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So if we can move them all
together, then we have the opportunity to create a different type of
economy right downtown.

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Agenda Item Number 2

1505
03:51:06.870 --> 03:51:19.609
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And all of this goes with our green
and our sustainability promises and our, you know, our vitality downtown.
It could actually bring, you know, 100 or 200 more residents straight up
1506
03:51:19.710 --> 03:51:30.400
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: downtown, who are there for 24
hours a day, and could go get coffee, could go get books, could go to
restaurants. Whereas right now, and if you go to many other cities.
1507
03:51:30.440 --> 03:51:49.139
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The library and the business
district are the ones that shut down. You know, they're only available a
couple of few hours, and really, really, they're not contributing to the
downtown like you… like they might be. Fortunately, you know, I have done
some business outreach, and some of the businesses have said whether or
not they've felt
1508
03:51:49.240 --> 03:52:02.310
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the impact of the library being
closed. And this is an amazing, you know, a point for a case study,
because we're isolating what the library's impact actually is on
businesses. Super interesting.
1509
03:52:03.570 --> 03:52:10.990
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But taking that, so, like, to wind
this all back, and quickly, so I don't just rehash the past.
1510
03:52:11.130 --> 03:52:12.359
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: 3 months of…
1511
03:52:12.640 --> 03:52:27.790
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: trying to explain how we got to the
O'Reilly building, I just want to say, like, you know, having the
opportunity to have an ad hoc, which cost the city nothing, you know, not
nothing, maybe, like, 10 hours of staff time or something like that over
the next couple of months.
1512
03:52:27.830 --> 03:52:39.160
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: we could really get to the place
where we have a better idea about what grants look like. We can still
look at different possibilities if that's what the Council's will is.
1513
03:52:39.180 --> 03:52:48.939

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Agenda Item Number 2

Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But we could definitely try to make
sure we understand how the EFID impact, which I thought would be on,
like, year 8 or year 10 in my financial model anyway.
1514
03:52:49.800 --> 03:52:57.700
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: we could understand better about
county contributions in a different way, or the JPA's contributions in a
different way.
1515
03:52:57.750 --> 03:53:09.579
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But really, we need to show the
commitment that we want a library. Otherwise, if we pass on this, if we
kick the ball too hard, we're never gonna build another library. Like,
that… this is the moment.
1516
03:53:09.600 --> 03:53:25.040
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: when O'Reilly changes, like, if we
kick this down and O'Reilly moves on, then we're forced into a place
where we have to build on that one particular place of land, and then
we're definitely into a $30 to $40 million project.
1517
03:53:25.240 --> 03:53:43.760
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: even if we want to add on, it's
gonna be $10 million minimum. You know, maybe, maybe 7, but if in a few
more years with inflation as it is, it's definitely going to be $10
million, just to add on a small little portion, and you're still not
beautifying that place, and you're still not making Sebastopol a want-tobe destination.
1518
03:53:43.810 --> 03:53:47.930
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Whereas, like, if you did come to
the O'Reilly building.
1519
03:53:48.580 --> 03:54:08.120
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I, you know, respectfully
disagree that it's gonna cause a transportation crisis, because I think a
lot of the people actually do live up there, and it's very bikeable on
the West County line, but it does take away the heart, and that's not
wanted. You know, nobody wants to take away the heart of the city and
move it up there.
1520
03:54:10.560 --> 03:54:20.020
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So I just, I just want to, you
know, propose that we, knock this back to, you know, an ad hoc for the
moment.
1521

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Agenda Item Number 2

03:54:20.290 --> 03:54:21.720
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Councilmember Hinton.
1522
03:54:22.410 --> 03:54:42.059
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'd be willing to give staff
direction to consider an ad hoc in December, and then they would work
towards, instead of this plan of $18 million, which is on slide… well, it
looks like page 16, they would consider the one building option we heard
about tonight of $8 million.
1523
03:54:42.060 --> 03:54:55.190
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And then they would bring it to,
the budget mid-year subcommittee for consideration and recommendation.
So, that's what I'm willing to propose tonight, and I don't know if I can
do that in form of a motion.
1524
03:54:55.580 --> 03:55:13.410
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I haven't made any comments yet,
so… Yeah, no, I want you to. No, I want you to, and then I have some
comments, too, so… go ahead, we have time. I think this is really,
challenging, because we have, you know, a blue ribbon committee here that
has been wanting to put together this commons for…
1525
03:55:13.610 --> 03:55:21.050
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: For our, senior center, and the
library, and the community center, and you've worked on this for a full
year.
1526
03:55:21.420 --> 03:55:27.880
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And you've landed on… the last time
you were here was July 7th.
1527
03:55:28.040 --> 03:55:44.409
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And at that meeting, you had two
possible locations. One was downtown, and the other was the O'Reilly
building. And there wasn't a financial proposal, so, what we were told at
that time is that you would come back in September with
1528
03:55:44.680 --> 03:55:55.330
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: That's what the attorney said, the
committee will come back in September to make a formal recommendation.
But instead, what happened is the committee decided on July 14th
1529
03:55:55.840 --> 03:56:04.860
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: To choose one location, and then
start holding town halls to solicit support for that one location.

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Agenda Item Number 2

1530
03:56:05.090 --> 03:56:10.009
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And… For me, that was very
upsetting.
1531
03:56:10.240 --> 03:56:14.199
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Because… It created a lot of…
1532
03:56:14.530 --> 03:56:18.739
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: unnecessary division, I think, in
the community.
1533
03:56:18.930 --> 03:56:22.909
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And… But I'm gonna, you know, set
that aside.
1534
03:56:23.300 --> 03:56:30.240
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I also think that you didn't really
look at the idea of an edition next to the library.
1535
03:56:30.430 --> 03:56:37.870
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And that could be a couple-story
addition there that could serve the Senior Center, it could serve City
Hall in some way.
1536
03:56:37.970 --> 03:56:56.039
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And that was never investigated,
and alls we were told is, well, that's too expensive, so we can't do
that. So I like to keep the two options still opened, and not land on
anything. And I also feel really strongly about the downtown core, and to
me, these…
1537
03:56:56.310 --> 03:57:08.559
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the buildings are beautiful, but
they do need a lot of work, and they're way bigger than, I think, what we
need. And I think it'd probably end up bifurcating our town, creating a
north part of town, and the center of the town, and the…
1538
03:57:09.160 --> 03:57:11.149
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: East part of town, and…
1539
03:57:12.210 --> 03:57:24.839
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I like the idea of keeping the
heart of town, and the library is central to the heart of town, so is the

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Agenda Item Number 2

senior center, and I understand you're bursting at the seams, and that's
wonderful, because you're so successful. And…
1540
03:57:24.840 --> 03:57:43.360
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I really appreciate the West County
residents. I'm grateful… Sebastopol is amazing and wonderful because of
the West County. We could never have as many restaurants as we do, or as
great a services, as great of an art center, a senior center, a community
center, all these…
1541
03:57:43.360 --> 03:57:55.770
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Services are great because we have
so many people surround… 50,000 people surrounding us that are using it,
so I have a lot of appreciation for the West County residents for that
reason, because they make our town really great.
1542
03:57:56.300 --> 03:57:58.740
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So…
1543
03:57:59.700 --> 03:58:13.930
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But we have budget constraints.
Right now, we're looking at an $850,000 deficit for this year. So the
idea of saying, okay, well, we'll give you $50,000 and a bunch of more
staff time.
1544
03:58:14.260 --> 03:58:26.660
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I… I just can't… I can't do that.
Not… not now. I would consider maybe joining, Councilmember Hinton in the
idea of taking it to a mid-year budget review.
1545
03:58:27.290 --> 03:58:33.510
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But I would like to see that the
downtown property be back in the conversation.
1546
03:58:33.890 --> 03:58:48.499
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: to see if anything could be
feasible, if you could do… you could do parking underneath it, and then
maybe 2 or 3 stories up, it could be a beautiful building as an annex to
the… or a, you know, addition to the… to the main library there that
could…
1547
03:58:48.760 --> 03:58:57.449
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: include the needs of seniors,
seniors, and I'm not sure it would work for the community center, but it
could help with City Hall.

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Agenda Item Number 2

1548
03:58:57.780 --> 03:59:04.649
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But it also could offer a beautiful
observation deck for the Laguna, because it would be up pretty high.
1549
03:59:04.840 --> 03:59:12.629
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, that would be my request, is to
include both properties in a mid-year review.
1550
03:59:13.120 --> 03:59:14.420
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And…
1551
03:59:14.630 --> 03:59:26.049
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I don't want to continue with an ad
hoc at this time, and would like to just have that mid-year review to see
if it's even financially possible.
1552
03:59:27.410 --> 03:59:34.779
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And I just… a couple things, point
of order, and simply because of what I just heard, I just… I want to
express
1553
03:59:36.660 --> 03:59:49.410
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the frustration that I felt when I
listened to the presentation, because it… I'm just gonna say it, it felt
like a sales job, not an informational type of thing. I mean, I had so
many people come out of there chewing my ear off, saying.
1554
03:59:49.830 --> 04:00:01.760
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: you know, you guys made a decision
without actually talking about it at Council, because the impression was
that the decision was made. And as a council member who sits here and has
to go through all that, and was not part of all of that.
1555
04:00:02.050 --> 04:00:17.859
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: it's… it's just disappointing, and
it's frustrating to have to explain that the decision wasn't made, but
the impression from many people is that the decision was made. And, you
know, I had several people tell me that it was a sales job. They felt
like they were at a,
1556
04:00:18.200 --> 04:00:26.580
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: what's it called? A timeshare
thing. That's what… that was the analogy they used. So, as a point of
order.

Agenda Item Number 2
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Agenda Item Number 2

1557
04:00:26.680 --> 04:00:39.830
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: for me personally, I was like,
okay, take note. When you're talking about committees and community
outreach, now we need to define some of that, because it just felt like
it kind of went beyond what, in my mind, I would have envisioned for
that, so…
1558
04:00:39.830 --> 04:00:47.339
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I just have to say, I just want to
share that with you all, and I'm not trying to… I know it sounds like a
criticism, and it is, but I'm just sharing with you the,
1559
04:00:47.700 --> 04:01:04.259
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: the discussions I've had to have,
and it's not comfortable when you're having to have those conversations
and tell people, no, a decision wasn't made, and they're like, well, it
certainly sounds like it, and it doesn't seem like anyone actually
discussed it at the council meeting. And, you know, people are
disappointed in that, so I'm just sharing that with you all. I mean.
1560
04:01:04.330 --> 04:01:09.509
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But I personally am not supportive
of having an ad hoc right now. I think that…
1561
04:01:10.100 --> 04:01:21.339
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: It's the cart before the horse. We
don't even know if we can afford it, and again, we've got the deficit,
all the things I already said, but I just wanted to share, just because
of what was said there, it didn't feel good to me sitting in there.
1562
04:01:21.460 --> 04:01:29.079
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: and, you know, afterward, kind of
being attacked by a few people, like, why is this decision made? So,
anyway, that's my…
1563
04:01:31.370 --> 04:01:32.430
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Go ahead.
1564
04:01:33.230 --> 04:01:39.729
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm gonna come back and try to
lobby, because I hear that
1565
04:01:40.320 --> 04:01:48.210
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Councilmember Maurer saying, yes,
maybe budget can review it at mid-year, but without having…

Agenda Item Number 2
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Page 180 of 364

Agenda Item Number 2

1566
04:01:48.420 --> 04:02:01.529
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: some of that information to be able
to present to Budget Committee. I do think that we would need to pull
together this Commons group that's worked really hard, and an ad hoc, at
least in December.
1567
04:02:01.560 --> 04:02:17.039
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And that would give the
stakeholders time to reach out to our supervisor, Linda Hopkins, to see
if we've got any county support, or we can drum that up, to maybe, with,
through our library commissioner, figure out if we can get the library
1568
04:02:17.040 --> 04:02:27.220
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: To kind of state where they might
be at, and so that we could go into that budget request mid-year with a
little bit of information
1569
04:02:27.590 --> 04:02:40.040
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: behind it to know that we're not
just throwing $50,000 out. So, I'm… maybe we don't have to decide
tonight, but I'm not for an ad hoc tonight, and extending the ad hocs
1570
04:02:40.940 --> 04:02:42.260
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: scope of work.
1571
04:02:42.480 --> 04:02:57.740
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But I can… will continue to try to
lobby, because I don't want all this work thrown out the window. And it
would seem like a new ad hoc created in December to get ready for the
budget presentation might make sense, so they're not coming in
1572
04:02:58.060 --> 04:03:13.090
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: cold, because this information will
be 3 months old or 4 months old by the time we get there. So… so I agree
that I don't want to throw out their work, just… just to be clear. I
mean, they don't want to throw it all out, you know, but…
1573
04:03:13.420 --> 04:03:24.760
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I've got to figure out… I would
like to include the… I would like to put the downtown space back in there
for a real evaluation, and so if that's part of the scope of the ad hoc.
1574
04:03:25.040 --> 04:03:28.210

Agenda Item Number 2
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Agenda Item Number 2

Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: that meets in December, I'm okay
with that.
1575
04:03:28.890 --> 04:03:40.179
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But can we really direct an ad hoc
now that's for December? Isn't that… So you could create one now if you
wanted, or you could wait till December. I'd like to wait till December.
1576
04:03:40.840 --> 04:03:51.749
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: But can we just send that to staff,
staff direction, that we want that to come back as an agenda item in
December for an ad hoc to be created? Yes, we could…
1577
04:03:51.880 --> 04:03:53.770
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: come back. I mean,
1578
04:03:54.420 --> 04:04:02.470
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: On the first or second meeting in
December, there's going to be a turnover on the Council… Which is pending
in the second meeting.
1579
04:04:04.650 --> 04:04:18.100
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I think it's the first meeting,
isn't it? The first meeting is when the turnover happens, but yeah, and
then it really depends on how quickly the counting comes. Understood.
Understood, but I think we've never missed the first meeting.
1580
04:04:18.460 --> 04:04:22.009
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So is that just staff direction, or
do we have to move it?
1581
04:04:22.450 --> 04:04:24.830
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, and I… I don't want to…
1582
04:04:25.050 --> 04:04:27.689
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I don't know if there's support for
that, but…
1583
04:04:28.450 --> 04:04:40.489
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So what's your motion? I'd support
that. It's not a motion, they said it's just staff direction. And what's
the direction? The direction would be to come back the second week,
meeting in December.
1584

Agenda Item Number 2
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Agenda Item Number 2

04:04:40.690 --> 04:04:43.569
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: With an agenda item to create an ad
hoc.
1585
04:04:43.760 --> 04:04:59.779
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: with a scope of work to be
determined, but would bring both properties that we were discussing
downtown and O'Reilly back in to get some information enough to submit, a
proposal for this same financial scope of work to the mid-year budget
review.
1586
04:04:59.930 --> 04:05:01.210
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I second that.
1587
04:05:02.020 --> 04:05:03.919
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Okay, so we'll do it as a motion.
1588
04:05:04.070 --> 04:05:07.889
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Thanks. And just to clarify
something to make sure that…
1589
04:05:08.530 --> 04:05:24.969
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: everyone's talking about the same
thing. An ad hoc is comprised solely of two council members, so no… not
the full community. Not community or anything, right? It's staff and two
council members, correct? Yeah, we'll make sure that the scope of work,
because
1590
04:05:25.200 --> 04:05:34.829
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I agree, the town halls were not
typical in an ad hoc committee, so it might… we'll determine the scope of
work at that time.
1591
04:05:35.440 --> 04:05:46.750
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: I'm just gonna say I still just
struggle with the whole money thing, so I don't want work thrown out
either, but it's really… I'm not sure, you know, either way, financially
is the issue for me right now, so anyway.
1592
04:05:50.370 --> 04:06:11.679
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So you just need direction? Well,
we have a motion. We have a motion. Sorry. Can you read the motion back?
So the motion that I'd heard was moved by Councilmember Hinton and
seconded by Vice Mayor Maurer to direct staff to reading back at the
second meeting in December an agenda item to consider creation of an ad
hoc committee with the proposed scope of work to include

Agenda Item Number 2
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Agenda Item Number 2

1593
04:06:11.680 --> 04:06:16.950
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: for both locations, and to bring
that back for Council consideration at that said meeting.
1594
04:06:17.510 --> 04:06:23.810
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And then, what… didn't you have…
they would also go to budget review, in order… in preparation to go to
budget review, right?
1595
04:06:23.970 --> 04:06:24.670
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Yep.
1596
04:06:25.430 --> 04:06:41.940
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Part of the scope of work would be
in preparation for the mid-year budget review. Mid-year budget review.
And I just want to make a statement before we vote, it's just that I
can't support having something outside of our downtown, so I will be
voting no, but I want people to understand why. I'm just not supportive
of moving it out of the downtown.
1597
04:06:42.970 --> 04:06:44.710
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And having that as part of it.
1598
04:06:48.810 --> 04:06:54.709
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: And we have to do this fast,
because as a point of order, at 10.30, we all have to agree, otherwise…
1599
04:06:55.660 --> 04:07:04.210
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: The meeting ends. Mayor? I'll say
it as far… oh, sorry. Go ahead, you're gonna read it again. I'm gonna…
yeah, so… Include the downtown. Yeah. I'm sorry?
1600
04:07:04.780 --> 04:07:06.859
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: We included the downtown, right.
1601
04:07:06.860 --> 04:07:27.530
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, so moved by Councilmember
Hinton and seconded by Vice Mayor Maurer to direct staff to bring back to
the second meeting in December, consideration of creation of an ad hoc
committee, with the proposed scope of work to include staff time and
definitions, and then to cons… for consideration of both locations in
preparation for the mid-year budget review.
1602

Agenda Item Number 2
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Agenda Item Number 2

04:07:28.270 --> 04:07:37.320
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: If it wasn't seconded… It was, yes.
Councilmember Carter? Yes. Councilmember Hinton? Aye. Councilmember
Zolman? Yes.
1603
04:07:37.720 --> 04:07:47.809
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: Vice Mayor Maurer? Yes. Mayor
McLewis? At this time, no. Motion passes 4 to 1, with Council Members
Carter, Hinton, Zolman, and Vice Mayor Maurer in support, and Mayor
McLewis in opposition.
1604
04:07:48.150 --> 04:08:00.620
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: So, I think, just reading body
language, I can see we're not staying past 1030. Is that a correct
assumption? So, just so you all know, we have to have a unanimous
agreement in order to stay past 1030, so the meeting will be
1605
04:08:00.820 --> 04:08:02.659
Sebastopol Community Cultural Center: A journey. Thank you.

Agenda Item Number 2
City Council Meeting Packet for October 6, 2026
Page 185 of 364

City Council Meeting - September 15, 2026

Agenda Item Number 2

ALL RIGHT. I HAVE A SEMI-SOLUTION. WE ARE GOING TO START WITH THE
PROCLAMATIONS. MARY, DO WE NEED TO CALL TO ORDER? OKAY. WE'RE GOING TO
START AND MAKE IT SO THE PROCLAMATIONS BECAUSE I KNOW MANY OF YOU ARE HERE
FOR THAT. SO WE ARE GOING TO GET THROUGH THAT WHILE THEY ARE STILL TRYING TO
TROUBLESHOOT WITH THE OTHER STUFF. HOPEFULLY WITH THE TIME THEY MIGHT
FIGURE THAT OUT AND THEN WE CAN KEEP MOVING. BUT RATHER THAN PAUSING AND
MAKING ALL OF YOU WAIT HERE -- GIVE ME ONE SECOND. LET ME JUST GET MY AGENDA
HERE. MARY, YOU CAN TELL ME.
WE ARE GOOD.
ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE. APOLOGIES. TECHNOLOGY IS GREAT UNTIL
IT IS NOT. SO WE ARE GOING TO CALL THIS TO ORDER AND MARY IS GOING TO DO THE
ROLL CALL.
[ ROLL BEING CALLED ]
PLEASE NOTE ALL COUNCILMEMBERS ARE IN ATTENDANCE.
THANK YOU. LET ME MOVE THROUGH THIS HERE. WE'RE GOING TO NOW DO THE SALUTE
TO THE FLAG IF YOU WILL STAND WITH ME.
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TO THE
REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS ONE NATION UNDER GOD INDIVISIBLE WITH LIBERTY
AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.
ALL RIGHT. WE DO A LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT AT EVERY MEETING. GOING TO GO
AHEAD AND READ THAT.
THE CITY OF SEBASTOPOL ACKNOWLEDGES THAT WE LIVE AND WORK WITHIN THE
UNCEDED ANCESTRAL HOMELANDS OF THE SOUTHERN POMO AND THE COAST MIWOK
PEOPLE. WE PAY OUR RESPECT TO THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE GENERATIONS OF
THESE PEOPLES, INCLUDING THE FEDERATED INDIANS OF GRATON RANCHERIA.
AND TYPICALLY AFTER THIS I DO A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEBASTOPOL, BUT SINCE WE CAN'T
PULL ANYTHING UP OR ANY PHOTOS, I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND SKIP THAT COMMAND
WERE GOING TO MOVE ON TO THE PROCLAMATIONS. THE FIRST PROCLAMATION WE
HAVE IS CREEK WEEK. OUR VICE MAYOR, SANDRA MAURER, IS GOING TO BRING THAT
FOR US. ARE YOU RECEIVING THAT ? OKAY.
CREEK WEEK AND POLLUTION PREVENTION WEEK. WHEREAS, THE THIRD SATURDAY IN
SEPTEMBER IS RECOGNIZED WORLDWIDE AS INTERNATIONAL CLEANUP DAY BRINGING
MILLIONS OF VOLUNTEERS TOGETHER TO REMOVE LITTER FROM BEACHES, RIVERS,
CREEKS, AND SHORELINES, DEMONSTRATING THAT PROTECTING INLAND WATERWAYS IS
ESSENTIAL TO THE HEALTH OF OUR OCEANS. WHEREAS, THROUGHOUT THE UNITED
STATES, THE WEEK STARTING ON THE THIRD MONDAY OF SEPTEMBER IS RECOGNIZED AS
NATIONAL POLLUTION PREVENTION WEEK. WHEREAS THROUGHOUT MUCH OF
CALIFORNIA, INCLUDING THE RUSSIAN RIVER WATERSHED, CITIES, COUNTIES, AND
OTHER STEWARDSHIP ORGANIZATIONS ARE RECOGNIZING THE FOURTH WEEK OF
SEPTEMBER AS CREEK WEEK. AND WHEREAS, OUR POLLUTION PREVENTION PRACTICES
ARE INTRINSICALLY LINKED TO THE HEALTH OF OUR WATERSHED LANDS AND
WATERWAYS. WHEREAS, THE RUSSIAN RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION SUPPORTS
PROGRAMS TO REDUCE POLLUTION, INCREASE THE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY OF OUR
WATERSHED AND PROVIDE OUR COMMUNITIES WITH THE KNOWLEDGE TO BE EFFECTIVE
STEWARDS OF THE RUSSIAN WATERSHED LANDS AND WATERWAYS. WHEREAS THE
NEARLY SQUARE MILES OF LANDS, 150 CREEKS, AND APPROXIMATELY 360,000 RESIDENTS
OF THE RUSSIAN RIVER WATERSHED ARE CONNECTED AND MUTUALLY SUPPORT EACH
OTHER . WHEREAS, THE RUSSIAN RIVER ALONG WITH ITS TRIBUTARIES AND ASSOCIATED
FEATURES ARE IMPORTANT RESOURCES TO THE PEOPLE OF SONOMA AND MENDOCINO
COUNTIES. WHEREAS POLLUTION IN THE FORM OF TRASH AND DEBRIS, CHEMICALS FROM
INDUSTRY AND EVERYDAY LIVING, AND SEDIMENT FROM CONSTRUCTION AND MANY
LAND USES AND ACTIVITIES ALL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO DEGRADE THE QUALITY OF
LIFE AND THE QUALITY OF RESOURCES WITHIN THE RUSSIAN RIVER WATERSHED, AND
WHEREAS, THE RUSSIAN RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION STRIVES TO PROTECT OUR
AgendaOUTREACH
Item Number 2 WHICH
LAND AND WATERWAYS THROUGH ONGOING POLLUTION PREVENTION
City Council Meeting Packet for October 6, 2026
Page 186 of 364

AIMS TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF THE POLLUTANTS
TO 2OUR
Agenda Item Number
NATURAL SYSTEMS. AND WHEREAS, DURING POLLUTION PREVENTION WEEK AND CREEK
WEEK, RIVER AND OCEAN CLEANUP CAMPAIGNS WILL TAKE PLACE THROUGHOUT
SONOMA AND MENDOCINO COUNTIES. AND WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A CREEK WEEK
CLEANUP HERE. COUNCILMEMBER CARTER, DO YOU HAVE A DATE ON THAT? IT WILL BE
IN THE LAGUNA.
THIS SATURDAY. ALMOST IN THIS PARKING LOT BESIDE THE BASEBALL FIELDS AT 9:00
A.M. BUT ACTUALLY IT IS ALL SIGNED UP AND ALL FULL. SO YOU CAN COME AND JOIN,
BUT WE'VE GOT IT GOING.
ALL RIGHT. THIS IS OUR PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR, ARIANNA.
THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. LET'S GET TO THE SECOND PROCLAMATION. AND THAT WOULD
BE PROCLAMATION PROCLAIMING SEPTEMBER 2026 LATINO HERITAGE MONTH. WE HAVE
COUNCILMEMBER STEPHEN ZOLLMAN DOING THAT ONE.
THANK YOU, MADAME MAYOR. THIS IS A PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING LATINO
HERITAGE MONTH. WHEREAS THE CITY OF SEBASTOPOL JOINS THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
AND COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE NATION IN OBSERVING LATINO HERITAGE MONTH FROM
SEPTEMBER 15th THROUGH OCTOBER 15th HONORING HISTORIES, CULTURES, AND
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE LATINO AND HISPANIC AMERICANS. WHEREAS SONOMA
COUNTY'S LATINO COMMUNITY IS AN INTEGRAL PART CONTRIBUTING TO OUR LOCAL
ECONOMY THROUGH AGRICULTURE, HOSPITALITY, AND SMALL BUSINESS OWNERSHIP
AND ENRICHING OUR COMMUNITIES THROUGH ART, MUSIC AND THE FOOD, AND FAMILY
TRADITIONS CELEBRATED EACH YEAR AT EVENTS SUCH AS FIESTA DAY AND OTHER
REGIONAL GATHERINGS. WHEREAS LATINO RESIDENTS OF SEBASTOPOL CONTRIBUTE
DAILY TO THE VITALITY OF OUR SCHOOLS, BUSINESSES, FARMS, AND CIVIL
ORGANIZATIONS, AND THEIR LEADERSHIP AND STRENGTH STRENGTHEN THE SOCIAL
FABRIC OF OUR COMMUNITY, AND WHEREAS THE OBSERVATION ALLOWS AN
OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL SEBASTOPOL RESIDENTS TO LEARN ABOUT , CELEBRATE, AND
SUPPORT THE ACHIEVEMENTS AND ONGOING CONTRIBUTIONS OF LATINO AND HISPANIC
AMERICANS, AND TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND ADVANCE A COMMUNITY THAT IS WELCOMING
AND INCLUSIVE OF ALL. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT OUR MAYOR, JILL
McLEWIS, ON BEHALF OF THE ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL OF SEBASTOPOL HAS PROCLAIMED
SEPTEMBER 15, 2026, -- THERE IS A MISSTATEMENT HERE -- MAYOR, I THINK WE'RE GOING
TO FIX THIS -- TO BE LATINO HERITAGE MONTH. AND THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
MARGARET FLOREZ McCABE, FROM COLLABORATIVE WAS ON HER WAY. I DON'T KNOW IF
SHE MADE IT OR NOT, BUT THEY DO WONDERFUL WORK ON BEHALF OF OUR IMMIGRANT
COMMUNITY. SOME GOING TO GIVE THIS BACK TO OUR WONDERFUL CITY MANAGER TO
HAVE THIS CORRECTED AND I WILL MAKE SURE I GIVE THIS TO HER.
ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. AND THEN OUR NEXT PROCLAMATION -- AND JUST -- I FORGOT
TO MENTION AFTER WE DO THE PROCLAMATIONS, THEN WE CAN TAKE PUBLIC COMMENT.
WE DO THAT UP TO 20 MINUTES. ANYTHING RELATED TO THE PROCLAMATIONS -- WE
WILL DO THAT RIGHT AFTER. SO THE NEXT ONE IS PROCLAMATION SEPTEMBER AS
CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS MONTH. AND OUR COUNCILMEMBER PHILL CARTER IS
GOING TO DO THAT ONE.
OKAY. CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS MONTH. WHEREAS CHILDHOOD CANCER IS THE
LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH BY DISEASE IN CHILDREN AND WHEREAS 100 TO 185 -- 46
CHILDREN PER DAY OR 16,000 -- 16,790 PER YEAR ARE DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER IN THE
UNITED STATES AND THE AVERAGE AGE OF DIAGNOSIS IS SIX YEARS OLD. WHEREAS 80%
OF CHILDHOOD CANCER PATIENTS ARE DIAGNOSED LATE WITH META-TESTED DISEASE.
WHERE IS APPROXIMATELY ONE HALF OF CHILDHOOD CANCER FAMILIES RATE THE
ASSOCIATED FINANCIAL TOXICITY DUE TO OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES ARE
CONSIDERABLE TO SEVERE, AND WHEREAS RESEARCHERS AND HEALTHCARE
PROFESSIONALS WORK DILIGENTLY DEDICATING THEIR EXPERTISE TO TREAT AND CURE
CHILDHOOD WITH CANCER. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED CITY OF SEBASTOPOL
DOES HEREBY PROCLAIM SEPTEMBER AS CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS MONTH AND
SUPPORT THIS CAUSE THAT SO DEEPLY IMPACTS FAMILIES IN EVERY COMMUNITY
ACROSS OUR COUNTRY.
AND I DON'T KNOW -- DO WE HAVE ANYONE HERE TO ACCEPT THAT PROCLAMATION?
Agenda
Number
2
OKAY. ALL RIGHT. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. NO PROBLEM. SO THE LAST ONE
WEItem
ARE
GOING
TO
City Council Meeting Packet for October 6, 2026
Page 187 of 364

DO IS RECLAMATION HONORING JIM CORBETT, A.K.A., MR. MUSIC . ALL
RIGHT.
ALL
Agenda
Item Number
2 RIGHT.
RECOGNIZING JIM CORBETT, MR. MUSIC DAY IN SEBASTOPOL, SEPTEMBER 15, 2026.
WHEREAS THE SHARING OF MUSIC AND MESSAGE OF PEACE CONTRIBUTE TO A DEEPER
SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND COMPASSION IN ALL PLACES, INCLUDING HERE IN
SEBASTOPOL. WHEREAS THE SOURCES OF SHARED MUSIC AND MESSAGES OF PEACE
SHOULD BE CHERISHED AND HONORED. WHEREAS ONE OF THOSE ENDURING SOURCES
HAS BEEN THE MUSICIANSHIP, TEACHING, AND INSPIRATION FROM SEBASTOPOL'S OWN
JIM CORBETT, ALSO KNOWN AS MR. MUSIC. WHEREAS MR. MUSIC HAS TAUGHT
THOUSANDS OF LOCAL STUDENTS TO SING AND LOVE MUSIC, WHEREAS MR. MUSIC HAS
LED CHOIR IN SONG AND HARMONY AT NUMEROUS EVENTS IN OUR SEBASTOPOL TOWN
PLAZA AND ELSEWHERE IN OUR COMMUNITY. WHEREAS JIM CORBETT HAS BEEN
HONORED AS SEBASTOPOL CITIZEN OF THE YEAR AND HAS LENT HIS LEADERSHIP AND
EFFORTS OF COMMUNITY BUILDING TO OUR SEBASTOPOL CULTURE, CULTURAL AND
COMMUNITY CENTER. THE SEBASTOPOL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE , THE ANNUAL
FIREWORKS SHOWS, AND THE NUMEROUS LOCAL ROTARY CLUB EVENTS. WHEREAS,
FOREMOST, MR. MUSIC IS THE FOUNDER OF THE PEACETOWN USA SUMMER CONCERTS
AND GATHERINGS IN 2012 AND ESTABLISHED SEBASTOPOL AS THE UNDISPUTED HOME
Z.I.P. CODE, 95472 OF PEACETOWN USA. WHEREAS SEBASTOPOL'S PEACETOWN IS A
BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO BE AND THE DOOR IS ALWAYS OPEN. MR. CORBETT AND
PEACETOWN PROMOTES THE PRINCIPLES OF PEACE IS THE MOST POWERFUL SOURCE OF
ENERGY IN THE UNIVERSE AND AS AN INFINITE SOURCE AS IT FLOWS AMONG ALL PEOPLE
IN TOTAL ABUNDANCE. WHEREAS PEACETOWN CELEBRATES THE WAY OF BEING,
INCLUDE, BE KIND, BE HAPPY, BE GRATEFUL, CREATE UNITY, BUILD COMMUNITY, LOVE
YOUR NEIGHBOR, CHOOSE LOVE OVER FEAR, LAUGH, SAYING, DANCE, AND PLAY,
MEDITATE, AND/OR PRAY EVERY DAY, LOVE YOURSELF AS A DIVINE BEING, AND SEE
OTHERS AS DIVINE BEINGS. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT I, JILL McLEWIS, ON
BEHALF OF THE ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL OF SEBASTOPOL DO HEREBY PROCLAIM
SEPTEMBER 15, 2026, TO BE JIM CORBETT MR. MUSIC DAY IN THE CITY OF SEBASTOPOL IN
HONOR OF MR. CORBETT'S MANY YEARS OF BRINGING -MY ARTIST BRAIN AND SHOWING ME HOW TO JUMP THROUGH THE PROPER HOOPS TOO.
I'D ALSO LIKE TO THANK THE FORMAL COUNCIL THAT DECLARED SEBASTOPOL
PEACETOWN, USA. THAT WAS SUPPOSEDLY FROM DR. LARRY ROBINSON. HE SAID IT WAS
ABOUT 2008. AND WE CAN FIGURE THAT. IT IS A SPECIAL PLACE WE HAVE AT PEACETOWN.
AND FOR ME PERSONALLY, AS I SAY, GETTING TO BRING MUSIC TO KIDS -- LES CRAWFORD
WAS ONE OF THE GUYS THAT GAVE ME ONE OF MY EARLY JOBS. MY JOB WAS GUITAR,
KEYBOARD, AND A PUPPET TO SCHOOLS. AND THE LITTLE KIDS. SO LIKE I SAY, I HAVEN'T
STARTED WORKING YET. SO -- AND THEN 30 YEARS WE HAVE HAD KIDS WITH WRINKLES,
WHICH IS THE LOVE CHOIR. AND WE SANG AND THERE IS SOMETHING VERY HOLY ABOUT
PEOPLE SINGING TOGETHER. AND IT BRINGS COMMUNITY. AND THEN THE PEACETOWN
SUMMER CONCERT SERIES JUST KIND OF STARTED ON A WHIM. WE STARTED WITH FOUR
CONCERTS AT THE PARK. AND WE JUST KIND OF TOOK OVER FROM THE ARTS CENTER
BECAUSE THEY HAD JUST MOVED INTO THE VETS BUILDING AND THEY HAD DONE
CONCERTS IN THE PLAZA. AND IT WAS SO WONDERFUL DOING IT IN THE PARK AND IT
KIND OF FILLED THAT FRONT LITTLE PART. I SAID, I'M NOT GOING TO BE HAPPY UNTIL
THE WHOLE PLACE IS FULL. IF YOU WERE THERE THIS YEAR AT ALL, YOU SAW WE
ACTUALLY HAVE ONLY 2000 PEOPLE IN THE PARK. AND PEOPLE -- CALLING IT
PEACETOWN, PEOPLE WOULD SHOW UP WITH THEIR GOOD VIBE. LOVE VIBE IS
ABSOLUTELY CONTAGIOUS. SO EVERYBODY IS FEELING REALLY GOOD ABOUT -- SO I
DON'T KNOW. IT REALLY IS A LOVEFEST, AND IT FEELS REALLY, REALLY GOOD. AND IT
JUST SHOWS HOW IF WE CONCENTRATE ON THE POSITIVE STUFF THAT IS HAPPENING AND
DO THOSE FIRST THINGS -- YOU KNOW, BE KIND, BE HAPPY, BE GRATEFUL -- LIFE CAN BE
REALLY, REALLY SWEET. AND THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO BE. AND ALL YOU HAVE TO
DO IS KEEP EMBRACING EACH OTHER AND BUILDING OUR COMMUNITY ON WHAT WE
WANT AND QUIT WAVING OUR FISTS AT THE THINGS WE DON'T WANT BECAUSE THAT
ADDS ENERGY TO THAT. AND I APPRECIATE THE COUNCIL BECAUSE YOU GUYS -- YOU DO
PEACETOWN HERE. YOU SHOULD START WITH A MOMENT OF SILENCE, YOU KNOW. BUT -AND I HAVE YOUR PROCLAMATION FOR YOU.
Agenda Item Number 2
City Council Meeting Packet for October 6, 2026
Page 188 of 364

YEAH. SO ANYWAY, THANK YOU SO MUCH. AND THE COUNCIL -- YOU
ARE
Agenda
Item ALL
Number 2
CARETAKERS OF PEACETOWN NOW. SO.
OKAY.
[ INAUDIBLE ]
OKAY. ALL RIGHT. THE GOOD NEWS IS WE HAVE OUR TECHNOLOGY GOING. FOR THOSE
OF YOU WHO ARE ON ZOOM AND HEARING THIS, WE HAVE HAD I.T. ISSUES FOR THE LAST
HALF HOUR. SO WE ARE GOOD TO GO. WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO IS GO RIGHT INTO
PUBLIC COMMENT. IF ANYONE HAS ANY -- I'M SORRY.
I WOULD LIKE TO JUST SAY ONE THING TO JIM, AND THAT IS, I'M REMEMBERING YOUR
WONDERFUL TOOLBOX PROJECT THAT YOU BROUGHT TO KIDS IN SCHOOLS AND I WANT
TO THANK YOU FOR THAT AND FOR EVERYTHING. YEAH. WONDERFUL.
SO I HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING AS WELL. THE TOOLBOX PROJECT. MY KIDS DID IT. LIZ
TOOK CARE OF MY KIDS' CASTLE. I HAVE KNOWN JIM THROUGHOUT GROWING UP IN THIS
TOWN. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO . AND THANKS FOR HELPING THE CITY
HOST A BEAUTIFUL MUSIC EVENT THROUGH THE SUMMER LIKE THE OTHER CITIES HAVE
IT AND I DON'T THINK WE COULD DO IT WITHOUT YOU. SO THANK YOU.
ALL RIGHT. SO ANYONE HERE WHO IS WISHING TO SAY ANYTHING, WE DO PUBLIC
COMMENT, AND MARY WILL TAKE IT OVER HERE IN JUST A SECOND. IT IS TWO MINUTES
AND THERE IS A TIME LIMIT ON THAT IN TOTAL. SOME GO TO HAND THAT OVER TO MARY.
FOR THOSE ON ZOOM LISTENING TO THIS, WE HAD I.T. ISSUES. THAT IS WHY YOU KIND OF
CAME IN MIDSTREAM HERE WITH THE SOUND. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT IS
WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON. AND NOW WE ARE GOING TO GO INTO OUR OFFICIAL PUBLIC
COMMENT TO THE MEETING. ALEX, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I NEED TO DO?
DID YOU WANT TO -OH, YES. THANK YOU. EVERYTHING IS A LITTLE OFF. I WANTED TO MENTION -- LET'S SEE. I
HAVE -- LET ME SEE HERE. SEE, ALEX, I SHOULD HAVE MADE THESE NOTES.
I THINK STAFF HAS -- IS PUSHING TO A LATER DATE THE ITEM THAT IS -IT IS ITEM NUMBER -- FOR THOSE THAT ARE LOOKING -- SORRY.
12. COMMISSION AND COMMITTEE WORK PLANS IS GOING TO BE CONTINUED TO A
DIFFERENT DATE.
CORRECT. YES. SO ITEM 12. SO I WANTED TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE KNOWS THAT THAT
IS HAPPENING. AND BEFORE WE GO ON, I KNOW THERE WERE REQUESTS TO MOVE THINGS
AROUND A BIT. WE HAVE A FEW ITEMS ON THIS AGENDA THAT ACTUALLY HAVE LINES IN
THE NEXT WEEK OR SO THAT WE HAVE TO GET TO BEFORE WE CAN DO OTHER ITEMS,
OTHERWISE WE CAN'T KEEP MOVING FORWARD WITH ITEMS SUCH AS WITH THESE ITEMS
YOU WILL SEE WHAT WE ARE GOING THROUGH. BUT THEY HAVE, LIKE THE DEFINITE
DEADLINES IN THE NEXT WEEK THAT WE HAVE TO DO BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE. SO ALL
OF THAT -- I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND LET MARY START WITH PUBLIC COMMENT.
THANK YOU, MAYOR. AS YOU STATED, THIS IS PUBLIC COMMENT. IT IS A 20 MINUTE TIME
LIMIT. ABOUT TWO MINUTES PER SPEAKER. WE GO INTO COUNCIL CHAMBERS FIRST AND
THEN GO OUT TO ZOOM FOR THOSE THAT CAN HEAR US. CAN I JUST DO A SOUND CHECK,
I.T.?
IT IS. BUT WE HAVE TO WAIT. WE HAVE TO HAVE -- YEAH, ITEMS THAT ARE NOT ON THE
AGENDA. SORRY.
ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE.
EVERYONE, WE ARE READY WHENEVER WE GET OUR TWO COUNCILMEMBERS BACK. SO. I
DON'T KNOW WHERE SANDY WENT TO. VICE MAYOR? WE WILL GIVE HER A MOMENT.
WONKY NIGHT. OKAY. SHOULD WE JUST GET -- I DON'T KNOW. VICE MAYOR?
SANDY.
LAST CALL FOR SANDY.
LAST CALL.
OKAY. ALL RIGHT. IS IT OKAY IF -- I DON'T KNOW -WE HAVE A QUORUM.
OKAY. LET'S GO. SO I'M JUST GOING TO RESTATE -- FIRST, I MEANT TO ASK EVERYONE,
DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY CONFLICTS OF INTEREST BEFORE WE DO THIS? JUST TO VERIFY.
OKAY. FOR THOSE WHO ARE ONLINE, WE ARE GOING TO GET BACK. WE HAD A TECH ISSUE
AGAIN. WE ARE GOING INTO PUBLIC COMMENT. I'M GOING TO HAND IT OVER TO MARY.
THIS IS FOR ITEMS THAT ARE NOT ON THE AGENDA CURRENTLY. Agenda Item Number 2
City Council Meeting Packet for October 6, 2026
Page 189 of 364

THANK YOU, MAYOR. AS WE JUST STATED, IT IS A 20-MINUTE TIME LIMIT.
WE
GO2INTO
Agenda Item
Number
COUNCIL CHAMBERS FIRST AND THEN GO OUT TO ZOOM , COME BACK, AND GO OUT.
ONCE WE HAD THAT 20 MINUTE TIME LIMIT, PUBLIC COMMENT STOPS. THERE IS A SECOND
PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD AT THE END OF THE MEETING IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO TALK
DURING THAT PERIOD AND WERE NOT ABLE TO, THERE IS THAT OPPORTUNITY. AGAIN,
THIS IS FOR ITEMS NOT ON TONIGHT'S AGENDA. SO WE WILL, TO CHAMBERS FIRST. IF
THERE'S ANYONE THAT WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON
TONIGHT'S AGENDA. OKAY.
I JUST WANTED TO TAKE A MINUTE AND INTRODUCE MYSELF. I AM IAN HAWK. I'M
RUNNING FOR CITY COUNCIL. I'M JUST HERE TO OBSERVE AND LISTEN. APPRECIATE ALL
THE WORK THAT YOU DO. AND HOPEFULLY I WILL BE JOINING YOU SOON. THANK YOU.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PUBLIC COMMENT. I WILL GO OUT TO ZOOM. SANDY, CAN YOU
UNMUTE YOURSELF, PLEASE?
YES.
CAN YOU SEE THE TWO-MINUTE TIMER?
YES, I CAN. MY NAME IS CINDY, AND I AM A MEMBER OF THE SEBASTOPOL CLIMATE
ACTION COMMITTEE. I'M HERE TO INVITE AND URGE COUNCILMEMBERS AND CITY STAFF
TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WEEK WITHOUT DRIVING CHALLENGE THIS OCTOBER 1st
THROUGH 8th. AND I ALSO WANT TO THANK COUNCILMEMBERS CARTER AND MAURER,
WHO HAVE ALREADY SIGNED UP FOR THIS CHALLENGE. THE WEEK WITHOUT DRIVING
CHALLENGE IS A NATIONAL ANNUAL EVENT HIGHLIGHTING THE BARRIERS FACED BY
THOSE WHO CAN'T OR DON'T DRIVE. THE CHALLENGE INVITES ELECTED LEADERS,
MUNICIPAL STAFF, AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO GO ABOUT THEIR DAILY LIVES
COMMUTING, SHOPPING, AND ATTENDING MEETINGS WITHOUT DRIVING THEMSELVES.
PUBLIC TRANSIT, WALKING, BIKING, AND CARPOOLING ARE ALL ENCOURAGED. ELECTED
LEADERS SHAPE THE SYSTEM THAT EITHER INCLUDE OR EXCLUDE. BY EXPERIENCING A
WEEK WITHOUT DRIVING, LEADERS CAN IDENTIFY GAPS, BUILD EMPATHY, AND MAKE
INFORMED, INCLUSIVE TRANSPORTATION DECISIONS. AND I WANTED TO ADD THAT IT IS
OKAY IF YOU HAVE A FEW TRIPS DURING THE WEEK THAT YOU JUST CAN'T MAKE WORK
WITHOUT DRIVING. YOU CAN STILL BE DISSIPATE. YOUR EXPERIENCE OF NOT HAVING
PUBLIC TRANSIT OPTIONS TO MAKE THESE TRIPS IS REALLY VALUABLE. AS A HIGH
SCHOOL TEACHER MYSELF OF TEENS, AS A PARENT, AND A DAUGHTER AND SISTER OF
BLIND AND DISABLED ADULTS, I REALLY SEE THE GAPS IN OUR PUBLIC TRANSIT, AND I
URGE YOU ALL TO JOIN THIS WEEK WITHOUT DRIVING CHALLENGE. I'LL BE JOINING
MYSELF. AND I WILL SEND AGAIN THE EMAIL INVITE TO COUNCILMEMBERS AND ALSO TO
MARY SO YOU CAN SHARE WITH STAFF THAT WANTS TO PARTICIPATE. AND THE PUBLIC.
JUST LOOK IT UP. WEEK WITHOUT DRIVING.
THANK YOU, SANDY, FOR YOUR PUBLIC COMMENT. NEXT I WILL, TO CHAMBERS. IF
THERE'S ANYONE IN CHAMBERS THAT WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A PUBLIC COMMENT FOR AN
ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA. SEEING NONE, I WILL GO BACK OUT TO ZOOM. MIKE , CAN
YOU UNMUTE YOURSELF?
YES, HELLO. MY NAME IS MIKE. I DID SEND YOU A WRITTEN COMMUNICATION BUT I JUST
WANTED TO FOLLOW-UP FOR A MINUTE ONLINE OR IN PERSON. AND THAT IS WHEN
GOVERNMENT WORKS, IT WORKS ACROSS OUR COMMUNITY. SO SUCCESS IN SEBASTOPOL
, SUCCESS WITH OUR SCHOOLS, SUCCESS IN THE COUNTY, STATE, FEDERAL LEVEL. WE SEE
THAT SUCCESS, WE ALL BENEFIT. I WANT TO DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO ISSUES
RELATED TO SANTA ROSA JUNIOR COLLEGE AND THE BOND THAT IS ON THE BALLOT THIS
YEAR. THIS IS A HUGE BOND ISSUE. IT IS $800 MILLION PLUS. BUT THE ISSUE IS THAT THE
WAY IT IS STRUCTURED IS GOING TO BE TERRIBLY EXPENSIVE. THAT IS, FOR EVERY
DOLLAR THE TAXPAYER PAYS, ONLY $.48 ACTUALLY GOES TO PROJECTS. $.52 GOES TO
INTEREST. AND I WILL CONTRAST THAT WITH THE CURRENT BOND THAT WE PASSED
THAT WE ARE STILL WORKING ON WHERE FOR EVERY DOLLAR YOU PAY IN TAXES, $.75
GOES TO PROJECTS AND ONLY $.25 GOES TO INTEREST. SO THIS IS A REALLY BAD
CONSTRUCTION OF THAT BOND, AND IT REALLY WILL PUT ALL OF SONOMA COUNTY AND
GOVERNMENT IN BAD SHAPE. $1.8 BILLION FROM THE SONOMA COUNTY TAXPAYERS
OVER THE NEXT 35 YEARS. ONLY 800 MILLION OF IT GOES INTO PROJECTS. ABOUT $1
BILLION ACTUALLY GOES TO INTEREST. SO I'M GOING TO INVITE YOU TO TAKE A CLOSE
Agenda
LOOK AT MEASURE A.B., AND I WOULD ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO VOTE
NOItem
ONNumber
A.B.,2 SEND IT
City Council Meeting Packet for October 6, 2026
Page 190 of 364

BACK TO THE JUNIOR-COLLEGE BOARD, HAVE THEM RESTRUCTUREAgenda
THAT
BOND,
Item
Number 2AND
WHEN THEY BRING IT FORWARD, IT IS POSSIBLE TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF MONEY
THAT WILL ACTUALLY DO GOOD BY 50%. SO PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT MEASURE A.B.
THANK YOU.
THANK YOU, MIKE, FOR YOUR PUBLIC COMMENT. NEXT I WILL COME BACK INTO
CHAMBERS IF THERE IS ANYONE IN CHAMBERS THAT WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A PUBLIC
COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA. MARY, CAN YOU UNMUTE YOURSELF,
PLEASE? CAN YOU SEE THE TIMER?
YEAH.
GO AHEAD, PLEASE.
I WOULD LIKE TO REITERATE WHAT I SAID AT THE LAST MEETING. I THINK WE SHOULD
GO BACK TO THREE-MINUTE COMMENTS SO PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY HAVE TIME TO GET
THEIR POINTS ACROSS. MOST PEOPLE ARE INTERRUPTED. IF THE COUNCIL COULD DO
SOMETHING ABOUT THAT, THAT WOULD BE FABULOUS . THANKS.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PUBLIC COMMENT.
IF THERE IS ANYONE IN CHAMBERS THAT WOULD LIKE TO MAKE PUBLIC COMMENT FOR
AN ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA. SEEING NONE, I WILL GO BACK TO ZOOM. KATE, CAN YOU
UNMUTE YOURSELF, PLEASE? CAN YOU SEE THE TIMER?
I CAN. THANK YOU.
GO AHEAD, PLEASE.
ONE, AND I HAVE HAD IS THAT I HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR A WHILE THAT WHEN
CONSULTANTS ARE ON STAFF REPORTS THAT THEY BE IDENTIFIED AS CONSULTANTS SO
THERE IS CLARITY BETWEEN WHO OUR ACTUAL EMPLOYEES OF THE CITIES AND WHO
ARE CONSULTANTS. AND I ALSO WANT TO JUST NOTE THAT RATEPAYERS ARE PAYING
FOR I THINK 50% OF THIS MEETING. ALTHOUGH THE NUMBER OF PERCENTAGES KEEP
BEING FLUID BY THE STAFF. AND 50% OF THE TIME IS NOT SPENT ON WATER AND SEWER,
THEN IT IS A PROP 218 VIOLATION. THANK YOU.
THANK YOU, KATE, FOR YOUR PUBLIC COMMENT. NEXT I WILL COME BACK INTO
CHAMBERS. IF THERE IS ANYONE IN CHAMBERS THAT WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A PUBLIC
COMMENT FOR AN ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA. SEEING NONE, I WILL GO BACK OUT ON
ZOOM. IF THERE IS ANYONE ON ZOOM THAT WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A PUBLIC COMMENT
FOR AN ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA -- SEEING NONE -- DO I HAVE ONE MORE SPEAKER?
OKAY. GO AHEAD.
GOOD EVENING. MY NAME IS JAMES WOODRUFF. SEBASTOPOL RESIDENT. I WAS GOING
TO SPEAK ON THE ISSUE THAT GOT PULLED TONIGHT. SO I'M JUST GOING TO READ MY
COMMENT REAL QUICK. I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT COMMUNITY GROWS THROUGH
ENGAGEMENT. I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO JOIN IN HELPING STUART OUR SHARED HOME
IN THE FUTURE. AWAY FOR SEBASTOPOL TO PULL AS MANY DIVERSE VOICES TO
PARTICIPATE IS THROUGH COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES. THESE ARE WHERE
PASSIONATE VOLUNTEERS TRANSFORM IDEAS AND CARE FOR THE COMMUNITY INTO
TANGIBLE ACTION AND SERVE AN ESSENTIAL CONNECTION BETWEEN OUR RESIDENTS
AND CITY COUNCIL. WHILE EQUIPPING THESE COMMITTEES WITH THE RESOURCES THEY
NEED MAKES A STRONG STATEMENT THAT OUR CITY VALUES THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF
ITS RESIDENTS, WE ALSO GET A GOOD RETURN ON INVESTMENT. THE CITY RECEIVES THE
BENEFIT OF MANY SKILLED VOLUNTEER HOURS, BEING CONTRIBUTED TO HELP THE CITY
FUNCTION. FOR EXAMPLE, I NOTE THE CONSENT CALENDAR THAT YOU'RE GOING TO BE
VOTING ON, THE $6500 ZERO WASTE GRANT STIPEND -- THAT WOULD NOT HAVE
HAPPENED IF THAT COMMITTEE HAD NOT SECURED THE STIPEND FUNDS IN THE FIRST
PLACE. TRUE CIVIC HEALTH THRIVES WHEN ENGAGEMENT IS NOT JUST PRAISED BUT
TANGIBLY SUPPORTED. INVESTING IN THESE GROUPS IS A DIRECT INVESTMENT INTO
SEBASTOPOL'S SOCIAL CAPITAL. AND I URGE THE CITY COUNCIL TO SUPPORT A
COLLABORATIVE CONNECTIVE AND FLOURISHING SEBASTOPOL. THANK YOU.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PUBLIC COMMENT. NEXT I WILL GO BACK OUT TO RESUME.