Council Special Meeting
Special MeetingMonterey, CA · January 29, 2025
Minutes
MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
CITY OF MONTEREY
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
4:00 PM
SCHOLZE PARK CENTER, 280 DICKMAN AVE.
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA
Councilmembers
Present: Barber, Garcia, Rasch, Smith, Williamson
Absent: None
City Staff City Manager, Assistant City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk, Parks
Present: and Recreation Director, Assistant Urban Forester, Public Works
Director, Finance Director, Fire Chief, Assistant Fire Chief, Assistant
Police Chief, Library & Museums Director, Community Development
Director, Human Resources Director, Parking Superintendent, Deputy
Public Works Director Administration, Deputy Public Works Director/City
Engineer, Sports Center Manager, General Services Superintendent,
Recreation Manager, IT Applications Engineer II, Housing Manager,
Recreation Supervisor, Recreation Coordinator
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Williamson called the meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. City Clerk Klein called the roll.
PUBLIC APPEARANCE
1. Conduct a Workshop to Provide Feedback on the 2025 City Staff Work Program, Establish and
Adopt City Council Priorities, and Adopt its Value Drivers (Not a Project Under CEQA Article 20,
Section 15378 and Under General Rule Article 5, Section 15061)
Action: Conducted workshop, Discussed City staff work program, Identified Council
priorities
City Manager Uslar and Assistant City Manager Rojanasathira gave a brief verbal introduction.
Public comment was received from: Mabel Lernoud, who requested that smoking in residential
buildings be prohibited; Ursula Gallichotte, who asked for a scientific evaluation of Del Monte
Beach; Mari Lynch Dehmler, who spoke about requested increased education regarding
bicycling laws; Esther Malkin, who praised the work of numerous departments and thanked the
City for its outreach efforts; LisAnne Sawhney, who requested greater access to meetings; and
Mitchel Sawhney, who requested a focus on homeless and pedestrian issues downtown.
Assistant City Manager Rojanasathira led the Council in a series of exercises. First, referencing
the City Staff Work Program, the Councilmembers recognized many successes and
achievements they were most proud of in 2024. Appreciation was expressed for the City's good
relationships with other agencies and military installations. The Council stressed that Monterey
had a friendly community and a caring staff that helped keep the City beautiful and well run.
Next, the Council identified opportunities for the City. Opportunities highlighted by a quorum
(three or more) of the Council included, in no particular order: discussing with the community
the potential to renew the Measures P & S sales tax; ensuring the City's readiness for disasters
and evacuations and communicating the same to residents; addressing homelessness and
City Council Minutes January 29, 2025
assisting the unhoused population; considering making Alvarado Street pedestrian-only;
strategizing on and increasing outreach to residents and businesses; continuing to prioritize
affordable housing and the related allocation of resources including water credits; and focusing
on economic development, which could include hiring a dedicated economic developer.
Opportunities highlighted by two Councilmembers included, in no particular order: improving
pedestrian infrastructure; strengthening rental protection policies and programs; banning
smoking in multifamily housing; enhancing the cleanliness of the downtown's sidewalks and
facilities and supporting its businesses; partnering with the Chamber of Commerce and
Monterey County Business Council; pursuing allocation of water credits; bolstering the Council's
relationship with the Neighborhood and Community Improvement Program (NCIP) Committee;
adopting a "dig once" undergrounding policy; and holding a town hall meeting on the subject of
trees, defensible space, emergency readiness, and other fire-related topics.
Opportunities identified by individual members of the Council included, in no particular order:
thinking big with regard to the Waterfront Master Plan and improvements to Commercial Wharf
2; incorporating video surveillance for public safety; prioritizing a public safety building,
potentially with Measure S renewal dollars; focusing on the Del Monte tunnel and signal
controls to improve the flow of traffic; prioritizing cultural exchanges and business partnerships;
investing in all business districts to take advantage of the City's assets; updating the tree
management ordinance; revisiting the boards, commissions, and committees appointment
process; prioritizing undergrounding of utilities; prioritizing residents and neighborhood
associations; increasing code compliance activities; focusing on youth and families in crisis;
incorporating Spanish interpretation into City meetings; thinking bold with the Climate Action
Plan; adopting a sidewalk infrastructure policy; working on how to pay for deferred
maintenance; considering term limits for board, commission, and committee members; revisiting
the sign policy as relates to political signs; investing in City volunteer programs; considering
Project Labor Agreements; and considering a living wage ordinance.
The Council identified challenges that included: the lack of available water for development,
limits on financial resources, limits on staff capacity and time, lack of community engagement
and support, unexpected crises, and deferred maintenance. It was suggested that when there
were prioritization challenges between City staff's regular work program and additional
initiatives from the Council, that the City staff agendize the matter so that the Council could
assist in the prioritization.
Lastly, the Council did a prioritization exercise, where the Mayor and Councilmembers force-
ranked 15 provided topics and then placed each into a matrix of urgency and importance.
The results are listed as follows, with each member’s placement of Urgent = 3 points, Not
Urgent = 1 point, Very Important = 3 points, Important = 2 points, and Less Important = 1 point.
Sum of Urgency Sum of Importance
Subject Points Points
Community Engagement & Government Transparency 15 15
Public Safety: Police, Fire, Emergency Management & Code
Compliance 15 14
Fiscal Stewardship: Stabilize Future Revenue Sources 13 13
Housing: Homelessness Services 13 13
Fiscal Stewardship: Economic Development 15 12
Infrastructure: Maintain, Repair & Replace 13 12
Quality Workforce: Attraction and Retention 13 12
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City Council Minutes January 29, 2025
Housing: Affordable Housing & Secure Water Sources 10 12
Community Services: Recreation, Wellness & Sports
Programs 9 11
Community Planning: Sustainability & Planning 11 11
Community Partnerships & Legislative Advocacy 11 11
Infrastructure: Build New or Expand 11 10
Community Services: Library 9 9
Infrastructure: Active Mobility & Accessibility 7 9
Community Services: Museums & Lower Presidio Historic
Park 5 7
Undergrounding Plan (One Councilmember Only) 3 3
Water Sources (One Councilmember Only) 3 3
Housing: Affordable Housing (One Councilmember Only) 1 1
ADJOURNMENT
The Council adjourned at 6:17 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted, Approved,
Clementine Bonner Klein Tyller Williamson
City Clerk Mayor
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Agenda
Mayor
Tyller Williamson
Councilmembers
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA
Kim Barber, District 1
Ed Smith, District 2
Council Special Meeting
Jean Rasch, District 3
Gino Garcia, District 4
Wednesday,
January 29, 2025 City Manager
Scholze Park Center Hans Uslar
280 Dickman Ave. 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM City Attorney
Monterey, California M. Christine Davi
HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS MEETING:
In-Person: At the meeting location listed above.
Remotely via ZoomGov webinar:
o On a computer or smartphone: https://monterey-org.zoomgov.com/j/1616037682
Zoom software must be up-to-date. For help, please use our Zoom Meeting Instructions.
o By telephone dial 833-568-8864 (Toll Free), 669-254-5252 (CA) or 646-828-7666 (NY). If
one number doesn’t work, please try another. Enter Webinar ID: 161 603 7682 # If asked
for participant ID, press #. To raise your hand: dial *9. Once called upon, dial *6 to unmute.
This meeting will also stream live for viewing only on youtube.com/cityofmonterey (~10 second
delay) and on Comcast Channel 25 (up to 90 second delay).
Written comment: Emailed comments to cityclerk@monterey.gov sent no later than ½ hour
before the start of the meeting (sooner preferred) are not read aloud but are made available to
the Council and public at monterey.gov/submitted-comments.
PUBLIC COMMENT PROCEDURES AND TIME LIMITS:
The total amount of time allocated for public comment on a particular issue and for each individual
speaker is generally as follows:
1. Up to three minutes per speaker.
2. For regular City Council meetings, there are two 15-minute public comment periods, one in the
afternoon and one in the evening. Speakers may only comment during one session.
3. The total time allocated for public comment:
a. Items pulled from the consent agenda – 15 minutes each item
b. Public Appearance items – 30 minutes each item
c. Public Hearing items – 30 minutes each item
d. Closed session items – 15 minutes each item
At the time an item is considered, the Mayor will ask those attending the meeting in person to line up
at the podium or raise their hands, and for remote participants to use *9 on the telephone or the
“raise hand” function in Zoom, if they wish to address the City Council. The maximum amount of
time for each person to speak and the total amount of time allotted for each item will be determined
based on the number of people indicating an interest in speaking and the amount of business to be
conducted on the agenda. In exceptional circumstances and when necessary to ensure a full
opportunity for public input, the Mayor may, with the legislative body’s consent, adjust the amount of
time allowed for public input and/or the time allotted for each speaker.
CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION DISCLOSURE: Pursuant to the Levine Act (Govt. Code §84308), any
party to a permit, license, contract, or other entitlement before the Council is required to disclose on
the record any contribution, including aggregated contributions, of more than $500 made by the
party or the party's agents within the preceding 12 months to any City official. Participants and
agents are requested to make this disclosure as well. The disclosure must include the name of the
party, participant, or agent, and any other person making the contribution; the name of the recipient,
the amount of the contribution, and the date the contribution was made.
1/29/2025 4:00:00 PM
CALL TO ORDER
PUBLIC APPEARANCE
Public Appearance items are on non-routine issues that might stimulate public interest and
comments.
1. Conduct a Workshop to Provide Feedback on the 2025 City Staff Work Program,
Establish and Adopt City Council Priorities, and Adopt its Value Drivers (Not a Project
Under CEQA Article 20, Section 15378 and Under General Rule Article 5, Section 15061)
ADJOURNMENT
Writings distributed for discussion or consideration on these matters within 72 hours prior to the meeting,
pursuant to Government Code § 54957.5, are available at: monterey.gov/submitted-comments and in the City
Manager’s Office at 580 Pacific St., Room 1, Monterey, CA 93940 during regular business hours. All
comments and materials provided to the Council become part of the public record. Members of the public who
comment in any fashion on an agenda item may be subject to the Levine Act which requires disclosure of
campaign contributions of more than $500 to an officer of the City within the preceding 12 months.
INTERPRETATION: The Monterey City Council invites and encourages public participation at its meetings.
Requests for language interpretation may be made by contacting the City Clerk at cityclerk@monterey.gov or
831-646-3935. The City Clerk will make every effort to accommodate requests for interpreter assistance.
Requests should be made as soon as possible in advance of any meeting of the City Council. The City is
committed to addressing language interpretation requests swiftly in order to maximize public participation.
ACCESSIBILITY: The City of Monterey is committed to including disabled people in all of its services,
programs and activities. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special
assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact cityclerk@monterey.gov or (831) 646-3935.
Notification 30+ hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure
accessibility to this meeting [28 CFR 35.102-35.104 ADA Title II]. Later requests will be accommodated to the
extent feasible. For communication-related assistance, dial 711 to use the California Relay Service (CRS) to
speak to City offices. CRS offers free text-to-speech, speech-to-speech, and Spanish-language services 24
hours a day, 7 days a week. If you require a hearing amplification device to attend a meeting, dial 711 to use
CRS to talk to the City Clerk's Office at (831) 646-3935 to coordinate use of a device.
CITY OF MONTEREY 24-HOUR SUGGESTION HOTLINES: (831) 646-3799 or suggest@monterey.gov
Upcoming city meetings are listed at monterey.gov/agendas For more information, call (831) 646-3935
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