Council Special Meeting
Special MeetingMonterey, CA · August 27, 2025
Minutes
MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
CITY OF MONTEREY
Wednesday, August 27, 2025
4:00 PM
COUNCIL CHAMBER, 580 PACIFIC ST.
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA
Councilmembers
Present: Barber, Garcia, Rasch, Smith, Williamson
Absent: None
City Staff City Manager, Assistant City Manager, City Attorney, Finance Director,
Present: Community Development Director, Police Chief, Fire Chief, Library &
Museums Director, Public Works Director, City Clerk, Recreation Manager,
Acting Assistant Fire Chief, Harbormaster, Streets and Utilities Operations
Manager, Streets and Operations Supervisor, Street Maintenance
Leadworker
AFTERNOON SESSION (4:00 p.m.)
Call to Order
Mayor Williamson called the meeting to order at 4:01 p.m. City Clerk Klein called the roll with the
Council present as indicated above.
Pledge of Allegiance
Councilmember Smith led the Pledge.
Afternoon Session
Public Appearance
1. Receive Presentation on Potential Strategies to Reduce the City's $10 million Structural
(Annual) Budget Deficit (Not a Project Under CEQA Article 20, Section 15378 and Under
General Rule Article 5, Section 15061)
Action: Received presentation, discussed
City Manager Uslar, Finance Director King, and Assistant City Manager Rojanasathira gave the
staff presentation and answered Councilmembers' questions.
Public comment was received from: Bob Evans, who requested that in the future the public be
provided the same cards the Council was receiving to conduct the budget balancing exercise;
Dennis Duke, who spoke in support of a tax increase and in opposition to reducing the
Neighborhood and Community Improvement Program ("NCIP") allocation; Demetrius Kastros,
who recommended an increase to the Transient Occupancy Tax ("TOT") and using interim staff to
save money, and said that if City properties are sold they should be sold to entities that will
generate revenue in the future; Robert Walker, who spoke in favor of modifying visitor
accommodation facility ("VAF") regulations and allowing private citizens to conduct short-term
rentals with regulation; Noa Daniels, of Access Media Productions ("AMP"), who spoke in
opposition to changing the City's government access provider; Hans Jannasch of the NCIP
City Council Minutes August 27, 2025
Committee, who spoke in opposition to cutting the NCIP allocation, but recommended letting the
committee go through the backlog and find projects to cut; Curt Tipton of the NCIP Committee,
who spoke in favor of increasing the sales tax, and in opposition to cutting NCIP funding and
placing a bond measure on the ballot at the next election; Uwe Grobecker, who spoke in favor of
limiting CalPERS retiree health benefits to the minimum required by law going forward, and of
raising parking fees for tourists and consolidating the parking fund into the general fund; Shay
Balesteri of General Employees of Monterey ("GEM"), who noted that vacant positions were often
used to benefit the budget and said it was nothing new, and asked that the City avoid contracting
out work when City staff was trained and ready to perform the same work; Kevin Dayton of
Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, who said economic growth would generate revenue,
and encouraged the creation of new businesses and expansion of existing businesses, such as on
the North Fremont Street business corridor; Tom Reeves, who asked for more specifics on how
vacancy taxes and first responder fees would work, and spoke in favor of parking revenue
increases especially in the Cannery Row area; Lori Mazzuca, who spoke in support of reducing
vacant staff positions, pausing or shifting non-core programs, and requiring payments in lieu of
taxes (PILOTs), and in opposition to defunding NCIP, modifying VAF regulations, and selling City
properties; and Esther Malkin, who spoke in favor of PILOTs, citing fairness and the need for
additional revenue, and said that if more housing could be developed it would help attract new
businesses and diversify City revenues.
The Council discussed the matter briefly. Regarding the potential to use existing attrition to gain
salary savings, it was requested that staff carefully evaluate the true costs of using outside
contractors in place of City employees. It was requested to include in future budget books the total
general fund revenues generated by visitors, and generated by locals. Regarding the potential to
sell underutilized property, it was requested to provide the Council and public with a specific list of
properties under consideration. Regarding the potential of adjusting the rent for the Monterey Bay
Aquarium lease, interest was expressed and it was requested to learn more details about how
such an arrangement would work with regard to timelines and legal considerations. Regarding the
potential of adjusting VAF regulations, more specifics were requested such as what properties
would be considered for adjustment. Regarding the potential to increase parking fees, interest was
expressed. Regarding reappropriation of NCIP funds, it was stated that any defunding or stopping
of projects should be decided by the NCIP Committee. It was stated that the problems facing the
City were significant and went above and beyond the $10M under discussion, and it was stated
that all cards were on the table both literally and figuratively speaking, in that anything that was
not a "yes" was a "maybe" that could be looked at and tweaked to work better.
Adjournment
The Council adjourned at 5:59 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted, Approved,
Clementine Bonner Klein Tyller Williamson
City Clerk Mayor
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Agenda
Mayor
Tyller Williamson
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA Councilmembers
Kim Barber, District 1
Council Special Meeting Ed Smith, District 2
Jean Rasch, District 3
Wednesday, August 27, Gino Garcia, District 4
2025
City Manager
Council Chamber Hans Uslar
4:00 PM
580 Pacific St. 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 (or lower it), 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. 30 minutes per item – Public Appearance and Public Hearing items
b. 15 minutes per item – All other items (including, but not limited to, Consent, Closed
Session, Presentations, and Requests to Agendize)
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.
8/27/2025 4:00:00 PM
Call to Order
Pledge of Allegiance
Afternoon Session
Public Appearance
Public Appearance items are on non-routine issues that might stimulate public interest and
comments.
1. Receive Presentation on Potential Strategies to Reduce the City's $10 Million
Structural (Annual) Budget Deficit (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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