City Council Correspondence: The excerpts below have been sourced from the website of council member Jeff Wan to share with the Clayton Watch Community. You can access council member Wan's website by following this link: https://www.jeffwanforclaytoncitycouncil.net
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Last night the Council met and discussed a couple of significant items:m
- We approved an update to our municipal code regarding language update to the housing section requested by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). The updates were intended to bring our municipal code more current and in compliance with various changes in the law. This is at leaset the third update based on feedback from HCD so hopefully this is sufficient that our Housing Element can be approved. As this is an ordinance change, last night was the first reading. A second reading is required before it can be placed in effect - after which we can submit the update to HCD.
- We had an extensive discussion about both deferred maintenance items, and potential one time expenditures targeted for FY27. Historically our general fund reserve has grown steadily, with signficant increases as a result of ARPA funding during the pandemic. And while maintaining a reserve for unforseen circumstances is prudent, this has to be balanced against regular operations. Unfortunately that balance shifted too far away from ongoing maintenance and there is a lot of work to be done to catch up.
The City is responsible to maintain a wide varienty of assets, including our library, roads, parks, sidewalks, trails, etc. Everything under the City's control requires regular and periodic mainenance to be kept in good working order. What I identified in 2019, and unfortunately what is still true today, is that there is not a schedule or inventory of these maintenance related items. How often should the Library be painted? How often should we perform an assessment of trees along our trails to determine if they need work? The approach that has been taken in large part is ad hoc in nature. If an issue arises, then the City takes action.
Because there isn't a regular schedule and things are addressed ad hoc, this means that often times regular maintenance doesn't occur. Things like minor road work like the bumps in between lanes on our roads, or more serious matters like line markings at various intersections just get missed over time. With new leadership, comes new approaches to issues. Staff brought forward last night a list, not comprehensive, or a number of these types of items that haven't been addressed but need to be. Council gave direction to staff to proceed with haste on bringing us more current with all maintenance items.
This work ranges from general City beautification in areas such as weed abatement and tree trimming, to general safety issues like curb painting and road signs and markings, to infrastructure improvements like sidewalk repairs and new sidewalks.
We also directed staff to include a number of one time spend items for an updated FY27 budget. We are looking to increase security at our facilities, update our emergency preparedness, and even expand the capacity of our baseball fields. These reserves were built up with tax dollars, and are meant to be used for the benefit of the community.
We simultaneously directed staff to assemble an actual schedule of activities, or a workplan so that the community can be aware of what work is going on, what is planned, and when.
According to council-member Holly Tillman, former council-member Peter Cloven, and—let’s not forget—Tamara Steiner, the former owner of a “woke” newspaper that somehow managed to go broke, City Managers Brett Prebula and Rena Schwartz were apparently the best thing since sliced bread.
ReplyDeleteWell… that aged beautifully.
Because from the looks of it, they didn’t exactly leave the City of Clayton in pristine condition. More like they walked out the door and left the place in a state that suggests “best thing since sliced bread” might have been a bit… generous.
It is time to stop blaming those from the past for current conditions. Prebula have been gone for almost two years. And the current council majority has been that way for over three years. Time for those in current control to take responsibility.
DeleteThey are and are working to fix the mess that was there long before they became the majority. Prior to that, Wolfe Cloven and Tillman along with Schwartz and Prebula wanted to raise taxes, spend profligately and just get back to playing bocce ball and having fun a CBCA events. The current state of the city goes much further back than most people realize. While Julie Pierce was busy trying to turn downtown into apartment central, under her leadership much maintenance was "deferred." While that made the city's reserve fund look great, the city's image is what paid the price. We didn't get here overnight and those who are trying to place the blame on the current majority will only end up seeing how it was those who were in charge before that got us here. We have to acknowledge that the way Clayton politics worked for so long was not good for our city. It was rigged game set to elect only those who would never go against Julie Pierce, keep Tamara Steiner happy and serve the whims of the CBCA. We can NEVER allow that to happen again. No one should have to ask past mayors permission to run!
DeleteAgain....stop blaming the past and fix what is wrong. They have had three years, and it would appear nothing has changed since we are still talking about deferred issues. If some of the reserve is needed to address issues....then use it. If we need more taxes, then...add them. Stop talking and start doing!!!!
DeleteMaintenance continues to be deferred. Why?
DeleteWaiting for all comments from those who will say it’s “irresponsible” to spend the money taken from tax payers to do the things that should have been done. Of course, there are those from the CBCA who will say that if the city spent 2 million to turn the downtown city owned property into another bocce call court for them that would be a good thing to spend the money on. The biggest question is how did we get here? 28 years of having one council member and her news paper editor bestie along with the CBCA dictate who could and couldn’t run for office. For the good of Clayton, they said but it was more like for the good of their little group of friends.
ReplyDeleteThe CBCA and its leadership, along with a few loudly obnoxious members, performed poorly and should be disqualified from holding a council seat again.
DeleteI remember the “Weeds Gone Wild” flyer, turns out those folks might have been onto something after all. Funny how things that get brushed off at the time have a way of aging a little too well.
ReplyDeleteAnd now, from what I’ve been hearing, that same group is behind this website, along with quite a few other residents. Guess it’s not just a small handful of “concerned voices” anymore… more like a growing chorus that’s getting harder to ignore. Thanks Gary and Bill for all your hard work and dedication to our small town.
The current state of maintenance work is substandard. There should be a comprehensive, citywide maintenance grid and a complete list of tasks, categorized by frequency—annual, semiannual, quarterly, and monthly—with an associated priority ranking. This planning approach should be applied across all areas, including landscaping, building maintenance, road repairs, and curb painting, among other maintenance activities. Excuses for delays are unacceptable; clear schedules must be established to ensure timely completion of all tasks. At this point, continued justifications reflect poorly on the competence of those involved.
ReplyDeleteMayor Wan’s leadership—characterized by proactive engagement with city staff to plan, engage, and formulate a strategy—marks a necessary shift toward professional leadership, finally addressing years of deferred maintenance and administrative stagnation.
DeleteTo fully execute this vision, the City must now implement a Comprehensive Citywide Maintenance Grid. We must move from the inaction of past Councils toward a disciplined, accountable, and measurable infrastructure strategy. This grid should categorize all tasks—from landscaping to road repairs—by frequency and priority. In a professionally managed city, clear schedules are the only acceptable substitute for the excuses of the historical - past councils for years.
This is where many of us have to question the idea of more taxes. The landscape tax is one thing but the sales tax is another. Until the city can demonstrate they know how to use this money wisely giving them more money can wait.
ReplyDelete