Clayton Watch: Council Recap

Showing posts with label Council Recap - Wan. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 3, 2025

City Council Meeting Summary - Jeff Wan 12-2-25

Jeff Wan

While we may not always agree with the opinions shared, we believe in facilitating a platform for respectful debates. Thank you for contributing to the ongoing conversation in the comments section. Remember to keep your comments respectful and concise.

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Last night the Council met and discussed a couple of significant items:

- We continued discussion on the adoption of a City flag. The Council felt it could be a worthwhile effort in order to bring together community. Ultimately the cost should be minimal, and it would be an opportunity to encourage civic engagement. Various ideas were discussed, including involving residents in both the creation and selection process, with specific mention of including our local high school and other students. The process could include holding a contest, providing various themes, inviting artists, etc. The Council formed an Ad-Hoc Committee (5-0) consisting of Mayor Trupiano and Councilmember Diaz. The Ad-Hoc Committee will work together to formulate an overall process and bring it back to the Council for discussion.

- We had our fourth session on future revenue options. There was a report out from the Financial Sustainability Committee regarding their recommendations. The Committee recommended that the City pursue a renewal of the assessment for the Landscape Maintenance District (LMD) on the November 2026 ballot, include a small market adjustment to the base rate, and preserve the 10 year sunset. The Committee also recommended that the City consider a 1% sales tax on the November 2026 ballot as well. This idea was advanced in order to preserve the City's ability to levy this tax should the the County or State attempt to preempt this in the future. Clayton has the lowest sales tax rate in the County, including being lower than our Concord neighbors. Assuming market conditions hold, a sales tax would shore up the projected budget shortfalls in the future.

The Council gave direction (5-0) to staff to pursue both the renewal of the LMD, and the 1% sales tax. The specifics of each will be discussed and solidified at a future meeting.

Thursday, October 23, 2025

City Council Meeting Summary - Jeff Wan 10-23-25

Jeff Wan

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At our last meeting, the Council discussed several signficant items:

- We approved a new job description for a Community Services Coordinator. Given the volume of community events and the level of effort needed to facilitate these events, as well as contemplating new events, staff recommended repurposing an existing unfill role to perform these duties. The role would serve as point on logistics for community events and be on site during events as needed.

- We continued our discussoin around the City's financnes. In our previous meetings, the Council established some aspirational goals around maintaining infrastrucure (roads, sidewalks, etc.) and compensation. Based on those goals, the City would need to increase revenue so this meeting we also continued our discussion around various potential revenue options.

Now that staff has done the dilligence in determining the need, and the dilligence in determining what options are available, it will be up to Council to decide on which of the options move forward with. The simple question of more taxes, less services, or both remains the same, however now we equipped to make informed decisions. There were a few follow up questions to get more detail, and staff will return at our next meeting.

- We gave feedback on updating the City's logo. The current logo is sometimes difficult to see in various forms of media. We provided feedback on ways it could be improved and staff will come back with updates.

Thursday, August 21, 2025

City Council Meeting Summary - Jeff Wan 8-19-25

Jeff Wan
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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At our meeting on Tuesday, we discussed several significant items:

- We approved a resolution allowing an additional ADU on properties, increasing the total number allowed from four, to five, contingent on meeting other criteria like lot size and lot coverage. This was done based on feedback received from CA Housing and Community Development (HCD). While the City approved its Housing Element Update (HEU) timely as required by law back in January of 2023, HCD did not approve it even though it met all statutory requirements including planning for zoning for housing at all income levels. Further, the City actually enacted the new zoning in January of 2024.

Based on communication from HCD, the City has received feedback that if this new resolution allowing an additional ADU, then HCD would approve the City's HEU. As such, the Council voted 5-0 in favor of this action. After HCD approved the HEU I will have more to say about the overall process.

- We appointed Brian Mayhew to the Financial Sustainability Committee. He is a long time Clayton resident and has over 30 years of municipal finance experience including most recently retiring as CFO at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission after serving for more than 20 years.

- We made several appointments to the Trails and Landscape Committee (TLC). The TLC is an 11 member body of which 10 of the 11 members' terms are currently expired. The TLC requires six members for a quorum. We appointed 8 of the 9 individuals who applied, the 9th person is currently serving and their term is not yet expired.

- We appointed Sheila Driscoll as the City's representative to the Contra Costa County Advisory Council on Aging. Ms. Driscoll has served in a volunteer capacity in many organizations in the community and will be a great addition to the Advisory Council.

- We agreed to modify the City's franchise agreement with Republic Services. When originally drafted, the agreement called for certain increased in rates based on CPI changes. It was later discovered that the timing of CPI change information was not in alignment with the dates drafted in the agreement. The only modifications to the agreement were to bring these dates in line for ease of administration.

- We updated the job classification of the Assistant City Manager/Administrative Services Director to just be Administrative Services Director and made updates to the City's Salary schedule to reflect the change. This action was requested by staff to better align the organizational structure to the needs of the City.

- We had a discussion with no action taken regarding closing the City's long term budget deficit. I will comment on this item in a separate thread.

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Council Meeting Summary 7-15-25

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

While we may not always agree with the opinions shared, we believe in facilitating a platform for respectful debates. Thank you for contributing to the ongoing conversation in the comments section. Remember to keep your comments respectful and concise.

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Jeff Wan's City Council Updates

On Tuesday, the Council met and discussed several significant items:

- We held a public hearing regarding real property assessment increases for the Diablo Estates at Clayton Benefit Assessment District. This was the annual increase of the levy of real property tax assessments at the Diablo Estates Assessment District. The city administers certain functions for the group of homes similar to an HOA manager and the assessments cover those costs. The City is allowed to raise the assessment each year by CPI which would have been 2.22%, however based on the needs of the District, the Council decided to increase the amount by 2.0%.

I asked a question about the projected interest income attributable to the District. It was budgeted at zero, however it appears that the interest income associated with the reserve balance may not have been applied. Staff will do an inception to date look and come back with more information.

- We adopted two resolutions approving the new Memorandum of Understanding with the City's management employees and updated the associated salary schedule update. This is consistent with the ongoing negotiations with City staff.

- We adopted a resolution updating the job descriptions of Police officer and Senior Maintenance Worker. This brings more current these job descriptions as they haven't been updated in some time. We also created a new job description for Seasonal Maintenance Worker - Temporary Position. This role will better allow the City to manage it's seasonal workers.

- We adopted the annual appropriation limit that is required by State law. This was a perfunctory action based on a mathematical formula established by the State.

Thursday, June 19, 2025

Council Meeting Summary 6-17-25

Jeff Wan's City Council Updates

Meeting Summary

Last night the Council met to discuss several significant items:

- We interviewed three candidates for two seats on the Planning Commission. After interviews and discussion, the Council re-appointed Commissioners Banchero and Cassagrande. Congratulations to the two re-appointees.

- We welcomed and swore in our new Police Chief, Jeremy Crone. Chief Crone has a tremendous amount of experience in law enforcement and I look forward to working with the new Chief.

- We received a report by the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District detailing Clayton specific statistics and the services provided by ConFire. We also had a discussion about home hardening and ways residents could reduce their fire risk, and how they can gain information about emergency communications should they occur. ConFire is recommending that everyone sign up for CWS Alerts and that everyone know their specific evacuation zone should a call for evacuation ever occur. More information here:

- We received a report from our outgoing Interim Police Chief Mort regarding his assessment of the department. This included observations about activities, as well as specifics around staffing, recruitment, retention, and training.

- We adopted a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City's Miscellaneous group and updated the City's salary schedule accordingly. This MOU follows ongoing negotiations between the City and this group and I'm glad we came to agreeable terms.

- We formed an ad hoc committee to review and provide feedback on the Contra Costa County Civil Grand Jury Report regarding Clayton. The Council chose Mayor Trupiano and myself to be on the ad hoc Committee. The ad hoc Committee will meet and present draft responses at a Special Meeting scheduled for 6.24.25 at 5pm in Hoyer Hall.

Thursday, June 5, 2025

City Council Meeting Summary 6-3-25

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Meeting Summary

At our next meeting, we will be discussing several significant items:

- First, the GHAD Board will meet at 6:45pm and hold a Public Hearing to consider a proposed property assessment rate increase. We will also begin tabulating the results of the ballots both for and against this proposed increase.

- During the regular Council meeting, we will discuss the City's five year capital improvement plan.

- We will discuss amending the salary schedule for the vacant Senior Planner position.

- We will discuss the employment agreement of the new Police Chief.

- We will discuss staff vacancies as required by AB 2561 and recruitment activities.

- We will discuss the proposed two year budget for fiscal years ending June 2026 and 2027.

If you have thoughts or questions on the above please let me know.

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

City Council Meeting Summary - Jeff Wan 5-6-25 (Audit Update and More)

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On Tuesday, the Council met to discuss several significant items:

- We received a report from our independent auditors for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024. The opinion was unmodified, or a clean opinion. In prior years, auditors identified material weaknesses in internal controls, which essentially means that there was a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected, on a timely basis. I am glad to see that due to people, process, and technology improvements there were no material weaknesses identified in the audit year.

- We discussed the creation of a new position of City Engineer. Currently this role is contracted out. Based on analysis from staff, the City believes that bringing this role in house has the potential to make operations more efficient and be more economical. While staff estimated the appropriate salary scales, the City will have to test the market to determine if we are able to attract qualified candidates.

Because this is a Department Head level role, we discussed whether it would be appropriate to increase the salary scales of other department heads, effectively tying the compensation of one department head to another. Council did not feel that was necessary at this time and decided to move forward with only creating the new role of City Engineer.

- We had a budget workshop where the projected FY26 and FY27 budgets were presented for discussion. Based on information presented, the budget for FY26 and FY27 show a deficit of approximately $650K and $800K respectively.

There were a number of questions and the next draft will be discussed at an upcoming Budget & Audit Committee meeting. I will write in more detail about this in a separate post.

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

City Council Meeting Summary - Jeff Wan 4-15-25

On Tuesday the Council met to discuss the results of the annual audit for fiscal year ending June 30, 2024. Unfortunately there was a scheduling miscommunication and the City's auditor was not in attendance. As a result, we tabled the discussion to a future meeting.

There was also a closed session with no reportable items.

Thursday, April 3, 2025

City Council Meeting Summary - Jeff Wan 4-1-25

Meeting Summary

On Tuesday the Council met and discussed several significant items:

- We received a report from the Financial Sustainability Committee. While the Committee did not approve of the report given by its chair, it did share information regarding the activities of the Committee. Ultimately a request was made of the Council to clarify the purpose of the Committee. Council referred back to the original formation goals of the Committee. For example - to identify areas of additional evaluation for financial savings or revenue generation. Identifying areas however, is not the same as performing detailed analysis in place of City staff.

The Council recommended that the Committee participate in the budget process that will occur over the next couple of months, provide any recommendations they may have, and report out both to the Budget and Audit Committee and to the public. After this budget cycle, the Council will evaluate whether there is a need to continue this Committee.

- We received a report from HdL, the service provider that assists the City's business license processing and administration. When we first engaged HdL (discussed at our 9.19.23 meeting), City staff represented that the City had approximately 1100 active businesses in the City. Extrapolating from there, HdL estimated that through their efforts they could discover an additional 900 businesses and therefore expand the pool of licensed businesses. If this were possible, it would increase City revenues.

After review, it turns out the information that prior City leadership (no longer employed with the City) overstated the actual number of businesses in the City. The actual number is closer to 500. HdL gave a presentation on their work in processing renewals, and the effort to discover any additional businesses that may be operating within the City that would need a license.

- We approved the annual report on military equipment use. There have been no new acquisitions of military equipment, no use of military equipment, and no complaints regarding military equipment in the annual reporting period. This report is required annually.

- We approved the streets selected for the 2026 Clayton Neighborhood Street Rehabilitation project. After much discussion, the Council decided to prioritize streets that were in poor condition, and also certain streets that were higher use areas. In addition, the Council after receiving lower cost projections for Mountaire Pkwy including approval of grant funding, decided to include that section of street that we previously discussed at our 2.4.25 meeting. The streets included in the 2026 project are: Main St., Mountaire Pkwy, Marsh Creek Rd., Herriman Dr., N. Mitchell Canyon Rd., Eagle Peak Ave., and El Portal Dr.

The GHAD Board also met to discuss the level of outreach desired by the Board regarding the upcoming mail ballot to GHAD residents asking to increase assessments. The Board determined that one recorded virtual presentation and Q&A, an informational packet to be included with the ballot, and posting information on the GHAD's website hosted by the City was sufficient.

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

City Council Meeting Summary - Jeff Wan 3-18-25

Jeff Wan

At our last Council meeting we discussed several significant items. The majority of time was spent on the Biennial Pavement Assessment Report, which I will go into further details below.

- We received a report on the mid year budget. There were a few increases in spending that were authorized by Council (painting/carpeting at City Hall, and a new riding lawnmower), but other than that the results at mid year were in line with expectations. There were various puts and takes, the most significant being increases in contractor spend that was offset by lower compensation expense due to staff vacancies.

Excluding the general fund appropriation ($230K) that was approved with the adoption of the budget, overall the City is projecting a deficit of approximately $110K at year end.

- We discussed a potential pilot program for sidewalk repairs. Sidewalks in front of residents property are the responsibility of the property owner, however the sidewalk if primarily on City property. As a result, if sidewalks create a hazardous situation, the City is potentially liable along with the homeowner. Combine this with the fact that sidewalk repair is often very expensive, the City is seeking ways to mitigate risk and assist homeowners in fulfilling their responsibility.

There was general consensus that the City was not interested in subsidizing the cost of sidewalk repairs directly. We considered a few different options that included the City facilitating the repair and billing the homeowner, as well as exploring joining other neighboring cities' sidewalk repair program that utilizes a network of qualified professionals. A larger program may provide benefits of scale. Ultimately the Council gave direction to staff to seek more information and report back.

- Most of the discussion was around the pavement assessment report we received. Overall Pavement Condition Index (PCI) of the City is approximately 73. The scale is out of 100, and is divided into four general condition categories. Pavements in “Good” condition have a PCI above 70, pavements in “Fair” condition have a PCI between 50 and 69, pavements in “Poor” condition have a PCI between 25 and 49, and finally pavements in “Failed” condition have a PCI below 25. Here are examples roads with different PCI values:

While a score of 73 is considered "good", it also reflects consistent and steady declines over the last 10 years.

The table above shows the current score of 73, with a score of 85 in 2016. This table also illustrates the work that has been done on City streets. We typically do work every two years in order to get slightly lower costs with larger scale. The work scheduled in 2020 was postponed due to COVID.

Picking the streets to work on is a bit counterintuitive. At first it may seem logical to pick the streets that are in the worst condition. However, rehabilitating these streets is also the most costly. With limited funds, the entire pool could be consumed with 1 or 2 streets, leaving the rest of the streets in the city to continue to deteriorate through normal wear and tear. As a result, it is often more cost efficient to do maintenance on a streets in better condition, as maintaining current conditions is less expensive in the long run, and more areas of the city could be improved.

The City uses a program called StreetSaver. This program is designed to maximize PCI overall in the City based on the amount of funds available. Because it costs more to rehabilitate streets in poor condition often StreetSaver will not select the streets in the worst condition for maintenance and rehabilitation work.

Given the steady decline in PCI overall, it is important to determine what level of funding is necessary to maintain the current road conditions. Each year we receive approximately $1M in our share of gas tax, and other state and local funding. We accumulate these funds and every other year pick streets to do maintenance on in order to improve the road condition and the overall PCI.

Based on analysis, in order for the City to simply maintain a PCI of 73 that it currently has overall, the City would need to spend approximately $13M over 5 years, or $2.6M/year. Our funding is approximately $1M/year.

Unless the City is able to spend a significantly greater amount on street maintenance and rehabilitation, the conditions of roads in the City will continue to decline. At our current rate of spending, this is the projected outcomes on overall road conditions:

Total general fund revenues for the entire year are projected to be just under $6M. As we enter the budget planning process, we will need to begin a discussion with the community regarding what level of overall services, quality of streets, and maintenance of the City is desired, and what we are willing to pay for.

A link to the detail by street PCI for both the 2025, and 2023 years can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sUUWREdNL1FC1iccvXJghYzsAv5IhBd4/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103891531140515892067&rtpof=true&sd=true

- The Oakhurst Geological Hazard Abatement District (GHAD) Board also met and adopted a resolution declaring the intent to increase the overall assessments in the District in accordance with Prop 218. Ballots will be mailed to properties in the district no later than 4/18. There will be a public hearing on 6.3.25 to determine the results of ballots received. More to come on what this means for the GHAD.

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

City Council Meeting Summary - Jeff Wan 3-4-25

Last night the Council met to discuss one significant item:

- We authorized the recording of a noise abatement agreement for Oakhurst Golf Course. City ordinance prohibits landscaping work before 7am, however due to the nature of golf course operations Oakhurst has always had an agreement with the city that allows them to start earlier. The prior agreement had expired and the City renewed it with updated terms last night.

The new agreement has a 36 month term, and provides that no maintenance activity shall be performed prior to 5:30am. It also specifies later start times around certain areas of the course to reduce the noise impact to nearby residences. The agreement provides an avenue for complaints and a resolution process as well, and includes a provision that a survey of adjacent residences towards the end of the term of the agreement will be conducted in order to collect feedback for any future modifications.

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

City Council Meeting Summary - Jeff Wan 2-18-25

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Councilmember Wan

Last night the Council met and had one significant item on the agenda, however the meeting had extensive discussion on some other topics.

- We discussed a renewal of a noise abatement agreement with Oakhurst Country Club. Due to the nature of golf course operations, several maintenance activities occur daily and at early hours in the day. Things like mowing the grass and resetting tee boxes and greens take place before play begins, which is typically at sunrise.

Current City ordinances prohibit certain noise creating activities like mowing lawns prior to 7am each day. Because time of use for the golf course starts at 7am, maintenance has always happened prior to that time. Historically there has existed a noise abatement agreement which granted Oakhurst permission to operate certain equipment at earlier times in the day - with the focus on areas away from homes, though not entirely.

The noise abatement renewal did not change any of the existing provisions substantively. We later determined that the wrong version of the agreement was included in the agenda packet. In addition, there was feedback provided by residents regarding Oakhurst maintenance operations, alleging operations outside the time permitted per the noise agreement. As such, the Council tabled this until a later date and asked our City Manager to approach Oakhurst to see if there were other provisions that could be adjusted.

- We discussed the salary schedule of the Police Chief position which is currently vacant and being filled on an interim basis. The Council agreed to increase the salary schedule by 4% consistent with the agreement that was in place with the prior Police Chief. When the recruitment period ends, we will discuss with the City Manager whether any additional changes need to be made to attract qualified candidates.

The Oakhurst Geological Hazard Abatement District (GHAD) Board also met and discussed a few significant items:

- We selected a new Chair (myself) and Vice Chair (Boardmember Enea)

- We received the annual engineer's report which indicated several areas where maintenance was recommended. Without adequate maintenance, the risk of damage due to Earth movement increases. Without additional funding however, the GHAD would need to use between 2-3 years worth of funding from the future to cover the cost. Without additional funding, I did not think it was prudent to spend all of the remaining GHAD funds on maintenance that may not add value, and would need to be performed on a repeated basis. Rather, I thought it was more important to take steps to increase the revenues so as to make the GHAD more solvent.

- We discussed the process for a ballot measure to increase GHAD assessments. A notice would be sent to all residents in the GHAD, and ask them to approve a rate increase. The amount of the increased assessment would vary based on the type of residence. Votes are counted on a per residence basis, with a greater weight going towards those residences of higher value or at higher risk of being impacted.

The Board gave direction to pursue the rate increase, including the establishing of a reserve, and determine whether a citizen oversight committee was possible with this type of assessment. If the voters of the GHAD approve the rate increase (towards the May/June timeframe), then the GHAD would be funded sufficiently to perform the operations it was intended to. If the voters reject the rate increase, that would cause nearly all GHAD activities to cease.

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

City Council Meeting Summary - Jeff Wan 2-4-25

Councilmember Wan

On Tuesday the Council met and discussed several significant items:

- We first interviewed three applicants for one open Planning Commissioner seat. The seat was vacated when Councilmember Enea was elected and we interviewed applicants in order to fill the open seat for the remainder of the term ending in June 2026. Of the three applicants, the Council discussed and voted to appoint Nate Brzovich to the Planning Commission. Nate's approach to listening to community feedback and balancing that with what the law requires was what was persuasive to the Council. Congratulations, Commissioner Brzovich!

- We discussed and decided in favor of entering an agreement for investment advisory services with UBS. UBS currently acts as a custodian of City funds in a non-discretionary manner. This means that UBS can execute transactions for various securities, but only as the City specifically directs. There are associated fees, and we are essentially buying at retail. By entering into a advisory agreement, UBS becomes a fiduciary to the City, and will be authorized to act on the City's behalf within the approved investment policy of the City.

There are multiple benefits of such an arrangement. While there is a 30 basis point fee associated with this arrangement, there is no cost for any individual transaction. Because UBS is authorized to act on the City's behalf, there will be no time where cash is sitting idle and not being invested. This will yield greater returns, but it will also free up staff time so they can focus on other activities. We will also be able to exit certain positions that are underperforming and redeploy those funds towards higher performing securities. Overall this should yield greater returns on the over $12M in City funds.

- We formed an ad hoc committee consisting of Mayor Trupiano and Councilmember Tillman. Upon taking the role of Mayor, Mayor Trupiano reached out to Councilmember Tillman in an effort to address her previous requests for an investigation into fellow Councilmembers and training. A result of that meeting was an agreement to propose this ad hoc committee in order to facilitate a governance training workshop for Council and staff. Councilmember Tillman stated that this ad hoc committee and training satisfies her previous requests and I'm glad the Council can move forward and appreciate Mayor Trupiano's leadership in this matter.

- We authorized the City Manager to enter negotiations with Three Putt Development, the company that owns the Oakhurst Country Club, for the sale of city owned property adjacent to the overflow lot near Oakhurst. The city owned property does not front any street, and was declared surplus by the City last year. We also discussed with the City Manager the terms that the City was interested in during closed session later in the evening.

- We discussed the potential restriping project on the 4 lane section of Mountaire Pkwy. Many residents spoke at the meeting, and others have been in communication via email and phone calls. There were several that were opposed to taking action, and several that were in favor of taking action. What was under discussion was a "road diet" - reducing the number of lanes in an effort to reduce speeds. Included in this plan was also the addition of dedicated bike lanes.

There was some concern expressed regarding emergencies and egress. Because there were no physical barriers being contemplated, in the case of emergency the overall width of the road was not going to be impacted so access would be unchanged if there were a need.

When the Dana Hills HOA surveyed its residents on a potential lane reduction, approximately 25% of households responded. Of those that responded, 2/3 were in favor of the lane reduction, and 1/3 were opposed. Ultimately the HOA did not feel it had enough feedback to take a position on the matter.

The largest concern the Council had was cost. The section was recently repaved, though marked with temporary paint in anticipation of the discussion we had. We have also applied for a grant that would cover a portion of the overall projected ~$250K cost.

Overall I was in favor of this work because the goal is public safety and reducing speeds. Traffic safety and speeding is a significant concern I hear from residents all over town and while it does cost money I believe it worth it in an effort to improve overall safety. The Council decided to proceed with the planned road diet, wait to hear if we are awarded the grant, then incorporate the actual road work into the already planning 2026 road work. This has the potential of reducing the overall cost as we would get some economies of scale by grouping this project with larger projects. The vote was 3-2, with myself, and Councilmembers Tillman and Diaz in favor. Councilmember Enea and Mayor Trupiano voted no primarily based on the cost.

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

City Council Meeting Summary - Jeff Wan 1-21-25

Councilmember Wan

On Tuesday the Council met to discuss a couple significant items. While I was unable to attend due to schedule conflict, I did watch the recording and wanted to provide an update as to what was discussed and decided.

- The Council approved several organizational changes including eliminating two positions, adding three positions, updating job descriptions for many roles, and changing the reporting hierarchy within the City staff to better align with those changes. The result is a modest annualized increase of approximately $70K and a much better aligned staff to the roles and responsibilities that the City needs.

What was presented by staff was the culmination of a significant amount of analysis and work by City staff, our new City Manager, and the Budget and Audit Committee. Starting back as early as March 2023, there were various voices suggesting that much more staff was needed, and at significantly higher rates. Instead of taking significant action without sufficient analysis, myself and Mayor Trupiano as part of the Budget and Audit Committee, worked with staff to bring forward a more needs based staffing model.

The updated organizational structure has a flatter structure - reducing the instances where a management level position only has one direct report. We also focused on the compensation ranges for the positions we needed and aligned them with both market rates and the duties they'd be performing. Our City Manager has stated that these updates "would be amazing".

- The Council also approved the application of a grant to assist in funding bicycle lane improvements on Mountaire Parkway in connection with potential street striping changes. The substantive discussion around the street work will occur at our next meeting on 2.4.25.

Tuesday, January 7, 2025

City Council Meeting Summary - Jeff Wan 1-7-25

Last night the Council met to discuss and take action on several significant items.

With the new Council being seated last meeting, these actions were primarily administrative in nature and intended to increase the overall efficiency of our meetings, reduce the administrative burden on staff, and add clarity for the public. The overall theme of our actions was to look at items that aren't designed for discussion and move those items to a written format.

By having things in writing, rather than just verbally stated, it provides a clear report of actions taken and thoughts expressed. This also makes it more accessible to the public - rather than having to watch extensive video to obtain information, more will be in writing which can be easier to consume.

The first action we took was to cease the taking of remote public comments. Over the past several years, the practice of taking remote public comments has ebbed and flowed at various municipalities. In some instances, this ability has been used to berate, curse at, or attempt to derail Council meetings. In other instances, technical or user challenges has come into play and impacted the meetings as well.

We will continue to live stream our meetings, and people will be able to make comment in person at the meetings themselves. In addition, as our agendas are posted in advance, anyone is able to submit public comment in writing prior to each meeting. These submissions are sent to each Councilmember and included in the public record. By ceasing the taking of remote public comments, our meetings will be more efficient overall for both the Council and the staff.

There is often confusion as to the purpose of our meetings and the place of public comments. Council meetings are designed so that Council can discuss among ourselves and conduct the business of the City. It is not, and cannot be a dialogue between Councilmembers and members of the public. Our meetings are open to the public and recorded so that the business of the City is conducted transparently, not to hold a dialogue between the full Council and members of the audience. We are restricted in our ability to respond to public comment in general, so much of the time when a comment is made, there may be an expectation that Councilmembers respond, however this often leads to disappointment or confusion.

This is one of the main reasons I try to inform the public of what is going to be discussed prior to any meeting - to provide residents with an opportunity for such a dialogue, or to share their thoughts. I have been writing a pre-meeting introduction and post-meeting summary for each meeting since first being elected in 2018.

We also updated our Council guidelines. These guidelines document how the Council operates and it gets refreshed from time to time. The updates were non-substantive and were administrative in nature. We clarified the order of the meetings, and consistent with the overall theme shifted items that aren't up for discussion to being in writing. This will result in more efficient meetings as well as provide additional clarity to the public.

We also discussed and approved City Council committee assignments for the year. A list of these assignments can be found in the minutes.

There is quite a bit of work that needs to be done - from addressing staffing vacancies, to tightening up our budget analysis, and all the regular activities of the City. It is my goal to do the people's business in the most efficient and effective manner and reduce the administrative burden on staff where possible. The actions we took at this meeting will further that goal.

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

City Council Meeting Summary 12-17-24

By Jeff Wan, Clayton City Councilmember

Last night the Council met to discuss several significant items:

Before we took any action, the Mayor on behalf of the City and Council, presented Kent Ipsen with a proclamation honoring the 50th anniversary of the opening of Skipolini's. A fixture in downtown Clayton has expanded its footprint over the years and with that expansion has seen great success. Mr. Ipsen shared the story of how his father, Skip Ipsen decided to open a pizza restaurant and it was really moving. I encourage everyone to watch his comments at the 11:18 mark of the recorded video at the city website.

Mr. Ipsen has done so much for the Clayton community - as a more private person he is often not out front and may not even be recognized by everyone while walking downtown. But the City of Clayton recognized Kent Ipsen, and will continue to do so as his support of the community, his charitable activities, and his love of this town cannot be missed.

It was also fitting that Ed Moresi was in attendance to support Mr. Ipsen. Ed was honored earlier this year in recognition of Ed's 30th anniversary as well. In his comments, Mr. Ipsen recognized Mr. Moresi as Ed was his manager at Skipolini's when Kent worked at the family restaurant as a young man. Mr. Ipsen gives a lot of credit to Ed for his guidance and support.

- We appointed Donald Mort, a retired CalPERS annuitant as our Interim Chief of Police while the City conducts a recruitment effort for the next full time Chief. Chief Mort is an experienced law enforcement executive and retired Chief of Police, with extensive experience in leadership roles in the City of Concord, as well as other jurisdictions within California.

- We discussed extending the professional services agreement with 4LEAF to provide code enforcement services. The proposal was not to exceed $100K for one year, providing service up to 2 days per week at a rate of $108/hour. During discussion, Council gave feedback that this rate seemed excessive, and that it would be more valuable to include discussion of this role with the overall org design discussion that we will have next year. Historically Clayton has taken the approach for code enforcement to be complaint driven. This allowed those who fulfilled the code enforcement role to take on other duties. Council expressed interest in looking at ways that we could fill this role while simultaneously filling other roles in the City. This is consistent with the discussion we had during our 11.19.24 meeting - when looking at staff positions, roles, and compensation, it makes more sense to discuss it holistically rather than make decisions on a piecemeal basis.

- The swearing in ceremony for new and re-elected Councilmembers was performed and the City welcomed Rich G. Enea to the Council, and welcomed back Councilmembers Diaz and Tillman. Upon the seating of the new Council, for the next year, Councilmember Trupiano was appointed Mayor and I was appointed Vice Mayor. I look forward to working with Mayor Trupiano, and the rest of Council and staff in supporting the actions Mayor Trupiano will be spearheading.

Thursday, November 21, 2024

City Council Meeting Summary 11-19-24

By Jeff Wan, Clayton City Councilmember

On Tuesday night the Council met to discuss a few significant items:

- We approved the installation of a plaque in memory of Bob Hoyer in the Grove Park. As our first Mayor, Bob Hoyer was instrumental in the City's incorporation. Even after leaving city government after four terms, Mr. Hoyer continued to work towards establishing a downtown park and what is now the Grove. It is only fitting that a tribute to Mr. Hoyer be placed in the Grove for all to appreciate.

- We authorized painting and flooring work in City Hall. The work will take place starting the week of December 16 and City Hall will be closed to the public during that time and through the holidays. This is a regular maintenance item that hasn't been done in many many years.

- We had a lengthy discussion about the organizational structure of City staff, the potential of adding new positions, and eliminating certain positions that were no longer needed. On balance, the proposal advanced by staff called for an addition of two FTEs. This proposal would be largely flat from a financial perspective in FY25, and increase the FY26 spend by approximately $130K.

I appreciated and supported the new org structure. It reduced the instances of a management position having only one person reporting to them. A siloed vertical structure that we currently have can be inefficient.

When the Council approved changes to the org structure earlier in the year, we did so with the intent of reducing the number of high level management positions, and increasing the number of staff level positions. In a small city like Clayton, we often need more people to be hands on doing work, rather than more administration managing. The newly proposed org structure reflects this.

And while I support the new org structure overall, there were a few items included where the work assessing the demand and level of those positions was still in flight. Ultimately the Council took no action but instead gave feedback to staff on what level of analysis we would like to see regarding job duties and level for example, as well as some modifications that were identified.

We asked staff to come back with updated recommendations.

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Tuesday, October 1, 2024

City Council Meeting Summary 10-1-24

By Jeff Wan, Clayton City Councilmember

Last night the Council met to discuss a few significant items:

- We appointed Amit Prayag as Clayton's representative to the Contra Costa Library Commission. Mr. Prayag is well qualified and has volunteered to serve in this capacity to complete the remaining 3 year term. The City thanks Jackie Ferree for her service and for continuing on beyond her term while the City found a replacement.

- We designated Councilmember Tillman to represent Clayton at the annual League of California Cities annual conference. Councilmember Tillman will vote on the one resolution before the League which encourages the Governor and state Legislature to adopt rules that do not exempt themselves from open meeting laws that apply to County and local governments. The City took a position in favor of the League resolution.

- We ratified the engagement letter of the City's new financial auditors, Chavan and Associates.

This was the last Council meeting prior to the November 5 election. For County information on voter registration, see here: https://www.contracostavote.gov/elections/voter-registration/register-to-vote/

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

City Council Meeting Summary 9-17-24

By Jeff Wan, Clayton City Councilmember

On Tuesday, the Council met in regular session. Though there were no public hearings or action items, we did discuss a few items:

The City presented a check to the Mt. Diablo Elementary PFC in the amount of $6,258.38.

This year, the City Sponsored Special Events Committee consisting of myself and Vice Mayor Trupiano, had the idea of partnering with the PFC to collect donations at our annual Concerts in the Grove series. Each year the City sponsors concerts and during those concerts the City has traditionally asked for donations in order to support the cost of the events. Rather than have City staff and Councilmembers collect these funds, we asked if the PFC would like to help out, and in exchange we would share any of the monies donated.

It was a great success and I look forward to continued opportunities to partner with our local schools.

This was also the first meeting that our new City Manager, Kris Lofthus was present. He started the day before, and I am excited to work with him as the City continues to move forward.

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

City Council Meeting Summary 8-20-24

By Jeff Wan, Clayton City Councilmember

At our last meeting the Council discussed several significant items:

- We approved the employment contract for our new City Manager, Kris Lofthus. Mr. Lofthus comes to us from Suisun City where he currently serves as the Recreation, Parks, and Marina Director and prior to that as the Deputy City Manager. With over 28 years of municipal experience, I am excited to welcome Mr. Lofthus as our next City Manager.

Related, this was also the last Council meeting that our current Interim City Manager, Adam Politzer, will be attending in this capacity. I want to thank Adam for all he has done in the time that he was here. As a retiree, he is limited in the number of hours he can work. Because of this, and the nature of interim roles, typically the focus is only on things that can reasonably be accomplished during the allotted time. But in working with Adam, you wouldn't know this because of the vigor in which he approached the role.

I am appreciative of what Adam has been able to accomplish, especially reorganizing the staff at City Hall to be more efficient and effective. I am grateful for his leadership, guidance, and counsel.

- We heard an appeal of the Planning Commission's granting of a one year extension for the Oak Creek Canyon development project. Extensions for development projects may be granted upon finding of good cause. The Planning Commission heard the request from the developer and based on their judgment and staff's recommendation, the Planning Commission granted the extension. The rational was that site work was continuing, but due to continuing efforts to locate specific underground petroleum pipelines.

A nearby property owner appealed this extension, asserting among other things that the project violates the Marsh Creek Road Specific Plan, that the water detention basin size was inadequate to support potential future development on neighboring property, that the City has failed to comply with the State housing element law, and that certain provisions of the approvals have not been incorporated into the City's General Plan.

Before Council on appeal was the granting of the extension of the Development Permit, only. All other issues raised were not able to be appealed. As such, after discussion, the Council upheld the Planning Commission decision to grant an extension and denied the appeal on a vote of 4-1. Councilmember Cloven voted no. Cloven stated that when he voted in favor of the appeal for the Olivia project, he faced community dissatisfaction, and that he felt that if the City granted this extension, then it would set precedent for future extension requests.

This is of course, incorrect on the facts and the law. As a policymaking body and at times a semi-adjudicative body, the Council is charged with exercising its judgment based on the fact pattern presented. Different fact patterns call for different judgments. In fact, the standard of "good cause" is intended to convey the need for judgment on a case by case basis. Granting an extension for one project does not mean that extensions must be granted for all projects. This is a fallacy.

The standard for granting an appeal is showing of Good Cause, though the term "good cause" is not specifically defined in the City's municipal code. This is likely intentional as this term is used throughout statewide government code without a standard definition in order to give municipalities latitude in exercising judgment.

- We also received an update on discreet action items that can help further the City's strategic plan. Given the transition to a new City Manager, staff wanted to focus on certain short term items while continuing to plan for the larger efforts in the future.

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