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

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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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.

Once Again - City Council Member Holly Tillman is Spreading Misinformation

Shared Correspondence from the Community: We value the diverse perspectives of our readers and aim to encourage meaningful conversations. Occasionally, we may share excerpts from correspondence received from our followers or gathered from social media to promote civil discussions. 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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Dear Clayton Community,

During the recent city council meeting on December 17th, there was a notable

“Ain’t that the truth”

incident involving council member Holly Tillman, who expressed her concerns in a rather aggressive manner. She alleged that Clayton Watch, a political action committee, was improperly using her personal email address to reach out to her and threatened them by saying this was illegal.

This assertion is far from accurate. Allow me to clarify. On December 13th, Clayton Watch received an email from Tamara Steiner of the Clayton Pioneer, in which she acknowledged that Peggy Spears, one of her writers, had made a significant error by misquoting the vote count from our previous city council election.

In the same email she asked the Clayton Watch Team to create and post a comment on the Clayton Watch website on her behalf, which was rejected by the Clayton Watch Team.

In this communication, Tamara included Holly Tillman (using Holly's personal email), Rich Enea, and Clayton Watch in the Cc field. When the Clayton Watch Team replied to Tamara’s email, they utilized the “Reply All” function, which clearly included the Cc information from Tamara’s original message. See image above.

Apparently, Tamara has been communicating with Councilmember Tillman via her personal email instead of Holly's city email address. Makes you wonder why? Is Tamara trying to hide her correspondence with Tillman from the public and the council? Besides, if Holly has any grievances about her personal email address being exposed, they should be directed towards her mouth piece, Tamara Steiner, at the Clayton Pioneer, not Clayton Watch.

Additionally, after reflecting on Holly’s claims and discussing them with other community members, a pertinent question arises: why is Tamara Steiner and the Clayton Pioneer communicating with council member Holly Tillman through her personal email? It may be worthwhile to investigate their (Tamara’s and Holly’s) previous communications to understand the context better.

Perhaps it is time for someone to submit a public records request to uncover the possible origins of past leaks from city hall that have appeared in the Clayton Pioneer that have cause much of the division in our small little town. The call for a Grand Jury investigation should be directed towards them (Tamara Steiner and Holly Tillman) since their the ones that seem to be undermining city staff and the community. https://claytonca.gov/fc/city-clerk/public-records-requests/public-records-request-form.pdf.

Honesty would be a welcome change. To read the complete article, click on the following link: https://www.claytonwatch.org/2024/12/clayton-watch-responds-to-tamara.html

Thanks for reading,

Gary Hood
Concerned Citizen

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

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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By Jeff Wan, Clayton City Councilmember

Councilmember Wan

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.

Clayton City Council - From the Desk of Kim Trupiano 1-1-25

City Council Correspondence: The excerpts below have been sourced from the Diablo Gazette to share with the Clayton Watch Community. You can access the article in the Diablo Gazette's website by following this link: https://www.diablogazette.com/2025/01/diablo-gazette-january-2025/

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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State of the City

Mayor Trupiano

Congratulations to all of the newly elected and re-elected Clayton City Councilmembers: Jim Diaz, Richard Enea and Holly Tillman. I look forward to working with each of them to achieve our goals this year.

My focus this coming year will be addressing the most pressing needs of the city including:

 

· Long-deferred infrastructure improvements
· Additional staffing needs
· Continued strong public safety
· Bringing the community together

Naturally, we will have other issues to address throughout the year including our mid-year budget review, continued review of our investment policy, hiring a permanent police chief and ensuring that our City Manager has the additional staffing needed to accomplish the City’s goals.

We are also planning on finalizing our infrastructure work with our partners at Climatec this year and that includes adding solar array panels, an EV charging station at the library and continued improved HVAC and irrigation equipment.

We are also embarking on a library refresh project in conjunction with the library’s 30th Anniversary and I will be updating the community more on that special project in the future.

I am looking forward to working together with my fellow councilmembers, our city staff and the members of our community to achieve these goals and I am hopeful that our effort will be respectable and collaborative in manner. We need to do this for the good of the community, for our city staff and for the people who elected us.

We are so fortunate to live in a city with a safe environment, natural beauty, great schools, a robust financial reserve and a strong community spirit, evidenced by the number of outstanding events that take place in our city throughout the year.

We have a busy year ahead of us and I look forward to achieving these goals and helping bring the community together because I truly believe that we are Stronger Together.

Here’s to a great 2025 and please feel free to contact me at kimt@ claytonca.gov or 925.673.7324.

Clayton City Council Member "Holly Tillman" Throws a Tantrum and Attacks the Public

Shared Correspondence from the Community: We value the diverse perspectives of our readers and aim to encourage meaningful conversations. Occasionally, we may share excerpts from correspondence received from our followers or gathered from social media to promote civil discussions. 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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Clayton Community,

Councilmember Tillman totally lost it when Councilmember Jeff Wan got nominated for vice mayor instead of her at the council's annual reorganization meeting on December 17th. She threw a fit and had the audacity to nominate herself. Then, she went on this ridiculous 6-minute rant about how it would be so unfair and divisive if she wasn’t picked for vice mayor, all while she was actually making things worse by attacking, threatening, and making false accusations about residents in the audience. This type of reckless behavior could expose the city to potential litigation.

It seems Holly thought it was a brilliant move to show off her "leadership skills" on camera by trying to shut down anyone who disagrees with her or her so-called progressive agenda. What a joke!

She clearly doesn’t understand that the city council picks the mayor and vice mayor through a majority vote, not just because of #JustHolly. Choosing the mayor and vice mayor is just like any other council decision. You need at least three votes to approve or deny any action, not some dictatorship—#JustHolly. After four years on the council, Holly should have figured this out by now.

Plus, Clayton has never had a council member self-nominate for mayor or vice mayor. You’d think it would be embarrassing for Holly to even try that, but she seems completely blinded by her desperate need for power and the ridiculous belief that she deserves the position. The #JustHolly campaign has clearly taken over any sense of rationality. It’s pretty pathetic.

Every December, the city council, by majority vote, chooses their leadership team for mayor and vice mayor. They pick colleagues who have actually earned their respect, who are team players, and who have shown they can lead the city for the next year. Respect isn’t something you can just demand, it’s earned.

Even if the mayor and vice mayor's roles are mostly ceremonial, there are still some crucial responsibilities and qualities tied to the job.

- The mayor, or the vice mayor if the mayor's not around, runs the city council meetings, sets agendas, and facilitates discussions among council members in an effort to reach consensus on important issues. You should really check out videos #5 and #6 on this site to find out why Holly didn’t get the vice mayor nod. https://www.claytonwatch.org/p/holly-tillman-in-action-her-words-not.html

- The mayor, or the vice mayor when the mayor's busy, prioritizes new policies and important community issues that will be placed on the council agenda for action. Seriously, watch video #2 on this site to see why Holly was passed over for vice mayor. https://www.claytonwatch.org/p/holly-tillman-in-action-her-words-not.html

- The mayor, or the vice mayor if the mayor's not there, has to keep the council meetings on track so they can wrap up each agenda item. Don’t forget to check out video #5 on this site to see why Holly wasn’t nominated for vice mayor. https://www.claytonwatch.org/p/holly-tillman-in-action-her-words-not.html

- The mayor, or the vice mayor in the mayor's absence, handles the preparation and approval of the city's yearly budget. You should watch video #8 on this site to understand why Holly didn’t get the vice mayor position. https://www.claytonwatch.org/p/holly-tillman-in-action-her-words-not.html

- The mayor, or the vice mayor when the mayor's not available, is basically the city's cheerleader at the Mayor's Conference, community events, and other regional gatherings. You really need to see video #1 on this site to get why Holly was not nominated for vice mayor. https://www.claytonwatch.org/p/holly-tillman-in-action-her-words-not.html

In short, just watch all 8 videos on this site to figure out why the council didn’t pick Councilmember Tillman for vice mayor. Honestly, the council made the right call, "Did The Right Thing", by nominating and approving Kim Trupiano for Mayor (5/0 vote) and Jeff Wan for Vice Mayor (4/1 vote). I’m looking forward to another fantastic year with our city's new leadership team.

Bill Walcutt
Past Mayor and Council Member