City Council Regular Session

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the regular session of the Martinez City Council. I'm officially calling this meeting to order. It is Wednesday, May 6. And it is 7:14 PM. Clerk, please call the roll. Mayor Brianne Zorn? Present. Vice Mayor Satinder Malhi? Present. Council member Jay Howard? Present. Council member Greg Young? Present. Everybody, we can see him on the big screen. And then Council member Debbie McKillop. Present. All right, please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right, before we get started, I just want to let everybody know we are having some issues with our live stream on the website. Our Zoom link is working. So if anybody texts you and is asking why they can't see the live stream, just let them know to open the agenda and click on the Zoom link, and they can watch along via Zoom. All right, let's move forward with presentations. We're going to start with the Martinez police promotion and ceremonial swearing in. Chief White. Good evening, mayor, members of council, and members of the public. I would like to call forward Sergeant Rubio, Officer Luhmann, and Officer Aguirre to the front, please. So tonight, we have the opportunity to do a ceremonial swearing in for a promotion of Detective Rubio to now Sergeant Rubio, and then ceremonially swear in two of our newest officers, Officer Luhmann and Officer Aguirre. Sergeant Rubio has 21 and 1/2 years of law enforcement experience, and he served the last 2 and 1/2 years with the Martinez Police Department. He's currently assigned as the investigation's bureau sergeant. He's supported here by his wife Deanna, who's with us tonight. And he also has four children, two of which are currently serving in the military. Officer Luhmann joined the Martinez Police Department in January of this year. And she brought just over four years of law enforcement experience. We were super lucky to get a lateral. She is supported by her family and her husband Carl, who's here tonight, and her son Ryder, who's also here with us tonight. And last but not least, Officer Aguirre-- he joined the police department in December while finishing up the Delta POST Academy and graduated in January. Prior to attending the Academy, he worked with at-risk youth in San Joaquin County. He is supported by his family as well, and he has his beautiful daughter, Catalia, who's here with us tonight. So at this time, we'd like to call forward our city clerk, who's going to administer the oath, and then we'll do the badge pinning right thereafter. Good evening. All right, if you guys are ready, please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I-- state your name-- do solemnly affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of this office for which I'm about to enter. That's it. Congratulations. So at this time, I'll call for the family members who are going to do the badge pinning. Just meet me up here, and I'll give you the badge. Actually, can I have those three officers join the city council back down? We're going to start our proclamations, and I'd love for you to join us in the photo for the next one. Pile back up, please. I will do that. Oh, do you want me to give it to them? OK. I think this is for you. Yes, this will be what you sign afterwards. Congratulations. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. And, chief, would you like to join us up here for a photo? Mm-hmm. OK. Yeah. So we always will read proclamations, and we have folks receive them. And so I was hoping the three of you could stay up because we have our National Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day, May 10 through 16, 2026. And in addition to giving this to the chief, I was hoping you could join us for the photo this evening. So in lieu of reading the whole thing, "Now, therefore, be it resolved that the city council of the city of Martinez does hereby proclaim the week of May 10th through 16, 2026, as National Police Week in Martinez and publicly salutes the service of law enforcement officers in our community, including our fallen officers, and in communities across the nation." Thank you. And, Kayla, can you join us for the next item? OK. Yeah, officer, would you like to come up? Detective sergeant. Sergeant Schnabel, come on up. Very good. Here we go. Sergeant Craig Schnabel, Police Department, 1995 through 2026. Wow. "Whereas Craig Schnabel has had an accomplished career within the law enforcement profession over three decades, demonstrating unwavering dedication and exemplary public service, and whereas Craig Schnabel started his law enforcement career in 1995 with the Martinez Police Department as a police cadet and then as a police assistant in 1997. And whereas Craig Schnabel became a reserve police officer in 1997 with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and then with the Martinez Police Department in 1998, and whereas Craig Schnabel became a full-time police officer in 2000 with the Martinez Police Department serving as a field training officer, crisis negotiation team member and leader, detective, corporal, sergeant, and ultimately detective sergeant. And whereas Craig Schnabel consistently demonstrated excellence, leadership, and compassion as a law enforcement professional, responding to the needs of the community with kindness and compassion for 31 years. Now, therefore, be it resolved, the city council of the city of Martinez hereby wishes Craig Schnabel a healthy and happy retirement." Thank you, everyone. It's been my pleasure to serve this city. [CLEARS THROAT] Excuse me. For 31 years, it's come to be like a home and a second home and a family. So hopefully, I'll see you all around still. And I really enjoyed my time here. And it's a wonderful community. And I hope you all feel blessed to have the people working here that you have and the community that supports us. So thank you. And we have one additional resolution for you this evening. One more. My name is Kayla Turnage. I'm a district representative for Anamarie Avila Farias of District 15. "And whereas the state of California has benefited immensely from dedicated public servants who have spent their careers ensuring safety, security, and well-being of local communities. And Sergeant Craig Schnabel of the Martinez Police Department is one such individual who will be retiring on April 30 after providing unwavering and exemplary service to the residents of Martinez for 31 years. And whereas driven by a profound sense of duty and an unwavering commitment to justice, Sergeant Craig Schnabel began his journey in law enforcement more than three decades ago and has since become a cornerstone of the Martinez Police Department and a mentor to countless officers and known for his steady leadership, keen investigative skills, and compassionate approach to community policing. He has navigated the complexities of modern law enforcement with integrity, professionalism, and an enduring respect for the diverse community he has served. And whereas throughout his tenure, Sergeant Schnabel has witnessed and adapted to the evolving landscape of law enforcement in California, and has upheld the highest standards of the badge while fostering a culture of excellence in the Martinez Police Department, and is a respected role model for his fellow officers. He has supported the department's mission to provide the highest quality of police service in order to enhance community safety and quality of life, protect life and property, and prevent and reduce crime and fear of crime through meaningful, collaborative community partnerships. And whereas over the course of his three-decade career with the Martinez Police Department, Sergeant Craig Schnabel has carried on a tradition of honorable and faithful service, distinguishing himself as a versatile and knowledgeable law enforcement officer who has contributed to the enhancement and reputation of the agency he has so proudly served. And as he steps into retirement, he leaves behind a legacy of safety, trust, and dedicated service that will be felt for generations to come. Now, therefore, be it resolved by Assembly Member Anamarie Avila Farias that Sergeant Craig Schnabel be commended for his 31 years of distinguished service with the Martinez Police Department, honored on the occasion of his well-earned retirement, and extended sincere best wishes for a future filled with health, happiness, and well-deserved relaxation." Congratulations. Thank you. While they're wrapping up, I just wanted to say how appreciative we are for Craig's service to the department. And it's an understatement to say that you're going to be missed. I would say it's a little bit quieter, except you're pretty quiet. But I know for myself the knowledge that you have of the department, the care for the department, the get it done. You're one of the few people I can ask you to do something once, and then it's done, or you might have already done it before I even ask. And so we're very much excited for you. You served longer than many people serve in this career. And you're all in one piece and everything else, so we're thrilled for you. Enjoy the retirement. And we'll have more to say at your retirement party. Thank you. All right, we have a couple more. This one is for you. All right. Yeah. I could have the recipients of our-- Sure. OK, thank you very much. So I have the honor of presenting our next proclamation, which is designating May of 2026 as Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. "Whereas Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is observed during the month of May to recognize the contributions of Asian American, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. And whereas the month of May was chosen as Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese citizen, Nakahama Manjiro, to the United States on May 7, 1843, and also the anniversary of the May 10, 1869 completion of the first transcontinental railroad, built with the backbreaking labor of nearly 20,000 Chinese immigrants. And whereas the national theme for the 2026 Heritage Month is power and unity, strengthening communities together, highlighting the importance of sharing communal stories, and being bridge builders in their communities. And whereas Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have distinguished themselves as leaders and bridge builders in our community by hosting cultural events that engage and unite the community through traditions, providing vital services and places for community gathering as members of our business community, fostering the development of our next generation, and shaping the future of our community through participation in local government. And whereas this month is an opportunity to celebrate the great pride and vibrancy of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in the Martinez, in the city of Martinez and the Bay Area, whose abilities, essential contributions, sacrifices, and accomplishments strengthen California's economy, diverse culture, and communities. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the city council of the city of Martinez does hereby proclaim May 2026 as Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in the city of Martinez." I'd like to invite-- yeah. Yes. Hi, everyone. My name is Vana Tran. I am on the commission for the city of Martinez Diversity and Culture Commission. And I am happy to present this proclamation to Master Joon T. Kim here. He is originally from South Korea but immigrated to the US in 1997. He is a teacher of taekwondo and has been a teacher for 27 years. He is the head master and business owner at Dae Han Martial Arts. He is celebrating the 20th anniversary of opening this business. This business is in Martinez. He has a strong and positive influence into Martinez youth and has been awarded the Hall of Fame for award for child character development and competitive teaching in 2009 and 2013. As the city of Martinez honors the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community, I believe it is important to recognize Master Kim as an exemplary member of our community and the value he provides to our youth. So thank you, Master Kim, for accepting this proclamation. [INAUDIBLE] I just want to say thank you so much for this special award. I'm very grateful to be in this amazing city of Martinez. I met amazing families past 20 years, and I'm looking forward to more years to come. Thank you so much. Thank you. Received it. Yeah, please. Perfect. Which one is this? That's for-- Oh, OK. You want to-- yes. So if I can invite Craig Lazzeretti to come forward while we move on to our next proclamation, which is affordable housing month. So "Whereas access to safe, stable, and affordable housing, including workforce housing for teachers, first responders, health care workers, and other essential members of the labor force is critical to the economic vitality and high quality of life in Martinez. And whereas the city of Martinez is advancing housing opportunities through implementation of the 2023-2031 housing element, including programs to facilitate affordable housing production, preservation, and protection. And whereas a strong supply of affordable and workforce housing supports local businesses by helping employers attract and retain employees, lowering traffic congestion and emissions, and strengthening Martinez's local tax base. And whereas affordable housing also advances community well-being by reducing housing insecurity, improving health outcomes, allowing seniors to age in place, and helping families remain connected to local schools, services, and support networks. And whereas affordable housing month is an opportunity to recognize the importance of housing affordability and reaffirm the city's commitment to creating an inclusive and resilient Martinez for current and future generations. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the city council of the city of Martinez does hereby proclaim May 2026 as affordable housing month in Martinez. We encourage all residents to support efforts that expand housing opportunities for all." Thank you. There isn't even a three-minute time limit. Yeah. Oh, don't tempt me. OK, here we go. Here we go. Buckle up. Craig, do you have something to say? I do, I do. I'm going to go quick. "Thank you for this proclamation acknowledging the importance of affordable housing amid a historic housing crisis that impacts every community in California. I accept this proclamation in support of and in solidarity with all those who struggle with housing security in our community. My hope is that this proclamation signals a renewed commitment by our city and its residents to prioritize affordable housing as a major policy initiative. Housing is a human right, but is much more than that. Affordable housing creates stronger communities by preventing more people from slipping into homelessness or leaving communities where they have strong roots in search of shelter. Affordable housing creates stronger schools through stable enrollment, a stable workforce, and stable families who can spend more time supporting their children and less time worrying about making rent or mortgage payments. Affordable housing creates a stronger business community when residents have disposable income to spend on local products and services. Affordable housing creates a cleaner environment when new homes were built with the latest in green technologies and more residents can afford to live close to where they work. Affordable housing allows families and new residents the opportunity and time to enjoy our parks and open spaces. Affordable housing creates safer, cleaner communities by preventing the type of social instability that leads to mental illness, substance abuse, and crime. Affordable housing promotes diversity and inclusion by addressing systemic inequalities that have disproportionately denied housing security to marginalized communities. We all win when our neighbors have secure, stable housing, when older people can live out their lives in dignity, and younger people can enjoy the same opportunities many of us took for granted to raise families with the advantages of financial independence and loving homes. As Martinezians, we all win when we make the works of this proclamation a reality for current residents and future ones. Let us lean into this work boldly and bravely." Thank you. [SIDE CONVERSATION] 1, 2, 3. 1, 2. [SIDE CONVERSATION] Make sure to frame that. [INAUDIBLE] All right. Just a few more and-- Obviously. We're in the homestretch now, folks. And we have our folks from our public works. I hope you brought a speech. What? Speech. Yeah, I brought them. No worries. I vote. [LAUGHS] Public Works Week, May 17 to 23, 2026. "Whereas public works professionals focus on infrastructure, facilities, and services that are vitally important to sustainability, resilient communities, and to public health, high quality of life, and the well-being of the people of the city of Martinez. Whereas these infrastructure, facilities, and services could not be provided without dedicated efforts of public works professionals who are engineers, managers, and employees at all levels of government and the private sector who are responsible for rebuilding, improving and protecting our nation's transportation, water supply, water treatment, and solid waste systems, public buildings, and other structures and facilities essential for our citizens. And whereas it is in the public interest for the citizens, civic leaders, and children in the city of Martinez to gain knowledge of the importance of public works and maintain an ongoing interest and understanding of public works programs and their respective communities. Whereas the year 2026 marks the 66th annual National Public Works Week, sponsored by the American Public Works Association. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the city council of the city of Martinez do hereby proclaim the week, May 17 to May 23, as National Public Works Week in Martinez. We encourage all citizens to join us to pay tribute to our public works professionals," right here, "and the substantial contributions they make to the quality of all of our lives." Congratulations. So I was just told I was supposed to come up here and take a picture, Lauren. But I'll give it a shot. Yeah. So good evening, mayor, council, staff, members of the public. My name is Joe Becker. I'm the public works maintenance superintendent with Brandon Manzano, my assistant key savior of public works as well. We just want to say, on the behalf of the men and women of public works, that we appreciate this recognition and all your support. And happy sesquicentennial. Yeah. Thank you. We did it. Did you want to say anything? And I will note, due to Craig's retirement, I'm now probably, I think, the most senior employee here. Thank you, Craig. Congratulations. All right. Thank you. We'll take that photo we promised. [SIDE CONVERSATION] Thank you. All right. And then we just have two more, and I will not be reading those. One was on May 3. We had a proclamation acknowledging the pastoral installation of Bishop Julius Xavier Van Hook at Second Baptist Church in Martinez. And Greg and Jay and I were able to attend. And it was a wonderful ceremony. We had a great time. So that we read at the service. And then lastly, day of tribute and remembrance on the 50th anniversary of the Yuba City bus tragedy on May 21, 2026. And there will be a ceremony down at our waterfront on May 21 at 11 AM, I believe, and we will be reading that into the record at the ceremony on that day. All right. Thank you, council. You can go back to your seats. All right. Thanks everybody. A lot of presentations but all great. And again, congratulations to Craig in his retirement. All right, let's move on to public comment. As usual, public comment is for items not on tonight's agenda. Everyone will have three minutes to speak on any item. I'm going to go through my speaker cards first. And then once I've done that, if anyone in the room or online would like to speak, just raise your hand. So I have Mr. Anderson. Click Start. I'm going to go a little bit off subject where I was going to talk about and only to say that I've been on and off mostly on a property owner in city of Martinez for 46 years now. I'm getting old, turned 78 just last week. Happy birthday. I think that's called well seasoned. Anyway, I've had very little contact with the Martinez Police Department, but I've seen them in action. And the contacts I've had have all been extremely-- I mean, there's professional to the extreme level. And I think that may exceed a lot of departments that people have contact with. So I just want to leave that one here. And I hope the officers that were here understand that we do appreciate everything they're doing. Moving on from there, this is my third appearance here before this council and City Manager Chandler. And I'm going to address something to him right now. I came here one time and I asked-- only one thing happened, and that is that a certain employee who was a building inspector-- we don't have to name him right now-- that he came over to my property and point out building and structures that I created without a permit. And I was ignored. I appeared the second time wondering. Well, I was ignored. So I said, I don't really care who shows up. In fact, I'm willing to pay money. And I was ignored. Well, tonight, I'm going to change it a little bit. I don't think I need anybody to come to my property. I just think we need this one person to write me a letter and explain where these structures exist. If they don't exist, then he can just say they don't exist, and then we have the answer to this problem. However, I'm really going to do something unique tonight. I'm going to put my money where my mouth is. I have here $100, $200, $300, $400, $500, $600, $700, $800, $900. Here's $1,000. This can go into the general fund wherever it needs to go. But I still want a letter from this particular building inspector indicating specifically what structures exist and explain those structures. So far, I've been denied that opportunity after three meetings. I don't want to have to have a fourth meeting, a fifth meeting, a sixth meeting. I keep coming back asking for the same simple thing. It's not unreasonable for a citizen, resident of Martinez to be able to get this type of information. It's been withheld. So anyway, I don't want to go any further with this. I think it's appropriate that we just let it go, and I'll let Mr. Michael Chandler decide [INAUDIBLE] I won't accept the money. Unfortunately, we can't accept that right now. Nobody's accepting any money, so what I'm going to do is I'm going to leave the money right here. Chief of police-- Your time is up. --you see it right there. It's rude not to accept money. And you don't have to-- Sir, we legally can't accept it under the circumstances. So I would kindly ask you. I understand your intent, but if you could just kindly take it. This isn't the forum to do that. And I also don't want us to cross into an area of committing a crime. So let's just leave it. You take it with you. If you could please take the money. We can't take it from there. I understand your intent. And I think you've made your point. But please don't leave the money there, OK? Under the circumstances of how you presented, passing it in exchange for asking for something, we cannot accept it in that way. So you're going to create a whole lot of work for the police department to have to book the money in. You've made your point. Thank you. I'll make a clarification. I'm not leaving the money or asking the money be done for anything except to cover any expenses the city might have related to. Mr. Anderson, we have a three-minute limit on public comment, so I have to ask that you sit down. You have exceeded your three minutes. OK, I'm actually going to take the money because I respect what everybody's trying to say. But I'm going to have to appear at the next city council meeting if we can't get some type of reasonable consent relationship. And that's all we need, common sense. Thank you very much. Thank you. Does anyone else in council chamber have any other comments? Craig, go ahead. Yeah. Now, you can have your official three minutes. Can I talk more about housing? No. No, there's a couple of quick things. Since I'm here, I wanted to commend the city for the Martinez Alerts system. I saw another alert went out today about the latest refinery incident. And I find the Martinez Alerts to be much more informative than what comes out through the community warning system. For instance, I was able to learn that there was a fire, albeit a small one, at the refinery today through the Martinez Alerts. So I think the Martinez Alerts has been a great system for our city since it was launched a few years ago, and it continues to be a great mechanism to keep us all informed. Obviously, it covers a lot of different topics, but its genesis was the refinery incidents, and that seems to be what it's used most often for. And I think we're all hoping that we have continue to have a quiet period with refinery incidents. But in light of the current situation with the oil and gas markets and how turbulent they've become, I'm sure that's impacting our local refinery in a lot of ways. So I just want to express my hope that we continue to stay in contact with them and do whatever we can to ensure that they're operating in a very safe and responsible manner, as their workforce continues to produce this necessity for our community and for drive motorists and consumers throughout California given the current situation with the oil markets. And then I just want to just wrap up by also getting my congratulations to the police officers tonight who were promoted and retired. And as a citizen and a resident, I just want to express my appreciation for their service and as well as our public works staff. Thank you. Thanks. Tom? Tom Lewis. I wanted to tag on to everyone's appreciation for the police department. As you know, last Friday, May 1, we had the union event in front of the county building, and we got outstanding help from the city police department. And they went above and beyond. And I've heard nothing but good things from the folks at the central labor council that I work with. And so we're very appreciative of everything the city did. We saw some council members down there supporting us as well. Appreciate that and hope to continue having the events downtown like that every year going forward. Thank you. Anyone else? All right, how about the virtual audience? For those attending virtually, if you'd like to make a public comment on a non-agendized item, please use the Raise Hand feature now. I have no hands. All right, I'll come back to our regular agenda. So next up is the consent calendar. We have several items on the consent calendar. Does anyone want to pull any of these items? Just a quick note. The last item is for the sanitary district. Oh, thank you. The agenda that I have doesn't have numbers, so up 17 including or-- OK, so-- It should be number 18. Does anyone have anything they would like to pull from the consent calendar? Do you have anything you want to pull? All right. So I'm going to open all the items on the consent calendar except for the item with respect to Sanitation District 6 to the public. Anyone in council chamber this evening like to provide comment on any of the consent calendar items? How about the virtual audience? Please use the Raise Hand feature. I have no hands. All right, back to council for a motion for-- I'd like to make a motion to pass all consent items except for the board of directors for SD 6. Second. We'll do a roll call vote. Mayor Brianne Zorn? Yes. Vice Mayor Satinder Malhi? Aye. Council member Jay Howard? Aye. Council member Debbie McKillop? Aye. Council member Greg Young? Yes. Motion passes, all ayes. Great. Thank you. All right, so the last item on the consent calendar-- thank you for pointing that out. We are now convening as the board of directors of the Contra Costa County Sanitation District number 6 for this one consent calendar item. Does anyone on council wish to ask any questions or provide any comment on this item? No? All right. Public, any comments? All right. How about the virtual audience? Please use the Raise Hand feature. I have no hands. All right. Back to council for a motion, please. I'll make a motion to move forward item 18. I second it. Second. Roll call vote, please. Mayor Brianne Zorn? Yes. Vice Mayor Satinder Malhi? Aye. Council member Jay Howard? Yes. Council member Debbie McKillop? Aye. Council member Greg Young? Yes. Motion passes, all eyes. Great. Thank you so much. All right, we're going to reconvene as the city council of the city of Martinez, moving forward with public hearing items. Michael, will you be running with this? All right, Michael Cass. Good evening, mayor and members of the city council. I am Michael Cass, the assistant community and economic development director. Before you this evening is a public hearing for consideration of introducing tenant anti-harassment protection regulations. If I could ask the city clerk to click because it's not advancing. OK thank you. For a little bit of context, the California Civil Code regulates interactions between landlords and tenants. But there is some ambiguity in terms of what is considered harassing behaviors. Specifically, state law lacks specific language that defines what a harassing behavior includes, which can cause challenging situations in terms of when there are disputes between those two parties. So local anti-harassment ordinances can reduce displacement pressures and informal evictions by clarifying what constitutes harassment. Additionally, ordinances can establish programs to provide legal and other support services for both landlords and tenants, and they help to ensure accessible, safe, and effective reporting processes for tenants to report harassing behaviors. For a little bit of background, in September of 2022, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission adopted the Transit-Oriented Communities Policy. The Transit-Oriented Communities Policy, in essence, implements Plan Bay Area, which is a regional effort having to do with housing, land use, and transportation-related matters. Compliance with the Transit-Oriented Communities Policy is voluntary for jurisdictions, but jurisdictions do need to comply with the policy in order to remain eligible for One Bay Area Grant funding, which the city has historically relied on for transportation improvements. As part of the Transit-Oriented Communities Policy, there are four main areas where local jurisdictions need to comply. There are minimum residential and commercial densities. There are multiple housing and economic development policies that need to be implemented. From a housing standpoint, there needs to be six policies to that deal with housing production, to that deal with housing preservation, and to that deal with housing protection issues, which is the one that tonight's matter relates to. And then also, there's requirements for parking management and transit station access and circulation. In November of 2024, the city council provided direction to staff for which of the menu of options to pursue and directed staff to pursue compliance with the Transit-Oriented Communities Policy, specifically the tenant anti-harassment protections regulation, which is protection policy number 11, was directed. Within the draft ordinance, the city would be required to define harassing behaviors, which, at a minimum, are required to include behaviors prohibited by state law, as well as behavior to prevent tenants from organizing, refusing to accept or acknowledge receipt of rent payments, requesting information or documentation related to immigrant or citizen status, and failing to perform repairs or maintenance or threatening to fail to perform those repairs or maintenance. Additionally, the regulations are required to state that the city attorney may bring civil action or request for injunction in response to potential harassment. They also are required to establish penalties for landlords found to be in violation, establishing noticing requirements. And it's important to note that the draft regulations for the council this evening are using a model ordinance that was prepared by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, with some minor modifications and clarifications recommended by the city attorney, planning staff, as well as a couple minor suggestions by our planning commission. The planning commission reviewed the matter on January 27 and February 24 of this year, at which time they adopted resolution 26-03, forwarding a recommendation to the city council to adopt the ordinance before you. It's important to note that this item was originally scheduled at the last city council meeting. And after that staff report was published, we did receive a public comment from Michael Reiser, Jr., who is a Martinez resident. He also is an attorney that works in the space of protecting tenants. He indicated his support for the draft regulations. And he did make the recommendation to add noticing requirements for existing tenants. And he cited examples for Antioch and Richmond. Based on that recommendation and subsequent to the last meeting since the matter was continued without consideration, staff concurs with that recommendation and incorporated the suggested language using some of the examples that were cited, which is shown in red on the screen and is included in the packet that was provided to the city council this evening. I did make reference earlier on that the city attorney may assist with disputes. What the city is doing-- as a preventative measure, there are regular disputes that happen between tenants and landlords. But there are a series of organizations that are local that already have the background and expertise to assist in this area. So the city has developed a website, which includes information on each of approximately 10 to 15 organizations and the support services that they provide, as well as their contact information, so that when we receive complaints in the future, we can aid both landlords and tenants should those situations arise. It's important to note that the cited organizations predominantly provide those services pro bono or at least at a discounted rate. So the recommendation before the council this evening is to conduct a public hearing, waive the reading, and introduce the ordinance, approving zoning text amendments to the Martinez Municipal Code by adding chapter 22.85, tenant anti-harassment protections, to comply with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's Transit-Oriented Communities Policy, and two, amending chapter 22.04 definitions to reference the new chapter 22.85 definitions. I'm available for any questions or comments that you may have. Thank you. Thank you for the report. And as always, I always appreciate when you incorporate comments received by the public. That's great. So thank you for that. I am comfortable with the recommendations that were made. I wanted to ask just a few questions. The language that we are adopting was based on recommendations from the transit-oriented communities like sample template language. But I understand this went through the planning commission, and some tweaks were made. How many areas maybe are we more stringent than the original TOC recommendations? So the recommendations that were incorporated by the planning commission predominantly were clarification issues. I wouldn't say we're more or less stringent based on the recommendations. It really was clarifying issues, particularly where there could be some potential conflicts depending upon the type of rental unit involved. So as an example, the noticing requirements are now a little bit more flexible in terms of how the notice will actually happen, because how you would do that for a single family home might be different from a larger multifamily development. Great. Thank you. I think my biggest concern when I originally saw this-- I was concerned about the fairness between tenants and landlords. And after discussions with you, I feel more comfortable with the knowledge that this is really just encouraging fairness and codifying the fairness that we expect from all of our landlords with tenants. So I feel comfortable with this. And how I would define that is it really is intending to talk about best practices for both parties. Yeah. Thank you. Anyone have any questions for Michael? I just had a quick one. Go for it. For everybody's benefit, could you talk more about what informal evictions are? Sorry, I couldn't hear you, spoke away from the mic. Could you talk about informal evictions and what those are? I'll rely on the city attorney to add. So an informal eviction is when a landlord takes steps that are not a formal eviction notice, backed by an unlawful detainer, backed by the court process it required. It's when a landlord takes steps to force out a tenant through failing to repair or replace heat or air conditioning or failing to repair or replace required elements like a fridge or a stove. Or turning off the power. Or shutting off the power or forgetting to pay the power bill. So the power bill gets shut off automatically by the utility. It's steps that they may take to render the unit uninhabitable or effectively uninhabitable without formerly serving an eviction notice. And that's what this ordinance is designed to combat because that's not a fair practice. Back to the prior point. Very good, very good. Thank you. I just want to-- I'm sorry, Debbie. Did you want to-- please go ahead. Michael, I just had one question. Can you push back the slide that had the additional language in red? Because for some reason, I can't find it in the attachment. I just wanted a chance to look at what that was again. This is in the noticing requirements. And what was added is, for existing tenants on the effective date of this chapter or any amendment thereof, a landlord shall deliver to each existing tenant the written notice required by the section within 30 days of the effective date. And is there a support for the landlords to help educate them and what their responsibilities are as well? Yeah. So as I referenced-- and I can add a little bit more information-- this city staff developed a landing page under housing programs about the varying support services that are provided. When the regulations are adopted, if they're adopted, and go into effect, staff will add a sample letter, a summary of the regulations and tools for landlords so they don't need to reinvent the wheel, so that they have this information that's available for them. I do also want to stress that the various support agencies that I referenced before, again, are for landlords and tenants. They're not just for one side. OK, thank you for making that clarification because sometimes the imbalance can happen either way. OK, thank you. Thank you for making that more clear. I just wanted to say thank you, Michael and the staff, for all the work that went into this. I love the website in particular with all the resources that are available. So that's really great to see. And that we know that there are resources out there. And so I think that's a huge positive. So I do appreciate that. Just really quick-- and forgive me if I might have missed this in the presentation. You talked about how this-- by passing this tonight, that this allows us to continue to be in the running for various grants that are administered. Can you just speak to-- give us a little flavor in terms of what are those types of grants? Have we received any in the past? What can we look forward to potentially on the horizon? Yeah, so for One Bay Area Grant, there's been three previous cycles. And there's multiple pots of money through each cycle. There are some monies that jurisdictions are guaranteed to have, and that trickles down through, in our case, Contra Costa County Transportation Authority. There are some that are competitive at a county level and some that are competitive at a Bay Area-wide level. A recent example of funding that the city has received is the funding associated with the parking improvements that are being considered by the city, which will include new wayfinding signage and upgrades to the parking meter technology in the millions of dollars. We've also used it for other transportation-related improvements, but that's a one that's slightly different that I thought was notable to raise. I think what is also important to share-- as part of this process, we have until June 30 of 2027 to be in compliance. We are one of the jurisdictions that is furthest ahead in the Bay Area. This will bring us to around 62, 60-something points. So we're well on our way to meet that deadline. And we'll continue to put resources and drive to get us there. That's good to know. Thank you so much. And I know I followed up with you. Are there any actions that we need to take in order to facilitate increasing the points? Or you guys are on top of it? You're good with it? For now, we are on top of it. Yeah. Let us know how we can assist moving forward. Greg, do you have any comments? Yeah, just a comment. Again, just to say thank you to staff for bringing this forward. Again, I know it's been a couple of times. And also just thank you. I think in its essence, it's providing fairness and accountability on both sides. And I particularly too, as Council member Satinder stated, appreciate the resource page because at the end of the day, what's critical is that we're able to provide and identify resources to support folks on either side. So great job. Thank you for what you've put together. Great. Thank you. All right, let's open this up to public comment. Would anyone like to make any comment on this item? Just wanted to make a broader point addressing the basic issue here of tenant protections and landlord rights. And we all have a vested interest as a city and a community to try to keep people housed to whatever degree we can. So I would just-- I think the-- just to echo what was said about the resource pages and trying to get the resources into the hands of people who need them is very important. And I would just encourage the city to continue to try to be as proactive as possible in trying to support people who are obviously on both sides of this issue with housing and tenants and landlords, but also to try to keep people housed when they're in danger of becoming unhoused, because I think one of the things we see is, we've struggled in our community, as so many communities have struggled over the years with issues surrounding the unhoused. It's a lot more difficult to solve those problems and to address those issues once someone has lost shelter, because once they lose shelter, then a lot of other social problems come into play. That's where mental health issues can be exacerbated, addiction issues can be exacerbated. I think we've had a chicken and egg problem with this and the narrative around it, and we see that. We look at the perspective of too often of people that are already unhoused and the struggle to get them housed again. But by the time they become unhoused, it's become a much more difficult problem. And then the other-- it becomes a domino effect. And I think that in terms of government, the local level, state level, national level, we really need to focus on keeping people housed in the first place, because as I said, I think that it's a chicken and egg thing. We tend to think that people are unhoused because they have these other broader issues around substance abuse, mental illness, what have you. But we don't look at it in terms of often, it's losing that secure housing, losing that shelter that triggers these other issues that are much more difficult to address and solve when someone doesn't have stable housing. So I think that's where the resource component becomes very important, not just to provide the resources, but to the degree that we can try to provide the mechanisms to get those resources into the hands of people who need them and to encourage them to use them before it's too late. Thank you. Any other comments on this item? All right, how about the virtual audience? For those attending virtually, please use the Raise Hand feature now. I have no hands. All right. Back to council for any final comments or a motion, please. Yeah, I'd like to make a motion to pass an ordinance of the city council of the city of Martinez approving amendments to the Martinez Municipal Code by one, adding chapter 22.85, tenant anti-harassment protections to comply with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's transit-oriented communities policy, and two, amending chapter 22.04 definitions to reference new chapter 22.85 definitions. Second. Roll call vote, please. Oh, actually, did we include the amendment? Did you say the word-- As amended. OK, thank you. The amendment was included as part of the packet, so it's no need to say that. Great, thank you. Sorry. Second again. Thanks. Mayor Brianne Zorn? Yes. Vice Mayor Satinder Malhi? Aye. Council member Jay Howard? Aye. Council member Debbie McKillop? Aye. Council member Greg Young? Yes. Motion passes, all ayes. Wonderful. Thank you so much. And again, anyone who might be listening home, thank you for bearing with us since we did have to push this public hearing item one meeting. All right, moving on to the general business, receive and file the quarterly investment report for quarter ending March 31, 2026. All right. So this is the third time we actually have a consultant in here to presenting the-- for the bigger presentation for the current economic trends. And then before that, I will have my accountant, Courtney Butler. And she has been working with the city for almost five years and is our go-getter in my team. So I will let her presenting the first portion of the numbers on the investment for the last quarter. Thank you. Good evening, mayor and city council members. Tonight, I'm presenting the city's quarterly investment report ending March 31, 2026. This report confirms the city remains in compliance with its investment policy and continued focus on safety, liquidity, and yield. As of March 31, the city's investment portfolio had a market value of approximately $86 million and an increase of $15 million from last quarter and about $1.5 million higher than last time this-- than this time last year. The increase was mainly driven by seasonal revenue receipts, including property taxes and lease payments, along with investment earnings and favorable market performance. This quarter also included approximately $4.3 million from a revenue bond draw that reimbursed expenditures from the city's water CIP projects. Overall, the portfolio remains stable and well diversified across approved investment types while maintaining sufficient liquidity to meet the city's operational needs. I'm happy to answer any questions before handing it over to John Grady. OK, I'll hand it over to John, and he'll complete the presentation. Good evening. Thank you, Courtney. Mayor, vice mayor, council members. City Manager Chandler, how are you? Great to be back in front of you. I promise you a more streamlined presentation this quarter. I've got my timer here in front. But as you might imagine, we've had a pretty interesting first quarter of 2026 for lots of reasons, but I really just want to highlight a few key areas. And then, of course, if there's any topics that you want to cover, we'll do our best to do that as well. We finished the fourth quarter of '25 with a bit slower growth. And the highlight there is just lower spending from the consumer, from businesses in general, and the thought that the economy may start to slow down a bit here in 2026. That hasn't happened so far. We don't talk about equities with our role with you. You're all fixed income, but you've likely seen the markets are hitting record highs almost on a daily basis. The Dow is not quite back up to its high, but it's just amazing to see what's going on there. But, of course, the economy is based on jobs and inflation and prices that we pay as consumers. And so just to talk about the jobs for the first quarter, it was a volatile quarter with regards to jobs, and that we had a strong January job report. We had a very negative job report in February, and then we had a strong March job report. The net job growth for the quarter was actually just over 200,000, and that was the strongest quarter for jobs going all the way back to the fourth quarter of 2024. So in spite of the volatility in the job market during the first three months of 2026, it actually finished above expectations and certainly better than we saw throughout 2025. A big part of the job creation for this quarter and actually for the last several months has been in the health care sector. In doing a little homework and research, that's actually one of the bigger job sectors here in Contra Costa County and even here locally. So that hopefully is likely helping the local economy here as health care jobs continue to dominate that report each month. Unemployment nationally is right around 4.3%. Here locally, last reading was around 4.4%, so you're very much in line with the national unemployment rate. That's considered pretty favorable, below 5%. There is a low labor force participation rate. So there are a lot of folks that are not looking for jobs for one reason or another, although the economy still continues to move forward and we're seeing growth, albeit a bit slower. One other comment on that bottom chart is job openings. Just highlighting this, this chart shows us-- if you go to the just right center chart, you see that 12.3 million job openings. What that was showing us as we were coming out of the pandemic was a 2 to 1 ratio of job openings versus unemployed individuals, meaning that the individuals certainly had the leverage versus the companies a couple of years ago. And that has certainly shifted. And I know talking with our clients in the public sector as well as just acquaintances in the private sector, you're pretty much seeing that throughout most industries is that the leverage has shifted from the employee. And it's much more balanced, but again, still favorable unemployment rate, but just showing that 1 to 1 ratio of job openings to unemployed individuals. And then consumer price index-- likely no surprise to any of us. We saw a huge jump in overall headline CPI, or overall CPI jumped by almost one full percentage point just in the month of March. It jumped 0.9% from 2.4% to 3.3% in that latest reading. So if we look over on the very far right-hand side of the chart, you see that blue line, which is headline CPI or overall bump up to 3.3%. And that had everything to do, as you might imagine, with energy prices and specifically as a result of the Iran conflict and everything going on there in the Middle East. In fact, energy prices were up 12.5% year over year. That's following several months of energy price declines. So we saw a big jump in energy in the month of March. Gas prices are up 21%. No surprise to any of us as we put gas in our cars. And we see that as energy prices. As we look forward, the biggest concern from most market participants economists is how long will this conflict continue and then how long will these prices stay high. That's rolling into fertilizer prices, which you likely have heard about. And then when we see that-- not only does we use petroleum for almost everything that is made. And we use gas to get all these products and services to us when we talk about fertilizer and food prices. If you look at the-- if you look at historical charts, food prices generally lag, but they jump up as a result of fertilizer costs. So that is a bit of a concern. So looking at that going forward, it hasn't played out in the market so far. The hope is that CPI or inflation will moderate. And we won't see what the big moves that we saw back in 2021 and '22 that, again, is going to be dependent on really what happens here in the next few weeks in the Middle East. So CPI-- a core when you factor out food and energy. This is a silver lining-- was only up a 10th of a percent, so again, really driven by energy there. So those are a couple of highlights from the economy. And then shifting over to interest rates, I'm going to jump past that prior slide. Really, what we're just showing there is the expectations of the Fed's overnight rate, which as you might remember, that governs your overnight investments, which represents about 2/3 of the city's assets. So when that rate is cut, it will likely reduce interest earnings potentials for those. The good news with the current situation is that because inflation is likely to not drop too much, that the expectation is they won't cut that overnight rate in the near term. That is a very volatile chart. So it's nothing that's set in stone. But right now, rates are expected to stay where they are for the near term, at least in the overnight rate-- overnight area. When we look at our treasury chart, this is showing us really from three months on the left all the way out to five years, really our focus in the fixed income space. This is a year-over-year chart. So if we look at last year, that gray line, and compare that to the blue line, which is March 31 of this year, the big difference is to the left-hand side. That has everything to do with the Fed cutting that overnight rate last fall. So that's why you see those shorter term rates drifting lower year over year. And then really, as we look out from that-- call it two- to five-year area, rates are very much in line with where they are-- where they were a year ago. So we saw some volatility. They've settled into really where they were year over year. In fact, looking at that same chart as of today, rates are exactly where they were at the end of March. So what you're seeing is where current rates are. What does that mean? Well, that means one of the things is rates were drifting a bit lower through the last several months of '25 and even into February of 2026. So I've really just shown us the last three months to give us an idea of what rates have done. Left-hand side shows us where rates for two year has a blue line. The gray line is a five-year treasury. Green line is a three-month T-bill. But what we're showing here in the blue and gray line in particular, rates started to drift lower through February. The Iran conflict, concerns of inflation actually pushed those interest rates up by 50 to 60 basis points, a half a percent in a matter of a few weeks. They've come back a bit, but they have settled in at about 30 basis points higher than we were at the beginning of the quarter. So higher rates, though, can be good things for you as we reinvest your portfolio. And speaking of that, we can jump right into your investment portfolio. And I'll talk about how those rates have impacted the investment strategy for the quarter and helping to maintain interest income for your portfolio for the near term. Madam Clerk, if you wouldn't mind switching over to that second presentation. And thank you for setting these up for me. And let me pause while we're doing that. Any thoughts from the council. Mr. Young, thanks for joining us online. Any questions from you, sir? Please let me know before we jump into the strategy. Thank you. I'm good. Appreciate it. Thank you. Go and ask your question. Yeah. Thank you very much. One question, and I'm not sure if this is best directed at you or someone on the finance team. With respect to the income that is generated as part of this portfolio, do we have anything in statute which dictates or speaks to how much money can be withdrawn from the said portfolio to help augment the city's general fund? There's not a state statute that would determine that's at the discretion of the city and your budget process. Ms. Du, I'll let you address that. Yes, we can draw anytime we want. Yes, for all those $86 million we have currently right now in the investments. And to be clear, the investment portfolio is a separate entity altogether from the-- to the reserves that the city-- allocated reserves that the city has. Correct? Or is that-- or is that-- or is that part of it? That's a part of it. It is part of it. That's the city's cash, all the cash we have. OK. That's include not just general fund out of the water funds and any other funds. Yeah, all cash we have. But that city's cash is not part of the investment portfolio? What I mean, cash is $86 million. A sum is in, I think, in the chart right here-- at the little pie chart of the staff report, explaining how much is in the checking account, how much is in the liquidated like a saving account. The investment portfolio is a little bit tricky because they take a little-- because they have to sell the security and then give us the money. But again, we can sell anytime we want. We just probably have to take a loss or something because it's not mature enough. Yes. Interesting. Thank you for that clarification. Mr. Young, are you OK or did you-- I'm good. Yes. In the benefit of the longer portfolio-- well, in your short-term portfolio is doing this-- is the compounding effect as it is with our own personal investments. So you benefit from that as these funds are reinvested, whether it's in the liquidity portfolios or this longer term portfolio. And then if you needed it in the future, you'd likely look to the liquidity portfolio first-- that's why we want to maintain a certain level there-- and then the longer term portfolio. And it's 1.8 years. So when I say longer term, it's not terribly long. But that would be designed more for your reserve funds. That's how we build out the program is ensuring you have liquidity first and then allocating a portion to this one- to three-year area and continue to reinvest. Thank you. I want to add on that a little bit more. And on the attachment, I'm explaining more. So currently, city-- last quarter, we have $1.4 million in the checking account. We can draw any single time. And then we have $55 million in the state. We just consider it savings account. We only need a one-day notice to draw all the cash out of that. That's $55 million. Remaining this $30-plus million is in the investment portfolio right now is currently in the bonds and T-bills, et cetera. That's what's John talked about the investment portfolio. That statue are probably between six months term, one-year term or 48 months to the most. And then those are for hedge the-- because we're projecting the interest go down, right? So we'll try to hedge that interest go down to lock in the interest rate. That's what's current portfolio right now. That is a great benefit. Thank, Ms.Du. You've mentioned that the two strategy portfolio that you maintain is very common in the public sector. And it does a number of things. One, it provides liquidity as we mentioned. But another benefit of that is the l