Santa Clara has updated its fee schedule.
“These are fees charged to recover the cost of time and materials spent for a specific service used by a user,” said Maria Le, assistant city manager.
Tess Hoang, senior management analyst, told the council that of the 1,200 fees, 95% increased by 10% or less. Fourteen increased more than that, mostly due to increased salaries by city employees and consultants.
The city is adding 12 new fees and deleting 14 fees.
Council Member Kevin Park was skeptical the increases were necessary.
“We want to get some cost recovery, but we were doing almost no cost recovery before, and we were surviving,” he said.
The council unanimously approved the new fee schedule. The schedule goes into effect July 1.
Downtown Contractor Process Gets Revisited
The council also reconsidered an item from its last meeting.
First, Vice Mayor Albert Gonzalez proposed reconsidering putting an item on a future agenda to examine the city’s vetting process of contractors working to rebuild downtown.
Mark Kelsey, a member of Reclaiming Our Downtown, said the issue has “gone on for too long” without “leadership” from city employees.
Park echoed his sentiment, reiterating his objection to the process of getting an item placed on the agenda.
“I do not understand why this council would deny an opportunity for the public to simply talk about these issues in a public session,” he said.
But his colleagues didn’t all share his position.
Council Member Karen Hardy said she worried the item would invite “personality” and discussion about “personal concerns” to the dais.
“This sounds like it will not only slow it down, but it will bring up things that I don’t think are very helpful, especially because we make policy, we don’t arbitrate concerns,” she said.
Despite failing, the item is slated to return at the council’s priority-setting session next month.
Priority Setting Balloons in Scope
On a similar note, Mayor Lisa Gillmor took issue with a consent item that laid out how the council intends to handle this year’s priority-setting session.
Gillmor said the days-long marathon sessions proposed by city employees are a bridge too far for council members with full-time jobs. The city shouldn’t be “creating additional layers of process that will not produce clear, actionable results,” she added.
Further, she took issue with the process taking place more than five months into the year, a mere month before the city’s budget approval.
“Priority setting is supposed to inform the budget, not follow it,” she said. “At this point in the year, much work has already been underway by our staff, which raises a very real question about whether this process will actually drive decisions or simply document them after the fact.”
Council Member Suds Jain bemoaned that the stadium, and its big-ticket events this year, have “derailed” the council from focusing on its priorities.
“We need to continue to do the people’s business regardless of these big activities, these big events that we are planning,” Jain said.
Despite the disagreement, the item passed unanimously.
Paid Parking Downtown, Becker Returns
The topic of charging for parking also came up again.
Jain has raised the subject on multiple occasions, specifically citing that the businesses in the Franklin mall pay very little for the upkeep of the common areas.
Mark Kelsey said residents have been asking for improvements to the mall for years to no avail.
“Franklin Mall is an embarrassment to the city,” he said. “Frankly, Franklin Mall is a disgrace.”
The item will return to the council June 9.
Finally, former Vice Mayor Anthony Becker again addressed the council for the sixth time, asking that the city investigate the source of the leak of FIFA documents to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Becker has postulated that the city is trying to run out the clock on its records retention statute.
While Park renewed his objection that public members are unable to place items on the agenda, he did not move that Becker’s request be placed on one.
Santa Clara Consent Calendar Spending
The council approved the following spending via the consent calendar:
- A $5 million, five-year purchase order to Mader Supply for steel transmission poles for Silicon Valley Power.
- A $1.73 million contract with Henkels & McCoy West for northwest loop capacity upgrades.
- A $576,000 budget amendment for increases to the firefighter pay.
Council Member Raj Chahal was absent. The next regularly scheduled meeting is 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 5 in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1500 Warburton Ave. in Santa Clara.
Members of the public can participate in the city council meetings on Zoom at https://santaclaraca.zoom.us/j/99706759306; Meeting ID: 997-0675-9306 or call 1 (669) 900-6833, via the City’s eComment (available during the meeting) or by email to PublicComment@santaclaraca.gov
Contact David Alexander at d.todd.alexander@gmail.com
Previous Santa Clara City Council Meetings:
Super Bowl, World Cup Reimbursements Flow Back to the City
Surveillance Contract Approved but not Funded
Gaps in Council Procedure Spark Heated Debate
Is Mader a U.S.-based corporation, or are they headquartered elsewhere?
Does the company utilize American-made steel, or is the material sourced from international markets, such as Asia?
Are Mader products manufactured in the United States using American labor, or is production outsourced to facilities in Canada or other regions?
It is becoming very clear that Karen Hardy has either sold out and gone sold her soul all to be Mayor. Karen continues to be a real “Karen”. Her recent votes dating back to the Related company vote continue to favor Gillmor. Karen’s sole vote to derail a downtown discussion must mean she is not in favor with the downtown group for Mayor or Gillmor is influencing her vote for downtown issues. Karen clearly needs to drink some coffee and wake the heck up because people are seeing her moves, her comments and her agenda. At this point, her nor any deserve to be Mayor is they can’t hold Gillmor accountable for her out of control behavior during meetings.
As for Gillmor and stating about the days-long marathon priority sessions proposed by city staff being a bridge too far for council members with full-time jobs. She does not have a full time job besides a heartbeat away from being the heir to the Gillmor empire. Gillmor does not have what others in the real world have which is a daily job with bosses and supervisors. Her comments about this are laughable as she struggles as well to make it to a midnight meeting. It is also a bit hypocritical of herself by Gillmor saying the The city shouldn’t be “creating additional layers of process that will not produce clear, actionable results”. This is something Gillmor consistently does by always creating layer upon layer of a process that never produces clear actionable results. Shall we name a list from noise monitors, to field replacement to ethics commissions and so on, layer upon layer of Gillmor Machine sludge that slows any progress.
As for the Becker return, the City Council is never going to do anything about what he is asking for. Gillmor runs Santa Clara and staff is clearly fearful of her. Karen Hardy won’t support it cause she is running for Mayor or Raj won’t support it cause he is running for Mayor or will just be absent or abstain. Kevin Park barks about it not being brought up but does nothing about it himself while Suds Jain just stays quiet despite his comments in the public about the issue. Suds also is not aggressive on the parking issue by not being clear it was not his idea in Franklin Mall for paid parking. Instead he silently rejects the notion but will not sit there and make sure the Gillmor narrative is shut down for good. None have the will to hold anyone accountable, so Becker should just give up. Many out there want to see some sort of justice happen but never will happen with Gillmor as the sheriff. Current council is making it very easy for Mayor Kathy Watanabe’s arrival in November. At this rate none deserve to be Mayor because a real Mayor would have courage to take on this machine.