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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 07/29/19967uly 29, 1996 Vol. 29, Page 35 i 1VI~J'I~S z OF A~GUI.A~t ADJOYJI~TED 1VIEETING s 1'ETAI,~JI~YA CITY CO~JJNCIL a 1VI~I~TIDAY, JLTI.Y 29, 1996 s ' ItOi.i. CAI.i. 3:00 p.m. 6 Present: Maguire, Hamilton, Read, Shea, Vice Mayor Stompe, Mayor Hilligoss ~ Absent: Barlas - s PY..EII)GE OF t~I.I~EGIANCE 9 Mary Isaac led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. io ~ MOI~N'~ OF SII~NCE 11 Pg.T~I,IC C011~~NN'r ~a Laurel Hagen, 145 Grevillia Drive - this debate about the Lafferty Ranch has been is wonderful for the communiry in general. The best protection for Lafferty is the voter ~a mandate. is Douglas Dailey, 320 Pleasant Street - we need to have a regional park in southern ~6 Sonoma Counry. The first right of refusal on the sale of Moon Ranch should be to the i~ Open Space District. Put the Lafferty measure on the ballot. is Brian Hayes, 5 Morning Sun Avenue - thanks to Arnold Kaye for fighting the toll call i9 charge to Santa Rosa. A letter should go out from the Council thanking him. He is Zo concerned about the streets and the potholes. These should be fixed before stop lights zi are purchased. a2 COUNCII. COMII~IEEN'rS ~ Mary Stompe - she wants to host an open house from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. some Monday z,a for the City. She'd like to highlight accomplishments and innovative ideas from every as department including our Police and Fire and share them with the community. This 26 would give the citizens the opportunity to participate in an evening Council session a~ afterwards. The Budget Advisory Committee received a lot of valuable input from City Zs employees and the public. This would also allow tt-e public to meet City staff and z,9 Councilmembers one on one, and put a name with a face. She would like to have this so agendized for an upcoming Council meeting. She'd also like to see Mr. Kaye si recognized for his energies in urging the telephone rates to Santa Itosa to become "non- s2 toll". 33 Lori Shea - she also would like to talk about the open house at the next available 34 meeting. She would like to have a status report on the skateboard park at the next 3s meeting. Councilmember Read had a letter to the Editor printed in the Press Democrat 36 asking the question if the Council was willing to work as a team. A~at sp ~ s~ question was directed to each member of the Council. She said, "You have my ss commitment and she accepts the challenge. " Page 36, Vol. 29 July 29, 1996 i Because this Council was divided on one issue and it was debated on both sides. °There z was merit on both sides. There is still only one issue. There is plenty of~opportunity for s the Council to work together on other issues that are befor~ us and that are going to be a real important. ~ ~ s Jane Hamilton - she would also like to support the request ta recognize Amold Kaye. ~Ie 6 did us all a great service and she is very grateful. She ha~ had 2 eomplaints this week ~ from citizens about the car dealers on Second Street beYween `B' and `C' Streets: s Because of automobile parking in the area, it is difficult to drive past. She wants a report 9 from staff. Regarding Councilmember Read's letter in the newspaper about team work, io she is very willing to work as a team with the Council. She ~would like the Council to talk ii in a little more depth about what that would look like, what we if we all collaborated on ia vvhat teamwork was to us we could make inroads in to the division that has happened. is Matt Maguire - concurs, despite his strong stance on the whole Lafferty issue, he thinks ia he has demonstrated by his actions that he is committed t~ working together wherever is possible. Agrees with the recognition of Arnold Kaye. ~6 Mayor Hilligoss - tomorrow is a Spare The Air Day. The area might go over the legal i~ limit for ozone, so don't mow lawns, don't use a gas blower, don't go out and use gas ~s motors. Take it easy. Ride your bicycle. Also, she would like permission from the iv Council to write a letter to the Open Space District to worlc to get Moon Ranch for our Zo regional park. 2~ Matt Maguire - concurs about Moon Park. z~ Lori Shea - we received a letter from Senator Feinstein asking for support on two ~ booklets. One was on skyrocketing amphetamine use in the State and the other is on gang aa violence in the State. She has asked for Council consideration of a letter of support. u ~SO. 96-2291VCS ~ ~SCIlV~ SE~1tAI. ~.AFFERTY ~IVC~Y AC~`ION5 2~ IZesolution 96-229 NCS (1) accepting withdrawal of Peter and Connie Pfendler from the Zs September 19, 1994, proposal to trade IVloon IZanch for L.afferty Ranch, (2) rescinding the 29 motion of Sep~ember 19, 1994, regarding the exchange of Lafferty Itanch and 1Vloon so Ranch, and (3) rescinding Resolution 96-~OS NCS establishing a 15 month review period 3i for the 1Vloon Ranch. Introc~uced by I.ori Shea, seconded by Jane ~Iamilton. s2 ~yes: Niaguire, Hamilton, Itead, Shea, Vice A~Iayor Stompe, IVlayor ~-Iilligoss 33 ~ces: None 3a Absent: Barlas ~ ss OI~. 2022 NCS 36 ADI) TYTI.E 13- PItESER~ATI011`11 I'~I.IC .~CCESS TO I,~~ER1'~ s~ Introduce Ordinance 2022 I~1CS amending Title 13 (Streets ~id Other Public Places) of the 38 Municipal Code by adding Chapter 13.45 - Preservation and Public Access to Lafferty 39 ~a11Ct1. ` .*F_:,.5 :`ys' ~,s.. •,':•--i.4'4= =~'' . Yuly 29, 1996 Vol. 29, Page 37 i City Attorney Richard Rudnansky addressed the Council discussing the issues, including 2 the possibility of a City adopted ordinance and the possibility of a ballot measure. He 3 noted that at the last meeting there were comments by members of the City Council which a expressed an interest in adopting an ordinance either directly through its own action or by s submitting an ordinance to the vote of the people, which would provide that the City could 6 not sell or otherwise dispose of Lafferty without vote of the people. ~ He noted that a question arose as to the enforceability of any such ordinance if it should be 8 challenged, that the legal issues are complex, and there are few easy answers. Although 9 the issues are difficult to understand, even for attorneys, he said he would try to explain io them as clearly as he can in the hope that no one would be under any false impressions or ii false assumptions. i2. Both his office and special election counsel, Stephanie Scher's office, have looked at a ~3 variety of these issues, and it has always been his intent to look at it as objectively as ia possible. Due to these various legal issues and unique facts surrounding this matter, there ~s can be no guarantee that such a City adopted ordinance, whether adopted by the Council i6 or adopted by the voters, would withstand any judicial attack if one was pursued. i~ However, with respect to such an ordinance adopted by the Council on its own, it should ia be noted that there are questions as to whether any such Council adopted ordinance would i9 be enforceable if challenged. Even if legally enforceable, in his opinion, it could be Zo subject to repeal by future City Councils. Ha~ing said that, the question becomes whether Zi or not an ordinance including such a provision, if adopted by the vote of the people, 22 would be binding on future Councils. It appears clear, based on State Statutes, any valid z~ ordinance proposed by a voter sponsored initiative petition could not be repealed or za amended except by vote of the people, unless the original ordinance held otherwise. It is u not clear whether voter approval would or could be required for repeal of an ordinance a~ that is adopted as a result of a Q~ouncil sponsored initiative and vote of the people. The 2~ attorneys have been unable to find any case law on point; and at least one legal writer has ~s concluded that the issue is "not entirely clear": In any event, he provided the Council 29 with an ordinance that is for introduction by the City Council without voter approval and 3o also resolutions with respect to putting the matter on the ballot. The ordinances are very si similar to the Cader-Thompson - Hagen initiative. Although there has been some change sa in the language, essentially the substance is the same. From a legal point of view, 33 although the disposition of Lafferiy and the access issue are not inextricably intertwined, 34 the ordinances provided to the Council include both. INCLUDE BOTH WHAT??? ss Another option mentioned by the City Attomey would be for the Council not to adopt an 36 ordinance and not to put the measure on the ballot. Any future action by a City Council s~ would be subject 'to any appropriate referendum procedures initiated by the voters. 38 The City Attorney was asked if the Council could sponsor a ballot initiative, the public 39 could vote on it and a:future Council could challenge it? He said that's an open question. ao There are some strong arguments that can be made that it can only be amended by voter ai approval, but again, without any direction from the Court on that issue, it is an open a2 question. 43 ~~T.I~ ~~~~ aa Bruce Hagen, 145 Grevillia Drive - he talked about the African Queen boat where we as were all stuck in the boat together and maybe the water would rise and he thinks the water a~ has risen due in no small part to the sweat and some tears from his organization. Page 38, Vol. 29 July 29, 1996 i Bruce Hagen continued - They, Citizens for Lafferty and a Itegional Park, need to have z more of a mandate. 'I'hree days a year for visits to Y.afferty is not enough. Send a letter s to Supervisor Harberson. He questioned CEQA exposur~. a Janice Cader-Thompson, 732 Carlsbad Court - wants the I.afferty question to go on the s ballot. Maybe it wouldn't be challen~ed. L,et us not have this as a campaign issue this 6 fall. ~ John Saemann, 600 Sonoma IVlounta~n iZoad - he expressed concem about fire safety, a noted there are numerous non-resident accidents with injuries. ~'ou must bear in mind the 9 safety of those who live there. There are five documented ~ncidents of people corrung to io his home looking for a bathroom, a telephone, looking through the garage, asking where i~ to camp. Because of these occurrences, there should be soane CEQA work done. ~2 David Keller, 1327 I Street - wants a voter ballot. Maybe the Council won't carry ~3 through because of Court cases. We don't want this decided by inside players whether at ia the City or at the County leveL is Meg Y..ocati, 1351 Nit. View - wants it to go to a public vote. That way it will carry more i6 weight. P'ut your energy towards a regional park. In response to an earlier speaker the i~ following comments were made. Regarding the comments about fire danger, it is all is around us. itoad access problems are all around us. LJsing someone's bathroom is no i9 problem. Itegarding invasion of privacy, 'she car~ see his concern. Having someone come ~o cold to you house to look around is okay, she has a friend who sold her house tliat way. ai Michelle Ahnberg, 20 Wallace Court - put it on the ballot. Keep I.afferty is seriously in ~ debt. We (Keep Lafferty) had a ru~nmage, sale and took in $1,120. a~ COiJNCII. ~NID t1TT(JI~IIVEY CO1V~IENT'S Za In answer to a Council question, City Attorney Richard Rudnansky responded the as attorneys looked at the CEQA issue with respect to just the ordinance, not the w implementation of any kind of access plan or anything of that nature but merely either z~ adoption by the City Council of an ordinance or placing the measure on the ballot. With as respect to the ballot issue there is a CEQA guideline that indicates that a voter approved z9 initiative or ordinance would be exempt from CEQA. However, that is the law right now, so as we speak. There is a case that he is aware of that's up on appeal now that is raising the si issue as to uvhether or not that exemption truly is applicable to City Council sponsored 3z initiatives. As of today, the law is that exemption would be appYicable to an ordin~nce or 33 flnitiative that is placed on the ballot by eitfier the voters, or by a Council. With respect to 3a the City adopted ordinance, there are CEQA issues as we11. ~JVhat the attorneys tried to do ss is to frame the ordinance in such a way that the day of reckoning with respect to CEQA 36 will be at a later day when the actua~' review and prepar~'tion and implementation of s~ whether it be an interim plan or a long term plan 'is done by this Council. We have set 3~ forth in the Ciry ordinance various CEQA exemptions for adoption of the ordinance. After 39 preparing this he did have Steve Kostka, an attorney that has worked for the City as ao special counseY on CEQA issues and actua-ly wrote the "CEII" book on CEQA, look at it ai and he felt fairly confident that any CEQA ~hallenge can be successfully defended based az on what is set forth in the City ordinance: r~rtrxt .,ir~'C .'~.x~.~~~T w I ~.~-4•~'v,~.r_;- i, July 29, 1996 . Vol. 29, Page 39 ~ Regarding the interim access plan and CEQA, the City Attorney advised it is premature to 2 comment as to whether a negative declaration, an EIR, or an exemption would apply s because it would be dependent on the nature and the extent of any kind of proposed a access. As a practical point, the Council might want to consider, with respect to the two s ordinances, if there is an issue of an interim plan and then a long term plan. If the 6 Council develops an interim plan, depending on the nature and the extent of whatever ~ access you are talking about, the issue may be subject to CEQA review to one extent or 8 the other. The City Attorney sa~d he didn't know how long the CEQA review would take, 9 because it is unknown what kind of access the Council may be talking about. The bottom io line being that at some point, because there is a 90.day requirement in the ordinance to ii start looking into a long term plan, the City Council may have a lapping of processes. ia That is more of a practical issue than a legal issue. is Council comments: ia (Please note: ~- denotes Council Comment) ~s ( ~- denotes Attorney Comment) i6 ~ The safest way would be to sponsor an initiative to go on the ballot. He feels if an i~ issue on the ballot passes, it has tremendous legal weight with the county and would ~s tell the supervisors that we mean business i9 ~ Is this ordinance dealing with or opening the door for a conservation easement, or is Zo this the appropriate place to do that? Zi -~ We need to communicate the message to Supervisor Harberson of taking him up on his 22 offer to look for a regional park in this area. ~ °~ The access, the liability, the legal access issue, dealing with the County regarding Fire Za and Public Safety, financial implications of operations and maintenance, however the u sewers are going to meld into that operation. Where does CEQA fall into this, how ~ far and how much study will be required. 2~ -~ Rather do this sooner than later. ~s ~ Support the committee idea and the make-up of the committee needs to be looked at. a9 ~ The proposed ordinance to be adopted by the City is essentially the same as the Cader- 3o Thompson/Hagen initiative. s~ -~ This needs to be a budgeted item and it should take place when the budget comes sa before the Council. 33 ~ Perhaps preparation of the "Plan" shall commence no later than 60 days rather than 90 34 days following the adoption of the ordinance. ss ~ The committee should be modeled after the River Enhancement Plan committee, but 36 with a much shorter targeted finishing date (River Enhancement Plan took 5 years). 3~ ~ The committee needs to have a mission statement. 3s ~ There is a need to define what "access" is going to be so the City is not challenged 39 legally. .)~ ,T' . -• , .,. . . ~ ~ .. ,r.. Page 40, Vol. 29 July 29, 1996 ' i~ A letter could be sent to the Open Space District this week asking them to consider z obtaining fee title to 1Vloon Ranch for a regional park. s ~'The Ci Attorne said there was one suggestion about starting the discussion about the a long term p an within 60 days, that could create more of a possible overlap of s processes between the interim and long term plan. Do you want to create an inferim 6 plan as well as a long term plan? ~~i The interim plan could be something that says there will be a padlock on the gate, with ~ ten keys that have to be checked out from Jim Carr at the Parks and Recreation 9 Department. So no more than ten people have keys at any given time. Open it up io three or four days a week say Wednesday through Sunday. Start out with something ii very basic. Make the findings for that under CEQA and let that be the interim plan iz while the Council goes ahead to work on the long term plan. is ~ There would be a set policy up there so when we allow visitation we are consistent ia with everybody that is going up there. ~s ~ We should move ahead on the assumption that we do have access. There is historical i6 verification of that. i~ -~- If a challenge is going to come, it will come no matter how carefully we craft the is plan. ~v -~ This won't be particularly costly since there have been offers of volunteer help. The z,o cost would be locking and unlocking the gate, being sure the gate is locked at the end Zi of the day and maybe the cost of a porta-poddy and some minor leveling of the area a~ just inside the gate. That won't amount to a whole lot of money. z~ ~ It seems the natural place for the staffing for both the interim and the long range plans Za is with the Park and Recreation De~artmeng. u~ We should compromise and adopt the ordinance and put it on the ballot. z~ ~ We should starY on the pYan within 30 days. There will be impacts such as parking, 2~ insurance and the like. Zs ~ The Council's adoption of an ordinance sends a clear message to the County offices 29 about the City's intent and desires. 30 ~ Direct staff to include I,afferty Ranch in the General Plaro. 3i ~ Stephanie Scher, special election counsel, the only prob~em with that suggestion is you 32 have to make sure that the two ordinances are absolutely consistent, should the voters 33 approve an ordinance. The City Attorney was asked, if there is a Council sponsored sa imtiative on the ballot and it fails, and we .have _an ordinance in place, what happens. ss The special counsel advised that the ordinance the Council adopted remains an adopted 36 ordinance. The ordinance that went to the voters, just wouldn't become effective. 3~ There was considerable urging that the Council adopt the.ordinance and ~lace the issue on ss the ballot. ~ 39 Matt Maguire recommended appointing both Mary Stompe and himself as co-chairmen of ao the committee to develop the access plan. L:~~.~~•;i.:J:~q~~~p., ~..~~-:~.R:k'v~S_"a`:~e t .`k"_'-''" July 29, 1996 Vol. 29, Page 41 i The City Attorney was asked if before the City does any kind of interim access, will there 2 be environmental review. He responded, it would depend on the extent of the access. He s went on to say it is premature to advise the naYure and extent of any environmental review a that might be required for an interim plan. s The Council agreed that the time to commence preparation of the long term plan is 60 6 days from the date of adoption of the ordinance. ~ The ordinance, with the addition of CEQA references, charter and general plan s references, reduction of the commencement of the plan from 90 to 60 days, and referring 9 to public "passive" ( Fadded tl:is wor~ recreational uses, was introduced by Matt ~o Maguire and seconded by I.ori Shea. i1 Ayes: Maguire, Hamilton, Read, Shea, Vice Mayor Stompe, Mayor Hilligoss i2 Noes: None is Absent: Barlas ia lt was again requested that the Council put the same ordinance on the ballot. is 'The following persons spoke ~6 Janice Cader-Thompson - 732 Carlsbad Court. - Keep I.afferty Committee - this is so i~ rypical, the people in this community do speak and they are never heard. It's like is there's four people that are totally deaf to the people of the community. People should i9 be able to vote on this issue. We are going to be sitting here for the next half hour Zo and hear the same garbage we have heard. We're not going to go anywhere. What is Zi going to happen is there is going to be more money put in fighting this ordinance. So ~ there is not going to be any access onto I.afferty. i~Vhy don't you just do it the right a~ way, to put it on the ballot. We could get up here and talk forever, and it's like talking z,a to walls is the way it feels. as Alison Marks, 1327 I Street - Keep Lafferty Committee - to sit in audience and listen z~ to you have this discussion, she heard Councilwoman Shea say, well if we decide what z~ we want as an access then we kinda have to decide what kind of access that's going to Za be so let's start changing this way, this way, and this way. Let's rush this through in z9 30 days and quick let's set up our committee and there's a lot of people out here that so need basically this council agreed to an ordinance I heard last week in the Council si Chambers that you agreed if not to put it on the ballot that you would agree to support s2 the ordinance that was supposed to go on the ballot as written by the people. And she 33 is already starting to see it get picked apart and I am going to have to call right now for 34 this Council you know peopYe are waiting for another staeked committee to get up here ss and rush to a stacked committee that is going to take over the access issues and run 36 with this. And all the people that have worked that have wanted to vote on this are 3~ going to get shut out of the process. And if you're seeing a lot of people look upset in ss this audience tonight it's because it's starting to happen right here right now. So if you 39 want people to trust you, you're talking about working as a team. I think that you need ao to listen perhaps to the other Councilmembers who said everybody in this town needs a ai closure and the legal back-up of having this be voted on. You already have the option az to sit up here and to pick this apart. So don't do it. L,et the people vote. That's what 43 the people want. People do not want to sit here and see you start messing around with aa the language on this ordinance that it gets weaker and weaker and weaker. So please as let us vote and let's get on with it. Page 42, Vol. 29 Yuly 29, ~ 996 i Jerry Price - 775 Baywood Drive #{101 (office) - Keep L.af~erty Committee - it's a little 2 disturbing when fie sits in the audience and he hears we should shorten down the period of s the plan. And then he hears we should shoc~ten the start of the plan. And then he hears a we need to change it, we need to diddle with it this way; diddle with it that way. `The s wording in this measure is very clear. The wording states to create a plan based upon best 6 practices of wild open space properties in the Bay Area period. It's simple. . That involves ~ gathering data that says what are those practices, why is li~Tt. Tamalpais open year round ~ unrestricted? Why is Pt. Reyes National Seashore open year round unrestricted, even with 9 the Mt. Vision fire? Why is the regional park behind Kenwood closed because of fire and io why is the State Park right next door left open for the public. We need fo address those ~~ issues. It's going to take some time. ~ You have a very simple measure before you. ~a Simply put it out there for the public to vote on or adopt this measure, fhis ordinance i3 without messing with iY. ia Robert ~reen - 404 Smith Cour~. - Keep Lafferty Committee - I've said this before and is g'll say it again, and aga~n, and again. The right to vote is an essential characteristic of i6 citizenship in a democratic society. No other privilege traditionally belonging to citizens i~ is more important than the right to vote. 'The exYent to which citizens are allowed to i8 exercise that right determines to a large degree the democratic or undemocratic character i9 of. the government. g-Ie urged the Council to take this opportunity to show that this Zo government is a democcatic government. He urged this Council to remember that they ai derive their power from the people of Petaluma. He ur.ged this Council to let the people 22 dote. ~ Hank Flum - 1721 Stonehenge -. As I recall in April the community begged the City Za Council to put the issue on the ballot and the City Council rejected that idea. So I thought u that was wrong. And I participated in helping get the initiative signed. And we had ~ 6,000 people more or less that signed this initiative to put it on the ballot. Somehow it 2~ was rejected. xet the wiil of the people spoke that they wanted to vote on this. I think if za it doesn't go on the ballot tonight, you've` insulted this town of Petaluma to such a degree 29 that I just can't believe what I am hearing. The insult to this community 6,000 people put so their names down and asked for the right to vote yes or no on the Lafferty. And what I 3i have been hearing tonight is a lot of legal quibbling. Put this issue on the ballot. The sz people have told you that they want it on the ballot. Do it. 33 Yoe Y~urney - Second Street - Keep I.afferty Committee -~ read your letter, Nancy, in the sa paper and I think it's a wonderful idea. _ Everyone accepted and I hope it's not just ss political rhetoric. ~Iere's an opportunity to compromise. I think Jane's idea of putting 36 them both up there is briltiant. It allows us to accept your ix~vitation. to the thousands of s~ people who signed we want to cooperate and~ get along. I hope that you'll extend it to us 38 also as you have to the other members of the Council. 39 Will Stapp - Jess Avenue - Keep I.afferty Committee - I'm i~Vill Stapp citizens for ao I.afferty. I want to say that I appreciate the four of you and I see from you Mary and ai Mayor and Nancy and Lori, I appreciate it,.v.ery much. I do feel strongly, though, that az and 1VIary last week you said that you wanted to see this cightened up in a way where the as public had the greatest control. A public vote had the control of the disposition of aa Lafferty Ranch and the rights to I.afferty Ranch water, the water rights and things like as that. I really think that the best argument or the strongest legal lock-up for the way we a~ use I.afferty is the ballot initiative process. I strongly urge you to put it on the ballot a~ because of that. _ ;:~ r~.ur,~ :yn....:;„ ~ . . _:'n_. ~~ i( ~ 7uly 29, 1996 Vol. 29, Page 43 i I think its a way for you to meet the community half-way and I also actually feel very 2 strongly as we go up to the County level and have to deal with County procedures about s this, a strong vote from the people of this community on what they want to see done with a L,afferty Ranch is going to just really be in their favor as City Council members seeking s County cooperation to make this thing work. That's why I think it should go on the 6 . ballot. ~ ~ Simon Corwin - 2310 Nlagnolia Avenue - For anyone who may have forgotten I just s wanted to remind you that for two years the majority of this Council fought to depriye 9 public access to Lafferty Ranch forever. Last week your plans were dashed by Mr. io Pfendler. This you've all done a 180 degree turn. The simple fact is that the public has ii no confidence in your newly found enthusiasm protect Lafferty and our access to it. So i2 let the people vote. i3 Laurel Hagen - 195 Grevillia - I~eep Lafferty Committee - I want to thank you as well. I ia definitely do recognize you have come around on this and thank you for the effort that you is have put in. But someone expressed a wish to see this resolved as quickly as possible. I ib agree with that but I really think that if you put it on the ballot, in the long run it will i~ resolve much quicker. Because we know as soon as we get into the plan, that we are is going to be sued at every turn by you know everything we try to do. And if we have an i9 actual voter mandate, proof behind us, we're going to be so much stronger. We're going zo to have so much of a stronger case especially with the County. If you really want to see zi this resolved, we'll have so much more pull if you actually put it to a ballot.. It would be n so easy you guys have come so far already just come a little bit farther and do this for us. z~ Gene i~Villiams - 10 8th Street - I have agreed and empathized with everybody who has aa spoken so far this evening. I want to thank Matt and Jane for your building the bridge to u the other side of the room. The spirit of cooperation to accept the changes that were w proposed shows that you are trying to build that bridge. A desire to put that behind us is z~ what both sides want. But I do have to feel that allowing the people to vote on this is the ~s cleanest and best way to proceed. And I also believe Councilmember Read that your 29 vote's important on this. Your vote is indicative of how a cooperative council can move so forward. Also I have a little vested interest here. Because I would like to vote and I 3i pledged $500 for a special ballot initiative. If you put it on the ballot, maybe I don't have s2 to pay that. 33 David Keller, 1327 I Street - Keep I,afferty Committee - You have segregated the items, sa you have taken action which was unavailable to the public before on 1B. So I appreciate 3s the opportunity to say a couple more words about this. I think it is becoming more and 36 more apparent that the four of you do not have a commitment to the public either to s~ follow a democratic process and more specifically to follow through on public access for ss Lafferty Ranch. And I think as several people pointed out this evening, the level of trust 39 in you to follow through this weighed against several years of your working very ao adamantly against it. Even calling out Supervisor Harberson for having abandoned your ai position rather than swinging to his support. I think the only way you can remedy this a2 perception, if it is incorrect, is to give that power to the people who have asked for the 43 vote. As you nickel and dime every word every line of this ordinance or of this ballot aa initiative this evening to more comply with whoever it is who's calling your interest, as whoever it is you represent, they certainly haven't shown up here. Whoever it is that you a6 are carrying water for it will become more and more evident that you don't care about a~ 5800 voters who asked for the ability to vote this yea or nay. You don't care. You can 48 say whatever high handed remarks you want about it about how good you are and how a9 faithful you are to the process. The test is already coming. The test is already here. Page 44, Vol. 29 July 29, 1996 ~ You are already changing the language when there was a cotnmitmen~ tct~put the language 2 as it was on the ballot or. to „consider that as an ordinarice. The language is .already 3 changed: Now you say will maybe it's not a difference maybe it's an improvement. That a wasn't the commitment. That wasn't the work that dozens and dozens and dozens of s people put into drafting the original language: And it was there for very specific reasons. 6 So it's a~ breach of faith with that process. ~ou talk about wanting to have a committee. ~ You want.to have a balanced committee. ~Vell is the committee going to be balanced in s two and two and two or is it going to be developed balance 50:50. Oi maybe it should lie 9 balanced in ~proportion to 5800 voters who signed the petition versus maybe~ 1500, 2000 io legitimate signatures on fraudulent ballot initiatives. So maybe it'~s a three to one balance ~~ on that eommittee. What is balance? Without a mandate from the public about what they i2 want you to do you can play around with this all day and you can claim that you're being is judicious and fair and all the rest of the stuff. 'Phere is no test. There is only one test. ~a And that's to put it on the ballot. ~ is Council comments: i6 There was a comment that the demeanor of some of the public in some of the remarks is i~ unfortunate. '~'his Council voted six to zero to adopt an access plan to I.afferty. VVhen is people get up and make accusations about the Councilmembers not caring is..far from the ~9 truth. When the Council has come a long way this evening to resolve the issue. zo Another comment was the public is feeling a complete loss of control and laek of power 2~ on this issue. Putting the issue on the ballot would help to resolve the public's concerns. z~ VVhat we are seeing here is people's fear and anger and that is being expressed in harsh ~ terms, aa 'The matter was continued to the meeting of Auguse 5. u ADJOU~tl~ a~ At 9:30 p.m. the meeting was adjourned in memory of Leslie Kerr who worked in the a,~ Planning Department as Secretary who passed away from corr~plications following surgery as and in memory of Ron . I.ucchesi who was a long time Petaluma family member and z9 worked in Public Works for sixteen years. 30 31 32 33 34 ss ATTEST: 36 37 ~~ ~ 3~ 39 atricia E. Bernard, City Clerk