by Tony Hicks – Updating the city’s housing element and finishing old business concerning pandemic recovery, climate action, and race and justice are on the horizon for Walnut Creek, as the City Council will discuss strategic priorities for the next two years at a special meeting this afternoon.
The council has a history of setting two-year goals. The last time it did was for 2019-2020, when it prioritized economic development, forming a climate action plan, fiscal sustainability, and infrastructure and facilities.
That work isn’t entirely done. The report says the city will evaluate what it has learned from its pandemic rebound program to help businesses moving forward. Work on its environmental plan still needs community engagement and final action.
Budgets for the next two fiscal years still need shaping and a comprehensive review of city fees should begin this summer. Staff also seeks direction from the council on Your Parks Your Future, the push for a new master plan for park facilities and programs.
The city will also keep working on social and racial justice, especially in the aftermath of the police shooting of African American resident Miles Hall in 2019, with the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s report on the matter still pending. The city settled a civil suit from Hall’s family for $4 million last September.
The staff report says the city, along with other Contra Costa cities, expects to implement changes in how it deals with mental health-related emergency calls. By this summer, city officials expect to have a crisis-intervention team in place that includes mental health professionals.
The city is also working with an outside facilitator on its goal of forming a diversity and inclusion task force, which would include two council members, two to four city staffers, and a number of community members.
Their goal would be to make recommendations to the council.
The report also says the city will continue adjusting to COVID-19, shifting operational focus from response to recovery, including how to hold meetings moving forward and a timetable to re-open the Lesher Center of the Arts.
Staff is recommending new priorities include updating the city’s housing element. State law mandates all municipalities plan for the housing needs of residents of all incomes. A key component in keeping up with requirements is adhering to the regional housing needs allocation from the state and the Association of Bay Area Governments. The report says the city’s number of low and very low-income units will double the next cycle.
The city also needs an updated clean water permit from the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, which requires a management plan governing stormwater pollution.
The report says, “As currently written, the new requirements could make basic road improvements so costly that the city would have to scale back its road maintenance and capital improvement program activities.”
” diversity and inclusion task force”? What is on the agenda at one of their meetings?
This committee is a nice idea and will make people feel good. However the elephant in the room nobody will mention is this: One of the reasons Walnut Creek is so expensive is because it’s not diverse. As such, there isn’t an easy solution to overcome or reconcile that. With those economics as a given, it will take time.
Who cares. Walnut Creek showed their true colors last summer with the standing down to violent Antifa and BLM protesters. Glad I moved out of that crap city.
Typical Dem-run city. All white elder hypocrats that cry climate change and then make decisions that suit their own convenience. Watching Cindy Silva kiss Tawn Hall’s behind was painful. Such a fake. Interestingly, they just banned leaf blowers in Rossmoor, where they are all headed. Same cult of council people on repeat.
“The city will also keep working on social and racial justice, especially in the aftermath of the police shooting of African American resident Miles Hall in 2019, with the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s report on the matter still pending. The city settled a civil suit from Hall’s family for $4 million last September. ”
Miles was sprinting at officers while shrieking and brandishing a 4 foot pole of rebar, essentially a spear. He tried to murder cops, or at least pantomime it, and his family got a 4 million dollar pay off, and all of us get a scolding on how unequitable and racist our communities are. Because a scumbag tried to murder cops.
Crazy times.
… again.. ignoring the wishes of the residents.. they pushed street maintenance and updates to existing infrastructure to the bottom of their priorities and kept their own agenda items… no surprise but sad… until the “pro-tem” mayoral system is replaced they will continue to ignore voters desires.
Have no fear, 108RS chewed out a WC Council member last Friday night.
108RS
WC city council couldn’t solve climate change in 2 years, huh? What are they even doing over there?
this coming from a city that did nothing while those patronizing its businesses were assaulted
I’m still bothered by what happened in the last WC council election. I believe it’s a good idea to have a diversity of backgrounds, talents, and ideas within a group such as a board of directors or city council. The WC city council has five seats.
In 2020 three of the five seats were up for re-election. What happened was that two of the members running for re-election combined forces with a friend of theirs to portray the other member running for re-election as the “odd guy / gadfly” of the council and also that their friend was very able and qualified to serve. The strategy worked and so now there’s a clique of three members and less diversity within the city council.
The usual random outsiders running on a single agenda also ran. I’ve rarely been interested in single agenda candidates. There was am outside candidate who appeared more balanced. He ended up in fourth place in a race where the top three get into the council.