There aren’t a lot of items on the agenda for the Jan. 6 Windsor council meeting, but all of them are likely to be controversial and pull in a lot of public commentary.
Town council vacancy
Up first is the ongoing attempt to fill the town council seat that was left empty by Dominic Foppoli’s victory in the mayoral race. Without a fifth member, the council has been deadlocked 2-2 over whether to appoint someone or hold a special election.
On Wednesday, they’ll attempt to come to a solution that might work. If a decision to hold an election isn’t made by Jan. 10, the town will miss the deadline to hold the election in May. If they are still deadlocked on Jan. 31, then a special election will be the default solution, with the election happening in August if the town agrees on a mail-only election or November if a full election is required. With 30 days required for certification, it could be nearly a year without a fifth council member.
While the eventual outcome is uncertain, following the application process, 25 people have put their name in the ring for the vacancy, including three people who ran in the most recent election: Tanya Potter, Rosa Reynoza and Jeffrey Leasure. Several locals with experience in governance have also applied including former mayor Mark Millan, planning commissioner Clayton Fritz and recently retired school board member George Valenzuela. In addition, the following have applied for consideration: Grant Elliot, William Hall, Harold Wilson, Jeff Gill, Dylan Harper, Elizabeth Kaufman,, Xin Wu, Julia Donoho, Joseph Jordan, Thomas Tessier, Dan Takasugi, Paul Berlant, David J. Escobar, Gary Stribling, Dominic Rosales, Jennifer Nix, Sean Harrell, Ben Lehr and Oscar Chavez.
To view the list of names and read submitted applications go to https://www.townofwindsor.com/1274/Town-Council-Vacancy.
Repealing the reach code
As if this wasn’t enough excitement for one night, the council is returning for vote the repeal of the all-electric residential reach code. The code was previously adopted as part of the town’s green initiatives, but the town was immediately sued by two developers. The town had planned to repeal it in response, but public outcry begging them not to cave to the developers was swift and so the town has spent several months in closed-session discussion with legal counsel.
The agenda description states that repealing the ordinance is part of a negotiated settlement, and goes to list multiple other ways the town is attempting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“While the All-Electric Residential Reach Code would have assisted new residential development in meeting the General Plan required-GHG efficiency threshold, new residential development will still be required to meet the GHG efficiency threshold through other means. Therefore, rescinding the All-Electric Residential Reach Code will not result in a net increase in GHG emissions for the town because new development will still be required to meet the efficiency thresholds,” states the agenda.
Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) and Housing Element Update Status Report
In 1969, the state mandated that all California cities, towns and counties must plan for the housing needs of its residents. This state mandate is implemented through Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process. As part of the RHNA process, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) determines the total number of new homes each region needs to build and how affordable those homes need to be in order to meet the housing needs of people at all income levels.
For the eight-year period covering 2023 through 2031, HCD has determined that the Bay Area’s RHNA is 441,176 housing units, about half of which must be affordable. By contrast, the Bay Area’s RHNA for the current eight-year period ending in 2022, was 187,990 units. This represents an increase of almost 135%, which is reflective of the state’s dire housing crisis and is consistent with the increases seen in other parts of the state.
The local allocation of those units is determined by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), and each local government must then update their Housing Element plan to demonstrate that there are sufficient sites for the housing to be built, and that the necessary policies and strategies to meet the community’s housing needs are in place.
Over the past cycle, the town has fallen short in its allocation (only 169 of the required 440 have been completed) and the next cycle predicted to have a 61% increase in allocations (to 710 units), the town will have to figure out how to meet the new numbers.
Roundabout Art
The final item of the evening will be discussion of the art installation in the middle of the new roundabout near the train depot.
The two designs being presented conform with requirements for the SMART train to utilize safely, and have been discussed and voted on by the Public Arts Commission. They both feature natural local stone and light features.
The cost is estimated to be between $120,000 and $150,000, though this cost was already factored into the overall cost of the project and does not signify additional cost.
The proposed designs can be seen here.
The next meeting of the Windsor Town Council takes place on Jan. 6 at 6 p.m. If you would like to provide public comment, we encourage you to submit them via email to the Council by 4 p.m. on the day of the meeting: towncouncil@townofwindsor.com.
Members of the public can participate in the meeting by visiting:
https://zoom.us/j/92637511020 or by dialing 877-853-5247 and
Enter Webinar ID: 926 3751 1020, or the meeting will be live streamed at:
https://www.townofwindsor.com/721/Agendas-Minutes-Videos
The meeting can also be viewed on Comcast Channel 27
and AT&T U-verse Channel 99.
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