HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 5b - 02-20-2026 City Council Minutes - Draft
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Council Minutes
January 20, 2026, 5:30 p.m.
Council Chambers, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo
Council Members
Present:
Council Member Mike Boswell, Vice Mayor Emily Francis,
Council Member Jan Marx, Council Member Michelle
Shoresman, Mayor Erica A. Stewart
City Staff Present: City Manager Whitney McDonald, Christine Dietrick, City
Attorney, Teresa Purrington, City Clerk
_____________________________________________________________________
1. CLOSED SESSION (4:30 PM - 5:30 PM)
1.a CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNCIL - EXISTING LITIGATION
ACTION: City Attorney Christine Dietrick indicated that the Council met in
closed Session regarding one matter of pending litigation regarding
Randall Arseneau as indicated on the agenda. The City Council provided
no reportable action.
1.b ADJOURNMENT
Closed Session adjourned at 5:25 PM.
2. CALL TO ORDER
A Regular Meeting of the San Luis Obispo City Council was called to order on
January 20, 2026 at 5:35 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 990 Palm Street, San
Luis Obispo, by Mayor Stewart.
3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Mayor Stewart led the Council in the Pledge of Allegiance.
4. PRESENTATIONS
4.a CITYWIDE SINGLE VOTE TRANSITION - COMMUNICATIONS AND
OUTREACH PLAN
Deputy City Manager Greg Hermann, Communications Manager Whitney
Szentesi and Policy and Program Manager Natalie Harnett presented the
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Communication Plan for Citywide Single Vote and responded to Council
questions.
4.b CITY MANAGER REPORT
City Manager Whitney McDonald provided a report on upcoming projects.
5. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA
Public Comment:
Shawn Harris
--End of Public Comment--
6. CONSENT AGENDA
Public Comment:
None
--End of Public Comment--
Motion By Council Member Marx
Second By Council Member Shoresman
To approve Consent Calendar Items 6a to 6d.
Ayes (5): Council Member Boswell, Vice Mayor Francis, Council Member Marx,
Council Member Shoresman, and Mayor Stewart
CARRIED (5 to 0)
6.a WAIVE READING IN FULL OF ALL RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES
Waive reading of all resolutions and ordinances as appropriate.
6.b MINUTES REVIEW - JANUARY 13, 2026 COUNCIL MINUTES
Approve the minutes of the City Council meeting held on January 13,
2026.
6.c AUTHORIZATION TO APPLY FOR THE 2025 COMMUNITY CHAMPIONS
PLAYGROUND GRANT
1. Adopt Resolution No. 11623 (2026 Series) affirming the submittal of
a Community Champions Playground Grant application
(Attachment A) requesting an award of grant funds toward the
purchase of a new playground system for the Vista Lago Park, from
GameTime, a PlayCore Company (GameTime); and
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2. Authorize the Assistant City Manager to execute the necessary
grant documents and appropriate the grant amount into the Vista
Lago Playground Replacement project (CIP No. 2000033 -02)
budget to support the replacement of the playground equipment
upon grant award.
6.d FINAL ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE NO 1754 (2026 SERIES)
IMPLEMENTING CITYWIDE SINGLE VOTE FOR CITY COUNCIL
ELECTIONS
Adopt Ordinance No. 1754 (2026 Series) adding Chapter 2.38, entitled
“Citywide Single Vote Method of Electing City Councilmembers” to the San
Luis Obispo Municipal Code, implementing a new method for elections of
City Councilmembers and adopting regulations providing for the
administration of City Council elections by Citywide Single Vote beginning
in November 2026.
7. PUBLIC HEARING AND BUSINESS ITEMS
7.a 2025 STATE LEGISLATIVE BRIEFING
Motion By Mayor Stewart
Second By Council Member Shoresman
1. Receive and file a report on the 2025 State Legislative Briefing
which summarizes the adopted laws from the 2025 regular sess ion
of the California State Legislature (December 2024 through
October 2025); and
2. To appoint an ad-hoc committee of Vice Mayor Francis and
Council Member Boswell to review the current legislative platform
and suggest changes for the 2026 legislative sessio n.
Ayes (5): Council Member Boswell, Vice Mayor Francis, Council Member
Marx, Council Member Shoresman, and Mayor Stewart
CARRIED (5 to 0)
7.b CONSIDER INVITATION TO JOIN LETTER FROM THE COUNTY OF
SAN LUIS OBISPO REQUESTING STATE LEGISLATION RELATED TO
DIABLO CANYON POWER PLANT
City Manager Whitney McDonald provided an in-depth staff report and
responded to Council questions.
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Public Comments:
Eric Daniels
Ben Lippert
Rachel Whalen
Dawn Ortiz-Legg
---End of Public Comment---
Motion By Vice Mayor Francis
Second By Council Member Marx
To appoint an ad hoc committee of Council Member Marx and Council
Member Shoresman to provide direction to staff regarding preparation of a
draft letter based on alignment with guiding principles, and the City's
Legislative Platform to return to Council for approval at the February 3,
2026 City Council meeting.
Ayes (5): Council Member Boswell, Vice Mayor Francis, Council Member
Marx, Council Member Shoresman, and Mayor Stewart
CARRIED (5 to 0)
7.c SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS PRESENTATION ON
LOCAL ROADS FIRST PROPOSED BALLOT MEASURE– DRAFT
TRANSPORTATION EXPENDITURE PLAN (30 MINUTES)
ACTION:
ACTION: Council received a presentation regarding the potential
Countywide Self-Help Sales Tax Measure and Draft Transportation
Expenditure Plan and and provided comments on the measure, including
its ability it will provide the community to leverage local money for
additional state and federal money. Council provided the following
comments:
Concerns around using population as a primary determinant for
how the money will be divided, understanding, however, the need
for simplicity and the ability of voters to advocate to their direct
representatives about the use of the funds, if approved.
Curious how other Counties have balanced the different ways to
create a formula to try to create fairness and simplicity at the same
time.
Questions were raised regarding Cal Poly’s on-campus population
being included in the unincorporated share of direct funding
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because access to and from the campus is through the City, so
transportation impacts are borne by the City.
Concerns were expressed regarding the map used to divide the
regional share of funds.
Concerns were raised regarding the statement that Morro Bay and
Los Osos being more like the North Coast than San Luis Obispo.
o There are only two road outs of Los Osos, one through Morro
Bay and the other through San Luis Obispo.
o We share a School District with Los Osos and Morro Bay.
o We share a seat on the Central Coast Community Energy
Board with Morro Bay.
o In terms of homeless services providers CAPSLO supports both
San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay.
County Board of Supervisor District 2 (20%), District 5 (15%) and
District 3 (65%) make up the City of San Luis Obispo. Other cities
are entirely contained in one district. This needs to be considered
for regional projects.
An origin and destination study should be performed when
discussing regional projects.
Make the ballot measure as clear as possible and show people
what types of projects they could get for their money.
8. LIAISON REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
Mayor Stewart
Spoke at the Martin Luther King event in Paso Robles
Vice Mayor Francis
Attended the SCLC meeting on January 15th
Attended the CAPSLO meeting on January 15th
Attended the Annual Chamber Dinner on January 17th.
Council Member Boswell
Attended the Active Transportation Committee Meeting on January 15th
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Council Member Marx
Attended IWMA meeting on January 14th.
Attended the Annual Chamber Dinner on January 17th.
Council Member Shoresman
Attended the Active Transportation Committee meeting on January 15th
Conducted interviews for Human Relations Commission last week
Participated in an interview with KPMG Consultant for the Homeless
Services Oversight Committee
Attended the Annual Chamber Dinner on January 17th
9. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 9:36 p.m. The next Regular City Council Meeting
is scheduled for February 3, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City
Hall, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo.
APPROVED BY COUNCIL: XX/XX/202X
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