It actually looks like Tuesday may be a simple night, but not necessarily a short one.
We start the evening with two closed sessions. The first involves ongoing labor negotiations with the Sunnyvale Employees Association (SEA). The second is our semi-annual performance evaluation for the City Manager. Then it’s on to the general meeting.
First up is a special order of the day, recognizing the fact that Sunnyvale has received a Government Finance Officers Association Award (for the 22nd year in a row, I believe) for its fiscal management practices. This is followed by a 5-minute presentation on the American Cancer Society’s “Relay for Life”. Then it’s on to business, with the shortest consent calendar I’ve seen in quite a while – only one additional item beyond the housekeeping ones (a contract for recreation classes).
Item 2 is our semi-annual appointments to boards and commissions. And this will run for a while. We won’t be using our new ranked-choice paper ballot method, since we only just approved it. Instead, we’ll be conducting individual up-or-down votes on all applicants, and there are 31 of them. So if there are no tie-breakers, we’ll be voting on these for at least a half hour.
Item 3 is a big one – taking a position on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) for El Camino Real. And this is a significant county vote, because Sunnyvale represents the deciding city, as it’s been explained to me. I believe VTA will choose to pursue or not pursue it based on the majority opinion of the ECR cities, determined by miles of ECR. If Sunnyvale votes to support, that puts it over the top, and VTA will begin the EIR process. If not, they won’t just yet (if at all). Even if Sunnyvale votes “yes”, this won’t be a “final decision” – it just starts the next phase of the process, with opportunities for VTA or cities to change their minds. But it’s still a key decision point, one way or the other.
Item 4 is our annual public hearing on the Business Improvement District in the Downtown. This is the public’s opportunity to express their opinions on how the Sunnyvale Downtown Association is working.
And item 5 is continued discussion about red light cameras at key Sunnyvale intersections. Because of ongoing legal issues with red light cameras, staff is recommending that we discontinue active efforts and direct staff to simply keep an eye on the legal aspects of RLCs until the situation becomes more clear.
That’s about it. Gonna be a long one.
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