City of Santa Rosa  
City Charter Review Committee  
Regular Meeting Minutes - Final  
Wednesday, December 15, 2021  
5:00 PM  
1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL  
Chair Cisco called the meeting to order at 5:03 p.m.  
19 -  
Present  
Committee Member Adriana Arrizon, Chair Patti Cisco, Committee  
Member Annie Barbour, Committee Member Scott Bartley,  
Committee Member Christine Byrne, Committee Member Dan  
Condron, Committee Member Abigail Cunningham, Committee  
Member Ana Diaz, Committee Member Jazmin Gudino, Committee  
Member Jen Klose , Committee Member Brian Ling, Committee  
Member Danny Martinez, Committee Member Chris Mazzia,  
Committee Member Evette Minor, Committee Member Logan Pitts,  
Committee Member Lisa Badenfort, Committee Member Mark Walsh,  
Committee Member Jocelyn Villalobos, and Committee Member  
Karen Weeks  
2 -  
Absent  
Committee Member Ron Miller, and Committee Member Ernesto  
Olivares  
2. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA MATTERS  
No public comments were made.  
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES  
3.1  
November 17, 2021, Regular Meeting.  
Draft Minutes  
Attachments:  
Approved as submitted.  
3.2  
December 1, 2021, Regular Meeting.  
Draft Minutes  
Attachments:  
Approved as submitted.  
4. SCHEDULED ITEMS  
4.1  
EQUITY PRINCIPLES  
Pursuant to direction given by the Committee at its December 1, 2021  
meeting, City Staff will provide a draft statement of principles regarding  
diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, for the Committee’s  
consideration. From that draft, the Committee will formulate its own  
statement of principles. The Committee’s statement of principles will  
establish a procedural and substantive lens through which the  
Committee will undertake its work.  
Attachment 1 - Charter Review Equity Principles DRAFT  
Attachment 2 - RS 11.16 Study Session Equity Priority Areas  
Attachment 3 - SR SEED Diversity Equity Inclusion Belonging Definition Overview  
Presentation  
Attachments:  
Socorro Shiels, Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Employment Officer,  
presented key terms and definitions of Diversity, Inclusion, Equity,  
and Belonging, reviewed values shared by the committee, key  
starting points, and norms. Ms. Shiels answered questions from  
Committee Members.  
No public comments were made.  
Committee discussion ensued on access to government and what  
the outcome looks like for the Committee, what it looks like at a  
resident level as well as the leadership level, the process used for  
community of interest, using Community Engagement and the  
Community Advisory Board to help with community outreach, and  
possible changes to the Equity Principles.  
4.2  
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND BELONGING --  
MICROAGGRESSIONS  
At the request of the Committee, City Staff will provide a brief training  
regarding microaggressions that may undermine efforts for diversity,  
equity, inclusion and belonging.  
Attachment 1 - University of Minnesota Microaggression Chart  
Attachments:  
Socorro Shiels, Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Employment Officer,  
provided information on the definition and examples of  
Microaggressions and how they show themselves in the community.  
No public comments were made.  
4.3  
NATURE OF CHARTER AMENDMENTS AND REVIEW OF PAST  
CHARTER REVIEW BALLOT MEASURES  
At the Committee’s request, the City Attorney’s Office will provide a brief  
primer on the differences between Charter Amendments, City  
Ordinances and Council Resolutions. The City Attorney’s Office will  
also provide a brief summary of the measures placed on the ballot for  
voter consideration in the last two Charter reviews (reviews conducted  
in 2002 and 2012).  
In 2002, three measures were placed on the ballot, including:  
• Measure L: Combined Charter Amendments (passed)  
• Measure M: Council Compensation (failed)  
• Measure O: Campaign Finance Reform (passed).  
In 2012, four measures were placed on the ballot, including:  
• Measure Q: District Council Members Elections (failed)  
• Measure R: Binding Arbitration for Police and Fire Employee  
Disputes  
(passed)  
• Measure S: Design Build Procurement (passed)  
• Measure T: Charter Reorganization, Update and Clarifications  
(passed).  
A brief summary of each measure and the results of the vote will be  
provided.  
Presentation  
Attachments:  
City Attorney Sue Gallagher presented information on the nature of  
Charter amendments, resolutions, ordinances, and past Charter  
amendments. She reported charter amendments require a ballot  
measure and are the most permanent change to the City's  
constitution and require a vote of the people to amend or change it;  
ordinances are local laws adopted by City Council addressing a  
variety of subjects, are generally applicable, not project or person  
specific, enforced by civil code enforcement and can be changed  
by the City Council; resolutions are actions on specific contracts,  
projects and policies, may establish new programs, and adopt  
Council policies. City Attorney Gallagher also provided a summary  
of the three Measures placed on the ballot in 2002 and the four  
Measures placed on the ballot in 2012.  
No public comments were made.  
COUNCIL COMPENSATION  
4.4  
The City Council has recommended that, among other topics, the  
Committee research and consider preparing a Charter amendment to  
increase Council member compensation. Currently, the Charter allows  
for the establishment of Council compensation in accordance with  
formulas set forth in state law. For a city the size of Santa Rosa, state  
law allows for Council member salary of up to $800 per month. State  
law allows for an annual increase in salary of up to 5% (not  
compounded). State law also allows the city’s voters to approve a  
higher salary. The voters of Santa Rosa have approved a higher salary  
for the Mayor, currently equal to $1200 per month (150% of Council  
member salary). This agenda item will outline details of the current  
state law and options for increasing Council compensation.  
Attachment 1 - Measure M  
Presentation  
Attachments:  
City Attorney Sue Gallagher presented information on the current  
pay for Santa Rosa City Council Members, what the current Charter  
and the State allow for pay increases, when Measure M was on the  
ballot in 2002 for voter consideration, the failure of the Measure,  
current salaries from other cities in the county and bay area, and  
answered questions from Committee members.  
Committee discussion ensued on the political difficulty for Council to  
increase their salaries, cities that have a strong mayor system or  
directly elected mayor, the budget needed to support an increase in  
salaries, formulas used to determine salaries, conducting polling of  
residents on the issue, the difference in pay between the City  
Council and Board of Supervisors, and educating the public on what  
it takes to serve on a city council or serve as the mayor.  
PUBLIC COMMENT  
World Affairs Council of Sonoma County spoke on being a big fan  
of voting and suggested the Committee reach out to tax payer  
advocates to get their concerns on this issue.  
5. COMMITTEE CHAIR'S/CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORTS  
City Attorney Sue Gallagher reported the Committee received a  
letter regarding revisions to the referendum process, noting staff will  
research the topic and report out at a future meeting, and  
Committee meeting agendas will be published on Fridays.  
City Clerk Stephanie Williams announced the recording of the  
meetings will be posted on the City's website by the end of the next  
day following the meeting. A link to the meeting portal to access the  
recording will also be placed on the Committee's webpage.  
No public comments were made.  
6. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS - NONE.  
7. WRITTEN AND/OR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS - NONE.  
8. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS  
1. Council Compensation  
2. Ranked Choice Voting  
3. Equity Principles  
No public comments were made.  
9. ADJOURNMENT  
Chair Cisco adjourned the meeting at 7:16 p.m. The next regularly  
scheduled meeting will be held on January 5, 2022, at 5:00 p.m.  
Approved on: January 19, 2022  
/s/ Stephanie A. Williams, City Clerk