City of Santa Rosa  
City Charter Review Committee  
Regular Meeting Minutes - Final  
Wednesday, January 5, 2022  
5:00 PM  
1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL  
Chair Cisco called the meeting to order at 5:03 p.m.  
18 -  
Present  
Chair Patti Cisco, Committee Member Adriana Arrizon, Committee  
Member Annie Barbour, Committee Member Lisa Badenfort,  
Committee Member Scott Bartley, Committee Member Christine  
Byrne, Committee Member Dan Condron, Committee Member Abigail  
Cunningham, Committee Member Jazmin Gudino, Committee  
Member Jen Klose , Committee Member Brian Ling, Committee  
Member Chris Mazzia, Committee Member Ron Miller, Committee  
Member Evette Minor, Committee Member Ernesto Olivares,  
Committee Member Logan Pitts, Committee Member Jocelyn  
Villalobos, and Committee Member Karen Weeks  
3 -  
Absent  
Committee Member Ana Diaz, Committee Member Danny Martinez,  
and Committee Member Mark Walsh  
2. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA MATTERS  
No public comments were made.  
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - NONE.  
4. SCHEDULED ITEMS  
4.1  
EQUITY PRINCIPLES  
Pursuant to direction given by the Committee at its December 15, 2021,  
meeting, City Staff will provide a revised draft statement of principles  
regarding diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, for the Committee’s  
review and consideration. Once approved, the Committee’s statement  
of principles will establish a procedural and substantive lens through  
which the Committee will undertake its work. The principles of diversity,  
equity, inclusion and belonging will remain in the forefront throughout  
the Charter review process.  
Attachment 1 - Charter Review Equity Principles DRAFT  
Attachment 1 - UPDATED Equity Principles (Revised 1-4-2022)  
Attachment 2 - Equity Priority Areas with Council Districts  
Attachments:  
Attachment 3 - Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Definitions (City of Santa  
Rosa)  
Socorro Shiels, Diversity, Inclusion & Equal Employment Officer,  
provided an updated Equity Principles document and answered  
questions from Committee Members.  
Committee Member Diaz joined the meeting at 5:12 p.m.  
No public comments were made.  
4.2  
SELECTION OF COMMITTEE VICE CHAIR  
Committee, by motion, will select one of its members to serve as Vice  
Chair.  
No public comments were made.  
A motion was made by Committee Member Weeks, seconded by  
Committee Member Condron, to nominate Committee Member  
Olivares as Vice Chair. Committee Member Olivares accepted the  
nomination.  
A motion was made by Committee Member Byrne, seconded by  
Committee Member Barbour to nominate Committee Member  
Gudino as Vice Chair. Committee Member Gudino accepted the  
nomination.  
A motion was made by Committee Member Badenfort to nominate  
Committee Member Pitts, who declined the nomination.  
After a roll call vote, Committee Member Olivares was appointed as  
Vice Chair by a majority of the Committee with 10 votes, and  
Committee Member Gudino receiving 9 votes.  
4.3  
COUNCIL COMPENSATION  
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).  
The Committee began its discussion of Council compensation at its  
December 15, 2021 meeting. This agenda item will allow the  
Committee to continue that discussion. Staff will present an outline of  
options for setting Council compensation and will provide information on  
comparable cities.  
Staff Report (Uploaded 1-4-2022)  
Attachments:  
Attachment 1 - Comparable Cities (Uploaded 1-4-2022)  
Attachment 2 - North Bay Cities (Uploaded 1-4-2022)  
Attachment 3 - Select Northern California Cities (Uploaded 1-4-2022)  
Attachment 4 - Berkeley Measure JJ (November 2020) (Uploaded 1-4-2022)  
Attachment 5 - Measure M (City of Santa Rosa 2012)  
Presentation  
Presentation (REVISED 1-4-2022)  
City Attorney Sue Gallagher presented and answered questions  
from the Committee.  
Discussion ensued on being cautious in setting compensation too  
high and possibly dissuading some sectors of the community, the  
impact to the City's budget resulting in the lay-off of staff in order to  
maintain increases in Council compensation, possibly changing  
compensation increases tied to state law, bundling charter  
amendment topics on the ballot, and the full cost of benefits for  
council members.  
No public comments were made.  
Further discussion ensued on conducting polls, not having an exact  
number for compensation, the need to tell the story of how much  
work is involved in serving as a council member, a definite number  
for compensation not creating a diverse pool of candidates, tying  
compensation to Area Median Income (AMI); restructuring the  
compensation message with possible term limits, term limits being a  
more comprehensive discussion than compensation, rational being  
used to increase compensation (increase diversity), compensation  
being compared to executives, not attaching compensation to  
judicial system as some cities do, having an elected mayor affecting  
the decision on how to compensate, the benefit of health care in  
exchange for less pay, the structure of family making a difference on  
who can run for Council, having compensation be an average of the  
income for city employees, the role and expectations of the council  
changing over the years, the optics of council increasing their own  
salaries, making the compensation increase effective at the next  
election cycle after passage, the need for the ballot argument to  
justify the increase, term limits promoting diversity and movement on  
the council by not creating career politicians, and the importance of  
being mindful when using acronyms in documents.  
5. COMMITTEE CHAIR'S/CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORTS - NONE.  
6. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS - NONE.  
7. WRITTEN AND/OR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS - NONE.  
8. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS  
1. Directly Elected Mayor  
2. Equity Principles as a standing item on the agenda  
No public comments were made.  
9. ADJOURNMENT  
Chair Cisco adjourned the meeting at 7:12 p.m. The next regularly  
scheduled meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 19, 2022,  
at 5:00 p.m.  
Approved on: January 19, 2022  
/s/ Stephanie A. Williams, City Clerk