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2020-09-15 CC CS Minutes Special Meeting Alameda City Council September 15, 2020 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY- -SEPTEMBER 15, 2020- -5:30 P.M. Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft convened the meeting at 5:00 p.m. Roll Call – Present: Councilmembers Daysog, Knox White, Oddie, Vella and Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft – 5. [Note: The meeting was held via WebEx.] Absent: None. The meeting was adjourned to Closed Session to consider: (20-586) Conference with Real Property Negotiators (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.8); Property: Site A at Alameda Point; Persons Negotiating: Eric J. Levitt, City Manager; Debbie Potter, Community Development Director; Michelle Giles, Redevelopment Project Manager; and Lisa Maxwell, Assistant City Attorney; Negotiating Parties: City of Alameda and Alameda Point Partners: Under Negotiation: Price and Terms. Continued to September 22, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. (20-587) Conference with Legal Counsel: Existing Litigation (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9); Case Name: Application of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (U 39-E) for Approval and Recovery of Oakland Clean Energy Initiative Preferred Portfolio Procurement Costs; Court: Public Utilities Commission of the State of California; Case Number: CPUC Docket No. A.20-04-013 (20-588) Conference with Legal Counsel: Existing Litigation (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9); Case Name: City of Alameda v. Pacific Gas and Electric Company under EL20-630” Petition for Declaratory Order, et al. and Conditional Complaint of City of Alameda, California under EL20 -63; Court: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Case Number: FERC Docket No. EL20-63-000 (20-589) Conference with Legal Counsel: Workers’ Compensation Claim (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.95); Claimant: Employee – Fire Department; Claim Nos.: ALAZ-005283 and ALAV-004823; Agency Claimed Against: City of Alameda (20-590) Conference with Legal Counsel: Existing Litigation (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9); Case Name: National Urban League, et al. v. Wilbur L. Ross, Je, et. al.; Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of California; Case Number: 20-cv-5799 (20-591) Conference with Legal Counsel: Existing Litigation; Requests for the City to participate as amicus in pending litigations (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9); Case Name: Common Wealth of Pennsylvania, State of California, et. al. v. Special Meeting Alameda City Council September 15, 2020 Louis Dejoy, et al.; Court: United State District Court for the Easter District of Pennsylvania; Case Number: 2:20-cv-4096 (20-592) Conference with Labor Negotiators (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6); City Negotiators: Eric J. Levitt, City Manager; Gerry Beaudin, Assistant City Manager; and Nancy Bronstein, Human Resources Director; Employee Organizations: International Association of Firefighters, Local 689 (IAFF); Under Negotiation: Salaries, Employee Benefits and Terms of Employment. Following the Closed Session, the meeting was reconvened and the City Clerk announced that regarding Site A, staff provided information, Council provided direction to continue the meeting to September 22nd at 5:00 p.m.; regarding Oakland Clean Energy Initiative and City of Alameda v. Pacific Gas and Electric, staff provided information and Council provided direction by the following roll call vote: Councilmembers Daysog: Aye; Knox White: Aye; Oddie: Aye; Vella: Aye; and Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft: Aye; Ayes: 5; regarding Workers’ Compensation Claim, staff provided information and Council approved staff’s recommendations by the following roll call vote: Councilmembers Daysog: Aye; Knox White: Aye; Oddie: Aye; Vella: Aye; and Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft: Aye; Ayes: 5; these two worker’s compensation claims were filed by a Firefighter who first joined the City on October 24, 2002 ; applicant experienced a neck injury on or about November 5, 2018, while participating in training ; applicant also experienced a neck injury on or about August 11, 2014, while on a Fire engine; the Council authorized the City Attorney to settle the pending worker’s compensation claims in an amount not to exceed $100,000; regarding National Urban League, staff provided information and Council approved staff’s recommendation by the following roll call vote: Councilmembers Daysog: Aye; Knox White: Aye; Oddie: Aye; Vella: Aye; and Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft: Aye; Ayes: 5: the City has been asked to join numerous oth er local jurisdictions by authoring and/or signing on to an amicus briefs to be filed in the above case to support the Plaintiff’s efforts to forestall the Trump Administration’s efforts to cut short, by as much as half the 2020 Census operations; among other harms, the Trump administration’s decision would shorten the time period for the Census Bureau’s non - response follow up (NRFU) efforts, which are critical to enumerate hard -to-count communities, such as racial and ethnic minorities ; especially in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, an abbreviated NRFU period will inevitably and disproportionately undercount communities of Color; the Council has authorized the City Attorney to author and/or sign amicus briefs in support of the plaintiffs in th is case, in any trial or appellate court of competent jurisdiction; regarding Common Wealth of Pennsylvania, staff provided information and Council approved staff’s recommendations by the following roll call vote: Councilmembers Daysog: Aye; Knox White: Aye; Oddie: Aye; Vella: Aye; and Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft: Aye; Ayes: 5; the City has been asked to join numerous other local jurisdictions by authoring and/or signing on to an amicus briefs to be filed in the above case to support the plaintiffs’ challenge again st recent changes to U.S. Postal Service policies; more specifically, the U.S. Postmaster General has adopted several policies that have delayed mail delivery, including: (1) eliminating overtime, (2) eliminating trips to postal sorting facilities to pick up mail for delivery, (3) removing mail sorting machines in certain localities, and (4) deprioritizing election Special Meeting Alameda City Council September 15, 2020 ballots from First Class Mail; reliable and timely mail is essential to administering elections and other core government operations, especiall y in light of the pandemic; experts estimate that for the first time, 3 in 4 voters will be eligible to vote by mail ; States that have conducted primaries in 2020, during the pandemic, have seen a 400 percent or more increase in the use of mail ballots and a similar increase in rejected ballots, often due to delays in receiving the ballots ; governments have also turned to a greater reliance on mail for operations such as to determining eligibility for public benefits and providing healthcare services; in the absence of reliable mail service, government workers and residents risk either access to the polls and essential services or greater exposure to COVID-19; the Council has authorized the City Attorney to author and/or sign amicus briefs in support of th e plaintiffs in this case, in any trial or appellate court of competent jurisdiction; and regarding Labor, staff provided information and Council provided direction by the following roll call vote: Councilmembers Daysog: Aye; Knox White: Aye; Oddie: Aye; Vella: Aye; and Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft: Aye; Ayes: 5. Following the announcement, Council voted to continue the Site A to September 22, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. by the following roll call vote: Councilmembers Daysog: Aye; Knox White: Aye; Oddie: Aye; Vella: Aye; and Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft: Aye; Ayes: 5. Adjournment At 7:07 p.m., Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft continued the meeting to September 22, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lara Weisiger City Clerk The agenda for this meeting was posted in accordance with the Sunshine Ordinance.