Mayor’s Friday Update

**Friday Mayor’s Update**

Here are some highlights from our City Council meeting this week.

--We had one of the last public hearings on district elections. Taking into consideration public comment and a robust discussion amongst the council, we adopted Map 2 as the district boundary map for the next 10 years. After some debate amongst the council, we decided Districts B & D will have elections to select a councilmember in 2022 while Districts A & C will vote in the 2024 election. And, as we decided at our meeting earlier this month, the at-large Mayor will be directly elected for two years.

This process has been difficult. First, it was forced upon us—the move to district elections is not something our leadership feels is appropriate for our city, (a sentiment we heard from many of our residents as well). It is also a very time-consuming process taking up resources when there is already a great deal we are working to accomplish. At each public hearing there were tense moments, robust discussion, and a sense of concern as to how district elections may impact our city.

Given this, as mayor, it was at times logistically challenging leading these public hearings (neither staff nor any of us on the council had been through this process before). A historic moment of sorts. But at the end of every meeting, I was grateful for the true spirit of collaboration and respect with which our council worked together to accomplish the task at hand. I’m so proud of our council, staff, and most of all, our community for making the best of this situation and, as always, putting what’s best for Belmont at the forefront.

--The council also had a study session on commercial cannabis as part of an ongoing discussion to adopt a Commercial Cannabis Ordinance and allow us to capture the sales tax as a much-needed additional revenue. We reviewed a map of allowed locations apply to both retail dispensaries as well as distribution facilities and provided staff direction on the next steps of making the necessary zoning changes and hearings to take place in the next 3 months.

--We heard an update about our Parks & Rec Open Space (PROS) Master Plan project. We received information on the community surveys and stakeholder meetings that took place, which refined the goals of the plan. There’s a lot of great information and ways to participate in the PROS plan process. Check out our city’s website for more information!

--The fun stuff: Little League is back! I went to my first Belmont Redwood Shores Little League game of the season Wednesday night. Cheering on my nephew and his friends and watching the hard-working volunteer coaches, teaching technique and teamwork was a great reminder of why I am so fortunate to serve this community.

Have a great weekend!