Council outlines key priorities for next 2 years

Long-simmering community concerns are on track to become true priorities in the coming years, as Petaluma City Council members outlined their hopes for renter protections, crosstown connectors, retail cannabis and more during a special goal-setting meeting this week.

The Monday workshop was designed to give council members the chance to prioritize back-burner issues as the city engages on major topics, including the General Plan Update and ongoing negotiations over the future of the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds.

But carving five priorities out of a list of more than 230 items proved challenging for a council committed to climate action, transportation, equity and transparency.

“Most of us are going to support most of these items,” said council member Dave King. “If we go through all of these, I’ll be hard pressed to tell you which I wouldn’t.”

The council’s work on Monday marks the culmination of months of planning and community engagement, and it mirrors a process first used in 2019 to map out two years’ worth of priorities.

With dozens of the 237 so-called work plan items already funded or in progress, including road and bike lane improvements, homelessness services funding and progress toward a second SMART station, council members were asked to elevate projects that haven’t been heavily emphasized, but nevertheless draw plenty of public interest.

The result, for Petaluma, is a two-year work program that will include efforts to bolster protections for tenants, bring retail cannabis into the city, sharpen planning for crosstown connectors, pass an ordinance related to tobacco and vaping retail licensing and craft a master plan for city parks.

Tenant protections drew nearly unanimous support from council members, but the council was split on whether those protections would delve into rent control, and specified just cause for evictions or more narrowly seek to close loopholes in existing statewide protections.

The Ellis Act allows property owners to evict tenants if they intend to take the rental property off the market, but Petaluma City Council member Mike Healy said there’s no recourse for renters if landlords use the act as pretext for eviction and then re-rent the property weeks later.

Protections for renters have come to the forefront as state and local governments enacted stronger measures to keep people housed amid the coronavirus pandemic. But the protections have since gained popularity among residents and elected officials who say they are key to addressing the ongoing housing crises.

“It’s an equity issue,” said Mayor Teresa Barrett, advocating for the stronger protections. “And I also think it’s an issue that helps us fight the increase in homelessness.”

Council members also sought to emphasize protections for youth, elevating to a priority status a proposed ordinance banning flavored vaping products which advocates have long said target teens.

Windsor, Cloverdale and Sebastopol have already banned flavored vaping products, and state lawmakers last year approved a similar ban, although the state prohibition won’t take effect until voters have their say at the ballot box November 2022.

In each case, elected officials have cited alarming surveys showing high usage among teens who leaders say are targeted by companies with kid-friendly flavors.

On Monday, e-cigarette maker Juul settled with the state of North Carolina in a lawsuit alleging the vaping giant had marketed its products to teens. The $40 million settlement also includes restrictions on the types of flavors Juul can produce going forward.

In Sonoma County, high schools report vaping is one of their top discipline issues, with vaping products being confiscated at a rate of 450 products per month, according to Sonoma County data presented to the Board of Supervisors in late 2019.

“I think it’s important that we try to stem this tide of tobacco-related health issues,” said council member Dennis Pocekay, a Petaluma doctor.

Five council members opted to prioritize greater discussion of crosstown connectors, including Caulfield Lane and the Rainier overcrossing, a perennial political football that is likely to be tossed around during the looming General Plan Update as well.

Council member Kevin McDonnell said he wants the city to have planning in place by the end of the year, including public engagement, to give Petaluma a better shot at regional transit funding that could finally make some of the traffic-alleviating work possible.

“I think that’s the trigger for our crosstown connectors,” McDonnell said, referencing funding from the Sonoma County Transportation Authority. “SCTA said they don’t want a public notice of priorities; they want public engagement.”

Four council members agreed they want to see retail cannabis in Petaluma within the next two years, a move that would follow years of delivery-only cannabis business within city limits. But without retail sales in town, city leaders say Petaluma is missing out on crucial tax revenue.

“I think it is a very good tax source for our city,” Barrett said. “I think it is a good revitalization to downtown.”

Tyler Silvy is editor of the Petaluma Argus-Courier. Reach him at tyler.silvy@arguscourier.com, 707-776-8458, or @tylersilvy on Twitter.