The Emeryville City Council met for the last time of 2025 on Tuesday, December 2nd. Highlights from the meeting included a special meeting to discuss the possibility of shifting to a monthly meeting schedule and the city’s annual leadership rotation.

Council Debates Shift to Monthly Meeting [51:20]

The evening opened with a Special Meeting and study session examining whether Emeryville should reduce its two-meeting-per-month schedule to one.

Discussion of the item was suggested by Vice Mayor Sukhdeep Kaur and inspired by the southern California City of La Palma that, like Emeryville, is small with a population under 20,000. Kaur noted that La Palma has been adhering to the monthly meeting schedule “successfully” for the past 5 years. The item was brought to council at the recommendation of the budget and governance committee.

Finance Director Sharon Friedrichsen walked through how ten comparably sized cities handle their legislative calendars, noting that five of these cities met twice a month, four met only once a month and one met three times a month. Complexity of jurisdiction and operational needs were the primary criteria that dictated scheduling cadence.

Friedrichsen detailed that reduced staff time, cost and efficiency were the primary advantages of shifting to a monthly schedule. She cautioned that a one-meeting model could create longer meetings, delay ordinances, contracts and development agreements, adding that it would also mean ‘less public comment opportunity.’ It might also inadvertently lead to more frequent Special meetings to address emergency issues that arose.

Following the staff presentation, Councilmembers weighed in on with their thoughts on the pros and cons.

Priforce: “Democracy Is Not Supposed to Be Efficient”

Councilmember Priforce spoke in length about the issue. “Democracy is not supposed to be efficient,” Priforce read during an expansive nearly 8 minute commentary on the item. “It’s supposed to be accessible,” adding that reducing meetings would amplify an imbalance between residents with the free time to attend meetings and those without. “Every time we shrink the public square we shrink the ability of residents and everyone else to be heard in their own city.”

Councilmember Welch noted that staff already periodically canceled meetings when agendas were light giving them the flexibility to meet only one time per month when warranted. She warned that a once-monthly schedule would create more last-minute special meetings — actually increasing unpredictability for busy residents.

Kaur defended the proposed change saying the intention was to increase public engagement by balancing council meetings with committee work. But she acknowledged the consensus: “If a majority of the council feels this is not a good idea… I’m glad this has been very robustly discussed.”

Mayor David Mourra echoed the lack of identifiable benefit: “I’m a big fan of efficiency, but I was struggling to actually find the efficiency in this.”

Mourra did support Kaur’s suggestion of giving the Budget and Governance committee more agency to increase the cadence of their meeting schedule during active budget cycle discussions. “I would be fine putting that on a future agenda item for us to review the calendar and have make any adjustments as necessary for us to.”

The Special Meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.

Regular Meeting: Investment Policy Scrutinized [1:20]

The Regular Meeting opened with announcements about the cancellation of the December 16 council meeting and upcoming seasonal events including the annual parade and tree lighting on Friday, December 5.

The consent calendar contained nine items including the approval of action minutes from several past meetings and other budgetary authorizations including approximately $244,000 for three new, equipped police cruisers and $290,000 from the ECCL fund balance for the installation of security camera upgrades.

Councilmember Priforce made a motion to pull item 9.7 which was a resolution for “Adopting the Annual Statement of Investment Policy” for discussion. This motion was seconded and approved by the other members of council.

Priforce questioned whether the city’s investment guidelines incorporated ethical screening, asking whether they excluded financial institutions linked to “harmful industries.”

Friedrichsen confirmed that Emeryville already follows a Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) framework addressing fossil fuels, weaponry, labor practices and environmental compliance.

Chandler Investments Portfolio manager Karl Meng was brought online to answer questions adding that Emeryville’s policy is stricter than most: “Emeryville is kind of a step above and more restrictive in that realm.”

After providing these clarifications, the policy was unanimously approved.

Kaur Appointed Mayor, Solomon Named Vice Mayor

The meeting concluded with the annual appointment of the city’s mayor and vice mayor to one year terms. Outgoing Mayor Mourra reflected on the council’s accomplishments over his tenure that he noted included the launch of the city’s new website, the study and identification new revenue measures to address structural budget deficits, progress on the Sutter Health Hospital development and new Bike Pedestrian developments that are moving forward including the 40th street multimodal project.

Mourra then made a motion to elevate Vice Mayor Kaur to Mayor and Matthew Solomon as Vice Mayor (Solomon receiving the third highest vote tally in the 2024 election placing him “in line” after Kaur). The motion was approved 4-0 with Priforce abstaining.

Kaur, who initially ran for a seat in 2022 in a losing bid, was appointed to council in 2023 to replace Ally Medina who abruptly resigned. Kaur won a full, four-year term in last year’s election.

Kaur is considered Emeryville’s first councilmember of South Asian descent as well as the first to serve as Mayor.

AC Transit Board of Director and fellow Sikh Harpreet Sandhu provided the lone public comment acknowledging her milestone. “As a first Sikh sister on this council as a mayor of Emeryville. That milestone is a source of pride for our community and a powerful symbol of diversity, inclusion, and opportunity that defines who we are and who we aspire to be.”

Oaths and First Remarks

After reciting her oath, Kaur made her first remarks centered around collaboration and community values.

“Emeryville’s strength is our shared care for community. Our commitment to sustainability, housing, safety, and arts. As mayor, I will continue to lead with transparency, compassion, and the belief that progress and heart can go hand in hand. Together we’ll keep Emeryville vibrant, inclusive, and deeply connected, a city where we can be all proud to call home”

As her first official act as Emeryville Mayor, Kaur adjourned the meeting.

The Agenda for this meeting can be viewed/downloaded on Emeryville.org.