The July 7 Emeryville City Council meeting came in at a crisp 46 minutes with a relatively light agenda.
With remote commenting enabled via zoom, Mayor Sukhdeep Kaur kicked off the meeting by reading a lengthy disclaimer warning remote speakers of committing abuses that the city has previously experienced.
“The City Council welcomes comments including criticism about the policies, procedures, programs, or services of the city or of the acts or omissions of the city council. Speakers shall not use threatening, profane, or abusive language which disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of a city council or related meetings. The city is committed to maintaining a workplace free of unlawful harassment and is mindful that the city staff regularly attend the council meetings. Discriminatory statements or conduct that would potentially violate the Fair Employment and Housing Act, that is, statements or conduct that are hostile, intimidating, oppressive, or abusive, are per se disruptive to a meeting and will not be tolerated.”
Approval of Final Agenda & Powell Street Redesign [4:54]
Prior to the meeting A contingent of Watergate residents expressed anger over the perceived short notice of the item on a holiday weekend. The agenda was posted Thursday evening, meeting the Brown Act’s 72-hour posting requirement, though some residents objected that the item appeared during a holiday weekend with limited time for review.
Before approving the agenda, Mayor Kaur proposed modifying it to remove Item 11.2, the Powell Street Redesign Plan concept. Kaur, a Watergate resident, explained she had consulted with the FPPC regarding a potential conflict of interest and was informed that obtaining a formal advice letter could take approximately 21 working days after submitting additional information. Citing this delay and public requests for additional outreach, Kaur moved to continue the item for at least 21 days.
Plans for the redesigned Powell Street include a two-way cycle track and diagonal parking.
Vice Mayor Matthew Solomon clarified with City Manager LaTanya Bellow that delaying the vote would not jeopardize any grant deadlines. The motion was then seconded by Mourra and unanimously approved 4-0, as Councilmember Priforce had not yet arrived.
Special Orders of the Day: Parks Proclamation [10:22]
The council issued a proclamation recognizing July 2026 as “Parks Make Life Better!” month. The proclamation highlighted the essential spaces Emeryville’s parks provide for play, environmental connection, exercise, and community building. Community Services Director Rebecca Sermeno and her staff were invited to the podium to receive the proclamation. Council members praised the department’s “small and mighty” team for their patience, dedication, and positive impact on the health and wellness of Emeryville’s youth.
Public Comment [20:10]
The open public comment period featured intense testimony, primarily driven by city workers represented by SEIU during ongoing contract negotiations. Several city staff members and SEIU representatives spoke out against the city’s proposed cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Workers expressed that the offered COLA falls short of the 4% Consumer Price Index (CPI), resulting in a loss of purchasing power amidst rising housing and food costs. Commenters argued the proposal created an inequity between lower-paid essential workers and higher-paid city positions, calling it hypocritical to the council’s stated goals of equity and being an “employer of choice.”
City of Emeryville Assistant Planner and SEIU chapter president Alyssa Chung spoke at the podium as the city enters into a negotiation period with their staff.
“It’s demoralizing and insulting that the city does not seem to extend the same care to us,” Chung challenged. “The council has said one of its goals this year is to be an employer of choice.”
“It’s demoralizing and insulting that the city does not seem to extend the same care to us.”
City of Emeryville Assistant Planner Alyssa Chung
“Why is it that we’ve been offered a COLA less than the CPI, 4%, when we know that the highest paid positions in our city have been offered a 4% raise plus an additional 1% if the revenue measure passes?” Chung went on to say.
With the city experiencing deficits and another tax measure on the ballot to help address these, cuts and layoffs are on the table. Emeryville isn’t the only local municipality looking at cuts. Both neighboring Berkeley and Oakland are also looking at potential service cuts.
Fran Quittel, a Watergate board member who sits on two city committees, thanked the council for delaying the Powell Street Redesign and invited city leadership to meet with their community prior to approving it.
Consent Calendar [35:13]
The Consent Calendar was approved with a 4-1 vote, with Council Member Priforce casting the lone dissenting vote. Following the vote, Priforce noted he wanted additional information and discussion regarding Item 9.4, a resolution amending the Rules of Procedure for local boards, commissions, and committees to conform with new Brown Act requirements.
ACTION ITEM: November 2026 Municipal Election [36:49]
The council briefly took up Item 11.1, a resolution calling for the general municipal election on November 3, 2026. The resolution consolidates the local election with Alameda County and authorizes reimbursement to the County Registrar of Voters for their services.
City Clerk April Foran reminded the audience that there were two expiring City Council seats (Mourra and Priforce) and the nomination period opens on July 13 and closes on August 7. This window will be extended until August 12 if either of the incumbents fail to file.
Mayor Kaur clarified that the pending Business License Tax Reform Measure that will appear on the fall ballot, would be taken up at the next July 21 Council meeting.
The item was approved unanimously.
Department Head Reports [41:22]
Community Development Director Chad Smalley provided a recap of the June 25 Planning Commission meeting. The commission held a study session for the Sutter Hospital Medical Center project, which proposes a new 330-foot tall, 785,000-square-foot hospital building. The project will come before the City Council for a study session on July 21. The commission also reviewed the second annual report on the Active Transportation Plan.
Future Agenda Item Requests [42:31]
Council Member Priforce requested legislation to address “deed theft” to protect elderly residents. Priforce referenced recent efforts in the state of New York to address these concerns. He was directed by Mayor Kaur to consult with the City Manager and City Attorney’s office to explore how this could be implemented before bringing it to a vote.
The Agenda and Packet for this meeting can be downloaded at Emeryville.org.
SEIU has not been offered 4% – the “offer” is well shy of that when we know cpi is 4-5%
Thanks for clarifying this. The speaker said “Why is it that we’ve been offered a COLA less than the CPI, 4%.”
She is referring to CPI, not the offer. Gotcha.
Powell Street could benefit from better/safer crosswalks – otherwise please leave Powell St alone. There are working police and fire stations and their driveways on the very same side of the street that Public Works’ far less safe plan wants to locate bidirectional bike lanes, and also place 2x the current number of vehicles parked right up against 100+ residences which would then have less safe angled parking with twice the current number of cars right in front of their homes day and night. The City has multi-year cascading deficits. Bikers are very welcome here and that’s great. Let’s spend money wisely to make things MORE not Less safe. Many have given input that the current PW design is far less safe and a series of negative changes. time for public works to serve the public.
there are bigger problems than powell street. there never used to be vagrants panhandling and so many VACANT buildings.
I agree that there are bigger issues than Powell Street (and 40th, I might add). Vacancies current and future are among those big problems, coupled with a large deficit going into a period that’s likely to be economically challenging nationwide. I hope that we begin to take this seriously and recognize that healthy business activity is what powers this city (seeing that we rely heavily on sales and business taxes, and have a daytime working population that far outnumbers residents). We should be enabling and encouraging that business instead of literally building roadblocks and pursuing voluntary yearslong construction projects. Safety is a laudable goal, but there are numerous and far simpler ways to retain and enhance our already stellar bike/ped infrastructure that are consistent with getting more business (yes, that often includes cars and trucks) through our city.
Build the bike lanes
Right, put bidirectional bike lanes in front of police and fire department driveways without getting the opinions of the police or fire chiefs.
Put 2x as many cars and angled parking up against 100 residences making sure no garbage truck, emergency vehicle or the GoRound can make its way through. . .
And be sure to rip up the one public sst/west street on that side of town before a huge sewer lateral project is completed.
Just like redoing Hollis St before the Sutter project so it’s a total waste of millions.
Assistant Planner Alyssa Chung is making $103K a year and her benefits package and retirement pension is way more generous than a private sector job.
The SEIU are trying to extort the public again.
https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2023/emeryville/alyssa-chung