On Tuesday, June 2, the Emeryville City Council opened its session by honoring local arts icon Sharon Wilchar for over 40 years of monumental community contributions, anchoring a lighter legislative evening that nevertheless shifted to stark municipal business as police union leaders warned of a severe retention crisis leaving field patrol at “critical numbers,” alongside the introduction of a novel commercial parking tax proposal.
Councilmember Priforce was not in attendance and marked absent from the meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Police Union Warns of Looming Retention Crisis [0:51]
During public comment on closed session items, Warren Williams, Vice President of the Emeryville Police Officers Association (EPOA), addressed what he described as a looming retention crisis for the EPD. He stated that their current compensation package offers a salary that is $27,000 to $69,000 less than Livermore, Santa Clara, San Francisco, and BART police departments causing personnel to transfer. “I ask that you please accept the current market for police officers and sergeants and take it into consideration as we’re going into labor negotiations.”
EPOA President Lance Goodfellow warned that by July, recent resignations will deplete their numbers to 16 officers and sergeants, leaving teams spread so thin that the city would often be left patrolling with one sergeant and two officers.
“We have one active detective. The only other detective we have is currently on injury. We have one traffic officer for this whole city. And the biggest complaint that comes from the city is traffic related.”
Goodfellow encouraged councilmembers to take an evening ride along with an officer to see the city at night.
SPECIAL ORDER OF THE DAY: Sharon Wilchar Certificate of Recognition [06:44]
The first special order of the day honored honored longtime community staple Sharon Wilchar for over 40 years of monumental contributions to the Emeryville arts ecosystem. Wilchar was not in attendance for the meeting, opting instead to watch the proceedings remotely. Rachel Osajima, Director of the Alameda County Arts Commission, opened the tribute by reading an official commendation from District 5 Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas. The county resolution lauded Wilchar for devoting herself to “advancing the arts and enriching the lives of countless community members,” detailing an extensive legacy that includes co-founding the Alameda County Public Art Program, serving as board president and community liaison for the 45th Street Artists Cooperative, and establishing the Emeryville Youth and Art Program, which has served over 1,000 local students. Osajima further noted that during Wilchar’s 31-year tenure chairing the Emeryville Public Art Committee, she “led the effort to place and exhibit over 100 publicly owned small and large-scale artworks” across the city. On a personal note, Osajima credited Wilchar as an invaluable colleague who was “instrumental in what has become a significant program for Alameda County artists,” which now features over 1,000 artworks across county locations.
Mayor Kaur presented the city’s certificate of recognition, emphasizing that Wilchar’s “vision, persistence, and commitment” built the foundation for the city’s identity, especially as the community approaches the 40th anniversary of the Emeryville Celebration of the Arts. Kaur stated, “Your legacy is woven throughout our city and will continue to inspire future generations.”
Former Councilmember John Bauters, who recently took over as Director of the Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition, stepped forward to accept the certificate on Wilchar’s behalf, extending her deep appreciation to the city. Bauters stressed that the preceding 39 annual art exhibitions succeeded purely “because of Sharon’s vision” and her “tenacious pursuit of the belief that local art and local art makers are the bedrock of the Emeryville community.” He noted her civic fingerprints expanded well beyond public displays, shaping limited-equity artist housing, helping define the local Sherwin-Williams development project, and inspiring the naming of the Art Bus Shelter Program.
A long line of community members and colleagues joined Bauters at the podium to share personal testaments to Wilchar’s impact. Resident Fran Quittel praised her as an unmatched multi-tasker, thanking Wilchar personally for “making me an exhibiting artist, a donor, and a volunteer bartender.” Judy Wetterer, speaking on behalf of Wareham Development, praised Wilchar’s civic activism as “honest and studied and with only good intentions,” echoing a sentiment from Wareham’s Rich Robbins that Emeryville’s artists are directly responsible for the city’s broader municipal success.
Donna Briskin, a fellow Public Art Committee member, lauded her exceptional “attention to detail” and unique tenacity to work through slow bureaucratic processes to secure community benefits like local art galleries. Neighbor and 45th Street Artist Cooperative member John DeMerritt stated that Wilchar’s decades of everyday hard work are “really hard to measure” but entirely responsible for the cooperative’s prominent standing within the city. Longtime neighbor Margaret Fisher added that Wilchar’s impact was deeply civic, noting she “was responsible for our community engaging with city politics” and learning to work through the democratic process. Closing out the public comments, Emeryville Public Art Coordinator Amber Evans recalled an early memory of Wilchar hand-hanging a vibrant “rainbow” of children’s portraits outside the council chambers entirely by herself, summarizing, “as she did that, Emeryville came alive for me… That is the kind of dedication she has always brought, and it has shown Emeryville in the most beautiful way.”
SPECIAL ORDER OF THE DAY: Proclamation by City Recognizing June as LGBTQIA+ Pride Month [27:02]
Councilmember Courtney Welch read an official city resolution designating June 2026 as Pride Month, charting a lineage from the historic 1969 Stonewall riots to modern-day equality efforts. The proclamation noted that even amidst societal advancements, “the rights of members of the LGBTQIA community are still under attack as they continue to face discrimination.” The council ordered that the Pride flag be flown at City Hall for the entirety of the month. John Bauters returned to the podium to thank the city for creating “a space of visibility,” stating that flying the flag is “actually a symbol to a lot of people who are unsure of themselves and their standing that this is a place that is welcoming.”
PUBLIC COMMENT: Former Planning Commissioner Proposes Congestion Management Tool [34:16]
Former Planning Commissioner Stephen Keller proposed a specialized congestion management tool, requesting a future agenda slot to pitch charging a “per-space fee on non-residential parking spaces within the city of Emeryville.” Keller asserted the plan could bypass external government interference, noting it “could generate some $15 million directly into our city coffers” and possesses “the potential to close our budget gap without directly impacting the residents.”
The policy has not been broadly adopted in the United States. It is often presented as an alternative to parking minimums: rather than requiring developers to build a set number of parking spaces, developers can build as much parking as they deem necessary but pay a fee for each space, creating an incentive to limit oversupply.
Economic Development Committee member Fran Quittel also spoke, summarizing observations from a recent transit meeting and urging the council to facilitate joint public meetings “involving both Sutter and Emeryville’s transportation staff because we only have a limited number of streets and the changes that are being proposed are really monumental.”
PUBLIC HEARING: City Vacancies, Retention & Recruitment Efforts [39:02]
City HR Manager Lili Bell delivered the staff presentation mandated by Assembly Bill 2561, stating that the law requires public agencies to “present annual reports on the status of vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts” prior to finalizing budgets. Bell tracked a baseline city-wide vacancy rate of 12.6%, representing 18 total active vacancies. While departments like SEIU registered an initial 18.2% vacancy rate, Bell highlighted that recent accepted job offers for roles like a dispatcher and an economic development coordinator would successfully “reduce that vacancy rate for SEIU down to 7.5%”.
Conversely, the data for the Police Officers Association highlighted systemic staffing pressures. Bell clarified that while the baseline report logged a minor vacancy rate, factoring in recent unrecorded resignations brought the true vacancy depth to six open positions. Furthermore, she added a stark projection for upcoming contract negotiations, noting that “five sworn employees in POA are eligible to retire, which would increase the number of vacant positions to a vacancy rate of potentially 29.7%.”
ACTION ITEM: Rules & Procedures Amendments [1:15:36]
The council considered a resolution amending its official Rules of Procedure to align with updated Brown Act requirements and establish a formal policy governing internet or telephonic service disruptions during public meetings. Mayor Kaur requested that the council waive a formal presentation in favor of a brief verbal summary, which was accepted unanimously. Staff noted that the specific amendments had previously been thoroughly vetted during a May 5 study session. The update formally implements statutory mandates ensuring meeting continuity or required recess protocols if remote public access feeds fail.
A motion for approval was moved by Councilmember Welch and seconded by Councilmember Mourra, the resolution passed in a 4-0 vote.
ACTION ITEM: Biennial Budget Amendments [1:17:48]
Finance Director Sharon Frederickson presented minor mid-cycle budget adjustments designed to cover unplanned operational expenses while minimizing changes to the city’s broader deficit. On the revenue side, a dip in fire plan check fees was offset by higher Public Works cost reimbursements, new community grants, and a major $2 million real property transfer tax windfall from a local property sale. Approved expenditures included $140,000 for police evidence testing, vehicle maintenance, and wellness programs, alongside temporary help funding for Youth Services. To counter a dip in childcare enrollment fees caused by the state’s universal transitional kindergarten rollout, the city authorized a $200,000 transfer into the Emeryville Child Development Center using Measure F sales tax funds, which was cushioned by a parallel $148,000 upward trend in Measure F collections. Finally, utilizing this healthy Measure F balance, the council approved two new municipal positions for the upcoming fiscal year: a police evidence technician and a communications section supervisor to alleviate a heavy span of control in the 911 dispatch unit. The resolution passed in a unanimous 4-0 vote.
Future Agenda Item Requests [1:33:23]
Vice Mayor Solomon requested that the commercial parking space fee proposed earlier during public comment be directed to the Budget and Governance Committee for consideration. Solomon noted that he was curious for the Committee’s perspective on utilizing the per-space fee as a mechanism to address the city’s ongoing fiscal issues. The item received unanimous support to be placed on the Committee’s agenda.
The Agenda and packet for this meeting can be downloaded at Emeryville.org.
