May 14
The three City Council seats of Sally Meadows, Jonathan Weinberg, and Lynnette Lee Eng, who is termed out, will be elected at large in the general municipal election held on November 5, 2024. The County Registrar of Voters is requested to conduct the election and consolidate it with the general election.
The City Council authorized the City Manager to execute a renewed agreement for the countywide Household Hazardous Waste (HWW) Collection Program and for the countywide implementation fee to provide city funding for fiscal year 2025-26.
The countywide HHW Collection program enables residents to dispose of small quantities of hazardous waste at any of the collection facilities in the county, and at an annual event in the city. Hazardous wastes (not allowed to be placed in household garbage containers) include, but are not limited to, pesticides, flammable liquids, car batteries, paint, fluorescent lights, and electronic waste. County agencies collect funds for the implementation of the waste management programs, including the diversion of waste from landfills. It is illegal to dispose of hazardous waste in sanitary landfills.
The City Council introduced zoning changes to rescind its Resolution 2021-57 that had established objective standards for single-family residences. To update the objective standards, the city will implement standards established in California Senate Bill 9 and other State ADU guidelines to ensure the city’s implementation of the State housing regulations necessary between 2023-2031 (called ‘6th Cycle Housing Element’).
Council members requested several amendments for the ADU’s such as floor size, sight lines and definition for a short-term rental which will be brought back to council at the May 28 meeting.
May 28
The City Council adopted a resolution that rescinded Resolution 2021-57 that had established standards for single-family residences to continue its obligations for housing between 2023-2031 by implementing California SB 9 regulations. See notes from May 14.
The City Council adopted a resolution for the intent to transition from an At-Large Election System to a District-Based Election System pursuant to the California Elections Code. On April 18, 2024, the city received a notice of violation of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) from the law firm Shenkman & Hughes which asserted that the City's elections are characterized by the dissolution of minority voting power in an at-large election system. Council members don’t see any advantage to dividing the city into five sections for voting for the five council seats. Since Los Altos is a “general law” city, it can’t resort to alternative types of voting to address the issue so that all communities in the city have a voice – systems such as ‘ranked choice’, ‘proportional’, or ‘cumulative’ voting. However, since refusal to switch systems means a long and costly court battle, most public agencies prefer to change how council seats are elected to ‘district-based’.
The City Council will retain the services of a demographer to help successfully transition to district elections. In addition, the City will also retain outside legal counsel to oversee the project. Commonly, the choice is five district-based seats or four district-based and one at-large seat. In addition, a transition to the new system must be decided. Frequently, two seats are voted on at the November 2026 election and three seats in the 2028 election.
There will be five (5) public meetings to discuss this change during the limited time allowed to decide. The first public meeting will take place at the June 11 City Council meeting.
Claire Noonan, Observer