City Council - January 24, 2026

Council adopts four priorities, with business vibrancy passing 5-2

The City Council adopted four priorities for 2026: government efficiency; achieving near-term priority housing milestones; Cubberly acquisition and renovation funding; and enhancing business vibrancy.

The first three priorities passed unanimously, 7-0. Business vibrancy was added in a separate 5-2 vote after council members disagreed over whether business and economic development warranted its own annual priority.

Staff will use the priorities to develop and refine the city’s 2026 objectives. Before the vote, staff presented approximately 66 to 67 preliminary objectives, including 41 in a group expected to require significant Council involvement. The Council had indicated a preferred range of 30 to 40 objectives in that group.

Council members asked for clearer categories, milestones, metrics and schedules, while emphasizing limits on staffing and funding. They also debated whether to elevate proposed work on commercial vacancies and ghost homes, a citywide gas-powered leaf-blower ban and housing capacity along the California Avenue corridor. Those were individual proposals, and the record does not establish consensus or approval.

No direct fiscal impact was identified for the priority-setting action, although implementation may require consideration in the fiscal year 2027 budget. Staff said it would return with an achievable work plan aligned with the adopted priorities and available resources.

Council advances revised values on a 5-2 vote

The Council approved a 5-2 motion concerning revisions to its value statements. The recorded next step is to refer the revised statements to the PNS committee, with staff expected to return with updated values, priorities, objectives and potentially separate milestones. The available record does not provide the full motion text.

Earlier in the retreat, council members reached informal consensus on a framework that treats values as enduring goals, annual priorities as areas receiving exceptional attention during the year and objectives as discrete work-plan items. Members generally supported having PNS reconcile the wording rather than completing detailed drafting during the retreat.

Ad hoc committee decisions remain unfinished

The Council discussed its 2026 ad hoc committee structure, but the available record does not establish a final motion or vote. Staff recommended limiting the Council to three or four ad hoc committees aligned with its priorities and said the committees require dedicated staff resources.

Individual members discussed ending the synthetic-turf committee, retaining work on Senate Bill 79 and rail issues, and broadening the retail committee into an economic-development committee. Staff said it would return with a broader economic-development committee title and objectives, but none of the proposed committee changes can be treated as approved based on the record provided.

Primary sources

Watch the meeting on YouTube · Read the official meeting packet