HomeMy WebLinkAbout4.7 Approval of 2021 City of Dublin Legislative PlatformSTAFF REPORT
CITY COUNCIL
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Agenda Item 4.7
DATE:February 2, 2021
TO:Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM:Linda Smith, City Manager
SUBJECT:Approval of 2021 City of Dublin Legislative Platform
Prepared by: John Stefanski, Assistant to the City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City Council will consider approving the 2021 Legislative Platform. The Legislative Platform
guides the City’s response to pending and potential legislation, policies, programs, grant funding
opportunities, ballot measures, mandates, and budgets at all levels of government.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt the Resolution Approving the 2021 City of Dublin Legislative Platform.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
None.
DESCRIPTION:
Each year the City Council approves a Legislative Platform that includes the goals, strategies, and
priorities for organizing the City’s legislative advocacy efforts. The proposed 2021 Legislative
Platform (Attachment 2) identifies the fundamental legislative issues deemed important to the
City, and upon City Council approval, will allow Staff to respond to the rapidly changing nature of
legislative items efficiently and without delay.
The City values its ability and authority to exercise local control and to protect and enhance the
quality of life for Dublin residents. To that end, the 2021 Legislative Platform maintains two
foundational General Legislative Principles:
1. Protecting Local Government Control and Authority
a. Support any legislation, policies, ballot measures, and budgets that maintain or
improve local regulatory control and authority.
b. Oppose any legislation, policies, ballot measures, and budgets that undermine or
circumvent local control or authority.
2. Promoting or Enhancing Revenue Sources
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a. Support the protection or expansion of federal, state, and local funding sources that
provide revenue to the City.
b. Oppose any federal or state legislation, policies, programs, ballot measures,
unfunded mandates, and budgets that would have a negative impact on the City’s
ability to provide adequate programs, projects, and services.
Furthermore, the Legislative Platform identifies specific Public Policy Priorities in the following
categories:
1. General Administration
2. Fiscal Sustainability
3. Community and Economic Development
4. Transportation and Public Works
5. Public Safety
6. Parks/Quality of Life
7. Climate and Environment
The Public Policy Priorities is by no means an exhaustive list. In those instances where potential
legislation, policies, programs, grant funding opportunities, ballot measures, mandates, and
budgets do not fit with the specific Public Policy Priorities, the General Legislative Principals will
guide City action.
Lastly, the Platform details the process the City will implement. Once approved, the Legislative
Platform will allow the City Council and Staff to respond in a timely manner to pending and
potential legislation.
STRATEGIC PLAN INITIATIVE:
None.
NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH:
The City Council agenda was posted.
ATTACHMENTS:
1) Resolution Approving the 2021 City of Dublin Legislative Platform
2) Exhibit A to the Resolution – 2021 City of Dublin Legislative Platform
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Attachment 1
Reso. No. XX-21, Item X.X, Adopted XX/XX/21 Page 1 of 1
RESOLUTION NO. XX – 21
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN
APPROVING THE 2021 CITY OF DUBLIN LEGISLATIVE PLATFORM
WHEREAS,the 2021 City of Dublin Legislative Platform (“Platform”) outlines the City’s
legislative priorities and positions to inform residents, representatives, and policy makers; and
WHEREAS, these legislative priorities are guided by the City’s Mission and identified
through General Legislative Principles and Public Policy Positions which will determine the City’s
position on various legislative proposals; and
WHEREAS, the Platform provides Staff with direction and authorizes them, on the City
Council’s behalf, to quickly respond in support or opposition to bills, and other legislative or
gubernatorial actions in time sensitive situations, in accordance with the processes identified in
the Platform.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Dublin adopts
the 2021 City of Dublin Legislative Platform attached hereto as Exhibit A.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Mayor or her designee is authorized to sign letters
of opposition or letters of support as drafted by City Staff for legislation as long as they are
consistent with the Platform.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 2
nd day of February 2021, by the following
vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
______________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_________________________________
City Clerk
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Attachment 2
2021 LEGISLATIVE PLATFORM
FEDERAL AND STATE POLICY PRIORITIES
FEBRUARY 2021
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Attachment 2
Introduction
Many public policies intersect with City priorities, programs, and services. This 2021 Legislative
Platform (Platform) outlines the City of Dublin’s legislative priorities and positions on these policies
to inform residents, representatives, and policymakers. These priorities are applicable to all relevant
legislation, policies, programs, grant funding opportunities, ballot measures, mandates, and budgets.
The Mission of the City of Dublin is to promote and support a high quality of life, ensure a safe and
secure environment, foster new opportunities, provide equity across all programs, and champion a
culture of diversity and inclusion. This Mission shall guide the City’s Legislative Platform.
This Platform provides Staff with direction and authorizes them, on the City Council’s behalf, to
quickly respond in support of or opposition to bills and other legislative or gubernatorial actions in
time-sensitive situations. Additionally, the Platform enables staff to communicate Dublin-specific
issues and impacts with state legislators. Staff may draft letters, direct our legislative advocates, or
speak on behalf of the City regarding the legislative priorities this document outlines.
Any correspondence signifying the City’s support or opposition of a given bill must be signed by the
Mayor and/or City Manager with notification to the City Council.
Any questions regarding this Legislative Platform can be directed to John Stefanski, Assistant to the
City Manager at John.Stefanski@dublin.ca.gov.
Platform Overview and Coordination
This Legislative Platform serves as the foundation for any City legislative advocacy at all levels of
government. It informs the City’s legislative representatives of the key issues and legislation that
could have a potential impact on the City and the process in which the City will participate in the
legislative process. The City will employ several strategies to advocate or advance the City’s public
policy interests. These strategies include:
Position Development
o Reviewing analyses and positions by the League of California Cities, legislative
advocates, and other local government / professional associations in formulating the
City’s position.
o Working with City departments, legislative advocate(s) to develop this platform and
identify positions on proposed legislative measures.
Status Tracking
o Tracking key bills through the legislative process.
Communication and Advocacy
o Communicating the City’s position, in accordance with this Platform, through
correspondence, testimony, and in-person meetings.
o Working cooperatively with other cities, associations, and the League of California
Cities on advocating the City’s legislative position.
o Meeting with legislators and their representatives, as well as other federal, state and
county government officials on a regular basis, to discuss local government issues,
proposed legislation, requests for funding assistance, and City programs and services.
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The City Manager’s Office will exercise day-to-day oversight of legislative matters. In addition to
coordinating formal action through the City Council, the City Manager and her designee will manage
the City’s Legislative Platform.
Staff will follow the process below when responding to all proposed and relevant legislation, polices,
programs, grant funding opportunities, ballot measures, mandates, and budgets.
1. Review and determine whether a proposal will impact the City.
2. Prepare a letter outlining the City’s position for the Mayor’s or City Manager’s signature.
3. Distribute the letter to the legislation’s author(s), the City Council, and other relevant parties.
In scenarios where a proposal or regulation arises that may impact the City and is not covered by
this Legislative Platform, Staff will prepare a draft position letter for the City Council to review prior
to distribution.
General Legislative Principles
The City values its ability and authority to exercise local control and to protect and enhance the
quality of life for Dublin residents. To that end, the City has two general legislative principles:
Protecting Local Government Control and Authority
Support any legislation, policies, ballot measures, and budgets that maintain or improve local
regulatory control and authority.
Oppose any legislation, policies, ballot measures, and budgets that undermine or circumvent
local control or authority
Promoting or Enhancing Revenue Sources
Support the protection or expansion of federal, state, and local funding sources that provide
revenue to the City.
Oppose any federal or state legislation, policies, programs, ballot measures, unfunded
mandates, and budgets that would have a negative impact on the City's ability to provide
adequate programs, projects, and services.
Public Policy Priorities
This legislative platform identifies specific public policy priorities by topic area. Informed by the
general legislative principles, these priorities will guide the positions the City will take on specific
legislation, policies, ballot measures, and budgets. The public policy priorities are categorized as
follows:
1. General Administration
2. Fiscal Sustainability
3. Community and Economic Development
4. Transportation and Public Works
5. Public Safety
6. Parks/Quality of Life
7. Climate and Environment
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1. General Administration
Staff recommends that the City Council support:
1. Legislation that enhances or streamlines local control and allows cities to address the
needs of local constituents within a framework of regional cooperation.
2. Legislation that streamlines the process to apply for, to receive approval of, and to
receive state or federal emergency funding.
3. Legislation that promotes the use of data and technologies to create efficiencies,
promote economic development, enhance public safety, improve transportation and
mobility, improve sustainability, increase transparency to public information, enhance
municipal quality of life factors and help solve other civic challenges.
4. Legislation that assures every person the right to equal treatment in and access to all
government-sponsored benefits or funded programs.
Staff recommends that the City Council oppose:
5. Legislation that attempts to restrict local authority or decision-making whether by state
or federal legislation or ballot propositions.
6. Legislation that would diminish or eliminate local governments’ ability to contract out
for the provision of services.
7. Legislation that requires cities to use district-based elections.
8. Legislation that limits or removes local review and permitting of emerging
telecommunications technologies, such as Small Cell technology.
2.Fiscal Sustainability
Staff recommends that the City Council support:
1. Legislation that maintains or enhances ongoing revenues to the City.
2. Legislation which updates the tax structure to enhance local government revenues that
have declined due to the expansion of e-commerce, increased consumption of services
rather than durable goods, and innovations in technology.
3. Legislation and regulatory actions that ensure timely distribution of mandated
reimbursements owed to the City.
4. Legislative reforms that would remove unnecessary state-imposed mandates.
5. Legislation that provides for the use of incentives for local government action rather
than mandates (funded or unfunded).
6. Legislation that establishes new and innovative revenue options and resources to finance
public infrastructure construction and maintenance.
7. Legislation that streamlines the establishment and utilization of infrastructure financing
districts or other funding mechanisms for infrastructure improvements.
8. Legislation that changes the Communications Act of 1934 that removes the distinction
between “capital” and “operating” funds to provide more local control for community
television stations in the use of their public, educational, and government (PEG) channel
fees.
9. Legislation that supports measures to increase transparency of all public employee
salaries and benefits.
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10. Legislation that supports measures to provide sustainable public pensions and other
post-retirement benefits.
Staff recommends that the City Council oppose:
11. Legislation that undermines and preempts local authority over local taxes and fees.
12. Legislation or budgets which shift funds from local governments to the state or federal
government.
13. Legislation that imposes unfunded or inadequately funded federal and state mandates on
local governments.
14. Legislation that eliminates development fees or limit the ability of cities to levy fees to
provide for infrastructure or services.
15. Legislation that requires or expands state involvement in City financial audits, fiscal
monitoring, general oversight, or assistance by the State Treasurer, State Controller, or
other state agencies.
16. Legislation that defers reimbursements for state mandated programs.
3.Public Works and Transportation
Staff recommends that the City Council support:
1. Legislation that ensures the City receive its fair share of transportation funding and that
keeps the funding decisions at the local level.
2. Legislation that supports a constitutional amendment to lower the two-thirds approval
threshold for sales and use tax measures for transportation purposes.
3. Legislation that supports reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and supports
developing and implementing Transportation Demand Management (TDM) plans and
strategies.
4. Legislation that supports reducing congestion and delay along freeways in the Tri-Valley
Area.
5. Legislation that supports multimodal freight movement between the San Francisco Bay
Area and the Central Valley and projects that reduce freight traffic on I-580.
6. Legislation that enhances the safety of all modes of transportation, particularly bicycles
and pedestrians, reduces traffic congestion, and supports regional transportation
improvements.
7. Legislation that supports Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Connected, and
Automated Vehicles.
8. Legislation that supports local control and local regulation of shared mobility, micro
mobility, transportation network companies (TNCs), and other emerging industries that
use city infrastructure to offer private services.
9. Legislation that enables the sale of traffic data to recover the cost of data collection.
Staff recommends that the City Council oppose:
10. Legislation that infringes upon the ability of local governments to effectively administer
and modify state and local construction provisions and standards.
11. Legislation that takes away local control of managing and operating local streets.
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12. Legislation that reduces the City’s condemnation authority regarding acquisition of
properties required for public projects.
13. Legislation that seeks to repeal revenue collection or divert funds from the Road Repair
and Accountability Act of 2017 (SB1).
4. Community and Economic Development
Staff recommends that the City Council support:
1. Legislation that maintains the City’s authority over land use decisions.
2. Legislation that strengthens local regulatory authority and control over the siting of
medical or recreational marijuana dispensaries.
3. Legislation that would create a more equitable Regional Housing Needs Allocation
(RHNA) process.
4. Legislation that creates more flexibility for local jurisdictions to work together to provide
housing that counts toward RHNA requirements.
5. CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) legislation that eliminates redundant,
costly, and cumbersome mandates and restrictions.
6. Legislation that provides incentives for affordable housing and transit-oriented
development.
7. Legislation that increases financial assistance to provide affordable, transitional, special
needs and emergency housing to the homeless, seniors, veterans, and people with special
needs.
8. Legislation encouraging the expansion of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics) programs in K-12, higher education, and libraries.
9. Legislation that enhances the City’s efforts to retain existing businesses and attract new
businesses.
10. Legislation that provides tangible and productive tools and incentives to support job
creation, business attraction, and business retention.
11. Legislation that advances or encourages innovation, entrepreneurship, start-ups, small
business opportunities, and/or workforce development.
Staff recommends that the City Council oppose:
12. Legislation that interferes or reduces local land use control and decision making.
13. Legislation and regulatory efforts that would diminish or eliminate the authority of cities
to zone and plan for the development of telecommunications infrastructure, including
the siting of cellular communications towers or transmission sites.
14. Legislation that would diminish or eliminate cities’ authority to regulate condominium
conversions.
15. Legislation that would interfere with the ability to provide productive incentives to
support job creation, business attraction, and business retention.
5. Public Safety
Staff recommends that the City Council support:
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1. Legislation and grant opportunities that increase funding for local law enforcement, fire
suppression and prevention, hazardous materials mitigation, and emergency medical
services.
2. Legislation that provides funding to local agencies for training, disaster preparedness,
crime prevention, public outreach, and emergency planning.
3. Legislation which ensures cities have control of regulating local medical marijuana
facilities, including but not limited to, regulating security requirements and health and
safety standards.
4. Legislation that improves data and information dissemination, preparedness funding, and
first-responder training for oil-by-rail shipments.
5. Legislation that maintains or increases grant funding for the Community Oriented Police
Services (COPS) program.
6. Legislation that provides a greater share of asset forfeiture funds for cities and increases
latitude for spending local funds.
7. Legislation that supports funding to prepare, mitigate, adapt, and respond to extreme
weather or emergency events.
6. Parks / Quality of Life
Staff recommends that the City Council support:
1. Legislation that creates new funding opportunities for parks and community facilities.
2. Legislation that provides funding for ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) facility and
park upgrades.
7. Climate and Environment
Staff recommends that the City Council support:
1. Legislation that encourages manufacturers to include post-consumer recycled material in
their products and encourages state and local government agencies to use less toxic and
recycled content products.
2. Legislation that supports minimizing single-use disposables as well as minimizes product
packaging.
3. Legislation that supports the ability of the City to run efficient and effective waste
diversion programs.
4. Legislation and policies that assist the City in meeting or exceeding established goals of
reducing water consumption and increasing water supply without preempting local
planning decisions.
5. Legislation that supports reducing greenhouse gas emissions related to extracting,
transporting, and manufacturing materials.
6. Legislation protecting the interest of California’s Community Choice clean electricity
providers and their customers.
7. Legislation that assists regional and local governments in developing and implementing
energy efficiency and conservation strategies and that ensures that local governments can
continue, and not be preempted in, their efforts to achieve economic improvements
through increased energy efficiency and conservation plans that seek to decrease carbon
emissions.
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8. Legislation that supports regional and local government efforts to develop and
implement programs to reduce air pollution.
9. Legislation and grant opportunities for cities that provide funding for developing or
enhancing alternative vehicle fueling stations.
10. Legislation that provides funding and creates flexibility in the implementation of
mandatory storm water and solid waste programs.
11. Legislation to address litter control and abatement problems in California.
12. Legislation that would make it easier for the City to fund and comply with new and
increasingly stringent storm water quality permit requirements.
13. Legislation that lessens the financial impact of state and federal unfunded mandates
related to compliance with environmental programs and regulations.
14. Legislation that supports local solar generation, battery storage, microgrids, and the
electrification of California’s energy and fuel supply.
Staff recommends that the City Council oppose:
15. Legislation that preempts local planning decisions regarding solid waste facility sites.
16. Legislation that preempts local solid waste and AB 939 fee setting authority or imposes
taxes or fees on local solid waste programs to fund state programs not directly related to
solid waste management.
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