1 week Ago By Sierra Lopez
SAN PABLO — The San Pablo City Council adopted its work plan for the coming years with an array of top priorities.Adopted unanimously by the council on Monday, policy initiatives include calls to encourage healthy eating and living through various partnerships and infrastructure improvements, developing inclusive emergency preparedness and recovery plans, increasing home ownership opportunities and attracting new businesses and economic investments to the city.Seven policy amendments were added to the work plan under the categories of affordable housing, city image and beautification, economic diversification, rental protections and transportation after the city held a special council meeting in March.
The policy amendments include exploring enhancing affordable housing programs, expanding city image and promotional opportunities and growing the availability of the local apprenticeship programs for city projects, creating new job opportunities for local residents, expanding educational outreach and seeking out partnerships to address illegal dumping and litter, finding more money to repair streets, and enhancing tenant protections to include stronger just cause eviction and anti-harassment protections.The ideas were influenced by a city-wide survey of 301 residents conducted by the firm Strategy Research Institute in January. The survey found that respondents were largely satisfied living in the city but were interested in seeing improved street maintenance, public safety, recreational opportunities for young people and services for the homeless.
Mayor Arturo Cruz was particularly concerned about the city’s focus on abating illegal dumping, holding people accountable for contributing to the problem and educating the public on what resources are available for large trash pickups.“We need to continue taking pride in our city,” Cruz said. “I want to make sure we address that because it’s ongoing and I don’t appreciate all that illegal dumping.
”Another five policy ideas put forward by executive leadership were added into the plan.Those include exploring a new revenue diversification study, establishing a city development impact fee and a new city-wide beautification plan, and implementing a community benefit program for existing revenue from a public art development impact fee. They also requested the city pursue needed amendments to the general plan and San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan and identify new mixed-use development opportunity sites.
“We realize there’s a lot of challenging circumstances ahead of us but we also realize that ...
there’s places of opportunity, places where we can take action, places where we can make a real difference in people’s lives,” Councilmember Abel Pineda said Monday. “By having these items added to our work plan, we have the opportunity to actually do something about the things that we’re hearing, that we’re seeing, that residents are experiencing.”.
