PALO ALTO, Calif. — The Palo Alto City Council on Monday adopted four top priorities for 2025 and directed staff to organize a set of committees to shepherd work on those topics, voting unanimously on each item after a daylong retreat and public comment session.

Council members said the priorities will shape staff work plans and budget choices for the coming year and asked for clearer, time‑bound objectives to follow. The council also instructed staff to return on Feb. 24 with an initial, more detailed list of strategic objectives linked to the priorities.

Why it matters: The council set a narrow set of strategic focal areas to guide what it called “sustained progress” over two years, aiming to concentrate staff resources and public attention on a limited number of high‑impact topics rather than a broad list of projects. Council members repeatedly said the choices will affect staffing, budgeting and how the city engages residents.

Most important outcomes
- The council voted unanimously to adopt “implementing housing strategies for social and economic balance” as a top priority for 2025.
- The council voted unanimously to rename the climate priority to “climate action and adaptation; natural environment protection.”
- The council voted unanimously to list “economic development and retail vibrancy” as the third priority.
- The council voted unanimously to adopt “public safety, wellness & belonging” as the fourth priority.
- The council also voted unanimously to form four Brown Act committees to advance priority work: rail, climate/SCAP, retail, and an ad hoc for the Cubberley site; the rail and retail committees were set to meet roughly every other month unless the chair called more meetings.

What council members said
Council members framed the priorities as both enduring values and matters that require concrete milestones. “These are immense concepts,” said Council member Julie (first name used in the retreat). “They’re not likely to be solved in two to three years,” but she said keeping the list short helps staff focus. City Manager Ed Shikada told the council the next step is to translate the priorities into a one‑year set of time‑bound objectives and then track progress.

Public input and staff briefing
Staff presented community survey results and other inputs before the council voted. Megan Hargent Taylor, the city’s chief communications officer, said the city’s December online survey drew about 600 visitors and 431 complete responses; “on average, the priorities are listed here,” she said, with community health/safety/wellness and housing ranking at the top. Public commenters also urged the council to prioritize wildfire and flood mitigation, climate adaptation (including extreme heat), youth mental health and downtown retail vitality.

Votes at a glance
- Motion: Implementing housing strategies for social and economic balance. Outcome: Approved unanimously. Vote: Rekdal—yes; Venker—yes; Stone—yes; Liu—yes; Laowing—yes; Burt—yes; (other council members recorded as voting yes). Notes: Council discussed whether to label this “housing element implementation”; the adopted language is broader to capture non‑permit policy work and services related to housing.

- Motion: Change climate wording to “climate action and adaptation; natural environment protection.” Outcome: Approved unanimously. Notes: Councilmembers emphasized adaptation measures including wildfire and sea‑level rise work; staff will propose measurable near‑term milestones.

- Motion: Economic development and retail vibrancy. Outcome: Approved unanimously. Notes: Members stressed downtown/Cal Ave retail, streetscape projects and timing to limit simultaneous construction disruptions.

- Motion: Public safety, wellness & belonging. Outcome: Approved unanimously. Notes: Councilors asked staff to fold emergency preparedness, fire staffing and community mental‑health investments into this priority.

- Motion: Form four Brown Act committees to advance priorities (rail; climate/SCAP; retail; a Cubberley ad hoc), with rail and retail meeting roughly every other month. Outcome: Approved unanimously. Notes: Council directed staff to return with scopes and suggested meeting schedules; chairs will be named in a subsequent assignment.

Next steps and staff direction
Staff said it will return to the full council on Feb. 24 with an initial, prioritized list of strategic objectives tied to these four priorities and with recommended committee scopes and schedules. Council members asked that each objective be time‑bound where possible, and that staff identify which objectives are intended to be completed in the calendar year versus begun and continued into later years.

Ending: The council recessed for lunch and planned to reconvene to begin drafting the year’s objectives. Several members reminded the public that adopting priorities is the first step; they pledged follow‑up at committee and council meetings to turn the priorities into concrete deliverables and budget requests.