Council approves consent agenda; parks maintenance contract, historic survey and staffing changes draw questions

The Salinas City Council unanimously approved its consent agenda on April 8, adopting multiple administrative items including a contract amendment for parks and facilities maintenance, funding for a historic-resources professional services contract and recruitment and compensation adjustments intended to improve police hiring.

Council discussion and public comment focused on contract costs, service quality and staffing. Council members asked staff to explain the parks contract and staffing details; residents later raised concerns about the contractor's work in several neighborhoods.

"So, the current annual amount is 642.51 ... This amendment takes us to $703,057 annually for the first year," said Kristen Lundquist, city staff, explaining the Smith & Enright landscaping contract amendment and additions. Lundquist told council the vendor services cover parks, city hall and two libraries across roughly 45 sites; the agreement also provides a 4% cost increase provision.

Residents at the meeting and on Zoom questioned service quality and tree maintenance. Yolanda Hayes said landscapers "blow all the leaves into the creek," do not pick up broken branches and have cut down trees that she felt should have been treated rather than removed. "I'm very concerned about that," she said.

The council also approved a $400,000 professional-services authorization for a consultant to update the city's historic-resources survey. Eloise Shim, a member of the Historic Resources Board, said the data will benefit planning and public information and supported the funding.

Staff described recruitment and retention incentives and a recommended immediate pay adjustment for the police service technician series. The report said the classification was paid roughly 29.35% below an 11-city comparator average; staff recommended a roughly 13% increase for the entry-level police service technician (about $3 an hour by staff estimate) to reduce applicant attrition during background processing. City hiring data in the presentation showed a recent increase in applications after recruitment incentives were adopted, and also listed background-process attrition: an example cycle invited 13 applicants to interview, 11 responded, four no‑shows and three advancing candidates.

The consent motion passed by recorded roll call: Council members Barajas, Barrera, DeRigo, De La Rosa, Salazar, Sandoval and Mayor Donahue voted yes. Minutes for one file (25-094) were tabled.

Ending: Council approved the consent package but asked staff to provide further information to council members about parks maintenance schedules and vendor site lists; residents asked staff to clarify contractor responsibilities and to inspect problem areas.