Albany City Council adopts 2025–27 strategic plan after edits on climate and tax language

The Albany City Council on March 17, 2025, unanimously adopted its 2025–27 strategic plan after modest wording changes that sharpened the city's approach to climate action, urban-forest management and property-tax policy. The motion carried on a roll-call vote with Mayor Lopez, Vice Mayor McQuaid, Councilmembers Hansa Romero, Jordan and Mickey voting yes.

The adopted plan keeps the two-year term and most prior goals but modifies several objectives. Council agreed to clarify language on reducing greenhouse-gas pollution and adapting to climate change, simplify the objective on urban-forest management, adjust wording in the transportation goal to read 'support safety, transportation and mobility options,' and direct staff to 'consider amending property taxes and fees so that they apply to unsecured property.' The council framed the changes as technical refinements and directed staff to incorporate them before returning the finalized document.

Councilmembers and members of the public who spoke during the meeting emphasized the plan's climate priorities. Nick Peterson and Lucinda Young, members of the Albany Climate Action Coalition, urged the council to apply a 'climate lens' across city actions consistent with the city's climate emergency declaration and to prioritize electrification, EV charging and the urban forest as part of implementation. Peterson said the declaration required urgency: "there should be some urgency and some indication that all city actions will be addressed through the lens of climate change." Young repeated the call to align staff work with that declaration and pushed for better coordination on EV chargers and sustainability staff involvement.

Council discussion focused on precise wording and the feasibility of objectives. Councilmember Jordan proposed several simplifications to make objectives clearer and more actionable, including striking redundant phrasing in the urban-forest objective and changing 'modernization' language on taxes to 'consider amending' so future ballot measures or ordinance changes would be framed as adjustments rather than broad modernization efforts. Vice Mayor McQuaid proposed minor edits to the mission statement for clarity: changing 'committed to providing' to 'dedicated to providing' and adjusting the phrase to read 'that serves our diverse community.' Staff confirmed they had reviewed the plan with department heads and thought the objective set was achievable but flagged that unexpected work could alter priorities.

Public commenters also raised related concerns: one resident asked for broader notification of large development proposals beyond the state's 300-foot notice requirement, and another requested a rent registry for Albany's renter-majority population. Councilmembers and staff noted those concerns and encouraged petitioners to present proposals for formal consideration; staff said items can be agendized for further discussion.

The council directed staff to incorporate the agreed edits and return the final strategic plan for posting and implementation steps. City staff said the plan will remain the council's roadmap for the next two years and that departments will report on progress through routine staff reports and designated workplans.

The full vote on the strategic plan adoption was recorded by roll call: Mayor Lopez 'yes'; Vice Mayor McQuaid 'yes'; Councilmember Hansa Romero 'yes'; Councilmember Jordan 'yes'; Councilmember Mickey 'yes.

The council also noted the plan now totals fewer objectives than the prior plan and said that was an intentional effort to keep the document focused and implementable.