Council authorizes limited release of June 2024 survey‑level data and to continue exploring revenue measures

The council agreed to continue exploratory work on potential revenue measures for the November 2026 ballot and directed staff to proceed with outreach and feasibility surveying under clear guardrails.

Deputy City Manager Eric Engelbart and the city attorney described the June 2024 document at issue as a preliminary draft work product prepared after a community survey; it was not finalized and staff said the draft contained aggregated, anonymized results without personally identifiable information. City Attorney counsel stated, "based on those parameters, guardrails, if you will, I don't see an issue with the release of this document" for public review of the survey‑level findings.

Members of the public urged release for transparency; one speaker said, "Trust does not come from withholding information." Others urged redaction of identifying fields and raised concerns about how the information could be used in ongoing litigation or political campaigns. Council members discussed the differences between draft and final products, privacy expectations conveyed to respondents, and the legal limits of waiving attorney‑client privilege.

Council approved a substitute motion: staff may proceed with the limited outreach and feasibility work using funds already budgeted (staff cited approximately $92,000 as currently allocated for initial contract steps) and the council instructed staff to release the same level of survey data that was waived earlier for the June 2024 draft. Staff warned that if the process moves from feasibility to a campaign, total costs could grow to the $300k–$600k range and will require separate council authorization.