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Public commenters urge enforcement on paid petition tactics and question planning department budget structure
Summary
During the public-comment portion, a resident alleged paid signature gatherers were offering energy drinks near a Chase Bank and said she was referred to the DA; another commenter urged the council to review planning department budgeting, saying 74% of planning revenue comes from permit fees. The matters were recorded but no enforcement action was taken at the meeting.
At the end of the meeting, public commenters raised two issues: alleged paid petition-circulator practices and the planning department’s funding model.
Carol said she saw a signature gatherer near the Chase Bank offering energy drinks to people in exchange for signatures and said that practice had attracted media attention. She said she reviewed the petition text and believed it to be a competing proposition relating to a billionaire’s tax. Carol said she went to the city clerk’s office (which referred her to the district attorney) and asked the police to investigate; she said the police told her they would not act unless money changed hands.
Kelly Hammergren told the council she found remarks from the planning commission and planning director Jordan Klein concerning: the planning department receives a large share of its funding from permit fees (74% by her account), which flows directly to the department and reduces general-fund oversight. Hammergren said that arrangement may be constraining emergency services budgets and urged the council to evaluate how the planning department is budgeted.
The council acknowledged the comments; no formal enforcement action or immediate policy change was recorded in the transcript. The meeting then adjourned.
