Regular Finance Committee Meeting - Second Monday Mon, Jul 6, 2026 · Finance Committee https://santafeminutes.space/meeting/942 == Executive Summary == The Finance Committee met on July 6, 2026, and primarily focused on approving its agenda and consent calendar, with two significant items pulled for postponement. Bill 2026-11, which addresses the calculation of fees for affordable rental units, and Resolution 2026-TBD, concerning the permanent closure of certain streets around Plaza Park, were both postponed to a future meeting to allow council members to collaboratively develop amendments. During the public comment period, a resident expressed strong opposition to the proposed permanent plaza closure, questioning the lack of data to support safety concerns and suggesting alternative motivations for the closure. The committee approved all postponements and the amended agenda and consent calendar with unanimous votes. == Key Decisions == - Approved the agenda and consent calendar, with two items pulled for postponement. - Postponed Bill 2026-11 (Santa Fe Homes Program/Fee in Lieu) to a future meeting to allow for collective amendment discussions. - Postponed Resolution 2026-TBD (Plaza Closure) to a future meeting for collective amendment development. == Motions & Votes == - Approval of the agenda — Passed 4-0 - Approval of the consent calendar as amended, with items 7H and 7J pulled — Passed 4-0 - Motion to postpone Bill 2026-11 (7H) to a future meeting — Passed 4-0 - Motion to postpone Resolution 2026-TBD (7J) to a future meeting — Passed 4-0 == Public Comment == Katherine Rivera from District 1 spoke against the proposed permanent closure of Lincoln Avenue and Palace Avenue next to Plaza Park. She questioned the lack of data to support safety concerns and suggested the closure might be due to staff unwillingness to perform work. She urged the city to provide data to justify the closure. == Topics == - Plaza Street Closures - Affordable Housing Fee-in-Lieu - Data for Policy Decisions - Council Collaboration - Public Engagement - City Staff Workload == Full Transcript == and Chair Faulkner, here. And, Madam Chair, you have a quorum. Thank you. Can we get approval of the agenda? Move to approve. Second. Can we get a roll call? Councilor Castro. Councilor Bamonte. Yes. And Chair Faulkner. Yes. And that motion passes. Can we get approval of the consent calendar? I know we have a couple items we're going to pull. I have one. Councilor Castro has one. There's Councilor Garcia. You want to start, Councilor Castro, to find the item? But I think that we had two items we're going to pull, both the fee in lieu and the plaza closure to postpone to a date certain. Is that correct, Chair? That is correct. And that would be item H, 7H, and item 7J. Correct. And I think the date certain will be June 22nd, our next meeting. Correct. So, move to approve as amended. And Councilor Garcia, just so you're clear, we pulled two items to hold to the next meeting, and that's the amendment. Sure. Second. Councilor Castro. Yes. Councilor Garcia. Yes. Councilor Bamonte. Yes. Mayor Faulkner. Yes. And that motion passes. No presentations, public comments. There seems to be people in the audience. We do have a member of the audience this evening. Come up. You have two minutes. If you feel comfortable, please state your name and district. Katherine Rivera, District 1. Don't know if I have a clock, but if not, we can wing it here. It can be a time. Yeah. 10 seconds. Okay. Ready, go. I am here to speak on behalf of the plaza closure question. Last Quality of Life Committee meeting, I asked the question as to what was driving it. I got some answers regarding safety, predictability for the drivers. And my question now is, where is the data? We don't believe that the street is unsafe. There is no data to support it. We are looking for that data. I would encourage the city to come forward with proof that that street is unsafe. I did hear Councilor Castro say there was an event that she had with her sister. I'm sympathetic to that. It happened during the Fiestas, but I'm not sure it goes to fight your cause because the Fiesta streets have always been closed. So that's an open question for us. The burning question that the public deserves to know is why we're doing this. And we believe through conversations with the city staff and workers who close the plaza, especially this weekend during Fourth of July, that it's because the staff doesn't want to do the work. Is it that San Bernett does not want to do the work? And I think that's a question that we need to get because what's next? You know, we haven't opened things since COVID closed. We still have libraries closed. The streets were supposed to be reopened after COVID. That didn't happen. And now we have a reason to not open it, led by Sam Bernett. We asked the question, what's next? Is it going to be an inconvenience to hang the pots over the plaza because they might fall on somebody? So, I really think we need to look and really look ourselves in the eye and say, why are we doing this? There is no data to support and it is not safe. I look forward to having somebody bring that data to you, but I ask you guys, where is the data from the? Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? Anyone online? Madam Chair, there are no one online. Okay. Next item on the agenda. Next item is presentations. There are no presentations this evening and no items pulled for discussion this evening from consent. So we will move to, there's no discussion items either. So we'll move to matters from staff, which there are none. So matters from the committee. Hold on, though. I think we do have to vote on postponing those items. We... Correct. We have voted on. Got it. We approved the agenda, but we need to pull each item and make a motion to postpone and then do a vote on that motion. Madam Chair, would you like me to read each item that we, or just the item number? Does the committee need us? I mean, could you just do a snapshot? One's for fee in lieu and the other one's the plaza. Just small snapshot for the public. So the first item is item 7H, which is the fee in lieu for rental units affordable housing. Does that sum it up good enough? Or do you want us to read the caption, Councilor? We should. Okay. So can you read the caption? Of course. So, item 7H this evening, we have consideration of Bill Number 2026-11, adoption Ordinance Number 2026-TBD, sponsored by Mayor Michael Garcia, Councilor Alma Castro, Councilor Par Faulkner, and Councilor Lee Garcia. A bill relating to the Santa Fe Homes Program and requirements for rental units, amending Section 26-1.22 to make certain technical changes and to clarify the calculation of fees paid in lieu of providing on-site affordable units to amend the fee in lieu calculation to use 30% of the area median income instead of 65% when determining a base fee amount. Motion to postpone to the next finance meeting, which is on July 27th, 22nd. Second. Okay. Any discussion? I think just so the public's aware, part of why we're doing this is there are some amendments. We feel like we need to give the teams who are either opposed to or in favor of this amendment, no, this ordinance, the opportunity to work together to come up with an amendment as a collective. And so that's in part why we're postponing this item. So that being said, can we get a roll call, please? Madam Chair, Councilor Castro. Yes. Councilor Garcia. Yes. Councilor Bamonte. Yes. Chair Faulkner. Yes. That motion passes. Great. Next item. Next item is 7J, consideration of Resolution Number 2026-TBD, sponsored by Councilor Patricia Galy and Councilor Alma Castro. A resolution amending Resolution Numbers 2014-49 and 2016-80 to close the surrounding streets, the streets surrounding Park Plaza Park annually from Memorial Day to October 31st or later, and to close Lincoln Avenue and Palace Avenue next to Plaza Park permanently. And I move to postpone this to June 22nd. Second. Thank you. And Councilor, if I could just, I want to commend you. Same process here. We are working on a collective amendment, actually three of us on this day, to potentially address some of the concerns. And thank you for leading that process. I just a quick soundbite, and I'm going to be saying this moving forward. The council is really interested in being a collective and working together. And so we are trying to lean into when we disagree and we're trying to work things out as teams because we feel it's better for the community and the process, and that the best policy comes from when we don't agree rather than we all agree. And so that's just, you're getting a little snapshot tonight on kind of the new path forward that the council is attempting. With that being said, roll call. Councilor Castro. Yes. Councilor Garcia. Yes. Councilor Bamonte. Yes. Chair Faulkner. Yes. And that motion passes. Right. Next item. We will move beyond discussion agenda. There are no items and we have no matter from staff this evening. So the next item is matters from the committee. Okay. Next item. Matters from the chair. I'd like to announce a new special member of the Finance Committee for today. It is my daughter, Autumn Faulkner, from Brooklyn. Okay. And our next meeting, Next meeting will be Monday, July 27, 2026. All right. With that, we're adjourned. Good job, team.