Editor’s note: This meeting took place on April 7, the night before the San Francisco Chronicle published allegations that Mayor Dominic Foppoli has sexually assaulted multiple women. Councilmember Debora Fudge took part in a portion of the meeting, before signing off to prepare for her hip replacement surgery the next morning.
Given the various complications for the council’s ability to govern going forward, this meeting report is being presented as a simple overview, because it is difficult to predict what governance changes may or may not occur going forward. In addition, the meeting began with a lengthy presentation on the establishment of a Windsor Citizens Organized to Prepare for Emergencies (COPE) group, and that will be covered separately in a future article.
- The Discover Windsor Through Art program was approved, and seven artists will be applying their designs to utility boxes throughout the town. The boxes are tentatively planned to be painted the week of May 3. A full look at the locations and designs can be found here: https://windsor-ca.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=1240&meta_id=76547
- The town council also approved a “high-altitude” fireworks show for July 3. Continued pandemic-related uncertainty has meant that the normal Independence Day activitiy Kaboom! will not be happening this year. The town will instead provide a high-altitude fireworks show that would allow residents to view the fireworks from their own homes or vehicles in small, COVID-safe gatherings or cohorts. The cost of the fireworks will be approximately $30,000, but since so many other events have been canceled over the last year, the town has that money in its Parks & Rec budget. Sam Salmon voted against it.
- The council also approved an amendment to the town’s integrated pest management policy, aimed at improving weed abatement and worker safety and dealing with aesthetic concerns and budget issues. The exemptions would only apply to the street medians and recycled water pond berms.
- Finally, the council sat through a lengthy set of presentations on how they would create the budget priorities for determining what actions the town will take to help solve the budget shortfall predicted in the years to come. Various strategies for increasing revenues and making cuts were discussed, and each council member had been provided with a priorities scoring matrix to guide discussions. The thoughts outlined in those results will be brought back for more fleshing out at a future meeting. What the council they will be brought to will look like remains to be seen.
