Mayor's Weekly (June 2 – June 8)

On my Mind
Hope everyone enjoyed the warm weather this weekend.  The Giants swept the Mets, but we just missed out on a Triple Crown winner at the Belmont Stakes.  As I was thinking about this week’s blog, I realized that this is the half way point for my position of mayor and that also means that I have been writing this blog for 6 months.  Half way points are great times to reflect on what’s working and what needs improvement.  I believe Novato is in a great position and we are working together well as a council.  That doesn’t mean there aren’t areas for improvement which certainly exist.  I would be interested to hear from the Patch community on this topic though and since school is just wrapping up, why not go with the basic letter grades.  It comes with one caveat though—in order for the feedback to be constructive, I would ask that you provide a few points about what could be done to earn a higher grade moving forward.  For example, if your grade was a B-, what would it take to make that a B+ or even an A-.  I am curious to hear your thoughts.

On another note, we did have a council retreat this past Thursday.  Only 3 members of the public were able to attend, but we did have some great discussions as a council.  One of the several positive outcomes that I am excited about is the policy by which an item gets placed on the agenda.  A few years ago, the process for agendizing an item was quite confusing and involved a “second tier” list of items and a process by which those items could be brought forward.  That was amended to a simpler 3 step process a couple of years ago: Step 1) councilmember suggests an item monthly or quarterly and majority vote to discuss it at a future meeting; Step 2) at future meeting, council deliberates whether to devote staff time and officially place the item on the agenda for action; Step 3) council takes action on the item at a future meeting.  The 3 step process was an improvement, but in some cases, still too burdensome for smaller requests such as a letter of support, scheduling a presentation, or smaller items of business.  As a result, there was support on Thursday night to eliminate Step 2 for these less cumbersome items.  It might seem like a small matter, but I believe it goes a long way in allowing us to be more responsive and agile.

Around Town
North, North Redwood Corridor Vision Workshop – There was a good turnout for the 1st part of the Visioning Workshop for the North, North Redwood Corridor.  Thank you for all who attended.  The 2nd part will take place this coming Saturday, June 14th.  Details are below.

Novato Festival of Art, Wine and Music – The festival is this coming weekend on June 14th-15th.  For more information visit www.novatoartwinemusic.com.

The Week Ahead
Monday (June 9):
What is your vision for the North Redwood Blvd Streetscape? (Part 2) – 6:30PM (City Hall)

Novato Streetscape Committee Meeting – 7:00PM (Corporation Yard)

Tuesday (June 10):
City Council Meeting – 6:30PM (City Hall)

Wednesday (June 11):
Home for All Policymaker Subcommittee – 7:00PM (Key Room @ Homeward Bound)

Saturday (June 14):
Novato Festival of Art, Wine and Music – Downtown Novato

Vision Workshop for North, North Redwood Corridor (Part 2) – 9:00AM (Margaret Todd Senior Center)

Sunday (June 15):
Happy Father’s Day!

Novato Festival of Art, Wine and Music – Downtown Novato