Mar. 13—A final vote on a resolution calling for more city funding for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure was postponed Wednesday after other councilors proposed a number of amendments that, the sponsor said, “drastically changed” the resolution.
Following a long discussion at Monday’s City Council Finance Committee meeting, resolution sponsor Councilor Michael Garcia and the sponsors of the amendments — Councilors Carol Romero-Wirth, Jamie Cassutt and Signe Lindell — agreed to delay the final vote until the March 27 City Council meeting to give them time to come to an agreement on the amendments before then. The resolution was unanimously moved forward by the Finance Committee without a recommendation Monday.
That was the second time Garcia’s resolution had been considered by the Finance Committee; it was postponed at an earlier meeting following several concerns raised by the sponsors of the amendments.
At Wednesday’s meeting Romero-Wirth, with a second from Cassutt, unsuccessfully attempted to have the resolution brought back to the Finance Committee a third time at its March 25 meeting. Romero-Wirth withdrew the amendment after objections from Garcia and several other councilors. Finance Committee members Lee Garcia and Pilar Faulkner, who on Monday had tried to play the role of mediator, said they believed the resolution had been discussed thoroughly at the committee level.
“To go through committee again seems like an additional and unnecessary hoop to jump through,” said Councilor Amanda Chavez.
Michael Garcia, who appeared remotely because he is on work travel to Washington, D.C., said he felt he “had not been treated fairly” at the committee meetings and was not afforded enough time to speak, which committee chair Romero-Wirth disputed.
“As the sponsor of the resolution I was not afforded the opportunity to give a presentation around the resolution, I was only afforded the opportunity to provide comment after every councilor on the committee spoke,” Garcia said. “And I feel its in the best interest of the legislation to be heard by the full governing body during our March 27 meeting, so I’m not in favor of this proposal.”
The resolution, which Michael Garcia introduced at the end of January, adopts recommendations made by the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee to increase the maintenance and development of the city’s bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. The committee consists of volunteers from the public; Garcia is its chairman currently.
The resolution would also help the city comply with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act by ensuring that sidewalks and bike paths are well maintained and accessible to people who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices.
Although the resolution by itself cannot add money to the city budget, which is prepared by city staff every year and introduced by the mayor, a fiscal impact report from city staff estimates the resolution would include a one-time cost of $860,000 for the purchase of software and add $2.2 million to the city budget on a yearly basis for costs including staffing, equipment and software and maintenance.
At the Feb. 26 City Council Finance Committee meeting, Cassutt said she was nervous about passing a resolution that could allocate reoccurring funds in the city budget.
“This calls for an annual budgeting … not just for this fiscal year but in perpetuity,” she said.
On Monday Lindell said she did not want the council to get into a habit of budgeting by resolution.
“We have many, many, many groups in this city that are very passionate about the work they do, and it would be really disappointing to have every one of those groups bring a resolution about funding,” she said. “It’s really not how we do budgeting.”
The amendments introduced Monday took out the specific language of the recommendations made by the advisory committee and instead called on the city manager to designate appropriate city departments and entities to develop a system “to maintain and build safe and accessible pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.”
It also took out the language calling on the mayor to allocate money in the 2025 fiscal year budget and future budgets for the maintenance and instead said it “supports the development of an equitable formula to inform the annual budget request” for maintenance of said infrastructure.
Michael Garcia took issue with the removal of language saying the resolution was supported by the Mayor’s Committee on Disability, which Romero-Wirth said was done because the committee had not had the opportunity to see or vote on the amended version of the resolution.
Other changes, including a mention that the city was recently given a silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community award, he had no objection to.
In an interview before Wednesday’s meeting, the sponsor Garcia said he hoped to meet with Cassutt, Romero-Wirth and Lindell to draft new amendments they could all agree on and to hold a special advisory committee meeting so the committee members can provide their input.
“I’m very hopeful we still will pass this resolution and begin to invest critically needed resources into our community,” he said.
Amanda Smith is a dedicated U.S. correspondent with a passion for uncovering the stories that shape the nation. With a background in political science, she provides in-depth analysis and insightful commentary on domestic affairs, ensuring readers are well-informed about the latest developments across the United States.
