Meeting Overview

A special City Council meeting on January 27, 2026 reviewed which long-term referrals to remove from the annual Reweighted Range Voting (RRV) prioritization list. City Clerk Mark Newmanville led the presentation; Public Works Director Davis and Planning Director Klein answered questions. Mayor Adena Ishii participated online. Present: Igor Tregub (D4), Shoshana O’Keefe (D5), Brent Blackaby (D6), Mark Humbert (D8), Terry Taplin (D2, joined after roll), Rashi Kesarwani (D1, joined later). Absent: Ben Bartlett (D3). Staff will run the RRV algorithm after Council finalizes removals and return a prioritized list at a special meeting on February 10, 2026.

Main Agenda Items

• RRV process and workflow: Councilmembers score long-term referrals 0–5; highest-scoring items are selected sequentially and earlier voters’ influence is down-weighted to amplify minority preferences. The list guides sequencing of policy work subject to department capacity and City Manager discretion.
• Items proposed for removal: The packet included 8 items Councilmembers had nominated for removal plus 10 additional low‑scoring referrals flagged by the Clerk (total score <5 and no single score >3). Notable low‑score items included affordable-housing-for-artists strategies and a 2028 affordable housing bond study, a Police Accountability Board/legal doctrines memo, bird‑safe building three‑year review, a stalled automatic traffic‑calming study on San Pablo Ave, and “no right on red” signage policy.
• Staff clarifications:
  • Public Works confirmed OakDOT neighborhood traffic‑calming / Vision Zero Rapid Response recommendations are incorporated into the draft 2025 bike plan now in final review.
  • Planning Director Klein noted follow‑up referrals (e.g., bird‑safe glass three‑year review) are discrete policy projects requiring staff time and would not proceed automatically if removed from the RRV list.
  • Tie‑breaking in the algorithm was noted as an unresolved procedural issue to be addressed if needed.
• Council discussion: Broad support to “clean up” the long‑term list, balanced by concern that low/timed items could be lost. Councilmember Kesarwani successfully argued to retain the West Berkeley Residential Preferential Parking (RPP) referral as an equity/agency matter. Members also sought to retain items tied to future timing or requiring ongoing tracking.

Decisions Made

• The Council approved removing most items on the removal slate but preserved a set of referrals for continued tracking and prioritization:
  • Retained on the RRV list: West Berkeley RPP (ref 04053), the affordable housing bond investigation (2028), the TOPA/COPA referral (04197), the Police Accountability Board/ODPA legal doctrines memo (04222), and the “no right on red” referral.
  • Other low‑scoring items (including the bird‑safe three‑year review and certain affordable‑housing companion reports) were added to the removal list as discussed.
• Next steps: City Clerk will run the RRV algorithm with the updated list and return prioritized results February 10, 2026. Staff will track retained items so they remain available for future re‑referral; tie‑breaking methodology for RRV will be resolved prior to finalization.