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5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS AND CONSENT CALENDAR -CITY COUNCIL Parks, Recreation and Community Services Superintendent Chris Beth highlighted some community building activities scheduled for the summer. Two bands will perform on Thursday, May 31 from 5:30-8:00 p.m. on the Square; the bands are composed of Stn grade and freshmen students from Redwood City. The bands are "Lane Four" and "Billy the Kid". Beginning June 1, will be "Summer in the City", the Friday night concert series that has been relocated to the Square, for a total of 18 concerts from 6-8 p.m. each week through September 28. The Annual Pet Parade is Saturday, June 2 from 10- 2 p.m. on Theatre Way. Also, Stafford Park concert series are on Wednesdays for 8 weeks beginning the end of June, and the Redwood Shores concert series at Marlin Park for 5 Thursdays in the summer. All information can be found on the website. Joe Webb stated that two weeks prior he had presented some information and Mr. Hartnett said they were lies and that he was a racist. He continued to refer to a report that he made available to anyone desiring a copy. He further stated that Council Member Hartnett violated, in the letter and the spirit, the Brown Act. By going on for 3 minutes and 15 seconds, in general terms with no specific questions for clarification, factual information, or directives to staff to report on the Hispanic Report as required by the Brown Act Section 54954.3. He further stated that he violated conventional standards of human decency by calling him a racist and culling him against his person and the Hispanic Report. He further stated that City Attorney Yamamoto stated there was not any law or written rule which governs the comments of Council Members in regard to oral communications. He continued to cite statistics from the Hispanic Report. City Attorney Yamamoto stated that having been asked three separate times by Mr. Webb the question of whether or not there is a statute that prohibits Council Members from speaking during Oral Communications, each time he answered "no". Mayor Pierce stated that she appreciates that the topic is one that people in the community might be concerned about. Redwood City is a community that is concerned with ensuring that its members are safe and protected regardless of racial status. Focus on information which details who the criminals are may or may not have anything to do with resolving the issue or preventing crime and making our community safe. The issues before us and that concern us are making sure that we have a strong community, good schools, and economic opportunities because it is these factors that enable our community to be safe. Gerry Benasch stated that the previous Friday some surveyors were out at Garrett Park driving stakes into the ground of the lawn area. She was told that the surveying is to put a road in. She stated that there is a road through the park and that there should be no need to build another road. She further stated that the park is 6.9 acres, is home to the golden breeding eagles and that she had been assured by Peter Griffith that there would not be development in the park. She stated that it is ludicrous to build in the canyon until something is done about the dam. SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING MAY 21, 2007 MINUTES PAGE 2