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<br />something clear and understandable regarding zoning and other technical issues in <br />order for people to understand what they are voting on. <br /> <br />Vice Mayor Howard asked the City Attorney to clarify that Council was legally bound to <br />put this on the. The City Attorney confirmed that there was no option to pull the <br />initiative that it would go up for a vote, and the only variable left was when that would <br />be. He stated there were three upcoming ballot choices to include the November '08 <br />ballot, the spring '09 ballot or the November '09 ballot, and that it must go on one of <br />these three dates. With respect to a City-sponsored measure, he stated that is up to <br />the Council when this goes before the voters and what its content might be. <br /> <br />The Mayor noted the emotional tone of the meeting, the struggle Council is undergoing <br />and the respect Council has for the Redwood City Community as it continues to act <br />accordingly in the best interests of its residents. <br /> <br />Council asked if there could be some countermeasure or directive for a vote regarding <br />the Cargill site, zoning etc., and if this passed with a greater number than the proposed <br />initiative, would it supersede the initiative and prevent the unintended consequences. <br />The City Attorney stated if this is what Council desired, such could be drawn up, and <br />then vote would be made between the countermeasures and the proposed initiative, <br />with the public deciding which was better. <br /> <br />Council reiterated its optimism going into the meeting at hand, their frustration and loss <br />of optimism as the negative comments towards the Council's activities mounted, and <br />stressed that it would not be pushed to craft any kind of legislation on the fly. Council <br />offered to understand the initiative and stated its desire to work with the proponents on <br />achieving a favorable outcome. Council stressed that continued negative comments as <br />to Council's abilities and/or reasoning would not serve any purpose. Council noted that <br />any efforts to continue talks on the initiate were not stalling tactics by any means; in <br />that time was being duly spent understanding the initiative and doing what was best for <br />the community. Council again suggested the drafting of a countermeasure and also <br />urged members of the community, proponents and/or not, to come together in <br />discussing the future of the Bay lands since development and change of these lands <br />over time was inevitable. <br /> <br />Mayor Foust called for a ten-minute break at 8:45 p.m. Council resumed at 8:55 p.m. <br /> <br />One Council Member suggested the need for a subcommittee on this issue. Council <br />concurred that there were a number of unintended consequences and again stressed <br />that in order to reach an equitable end result, all parties needed to compromise. <br />Council stated again its philosophical problems with the two-thirds voting process. <br />Council believed in this regard that they had no clear choice but to put a competing <br />initiative on the ballot, hopefully one more clearly understood and with fewer <br />unintended consequences. <br /> <br />JOINT CITY COUNCIUREDEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD <br />MEETING MINUTES <br /> <br />JULY 7,2008 <br />PAGE 8 <br />