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up a system that would make sense and be legally justifiable and not be so administratively cumbersome that it required new staff; and 2) the Redevelopment Agency already provides flexibility on a project by project basis which promotes the Council's economic development goals. Mayor Hartnett said Redwood City's Redevelopment Agency already had a reputation for stepping in when necessary and willing to look at what makes sense within the context of each project. Mayor Hartnett said he could not support the concept of below market loans for capital equipment purchases, and said he did not want staff to spend time devising a grand plan. He said the site assembly in downtown is already being done by the Redevelopment Agency, and this recommendation is a vote of confidence for what has been done. Mayor Hartnett said he wanted to put off work on a seismic retrofit program until staff had a better idea of how that could be done. He said he agreed with his colleagues that "a downtown association ought not to be a City led creation." Mayor Hartnett said Mr. Saye had begun the process and that was in agreement with the recommended strategy, and the Chamber of Commerce has welcomed that effort and will be in support of it. Mayor Hartnett said "if we focus on making our community an even better place for people to want to do business.... by focusing on some of those things that Councilwoman La Berge brought up in tenus of the visual importance and paying attention to how we look and how we operate in the community, we will go a long way." Mayor Hartnett said the Subcommittee Report supports the Council's policy of code enforcement, not just in the residential areas, but in the commercial areas which were designated as the first areas for concentrated efforts, and El Camino as the second area of concern. City Manager Everett described the sign ordinance issue as three-tiered: 1) Mr. Chen's issue and that has been resolved; 2) Auto industry, and staff is working on that problem; and 3) the third issue is signs in general, and that will be addressed after the auto dealer's issues are resolved. City Manager Everett referred to projects that could come from the $75,000 - the sign ordinance; a consultant that would help create some sign identification for Redwood City Autos; and ad agencies assistance to devise a plan for Redwood City Auto Dealers. He expressed hope that the auto dealers would provide matching money. Director Church said the auto dealers saw the logic in pooling resources for signage and advertising, but because of the individual imperatives of the business they found it difficult to maintain the effort. He said the Auto Strategy was designed to maintain an environment where the members could work together collectively and productively. 1. MIS: RUSKINIHOW ARD MOVED TO INSTRUCT THE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY STAFF TO MOVE FORWARD IN TERMS OF AN AUTO STRATEGY SPECIFICALLY TO INCLUDE A LOOK AT USING SIGNAGE AS A MEANS OF ATTRACTING PEOPLE TO OUR AUTO DEALERSHIPS; OF REVIEWING THE ENTIRE ORDINANCES DEALING WITH AUTO DEALER SIGNAGE, AND AS WELL DEVELOPING A GENERAL STRATEGY OF CREATING A UNIFIED MARKET APPEAL FOR OUR AUTO DEALERS; AND ALSO ENCUMBERING $75,000 SINCE IT APPEARS WE WILL SHORTLY HAVE NEED OF SOME FUNDS TO DO THIS, ENCUMBERING $75,000 IN THE BUDGET TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS APPROACH REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTE BOOK NO. 55 NOVEMBER25,1996 MINUTES Page No. 058 PAGE 11