Neighbor News
Mayor’s Monthly - April
Novato's Mayor Eric Lucan shares city news, events and meetings on the horizon, and on occasion a few spontaneous thoughts.
On my Mind (a few random thoughts)
It has been just over 2 years, but this Tuesday, April 12th, the Novato City Council is scheduled to convene our council meeting in-person and back at the council chambers. It is hard to imagine that we have been meeting entirely via zoom for over 2 years. There was a period earlier in 2021 when it looked like things were trending in the right direction (pre delta variant) and we did hold 1 meeting in person, only to quickly revert back to zoom.
For council, we won’t have to remember to unmute and get to say goodbye to our zoom attire and our zoom room, but it wasn’t all bad. In many ways, operating remotely revealed some ways to be more efficient and give members of the public more access to council meetings. We will be keeping the best of both worlds as we return with a hybrid style meeting so the community can still provide public comment via zoom. As council meetings would sometimes go past 10pm, 11pm, or even past midnight and into the next day, it wasn’t the most efficient use of one’s time to have them come in-person to a council meeting only to wait 4 to 5 hours to provide public comment on a particular item. With the hybrid approach, individuals can tune in from home, but still comment on items of interest.
The hybrid approach will take some refining, but could be a whole new way to better engage the community on key issues.
Find out what's happening in Novatofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Around Town (happenings in Novato)
Congrats to North Marin Community Services on your 50th Anniversary
Novato Youth Center and the Novato Human Needs Center, which were founded in 1972, merged in 2018 to form North Marin Community Services. The organization has reached over 150,000 people with services. Read more.
SMART Resumes Sunday Service
Good News! The Board of Directors approved the resumption of the Sunday train service. Starting on May 1st SMART will begin Sunday Service. The schedule will mirror the Saturday and Holiday schedule. Read more.
Find out what's happening in Novatofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Novato Creates a Sustainability Commission - Apply Now
The Novato City Council recently approved a new Sustainability Commission that will focus on matters related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, sea level rise, and other environmental issues. There will be 5 regular members and 2 student commissioners. Applications are being accepted for this new commission through May 1, 2022 at 5pm. Apply Now.
On the Agenda (upcoming at the City Council)
Below are a few key items and updates that are coming up at future council meetings. Because dates tend to change, be sure to check the City Council agendas here (https://novato.org/government/city-council/agendas-minutes).
Our next Council Meeting is Tuesday, April 12 (in-person and on zoom). We have a full agenda, but here are just two highlights of what’s on deck.
Campaign Finance
The City of Novato currently has a $400 cap on campaign contributions as well as some extra reporting requirements. Council will be discussing whether or not adjustments should be made to our current Novato Political Fairness Campaign Act this Tuesday night.
Budget Study Session
The council will conduct a study session regarding the development of the 2022/2023 operating budget. If you are curious to learn more about where our tax revenues come from and how they are allocated, be sure to tune-in.
