City Continues to Explore Way to Ease Downtown Parking Burdens; School Board Special Election Set
City Council set to hold study session Wednesday after merchants raised multiple concerns at January workshop; filing window opens for June 17 MUSD election
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By Tom Lochner
There are plenty of parking spaces in downtown Martinez, which may come as a surprise to some visitors unfamiliar with the logistics of parking there legally. Part of the problem is how and where to find the spaces open to shoppers and other occasional visitors, not to mention the merchants and their employees who make the downtown business area click.
There is much to see and do – and buy – in Martinez' colorful downtown, but the stiff financial penalty ($50) for an overstay at a parking meter can leave a sour taste. And that's bad for business, many merchants and their customers say. Not to mention the inconvenience of employees bolting out of a restaurant to feed the meter – if they're not in the middle of serving a customer their pizza. Or customers running out for the same reason, before completing a purchase.
Those concerns were aired at a Jan. 30 Downtown Parking Community Workshop also dubbed a "Community Listening Session," and they are expected to be raised again at a City Council study session on the topic scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Council Chamber.
The Jan. 30 session led off with a PowerPoint presentation by Community and Economic Development Director Jill Bergman. Similar concerns had been raised at an Oct. 2, 2024 City Council study session covered in this newsletter.
A Downtown Parking Study completed in 2022 had found that there is sufficient parking in the downtown as a whole but recommended some strategies to reduce overall parking demand; shift demand toward underutilized modes; and maintain parking availability at "acceptable levels," especially in "key locations," according to the presentation.
The city subsequently applied for a grant to implement the study, and it secured one for $1,269,000 from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), supplemented with matching city funds of $164,541. A focus of the Jan. 30 session was on initiatives related to the parking grant, and this Wednesday’s study session will include an update on the grant management process and milestones. According to a staff report for Wednesday’s meeting, the earliest possible contract awards for grant funds are expected to come in early 2026.
The overall goal of the grant is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; one aspect of accomplishing that, Bergman suggested, would be to update parking meters, expand payment options, and use smart technology, for example the Park Smarter app, which enables users to find and pay for parking. Another, she said, would be to install "wayfinding signage," so people don't drive around a lot looking for parking.
Such signage would also help visitors "navigate" more efficiently from outlying freeways to the most-visited downtown destinations, among them Contra Costa County offices and facilities, downtown shopping venues, the Martinez Marina and the Amtrak station, Bergman noted.
Given the timeliness of accessing grant funds, the city staff report for Wednesday’s meeting suggests deferring discussions about “demand-based pricing” to a later date and focusing attention at this point on the pros and cons of free parking, “as well as potential incentives and investments that could be implemented downtown over the next year.”
Bergman also talked Jan. 30 about the city's Parking Fund, which funds enforcement, technology, parking receipts processing and other financial tasks, infrastructure, maintenance and capital investments, according to a PowerPoint list. Two percent of the fund is allocated for "general city administration." Capital investments include some 100 new parking meters installed in the post-pandemic period.
According to the study session staff report, the balance available in the Parking Fund is $1,747,082 based on the draft fiscal year annual audit, including $988,205 assigned to capital projects.
Bergman noted that the Parking Fund has gone up and down in recent years, due to COVID-19 and other factors affecting the timing of revenues and expenditures. The staff report anticipates that a move to free downtown parking, entailing the removal of all parking meter infrastructure, would result in a projected annual deficit in the fund of $220,000.
The Jan. 30 workshop included a look at revenue-based parking versus free parking. Examples of the latter include Benicia, Concord, Danville and Pleasant Hill. But circumstances in those cities are different from those in Martinez, the PowerPoint noted, which limits the lessons that can be drawn from them.
Pros of the former, according to Bergman's presentation, include more turnover and efficiency; provision of funds for infrastructure and improvements; better enforcement and management tools; real-time availability via technology apps; and reduced overstays. On the con side, the revenue-based model can turn off shoppers and visitors from coming, and place financial burdens on low-income drivers. It also requires enforcement and management efforts.
Pros of free parking, according to the presentation, include positive public perception; a simplified parking experience; and no direct cost to users. Cons include lack of revenue for infrastructure and staff; increased congestion; reduced turnover; and stress on the general fund from a lack of parking revenue. Some jurisdictions have improvement or other revenue districts that provide funds for parking facilities, Bergman noted.
"There's a lot of different (parking) models," Bergman said, adding: "It ultimately comes down to, there has to be a revenue source to be able to manage it."
The staff report for Wednesday’s study session lists a detailed explanation of both the benefits and challenges of the free and paid parking models.
In attendance at the Jan. 30 community meeting were several merchants, some of whom spoke passionately about their positive contributions to the city and the deleterious effects of the current parking situation on them as well as their employees and customers. One speaker said, "There's a punitive effect to coming to our downtown."
Many also had strong opinions about what the city should or shouldn't do to solve some of the problems
Several drew attention to the fact that there is state-owned parking near the Contra Costa Superior Court, and county-owned parking near county offices. They suggested engaging with those government entities to find a way to perhaps open those facilities to the general public on weekends, when the courts and government offices are closed. One speaker via Zoom, Anne Mobley, said that jurors sometimes take up downtown parking spaces.
Carolyn Hill, also speaking via Zoom, said that many parking spaces have been lost to restaurant patios, or parklets, constructed during COVID, many of them now unused or underused, and that they could be removed. Mobley also said the patios/parklets should go, citing the same reason. Yet another, Corey Katz, suggested keeping the parklets in the warm months and removing them for the winter.
Bergman noted that the city is doing an inventory of the patios/parklets.
Hill and another speaker advocated that the city lease or purchase a currently vacant lot at Main Street and Alhambra Avenue for parking.
Other ideas included special permit areas for employees; parking permits for employees, an idea endorsed by Bergman; limited free parking, with a two-hour limit; and limiting total parking time – one merchant said she doesn't want to see 10-hour parking on Main Street.
Some speakers advocated building a parking structure. But that would cost $16 million to $17 million, Bergman said.
There wasn't much discussion about parking rates, which have not increased in Martinez since 2013.
Bernadette Fernandes of Busywork Craft Supply on Main Street distributed a statement that appeared to reflect the feelings of several other merchants, complaining that "our current system is harmful and punitive to our small businesses."
It said, in part:
"I support other local businesses in order to operate my business, whether that is getting local takeout for lunch or ordering printing services.
"I know what each business provides, and I frequently refer people to my neighboring shops.
"I have given countless directions to people looking for county and city buildings, sometimes communicating only through translation apps.
"In the absence of a safe and family-oriented public space downtown, I offer a free craft table for children and their families during the farmers market.
"In the absence of a city-provided public restroom, I do my part to fill that dire need by offering my restroom to the numerous children, county and city workers, rehab groups, and adult day care groups that visit our downtown daily.
"I have planned, organized and hosted multiple downtown-wide free, family-friendly events. These events have brought significant and measurable foot traffic to our city and local businesses.
"I stay informed on current city events in order to help spread the word and support efforts to benefit our city.
"I catalogue important public resources, such as non-emergency lines and mental health support so that I can be helpful in a crisis."
In conclusion, Fernandes said: "We are an asset, and we need to be heard.
"We know our city."
The agenda for Wednesday’s study session and regular meeting, and how to attend in person or via Zoom, can be found at the following link along with related documents: https://granicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/martinez/7e45e80c062995239ecac5f4f00307fa0.pdf
The regular meeting agenda includes a report on 2025 proposed project priorities for the Parks, Recreation, Marina and Arts Commission, and a report on proposed revisions to the sidewalk repair program.
Craig Lazzeretti contributed to this item and produced the following one.
Ayala removed from school board pending special election
As expected, Brittany Ayala’s appointment to the Martinez Unified School District Board of Trustees has been terminated pending a special election after enough voters in Area 3 signed a petition calling for one.
Ayala and the school board were informed of the termination of the appointment in a letter from Contra Costa County Office of Education Superintendent Lynn Mackey last week. Ayala attended her second regular board meeting on Monday, Feb. 24; the board now reverts to four members until the matter of the Area 3 vacancy is decided in a special election scheduled for June 17.
The special election is a highly rare, if not unprecedented, move to challenge a school board appointment to fill a vacancy. “We are not aware of another special election being called in response to an appointment to a school district board,” Helen Nolan, assistant county registrar, said last week.
The fact it has undone the appointment of the only ethnic minority on the MUSD school board is also drawing a backlash from some in the district’s sizable Latino community. The Spanish language television network Telemundo produced a report on the controversy on Friday. The four remaining board members are all white.
The school board held a special meeting Monday morning to adopt a resolution authorizing a mail-in-only election for the vacant seat, which it says will be “significantly less costly than a polling location-based election.” Nolan had estimated the cost of the special election, which the district is responsible for funding amid an ongoing budget crisis, at between $50,000 and $63,000.
MUSD Superintendent Helen Rossi said at Monday’s meeting that the special election cost could be as little as $43,000 by foregoing in-person polling places.
Residents who live in Area 3 have until March 21 to file their candidacy with the Contra Costa County Elections Office. Retired teacher and former MUSD teachers union president Brenda Leal was the other candidate who interviewed for the appointment in January when the board unanimously selected Ayala, a district parent, UC Berkeley community college transfer specialist, and daughter of Mexican immigrants.
Ayala has indicated that she plans to run for the seat in the special election.
Monday’s meeting also included public comments from former board trustees Yazmin Llamas, who vacated the Area 3 seat upon winning election in November to the Contra Costa County Board of Education, and Jonathan Wright, who resigned his seat in 2021 after winning re-election in 2020. Llamas criticized the petition that led to the calling of the special election, while Wright supported the effort.
The meeting, which lasted roughly 20 minutes, can be viewed at the following link: