Paso Robles City Council Meeting Summary
March 18, 2025
🏛️ Closed Session Overview
Council discussed:
- City Manager appointment & labor negotiations
- Anticipated litigation (1 case)
- Ongoing litigation: Tribune v. City of Paso Robles & Councilmember Bosch
🗒️ No reportable action yet. Council resumed closed session after the open meeting.
🏠 Housing Authority Update
Lonnie Willli, Executive Director, highlighted:
- Sunrise Villas: 69-unit affordable housing complex opened in January.
- Oak Park Redevelopment: From 148 units to 341 new family units.
- Riverwalk Terrace: 79-unit senior housing near the old JCPenney.
- Support Programs: Food bank (900 served), mobile health clinic, teen job training (YouthWorks), and library partnerships.
- 1,000+ families on waiting list for affordable housing.
🛠️ Goal: Launch one new housing project each year, targeting 300+ new units under feasibility review.
✈️ Paso Robles Airport Update
Airport Manager Mark Scandalis presented:
📊 Growth & Performance:
- 51,000 operations/year (vs 36k in 2022)
- Fuel sales exceeded 1 million gallons
- Aircraft-based and personal property tax revenue increasing
💼 Initiatives:
- Daily airfield inspections
- 24/7 on-call staffing
- Updated signage and gate names
- Hangar construction and terminal renovation underway
- EV equipment and Taxiway Alpha upgrades in FAA grant pipeline
🛰️ Spaceport License Progress:
- Actively working with FAA and DC Office of Commercial Space
- Several compliance steps fully funded and progressing
🗣️ Public Comments
Linda George:
- Voiced support for better housing strategies, mobile home parks, and ADU innovations (e.g. Tesla-style pods).
- Highlighted state bills targeting homelessness on state land and CALTRANS-managed encampments.
Dale Evers:
- Presented a visionary plan for public art installations:
- Sculptures, alley redesigns (Norma’s Alley)
- Acorn-themed monuments
- Sculptural welcome gateway concepts
- Proposed collaboration with Parks & Rec; offered to seek private fundraising.
- City praised his ideas and encouraged formal process through advisory channels.
✅ Consent Calendar – Approved Unanimously
Council approved five items:
- Minutes from March 4, 2025
- Advisory Committee Minutes
- Warrant Register – $1.9M in checks issued:
- $142K legal fees (some reimbursed)
- $333K for 2019 water revenue bonds
- $111K to Echo Homeless Services
- YMCA + School District Agreement Extension for joint facility use
- Transportation Impact Fee Credit for River Oaks 2 improvements
🎯 YMCA explained its plan to build a full-service facility on the site of the current municipal pool (which the district no longer needs).
🏞️ Parks Renaming & Veteran Recognition
Council approved:
- Rename “New Turtle Creek Park” → Creekside Park (to avoid name duplication)
- Rename Oak Creek Park → Paso Robles Veterans Park
🎖️ VFW Post 10965 will pursue:
- A new Veterans Memorial Art Installation (concept by Max Rudolph)
- Fundraising with future council proposal
- Potential use of the vacant circular sandbox for monument placement
🗣️ Commander Leo Castillo and multiple councilmembers praised the initiative and expressed support for expanding recognition of veterans across city parks.
💰 Mid-Year Budget Review (FY 2024–25)
Finance Director Ryan Cornell provided a detailed update:
📈 Revenue
- On track: $56M (vs $55.7M projected)
- Sales Tax & TOT slightly under target (96%)
- Development services and permitting fees 130% above projections
💸 Expenditures
- Projected: $63.6M (93% of budgeted)
- Positive savings from staffing and ops efficiencies
📊 Trends
- Sales tax flattening like post-Great Recession levels
- TOT stalled under $10M—only one of two anticipated hotels will open this fiscal year
- City is on track to maintain its 30% reserve target
🌐 New Transparency Tool:
City launched Open Finance Portal – all accounting transactions now posted online in real-time.
🎯 Strategic Goal Tracking:
- Major capital projects funded
- Class & compensation studies progressing
- Infrastructure financing packages (e.g. South Vine Street Bridge) in the works
Meeting Highlights Recap
✅ All motions passed unanimously
✅ Public art and veterans memorial efforts advanced
✅ Financial outlook steady, with OpenGov transparency now live
✅ Council adjourned to return to closed session for final deliberations