Council Briefs Council Briefs (July 09, 2004)

Council considers tobacco restrictions

The Mountain View City Council is threatening to punish business owners and employees who sell tobacco to minors. At its Tuesday meeting, council members debated potential penalties to stem what local police say is an ongoing problem.

Motivated in part by the results of a sting operation that cited seven Mountain View retailers for selling cigarettes to minors, council members favored using conditional use permits for those stores that are cited.

"It's important that the clerk and the owner are both the hook for this," said Council member Mike Kasperzak.

The city would determine the restrictions of the conditional use permits, which are typically used on highly specific types of land use. In this case, council members said it was an appropriate way to require business owners to be responsive to community concerns.

The council also considered banning smoking on Castro Street within 20 feet of any building opening, a regulation that would effectively prohibit smoking in large sections of downtown. Council members asked City Attorney Michael Martello to prepare more information about this possibility, but wavered in their enthusiasm for it.

"We've made life difficult enough for smokers as it is," said Council member Greg Perry.

Ethics committee update

Michael Jenkins, the $200-an-hour legal adviser to the council's ad hoc ethics committee, is in line for a taxpayer-funded raise. At the request of the committee, the council authorized a $5,000 pay increase for Jenkins, twice the limit it set at its June 22 meeting.

Mayor Matt Pear said that with the council going on a six-week recess, he did not want to risk holding up the committee's investigation of a possible conflict of interest regarding City Attorney Michael Martello and and his relationship with Pamela Read, the general manager of Foothill Disposal Company, the city's garbage service.

Jenkins has already been active with the committee, whose meetings are closed to the public.

The council also accepted Jenkins' recommendation to take no action in response to a letter from resident and local attorney Gary Wesley. In his letter, Wesley accused the council of violating public notice laws by authorizing a payment increase to Foothill Disposal as part of the city's budget.

City Manager Kevin Duggan and Finance Director Bob Locke both testified that the increase was the result of a contractual obligation.

Crittenden to get cell phone antenna

Sprint Spectrum will erect a cell phone antenna on a light pole at Crittenden Middle School, with funds from the project going towards the Whisman Sports Pavilion located at the site. The city council agreed Tuesday to license Sprint to use the facility for a five-year term.

Sprint will pay $1,800 a month, which will be spent on the operating and maintenance costs of the pavilion.

The council also agreed to hear an appeal from Cingular Wireless, which is asking for permission to raise a cell tower 10 feet. The tower, located on El Camino Real near Rengstorff Avenue, is already at the maximum 45-foot height allowed in the area. Cingular's request for a variance was originally denied by the city's zoning administrator. It will make an appeal at the council's Aug. 17 meeting.

Softball team receives travel money

In one of their final official actions before breaking for a six-week recess, council members unanimously authorized $2,700 in funding for the local 12-and-under softball team to travel to Seattle for a regional championship tournament.

Mountain View Nova 12U will participate in the National Softball Association Western World Series the week of July 17. Players pay for uniforms, equipment and entry fees and are normally responsible for their own travel costs and some fund-raising. Eight girls from the team showed up to the meeting in their uniforms, prompting Vice Mayor Matt Neely to attempt to add an amendment that they win the tournament.

The city's general fund has a provision allowing for requests from "community organizations representing the City outside the City."

-- Jon Wiener

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