On the Agenda: Jan. 23 City Council Meeting

The next regular City Council meeting is Tuesday, January 27 starting at 4 p.m. The full agenda can be found here. I want to highlight a few items that may be of interest to you:

• We’ll kick off the meeting with a study session on options for how the City can approach paying down its pension liabilities. During the Great Recession, CalPERS lowered its discount rate (their expected return on investments), and that change significantly increased what our City owes in long-term pension costs. Unlike a personal investment account, the City has very limited investment options under state law. We can’t simply chase the newest investment trends or throw everything into the “hot stock of the month.” This discussion is about taking a thoughtful, responsible look at how we reduce long-term costs and stay financially strong.
  
  
• The City Council will also consider forming an ad hoc committee to review the Finance Committee. Yes, it’s a committee to review a committee… but it’s actually a smart way for the City Council to gather information, evaluate what’s working, and decide whether adjustments should be made moving forward.
  
  
• The Snug Harbor Surf Park item is returning to the City Council. As you may recall, in October 2025, the City Council approved a general plan amendment for 40,000 square feet related to the project. After that approval, individuals opposed to the project gathered enough signatures for a referendum to place the decision on the ballot. The City Council’s decision now is whether to reverse its prior approval (the 40,000 square feet) or place it before the voters to decide.   

And finally, the City Council's annual Planning Session will be held on Saturday, January 31 at 9 a.m. in the City Council chambers. We will spend about two hours with the City Council discussing goals and priorities for the coming year. These sessions are helpful for City staff to stay focused on what matters most to the City Council, and ultimately, what matters most to our community. As always, the session is open to the public, and everyone is welcome to attend.

Seimone Jurjis

City Manager, sjurjis@newportbeachca.gov 

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City Council Meeting Information

The Newport Beach City Council meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of most months (the exceptions are August and December). Typically, the council meeting begins at 4 p.m. If scheduled, the meeting will start with a study session. Study sessions allow the Council to take a deeper look at a specific issue or hear a presentation that may later lead to more formal action. The regular session immediately follows the study session. If no study session is scheduled, the meeting will begin with the regular session. Items on the consent calendar are heard all at once, unless a councilmember has removed an item from the consent calendar for specific discussion and separate vote. If an item on the agenda is recommended to be “continued”, it means that the item won’t be heard nor voted on that evening, but will be pushed forward to another noticed meeting.

Public comment is welcomed at both the study session and the regular session. The public can comment on any item on the agenda. If you want to comment on a consent calendar item that was not pulled from the consent calendar by a councilmember, you will want to do so at the time listed on the agenda. If an item is pulled, the Mayor will offer that members of the public can comment as that specific item is heard separately. Additionally, there is a specific section of public comment for items not on the agenda, but on a subject of some relationship to the city government. If you cannot attend a meeting and/or want to communicate with the City Council directly, this e-mail gets to all of them: citycouncil@newportbeachca.gov. The City Manager also gets a copy of the email, to ensure that there is appropriate follow-up.

The Council meets in the Council Chambers at 100 Civic Center Drive, off of Avocado between San Miguel and East Coast Highway. There is plenty of parking in the parking structure. You are always welcome to attend in person, but you can also watch on TV, Spectrum channel 30 and Cox channel 852 or stream it on your computer.

On the Agenda is not an attempt to summarize every item on the agenda – just the ones that seem of specific interest to the City Manager. You are encouraged to read the full agenda if you wish.

To subscribe to direct email communications from the City Manager's Office, including From City Hall to You and On the Agenda, please click here. 

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