A deeply divided Saratoga City Council killed a proposal Oct. 21 that would have set the city on a path toward forming its own climate resilience district, after the vote split 2-2 with one council member absent. Mayor Chuck Page and Councilmember Belal Aftab voted in favor of moving forward, while Vice Mayor Tina Walia and Councilmember Kookie Fitzsimmons voted against it, and Councilmember Yan Zhao was absent from the vote.
The proposal would have advanced consideration of a climate resilience district, according to The Mercury News. Acting City Manager Ryan Hinchman said the Oct. 21 proposal would only have begun planning and would not have created an operating district, imposed taxes or assessments, or committed any city funding, per the same report. Hinchman also said most of the start-up costs at this stage would have involved staff time and potential consultant fees rather than hard dollar outlays.
A Years-Long Push Stalls at the Finish Line
Page said he began considering the idea of forming a climate district back in 2019, and told fellow council members he was disappointed by the outcome but hoped someone else would pick the proposal back up. The mayor, who is not running for re-election, argued a district would let residents themselves decide which projects to prioritize and how money should be spent, rather than leaving those calls solely to city staff or the council. He also said a district could raise funds and implement projects using grants the city would not normally qualify for on its own.
The district was presented as a way for Saratoga to pursue grants more easily.
Why Opponents Wanted To Wait
The proposal faced calls to wait, as opponents raised concerns about resident support and potential strain on city resources.
Supporters described the district as a potential way to pursue outside funding and address environmental threats such as wildfires. Opponents raised concerns about costs and timing.
What the Task Force Would Have Done
Had it passed, the proposed task force would have included at least three council members and two non-elected residents, with those non-elected members nominated by council members and formally appointed by the full council. It was set to operate only until June 30, 2027, and Page noted that six months would be enough time merely to publicize the district rather than accomplish substantive work. The task force could have proposed a budget plan and identified potential revenue sources for the district's first two years.
The potential project list was broad: wildfire preparedness, emergency resilience infrastructure, stormwater improvements and drought resistance all came up as candidates for district-funded work, a relevant concern given that a quarter of Saratoga faces high wildfire risk.
How Saratoga's Options Compare Statewide
California currently has just one formally created climate resilience district, run by the Sonoma County Regional Climate Protection Authority, which says it earned that designation under SB 852 in 2022 and can now pursue new funding sources to support coordinated regional projects, according to the Regional Climate Protection Authority.
Saratoga's council and staff had spent months weighing exactly how such a district might be structured before the vote stalled. During a June 17 study session, Citizen Portal reported that staff laid out options ranging from a district covering the whole city, to one covering only part of it, to a multi-jurisdictional model folding in neighboring cities or the county. Those governance choices mattered because they would determine who ultimately controlled funding decisions and project selection, a tension that never fully resolved before October's deadlock.
City records show Leslie Arroyo serving as Acting City Manager and Ryan Hinchman as Administrative Services Director at that same June 17 meeting, with Page serving as mayor alongside Walia as vice mayor and council members Aftab, Fitzsimmons and Zhao all present, according to the City of Saratoga.
