Dublin's First Ethics Code Draws Spirited Debate as Affordable Housing Transfer Stalls

Dublin City Council spent over an hour dissecting a draft code of ethics — the city's first with enforcement teeth — while also directing staff to escalate a years-long affordable housing land deal stuck in County bureaucracy. A salary ordinance split the dais 3-2, and the Fourth of July after-action report revealed structure fires and staffing shortfalls that have council members eyeing a community-wide fireworks reckoning.

• Council reviews Dublin's first-ever ethics code with enforcement provisions; one councilmember delivers 43 specific revision points, sparking debate over mandatory vs. aspirational language
• Affordable housing land transfer near BART stalled after County staff say they lack authority to complete the deal; Council directs City Manager to escalate
• Fourth of July enforcement costs drop 20% but three structure fires and a staffing "perfect storm" prompt calls for a resident survey on fireworks' future
• Salary ordinance passes 3-2, raising Councilmember pay 4% annually and reducing the Mayor's stipend; Mayor Hu and Councilmember Morada dissent
• Vice Mayor wins support to revisit staff COLA, arguing the 1.7% adjustment was based on an anomalous CPI month

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Shall vs. Should: Ethics Code Debate Exposes Fault Lines

Dublin has never had an enforceable code of ethics for elected and appointed officials. The draft presented by City Manager Colleen Tribby aims to change that, modeled primarily on codes from Alameda and Sunnyvale after a review of 14 California cities.

The basics: The draft covers four pillars — ethics (16 guiding principles), conduct (interactions with colleagues, staff, public, other agencies, and media), compliance and enforcement (an escalating process culminating in potential censure), and implementation (orientation, handbook, and a "Model of Excellence" pledge). Dublin's current norms document has no enforcement mechanism.

Why it matters: Adoption would give the Council formal censure authority over officials for the first time, creating accountability standards that survive individual council turnovers.

Where things stand: Councilmember John Morada arrived with the most detailed markup of the evening — 43 written revision points, which he read through one by one. His central proposal: replacing all 13 instances of "shall" with "should" throughout the document, making the code aspirational rather than mandatory. He also proposed requiring a unanimous vote rather than a majority for removal sanctions, comparing the process to impeachment: "If we are looking to remove somebody from office, it is equivalent to an impeachment proceeding. Therefore it should be done in a way that a unanimous vote of everyone who was offended by said action agrees to that."

The other side: Vice Mayor Jean Josey pushed back sharply. "We don't want to be saying in our code of ethics we should comport ourselves in accordance to the law. But you don't have to. We want the message to be we shall, we will," she said. Josey also pressed for detailed escalation procedures, warning the code needs safeguards: "What I don't want is for something like this to get weaponized and somebody's forever filing some complaint against one of their colleagues."

Councilmember Kashef Qaadri outlined five targeted points, including separating the ethics code from existing norms, adding step-by-step escalation procedures, and distinguishing between cross-attendance at city advisory bodies versus external agencies. Councilmember Michael McCorriston favored keeping the document concise and letting staff refine the language. City Attorney John Bakker clarified an important legal constraint: council members cannot be removed from office except by voter recall or a 60-day absence vacancy. The removal provision applies only to appointed commissioners.

Public commenter Mike Grant supported adoption, calling the code overdue, and warned about developer corruption, saying some consultants and developers "wouldn't pass a live scan or an FBI background check."

Tribby cited enforcement precedents from other Bay Area cities, including Milpitas, where a censure process was initiated against a council member for holding improper staff meetings; East Bay MUD, where a director was censured over conduct with employees; and East Palo Alto, where a council member was censured with committee removal for derogatory language.

What's next: Staff was directed to return with a revised version incorporating feedback on escalation procedures, cross-attendance distinctions, consolidation with the existing norms document and personal accounts policy, and language refinements.

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99 Affordable Units in Limbo as County Land Deal Stalls

Community Development Director Amy Millien presented the status of Site D-1, a 2.5-acre parcel at the Dublin Transit Center near the Dublin-Pleasanton BART station that has been earmarked for affordable housing since at least 2015.

Why it matters: The site is central to Dublin's state-mandated housing element, which identifies it for 99 affordable units. Without the land transfer, those units cannot move forward.

Where things stand: The deal has been stuck in Alameda County bureaucracy for years. The County initially issued an RFP and entered a purchase-and-sale agreement with a developer called Rome, but the project never materialized. After a parking garage was built on part of the site in 2019, the remaining approximately one acre became the focus. In November 2020, the County's Surplus Land Authority authorized negotiations to transfer the parcel to Dublin, facilitated by then-Supervisor David Haggerty. Dublin took corresponding action in December 2020. But in 2022, the land was transferred internally from the Surplus Land Authority to GSA — and County GSA staff then told the city they did not have authority to complete the agreement. In 2025, Eden Housing began preliminary conceptual planning, but the deal remains blocked.

Vice Mayor Jean Josey, who brought the request, said the site is a critical affordable housing commitment. "We put quite a few units of affordable housing onto this site in our housing element. And it's important," she said. Councilmember Kashef Qaadri echoed the urgency: "In addition to it being a critical part of our arena number, it's important for us to deliver on the affordable housing promise that we've made and kind of see that to fruition."

Councilmember Morada asked whether Eden Housing would be ready to proceed once the blockage is cleared; Millien said they remained interested but that funding is tight.

Decisions: All five council members supported escalation. City Manager Colleen Tribby committed to action: "We'll bring the matter to my office and see if we can get some escalation there and get some sort of formal meeting happening between us and the County."

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Three Structure Fires, Half the Staff: Fireworks After-Action Report Raises Stakes

Senior Management Analyst Jordan Foss presented the 2026 Fourth of July after-action report. The net cost to the city dropped approximately 20% to $56,363, down from $70,155 in 2025. DPS overtime costs fell 53% to $17,246. Fireworks-related calls for service dropped from 51 to 29. Alameda County Fire Department caught two unpermitted vendors and shut them down, while DPS seized roughly 100 pounds of illegal fireworks through undercover operations.

But the improvements came with a caveat: DPS staffing was cut from 21 to 12 officers because 15 personnel were redeployed to the 250th Red, White and Blue Backyard Bash event earlier in the day. Chief Fox was candid about the tradeoff: "I don't believe we were staffed the way I wanted it to be staffed. We had to shift resources to the backyard bash during the day. We only had 12. And in all likelihood, I would like to have closer to 20." He pointed to a confluence of competing demands — the Alameda County Fair, FIFA World Cup security, and the sheriff's own suppression operation.

Three structure fires occurred after 10:30 p.m., two caused by improperly discarded fireworks. Division Chief Tara explained that the three fire stations' regular crew costs are not included in the fireworks-specific figures. Public Works Director Debbie Bell clarified that debris collection data covers only four designated parks — Alamo Creek, Dublin Sports Grounds, Emerald Glen, and Shannon — not citywide cleanup.

Vice Mayor Jean Josey challenged enforcement of the social host ordinance for illegal fireworks: "The whole point of the social host ordinance and adding illegal fireworks to that was so that we didn't have to find an individual necessarily if we knew what property it was coming from. And I feel like that didn't really happen this year." She also pushed for dumpster fire solutions at parks.

Councilmember Michael McCorriston argued that cost reports dramatically understate the real toll: "These are an assessment of an ongoing cost to enforce and to provide surveillance. But they do not, and I will stress this, they do not really indicate what the actual cost to our community is." He cited a past incident to drive the point home: "There was a teenager who got his hands blown off. Careless, illegal fireworks. That teenager was a Dublin resident."

Mayor Sherry Hu suggested the city could explore centralized fireworks displays, pointing to models in Milpitas and Sonoma.

Staff identified six improvement areas including public education on safe disposal, better dumpster placement, drones for enforcement, expanding undercover operations, and additional ACFD booth visits. Staff was directed to plan a resident survey for January–February 2027 that could shape the future of Dublin's safe-and-sane fireworks program.

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Salary Ordinance Passes 3-2 on Split Vote

The second-reading ordinance amending Dublin Municipal Code Sections 2.08.020 and 2.08.040 — increasing Councilmember salaries by 4% per year and reducing the Mayor's additional monthly salary to $400 — passed on a roll call vote with no debate. Councilmember Morada pulled the item from the consent calendar for a separate vote.

Decisions: For: Councilmember McCorriston, Councilmember Qaadri, Vice Mayor Josey (3). Against: Councilmember Morada, Mayor Hu (2). The changes take effect after the November 2026 election.

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Vice Mayor Pushes to Revisit Staff COLA

During council reports, Vice Mayor Jean Josey raised a pointed concern about the cost-of-living adjustment given to city staff. She laid out the numbers: the December 2025 CPI was 3.3%, April 2026 was 3.3%, and June 2026 was 3.4% — all year-over-year figures. But the February 2026 CPI of 1.7% was the benchmark used for the staff COLA.

"In December of 2025, the CPI was 3.3. In February of '26 it was 1.7, which was an anomaly in the data. In April it was 3.3. In June it was 3.4," Josey said. "They were all above 3 except for the month that we happened to use as our benchmark for our staff's COLA."

She argued the below-market adjustment is demotivating and secured head nods from at least two colleagues to bring back an agenda item for a formal discussion. If Council determines the benchmark was unrepresentative, the result could be a COLA increase for all city staff.

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Minor Items

• Consent calendar passed unanimously (voice vote, 5-0), approving July 21 meeting minutes, a CHP Cannabis Tax Fund Grant for DUI enforcement (third year of the program), the quarterly investment report for the city's $536 million portfolio, TEFRA bond refinancing resolutions for Dublin Ranch Senior Apartments and Fairway Family Apartments, a $26 million payment issuance report, and an Alameda County emergency management participation agreement.
• Three new employees were introduced: Lt. Luis Martinez joins Dublin Police Services as the new investigations and administration lieutenant, bringing 17 years at the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. Born in Jalisco, Mexico, he became a U.S. citizen at 33 and entered the police academy at 34. Stephanie Holton was introduced as a new administrative technician in the City Clerk's office.
• PG&E transformer dispute: Tassajara Hills resident Philip Liu asked the Council to intervene in PG&E's plan to install a large above-ground transformer in front of his home, needed because neighbors expanded their solar systems. He argued the least-cost solution shouldn't become a permanent burden on an uninvolved homeowner and said PG&E indicated underground installation could be considered if the current plan is not approved. Mayor Hu directed staff to follow up.
• Bradford pear trees: Dublin High School student Sarah Chen presented a petition with over 100 signatures asking the city to officially remove Bradford pear trees from its planting palette, create a bounty program for resident removal, and prioritize removal from schools and parks. City Manager Tribby noted Dublin already avoids replanting them in practice and said she would follow up at the staff level.
• Alamo Creek Park: Resident Marty London urged maintenance improvements at the park, calling it a crucial gathering space for a diverse neighborhood. City Manager Tribby confirmed she visited the park personally and that Public Works Director Debbie Bell's team is committed to making changes.
• Mayor Hu noted Dublin was ranked the No. 1 best place to live in California by U.S. News & World Report.
• Meeting adjourned at 9:23 p.m.