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Mr. Fialho said that there are other advocacy groups to which the City sometimes turns but that the League's focus in so inherently tied to what local government does that they do tend to be the primary source. He said the State Legislative Analyst issues what he believes to be a fairly objective analysis, which is available to the public through their website, on every piece of legislation. City staff often turns to this or other sources when there may be competing interests between the Ci:y and the League or when more analysis is required before validating the League's perspective. One benefit of the proposed subcommittee is that it would allow for this added layer of analysis early on in the review process. Mayor Thorne said he has made every effort to be clear that the letters he has issued were from him specifically and not the Council. He also noted that any member of the Council has the right to do the same, regardless of the stated position of the League or City of Pleasanton. Vice-Mayor Cook-Kallio acknowledged arid appreciated this but said it seems to have confused at least some elected officials on more than one occasion. She thought the subcommittee would be of great benefit in informing all Council members on the issues so that they may choose to take a position or not. Councilmember Brown asked and Mr. Fialho confirmed that staff makes every effort to copy other members of the Council on any letter prepared by staff and a member of the Council and that there may be times a letter is issued from the perspective of an individual Council member but not necessarily the City. Mr. Fialho noted that while the subcommittee process will largely resolve the need for the City's elected officials to express individual opinions, there will still be times where the rapid progress of a certain item through the legislative process will require that individual Council members of the Mayor take a position at the request of legislators or other entities. Vice-Mayor Cook-Kallio expressed a strong interest in serving on the subcommittee. Councilmember Pentin indicated his support for a subcommittee formation. Mr. Fialho clarified that staff is only requesting support for the concept and said that the actual formation and appointments would come back to the Council at a later date. Councilmembers Brown, Narum and Mayor Thorne also indicated their support. 19. Reviewed the Preliminary Schematic Design for the Master Planning of Lions Wayside and Delucchi Parks Assistant City Manager Yuan-Miu introduced the item and project team members. She presented a brief overview of the project's background, which began with the 2002 adoption 01'the Downtown Parks and Trail System Master Plan that was later incorporated into the Downtown Specific Plan. One of the key recommendations of the master plan was that the Firehouse Arts Center, Lions Wayside Park, Delucchi Park and the Downtown Regional Trail Corridor be developed as a single combined facility serving both the immediate neighborhood and the City as a whole. In 2008/09, the City retained consultant Richard Larson to develop two preliminary schematic options, now referred to as Options A and B. Both options are largely similar to one another with the primary difference being that Option A proposes to underground the large drainage swales bisecting the park. In 2011, the Parks and Recreation Commission identified the Master Planning of Lions Wayside and Delucchi Parks as one of its top three priorities and selected Option A as its pre'erred schematic. The Civic Arts subsequently reviewed the project and also selection Option A. In 2013 the City Council asked staff to revisit the master plan project. As part of that process, the project was again reviewed by the Parks and Recreation Commission at its May meeting and Option A was reaffirmed. City Council Minutes Page 7 of 13 July 16,2013