Daly City · issues
Civic issues
Topics getting the most attention in Daly City public meetings, ranked by how frequently they come up.
Calls for accountability from censured Council Member DiGiovanni
Nearly a year after being censured, Councilmember DiGiovanni still hasn't completed required training or apologized, and new staff complaints keep coming in. The council voted 4-1 to formally declare her noncompliant, keeping her committee assignments and privileges suspended. Residents packed chambers on both sides of the issue.
Domestic Violence Awareness speaker series event
The commission is planning a free evening event with survivor speakers, support-organization panels (CORA, Alice, possibly Shalom Bayit), and legal/prevention updates from the DA and police. Open questions include venue, security, trauma-informed design, childcare, and language interpretation.
Council Censure Accountability
During public comment, Recreation Commissioner Fernando Montanes pressed the council to refer the censure of Councilmember DiGiovanni to the District Attorney and Fair Political Practices Commission, arguing six months is too long to wait given the roughly $100,000 spent on investigations.
Axon Unmanned Aerial Systems agreement for Police Department
The council approved ~$73,000 for indoor drones that let officers visually clear buildings before entering, responding to privacy and ICE data-sharing concerns raised in resident letters.
Automated license plate readers
Police will pilot 99 new Axon license plate reader cameras at no cost, on top of 88 existing cameras that have helped in 400+ cases over two years. The chief confirmed no data is shared with federal agencies or ICE under California's Values Act. The deal saves an estimated $4 million over nine years.
City Vacancies, Police Hiring and Retention (AB 2561)
New state law forces cities to publicly report vacancies. Daly City's overall vacancy rate is low (~3%), but police officer openings and three bargaining units exceed 20% total vacancies, and training a new officer takes a year to 18 months.