City staff flags active‑transportation and EV readiness gains; commissioners press for charger metrics

City sustainability staff on Monday summarized 2025 accomplishments in transportation and buildings, prompting commissioners to ask for concrete counts and measurable benchmarks for the city’s next step toward its 2030 climate goals.

Antoinette, the city’s new sustainability coordinator, told the Climate Action Commission that two transportation accomplishments stood out in 2025: the adoption of an active transportation plan designed to expand bicycle and pedestrian networks, and attainment of a charging‑readiness designation for electric vehicles. "The two main accomplishments that really jump out are the adoption of the active transportation plan... and obtaining the charging smart silver designation," she said.

Commissioners pressed staff for numbers. One commissioner asked how many public fast chargers exist near the plaza; staff identified four fast chargers behind the Bank of America station and noted additional Tesla‑oriented chargers near the community center. Antoinette said the EV readiness program was primarily regulatory and aimed at easing the pathway to install chargers, not at directly installing hardware, and she committed to pulling permit and permitting‑system data to report counts.

In public comment, Howard Sapper — who identified himself as a Sonoma resident and leader at Pushpock Motors — described a private‑sector concept to scale from three‑wheel electric vehicles to 6–12 passenger vehicles and larger buses to serve tourists and residents. “We’re willing to be part of a solution if it makes sense for everybody,” he said, and urged the city to explore mixed public‑private financing models.

Other details raised during the presentation included ongoing county coordination on an EV charger assessment, a citywide bicycle/pedestrian grant identified at roughly $1.6 million, and a public works RFP to install electric bus chargers that had received seven proposals.

Quote: “We didn’t get any funding to help fund such a program for the EV stuff,” Antoinette said, urging commissioners to help staff identify and pursue grant opportunities and to focus on measurable outcomes.

What’s next: staff agreed to extract permit and AMI system data to provide clearer metrics on chargers, solar permits and water use; commissioners recommended creating an ad hoc or work plan item to keep those metrics visible to the public.