What San Juan Capistrano is about to decide
The council meets Tuesday for a 3:00 PM executive session and a 5:00 PM business session, both in the City Council Chamber at the Community Center, 25925 Camino Del Avion. These are pending decisions from the posted agenda — not outcomes. Every item links to the official record.
Source: regular meeting agenda · executive session agenda · Next meeting: Tuesday, October 6, 2026 — executive session 3:00 PM, business session 5:00 PM
✅ What actually passed (per the adopted minutes): The city’s draft minutes of the 5:00 PM business session — placed on the October 6 agenda for approval and since signed — record all five members present (Mayor Campbell, Mayor Pro Tem Taylor and Council Members Bourne, Farias and Hart) and every motion “carried unanimously.” The San Juan Hills Golf Club, LP landscape maintenance agreement for improvements in the public right-of-way along San Juan Creek Road was authorized on a motion by Taylor, seconded by Hart. The council adopted Resolution 26-09-15-01 amending the executive salary schedule for three executive classifications, authorized a professional services agreement with Jacob Green and Associates to recruit an Assistant City Manager, Development Services Director and Public Works Director, and approved an appropriation of $230,000 from the General Fund to fund those actions. It authorized a landscape maintenance agreement with Rancho Viejo Owner, LLC for the right-of-way next to the Swallow’s Creek Industrial Park development. Consent items E1 through E11 were approved as recommended by staff, including the declared vacancy on the Parks, Equestrian & Community Services Commission, the CivicPlus website agreement, and a revised meeting schedule that adds a council meeting on Wednesday, November 4, 2026 and reinstates the regular meeting of Tuesday, November 17, 2026. On the council-initiated item, the council directed staff “to commission a study of a potential ordinance for a native plant policy and program.” These minutes cover the business session only; they do not report on the executive session. Updated October 9, 2026: the signed minutes, marked “Approved: October 6, 2026” and signed by the City Clerk and Mayor Campbell, are now posted on the city’s portal; their text matches the draft.
The headline: the council goes behind closed doors on four litigation matters, including the Compass Energy Storage Project now before the California Energy Commission — the battery storage plant the city has been fighting at the state level. In public, the council takes up a landscape maintenance agreement with San Juan Hills Golf Club, LP covering right-of-way improvements along San Juan Creek Road, an amended executive salary schedule paired with a recruiting contract for executive staff, and a declared vacancy on the Parks, Equestrian & Community Services Commission. A council-initiated item asks the city to cut water use on city-owned property.
A note on this agenda: San Juan Capistrano posts a title-only agenda — each item links to a separate agenda report rather than printing a recommended action or a dollar figure on the agenda itself. Where this brief says the agenda gives no amount, that is why. Council Brief does not publish figures that are not in the source document.
🔒 Executive session, 3:00 PM
- Three anticipated-litigation matters. Under Government Code Section 54956.9(a) and (d)(2), the council will confer with legal counsel on anticipated litigation — significant exposure to litigation, 3 items. The agenda gives no further detail. Executive Session 4.a
- The Compass Energy Storage Project. Under Section 54956.9(a) and (d)(1), the council will confer with counsel on existing litigation “in the matter of California Energy Commission, Docket No. 24-OPT-02 [Compass Energy Storage Project].” Closed-session litigation matters are confidential by law; any reportable action is announced when the public session opens. Executive Session 4.b
🌿 Land, landscaping and the public right-of-way
- San Juan Hills Golf Club right-of-way agreement. The one administrative item is a landscape maintenance agreement between the city and San Juan Hills Golf Club, LP for construction and maintenance of improvements within the public right-of-way adjacent to San Juan Creek Road, Assessor Parcel Numbers 661-011-27 and 661-011-28, with a finding that the project is categorically exempt from CEQA under Section 15301, Class 1 (Existing Facilities). Item F.1.a
- Swallow’s Creek Industrial Park. On consent, a landscape maintenance agreement between the city and Rancho Viejo Owner LLC for maintenance of right-of-way improvements adjacent to the Swallow’s Creek Industrial Park development at 30700 Rancho Viejo Road, also found categorically exempt under CEQA Section 15301, Class 1. Consent Item 12
💼 Pay, hiring and a commission seat
- Executive salary schedule and a recruiter. A single consent item covers a “Proposed Amended Executive Salary Schedule, Professional Services Agreement with Jacob Green and Associates for Executive Staff Recruitments, and Appropriation of Funds.” The agenda does not print the revised salary ranges, the contract amount, or the size of the appropriation. Consent Item 13
- A commission vacancy declared on the Parks, Equestrian & Community Services Commission. The agenda does not name the departing commissioner or state the reason. Consent Item 10
- Website hosting. A Software as a Service agreement with CivicPlus, LLC for hosting and support of the city’s website. No amount or term is printed on the agenda. Consent Item 8
💧 Council-initiated: water on city property
- “Reducing Inputs and Saving Water on City Owned Property.” Council action items are prepared by council members, and the agenda notes that under City Council Policy 002 city staff does not provide a recommendation on them. No sponsor is named on the agenda face. Item H.1
🪑 Also on the agenda
- Money reports on consent: check registers for July 10–23, 2026; the cash and investments report for the month ended June 30, 2026; and continued appropriations for budgeted activities in process as of June 30, 2026. Consent Items 4, 5, 7
- Successor Agency: minutes of the August 18 regular meeting, a check register for June 26 through July 23, 2026, and the cash and investments report for the month ended June 30, 2026. Successor Agency B1–B3
- A new development application status report; a revision to the 2026 City Council meeting schedule; and temporary street closures for the city’s annual Christmas tree lighting celebration. Consent Items 6, 9, 11
- A proclamation designating September 17–23, 2026 as Constitution Week, and introduction of commissioners present. No public hearings are scheduled. Items B.1, B.2, D
- Council roster as printed on the agenda: Mayor John Campbell, Mayor Pro Tem John Taylor, and Council Members Troy A. Bourne, Sergio Farias and Howard Hart. Roll call
Council Brief summaries are produced from official public records by our automated newsroom and reviewed before publication. Items are described as posted; the council may amend, continue, or remove items at the meeting. Spot an error? hello@councilbrief.com — we publish corrections.
Get the weekly brief for your city — free
One email a week: what San Juan Capistrano is about to decide, before the vote. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.