[0:01] >> Good morning,

[0:03] everyone. I would like

[0:04] to call this meeting

[0:05] to order and acknowledge the

[0:06] High Desert and Joshua Tree

[0:07] video conferencing sites,

[0:08] and thank you all

[0:09] for joining us.

[0:10] Before we begin, if there are

[0:11] any property owners wishing

[0:12] to file written protests

[0:14] on item number 102, please see

[0:15] the special district staff

[0:16] available in the rotunda

[0:18] behind us out, out here.

[0:19] Additionally, if anyone is here

[0:21] regarding items number 3,

[0:22] 103, and 104, we also have

[0:24] staff in the rotunda as well

[0:25] to assist

[0:27] with any questions that you

[0:28] may have related

[0:30] to delinquent water, sewer,

[0:31] or solid waste charges. This

[0:32] morning, our pledge and

[0:34] invocation will be led

[0:35] by the 5th District.

[0:36] >> Thank you, Madam Chair.

[0:38] Good morning, everybody. Have

[0:39] the pleasure,

[0:40] pleasure and honor

[0:41] of introducing Bishop August

[0:43] L. Smith Jr., and he's here

[0:44] with his lovely wife and

[0:46] daughter. Want to welcome you

[0:47] to our chambers. Thank you

[0:49] for being here. He's from the

[0:50] True Light Community

[0:51] Fellowship in San Bernardino,

[0:52] is a very passionate spiritual

[0:53] leader, pastor,

[0:54] and community servant with

[0:56] over a decade

[0:57] of ministry experience. And I

[0:58] personally have had the

[1:00] opportunity to visit his,

[1:01] his church many, many times.

[1:02] He began pastoring in

[1:04] Compton, California in 2013 and

[1:06] now serves as a senior pastor

[1:07] in a growing congregation

[1:09] in the city of San

[1:10] Bernardino. He was consecrated

[1:11] as a bishop in 2020. He also

[1:13] holds the honorary doctorate

[1:15] degree in theology, from the

[1:17] Next Dimension University.

[1:18] In addition to ministry,

[1:20] Bishop Smith is a licensed

[1:22] vocational nurse, chaplain

[1:23] for San Bernardino Police

[1:25] Department, and vice president

[1:26] and general board member

[1:28] of the Neighborhood

[1:29] Association of Council

[1:30] for the city of San

[1:32] Bernardino, which is a

[1:33] volunteer group for

[1:34] Neighborhood Watch. He resides

[1:35] in San Bernardino

[1:36] with his wife Lady Jessica

[1:38] Smith. Welcome. And their

[1:39] daughter Autumn Smith, who's

[1:41] here. And he remains committed

[1:42] to serving and uplifting his

[1:43] community through faith,

[1:45] leadership, and compassion.

[1:46] Please lead us in prayer, Mr.

[1:47] Smith.

[1:56] >> Let us pray. Gracious

[1:58] Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank

[1:59] you for this day. We thank you

[2:01] for waking us up this morning

[2:03] in our right minds and starting

[2:04] us on our way. Lord, we thank

[2:06] you for each and every person

[2:07] that's assembled here

[2:08] for this meeting. Lord, it's

[2:10] in the mighty name of Jesus

[2:11] that we pray for the county

[2:12] of San Bernardino and every

[2:14] city within it. Lord, we ask

[2:16] that you watch

[2:17] over our elected officials.

[2:18] Your word says that we should

[2:20] pray for those in rule

[2:22] over us. So we pray

[2:23] for our supervisors. We pray

[2:25] for the county members and

[2:26] everybody that serves this

[2:28] illustrious area. Lord, we ask

[2:29] that in this meeting that you

[2:31] would go forward,

[2:32] that you would touch our minds,

[2:34] touch our ears, touch our

[2:35] hearts, and allow us to receive

[2:37] what it is that you would have

[2:38] to help us be

[2:40] about a better county. It's

[2:42] in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

[2:44] And now the Pledge of

[2:48] Allegiance. Ready? Begin.

[2:49] >> I pledge allegiance

[2:51] to the flag of the United

[2:52] States of America and

[2:54] to the republic

[2:55] for which it stands,

[2:57] one nation under God,

[2:58] indivisible,

[3:00] with liberty and justice

[3:01] for all.

[3:03] >> Thank you very much,

[3:10] Bishop. We will now move on

[3:11] to our memorial adjournments.

[3:12] Vice Chair?

[3:13] >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I do

[3:14] have one today. I'd like

[3:16] to take the opportunity

[3:17] to adjourn in memory of Miss

[3:19] Judy Coombs of Rialto. She was

[3:20] 82 years of age,

[3:22] and I had the personal honor

[3:24] of knowing Miss Coombs. We

[3:26] served together on the

[3:27] Probation Youth

[3:29] Accountability Board for 12

[3:30] years in the city of Rialto.

[3:32] She was just a wonderful woman.

[3:33] They're having her services now

[3:34] as we speak, so just want

[3:36] to make sure we adjourn

[3:37] in memory of Miss Judy

[3:38] Coombs, 82, of Rialto. Thank

[3:40] you, Madam Chair.

[3:41] >> Thank you very much.

[3:42] Supervisor Cook. Supervisor

[3:44] Armendarez.

[3:45] >> Yes, I have two. First, I

[3:47] would like to, adjourn

[3:51] in memory of a friend.

[3:53] Sergeant Daniel Garcia's father

[3:55] passed away. He's a Fontana he

[3:57] was assigned to Fontana

[4:00] Sheriff's Station. He was 97

[4:02] years old. He was a veteran.

[4:05] He served as a corporal

[4:06] in the United States Army,

[4:08] fought in the Korean War. He

[4:10] was one of the 25th Infantry

[4:12] Division, 4th Infantry

[4:13] Regiment. He was survived

[4:16] by his 2 sons, his daughter,

[4:17] and his wife and 4

[4:20] grandchildren. Our hearts go

[4:22] out to the family. And the

[4:24] other one is Al Castro-Leon,

[4:26] originally from Redlands. He

[4:28] passed away lived in Yucaipa

[4:30] when he passed away. Al was 79

[4:32] years old. This one was

[4:34] important to me. And thank you,

[4:35] Chair, for allowing me

[4:37] to do this one because Al, was

[4:39] one of the first people who

[4:41] trained me. I got my skills as

[4:43] a diesel mechanic

[4:45] under his watch,

[4:46] and he happens to be my

[4:49] sister's father-in-law,

[4:54] because who would have known,

[4:56] 30 years later that everything

[4:58] would come fruition and his son

[5:00] would marry my sister. So, he

[5:01] was a great man. he was

[5:06] employed by Dalton Trucking

[5:09] for 37 years, Pepsi for 11

[5:11] years. He was a vet from the

[5:13] U.S. Navy. He's survived

[5:15] by his son, his daughter,

[5:17] his wife of 57 years, and his

[5:21] 3 grandchildren. So I just want

[5:24] to say my heart goes out to

[5:26] them and the family and that's

[5:27] all.

[5:28] >> Thank you. Supervisor

[5:29] Hagman.

[5:31] >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I

[5:32] have 2 today as well. First is

[5:35] for, like, to adjourn to

[5:36] Charles Nichols. Charles

[5:38] Nichols life was defined

[5:39] by hard work, vision, devotion

[5:40] to family,

[5:42] and enduring passion

[5:43] for aviation. He was born May

[5:45] 2nd, 1936, and passed

[5:46] peacefully on May 4th, 2026.

[5:48] He lived a full and meaningful

[5:51] 90 years, leaving behind a

[5:52] legacy that will continue

[5:54] for generations. Along

[5:56] with his wife Judy, he co-owned

[5:57] and operated Nichols Lumber

[5:58] in Baldwin Park

[6:00] for half a century. His work

[6:01] ethic was shown,

[6:02] but up every day,

[6:03] worked hard and take pride

[6:05] in what you built.

[6:06] Beyond businesses, his greatest

[6:07] passion was aviation. As the

[6:09] founder of Yanks Air Museum

[6:11] at Chino Airport, one of the

[6:13] largest aircraft collections

[6:14] in the world,

[6:16] he devoted countless hours

[6:17] to preserving the history

[6:19] of aircraft

[6:20] through collecting, restoring,

[6:21] and sharing these incredible

[6:22] machines

[6:23] for future generations. He

[6:24] began a museum collection in

[6:26] 1973 and spent 40 years

[6:27] traveling the world in order

[6:29] to find rare American airplanes

[6:30] and parts. Because of his hard

[6:33] work and dedication, the Aix

[6:34] Museum is now home to over 200

[6:36] aircraft, many which are

[6:37] extreme extremely rare and the

[6:39] only one remaining species of

[6:41] their kind. he and his beloved

[6:43] wife Judith Nichols built a

[6:45] beautiful home and life

[6:46] centered around the work, love,

[6:48] and commitment. He was preceded

[6:49] in death

[6:50] by his wife and his son Brett

[6:52] Nichols, survived

[6:53] by his daughters Christine and

[6:54] Valerie, 8 grandchildren, as

[6:55] well as many beloved

[6:57] great-grandchildren who would

[6:58] carry on his memory forward.

[7:00] And secondly, I'd like

[7:02] to adjourn to Lieutenant Jim

[7:03] Michael's memory. He was just

[7:05] 5 months in his retirement

[7:06] after 28 years

[7:08] of dedicated service to

[7:09] Montclair Police Department

[7:10] when he passed away in 1993.

[7:12] Enlisted in the United States

[7:13] Army where he served 3 years in

[7:15] a light infantry air assault

[7:17] unit assigned to the 25th

[7:18] Infantry Division, out of

[7:19] Hawaii. He deployed to Japan,

[7:21] and Haiti as well. Lieutenant

[7:24] Michael was honorably

[7:26] discharged in 1996. He attended

[7:29] the San Bernardino County

[7:31] Sheriff's Academy in '97.

[7:33] Lieutenant Jim Michael began

[7:34] his career with the Montclair

[7:36] Police Department in December

[7:38] 1997. Lieutenant Michael worked

[7:39] in uniform patrol,

[7:40] he was a field training

[7:42] officer, DRE, a member of the

[7:43] POP team and a narcotics

[7:44] investigator. Lieutenant

[7:47] Michael held 4-year assignments

[7:48] as a detective where he worked

[7:50] fraud, property crimes,

[7:51] and crimes against person. On

[7:53] August 13th, Lieutenant

[7:55] Michael supported the sergeant,

[7:56] survived supervised patrol,

[7:58] major accident investigation

[8:00] team,

[8:01] and field training program.

[8:02] November 2018, he was promoted

[8:04] to lieutenant. As a field

[8:05] service lieutenant, he managed

[8:07] patrol operation dispatch

[8:08] Mobile Field Force, the Field

[8:10] Training Program, Specialized

[8:11] Enforcement Team, the Major

[8:13] Accident Investigation Team,

[8:14] volunteers, the Explorer

[8:16] Program, Recruitment, and

[8:17] Community Relations. As

[8:19] Supportive Services

[8:21] Lieutenant, he served as the

[8:23] department's POST coordinator

[8:24] and managed the Detective

[8:26] Bureau, Tech Services,

[8:27] Evidence and Records Bureau.

[8:28] And with that, I'd like to

[8:29] adjourn memory both those

[8:31] names, Madam Chair.

[8:32] >> Thank you,

[8:33] thank you very much. This

[8:34] morning, I would like

[8:35] to adjourn in memory of two

[8:36] Big Bear residents who lost

[8:37] their lives

[8:38] in a tragic automobile accident

[8:40] Kathy Greenwood was 85

[8:41] at the time of her passing,

[8:43] and Sandra Sense was 64. Both

[8:45] women were incredibly involved

[8:46] in their community and

[8:47] volunteered for the local

[8:48] Meals on Wheels program.

[8:49] Kathy's daughter was also

[8:50] in a vehicle with them

[8:51] at the time

[8:52] of the accident and currently

[8:53] is in critical condition. I'd

[8:55] like to ask everybody

[8:56] to keep their families

[8:57] in their prayers

[8:58] at this difficult time. Thank

[9:00] you. And this morning we have

[9:02] one special presentation. If

[9:03] everyone will join me

[9:26] in the well, please. Could I

[9:27] have Stephen Lee Castillo join

[9:28] us up here, please?

[9:40] >> Good morning and

[9:42] congratulations. We would like

[9:45] to present this certificate

[9:48] of resolution in honor of

[9:50] Stephen Lee Castillo, who is

[9:51] retiring after 30 years

[9:52] with the county. Stephen began

[9:54] his career as a fiscal clerk

[9:56] and has since advanced across

[9:58] 11 departments He is concluding

[10:00] his career with County Fire,

[10:01] where he serves as a finance

[10:03] officer. Steven is a lifelong

[10:05] resident of the county and has

[10:06] committed numerous years

[10:07] to youth sports with the

[10:09] Grand Terrace Community

[10:10] Soccer Club and the Grand

[10:12] Terrace Little League. We thank

[10:13] you for your dedication to the

[10:14] county and happy retirement.

[10:42] >> Thank you. I just would

[10:44] like to say thank you. I

[10:45] completely appreciate the

[10:47] opportunity to have a career.

[10:49] I now intend

[10:51] to spend more time

[10:53] with friends and family,

[10:54] and thank you all.

[12:16] >> Actually, Stephen's been a

[12:18] very valued member

[12:19] of our team and has done so

[12:21] much for us to get us

[12:23] on the right fiscal track. And

[12:24] a little surprised I mean,

[12:25] kind of hinted over it,

[12:26] and I kept telling him 30 more

[12:27] years, but he didn't want

[12:29] to listen.

[12:30] But it's a great day

[12:31] for your family,

[12:32] and we're really proud

[12:33] of you, and thank you for

[12:34] supporting us the way you have.

[12:56] >> Congratulations.

[12:57] >> Thank you again.

[13:35] >> We will now move on

[13:36] to our reports from our CEO

[13:37] County Council. Laura.

[13:40] >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I

[13:41] have nothing to report.

[13:42] >> Alright, due to the length

[13:43] of our meeting today,

[13:44] it will be exceptionally long.

[13:45] We're going

[13:46] to move our comments,

[13:47] our board member comments,

[13:48] and our CEO comments

[13:50] to the very end

[13:51] of today's agenda. And

[13:52] with that, Danette, do we have

[13:53] any changes or additions

[13:55] to the agenda today? We do.

[13:57] on item 99, recommendation 2A

[13:59] has been revised to approve the

[14:01] application and preliminary

[14:03] environmental description form,

[14:05] including the non-standard

[14:07] indemnification provision

[14:08] related to Local Agency

[14:10] Formation Commission proposal

[14:13] LAFCO 3279. Recommendation,

[14:15] recommendation 2B has been

[14:17] revised to delegate authority

[14:20] to the fire chief, fire warden,

[14:21] or the deputy chief to sign and

[14:23] certify the application and

[14:24] preliminary environmental

[14:26] description form and any other

[14:28] documents, which includes a

[14:29] nonstandard provisions related

[14:32] to Local Agency Formation

[14:33] Commission proposal, LAFCO

[14:35] 3279, subject to review

[14:38] by county council. And

[14:40] recommendation 2C was revised

[14:42] to direct the fire chief,

[14:44] fire warden to transmit the

[14:46] application and preliminary

[14:47] environmental description form

[14:49] and any documents

[14:50] under recommendation to be

[14:51] to the Secretary of the Board

[14:53] of Directors within 30 days

[14:55] of execution. Those are all the

[14:56] changes that I have today.

[14:58] Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank

[14:59] you very much. if any board

[15:01] member has any conflict

[15:02] of interest to disclose,

[15:03] now would be the time

[15:05] to do so. All right, seeing

[15:07] none, we'll move on

[15:09] to our consent calendar,

[15:10] which today consists

[15:11] of items number 2 through 100.

[15:12] Do we have any board members

[15:13] wishing to pull an item

[15:15] for discussion? All right,

[15:17] we have 2 requests to speak

[15:19] this morning. first up is

[15:20] Garth Peasant, followed by

[15:34] Carlo. Do we have Garth

[15:36] in chambers? Oh, thank you.

[15:46] Good morning, sir. Now we can.

[15:55] >> Good morning. It's good

[15:56] to be before the honorable

[15:57] Board of Supervisors. Item

[15:59] 50, probation,

[16:01] authorize the purchase

[16:03] of prepaid negotiables for from

[16:06] various transportation retail

[16:08] and food vendors for use

[16:10] by adult and juvenile offenders

[16:13] to assist with basic

[16:15] necessities and support

[16:16] adherence to program plans

[16:19] in an aggregate amount not

[16:23] to exceed $280,000

[16:25] for the period of July 1st,

[16:29] 2026 through June 30th, 2027.

[16:33] Presenter Tracy Reese. I take

[16:35] my hat off to you.

[16:39] >> Thank you very much. Our

[16:41] next request is from Carlo.

[16:42] Good morning, sir.

[16:46] >> Good morning. The ankle's

[16:47] getting better,

[16:50] some things you do,

[16:51] serving your country,

[16:52] and you're like, all right,

[16:54] I got to fix this later.

[16:57] But anyways, I want

[16:59] to say thank you

[17:00] to the board first and foremost

[17:02] for allowing me

[17:03] to speak and some

[17:04] of the mothers and fathers

[17:05] to speak as well in regards

[17:06] to CFS. as we look

[17:07] at these agenda items,

[17:09] and especially with 29 and

[17:10] 20, 30, we just don't know. We

[17:13] haven't had clear evidence that

[17:17] these false allegations and

[17:19] everything supporting the

[17:23] system has stopped. We're

[17:24] talking about $8 million today.

[17:26] Last week we were here for

[17:27] $147 million. And et cetera.

[17:29] But as these Latinos and Black

[17:30] families are going

[17:31] through these services

[17:33] for child abuse, mind you,

[17:34] child abuse, right? Let's think

[17:37] about that a little bit. What

[17:39] are group homes? They're filled

[17:42] with child abuse. The state,

[17:44] the county has pulled these

[17:45] kids out of their homes and you

[17:48] can't provide proof that

[17:50] they're based on false

[17:52] allegations and they're sitting

[17:53] in, wallowing in child abuse.

[17:55] Victorville, foster homes,

[17:57] torture, starvation,

[17:58] child abuse. People

[18:02] in suits who come

[18:04] to your home, take your kids,

[18:06] who falsify allegations

[18:07] on paper, put them

[18:10] in worse situations, but yet

[18:12] in court,

[18:16] you're abusing the families.

[18:19] This is family abuse.

[18:21] Emotional abuse, trauma,

[18:22] cycles of this. And we are

[18:25] targeting Latinos, Blacks, and

[18:28] poor whites. Now I am starting

[18:31] to see other races as Asians

[18:33] and whatnot. But I always ask

[18:35] these families when we are

[18:36] looking at these cases,

[18:39] because I want to give it a

[18:41] Maria test, right? The white

[18:42] Maria test. If you can grow up

[18:43] your kids, spray them

[18:44] in the face with oven cleaner

[18:45] and attack them for the Bible

[18:46] and not lose one day

[18:47] of custody, That should be the

[18:48] standard here in San

[18:50] Bernardino because the Equal

[18:51] Protection Clause says such.

[18:53] You cannot treat one person,

[18:54] her status, economic, standing,

[18:55] and class

[18:57] in the society and treat

[18:59] Black, brown, and Latina women

[19:01] different and then say, hey,

[19:07] guess what, we have all these

[19:08] kids that we need services

[19:10] because they were abused.

[19:14] Bam. What is really going

[19:15] on here? It just smells to me

[19:16] like a bunch of fraud.

[19:17] Seriously, we've had history

[19:19] and reports in other states of

[19:20] social workers and county

[19:22] council attorneys being

[19:24] arrested and charged

[19:27] for this. I'm telling you,

[19:28] it's going on now. It is going

[19:33] on now in San Bernardino, and

[19:35] all

[19:36] of us who are taxpayers pay

[19:37] for this. We are paying

[19:40] for this, and we'll pay

[19:41] for this because God is

[19:43] watching all of us. Silence is

[19:44] complicity. Thank you,

[19:46] and have a great morning.

[19:49] >> Thank you very much. That is

[19:50] last request to speak. Thank

[19:52] you for the motion, Supervisor

[19:54] Hagman, and the second, Vice

[19:55] Chair Baca. All those

[19:57] in favor?

[19:58] >> Aye.

[19:59] >> Any opposed? Any

[20:00] abstentions?

[20:01] >> With that, the consent

[20:02] calendar passes unanimously.

[20:03] >> Thank you very much. We will

[20:05] now move on

[20:07] to our discussion calendar,

[20:08] starting

[20:09] with agenda item number 101,

[20:10] which is a public hearing and

[20:11] ordinance related to the

[20:12] Option and Amendment of the

[20:13] 2025 edition of the

[20:14] California Fire Code being

[20:16] presented this morning by

[20:17] Chief Muncy. I will open the

[20:18] public hearing while he makes

[20:19] his way down to join us. Good

[20:21] morning, Chief.

[20:42] >> Good morning. I'm going

[20:43] to be sitting here, but our

[20:44] Fire Marshal Monica Ronchetti

[20:45] will do the presentation.

[20:49] >> Good morning. Good morning.

[20:51] These microphones right

[20:52] in front of you are hard

[20:53] to hear. If you can pull it

[20:54] close to you,

[20:55] that would be fantastic. Is

[20:56] that better?

[20:58] >> Much better. All right.

[21:00] Good morning, Madam Chair,

[21:01] Board of Supervisors. The San

[21:02] Bernardino County Fire

[21:03] Protection District ordinance

[21:04] related

[21:05] to the adoption and amendment

[21:07] of the 2025 edition of the

[21:08] California Fire Code. The

[21:09] California Fire Code contains

[21:18] regulations consistent

[21:21] with practices for safeguarding

[21:24] life and property

[21:25] from hazards,

[21:26] including the hazards

[21:28] of fire and explosion and use

[21:29] of hazardous materials. The

[21:30] California Fire Code is updated

[21:32] by the state every 3 years.

[21:34] The last update was the 2025

[21:36] edition of the California

[21:38] Fire Code. Pursuant to

[21:39] California Health and Safety

[21:41] Code Section 13869 and

[21:43] Government Code Section

[21:45] 50022, the San Bernardino

[21:47] County Fire Protection

[21:50] District may adopt

[21:51] by reference the 2025 edition

[21:53] of the California Fire Code and

[21:54] amend as necessary based

[21:56] on certain findings. The

[21:58] proposed ordinance will repeal

[22:01] Ordinance FPD 23-01 and adopt

[22:04] the provisions of the 2025

[22:09] edition of the California

[22:11] Fire Code, along with certain

[22:12] changes that are reasonably

[22:14] necessary. Include existing

[22:15] local amendments carried over

[22:18] from the previous adoption and

[22:20] amend the 2025 edition of the

[22:22] California Fire Code and the

[22:24] edition 2025 edition of the

[22:26] California Wildland Urban

[22:28] Interface Code as appropriate.

[22:35] Some of the significant changes

[22:37] deleted Section 3 through 26

[22:40] and Section 28 through 34 of

[22:41] the previous ordinance as they

[22:44] have been included in Chapters

[22:49] 1, 3, 5, 50, 57, and 58.

[22:51] Adopted Chapter 1 of

[22:53] California Fire Code. Adopted

[22:55] California Wildland Urban

[22:57] Interface Code by reference.

[22:59] Increased idle pallet storage

[23:01] height to 20 feet in height

[23:03] to match the California Fire

[23:05] Code. Amended requirements for

[23:07] mechanically operated security

[23:09] gates to require exit loops be

[23:10] installed at a fire access gate

[23:11] and required an infrared

[23:13] automatic gate system for all

[23:14] new and existing electrically

[23:16] operated gates. Adopted

[23:18] Appendix P to provide codes

[23:22] for temporary haunted houses,

[23:27] ghost walks and similar

[23:28] amusement uses,

[23:31] increased penalties

[23:32] for transportation and storage

[23:33] of dangerous fireworks from

[23:37] $1,250 to a maximum penalty

[23:39] of $15,000. Any questions? We

[23:46] have any questions?

[23:49] >> Nope. No.

[23:53] >> Very good. I will close the

[23:54] public hearing. I do not

[23:56] believe I have any requests

[23:57] to speak

[23:58] on this item. I have a motion

[23:59] from Supervisor Hagman and a

[24:00] second from Vice Chair Baca.

[24:02] All those in favor?

[24:03] >> Aye.

[24:04] >> Any opposed? Any

[24:05] abstentions?

[24:06] >> With that, Item 101 passes

[24:08] unanimously.

[24:09] >> Thank you very much. Item

[24:11] number 102 is a public hearing

[24:12] on proposed adjustment to

[24:16] property-related service

[24:18] charges for Community Service

[24:20] Area 70, Zone R-15, which is

[24:22] in Landers, being presented

[24:23] this morning by Noel Castillo.

[24:25] Before I open the public

[24:26] hearing, are there any property

[24:28] owners or persons registered

[24:29] to vote in the county service

[24:31] area who wish

[24:33] to file a written protest? If

[24:34] so, they must be filed

[24:35] with the clerk now. All right,

[24:39] I will open the public hearing.

[24:40] Good morning, Noel.

[24:42] >> Good morning. Good morning,

[24:43] Chair, board members. I'm here

[24:44] to give a brief overview

[24:46] of the proposed adjustments to

[24:47] the property-related service

[24:49] charge for CSA 70. Zone R-15.

[24:51] Next slide. In 1984, property

[24:55] owners requested the formation

[24:57] of this road zone to support

[24:58] maintenance and grading of, of,

[25:00] for about 164 miles

[25:02] of dirt roads in the Landers

[25:03] area. The annual parcel charge

[25:06] set at $20 has never been

[25:08] adjusted since its adoption.

[25:10] Next slide. A recent 2025

[25:15] departmental review found that

[25:17] this fixed fee no longer covers

[25:19] the cost of main maintaining

[25:20] the dirt roads. As a result,

[25:22] routine grading has been

[25:23] suspended due to lack

[25:24] of adequate funding. The

[25:26] proposed changes are solely to

[25:27] support operations maintenance,

[25:28] not capital projects. Next

[25:30] slide.

[25:35] To address this shortfall,

[25:36] we propose to update the annual

[25:38] per parcel charge from $20 to

[25:39] $75. Included with this

[25:41] adjustment is an annual

[25:43] inflationary adjustment of up

[25:45] to 3%. There is no allocation

[25:46] for loans or capital

[25:50] improvements. This is strictly

[25:51] about sustaining day-to-day

[25:53] maintenance activities. This

[25:55] adjustment is designed to

[25:56] restore sustainable maintenance

[25:58] levels and ensure continued

[26:00] service for the community. The

[26:01] road district is within the

[26:03] Landers area,

[26:04] as you can see here. Next

[26:06] slide. As required by

[26:12] Proposition 218, process. If a

[26:14] majority protest is received,

[26:16] the adjustment cannot proceed

[26:17] and the zone will be

[26:21] dissolution, shifting road

[26:23] maintenance responsibility

[26:25] to the property owners. If the

[26:27] majority protest is received,

[26:29] the board may authorize a,

[26:31] a if no majority protest is

[26:32] received, the board may

[26:34] authorize a mail ballot

[26:36] election with the earliest

[26:37] possible date being July 3rd,

[26:38] 2026. An independent provider

[26:40] would conduct the election. A

[26:41] majority yes vote from the

[26:42] property owners would be

[26:43] required

[26:45] for the would be required

[26:46] for the new rate

[26:47] to take effect. We recognize

[26:48] the road maintenance affects

[26:50] daily access, safety,

[26:51] and quality of life

[26:52] for residents in this area.

[26:53] Your participation today,

[26:54] whether through questions,

[26:56] comments, or formal protests,

[26:57] is vital part

[26:59] of this process. Next slide.

[27:03] And this concludes my

[27:04] presentation.

[27:05] >> Thank you very much. We have

[27:06] a number of public speakers.

[27:08] We're going to start here in

[27:09] San Bernardino, and then we're

[27:10] going to go out to our Joshua

[27:12] Tree conferencing site. First

[27:13] up here is Ray Pessa, followed

[27:15] by Mike Hawkins. Sir, the our

[27:29] podiums

[27:30] for public comment are up

[27:34] in the okay, two. Good morning,

[27:36] Ray. Our public commenters will

[27:45] have 3 minutes. When it reaches

[27:47] the 30-second warning, the

[27:48] light will flash yellow and

[27:49] then red at the end

[27:52] of the time. Thank you very

[27:57] much.

[28:01] >> Okay, thank you for hearing

[28:04] me. And my concerns

[28:07] about the increase in, in cost

[28:09] to the special districts

[28:12] for road maintenance, pretty

[28:14] made clear the last time we

[28:16] were up here. And, so I just

[28:19] thought I'd use my 3 minutes

[28:20] to bring a little more

[28:23] to your attention. The little

[28:24] map that I handed

[28:26] out is pretty old, kind of

[28:28] like my memory,

[28:29] but if you look at Section

[28:31] 13, that's the section that I

[28:33] referred to when I talked

[28:34] about the, letter from Tim

[28:36] Millington to get the, tractor

[28:39] to stop grading the two roads,

[28:41] Wright Road and Touchstone,

[28:44] because they were being

[28:47] destroyed, cutting the,

[28:48] the hard crust off the top.

[28:52] And, he agreed as long as it

[28:53] preferred or agreed

[28:56] to continue paying the, the

[28:58] $20, which was nothing, but

[29:00] it's a little bit different

[29:02] now. I mean,

[29:04] I know this is not a lot

[29:05] of money, but everybody

[29:07] in that Section 13 that I have

[29:08] circled there, signed it.

[29:10] Well, I shouldn't say

[29:11] everybody. They signed that

[29:12] petition,

[29:14] to make that happen. And, I

[29:16] would propose

[29:20] to special districts, that

[29:23] Section 13 and the one

[29:25] to the left To the left, 18,

[29:26] which is

[29:28] in a different township, 18 is

[29:30] completely barren. There's

[29:32] nothing on it. There's no taxes

[29:36] to be received there. And 13,

[29:41] as I said last time we were

[29:45] here, hasn't received,

[29:48] any road maintenance since,

[29:54] 2007, I think it was 7. And

[29:58] the, the property owners

[29:59] themselves maintain the roads

[30:00] as agreed to with Tim

[30:02] Millington. And on the left,

[30:06] Section 14, is another section,

[30:11] and there are property owners

[30:12] out there, and it probably

[30:15] wouldn't take much me for me

[30:16] to petition them and to, agree

[30:21] with, my idea. And what I

[30:24] propose is to have special

[30:26] district draw a line

[30:27] across the bottom of those 3

[30:29] sections, on which

[30:31] on this map it says, Ritchie

[30:33] Road, but it's not Ritchie

[30:35] Road, it's Bodick, Bodick Road

[30:37] and remove those 3 sections

[30:39] from the special district,

[30:43] Zone 70 R-15. so that would be,

[30:48] that would be my challenge,

[30:50] whether or not, the, increase

[30:54] of, of funds for,

[30:55] the road maintenance go

[30:58] through is to get those 3

[30:59] sections removed. None of them

[31:01] are receiving road maintenance

[31:02] at this time.

[31:04] >> Thank you,

[31:09] sir. the next request

[31:10] to speak is Mike Hawkins, and

[31:12] then we're going to go out to

[31:13] Joshua Tree. And as Mike is

[31:14] waking making his way to the

[31:16] podium speakers will have

[31:18] Jennifer Cusack out there,

[31:20] followed by Christine Hudson.

[31:22] Good morning.

[31:24] >> Morning, board. I'm Mike

[31:26] Hopkins. I live in Yucca

[31:28] Valley, California, and I'm

[31:29] against the proposed increase,

[31:31] and I oppose putting it

[31:33] on the ballot. 40 years ago,

[31:34] myself and another property

[31:36] owner in what became the

[31:38] northernmost portion of Road

[31:39] District 15 attended meetings

[31:42] to consider its formation. I

[31:45] conveyed them that we were not

[31:46] interested

[31:47] in anyone grading our roads,

[31:49] the roads in our area, Section

[31:51] 13, as was mentioned by Ray,

[31:55] Section 13, Township 3 North,

[31:57] Range 5 East of San

[32:00] Bernardino Meridian. We were

[32:01] included nonetheless. Many

[32:03] property owners in our area are

[32:04] the same families who acquired

[32:06] their places through the

[32:07] Small Tract Act in the '50s.

[32:10] It was they who built our

[32:11] roads. It was we who have

[32:13] maintained them better than 70

[32:14] years, not the government,

[32:16] not the taxpayer. They are not

[32:18] county roads, they are ours.

[32:20] 19 years ago, we had

[32:24] to petition the district

[32:25] to stop work

[32:26] in our area because

[32:27] of problems it was causing.

[32:29] Grading has scraped

[32:30] off many tons of decomposed

[32:31] granite that was laid down

[32:33] in the '50s. To fortify a

[32:34] quarter-mile stretch of

[32:36] Wright Boulevard, leaving it so

[32:37] sandy that property owners on

[32:39] Robbenness and Ordway, Ordway

[32:41] began allowing the handful

[32:42] of neighbors

[32:44] to the north access

[32:46] through their properties. Berm

[32:48] work on both McKiska and

[32:49] Bodick, just west of Wright

[32:51] Boulevard, changed drainage in

[32:53] such a manner that it allowed

[32:55] subsequent rain to flood 2

[32:57] occupied residences on Wright

[32:58] Road. When a resident

[32:59] on the north side of

[33:04] Touchstone decided

[33:05] to put a fence

[33:07] on his property line, never

[33:08] mind that that's the middle

[33:09] of the road,

[33:11] the grader simply moved the

[33:12] road over

[33:13] beyond the right-of-way

[33:14] provided

[33:15] on the opposite property. The

[33:17] district does not need our

[33:18] roads. There is no access

[33:20] through the district,

[33:21] through our area,

[33:23] to the district

[33:24] through our area,

[33:26] as it is open desert beyond.

[33:28] And our area is accessible

[33:29] without the district as well.

[33:32] See the map. In 2007, special

[33:34] districts agreed

[33:36] to stop the maintenance

[33:37] in our area but continued the

[33:39] annual charge. Our outlying

[33:41] area has subsidized the rest

[33:43] of the district

[33:44] without benefit to us for 19

[33:46] years. That's okay. We, like,

[33:48] I mean, we like to help with

[33:51] all the roads that everyone

[33:53] uses. Glad too that the

[33:54] district stopped destroying

[33:56] ours, but I'm against

[33:57] quadrupling the cost nearly

[33:58] quadrupling the cost

[34:00] of a service we didn't want

[34:01] in the first place,

[34:03] haven't even had for 2 decades,

[34:05] and still won't have no matter

[34:06] what we are charged. Thank you.

[34:08] >> Thank you very much. We'll

[34:11] now go out to our Joshua Tree

[34:12] teleconferencing site. We'll

[34:14] have Jennifer Cusack followed

[34:15] by Christine Hudson and then

[34:16] Mike Lipsitz. Good morning,

[34:22] Chair, members of the board.

[34:24] Thank you for allowing remote

[34:25] participation today. My name is

[34:27] Jennifer Cusack. I'm the new

[34:28] general manager at Bighorn

[34:30] Desert View Water Agency in

[34:31] Landers. Last week, our board

[34:33] of directors adopted a

[34:34] resolution in support of

[34:36] County Service Area 70 Zone R15

[34:38] for Landers. we strongly

[34:42] support increasing the

[34:43] assessment to maintain this

[34:45] critical basic service. The

[34:46] current assessment at only $20

[34:47] per parcel that has not been

[34:50] increased since 1984 is no

[34:52] longer sufficient to keep pace

[34:54] with the inflation or even

[34:57] provide adequate emergency

[34:58] repairs following rain events,

[35:02] flooding, and erosion. County

[35:04] staff have done a good job

[35:06] with limited resources, but the

[35:07] current funding structure is

[35:09] simply no longer sustainable.

[35:10] Maintaining dirt roads and

[35:11] landers is important not only

[35:13] for residents and emergency

[35:15] access, but also for protecting

[35:16] public infrastructure.

[35:19] Flooding and erosion can expose

[35:20] water lines and damage

[35:21] infrastructure located

[35:23] within the roads. Ongoing

[35:25] grading and storm repair help

[35:27] reduce those risks and maintain

[35:28] safe and reliable access

[35:31] throughout the community. The

[35:32] proposed increase to 55 of $55

[35:35] more per parcel annually with a

[35:37] reasonable 3% inflationary

[35:39] adjustment is necessary to

[35:40] maintain this critical service

[35:42] into the future. It is our

[35:44] understanding that

[35:45] without your support, this

[35:46] service will no longer be

[35:48] viable. And is currently

[35:49] already paused. We recognize

[35:51] the importance

[35:53] of county road service funding,

[35:54] and we support maintaining this

[35:56] item and respectfully encourage

[35:59] your support. Thank you

[36:01] for your time. Thank you very

[36:03] much. Next up, we have

[36:05] Christine Hudson, followed by

[36:06] Mike Lipsitz, and then Jose

[36:08] Martinez. hello, I'm

[36:15] Christine Hudson. I live on

[36:17] Yucca Mesa in Landers, and I'm

[36:19] for the increase in the road

[36:22] maintenance. I've been

[36:25] out here for over 15 years.

[36:26] I've seen the my road, Yucca

[36:30] Mesa, degrade due

[36:32] to increased traffic,

[36:36] and I just support raising the,

[36:39] the fee because we do need our

[36:42] roads maintained because

[36:45] there's been some services that

[36:46] won't come out

[36:48] to my house because

[36:49] of the road. So I'd like

[36:51] to see it on the ballot, and I

[36:53] want, to have the ability

[36:56] to have my road maintained for

[37:04] traffic and also this my car. I

[37:06] mean, it's tearing my car up.

[37:08] So, thank you.

[37:11] >> Thank you very much. Mike

[37:12] Lipsitz followed by Jose

[37:13] Martinez and then Jane

[37:14] Martinez.

[37:22] >> Good morning. Thank you

[37:23] for the opportunity to weigh

[37:25] in on the issue

[37:26] of road maintenance in

[37:28] Landers. My name is Mike

[37:29] Lipsitz. I'm president of the

[37:30] Landers Homestead Valley

[37:32] Community Association. And have

[37:34] been a resident of Landers

[37:36] since 2004. Take a drive

[37:38] along any 2 miles

[37:40] of the more than 150 miles of

[37:42] Landers graded dirt roads.

[37:45] You'll understand why there's

[37:47] community support for the road

[37:50] maintenance increase. Henry

[37:52] Mack and his team at special

[37:54] districts have put together a

[37:55] solid proposal that is

[37:56] reasonable in scope,

[37:57] manageable as far as the cost

[37:59] to property owners, and

[38:01] sustainable given the annual

[38:03] inflation-based increase. A

[38:07] $75 annual er, a $75 annual

[38:10] assessment is a fraction the

[38:12] cost of replacement shocks or

[38:15] struts, tires, and alignment.

[38:17] Vehicle repair is an obvious

[38:19] cost. Less obvious,

[38:20] but just as certain,

[38:22] are the costs associated

[38:23] with depressed property values,

[38:24] damages to utilities like phone

[38:26] lines and water infrastructure,

[38:27] and any of the other

[38:29] consequences seen when roads

[38:31] turn to gullies and

[38:33] bone-jarring washboards. How

[38:37] about the cost of a human life

[38:39] should first responders arrive

[38:40] too late to render aid because

[38:41] bad roads require detours and

[38:42] other delays?

[38:46] For these reasons, the

[38:48] Landers Homestead Valley

[38:49] Association unanimously passed

[38:50] a resolution in support of the

[38:52] road maintenance increase,

[38:53] as did Bighorn Desert View

[38:56] Water Agency. The dire need

[38:57] for road maintenance in

[38:59] Landers is a given. What our

[39:01] community is asking for today

[39:02] is a little different. We're

[39:04] asking for the same opportunity

[39:06] that you've given Copper

[39:07] Mountain Mesa, Flamingo

[39:10] Heights, Yucca Mesa, Pioneer

[39:12] Town, and Wonder Valley. What

[39:14] we're asking

[39:15] for is the freedom to vote on

[39:18] this road maintenance proposal.

[39:20] You're not deciding. If our

[39:21] roads get fixed. You're

[39:23] deciding whether or not

[39:24] property owners in Landers get

[39:25] to make that determination

[39:26] for themselves. We hope you'll

[39:29] make the right decision. And

[39:31] very quickly, I'd like

[39:32] to ask the clerk of the board

[39:34] why many letters why the many

[39:35] letters of support failed

[39:37] to make it

[39:38] into the background material

[39:40] for the issue. That omission

[39:41] was a disservice

[39:43] to the board and the people

[39:44] of Landers. Thank you. Good

[39:45] morning.

[39:48] >> Thank you. Jose Martinez

[39:49] followed by Jane Martinez.

[39:56] >> Good morning, Board of

[39:59] Supervisors and Chairman

[40:02] Rowe. My name is Jose R.

[40:05] Martinez. I am a homeowner of

[40:06] 3 properties in the Yucca

[40:07] Valley area, and I'm here

[40:09] to advocate not just for

[40:10] myself. I already have had the

[40:11] privilege of voting

[40:13] for my properties, voting yes

[40:15] that we need the roads

[40:17] approved. I'm also a member

[40:20] on the board of directors

[40:21] at the Bighorn Water

[40:23] District, which indicated to

[40:24] you that we need it as well. I

[40:27] understand that there are some

[40:28] folks opposed,

[40:30] and I've been there since

[40:31] 1987, and I understand that

[40:33] there's some folks opposed,

[40:35] but the reality is that all

[40:36] of us I'm not advocating

[40:38] for myself because I'm able

[40:39] to vote now. I'm advocating

[40:41] for the whole community.

[40:42] Landers has a right to vote.

[40:44] Let us make our own

[40:45] determination. Let us make our

[40:48] own determination as

[40:51] to what we need. That's what

[40:52] we're asking for. I'm asking

[40:53] for and advocating for my

[40:55] friends and neighbors and

[40:58] Landers to have the same

[40:59] opportunity that I have in

[41:01] Flamingo Heights, those that

[41:03] are in the Mesa, those that are

[41:05] in the Johnson Valley, all of

[41:07] our communities that have right

[41:09] to vote, that Landers have the

[41:11] right to vote. And those that

[41:12] are opposed, they can oppose

[41:14] it, but those of us that are

[41:15] for it, let us have that right

[41:17] and let us decide

[41:19] for ourselves your constituents

[41:20] to decide

[41:21] for ourselves what is right

[41:26] for us, not anyone else. Let us

[41:28] have that right. I'm asking you

[41:29] to consider Landers and give

[41:32] them the opportunity to vote

[41:34] like I think that's the only

[41:36] right thing, that all your

[41:38] constituents have the same

[41:40] rights that I've had. I wanna

[41:42] thank you for your time, and I

[41:43] hope that we have an approval.

[41:47] >> Thank you, sir. Jane

[41:48] Martinez is our last request

[41:49] to speak.

[41:55] >> Thank you for allowing me to

[41:57] speak to you this morning.

[41:59] Landers is an anchor community

[42:00] in the Homestead Valley area.

[42:03] The population is approximately

[42:05] 3,000. There is Landers

[42:07] Elementary School, post office,

[42:09] Moose Lodge, Homestead Valley

[42:11] Association, including a thrift

[42:13] store. Homestead Valley Park,

[42:16] Goobler's Orchid Farm, the

[42:19] Integratron, and a couple of,

[42:22] event centers that are being

[42:24] built, as well as 2 churches.

[42:28] It is imperative that this

[42:29] community have the opportunity

[42:30] to vote on improving its roads

[42:32] because it is needed

[42:35] for its citizens

[42:37] to travel safely. Thank you.

[42:39] Thank you very much. That is

[42:42] the last request to speak. Any

[42:43] questions of the board?

[42:46] >> Thank you. I realize I've

[42:48] been around long enough

[42:49] to see these. They were

[42:51] established, what, 40 years ago

[42:52] and never been updated,

[42:55] adjusted, and just the cost

[42:56] of inflation from 1984

[43:00] to today is 220.4%. So even

[43:02] at 75, it's less than what the

[43:04] inflation rate's been

[43:05] since established 40 years ago.

[43:06] I'm just wondering, Noel, how

[43:09] many, how many more are these

[43:11] out there? Because I keep

[43:12] thinking of we finally found

[43:14] one that's no longer here.

[43:15] Nope, I guess there's a bunch

[43:17] more. And how can we get them?

[43:18] Because if we're doing the

[43:20] disservice, if we have an area

[43:21] that's supposed to be

[43:22] maintained and we're not doing

[43:23] it because we're not raising

[43:25] the, bringing the funds in,

[43:26] we are doing the disservice

[43:28] to those, people are paying

[43:29] those property taxes. How do we

[43:30] get this up to more

[43:32] of a modern type

[43:33] of thing and not have to wait

[43:34] 40 years

[43:35] to do adjustments.

[43:37] >> Thank you for the, the

[43:38] question, board member. I have

[43:41] to give kudos

[43:43] to our staff on, on the

[43:44] concerted effort that they've

[43:46] been doing,

[43:47] on this front. so we're about

[43:48] halfway there. so our folks

[43:50] have been meeting

[43:51] with the communities. It takes

[43:52] a lot

[43:53] of community engagement and,

[43:54] and meetings

[43:56] to make sure that we're

[43:57] out there first of all and

[43:58] trust making sure that they

[43:59] have our trust that we're doing

[44:00] the right thing with the,

[44:01] the monies that we're in,

[44:03] stewards of, right, to make

[44:04] sure that we are doing an

[44:05] efficient job. So

[44:06] through those meetings,

[44:08] we make sure that we're,

[44:09] level-setting with them. They

[44:10] understand what,

[44:11] services we're able

[44:13] to provide. And, as you may

[44:14] know, this,

[44:15] special districts division

[44:16] of the Public Works Department

[44:17] was, taken over in 2020. So

[44:19] we've been working towards this

[44:20] ever since to get us

[44:21] to a sustainable entire system.

[44:23] So again, we're

[44:25] about halfway there,

[44:26] and then we'll continue

[44:27] to have those community

[44:28] meetings with each community,

[44:29] make sure we have that

[44:30] engagement, that we have that

[44:31] buy-in as we continue

[44:32] to move forward,

[44:33] because it really is up

[44:34] to them. And as you can tell

[44:36] today, we put it up to

[44:38] a vote through a ballot

[44:39] to make sure that they want

[44:40] to do this.

[44:41] >> No, and I appreciate that

[44:42] process,

[44:43] appreciate your team's hard

[44:45] work on this too. And, but, to

[44:46] the public who just saw this

[44:48] one item,

[44:49] you're going up 400%. Well,

[44:50] it's really been less than 3%

[44:51] without adjustment

[44:53] since the time, even

[44:55] at 3% would be,

[44:57] or just the cost

[44:59] of inflation, be $81, not the

[45:00] $75 that you're proposing today

[45:02] with my rough calculations

[45:03] here. But, it doesn't look good

[45:05] to go from one thing

[45:06] to the other. So yeah,

[45:08] as much as you can working

[45:09] with the CEO staff

[45:10] to bring those other ones

[45:11] through and get them, get them

[45:13] on track, or,

[45:14] the alternative is for us to

[45:16] let those things go as some and

[45:17] I, I do like the idea

[45:19] for the residents

[45:20] to have their say

[45:21] in it and have the vote

[45:22] on it, what they want to do

[45:23] with their community. But

[45:24] hopefully we give them a

[45:25] service if we're gonna be

[45:27] charging for it too. Thank you,

[45:28] Madam Chair.

[45:29] >> Thank you. Any other

[45:31] comments? Supervisor Cook?

[45:34] >> Yeah, Lander's

[45:38] in the area that, talked I'm

[45:39] in strong support of this.

[45:41] It's an area that,

[45:44] simply because it's,

[45:46] in the middle of nowhere, the

[45:48] desert, it has a tendency

[45:50] to be forgotten. And,

[45:53] unfortunately,

[45:56] I've had occasion

[45:58] out there because,

[45:59] even back when I was in the

[46:01] Marine Corps, where you'd have

[46:03] somebody that after a, a CACS,

[46:07] one of the exercises that they

[46:10] would have out there, you would

[46:13] be missing an individual.

[46:17] And, I hate to tell you this,

[46:20] but, very rarely found them.

[46:22] And, it's kind

[46:27] of scary when you think

[46:28] about it. It's a huge area.

[46:30] in the summer,

[46:32] it's almost impossible to,

[46:35] to be outside. And, there's a

[46:39] lot of people that come in

[46:40] from the big cities to go

[46:42] out there. They don't even have

[46:44] water. Going

[46:45] out there. I mean,

[46:47] how stupid can you be? And, and

[46:49] the desert is very,

[46:51] very unforgiving. It's very

[46:52] beautiful,

[46:53] it's majestic and everything

[46:56] else, and sometimes the people

[46:57] that live out there, because

[46:59] they're just such a small

[47:01] number, they, they don't have

[47:02] the,

[47:07] the power that other people in

[47:08] other communities have because

[47:14] of the small numbers. I, I,

[47:18] I don't know. There's a lot

[47:20] of history. I, I think it's an

[47:23] area that has a tendency

[47:25] for people in all areas

[47:28] to forget about them. and the

[47:29] worst situation is when you

[47:31] have somebody left over from a

[47:33] CACs or what have you that you

[47:35] can't find them, and you walk

[47:36] constantly, or you,

[47:39] you're trying to find them,

[47:42] hopefully alive. sometimes it

[47:45] doesn't turn out like that

[47:47] because we all know the desert

[47:49] is very, very unforgiving. So

[47:52] I'm very, very supportive of,

[47:54] of, what we can do on that.

[47:59] And correct,

[48:01] an area is simply because

[48:03] of the small number of people

[48:05] there. I think they their,

[48:06] their power to be represented

[48:09] is often forgotten. Thank you.

[48:12] >> Thank you. Luther.

[48:14] >> Thank you, Madam Chair.

[48:15] Just a comment I'd like

[48:16] to make

[48:18] about the rate increases

[48:19] in general as it relates

[48:20] to these special districts,

[48:22] as well as the annual inflator,

[48:23] as Supervisor Hagman was

[48:25] mentioning,

[48:27] that it while it's not popular

[48:28] to increase rates,

[48:30] equally not popular

[48:32] to have an annual inflator,

[48:34] what we found in reviewing

[48:36] these is that those special

[48:38] districts that were established

[48:39] with an annual inflator built

[48:41] into it have been able

[48:44] to self-sustain. And the way

[48:45] the law works and the legal

[48:47] process, the administrative

[48:48] process that goes into,

[48:49] addressing rate increases

[48:53] with these they're expensive,

[48:55] and those,

[48:56] those processes are paid for

[48:59] from those districts. So the

[49:01] funds that could be used for

[49:03] road maintenance end up being

[49:04] used

[49:05] for the administrative process

[49:06] to get rate increases. So in

[49:08] Noel and my conversations,

[49:09] we are strong advocates for

[49:11] when we do bring these forward,

[49:12] bringing them forward

[49:13] with some sort

[49:14] of annual increase

[49:16] in that amount so that it paces

[49:18] with inflation,

[49:19] so that we're able

[49:21] to keep talented, qualified

[49:23] employees there serving and

[49:25] working on those roads,

[49:26] and any labor costs or

[49:28] in materials costs,

[49:29] equipment costs also pace

[49:30] with that. So I just wanted

[49:31] to share that. I know it's not,

[49:32] not fun

[49:34] to have rate increases. It's

[49:36] not, it, it impacts people,

[49:37] but that is not our goal. Our

[49:39] goal is to keep them small,

[49:40] modest, and, the districts

[49:42] in good repair.

[49:45] >> Thank you.

[49:47] >> Thank you. I would like to

[49:48] address the comment that we had

[49:49] from Mr. Lipsitz about the

[49:50] public comments that were

[49:52] received. They were emailed

[49:53] to the clerk of the board, a

[49:54] specific board member comment

[49:55] email address, and the

[49:57] residents and landowners that

[49:58] were in favor

[49:59] of this sent them in,

[50:01] by the close of business on

[50:03] Thursday is what I was told.

[50:05] But apparently, according

[50:06] to the clerk,

[50:07] that email address doesn't open

[50:08] until Friday when the agenda is

[50:09] published, and then the

[50:11] comments are received

[50:13] during the period of time

[50:14] until we start the meeting, and

[50:17] then they are distributed

[50:19] electronically to the Board

[50:20] of Supervisors. So when I

[50:21] realized that that happened,

[50:22] I asked for all of those

[50:23] to be pulled out,

[50:24] and then they were there were

[50:26] 17 of them. They were then

[50:27] emailed

[50:28] to the board electronically,

[50:29] even though they may not have

[50:30] made it into the background

[50:32] for the record on this, but

[50:33] that the supervisors did

[50:35] receive them in support

[50:37] of this. And maybe we can

[50:38] discuss how we keep that email

[50:39] open at all times

[50:40] in the future. It was confusing

[50:41] to me as well as the residents.

[50:43] So, and with that, I'll

[50:44] entertain a motion.

[50:45] >> I'll move it.

[50:46] >> Second

[50:47] >> Thank you for the motion,

[50:48] Supervisor Hagman, and second,

[50:49] Vice Chair Baca. All those

[50:50] in favor oh wait, I'm gonna

[50:51] close the public hearing

[50:52] before I call for the vote.

[50:53] All those in favor?

[50:55] >> Aye.

[50:56] >> Any opposed? Any

[50:57] abstentions?

[50:59] >> With that, recommendations

[51:00] 1 and 2 passes unanimously.

[51:02] >> Thank you very much. And

[51:03] with that, we will move on

[51:09] to let's see here. We have

[51:11] to tabulate now. We did not

[51:14] receive any,

[51:17] so nothing has been received,

[51:19] correct? So a majority we

[51:20] didn't receive it today,

[51:22] but there, there is not a

[51:24] majority protest that exists.

[51:25] So now we move on

[51:26] to the board recommendations,

[51:28] item 3 and 4, correct? Thank

[51:29] you for the motion, Supervisor

[51:31] Hagman, and the second, Vice

[51:32] Chair Baca. All those in favor

[51:33] of recommendations 3 and 4?

[51:34] >> Aye.

[51:35] >> Any opposed?

[51:37] >> With that, recommendations

[51:38] 3 and 4 passes unanimously.

[51:40] >> Thank you very much. Thank

[51:42] you, Noel. Appreciate the

[51:43] patience on this agenda item.

[51:46] Item number 103 is a public

[51:47] hearing regarding the placement

[51:48] of delinquent water and sewer

[51:49] charges

[51:51] on the 2026-2027 tax roll

[51:53] for collection,

[51:55] also being presented by Noel.

[51:56] As a reminder, there is staff

[51:57] in the rotunda area available

[51:59] to answer any questions that

[52:00] you have

[52:02] on this. as well as item number

[52:03] 104. So I will open the public

[52:05] hearing and turn it over to

[52:06] Noel.

[52:08] >> Thank you once again,

[52:09] Chair Rowe. Next slide.

[52:11] Special Districts provides

[52:14] water and sanitation services

[52:15] for a total of 13 county

[52:17] service areas, CSAs. There's

[52:20] within that, there is 5

[52:21] water-only, 6 sanitation-only,

[52:23] and 2 water and sanitation

[52:25] combo CSAs. Any water or

[52:26] sanitation accounts 60 days

[52:29] delinquent as of May 1st are

[52:31] added to our county tax roll

[52:32] for collection. Collection of

[52:35] delinquent charges supports

[52:36] fiscal solvency of the CSAs

[52:38] by ensuring revenues for the

[52:40] operation and infrastructure

[52:42] maintenance

[52:43] of each separate system. The

[52:44] total number

[52:45] of delinquent water accounts is

[52:46] 136 out of 8,387, which is an

[52:49] average delinquency rate

[52:51] of 2%. No change in percentage

[52:52] from last year. The total

[52:56] number of delinquent sanitation

[52:58] accounts is 512 out of 9,011,

[53:00] which is an average delinquency

[53:03] rate of 6%, a decrease

[53:05] from 8% last year. Next slide.

[53:07] All CSA bills are mailed

[53:13] on a bimonthly basis

[53:14] for a total of 6 cycles

[53:15] annually.

[53:17] To mitigate delinquent fees,

[53:19] special districts notified

[53:20] customers

[53:21] of delinquent accounts by

[53:22] completing the following

[53:23] actions before applying

[53:24] delinquent charges to the

[53:25] county tax roll: regular

[53:27] bimonthly bill mailed,

[53:29] 30-day delinquent notice mailed

[53:31] with past due messages and late

[53:32] charges applied,

[53:33] 45-day final notice mailed,

[53:35] and for water only,

[53:37] 60-day service disconnected. 7

[53:40] days prior to the disconnect,

[53:42] disconnection, customers

[53:44] receive a courtesy phone call,

[53:46] on a red door tag if unable

[53:47] to reach customer by phone.

[53:50] for sanitation only,

[53:51] 90-day intent

[53:52] to lien notice mailed,

[53:54] including payment plan option.

[53:56] Special districts mailed a

[53:57] hearing notice letter to,

[53:59] letter prior to May 1st,

[54:00] 2026,

[54:01] to notify property owners

[54:03] with delinquent accounts

[54:04] of hearing. In addition,

[54:05] all attempts by customers

[54:07] to contact special districts

[54:08] by phone, email, or

[54:10] in person regarding, regarding

[54:11] the delinquent water and

[54:12] sanitation charges are actively

[54:14] offered a payment option plan.

[54:16] Customers are also offered an

[54:17] external, external resource

[54:19] for financial assistance. If

[54:20] the delinquent accounts amounts

[54:24] owed are still outstanding on

[54:26] August 3rd, special districts

[54:28] will submit a final list

[54:30] of accounts to the county

[54:32] to collect funds

[54:34] through the property tax roll.

[54:36] Any delinquent fees resolved

[54:38] by August 3rd will not be added

[54:40] to the tax roll. Next slide.

[54:44] Currently, there are a total

[54:45] of 648 delinquent accounts

[54:46] through early May of 2026,

[54:49] with approximately $466,000

[54:52] in unpaid fees. It is important

[54:54] to mention, historically,

[54:56] we have found 25% of delinquent

[54:57] accounts are resolved before

[54:59] the final list is submitted

[55:00] to the tax collector's, in,

[55:02] collector's office in August.

[55:04] Special District's customer

[55:05] service staff are

[55:06] in the rotunda available

[55:07] to answer any questions

[55:08] to the public that they may

[55:09] have. This concludes my

[55:11] presentation.

[55:13] >> Thank you very much. Do we

[55:15] have any requests to speak

[55:17] on this item at all? We do not.

[55:19] >> Just a comment. No, you

[55:21] brought it up

[55:23] in your presentation, but not

[55:26] on the paperwork that we

[55:27] received. I'm a big trend

[55:29] person. I'd love to see 5

[55:30] years, just, are we going

[55:31] trending one way or the other,

[55:32] and is it mostly the sewer or

[55:34] the water? Just some

[55:35] historical,

[55:36] having a certain number at a

[55:38] year date doesn't help too

[55:40] much. But if I know the trend's

[55:41] going worse or it's getting

[55:42] less, kind of give you a sense

[55:44] of the microeconomies

[55:45] throughout the county.

[55:47] >> I agree. Yes, we'll

[55:48] definitely do that, maybe

[55:49] for the 5 years to see the,

[55:51] the longer trend line.

[55:52] >> Thank you. I'll move the

[55:53] item.

[55:54] >> I'm going to close the

[55:55] public hearing. Thank you very

[55:56] much for the motion,

[55:57] Supervisor Hagman, and the

[55:58] second, Vice Chair Baca. All

[55:59] those in favor?

[56:00] >> Aye.

[56:01] >> Any opposed? Any

[56:02] abstentions?

[56:04] >> With that, Item 103 passes

[56:05] unanimously.

[56:06] >> Thank you very much. Item

[56:07] number 104 is a public hearing

[56:08] for the collection

[56:09] of solid waste handling fees,

[56:11] also presented by Noel, and I

[56:12] will open the public hearing.

[56:13] >> Thank you. Last item,

[56:18] I promise. Good morning once

[56:21] again. We'll go on

[56:23] to slide number 2. Uniform

[56:25] handling, or mandatory trash

[56:27] collection, was established

[56:28] by the county in 2004 for, er,

[56:30] residential property owners

[56:32] in Valley and most

[56:33] of the mountain areas

[56:34] to assist the county with,

[56:36] meeting Assembly Bill 939 and

[56:38] Senate Bill 1383. Assembly

[56:40] Bill 939 mandates the county

[56:42] to divert 50% of all waste

[56:43] from landfills, and Senate

[56:45] Bill 1383 mandates the county

[56:46] to adopt enforceable mechanisms

[56:49] to provide organic collection

[56:51] service to all generators. In

[56:53] 2022, uniform hauling was

[56:56] approved for all unincorporated

[56:58] residential and commercial

[56:59] properties. Unless granted a

[57:00] low population waiver

[57:01] from the state in order

[57:03] to comply with Senate Bill

[57:04] 1383 regulations. Uniform

[57:06] handling service is a

[57:07] standardized way to provide

[57:09] refuse collection service,

[57:10] reduce illegal dumping,

[57:12] and enhance recycling programs

[57:13] to provide flexibility

[57:15] to residents and businesses.

[57:17] There are alternatives to

[57:18] uniform handling service that

[57:19] include the county's self-haul

[57:21] exception program, where

[57:22] residents and businesses can

[57:23] haul their own waste in lieu

[57:25] of paying

[57:26] for mandatory service to the

[57:27] franchise waste and haulers,

[57:29] and the hauler-provided fee

[57:31] waiver program,

[57:32] where the residents in some

[57:33] franchise areas that

[57:35] infrequently use their

[57:36] properties and have less than

[57:37] 6 kilowatts of daily average

[57:39] power usage per month can opt

[57:40] out of mandatory service and

[57:42] receive bill credits

[57:43] through the haulers. Next

[57:46] slide. In areas subject

[57:50] to uniform hauling services,

[57:52] county code and the franchise

[57:53] agreements prohibit that

[57:54] franchise waste hauler from

[57:56] discontinuing service because

[57:57] of nonpayment

[57:58] of service fees. Accounts that

[58:00] are unpaid for 90 days or more

[58:01] become delinquent,

[58:03] and fees are considered a debt

[58:04] to the county that are subject

[58:05] to collection

[58:07] through property tax as a lien.

[58:08] To mitigate delinquent fees,

[58:10] waste haulers notify customers,

[58:11] customers

[58:12] of their delinquent accounts

[58:13] through monthly robocalls,

[58:15] messages

[58:16] on billing statements,

[58:18] and direct notices. The county

[58:21] generated a hearing notice

[58:23] letter that was mailed out

[58:24] by the waste haulers on May

[58:25] 5th, 2026

[58:26] to notify property owners

[58:27] with delinquent accounts

[58:29] of the hearing and the option

[58:30] to pay any delinquent fees by

[58:32] July 27th

[58:33] to avoid the fees going

[58:35] to their property tax bill. If

[58:37] the delinquent amounts owed are

[58:38] still outstanding after July

[58:40] 27th, the waste haulers will

[58:41] submit a final list

[58:43] of accounts to the county

[58:44] to collect funds

[58:45] through the property tax roll,

[58:47] and liens will be recorded

[58:48] against the properties. Any

[58:51] delinquent fees subject to the

[58:52] lien process are not sorry,

[58:53] any delinquent fees subject to

[58:56] the lien process that are not

[58:58] resolved by July 27th will not

[59:00] be added to the tax roll. Next

[59:04] slide. Currently, there is a

[59:09] total of 9,015 delinquent

[59:11] accounts through March 2026,

[59:13] which is approximately $3.6

[59:15] million in unpaid fees. This

[59:17] equates to

[59:19] about a 13% delinquency rate.

[59:21] The percentage

[59:22] of delinquent accounts dropped,

[59:23] to 9% in 2025 but rose to 13%

[59:26] in 2026. A shift influenced

[59:30] expanded by mandatory service

[59:31] areas as well as the annexation

[59:33] of some additional parcels as

[59:36] well as SB 1383 requirements

[59:42] and earlier administration

[59:43] deadlines that increased the

[59:44] number of accounts appearing on

[59:45] initial administrative

[59:46] deadlines I'm sorry, the last

[59:49] item that caused the increase

[59:51] was administrative deadlines

[59:52] that increased the number

[59:53] of accounts appearing

[59:54] on initial delinquency list.

[59:56] So although more accounts were

[59:58] flagged as delinquent

[1:00:00] to these changes, historical

[1:00:01] trends suggest that the same

[1:00:02] number

[1:00:03] of liens will be resolved prior

[1:00:05] to the liens being recorded.

[1:00:06] In the past, on average,

[1:00:08] this equates

[1:00:09] to approximately a third

[1:00:11] of the number

[1:00:13] of potential liens being,

[1:00:14] initially reported Therefore,

[1:00:16] the final number

[1:00:17] of liens recorded in 2026 is

[1:00:18] expected to resemble the 2025

[1:00:21] levels. As of Friday, May 15th,

[1:00:22] the total number

[1:00:23] of liens had been reduced

[1:00:24] by 30%, from 6,246, to 6,246

[1:00:28] instead of the 9,015, and we

[1:00:31] expect the number to continue

[1:00:32] to decrease prior

[1:00:33] to the liens being recorded.

[1:00:36] Next slide. This concludes my

[1:00:39] presentation.

[1:00:41] >> Thank you very much. I do

[1:00:42] not have any requests to speak

[1:00:44] on this item. Any members of

[1:00:45] the board have questions?

[1:00:47] >> Just the same general

[1:00:48] comment. I mean, that's a big

[1:00:50] number, $3,600,000. I'm just

[1:00:52] wondering what the trend lines

[1:00:53] are for year over year

[1:00:54] on that. Is this normal? This

[1:00:56] is higher, that type

[1:00:57] of thing. So thank you. I'll

[1:00:59] move it.

[1:01:00] >> I'm going to close the

[1:01:01] public hearing. Thank you

[1:01:02] for the motion, Supervisor

[1:01:03] Hagman.

[1:01:04] >> Second.

[1:01:05] >> Thank you. All those

[1:01:06] in favor?

[1:01:07] >> Aye.

[1:01:08] >> Any opposed? Any

[1:01:09] abstentions?

[1:01:10] >> With that, Item 104 passes

[1:01:11] unanimously. Thank you very

[1:01:13] much. Item number 105 is

[1:01:14] requested by Ensign Mason to

[1:01:15] retain independent legal

[1:01:16] counsel, being presented by

[1:01:17] Laura Feingold.

[1:01:19] >> Thank you, Madam Chair and

[1:01:20] members

[1:01:21] of the board. as referenced

[1:01:22] by the chair, this item is

[1:01:25] to consider Ensign Mason, the

[1:01:26] county's elected auditor,

[1:01:27] controller, treasurer,

[1:01:29] and tax Collector's request

[1:01:33] made on May 12th that the

[1:01:35] county retain independent

[1:01:36] counsel

[1:01:38] to represent his interests

[1:01:39] in an ongoing investigation.

[1:01:41] That investigation was

[1:01:43] requested by the chair on

[1:01:44] February 24th, 2026, to

[1:01:47] evaluate two issues regarding

[1:01:48] Mr. Mason. The first was to

[1:01:50] consider whether the operation

[1:01:51] of Mr. Mason's private

[1:01:53] investment business and SIN

[1:01:54] Financial Services creates an

[1:01:57] actual or perceived conflict

[1:01:58] of interest

[1:02:00] with his elected position. The

[1:02:01] second part of the

[1:02:03] investigation concerns an

[1:02:04] allegation of whether Mr.

[1:02:06] Mason is able to fulfill his

[1:02:08] county duties while also

[1:02:10] managing his private business.

[1:02:11] to complete this investigation,

[1:02:14] my office hired two firms,

[1:02:17] two independent firms, one a

[1:02:18] law firm and one an accounting

[1:02:19] firm. One portion of that

[1:02:21] investigation has been

[1:02:23] completed. The report is

[1:02:24] submitted to my office. the

[1:02:27] second portion has not been

[1:02:29] completed and remains ongoing.

[1:02:32] Mr. Mason is requesting

[1:02:33] representation

[1:02:34] for the remainder

[1:02:35] of that investigation. The law

[1:02:36] permits Mr. Mason to make that

[1:02:38] request when he believes the

[1:02:40] County Council has a conflict

[1:02:41] of interest and that,

[1:02:43] that prevents him

[1:02:45] from that prevents my office

[1:02:47] from providing legal services

[1:02:48] to help him perform his job

[1:02:49] duties. Because my office is

[1:02:52] overseeing this investigation,

[1:02:54] We do have a conflict

[1:02:56] of interest. However, Mr.

[1:02:58] Mason's request is specifically

[1:03:00] for counsel

[1:03:02] to represent his interest

[1:03:03] in the investigation. He is not

[1:03:05] requesting counsel

[1:03:06] to assist him in carrying

[1:03:07] out the official duties

[1:03:08] of his office. The law does not

[1:03:09] require the county to pay

[1:03:11] for legal representation for

[1:03:12] Mr. Mason personally because it

[1:03:14] is not necessary

[1:03:15] to the performance

[1:03:17] of his duties. The question

[1:03:18] before the board today is

[1:03:20] whether the county would, like

[1:03:21] to authorize payment

[1:03:23] for independent counsel

[1:03:27] to represent Mr. Mason

[1:03:29] in connection with this

[1:03:30] investigation as he has

[1:03:33] requested. Do we know what

[1:03:34] caused the delay

[1:03:35] in the second investigation?

[1:03:36] Mr. Mason made a request

[1:03:37] to delay his interview

[1:03:39] initially until

[1:03:40] after the election,

[1:03:42] but ultimately agreed

[1:03:43] to be interviewed on May 11th.

[1:03:44] That interview was completed it

[1:03:46] resulted in the production of

[1:03:47] documents that are being

[1:03:48] evaluated before the final

[1:03:50] report is prepared and sent

[1:03:52] to our office. And do we know

[1:03:54] if Mr. Mason has representation

[1:03:56] now, any interaction with an

[1:03:58] attorney? I am not aware, but

[1:04:00] I've also not asked him.

[1:04:02] >> Okay, I have one request

[1:04:03] to speak on this,

[1:04:04] and then we'll bring it back

[1:04:05] to the board. Mr. Mason?

[1:04:15] >> Good morning, board. The

[1:04:17] item you have

[1:04:18] before you is a, Government

[1:04:19] Code 995 demand letter, which

[1:04:21] creates a situation where

[1:04:22] litigation is reasonably

[1:04:23] anticipated whether you vote

[1:04:24] yes or no,

[1:04:26] and it should be addressed

[1:04:27] in closed session. Discussion

[1:04:29] of the legal merits and scope

[1:04:30] of the investigation or the

[1:04:31] county's potential exposure in

[1:04:33] open session would prejudice

[1:04:35] the county's legal position

[1:04:36] in any such proceedings.

[1:04:40] Closed session is appropriate

[1:04:42] and recommended under

[1:04:44] Government Code 54956.9. I have

[1:04:47] asked for a copy

[1:04:49] of the first investigation,

[1:04:50] which has been completed, and

[1:04:51] that, that request was denied

[1:04:52] under attorney-client

[1:04:54] privilege. If anything is

[1:04:55] discussed here

[1:04:56] about that investigation, it

[1:04:57] becomes immediately disclosable

[1:04:59] to me under, under Labor Code

[1:05:02] 1198.53. You will be waiving

[1:05:05] client-attorney privilege

[1:05:08] under, Evidence Code 912. if

[1:05:12] you discuss anything other than

[1:05:13] the attorney request, that you

[1:05:14] would once again be violating

[1:05:16] the Brown Act, which is also

[1:05:17] known as Government Code

[1:05:20] 54950. The investigation itself

[1:05:21] was a Brown Act violation. As

[1:05:23] everybody

[1:05:24] on the dais should know,

[1:05:26] you are not permitted

[1:05:27] to discuss nor take action

[1:05:28] on any item that's not

[1:05:30] on the agenda. You discussed

[1:05:31] the item and took action

[1:05:33] on an item and it was not

[1:05:35] on the agenda. You have

[1:05:36] violated the Brown Code. If you

[1:05:38] discuss the investigation here

[1:05:39] today, you will be doing so

[1:05:40] again. all the other folks that

[1:05:45] come up here, especially the

[1:05:47] CPS people who are concerned

[1:05:49] about CPS, every meeting beg

[1:05:50] for your help, beg

[1:05:51] for your involvement,

[1:05:54] and you do nothing. You say

[1:05:56] nothing because you can't,

[1:05:58] because it's a Brown Act

[1:05:59] violation.

[1:06:00] But you decided whatever it was

[1:06:02] for me to not do that. You won't

[1:06:05] help children when people come

[1:06:08] up here every single meeting and

[1:06:10] ask, but you will attack me.

[1:06:11] So I'm asking that you don't do

[1:06:13] that again. They don't get as

[1:06:19] much as a reassuring word,

[1:06:22] but you, you will go out

[1:06:23] of your way

[1:06:25] to harm my reputation This is

[1:06:26] the last meeting before

[1:06:28] election. I don't I think

[1:06:29] everybody who's listening

[1:06:31] to this knows what's,

[1:06:32] what's going on here,

[1:06:33] why this investigation is

[1:06:35] being, performed, and, and

[1:06:36] probably, the motive

[1:06:38] behind the words you're about

[1:06:40] to say. So thank you.

[1:06:42] >> That's the last request

[1:06:43] to speak that I have. so,

[1:06:46] Laura, can you clarify? The

[1:06:47] motion today is

[1:06:49] to authorize payment of his

[1:06:52] attorney's fees that we're

[1:06:54] unaware of, or to deny that.

[1:06:56] Is that correct?

[1:06:57] >> Correct.

[1:06:58] >> So I need a board motion one

[1:07:00] way or the other.

[1:07:02] >> I'll make a motion that we

[1:07:03] deny.

[1:07:06] >> Do I have a second?

[1:07:09] >> I'll second the motion

[1:07:10] to deny.

[1:07:12] >> All those in favor?

[1:07:13] >> Aye.

[1:07:14] >> Any opposed?

[1:07:17] >> All right. And I have a

[1:07:19] question for you. We have heard

[1:07:21] Mr. Mason make a lot

[1:07:23] of accusations directly

[1:07:24] to the media, as well as

[1:07:25] on social media,

[1:07:27] that I do not believe at all

[1:07:28] to have merit or truth

[1:07:30] in them. Could you please bring

[1:07:31] back an item for the board to

[1:07:32] consider censure or removal?

[1:07:34] >> Yes, thank you. With that,

[1:07:36] we will move on

[1:07:38] to our next agenda item,

[1:07:39] number 106. It is the appeal

[1:07:45] of the Planning Commission's

[1:07:46] approval of the Maverick

[1:07:48] convenience store and gas

[1:07:49] station project. This item is

[1:07:50] being continued to the June 9th

[1:07:52] board meeting, but I would

[1:07:53] like to open the public hearing

[1:07:54] and have anybody here today

[1:07:56] provide public comment that

[1:07:57] came down for this. And I

[1:07:58] believe we have 4 requests

[1:08:00] to speak so far. So your

[1:08:02] comments today will remain a

[1:08:04] part of the official record,

[1:08:07] and then we will continue this

[1:08:08] to that future meeting on June

[1:08:11] 9th. Our first request

[1:08:13] to speak is Debbie McCaffee,

[1:08:14] followed by Anne Hale. And then

[1:08:17] Barbara Fredette.

[1:08:51] >> Hi, my name is Debbie

[1:08:52] McAfee. I moved to Pinion

[1:08:53] Hills 21 years ago from Los

[1:08:54] Angeles. I moved here

[1:08:57] specifically because I wanted

[1:08:59] to live in a rural and natural

[1:09:00] environment. I would have moved

[1:09:02] to Hesperia or Victorville if I

[1:09:04] had wanted more services. 21

[1:09:06] years later, I still marvel

[1:09:07] at the mountains

[1:09:08] behind my home and the valley

[1:09:10] to the north.

[1:09:11] In the mornings,

[1:09:12] I wander my yard listening

[1:09:14] to the birds and looking for

[1:09:15] wildflowers. I do not want a

[1:09:17] Maverick truck stop a stone's

[1:09:18] throw away from my home.

[1:09:21] Since December, our team has

[1:09:22] been talking with hundreds

[1:09:24] of local residents,

[1:09:25] and the majority

[1:09:26] of folks are opposed

[1:09:28] to having a Maverick truck stop

[1:09:29] in our community. If this is

[1:09:30] built,

[1:09:32] it will become the anchor of

[1:09:33] our town a large gas station

[1:09:35] truck stop will turn this town

[1:09:37] into a pass-through town

[1:09:39] for travelers. In addition,

[1:09:41] the proposed site is directly

[1:09:43] across from several folks'

[1:09:44] personal residences. The

[1:09:46] proposed station will

[1:09:47] negatively impact the quality

[1:09:49] of those folks' lives

[1:09:50] drastically and possibly the

[1:09:51] value of their homes. This will

[1:09:54] greatly interfere

[1:09:56] with our local community going

[1:09:58] to pick up their mail

[1:10:00] at the post office. Our team

[1:10:01] had a personal conversation

[1:10:03] with the postmaster She told us

[1:10:05] that no one in, the office of

[1:10:08] the applicant had made any

[1:10:10] contact with them talking

[1:10:13] about the Mavericks'

[1:10:15] requirement that the traffic

[1:10:16] pattern going in and out

[1:10:18] of the post office be changed.

[1:10:19] And she specifically said

[1:10:21] they're not willing

[1:10:23] to do it because

[1:10:24] of how the mail gets delivered

[1:10:26] from their main station. Let's

[1:10:29] see, Kevin Deitz at the last

[1:10:32] meeting said he had talked

[1:10:34] to them and they did not. We

[1:10:37] request that the county provide

[1:10:39] written proof that the U.S.

[1:10:41] Postal Service was informed and

[1:10:42] is agreeable to the changes as

[1:10:44] per the statement that Kevin

[1:10:45] Deitz made

[1:10:46] at the last meeting.

[1:10:48] In addition,

[1:10:49] this will create more traffic

[1:10:50] on Oasis Road in front of the

[1:10:52] Pinion Hills Elementary School

[1:10:54] with more big rigs going up and

[1:10:55] down. It will create a danger

[1:10:58] for the children entering and

[1:10:59] exiting the school and will

[1:11:01] interfere with multiple bus

[1:11:02] stops. I am not here to hate

[1:11:04] on Maverick. We all want

[1:11:05] cheaper gas,

[1:11:07] don't get me wrong. We are

[1:11:08] saying the location of this is

[1:11:10] completely wrong. I know the

[1:11:11] county wants the sales tax

[1:11:13] revenue. San Bernardino County

[1:11:15] is the largest county in the

[1:11:17] nation. I know that a better

[1:11:18] location can this

[1:11:20] for this can be found

[1:11:21] in the county. As far as I'm

[1:11:23] aware, also, the applicant does

[1:11:25] not even own the property

[1:11:26] in question. it is not recorded

[1:11:30] in the applicant's name,

[1:11:32] and the realtor whose sign is

[1:11:33] on the property only tells us

[1:11:34] the property is in escrow. If

[1:11:37] the applicant were to find an

[1:11:38] additional location that would

[1:11:41] not impact the local residents

[1:11:42] or the local post office

[1:11:44] in another location in San

[1:11:45] Bernardino County, It would be

[1:11:48] a win-win for all of us.

[1:11:51] >> Thank you. And Hale,

[1:11:56] followed by Barbara Fredette

[1:11:57] and then Jan Grogan.

[1:12:02] >> Morning, my name is Anne

[1:12:03] Hale. I've lived in Pinion

[1:12:05] Hills for 36 years. I'm

[1:12:06] in opposition to the Mavic

[1:12:08] project. Traffic at the signal

[1:12:10] on Highway 138 and Oasis Road

[1:12:11] can back up for over a mile

[1:12:14] during peak hours. Getting to

[1:12:16] the post office will be very

[1:12:17] difficult, if not dangerous.

[1:12:19] Most residents in Pinion Hills

[1:12:21] must pick up their mail on-site

[1:12:22] since there are no, home

[1:12:24] deliveries. the post office

[1:12:27] also serves home-based

[1:12:28] businesses, people wanting

[1:12:29] to apply for passports,

[1:12:31] purchase stamps, ship packages,

[1:12:32] or buy money orders. Hmm,

[1:12:34] approximately 1,880 patrons

[1:12:36] pick up their mail regularly.

[1:12:38] Truck and vehicle traffic

[1:12:40] entering and exiting the

[1:12:44] Maverick Fueling Center would

[1:12:45] add an intense burden

[1:12:47] to the narrow roads

[1:12:50] by the post office. Truck and

[1:12:51] vehicle paths crossing

[1:12:52] at the intersection of

[1:12:54] Buckthorn Road and Oasis Road

[1:12:56] would be dangerous. Traffic

[1:12:57] buildup on Highway 138

[1:13:00] behind slow trucks leaving the

[1:13:01] Maverick Station or slow or

[1:13:04] stopped excuse me trucks

[1:13:05] waiting to turn right on

[1:13:07] Oasis Road to enter the station

[1:13:08] would make it difficult

[1:13:09] for patrons to easily access

[1:13:11] the post office. The Maverick

[1:13:12] project would be

[1:13:14] across the street

[1:13:15] from the post office. Trucks

[1:13:16] entering and leaving the

[1:13:17] fueling station onto Oasis

[1:13:19] Road from Buckthorn Road would

[1:13:20] be mixing with vehicles trying

[1:13:22] to enter or leave the post

[1:13:24] office parking lot. There are

[1:13:25] no approved plans

[1:13:26] for the county

[1:13:28] to reconfigure the intersection

[1:13:29] at Buckthorn at Buckthorn and

[1:13:31] Oasis where traffic exits the

[1:13:32] post office. No one has contact

[1:13:35] contacted anyone

[1:13:37] at the post office

[1:13:38] from the postmistress on up

[1:13:40] about the proposed Maverick

[1:13:41] project. This is quite an

[1:13:44] oversight considering that

[1:13:46] at the last hearing, Kevin

[1:13:49] Dice stated that he'd gotten

[1:13:51] word from the post office that

[1:13:53] they were amenable to

[1:13:55] reconfiguring the entire

[1:13:56] parking lot,

[1:13:57] changing the traffic pattern.

[1:13:59] Again, the post office knows

[1:14:00] of no such discussion. The

[1:14:02] project was approved by land

[1:14:04] use staff even though these

[1:14:06] statements and certain site

[1:14:08] maps were not previously

[1:14:13] approved. Thank you.

[1:14:15] >> Thank you very much, Barbara

[1:14:16] Furdette, followed by Jan

[1:14:17] Grogan.

[1:14:23] >> Good morning Supervisors.

[1:14:25] Regarding item 106, my husband

[1:14:26] and I own a home less than 1

[1:14:28] mile from the approved Pinion

[1:14:30] Hills construction site for a

[1:14:32] Maverick truck stop. I'm here

[1:14:34] today to ask you to reject this

[1:14:35] construction project

[1:14:36] specifically because the

[1:14:38] station will service large

[1:14:40] trucks. Given that over half

[1:14:41] of the property area, 5

[1:14:43] of the fueling stations, and 2

[1:14:45] of the 3 entrances are

[1:14:46] specifically designed

[1:14:48] for large commercial trucks,

[1:14:50] it is not unreasonable to

[1:14:51] expect that large trucks will

[1:14:53] comprise a large portion

[1:14:54] of the station's customers.

[1:14:56] The commercial property that

[1:14:57] has been proposed

[1:14:58] for the project is poorly

[1:15:00] suited

[1:15:01] for large truck access, and I

[1:15:02] believe will be extremely

[1:15:03] problematic and unsafe not only

[1:15:05] for the Pinion Hills residents

[1:15:06] but for also the truck drivers

[1:15:08] and car drivers who will use

[1:15:09] the station. Here are my

[1:15:11] specific reasons. First

[1:15:13] of all, the truck stop has no

[1:15:14] direct access to Route 138 and

[1:15:15] instead proposes indirect

[1:15:17] access via Oasis Road and

[1:15:20] Buckthorn Road. While Highway

[1:15:23] 138 meet state standards

[1:15:25] for STAA truck travel.

[1:15:28] Neither Oasis Road nor

[1:15:29] Buckthorn Road meet these

[1:15:30] standards. Commercial truck use

[1:15:32] of these roads may even be

[1:15:34] in violation of AB 98 and SB

[1:15:36] 415. These local rural roads

[1:15:39] are not suited

[1:15:41] for STAA truck travel. Simply

[1:15:43] paving them between 138 and the

[1:15:45] station entrance will not make

[1:15:46] them suited or safe

[1:15:48] for large truck travel. The

[1:15:50] Maverick Corporation should

[1:15:51] have sought a better suited

[1:15:52] commercially zoned property.

[1:15:54] one that has Caltrans-approved

[1:15:55] access

[1:15:56] to a designated truck route,

[1:15:57] thus ensuring safe and legal

[1:15:59] access to the station.

[1:16:00] Secondly, in the Maverick

[1:16:04] Project plan, Oasis Road serves

[1:16:06] not only as an entrance

[1:16:08] to the gas station

[1:16:10] but also as an entrance

[1:16:11] to the Pinion Hills Post

[1:16:13] Office. Residents of Pinion

[1:16:14] Hills have no mail delivery

[1:16:15] to their homes. 1,880

[1:16:18] households must retrieve their

[1:16:20] daily mail deliveries

[1:16:21] from post office boxes located

[1:16:22] inside the post office. The

[1:16:24] Maverick Company has proposed

[1:16:25] the traffic will run smoothly

[1:16:27] and safely on Oasis and

[1:16:28] Buckthorn Roads because they

[1:16:30] claim that Caltrans will post

[1:16:31] signage, signal signage on

[1:16:33] Oasis Road, and also that the

[1:16:35] post office has agreed

[1:16:37] to alter their traffic flow

[1:16:39] through their parking lot and

[1:16:41] alter their entrance and exit.

[1:16:43] But does the Maverick proposal

[1:16:46] include documented proof that

[1:16:47] Caltrans or the Pinion Hills

[1:16:49] Post Office to show that these

[1:16:50] precautions will occur? If such

[1:16:53] documents were not included

[1:16:54] in the proposal, then why was

[1:16:56] this project approved by the

[1:16:57] Planning Commission? The

[1:16:59] current plan presents a

[1:17:01] dangerous traffic situation

[1:17:02] on Oasis and, Road for Pinion

[1:17:04] Hills residents and for

[1:17:06] Maverick customers accessing

[1:17:07] the gas station. Surely there

[1:17:08] must be commercial ventures

[1:17:10] that are better suited for this

[1:17:11] commercial property. I urge the

[1:17:12] San Bernardino County Board

[1:17:14] of Supervisors

[1:17:16] to overturn the Planning

[1:17:18] Commission's decision This

[1:17:19] poorly planned project should

[1:17:21] never have been approved.

[1:17:22] Thank you.

[1:17:24] >> Thank you very much. Is that

[1:17:28] the last request? One more? It

[1:17:31] has disappeared for me. If you

[1:17:34] can read the name oh, Jan

[1:17:36] Grogan, there it is. Good

[1:17:38] morning.

[1:17:39] >> Good morning, and thank you

[1:17:40] for listening to us. These

[1:17:41] three ladies have just covered

[1:17:43] everything. and I want

[1:17:46] to say that, I have lived in

[1:17:50] Pinion Hill since 2002, and it

[1:17:56] is the most wonderful place

[1:17:59] that I've ever lived. Our

[1:18:01] neighbors are like family.

[1:18:03] They're it's so different than

[1:18:05] other places I've lived that

[1:18:08] were also nice, but the people

[1:18:09] did not have the ethics and the

[1:18:12] responsibility disability these

[1:18:14] people have. And one day I was

[1:18:16] going down Goss Road to

[1:18:17] Oasis, and that's

[1:18:19] about a half a mile south or,

[1:18:20] no, excuse me, north of,

[1:18:22] Pinon Hills Elementary

[1:18:25] School. And a large semi flew

[1:18:28] past the stop sign I was at.

[1:18:30] He had a long flatbed

[1:18:33] behind him. And when he got

[1:18:39] to the, school area, and where

[1:18:40] it says the speed limit should

[1:18:43] drop to 25. He did not slow

[1:18:45] down. I was had turned left,

[1:18:47] and I was behind him, and he

[1:18:49] was completely past that school

[1:18:50] before I even came to it. The

[1:18:52] playground on that elementary

[1:18:56] school is right next to Oasis

[1:19:00] Road. There's a sidewalk that's

[1:19:02] about 4 feet wide, and then the

[1:19:04] fence that keeps the students

[1:19:05] in there. In the afternoons,

[1:19:08] the parents pick these students

[1:19:14] up. Some

[1:19:15] of the students cross Oasis

[1:19:16] Road. They do have somebody

[1:19:18] holding a stop sign, but when

[1:19:20] you have that much traffic,

[1:19:22] those students are put

[1:19:24] at extreme danger. The thoughts

[1:19:26] of losing what we have in that

[1:19:31] rural community just devastates

[1:19:35] me, and it does my neighbors

[1:19:36] too,

[1:19:38] and other people that live in

[1:19:41] Phelan and even up to Hesperia

[1:19:44] realize what we have

[1:19:46] in our area. And why would a

[1:19:49] truck stop be allowed

[1:19:51] to devastate a community

[1:19:54] like this? It's a rural

[1:19:56] community. Why don't they put

[1:19:59] that next to a freeway or in a

[1:20:00] larger city where it would be

[1:20:02] welcomed and,

[1:20:05] people could use that. We don't

[1:20:07] need that in our community

[1:20:08] to destroy or kill or anything

[1:20:10] like that. And will our

[1:20:13] property taxes be raised to

[1:20:15] accommodate the road changes

[1:20:17] that'll have to be made

[1:20:19] for these big trucks? And can

[1:20:22] the people afford them? We have

[1:20:25] wonderful young people

[1:20:26] with children, the most

[1:20:29] wonderful parents I've met

[1:20:31] in my life. They're so

[1:20:33] dedicated to their children.

[1:20:34] Why should they give this up so

[1:20:36] we can have a truck stop up

[1:20:38] there that will devastate

[1:20:39] that's time. Thank you very

[1:20:41] much.

[1:20:47] >> With that, I will entertain

[1:20:48] a motion to continue this item

[1:20:49] to June 9th.

[1:20:50] >> Second.

[1:20:52] >> Thank you, Supervisor

[1:20:54] Hagman. And for the second,

[1:20:55] Vice Chair Baca. All those

[1:20:56] in favor?

[1:20:57] >> Aye.

[1:20:58] >> Any opposed? Any

[1:20:59] abstentions?

[1:21:01] >> With that, Item 106, open

[1:21:02] hearing, has been continued

[1:21:03] to June 9th, 2026. Thank you

[1:21:05] very much. Item number 107 is a

[1:21:07] presentation on the state of

[1:21:08] healthcare and key impacts

[1:21:09] facing hospitals,

[1:21:11] being presented this morning

[1:21:13] by Andrew Goldfrack. Good

[1:21:14] morning.

[1:21:21] >> Good morning, Chair Rowe,

[1:21:23] members of the board. I'm

[1:21:25] Andrew Gofrack, the Chief

[1:21:26] Executive Officer for

[1:21:27] Arrowhead Regional Medical

[1:21:29] Center. Today I'm going

[1:21:30] to provide a brief overview

[1:21:31] on the state of healthcare and

[1:21:32] understanding key impacts, and

[1:21:33] the healthcare landscape that

[1:21:35] we're facing related to HR 1.

[1:21:36] This slide deck should only be,

[1:21:38] about 10 minutes or so, and

[1:21:39] then I'll entertain questions

[1:21:41] as we going to, go

[1:21:43] through this. The objective,

[1:21:44] as I mentioned, is really

[1:21:45] to provide you

[1:21:47] with a clear understanding

[1:21:48] of the healthcare landscape

[1:21:49] within San Bernardino County

[1:21:50] and the potential impacts that

[1:21:52] we all face relating to HR 1.

[1:21:53] the goal really is to look

[1:21:56] at the current landscape,

[1:21:57] provide a, an understanding

[1:21:59] of our current landscape,

[1:22:00] the financial overviews

[1:22:02] of the healthcare systems, and

[1:22:03] then the key headwinds and

[1:22:04] challenges that we're,

[1:22:06] we're facing. Across San

[1:22:08] Bernardino County, there are

[1:22:11] 19 acute care hospitals, 15

[1:22:12] of which are private, 1 owned

[1:22:14] by the county, 2 district

[1:22:15] hospitals, and 1 federal VA

[1:22:17] facility. In addition,

[1:22:19] we have a fair number

[1:22:20] of specialty care hospitals,

[1:22:21] children's hospitals,

[1:22:23] post-acute facilities,

[1:22:24] hospital-based ambulatory

[1:22:25] clinics,

[1:22:26] federally qualified healthcare

[1:22:28] centers, private physician

[1:22:30] practices, mobile clinics,

[1:22:31] etc. These are the services

[1:22:32] that really provide most

[1:22:34] of the healthcare services

[1:22:35] for the residents of San

[1:22:37] Bernardino County. This is just

[1:22:39] a quick snapshot of just the

[1:22:41] different hospitals that we

[1:22:42] have within the county, just

[1:22:43] to kind of give a frame

[1:22:45] of reference.

[1:22:46] But what I really want

[1:22:47] to illustrate is really

[1:22:48] on the next slide, which is the

[1:22:49] inpatient utilization

[1:22:50] of services broken down by the

[1:22:52] payer or how those services are

[1:22:54] funded. Over 40%

[1:22:56] of all inpatient care services

[1:22:58] within San Bernardino County is

[1:22:59] done and paid through,

[1:23:01] Medi-Cal or Medi-Cal managed

[1:23:03] programs. Of that,

[1:23:06] the vast majority

[1:23:08] of those are 83% of that is

[1:23:09] from IEHP. Over 70% overall is

[1:23:12] from a government payer,

[1:23:14] which relates to both Medicare

[1:23:17] and Medi-Cal services. And you

[1:23:19] could see that the top 5

[1:23:20] hospitals that present or that

[1:23:22] receive patient care, from a

[1:23:25] Medi-Cal standpoint is

[1:23:26] Arrowhead Regional Medical

[1:23:28] Center, Loma Linda, Community

[1:23:29] Hospital San Bernardino, St.

[1:23:31] Bernardine, and Providence

[1:23:33] St. Mary's. while there's,

[1:23:35] again, the 19 hospitals,

[1:23:37] these are the top 5 that

[1:23:38] receive Medi-Cal patients on

[1:23:40] the inpatient setting or the

[1:23:43] admitted patients. this is

[1:23:44] different than the emergency

[1:23:46] department services, which,

[1:23:47] as you can see

[1:23:48] on the next slide, similar

[1:23:49] in terms of number

[1:23:50] of hospitals, where the top 5

[1:23:51] hospitals that receive

[1:23:52] Medi-Cal

[1:23:54] on the emergency department is

[1:23:55] Arrowhead, St. Bernardine's

[1:23:56] Community Hospital San

[1:23:58] Bernardino, Providence St.

[1:24:01] Mary's Medical Center, and

[1:24:04] Kaiser Fontana. But what I

[1:24:05] really want to illustrate on

[1:24:06] this slide is the numbers that

[1:24:08] are in front of you. The number

[1:24:10] of population, or for every,

[1:24:12] number population

[1:24:14] within the county for every

[1:24:15] emergency department bed, is

[1:24:17] about 4,445. So

[1:24:19] for every one er bed

[1:24:21] in the county, that represents

[1:24:22] 4,445 residents. That ranks 20

[1:24:25] in the, in the county rankings

[1:24:27] across all 58 counties.

[1:24:28] However, when you look

[1:24:30] at the, counties

[1:24:32] with populations of 2 million

[1:24:34] or more, we're the 3rd highest

[1:24:36] ranked, county in the state.

[1:24:38] The higher the ranking

[1:24:40] in this case is not good. It

[1:24:42] is, it is bad. And then when

[1:24:44] you look at the number of

[1:24:45] emergency department visits per

[1:24:47] bed, we actually rank number 1

[1:24:50] in terms of large counties.

[1:24:51] What this really tells us is

[1:24:53] that we are very much currently

[1:24:54] over underbedded and

[1:24:56] overutilized

[1:24:57] in our emergency departments.

[1:24:59] This is gonna play heavily as

[1:25:00] we talk through some

[1:25:02] of the impacts that we're

[1:25:04] facing over the next 10 years,

[1:25:05] under HR1. In addition

[1:25:09] to the, the hospitals

[1:25:10] themselves, we have 44

[1:25:12] federally qualified healthcare

[1:25:15] centers and 12 community

[1:25:16] healthcare centers. These are

[1:25:18] prime predominantly primary

[1:25:20] care, services that are located

[1:25:21] throughout the county that help

[1:25:23] serve the underserved

[1:25:24] populations within San

[1:25:25] Bernardino County.

[1:25:27] In general, San Bernardino the

[1:25:31] Inland Empire has the lowest

[1:25:32] number

[1:25:34] of primary care physicians per

[1:25:36] 100,000 patients in the nation

[1:25:38] at 35, where the average is

[1:25:40] between 60 to 80 primary care

[1:25:43] physicians per 100,000

[1:25:44] patients. so we are already

[1:25:46] in a very stressed environment

[1:25:49] before any of the impacts

[1:25:51] of H1, which we're about

[1:25:52] to talk about. Do you have a

[1:25:55] question?

[1:25:56] >> I just wonder how Adelanto

[1:25:58] has 4 FQHCs.

[1:25:59] >> I could I'll be able

[1:26:00] to pull the, the data

[1:26:02] for you.

[1:26:05] >> The way the hospitals are,

[1:26:06] are funded, there's really 4

[1:26:08] breakdowns of,

[1:26:10] of funding sources: Medicare,

[1:26:11] Medi-Cal or Medicaid. I'm going

[1:26:14] to use Medicaid and Medi-Cal

[1:26:15] somewhat interchangeably,

[1:26:17] because it Medicaid is the

[1:26:19] federal name and the state

[1:26:21] calls it Medi-Cal. Private

[1:26:22] insurance and then other

[1:26:24] revenue such as grants,

[1:26:25] philanthropy,

[1:26:26] and investments. As I mentioned

[1:26:28] earlier, the vast majority of

[1:26:29] patients that are seeking

[1:26:31] services within San

[1:26:32] Bernardino County fall

[1:26:34] under that Medi-Cal, bucket,

[1:26:35] which really looks at what

[1:26:36] inpatient fee-for-

[1:26:38] fee-for-service payments,

[1:26:40] so per-day basis,

[1:26:42] outpatient capitated rates, and

[1:26:43] then other supplemental

[1:26:44] programs that help offset the

[1:26:45] cost

[1:26:47] of healthcare delivery within,

[1:26:49] the hospitals. When you look

[1:26:52] at the different types

[1:26:53] of payer mix

[1:26:54] between public hospitals,

[1:26:56] district hospitals, and

[1:26:57] private, you could see publics,

[1:26:59] have the vast majority of,

[1:27:01] services under the Medi-Cal,

[1:27:04] and then a much smaller ranking

[1:27:05] on the Medicare and private

[1:27:08] versus the others. However, it

[1:27:09] is important

[1:27:10] to note that as we talk

[1:27:12] about the impacts coming up

[1:27:13] here in a moment, all of the

[1:27:14] uninsured populations

[1:27:16] regardless are going

[1:27:17] to continue

[1:27:19] to increase substantially

[1:27:22] over the next 10 years. and

[1:27:23] that's gonna be play a major

[1:27:25] into the overall distressed

[1:27:27] hospital systems that we're,

[1:27:30] we're gonna be talking about.

[1:27:31] So the reason I share this

[1:27:33] information is to really help

[1:27:34] talk ab and set the stage is

[1:27:35] to really help talk about the

[1:27:36] impacts that we're facing.

[1:27:38] U.S., House Resolution Number

[1:27:40] 1, or the One Big Beautiful

[1:27:41] Bill, was put into law in June

[1:27:43] of 2024, and passed

[1:27:46] by the federal government,

[1:27:47] commonly referred to as the

[1:27:49] One Big Beautiful Bill, which

[1:27:50] is by far the single biggest

[1:27:51] federal funding shift

[1:27:53] for healthcare delivery

[1:27:55] in modern times. This

[1:27:57] reconciliation bill will call

[1:27:58] for a $1 trillion hit to

[1:27:59] Medicaid and Medi-Cal services

[1:28:02] over the next 10 years

[1:28:03] across the nation. That is

[1:28:05] substantial. So what that

[1:28:07] really means is we're going

[1:28:09] to see, kind of

[1:28:11] at a brass tacks,

[1:28:12] substantial loss in Medi-Cal

[1:28:15] coverage as there are multiple

[1:28:17] different initiatives

[1:28:18] under HR 1 relating

[1:28:21] to new work requirements, new

[1:28:22] immigration-related eligibility

[1:28:23] redetermination timelines, as

[1:28:25] well as additional state-level

[1:28:27] Medi-Cal policy changes, as

[1:28:29] well as different federal

[1:28:30] funding restrictions

[1:28:31] across the Medi-Cal programs,

[1:28:33] really shifting the programs

[1:28:34] from the federal government

[1:28:36] to the, the states,

[1:28:38] to the local jurisdictions,

[1:28:39] to the hospitals, and

[1:28:42] to the practice. This is

[1:28:43] on top of already very fragile

[1:28:45] healthcare system where all of

[1:28:46] our costs are not covered

[1:28:47] already by our

[1:28:50] by reimbursement rates. So if

[1:28:51] you think about a house of

[1:28:53] cards that we're already trying

[1:28:55] to juggle today in terms

[1:28:57] of how we finance hospitals,

[1:28:59] we're essentially taking a

[1:29:01] wrecking ball to that, those,

[1:29:04] that house of cards with HR1,

[1:29:05] which is going to result

[1:29:07] in a significant increase

[1:29:08] in uncompensated care,

[1:29:09] significant increase

[1:29:11] in the emergency departments,

[1:29:13] which are already overstressed,

[1:29:14] significant reduction

[1:29:16] in programs, that hospitals

[1:29:17] provide, insurance,

[1:29:19] companies pay for, taxpayers,

[1:29:21] are gonna be impacted as well

[1:29:22] as privately insured services.

[1:29:24] Essentially, when we look at

[1:29:26] the different hospitals and

[1:29:27] health systems, regardless

[1:29:30] of whether you have Medi-Cal,

[1:29:32] Medicaid, or private insurance,

[1:29:34] if a hospital ends up reducing

[1:29:36] services or closing those

[1:29:37] services down as a result of

[1:29:39] HR1 or other financial impacts,

[1:29:40] it's gonna affect all patients.

[1:29:42] Regardless

[1:29:43] of who their payer is, because

[1:29:44] those services will no longer

[1:29:46] be necessary or needed. Great

[1:29:48] example

[1:29:50] of this is there was a hospital

[1:29:51] in Riverside County that

[1:29:52] recently closed

[1:29:53] down its maternity services.

[1:29:55] As a result, regardless

[1:29:56] of the payer, anyone looking

[1:29:57] to seek those services has

[1:29:59] to go now go to Pomona Valley

[1:30:01] or somewhere else. The timeline

[1:30:02] for HR 1 is quite extensive

[1:30:05] over the next several years.

[1:30:07] this slide is actually intense

[1:30:08] and intentionally complex and

[1:30:10] busy because it really helps

[1:30:12] illustrate the complexity of

[1:30:15] just all the different phases

[1:30:18] that HR1 has put into place.

[1:30:21] However, the big key dates

[1:30:22] to really pay attention

[1:30:24] to is this upcoming October

[1:30:26] where we start

[1:30:27] to see the reduction

[1:30:28] in the federal Medicare

[1:30:29] assistance program or the

[1:30:31] federal share, January 2027

[1:30:33] where we start to see a lot

[1:30:34] of the work requirements go

[1:30:36] into place and we'll start

[1:30:38] to see a significant decrease

[1:30:39] in Medi-Cal enrollees. And then

[1:30:41] in 2028, in January, we'll

[1:30:42] start to see a lot of the

[1:30:44] supplemental programs that

[1:30:45] hospitals rely on decrease

[1:30:46] at a 10% clip year over year

[1:30:48] for the next 10 years. This is

[1:30:50] going to drive down a lot of

[1:30:51] the financial challenges that

[1:30:53] we're going to be seeing

[1:30:54] over the next several years.

[1:30:58] Nationally, you can see the

[1:30:59] breakdown here

[1:31:01] on this slide that really talks

[1:31:02] about just where the dollars

[1:31:04] are coming from. That draws

[1:31:05] down to that $1 trillion. A lot

[1:31:06] of it is the cuts to the

[1:31:08] Medicare, Medi-Cal eligibility

[1:31:09] at around $550 $566 billion,

[1:31:14] cuts to benefits, cuts to

[1:31:16] general financing. we've seen

[1:31:18] some reductions already

[1:31:19] in the subsidies tied to the

[1:31:21] Affordable Care Act, and we've

[1:31:23] started to see reductions

[1:31:25] in individuals being enrolled

[1:31:27] in Medi-Cal as a result

[1:31:28] of that. And that's what drives

[1:31:30] up the $1 trillion The CBO is

[1:31:32] projecting about 11.8 million

[1:31:34] people are gonna be reduced er,

[1:31:36] losing coverage as a result

[1:31:39] directly of the, ah, of HR 1,

[1:31:40] as well as an additional 5.1

[1:31:42] million people will be losing

[1:31:43] coverage as a result of some

[1:31:44] of the changes in,

[1:31:46] the ACA program. Bringing that

[1:31:48] down to the state and to the,

[1:31:50] the local levels, across

[1:31:52] California we're gonna actually

[1:31:53] see over the next 10 years

[1:31:56] about a $120 billion impact.

[1:31:58] Impact, as well as, locally

[1:32:00] within the San Bernardino

[1:32:01] County region, roughly

[1:32:03] about a $6.4 billion impact

[1:32:05] to how hospitals are, are able

[1:32:07] to be financed. This is on top

[1:32:09] of things that are already

[1:32:11] happening, since we've designed

[1:32:13] this presentation. recently we

[1:32:14] saw

[1:32:15] in the news that CMS has

[1:32:17] decided to withhold $1.3

[1:32:18] billion in the federal share

[1:32:20] of the Medi-Cal program. so

[1:32:21] we're gonna start to see some

[1:32:23] additional impacts directly as

[1:32:26] a result of that as well. From

[1:32:27] a public hospital standpoint,

[1:32:32] this, waterfall slide,

[1:32:34] we call this the, the slide

[1:32:36] of doom. Unfortunately, this is

[1:32:37] for all the 17 public hospitals

[1:32:38] and health systems

[1:32:39] across the state of

[1:32:41] California. We are looking

[1:32:43] at anywhere from, in 2026, a

[1:32:44] $1.7 billion hit all the way

[1:32:46] down to about a $4 to $6

[1:32:48] billion hit just in the public

[1:32:50] hospital systems alone directly

[1:32:52] as relates to HR1,

[1:32:53] as well as some of the state,

[1:32:55] changes we saw in the May

[1:32:59] revise. the governor has called

[1:33:00] for a change

[1:33:02] in how we reimburse,

[1:33:04] the hospitals for the what we

[1:33:06] call the UIS population, or the

[1:33:07] unsatisfactory immigration

[1:33:10] status population,

[1:33:11] and shifting them

[1:33:13] from responsibilities of the

[1:33:14] managed care plans directly to

[1:33:15] what's called a

[1:33:16] fee-for-service. That

[1:33:17] in and itself is going

[1:33:19] to have an $800 million impact

[1:33:21] to the public hospitals.

[1:33:23] Specifically across San

[1:33:24] Bernardino itself, we're, ah,

[1:33:25] anticipating about 300,000,

[1:33:27] individuals that are at risk

[1:33:29] of losing coverage. Roughly 20%

[1:33:30] of, ah, I EHP's patient

[1:33:32] population is gonna lose their

[1:33:34] coverage over the next 3 years

[1:33:35] as a result

[1:33:37] of the workforce requirements,

[1:33:39] the UIS populations,

[1:33:41] and others. This is gonna

[1:33:42] directly result in an increase

[1:33:44] in the er becoming primary care

[1:33:45] services and a significant

[1:33:46] increase in the emergency

[1:33:48] department utilization,

[1:33:49] again emphasizing an overtaxing

[1:33:50] of the emergency department,

[1:33:52] which is already overtaxed as

[1:33:54] it sits today. As a direct

[1:33:57] result, we're gonna continue to

[1:33:58] see increased financial

[1:34:00] pressures on the different

[1:34:02] county systems. We're gonna see

[1:34:03] potential service lines closed

[1:34:04] or reduced

[1:34:06] across the different hospitals,

[1:34:07] not only in this county but

[1:34:08] across the region and

[1:34:10] across the state and across the

[1:34:11] nation. as well as a lot

[1:34:13] of the federal restrictions,

[1:34:15] on the provider taxes to

[1:34:16] Medi-Cal, which will result

[1:34:17] in additional, financial

[1:34:19] reductions and financial

[1:34:20] pressures to,

[1:34:22] to the different hospitals.

[1:34:24] The California Hospital

[1:34:26] Association has put up these

[1:34:28] numbers, which is in 2025

[1:34:29] there's about 34 a little

[1:34:31] over 3,300 layoffs

[1:34:36] in hospitals, which is greater

[1:34:37] than the last 5-year average

[1:34:39] of 2,235 layoffs directly as a

[1:34:41] result of hospitals being

[1:34:43] getting prepared

[1:34:44] for HR1 impacts. 2026,

[1:34:47] across the nation, 46 sorry,

[1:34:49] 42 healthcare organizations

[1:34:51] have already announced layoffs.

[1:34:53] That is far on out to outpace

[1:34:56] 2025 by a long shot as we look

[1:34:59] at what are the impacts

[1:35:00] across the region and across

[1:35:04] the nation are facing. these

[1:35:05] are gonna, again, affect not

[1:35:07] only the vulnerable populations

[1:35:09] that Medi-Cal serves,

[1:35:12] but really across the entire

[1:35:14] region and all patient

[1:35:15] populations regardless

[1:35:17] of who their payer is. So kind

[1:35:19] of in, in, in summary and some

[1:35:20] key takeaways, HR 1 is gonna be

[1:35:22] driving significant federal

[1:35:24] funding restrictions and

[1:35:25] reductions that will reshape

[1:35:27] the healthcare delivery system

[1:35:28] as we know it today. Today.

[1:35:31] The county as it, as itself,

[1:35:32] the county in itself, is

[1:35:34] already disproportionately

[1:35:35] impacted due

[1:35:37] to the high volume of Medi-Cal

[1:35:39] recipients. Already 40% of,

[1:35:41] of all inpatient utilization is

[1:35:42] Medi-Cal, so we're going

[1:35:44] to see a significant increase

[1:35:45] in the uninsured populations

[1:35:47] here locally,

[1:35:48] and the hospitals are going

[1:35:50] to continue to grow,

[1:35:52] and face significant financial,

[1:35:53] instability that will contain

[1:35:55] that will lead

[1:35:56] to potential reductions of

[1:35:58] services or even potential

[1:36:00] hospital closures. as well as

[1:36:01] the uninsured care is gonna

[1:36:03] continue to utilize the er,

[1:36:05] as primary care services,

[1:36:07] which will, again, continue

[1:36:08] to inundate the, the er.

[1:36:10] Also, as we've talked about

[1:36:11] in other presentations

[1:36:13] in the past, the county systems

[1:36:16] will likely have

[1:36:18] to absorb a fair amount

[1:36:20] of the cost due to this 17

[1:36:22] Section 17,000 of the Health

[1:36:24] and Safety Code. So,

[1:36:27] from an action steps and,

[1:36:29] and what we're working on,

[1:36:31] we're continuing our

[1:36:32] consolidated ongoing advocacy

[1:36:34] efforts at the state and

[1:36:35] at the federal levels. Each

[1:36:36] different hospital and health

[1:36:38] systems has their own

[1:36:39] mitigation plans that they're

[1:36:41] working through to try

[1:36:43] to mitigate this to the extent

[1:36:45] possible. as well as we're

[1:36:46] partnering very closely

[1:36:47] with the health plans,

[1:36:48] probably predominantly IHP and

[1:36:49] Molina, which are the two

[1:36:50] Medi-Cal plans in San

[1:36:51] Bernardino County, as well as

[1:36:52] the Transitional Assistance

[1:36:54] Department here, in the county

[1:36:56] on Medi-Cal enrollment. this

[1:36:58] was really just a again,

[1:36:59] wanted to provide just an

[1:37:00] overview. unfortunately it's

[1:37:01] not a good overview,

[1:37:03] but an overview of,

[1:37:04] what we're facing

[1:37:05] over the next 10 years

[1:37:06] in hospital financing,

[1:37:07] as a result of the federal and

[1:37:09] state changes. And with that,

[1:37:10] I'd like to open up

[1:37:11] with any questions.

[1:37:12] >> Thank you. I would like to

[1:37:13] clarify that this is not meant

[1:37:14] to be political at all,

[1:37:15] just laying out of the facts.

[1:37:18] And I,

[1:37:19] I know that this has a tendency

[1:37:21] to go political,

[1:37:22] and we are charged with living

[1:37:24] within our means

[1:37:25] from whatever is handed to us

[1:37:26] from any other outside source.

[1:37:29] And so I appreciate you laying

[1:37:30] out what the options will be

[1:37:32] and the things that we will be

[1:37:33] facing.

[1:37:35] >> Absolutely. Yeah, this is

[1:37:36] absolutely apolitical. This is

[1:37:37] really just based

[1:37:39] off the numbers, the,

[1:37:40] the actuary reviews,

[1:37:41] as well as the,

[1:37:42] the language that's

[1:37:43] within the laws written.

[1:37:45] >> Very good.

[1:37:47] >> Supervisor Hagman.

[1:37:48] >> Thank you. And, thank you,

[1:37:49] Andrew, for I appreciate the

[1:37:50] ups and downs that you have to

[1:37:51] do as a hospital administrator.

[1:37:53] I've been here long enough

[1:37:54] to know

[1:37:55] before ACA what it was like,

[1:37:57] and that was 10 years ago where

[1:37:58] they put trillions of dollars

[1:38:00] into the medical system,

[1:38:01] and now they're taking some

[1:38:02] of those resources back out

[1:38:04] over the next 10 years. So

[1:38:07] there was a plan before ACA.

[1:38:10] There will be a plan

[1:38:12] after ACA. There will be a plan

[1:38:13] if it changes again

[1:38:14] with the next administration.

[1:38:17] And, I do hope that we still

[1:38:20] consider, our biggest cost is

[1:38:22] using that emergency room when,

[1:38:23] when people don't necessarily

[1:38:26] need those emergency services.

[1:38:27] They can use regular doctors

[1:38:28] and stuff. And I know we'll

[1:38:30] continue

[1:38:31] to coordinate as chair

[1:38:32] of IHP right now

[1:38:33] with my colleagues

[1:38:34] on that board, the changing

[1:38:35] landscape that comes out.

[1:38:36] And, but I, I've seen it,

[1:38:39] our budget before we had those

[1:38:40] extra dollars. And, hopefully

[1:38:42] we can adjust as the political

[1:38:45] climate changes on the federal

[1:38:46] side and where our

[1:38:47] representatives feel

[1:38:49] like their priorities are

[1:38:50] to spend those dollars. Thank

[1:38:52] you.

[1:38:53] >> Thank you.

[1:38:56] >> Yeah, thank you, Madam

[1:38:57] Chair. I appreciate Andrew,

[1:38:59] bringing up the potential

[1:39:00] impacts of HR 1. And I know

[1:39:01] that you and I have had

[1:39:02] several, several conversations

[1:39:03] in regards to the impact.

[1:39:04] But, something sometimes

[1:39:06] to keep in mind is part

[1:39:08] of the reason why our,

[1:39:09] our volume is so high is

[1:39:10] because of the amount

[1:39:12] of services. It's almost a

[1:39:13] double-edged sword.

[1:39:15] >> We offer a lot at

[1:39:16] Arrowhead Regional Medical

[1:39:17] Center.

[1:39:18] >> One of the things is we're

[1:39:19] one of two Level 1 trauma units

[1:39:20] in the County of San

[1:39:21] Bernardino, so that tends

[1:39:22] to draw a high amount

[1:39:24] of volume. The other thing is

[1:39:26] the, the homeless population.

[1:39:28] And a lot of times and Andrew

[1:39:29] understands this that our

[1:39:30] homeless population can stay

[1:39:32] in a bed up to 90 days. So I

[1:39:34] know one

[1:39:35] of the things we're looking

[1:39:36] at is looking

[1:39:37] at alternatives. I think one

[1:39:38] of the items we're looking

[1:39:39] at later on today or in the

[1:39:40] near future is

[1:39:41] to find alternatives

[1:39:42] to transition those individuals

[1:39:43] out of our beds, which are

[1:39:44] much, much needed. The other

[1:39:45] thing that Arrowhead Regional

[1:39:47] Medical Center does do is they

[1:39:49] airlift 2 to 3 individuals

[1:39:50] sometimes out of the area and

[1:39:52] out of the county. And people

[1:39:54] don't realize Arrowhead

[1:39:56] Regional Medical Center, not

[1:39:57] just serves the Valley,

[1:39:58] but it serves a lot of the

[1:40:00] High Desert. And one of the

[1:40:01] challenges is that our

[1:40:02] hospitals in the High Desert

[1:40:04] tend to struggle or not have

[1:40:05] the services that we offer

[1:40:06] down here. So that has a huge

[1:40:08] impact, as we look at access

[1:40:09] to healthcare. But, I

[1:40:11] appreciate what Andrew has done

[1:40:13] to try to maintain it and,

[1:40:14] and keep this and keep

[1:40:16] in mind, this is one

[1:40:18] of few hospitals in the entire

[1:40:19] state that does not use any

[1:40:21] general fund money. So they've

[1:40:23] done a great job managing the

[1:40:24] money, making sure that they

[1:40:25] get reimbursements.

[1:40:26] But as time goes on,

[1:40:27] we know it's going

[1:40:28] to become much,

[1:40:29] much more challenging.

[1:40:30] But just want to thank you

[1:40:32] for that update. And I think

[1:40:33] there's a lot of things that,

[1:40:34] on the basis of time,

[1:40:36] could not talk about. But, I

[1:40:38] think those are key things

[1:40:39] for individuals

[1:40:41] to understand. Because

[1:40:42] of the services we offer,

[1:40:44] because we don't turn down

[1:40:45] anyone and we take everybody,

[1:40:46] that is a big cost

[1:40:48] to our system. But thanks

[1:40:49] for the report.

[1:40:54] >> Yeah, I wanna echo some

[1:40:55] of the comments of, of my,

[1:40:57] counterparts here, but, I think

[1:40:58] this is also an opportunity. I

[1:40:59] try to always look at,

[1:41:01] the glass half full, not half

[1:41:05] empty, and,

[1:41:07] maybe this is an opportunity

[1:41:08] for us to reorganize, and,

[1:41:09] and maybe we as San

[1:41:10] Bernardino County can actually,

[1:41:11] show what a well-run hospital

[1:41:13] can do, when given the

[1:41:16] opportunity. things

[1:41:18] like looking at how we are

[1:41:20] addressing our people who are

[1:41:22] coming in, the emergency rooms,

[1:41:24] are undocumented, are,

[1:41:27] maybe we need to have,

[1:41:28] small pop-ups where people are,

[1:41:30] getting service not

[1:41:34] in the emergency room or prior

[1:41:36] to getting emergency room,

[1:41:37] like some sort of urgent care

[1:41:39] or mobile medicine. explored

[1:41:41] at a higher level, or,

[1:41:44] being proactive with,

[1:41:46] especially those who don't

[1:41:49] have, insurances. How do we

[1:41:50] find ways to get them, if they,

[1:41:51] if they choose

[1:41:52] to be vaccinated, getting them

[1:41:54] those, basic proactive care,

[1:41:56] and really focusing on the

[1:42:00] preventative versus having them

[1:42:02] come in when it's too late. I

[1:42:04] think that could be an

[1:42:05] opportunity

[1:42:07] for us and just really looking

[1:42:09] at that. those are all my

[1:42:12] comments.

[1:42:13] >> All right, I think that is

[1:42:16] it. Since this is a receive and

[1:42:17] file, thank you very much. We

[1:42:18] appreciate the update. And

[1:42:21] with that, we will move on

[1:42:25] to agenda item number 108.

[1:42:26] Before we do start 108, I

[1:42:27] wanted

[1:42:28] to just make an announcement

[1:42:30] for housekeeping. We will break

[1:42:31] at noon and take a 15-minute

[1:42:32] recess. and then we'll

[1:42:34] reconvene at 12:15. So 108 is a

[1:42:35] public hearing on Government

[1:42:39] Code Section 3502.3, which is

[1:42:41] AB 2561 regarding vacancies and

[1:42:43] recruitment presentation being

[1:42:45] presented this morning by Leo

[1:42:48] Gonzalez. We'll open the public

[1:42:54] hearing. Good morning, Leo.

[1:42:55] >> Good morning, Chair Rowe,

[1:42:57] and Members of the Board of

[1:43:02] Supervisors, I'm Leo

[1:43:03] Gonzalez, Human Resources

[1:43:04] Director, and I'm here

[1:43:05] to present to you on

[1:43:06] California Assembly Bill 2561

[1:43:07] and the status of the county's

[1:43:09] vacancy recruitment and

[1:43:11] retention process. California

[1:43:14] Assembly Bill 2561 became

[1:43:15] effective January 1st, 2025,

[1:43:17] and mandates that the public

[1:43:19] agencies annually assess and

[1:43:20] report

[1:43:22] on job vacancy agencies. This

[1:43:23] information must be present

[1:43:24] like, I mean, do this slide

[1:43:28] here. this information must,

[1:43:32] present vacancy and recruitment

[1:43:33] data at a public hearing,

[1:43:35] before finalizing the budget.

[1:43:37] The purpose of the law is

[1:43:38] to enhance transparency. The

[1:43:40] county is excited

[1:43:41] by the opportunity to present

[1:43:42] to the public the ongoing

[1:43:43] strategies to address

[1:43:45] recruitment and retention.

[1:43:48] Today's topics will include

[1:43:52] county workforce,

[1:43:53] hiring and recruitment

[1:43:55] strategies, retention

[1:43:56] strategies, recruitment

[1:43:58] outcomes, public I'm sorry,

[1:43:59] position vacancy summary,

[1:44:00] and vacancies

[1:44:02] by bargaining unit. So what's

[1:44:05] the county's workforce and what

[1:44:06] do they do? The county is proud

[1:44:07] to showcase the people

[1:44:09] behind the services. The

[1:44:11] following graphic gives you a

[1:44:12] snapshot

[1:44:13] of our county workforce,

[1:44:14] highlighting the number

[1:44:15] of dedicated staff, available

[1:44:17] opportunities, and a glance at

[1:44:19] the different services that

[1:44:21] help the community every day.

[1:44:23] what services do we provide

[1:44:24] by the county? The county

[1:44:25] delivers a wide variety

[1:44:26] of services

[1:44:28] to support our community,

[1:44:29] including public safety,

[1:44:30] health and human services,

[1:44:31] community services, road and

[1:44:33] infrastructure, land use,

[1:44:35] environment, along

[1:44:36] with county operations. What is

[1:44:40] the what is the county's hiring

[1:44:42] and recruiting strategies? How

[1:44:44] does the county find and hire

[1:44:45] people? We spread the word

[1:44:47] through social media,

[1:44:49] community outreach and events,

[1:44:51] building partnerships,

[1:44:53] and using advertising tools.

[1:44:54] We build career pathways,

[1:44:56] programs such as SPARK, Youth

[1:44:58] Employment Program, Career

[1:44:59] Technical Education

[1:45:00] Connectional Programs,

[1:45:02] internships, apprenticeships,

[1:45:03] and entry-level jobs that get

[1:45:05] people started and grow their

[1:45:06] careers with the county. We

[1:45:07] make it easy to apply. The

[1:45:09] online application is simple,

[1:45:10] mobile-friendly,

[1:45:11] and provides the ability

[1:45:12] to apply for several jobs

[1:45:13] at once. I'd like

[1:45:15] to highlight a couple

[1:45:17] of the many 2025 outcomes. We

[1:45:19] attended 89 outreach events

[1:45:20] across the county,

[1:45:22] netting interactions with

[1:45:23] over 7,000 attendees.

[1:45:28] Retention strategies how does

[1:45:29] the county keep good,

[1:45:31] good employees? We make sure

[1:45:32] jobs match work

[1:45:33] by reviewing job descriptions.

[1:45:35] We understand what's working

[1:45:37] and what's not by monitoring

[1:45:39] hiring and staffing trends. We

[1:45:41] listen and respond

[1:45:42] through labor negotiations. We

[1:45:43] work to make pay,

[1:45:44] pay competitive

[1:45:45] within the market.

[1:45:46] To highlight a couple

[1:45:47] of the many 2025 outcomes, 485

[1:45:48] classifications were modified

[1:45:50] and 43 classifications received

[1:45:52] equity adjustments.

[1:45:55] Recruitment outcomes. Is the

[1:45:56] county hiring the right people

[1:45:58] and fast enough? Yes, we're

[1:45:59] reaching more people. Our

[1:46:01] increased outreach has boosted

[1:46:02] awareness

[1:46:03] of the county as a great place

[1:46:05] to work. we're growing future

[1:46:06] talent, we're hiring faster,

[1:46:08] we keep jobs filled thanks to

[1:46:09] strong recruitment and

[1:46:11] retention efforts. Our vacancy

[1:46:13] rates stay low. Award-winning

[1:46:15] the county earned a prestigious

[1:46:16] challenge award from

[1:46:17] California State Association

[1:46:19] of Counties, CSAC, for our

[1:46:21] Rapid Hire program. Let me show

[1:46:23] a couple of 2025 outcomes. We

[1:46:27] recruited for 1,150 positions.

[1:46:29] and during this process,

[1:46:31] we were able to hire 2,668 new

[1:46:33] hires and promoted over 2,800

[1:46:35] employees within the county.

[1:46:40] So let's get to the numbers.

[1:46:42] at a high level, the county's

[1:46:44] position vacancy summary

[1:46:45] for all bargaining units

[1:46:46] between April 13th, 2025 and

[1:46:48] April 13th, 2026 was an

[1:46:49] impressive 13.71%

[1:46:51] in comparison

[1:46:53] to last year's presentation

[1:46:54] of 15.31%. This is a reduction

[1:46:57] from last year about 1.6%. If

[1:46:58] you look at, if you look

[1:47:01] at the right side

[1:47:03] of the slide, you will see a

[1:47:04] high-level position vacancy

[1:47:06] summary breakout by the

[1:47:07] respective bargaining groups. I

[1:47:09] will now navigate to the,

[1:47:10] to each

[1:47:12] of these bargaining groups to

[1:47:13] better understand how we

[1:47:15] arrived at the overall position

[1:47:17] vacancy rate. First up is

[1:47:19] Teamsters Local 1932. As of

[1:47:21] April 13, 2026, the position

[1:47:23] vacancy rate was 14.64% for

[1:47:25] Teamsters. That number reduced

[1:47:27] by 2%

[1:47:28] from last year's 16.72% and

[1:47:29] below the AB 2561 threshold

[1:47:32] of 20% vacancy rate. This is

[1:47:35] good work by departments across

[1:47:37] the county and filling their

[1:47:39] vacancies. Next up is

[1:47:44] Sheriff's Employee Benefit

[1:47:45] Association, SEBA. As of April

[1:47:47] 13th, 2026, SEBA's position

[1:47:49] vacancy rate was about 9.14%.

[1:47:51] While this number is

[1:47:52] approximately 1.5% higher than

[1:47:54] last year's,

[1:47:55] this is attributed

[1:47:57] to approximately 131 sheriff's

[1:47:59] trainees currently in the

[1:48:00] academy that will soon be added

[1:48:02] to the workforce,

[1:48:03] thus improving these numbers.

[1:48:04] Bear

[1:48:05] in mind that these numbers are

[1:48:07] near impressive 11%

[1:48:08] below AB 2561's threshold.

[1:48:10] Great work by the Sheriff's

[1:48:12] Department, the Fire

[1:48:13] District, Probation

[1:48:14] Department, District

[1:48:15] Attorney's Office, and others

[1:48:16] in filling their vacancies.

[1:48:19] Next up, let's transition

[1:48:21] to SEIU Local 721. As of April

[1:48:22] 13, 2026, the position vacancy

[1:48:23] rate was 17.74

[1:48:26] for this group. That number has

[1:48:29] improved by 2%

[1:48:31] from a year ago, below the AB

[1:48:34] 2561 threshold of 20%. Good

[1:48:36] work by CFS, DBH,

[1:48:38] and other departments

[1:48:39] in working to fill their

[1:48:43] hard-to-fill recruitment

[1:48:44] efforts. This is followed by

[1:48:45] California Nurses

[1:48:47] Association, CNA. As of April

[1:48:48] 13, 2026, CNA's position

[1:48:49] vacancy rate was 12.39%. While

[1:48:51] this dropped to 0.75%, it is

[1:48:53] notable that this bargaining

[1:48:55] group is made up

[1:48:56] of nurse classifications

[1:48:58] across the county. This

[1:49:00] position the, the position

[1:49:02] vacancy rate is well

[1:49:04] below the AB 2561 threshold of

[1:49:06] by almost 8%. Great work

[1:49:08] by ARMC, the Sheriff's

[1:49:10] Department, Probation, DBH,

[1:49:11] Public Health, and other

[1:49:12] departments who fill these

[1:49:13] positions. Let's talk about

[1:49:16] Professional Firefighters

[1:49:19] Local 935. As of April 13,

[1:49:21] 2026, the position vacancy rate

[1:49:23] was 11.17 for this group. That

[1:49:25] compared to last year's 16.50

[1:49:28] is a reduction of over 5% and

[1:49:30] below the AB 2561 threshold

[1:49:32] of 20% vacancy rate. The fire

[1:49:34] district has been impressive

[1:49:36] on the recruitment efforts. So

[1:49:40] next up is San Bernardino

[1:49:41] County Probation Officers

[1:49:43] Association, POA. As of April

[1:49:45] 13th, 2026, the POA's position

[1:49:47] vacancy rate was 8.68%. This

[1:49:49] dropped approximately 3.5% from

[1:49:51] last year's 12.20%. this

[1:49:52] position vacancy rate is well

[1:49:57] below the AB 2561 threshold

[1:50:01] by almost 11.5%. great work

[1:50:03] by the probation department.

[1:50:07] This is followed by San

[1:50:08] Bernardino County Public

[1:50:09] Attorneys Association

[1:50:10] Attorneys Unit. As of April

[1:50:11] 13th, 2026, the position

[1:50:13] vacancy rate was 10.80

[1:50:15] for this group. That number was

[1:50:17] has improved by 2.7%

[1:50:19] from last year

[1:50:21] from a year ago, excuse me,

[1:50:23] and below the AB 2561 threshold

[1:50:25] of 20% by over 9%. Good work

[1:50:28] by the District Attorney, the

[1:50:30] Public Defenders, and others

[1:50:31] filling those positions. Up

[1:50:34] next is International Union

[1:50:35] of Operational Engineers Local

[1:50:37] 12, IUOE. As of April 13th,

[1:50:40] 2026, the IUOE's position

[1:50:42] vacancy rate was 7.14. That

[1:50:46] drop of approximately 11.25 is

[1:50:48] striking. The position vacancy

[1:50:50] rate is well below AB 2561

[1:50:51] threshold by almost 13%. Great

[1:50:55] work by the fire district.

[1:51:00] Next up is the Association of

[1:51:01] San Bernardino County Fire

[1:51:03] Management. As of April 13th,

[1:51:04] 2026, the position vacancy rate

[1:51:06] was 3.45% for this group. That

[1:51:08] compared to last year's 13.79%

[1:51:10] is a reduction of over 10% and

[1:51:12] below the 2 below the AB 2561

[1:51:14] threshold of 20% vacancy rate

[1:51:17] by more than 16.5%. The fire

[1:51:22] district has steadfast

[1:51:23] recruitment efforts

[1:51:24] to continue

[1:51:25] to do these things. Okay, the

[1:51:31] last bargaining group to share

[1:51:32] with you today is the

[1:51:34] International Brotherhood of

[1:51:35] Electrical Workers Local 47,

[1:51:37] IBW. As of April 13, 2026, the

[1:51:40] position vacancy rate was

[1:51:41] 21.43% for IBW. This year's

[1:51:45] number is approximately 7%

[1:51:48] higher than it was last year's

[1:51:50] figure, at 14.29%. As I

[1:51:52] mentioned previously

[1:51:53] in the slides, AB 2561's

[1:51:54] threshold 20% vacancy rate. So

[1:51:57] we were slightly

[1:51:58] over a threshold. So I'd like

[1:52:02] to take a moment to talk about

[1:52:04] the recruitment challenges and

[1:52:05] opportunities for this group.

[1:52:06] This is one

[1:52:07] of the smaller bargaining

[1:52:09] groups within the county that

[1:52:10] provides specialized services

[1:52:11] for public works special

[1:52:12] districts. It's a dedicated

[1:52:14] it's, it's a delicate balancing

[1:52:16] act as a staffing size can

[1:52:17] easily skew vacancy rates

[1:52:18] for this group. You will see

[1:52:20] illustrated on the graph the 3

[1:52:21] classifications that triggered

[1:52:23] the vacancy rate Those are

[1:52:25] maintenance worker 1/training,

[1:52:26] maintenance worker 2 and 3,

[1:52:28] treatment plant operator 4. So

[1:52:30] what's prompting the

[1:52:32] recruitment retention

[1:52:34] challenges? Limited qualified

[1:52:36] candidate pools to this,

[1:52:38] that require specialized

[1:52:39] certificates, technical

[1:52:40] experience,

[1:52:42] and licensure requirements.

[1:52:43] Remote service locations along

[1:52:45] with travel requirements impact

[1:52:46] the recruitment effort. Early

[1:52:48] turnover as employees obtain

[1:52:50] certificates and transfer

[1:52:51] to local water districts.

[1:52:53] However, the,

[1:52:55] the special districts continues

[1:52:56] to focus

[1:52:57] on recruitment efforts along

[1:52:59] with retention efforts to

[1:53:00] ensure that we have a that we

[1:53:01] can meet those workforce

[1:53:05] challenges. Let me share with

[1:53:06] you the recruitment outcomes.

[1:53:08] What are we doing to improve

[1:53:09] our candidate pool and our

[1:53:11] ability

[1:53:12] to hire quality candidates?

[1:53:14] While you, while you see

[1:53:15] illustrated that we received

[1:53:16] applicants, for all 3

[1:53:18] classifications, right, you

[1:53:20] see, large number of candidates

[1:53:21] that apply these positions,

[1:53:23] the list dwindles down once we

[1:53:24] actually start meeting the

[1:53:25] qualifications that are needed

[1:53:26] for these jobs. As such, the

[1:53:28] team has implemented

[1:53:29] recruitment strategies

[1:53:30] to increase our candidate pool.

[1:53:31] So I'll use maintenance worker

[1:53:32] 1 as an example. A rapid hire

[1:53:34] event filled 4 other vacancies.

[1:53:36] recruitment efforts generated

[1:53:37] 83 eligible candidates,

[1:53:39] and we're moving much faster

[1:53:40] to get candidates

[1:53:41] through the pipeline by

[1:53:42] ensuring that our certification

[1:53:44] lists are being much quicker.

[1:53:45] In this particular case, 7

[1:53:47] business days. There are

[1:53:48] currently 2 job offers for

[1:53:49] maintenance worker training.

[1:53:51] Once these positions are

[1:53:52] filled,

[1:53:53] the threshold we will go from

[1:53:54] 21.45 to 16.67. Again, 1

[1:53:57] vacancy for this group,

[1:53:58] could very easily put you

[1:54:00] above the 20% threshold, based

[1:54:02] on the number

[1:54:03] of positions we actually have

[1:54:05] within the group. Next up is

[1:54:06] the maintenance worker 2,

[1:54:07] continuous year-round

[1:54:08] recruitments

[1:54:09] to maintain candidate pool. So

[1:54:10] we're ensuring that we're

[1:54:12] continuously looking

[1:54:13] at that list as opposed

[1:54:14] to waiting for vacancies

[1:54:15] to occur. The average

[1:54:17] turnaround time to actually get

[1:54:18] these lists prepared,

[1:54:19] it takes us 3 business days.

[1:54:20] Last one is the treatment plan

[1:54:21] operator 4. This is now a

[1:54:23] continuous year-round

[1:54:24] recruitment

[1:54:25] to maintain candidate pool in

[1:54:26] the event that we have a

[1:54:27] separation from this group.

[1:54:29] And again, it's taking us

[1:54:30] about 3 days to, to, 3 business

[1:54:32] days to turn

[1:54:33] around getting candidates to

[1:54:34] the process. so what are we

[1:54:37] doing from a compensation

[1:54:38] workplace enhancements to

[1:54:40] support recruitment and

[1:54:42] retention? The board approved a

[1:54:43] successor MOU for 2024

[1:54:45] through 2027, a member

[1:54:47] understanding providing

[1:54:48] multiple-year compensation

[1:54:50] stability that included

[1:54:51] increased employer medical

[1:54:52] premium contributions to reduce

[1:54:54] employees' healthcare costs.

[1:54:55] We've implemented 14% total

[1:54:58] salary increases over the term

[1:54:59] of this contract, including a

[1:55:01] new top salary step increasing

[1:55:03] maximum pay, by 2.5%. And, and

[1:55:04] the board approved 10% salary

[1:55:06] equity adjustments

[1:55:07] for the maintenance worker 1

[1:55:08] through 3 series, along

[1:55:10] with the, Treatment Plant

[1:55:11] Operator 1 through 4

[1:55:13] classifications. These efforts

[1:55:16] have strengthened the county's

[1:55:19] ability

[1:55:20] to recruit and retain employees

[1:55:21] in historically hard-to-fill

[1:55:23] positions. I'd like

[1:55:27] to thank the board, our CEO

[1:55:29] Luther, along with our

[1:55:30] assistant executive officers

[1:55:32] and department executives

[1:55:33] for collaborating with Human

[1:55:34] Resources and filling our

[1:55:36] vacancies, along

[1:55:37] with our chief financial

[1:55:38] officer

[1:55:39] for creating opportunities

[1:55:40] for us to recruit and retain a

[1:55:42] talented the workforce. Does

[1:55:43] the board have any questions,

[1:55:44] comments, or for me?

[1:55:46] >> Thank you very much

[1:55:47] for that presentation.

[1:55:48] Supervisor Hagman.

[1:55:49] >> It's not

[1:55:50] like I broke a record today,

[1:55:52] but again, I appreciate that

[1:55:53] you put last year's

[1:55:54] percentages,

[1:55:55] but as this is a requirement

[1:55:56] to do annual reporting now,

[1:55:58] it'd be nice

[1:55:59] to start just yeah,

[1:56:00] just trend it in,

[1:56:02] in so we can look

[1:56:03] at overall trends

[1:56:04] over the years. And just one

[1:56:05] cheat sheet that shows year

[1:56:07] to year for future.

[1:56:08] But great reporting. Thank you.

[1:56:10] >> Thank you, sir.

[1:56:12] >> Do we have any represented

[1:56:13] groups here today wishing

[1:56:15] to speak, present?

[1:56:21] >> Yes, John Richardson.

[1:56:24] >> Good afternoon. Please feel

[1:56:26] free to come on down here.

[1:56:28] Yeah, I don't know,

[1:56:29] it's your preference.

[1:56:36] >> Good morning. I'm

[1:56:39] in the unenviable position

[1:56:41] of being between you guys and

[1:56:44] lunch and the rest

[1:56:46] of the folks here, so I

[1:56:47] appreciate you indulging me.

[1:56:49] for those

[1:56:50] of you don't know me here, I

[1:56:51] think I met most the board

[1:56:53] members so far. My name is

[1:56:54] John Richardson. I am a deputy

[1:56:56] DA. I've been a 21-year county

[1:56:58] employee and I'm the current

[1:57:00] president of the San

[1:57:01] Bernardino County Public

[1:57:03] Attorneys Association. We

[1:57:04] represent the deputy DAs,

[1:57:06] deputy public defenders,

[1:57:07] and the deputy child support

[1:57:08] attorneys,

[1:57:10] in this county. I would

[1:57:11] actually like to thank the

[1:57:13] board and the county staff for

[1:57:14] this presentation because I

[1:57:15] think it's very helpful. I

[1:57:16] spent a number

[1:57:17] of years working in HR, and I

[1:57:19] think it's important the public

[1:57:20] can kind of see some of the

[1:57:21] strides and efforts the

[1:57:22] county's making and that HR is

[1:57:24] making to, to fill positions

[1:57:25] and do this work. So I,

[1:57:26] I do appreciate this. I'd also

[1:57:28] like

[1:57:29] to acknowledge and I don't, I

[1:57:31] don't know if we have any reps

[1:57:33] here but reps from the Public

[1:57:34] Defender's Office, District

[1:57:35] Attorney's Office, child

[1:57:37] support, and HR,

[1:57:38] for the work they've done in

[1:57:39] filling not just our positions

[1:57:41] but positions in the county,

[1:57:42] countywide. I know it takes a

[1:57:44] lot of work,

[1:57:46] and it takes more than just

[1:57:48] Leo here. Leo knows he has a

[1:57:49] whole staff

[1:57:50] behind him doing the work

[1:57:51] to get that done, and we

[1:57:53] appreciate that. one important

[1:57:54] thing I think Leo talked

[1:57:55] about it a little bit,

[1:57:57] and I think Supervisor, Hagman

[1:57:58] kind of touched

[1:58:00] on is that these each

[1:58:01] of those presentations kind

[1:58:02] of demonstrate kind

[1:58:04] of a snapshot in time. It

[1:58:05] demonstrates a snapshot now.

[1:58:06] It may not be reflective

[1:58:07] of what it looked like a month

[1:58:09] ago or what it's going to look

[1:58:10] like in a month because people

[1:58:11] could leave, right? May have

[1:58:13] done a big recruitment a month

[1:58:14] ago, but

[1:58:16] at least as a result,

[1:58:17] involves our membership. You

[1:58:18] saw about a vacancy rate of

[1:58:19] about 10% currently. That's

[1:58:20] what that snapshot revealed.

[1:58:21] and obviously, our members fill

[1:58:24] this critical role

[1:58:25] of ensuring that the, the

[1:58:26] community is protected and that

[1:58:28] people's constitutional rights

[1:58:29] are protected as well. What the

[1:58:33] snapshot does not reveal is the

[1:58:34] ongoing struggles, though,

[1:58:35] that the Public Defender's

[1:58:37] Office, the DA's Office, and

[1:58:38] Child Support have had

[1:58:40] in filling some of those

[1:58:42] positions. I'll tell you, the

[1:58:43] county is facing serious

[1:58:44] recruitment and retention

[1:58:45] challenges. San Bernardino

[1:58:47] County continues to struggle

[1:58:49] to compete

[1:58:50] with neighboring jurisdictions,

[1:58:51] most importantly Riverside

[1:58:54] County. District attorneys and

[1:58:55] public defendants er, public

[1:58:57] defenders are experiencing

[1:58:58] significant turnover

[1:58:59] among newer attorneys. One of

[1:59:00] the things that wasn't

[1:59:02] highlighted in this is that

[1:59:03] amongst our newer attorneys,

[1:59:05] we're seeing turnover

[1:59:07] in the range of nearly 40%. So

[1:59:08] what you see is folks come

[1:59:10] in because we're able

[1:59:11] to recruit and get them in,

[1:59:12] but we're seeing them leave.

[1:59:13] After just a couple years. And

[1:59:14] one of the major reasons

[1:59:15] they're doing that is they're

[1:59:16] going to some of our

[1:59:17] surrounding competitors.

[1:59:18] they're leaving to go

[1:59:20] to competitors like LA

[1:59:21] County, Riverside County,

[1:59:22] Orange County, as well as some

[1:59:24] local municipalities like

[1:59:25] Riverside, Burbank, Long

[1:59:26] Beach, and Pasadena. What

[1:59:30] Riverside what we're seeing

[1:59:31] in Riverside is Riverside's now

[1:59:32] providing significant increases

[1:59:33] to their district attorneys and

[1:59:34] public defenders, and by July

[1:59:36] Riverside attorneys, we're,

[1:59:37] being paid roughly $14,000 more

[1:59:39] a year than San Bernardino

[1:59:40] County attorneys. And that,

[1:59:43] that's an area where our folks

[1:59:44] are leaving to. They get some

[1:59:45] good experience here,

[1:59:47] and I'll tell you, many of

[1:59:48] these what we're seeing these

[1:59:49] other,

[1:59:50] municipalities is that they

[1:59:51] like to take laterals, right?

[1:59:52] Because those are people who've

[1:59:53] already demonstrated that they

[1:59:54] can do the job, that they know

[1:59:56] what they're doing. And what

[1:59:57] we're seeing is other

[1:59:58] municipalities poaching our

[1:59:59] people. Now,

[2:00:02] for the last several years,

[2:00:03] San Bernardino County has been

[2:00:04] a constant state

[2:00:05] of recruitment.

[2:00:08] For our attorneys. As recently

[2:00:10] as just 4 years ago, the county

[2:00:11] actually would just hold 2

[2:00:12] recruitments year-round,

[2:00:14] and it was timed around the

[2:00:15] time the bar passage would come

[2:00:17] out. Well, 2 recruitments

[2:00:19] year-round,

[2:00:20] they were successful

[2:00:21] in filling vacancies, but

[2:00:23] around 2023, the sister the

[2:00:24] situation became a lot more

[2:00:25] urgent. What we started to see

[2:00:26] was that our internal

[2:00:27] comparables began

[2:00:28] to become misaligned with 50

[2:00:30] years

[2:00:31] of county tradition and also

[2:00:32] with surrounding counties.

[2:00:33] Turnover began

[2:00:34] to increase and the number

[2:00:35] of applicants began

[2:00:37] to dwindle. Now, I'm thankful

[2:00:38] that Human Resources have been

[2:00:39] a partner in this,

[2:00:41] and they were able

[2:00:42] to assist with, what Leo

[2:00:43] actually touched on,

[2:00:44] what they did with the

[2:00:45] treatment plant operators was

[2:00:46] doing ongoing recruitment

[2:00:47] year-round

[2:00:48] to fill our positions. And so

[2:00:50] they do it year-round rather

[2:00:51] than just twice a year.

[2:00:52] But even it being year-round,

[2:00:53] our ongoing recruitment,

[2:00:55] we continue to struggle

[2:00:56] to fill those vacancies. Now,

[2:00:57] I'm thankful

[2:00:58] for the board that we have And

[2:01:00] this board, I can tell you,

[2:01:01] the Sheriff Dykes and

[2:01:03] District Attorney Jason

[2:01:04] Anderson have demonstrated

[2:01:05] through collaborative efforts

[2:01:07] time and again the safety of

[2:01:08] our community is the highest

[2:01:10] priority. And that's what this

[2:01:11] is all about. If we cannot

[2:01:12] adequately recruit and retain

[2:01:14] frontline attorneys,

[2:01:16] we will not be able to protect

[2:01:17] the vulnerable members of our

[2:01:19] community and ensure that our

[2:01:20] community's rights are

[2:01:22] defended. I look forward

[2:01:23] to working with the board and

[2:01:25] county staff, Leo staff to fix

[2:01:26] these problems so that we can

[2:01:27] realign our attorneys

[2:01:29] internally and

[2:01:30] in the job market. Restoring

[2:01:32] parity is necessary

[2:01:33] to maintain fairness,

[2:01:35] preserve internal consistency,

[2:01:36] and ensure San Bernardino

[2:01:38] County remains competitive with

[2:01:40] surrounding jurisdictions so

[2:01:41] that we can recruit and retain

[2:01:43] those attorneys who are going

[2:01:44] to protect our community.

[2:01:47] >> Thank you.

[2:01:49] >> Thank you very much. We have

[2:01:50] any questions from board,

[2:01:52] board members? No, thank you

[2:01:54] very much. This is a receive

[2:01:55] and file, and I don't believe I

[2:01:57] have anybody here, although I

[2:01:58] do recall it was a public

[2:02:00] hearing, so I should close the

[2:02:01] public hearing. I'll do that.

[2:02:02] All right,

[2:02:03] thank you both.

[2:02:04] >> Thank you all.

[2:02:06] >> I didn't want

[2:02:07] to make a scene

[2:02:09] over here waving. I just,

[2:02:10] I just wanted

[2:02:11] to make a quick comment.

[2:02:12] When, when I joined,

[2:02:13] the county as the COO about 5

[2:02:14] years ago,

[2:02:17] our vacancy rates were close

[2:02:19] to 20%, and even

[2:02:23] since that time,

[2:02:25] we've increased about 3,000

[2:02:26] additional positions as a

[2:02:29] county. And today, here we sit

[2:02:33] with a vacancy rate 14.6%. I,

[2:02:36] I want to give kudos

[2:02:37] to staff, as well as

[2:02:39] to our board for the work

[2:02:40] of making investments

[2:02:44] in our staff,

[2:02:45] in the wages that we pay,

[2:02:47] in the,

[2:02:48] the work that staff has done

[2:02:49] to really go out and recruit

[2:02:51] and do the hard work

[2:02:52] of finding, and our then the

[2:02:54] work our departments are doing

[2:02:55] of retaining those talented

[2:02:57] people. It has been incredible

[2:02:58] to see it, to watch it,

[2:03:00] to be part of it. Yesterday, I

[2:03:01] have the privilege of speaking

[2:03:03] at every new employee

[2:03:05] orientation, and I stood

[2:03:07] in this room. There were 97

[2:03:10] smiling faces who may or may

[2:03:13] not have slept the night

[2:03:14] before as they came in excited

[2:03:15] to start a new career. And I

[2:03:17] asked them, who here is this

[2:03:18] your first government job? And

[2:03:20] about 90%

[2:03:22] of the room raised their hand.

[2:03:24] It is fantastic to see

[2:03:26] government service alive and

[2:03:28] well and playing out every day

[2:03:29] in this county. I, I just,

[2:03:31] I just wanted

[2:03:34] to make the comment. There are

[2:03:35] so many people involved

[2:03:36] in this process.

[2:03:37] From our unions as well,

[2:03:38] advocating

[2:03:39] for their employees. It really

[2:03:40] is a beautiful thing

[2:03:41] to see all the way around. And

[2:03:42] I think we do an exceptionally

[2:03:44] good job here as a county

[2:03:45] in prioritizing our people,

[2:03:47] our staff,

[2:03:50] and doing a fantastic job. So

[2:03:52] kudos to the board for the

[2:03:54] investments they've made.

[2:03:55] Kudos to Leo and his team,

[2:03:56] Mr. Richardson and his

[2:03:57] counterparts and other it

[2:03:59] really is we all,

[2:04:01] sometimes we fight. That's

[2:04:03] okay. That's what we should do.

[2:04:04] because but we are aligned

[2:04:06] in what we're trying

[2:04:07] to accomplish,

[2:04:08] which is taking care

[2:04:09] of our people. And so I just

[2:04:10] wanted

[2:04:11] to make those comments.

[2:04:13] Luther, if he wasn't fine,

[2:04:16] he wouldn't be doing his job,

[2:04:18] so he's doing good too.

[2:04:19] But thank you very much

[2:04:20] for letting me.

[2:04:22] >> Thank you all very much. We

[2:04:23] appreciate the presentation.

[2:04:24] We are going to recess. We'll

[2:04:25] be back here

[2:04:26] at 12:20.

[2:04:27] [RECESS]

[2:21:15] >> Good afternoon and welcome

[2:21:17] back. Steve Rogers, would you

[2:21:19] like to speak first

[2:21:20] since you're standing up there?

[2:21:23] If you're ready, we're going

[2:21:25] to move on

[2:21:26] to our public comment

[2:21:27] for items not on the agenda.

[2:21:29] As a reminder,

[2:21:30] our speakers will have 3

[2:21:31] minutes and the light will

[2:21:32] flash yellow as it gets

[2:21:34] to the end and you have 30

[2:21:35] seconds left. And good

[2:21:36] afternoon, Steve, whenever

[2:21:37] you're ready.

[2:21:49] >> Madam Chair, Board of

[2:21:52] Supervisors, Steve Rogers,

[2:21:54] Redlands. I came today

[2:21:57] to speak with the Board of

[2:22:00] Supervisors

[2:22:02] about my experience on,

[2:22:04] here recently in trying

[2:22:09] to deal with,

[2:22:13] situation. I contacted the DA's

[2:22:15] office, I contacted the fraud,

[2:22:20] waste, and abuse hotline,

[2:22:23] through, Henson Mason's office.

[2:22:28] And basically, as I said when

[2:22:31] I, I attended the last Board

[2:22:33] of Supervisors meeting,

[2:22:35] I'm appalled

[2:22:36] by what the board is attempting

[2:22:39] to do with Henson Mason. And I,

[2:22:44] I received this mailer,

[2:22:46] this hit piece that I consider

[2:22:48] to be complete fake news. It

[2:22:53] has all the Board of

[2:22:54] Supervisors

[2:22:56] on the bottom endorsing,

[2:22:59] this. And I believe this is,

[2:23:02] is on the verge

[2:23:03] of it's election, election

[2:23:05] rigging,

[2:23:07] as is the entire situation

[2:23:10] of the, this investigation

[2:23:17] being brought up when it was

[2:23:18] not an agendized item and the

[2:23:20] board voted

[2:23:22] on it and approved and,

[2:23:23] and went forward with an

[2:23:25] investigation that was not

[2:23:27] on the agenda. That's a

[2:23:29] violation of the Brown Act. So

[2:23:30] this whole thing is,

[2:23:32] is just a political shenanigan.

[2:23:36] And, I, I've sent over a public

[2:23:42] comment. I'm not sure if that's

[2:23:44] what is being received

[2:23:45] at this time, but,

[2:23:47] I was gonna read the last,

[2:23:48] paragraph where I'm requesting

[2:23:55] that my,

[2:23:59] my case that's being held up by

[2:24:01] the district attorney's office

[2:24:03] and involves, the board's

[2:24:06] biggest campaign contributor

[2:24:07] that, that case be moved to

[2:24:10] Riverside County, because this

[2:24:16] board and the DA both have a

[2:24:20] considerable, conflict

[2:24:21] of interest with the subject

[2:24:24] matter involved here. This is a

[2:24:26] developer that was the same

[2:24:29] developers involved in the,

[2:24:30] in the county,

[2:24:31] in the county scandal,

[2:24:34] involving the, Colonies

[2:24:38] project. So, I mean,

[2:24:41] I'm requesting that it be moved

[2:24:43] to Riverside County, to the

[2:24:44] Riverside County Sheriff and

[2:24:46] DA.

[2:24:48] >> That's time. Thank you very

[2:24:51] much. Garth Pesant, if you're

[2:24:52] ready, we'll have you up next,

[2:24:53] followed by Carlo.

[2:25:09] >> My name is Garth Benjamin,

[2:25:13] I have the combination

[2:25:14] to every prison break

[2:25:16] in the state of California. It

[2:25:18] is called ineffective

[2:25:21] assistance of counsel. They

[2:25:22] tried to keep me for life in 2

[2:25:25] prisons and 3 state hospitals.

[2:25:27] I'm out, and you can get

[2:25:29] out too. Just listen to me.

[2:25:32] To District Attorney Jason

[2:25:33] Anderson, your department,

[2:25:36] civil rights attorney Aaron

[2:25:39] Zisser, Sheriff Deputy,

[2:25:40] Deputy Investigator

[2:25:42] Leatherman, and its internal

[2:25:44] affairs officers, and San

[2:25:46] Bernardino City Mayor Helen

[2:25:48] Tran are alleged

[2:25:50] to be involved in conspiracy

[2:25:52] to cover tampering

[2:25:54] with evidence and obstruction

[2:25:56] of justice as a fiduciary

[2:25:59] breach in an October 8th, 2020

[2:26:03] officer-involved shooting body

[2:26:06] camera rigging victimizing

[2:26:08] Garth Pezzant Sr. I will get

[2:26:11] justice. Google my success rate

[2:26:14] and consult your demonic gods

[2:26:16] that you may know who I am. We

[2:26:20] the people, for the people,

[2:26:22] by the people. We the people

[2:26:24] did not create this earth we

[2:26:26] live on, and it did not come

[2:26:28] about by chance. The

[2:26:30] legislature are new laws

[2:26:32] created by mankind. It does not

[2:26:34] belong to us

[2:26:36] to survive independently from

[2:26:38] God. That is why Armageddon

[2:26:41] will come, not to destroy the

[2:26:43] elements that sustain us,

[2:26:45] Armageddon will destroy those

[2:26:48] of us whom are wicked. Seek

[2:26:49] Jehovah while you are still

[2:26:51] alive. You are

[2:26:54] before the highest court

[2:26:55] in the universe

[2:26:56] for committing one of the most

[2:26:58] heinous crimes imaginable. All

[2:27:00] the angels and all the peoples

[2:27:02] are witnessing your case. No

[2:27:04] defense attorney nor district

[2:27:06] attorney are present. You are

[2:27:09] about

[2:27:10] to be convicted and sentenced.

[2:27:12] Jehovah God says, son,

[2:27:14] I forgive you. You are now

[2:27:16] sentenced to life eternal,

[2:27:18] unrestricted,

[2:27:20] to turn this earth

[2:27:22] into a paradise along with your

[2:27:24] fellow humans forever.

[2:27:29] >> Thank you, Carlo, followed

[2:27:31] by Derek Rutherford.

[2:27:50] >> Good afternoon, board. the

[2:27:55] first point that I want

[2:27:57] to make is it's, it's a heavy

[2:27:59] topic and it's a heavy subject.

[2:28:02] So a mom reached out

[2:28:03] to me not too long ago on my

[2:28:05] TikTok channel, SigIsLife, and

[2:28:09] she mentioned and, spoke to me

[2:28:12] about her 2-month-old baby

[2:28:15] passing away in the system.

[2:28:17] And now, she's afraid that CFS

[2:28:21] is gonna try to take her other

[2:28:23] children away this Friday. if

[2:28:27] we can have a conversation here

[2:28:28] about that issue here

[2:28:31] after this, I'd appreciate it

[2:28:32] so that way we can get some

[2:28:33] eyes on,

[2:28:35] on the actual details. And

[2:28:37] again, I'm at this point where

[2:28:38] I don't really trust CFS if

[2:28:39] there were any false

[2:28:41] allegations in part of this,

[2:28:45] because I would say and you all

[2:28:46] know my story already that if a

[2:28:48] person can grope her children,

[2:28:52] spray them in the face

[2:28:53] with sulfuric acid,

[2:28:55] and body slam them

[2:28:57] for having a Bible gets 100%

[2:28:58] custody, then we have

[2:29:00] to also look at the 14th

[2:29:02] Amendment across the board

[2:29:04] for other, families. Second

[2:29:07] point I want to make is there

[2:29:09] was an immigrant family that I

[2:29:11] met at the court. Now, this is

[2:29:12] what I'm also doing for, to

[2:29:14] help the board understand

[2:29:15] what's going on,

[2:29:16] is that the late filings. But

[2:29:19] this immigrant family went

[2:29:20] there,

[2:29:21] didn't understand what they

[2:29:22] were signing,

[2:29:24] and the social worker told her,

[2:29:25] if you don't sign this case

[2:29:26] plan, it can go a lot worse

[2:29:30] for you. And in that case plan

[2:29:32] was the word adoption

[2:29:33] at the end of it. Are we

[2:29:37] coercing families to sign case

[2:29:39] plans that they agree to

[2:29:43] adoption? this is an immigrant

[2:29:50] family from Mexico. not even 2

[2:29:53] years in this country. And what

[2:29:55] are we doing? Let's look

[2:29:58] at the case again, right?

[2:30:01] Let's look at it. Let's tease

[2:30:03] out all the false allegations.

[2:30:06] And then again, what these late

[2:30:09] filings do what these late

[2:30:11] filings do is not a I don't

[2:30:12] know how,

[2:30:15] how we can just stand and look

[2:30:17] at each other in the face and

[2:30:19] say this is okay, this practice

[2:30:21] is okay. I remember talking

[2:30:22] to Ms. Glasgow on the phone

[2:30:24] when I was handed my late

[2:30:25] filings after the hearing.

[2:30:27] Okay, and then these people are

[2:30:30] getting their paperwork and

[2:30:32] they have no chance

[2:30:36] to respond. Every time I go

[2:30:38] there, it's almost everybody

[2:30:39] it's the same thing,

[2:30:41] it's the same thing. They sit

[2:30:44] there with no paperwork and

[2:30:45] then someone comes up with a

[2:30:47] cart here's your paperwork

[2:30:48] right before their hearing.

[2:30:49] Thank you.

[2:30:52] >> Thank you. Derek Rutherford

[2:30:53] followed by Leticia Howard.

[2:30:57] >> Good morning, Chair Rowe and

[2:30:58] members

[2:31:00] of the board. my name is

[2:31:01] Derek Rutherford. I live at

[2:31:05] 14944 El Carrizo Road

[2:31:07] in unincorporated County

[2:31:09] Pocket in Victorville. I'm here

[2:31:11] for, to request board action

[2:31:12] on County Code Section

[2:31:15] 83.01.080. On April 29th,

[2:31:17] 2026, San Bernardino County

[2:31:21] stated on Facebook that the

[2:31:22] board and county public service

[2:31:23] professionals work

[2:31:25] to create an outstanding

[2:31:27] quality of life for residents

[2:31:28] and visitors. I am here because

[2:31:31] that statement does not reflect

[2:31:32] my family's lived experience.

[2:31:34] For approximately 8 years,

[2:31:36] repeated bass intrusion from

[2:31:38] the same neighboring source has

[2:31:40] continued inside of our home.

[2:31:42] This is not ordinary noise.

[2:31:44] Low-frequency bass can travel

[2:31:46] through the walls and be felt

[2:31:48] inside of our home. The current

[2:31:51] 55 decibel A standard does not

[2:31:54] fully capture low-frequency

[2:31:56] bass. Because A-weighted is

[2:31:59] designed for ordinary speech

[2:32:01] and traffic noise, the decibel

[2:32:03] level A scale essentially turns

[2:32:04] a blind eye to bass. It's

[2:32:06] like trying

[2:32:07] to record bass disturbances

[2:32:09] with an iPhone, which,

[2:32:10] also filters out low-frequency

[2:32:11] bass. I'm asking the county

[2:32:14] to add a C-weighting, decibel

[2:32:17] C, or Hertz-based standard so

[2:32:19] bass vibrations from large

[2:32:21] stereos can be measured and

[2:32:23] enforced. Health and Safety

[2:32:25] Code 46000, California's

[2:32:27] Noise Control Act, should be

[2:32:29] used to support this request.

[2:32:30] Excessive noise is a serious

[2:32:32] public health threat and

[2:32:34] mandates state and local

[2:32:37] governments to protect citizens

[2:32:39] welfare and peaceful living

[2:32:41] conditions. If the county truly

[2:32:42] wants

[2:32:44] to create an outstanding

[2:32:45] quality of life

[2:32:47] for residents and visitors,

[2:32:48] then the county should review

[2:32:50] and update its noise ordinance

[2:32:51] and consider adopting a

[2:32:53] Roseville-style noise standard,

[2:32:56] Chapter 9.24, as an example,

[2:32:59] including enforceable

[2:33:00] low-frequency bass or

[2:33:02] vibration-based Measurements.

[2:33:05] I'm asking the board

[2:33:06] to direct staff

[2:33:08] to review subsection

[2:33:09] 83.01.080, study standards

[2:33:13] like Roseville City noise

[2:33:15] standard, and bring back an

[2:33:16] ordinance update that gives

[2:33:18] residents a real remedy

[2:33:20] for chronic base intrusion

[2:33:22] in one's home. Court-specific

[2:33:24] evidence needs to be objective

[2:33:26] to obtain lasting solutions in

[2:33:28] today's criminal justice

[2:33:30] system. No family should be

[2:33:32] controlled inside their home by

[2:33:34] harassing neighbors based

[2:33:37] intrusion allowed

[2:33:39] by an ambiguous code. If county

[2:33:41] code or statute is too vague,

[2:33:44] it cannot be enforced by law,

[2:33:46] leaving an actual quality of

[2:33:48] life that is not outstanding.

[2:33:51] Thank you for your time.

[2:33:54] >> Thank you. Latisha Howard

[2:33:57] followed by Victoria Perez.

[2:34:05] >> I stand here today hoping

[2:34:07] that someone with a heart will

[2:34:10] listen and take action. When we

[2:34:11] come to these meetings, we are

[2:34:13] not here threatening anyone.

[2:34:14] We are not aggressive. We are

[2:34:16] asking for help for our

[2:34:17] children and our families. Our

[2:34:19] mothers are we are excuse me,

[2:34:20] we are mothers, fathers,

[2:34:22] grandparents and advocates

[2:34:24] asking the board

[2:34:25] to investigate San Bernardino

[2:34:27] County Children and Family

[2:34:28] Services. My concern today is,

[2:34:30] why does Jeanne Glasgow feel

[2:34:32] like she needs to be escorted

[2:34:34] out by sheriffs when she

[2:34:36] leaves? and there's no threat

[2:34:37] against her. Are taxpayers

[2:34:38] funding protection for

[2:34:40] criminals while our children

[2:34:42] are the ones who are

[2:34:44] in danger? While she walks out

[2:34:45] with security escorts,

[2:34:46] children

[2:34:47] in the county are being abused,

[2:34:48] neglected, and trafficked

[2:34:49] through a system that is

[2:34:51] supposed to protect them, and

[2:34:52] families cannot even get a

[2:34:53] simple investigation open.

[2:34:55] Parents are being ignored,

[2:34:56] evidence is being ignored,

[2:34:58] complaints are being ignored.

[2:35:00] Jeanie is the one signing off

[2:35:01] on these, on these actions. So

[2:35:03] I ask again,

[2:35:05] are our tax dollars being used

[2:35:07] to protect the criminals

[2:35:08] instead of the children? Today

[2:35:10] I call on advocates,

[2:35:12] civil rights leaders,

[2:35:13] attorneys, media outlets,

[2:35:14] churches,

[2:35:15] and community organizations.

[2:35:17] We need your help. Family,

[2:35:18] families across this county are

[2:35:20] saying the same thing over and

[2:35:22] over again. Children are being

[2:35:23] illegally removed and pushed

[2:35:25] towards adoption

[2:35:26] for financial incentives tied

[2:35:28] to Title IV-E funding

[2:35:29] under the Social Security Act.

[2:35:31] Before anyone dismisses us as

[2:35:32] emotional parents,

[2:35:34] understand this: we have

[2:35:35] documentation, we have

[2:35:37] recordings, court records,

[2:35:38] medical records, and other

[2:35:39] evidence. I am personally

[2:35:40] willing

[2:35:42] to provide my entire file

[2:35:43] to anyone who is willing to

[2:35:44] help fight this battle and

[2:35:46] expose what is happening

[2:35:47] to families. We have

[2:35:49] complained, we have filed

[2:35:50] complaints, we have asked

[2:35:52] for investigations,

[2:35:53] and nobody seems to care

[2:35:54] about nobody seems to care

[2:35:56] because too many people are

[2:35:57] benefiting financially off

[2:35:58] of the backs of stolen children

[2:36:00] and broken families.

[2:36:01] At this point, will somebody

[2:36:03] in at what point will somebody

[2:36:04] in power decide to protect our

[2:36:05] children rather than

[2:36:07] to protect the system? And

[2:36:08] in case you haven't noticed,

[2:36:09] We're not going away. it's time

[2:36:12] for it's time for us

[2:36:14] to change the narrative. Stop

[2:36:15] letting them control what is

[2:36:16] being done with our money.

[2:36:18] People, we need

[2:36:19] to register and get registered

[2:36:20] to vote and then vote. If

[2:36:22] current if the current people

[2:36:24] in power are not willing

[2:36:25] to do their jobs,

[2:36:26] replace them. If they are not

[2:36:28] working for the people,

[2:36:29] replace them. We have the

[2:36:31] power, but until people

[2:36:33] understand that the act that

[2:36:34] action needs

[2:36:35] to be taken place,

[2:36:37] what is happening

[2:36:38] to our families will continue

[2:36:41] And it will get worse. Thank

[2:36:44] >> Thank you. Victoria Perez

[2:36:46] followed by Andrea Wade. Do we

[2:36:55] have Victoria Perez? Andrea

[2:37:01] Wade? And then next up is Corey,

[2:37:05] followed by Mark Lee. All

[2:37:13] right, Victoria Perez, going

[2:37:14] once, going twice. Andrea

[2:37:18] Wade, last call. We have Corey

[2:37:24] followed by Mark Lee. Do we

[2:37:28] have Corey in the house? Yes,

[2:37:29] sir, either side.

[2:37:37] >> Hi, I'm Corey Tarallo and I

[2:37:38] manage a large business in

[2:37:40] San Bernardino County. I've

[2:37:41] been here a couple times before

[2:37:43] and I am back because I read

[2:37:44] that Ensign Mason said the

[2:37:45] investigation

[2:37:47] into his ethical conflict is

[2:37:48] over and I wanted

[2:37:49] to get an update. So thank you

[2:37:51] for that. In the meantime, I

[2:37:53] did my own research and I have

[2:37:54] discovered some alarming

[2:37:55] information In addition

[2:37:57] to profiting from his role as

[2:37:59] the auditor controller

[2:38:00] treasurer tax collector while

[2:38:01] simultaneously running an

[2:38:02] investment company full-time,

[2:38:04] he was up to even worse

[2:38:06] unforgivable things at the

[2:38:07] county. I have discovered that

[2:38:11] Ensign Mason employed a child

[2:38:12] sex predator

[2:38:14] at his county office.

[2:38:16] However, this is not even the

[2:38:18] worst part. Unbelievably, he

[2:38:20] kept them on payroll for over

[2:38:21] 4 months after he was arrested

[2:38:22] at the Auditor Controller's

[2:38:25] Office here in the county. 4

[2:38:27] months. Worse still is that

[2:38:30] this child sex predator lived

[2:38:32] at Ensign Mason's house,

[2:38:34] which was raided by the police

[2:38:36] for child pornography. Why am

[2:38:38] why am I paying taxes for

[2:38:39] Ensign Mason to employ a child

[2:38:41] sex predator who lives

[2:38:42] with him? This doesn't make any

[2:38:43] sense. He should never have

[2:38:45] been hired at our expense after

[2:38:46] he was arrested the first time

[2:38:48] He should have been terminated

[2:38:50] immediately. But to have him

[2:38:52] arrested a second time at the

[2:38:53] county office is unfathomable.

[2:38:55] I hope you make your

[2:38:57] investigation on Ensign Mason

[2:38:59] public because we deserve

[2:39:00] to know all that he has done to

[2:39:02] endanger the taxpayer dollars

[2:39:03] and mismanage this county. And

[2:39:05] in my hand, if you would like

[2:39:07] to see it, I have the

[2:39:08] Superior Superior Court of

[2:39:10] California, County of San

[2:39:11] Bernardino search warrant that

[2:39:13] was issued to his,

[2:39:14] his residence. Thank you.

[2:39:20] >> Thank you. Next up we have

[2:39:22] Mark Lee, and then we're going

[2:39:23] to go back to somebody else

[2:39:27] that just popped in. Sir, go

[2:39:31] right ahead.

[2:39:33] >> Okay, I'm Mark Lee. I thank

[2:39:34] you for, for a few minutes of

[2:39:36] your time. I'm here again. I

[2:39:38] thank you for your

[2:39:39] investigation. I'm back here

[2:39:40] again today. I read

[2:39:43] in the newspaper that Mr.

[2:39:44] Mason seems

[2:39:45] to think that us citizens

[2:39:46] of our county mean nothing,

[2:39:48] that our discovery

[2:39:49] of his conflict

[2:39:51] of interest is some kind

[2:39:52] of scheme. Double dipping is a

[2:39:54] conflict of interest. It's not

[2:39:56] a scheme. It's thank you again

[2:39:58] for investigating. This is the

[2:40:01] same man who scrubbed his

[2:40:02] financial website the very same

[2:40:04] night

[2:40:06] after he was exposed here

[2:40:07] in public comment.

[2:40:09] In its clearest, clearest

[2:40:10] terms,

[2:40:12] he's using his public position

[2:40:13] to enrich himself. This is the

[2:40:15] fiscal watchdog of our county

[2:40:17] orchestrating a cover-up. It's

[2:40:18] pathetic. And I thought that

[2:40:22] was enough to throw this crony

[2:40:24] out of office until I heard

[2:40:25] that his home was raided. Get

[2:40:26] this child pornography. It's

[2:40:28] public record. No wonder this

[2:40:32] guy posted, in his own words,

[2:40:34] that he has been silent

[2:40:36] about corruption for almost 7

[2:40:37] years. He's orchestrated One

[2:40:38] of the biggest cover-ups

[2:40:40] in this county's history. He

[2:40:41] has betrayed the trust

[2:40:43] of the public. He should resign

[2:40:45] office immediately. Thank you.

[2:40:53] >> Thank you, Melinda. Did we

[2:40:54] have someone up there that was

[2:40:55] trying to speak?

[2:40:56] >> All right,

[2:40:57] then our last request

[2:40:58] to speak is Kresha, and I don't

[2:41:00] know how to say Kresha's last

[2:41:01] name. How do you pronounce your

[2:41:10] last name?

[2:41:11] >> Kell. Thank you. My name is

[2:41:13] Cresha Kell. I'm the mother

[2:41:15] of Adon Kell, a 2-year-old

[2:41:16] child who's been

[2:41:18] in foster care. I left my son

[2:41:19] with his father, who reported

[2:41:21] to authorities that he did not

[2:41:23] know me or my son. I was

[2:41:26] arrested for abandonment. The

[2:41:27] DA never picked up charges.

[2:41:29] Charges were never filed. It

[2:41:31] was a tool that the social

[2:41:32] worker and the officer used

[2:41:34] to take custody of my child

[2:41:35] without a search warrant and

[2:41:37] without a petition

[2:41:39] to the courts. This happens on

[2:41:40] a regular basis. CFS will

[2:41:41] create the emergency

[2:41:42] circumstance and remove your

[2:41:44] child. It has been 2 years. I

[2:41:47] have completed all courses and

[2:41:48] paid for additional courses

[2:41:50] out of my own pocket. My visits

[2:41:52] have been labeled detrimental,

[2:41:53] not because my son is abused,

[2:41:55] not because something bad

[2:41:56] happened

[2:41:58] to him or I said something

[2:41:59] to him. But because a social

[2:42:00] worker is mad because I called

[2:42:03] her Quasimodo. Because somebody

[2:42:04] said that my,

[2:42:05] my son's having nightmares and

[2:42:07] maybe, just maybe,

[2:42:08] it might be because of mom.

[2:42:10] But none of these tantrums or

[2:42:11] bad behavior ever persist

[2:42:13] during any of my visits. Every

[2:42:15] single monitor has labeled

[2:42:17] every one of my visits

[2:42:18] acceptable and appropriate,

[2:42:20] even the ones who go

[2:42:22] on court and say, I feel

[2:42:23] like this, I feel like this,

[2:42:25] she makes me feel belittled,

[2:42:27] so now I don't see my son.

[2:42:29] When are we going to uphold law

[2:42:31] and not people's opinion

[2:42:33] about their feelings? Not

[2:42:36] discernment. Discernment should

[2:42:37] not enter our courtrooms. That

[2:42:38] judge is there

[2:42:40] to make a decision. I used

[2:42:41] to be scared, scared to say

[2:42:43] about what happened to me,

[2:42:44] but now I'm going to yell it

[2:42:45] from the mountaintops because

[2:42:47] it doesn't matter. The

[2:42:48] consequences does not outweigh

[2:42:50] it outweighs the punishment.

[2:42:53] Regardless of the fact that,

[2:42:54] that man being

[2:42:55] on open child support,

[2:42:56] the county did no due diligence

[2:42:57] to bring my son back to me.

[2:42:59] Not one. We're here 2 years

[2:43:00] later. My son went

[2:43:02] to the hospital that day.

[2:43:03] Nothing wrong with him. No

[2:43:05] signs of neglect, no signs

[2:43:06] of abuse. Where's the risk

[2:43:07] in returning him to the place

[2:43:08] where he has no signs

[2:43:10] of risk or abuse? Instead, he's

[2:43:13] in the system. He now has RSV,

[2:43:15] He's anemic. He's not meeting

[2:43:17] his development he's not

[2:43:19] developing appropriately. He's

[2:43:21] not meeting his milestones.

[2:43:25] And yet he hasn't been able

[2:43:26] to return home,

[2:43:27] hasn't been able to see his 6

[2:43:29] brothers and sisters who I

[2:43:31] returned custody of,

[2:43:33] who were removed because

[2:43:35] of emotional damage over an

[2:43:36] event they were never there

[2:43:38] to see or hear about

[2:43:41] until CFF brought it

[2:43:43] to their attention. We called

[2:43:44] Paul Cook several times.

[2:43:45] Over and over and over. The

[2:43:47] only one who's able to step in

[2:43:48] and regulate what CFS is doing

[2:43:50] in my district. Has he done it?

[2:43:51] Nope. Open signs,

[2:43:53] clear signs. I'm coming

[2:43:54] for your job. This is a

[2:43:56] petition to recall you, Paul

[2:43:58] Cook. If you don't do something

[2:44:00] different,

[2:44:02] we will recall your ass. It

[2:44:04] don't make sense that we got

[2:44:06] to come up here 15, 5 families

[2:44:08] at a time asking for help. You

[2:44:10] do nothing. You play

[2:44:12] on your phones. You send these

[2:44:13] people up here

[2:44:15] to do that.

[2:44:18] >> That is the last request

[2:44:19] to speak that I have. We will

[2:44:20] now move on to our comments

[2:44:22] from our CEO, Luther.

[2:44:27] >> Thank you, Madam Chair. All

[2:44:33] right, thank you, Madam Chair.

[2:44:34] I appreciate that. I'd like

[2:44:36] to recognize our Workforce

[2:44:37] Development Department. I think

[2:44:39] Brad's still here. He is.

[2:44:40] they've been designated

[2:44:42] by the State of California as a

[2:44:43] high-performing workforce

[2:44:44] board. This is a 3-year

[2:44:46] designation. It's a prestigious

[2:44:47] designation,

[2:44:49] and it reflects the Workforce

[2:44:50] Development Department's,

[2:44:51] excellence and leadership

[2:44:53] in workforce development

[2:44:54] efforts across our region. So

[2:44:56] congratulations to Brad, his

[2:44:57] entire team, on that

[2:44:59] outstanding achievement. I'd

[2:45:01] like to also highlight some

[2:45:02] recent work by our Economic

[2:45:03] Development team. they hosted

[2:45:05] the final stop of the Select

[2:45:06] USA Spinoff Roadshow. This was

[2:45:10] an event, it created some

[2:45:12] meaningful connections between

[2:45:13] international companies, local

[2:45:15] businesses, healthcare leaders,

[2:45:17] and regional partners. one

[2:45:19] of the things we're focused on,

[2:45:20] advancing entrepreneurship, and

[2:45:22] this was specifically focused

[2:45:25] on doing so. this is hoping

[2:45:27] to bring investment,

[2:45:28] new business development here

[2:45:30] in the county. So I appreciate

[2:45:32] those are departments you don't

[2:45:34] often hear a lot about here.

[2:45:36] workforce I had a chance

[2:45:37] to go up and meet with the

[2:45:38] Workforce Development Board,

[2:45:39] participate in a,

[2:45:41] an annual event they have.

[2:45:42] There is a lot

[2:45:43] of passion that comes out

[2:45:45] of that group and a lot

[2:45:46] of great work that comes

[2:45:47] from our Workforce

[2:45:48] Development Department, as well

[2:45:49] as Economic Development. So

[2:45:50] thank you to both of them. And

[2:45:51] just, I wanted

[2:45:53] to take the opportunity here,

[2:45:54] we have a number of speakers

[2:45:57] who have come and spoken

[2:45:58] at public comment. Obviously

[2:45:59] the board they,

[2:46:01] they cannot respond

[2:46:03] during public comment,

[2:46:05] and so we do not respond.

[2:46:06] But I just want them to know

[2:46:08] that we hear them. I have a

[2:46:09] team that sits here. I, I know

[2:46:11] there aren't many left here

[2:46:12] in the room, but for those

[2:46:14] of you who are here,

[2:46:15] my executive team comes

[2:46:16] to each of these meetings and

[2:46:17] participates. They hear we are

[2:46:19] often talking about things.

[2:46:20] They follow up on just about

[2:46:22] everything that is discussed

[2:46:23] here

[2:46:24] on public comment. I just

[2:46:26] wanted to make that clear to

[2:46:27] everyone who is listening and

[2:46:28] watching. That though we may

[2:46:30] sit here, and hear them

[2:46:32] out and the board is not able

[2:46:33] to respond, we are absolutely

[2:46:35] taking these things seriously

[2:46:37] and appreciate all the comments

[2:46:39] that are made. Thank you

[2:46:40] for that.

[2:46:42] >> Thank you. We're now going

[2:46:43] to move on to our individual

[2:46:44] board member comments. Vice

[2:46:45] Chair Baca.

[2:46:46] >> Thank you, Madam Chair, and

[2:46:47] thank you, Luther,

[2:46:48] for those comments. And I think

[2:46:49] it's important to,

[2:46:50] let the public know that we are

[2:46:51] listening, we are engaged, and

[2:46:52] we do have staff readily

[2:46:53] available to answer any

[2:46:54] questions that the public has.

[2:46:56] So thank you for doing that.

[2:46:57] Just want to highlight some,

[2:46:58] events and great things that

[2:46:59] are going on

[2:47:01] in the county. one of the

[2:47:02] things we had the opportunity

[2:47:03] to attend is myself and the

[2:47:05] chair in Bloomington. the new

[2:47:07] animal shelter received a $2

[2:47:08] million contribution from

[2:47:10] Congressman Aguilar. I want

[2:47:12] to thank the chair

[2:47:13] for being there and, and really

[2:47:15] the investment that we're

[2:47:16] making in our,

[2:47:18] our animal shelter with phase

[2:47:19] 1 and potentially a phase 2

[2:47:20] coming on to begin to take

[2:47:22] on some of our city partners.

[2:47:24] So great progress. This will be

[2:47:25] done next year and address many

[2:47:27] of our needs that our animal

[2:47:29] shelter in Deborah cannot no

[2:47:30] longer meet, meet,

[2:47:32] meet as the county continues

[2:47:34] to grow. The other thing is

[2:47:35] our, our office had our 5th

[2:47:37] District Youth Advisory

[2:47:38] Council Scholarship Awards

[2:47:40] event, which is right here

[2:47:41] in the building. we gave out,

[2:47:44] 23 scholarships at $1,500

[2:47:46] apiece for many individuals

[2:47:48] throughout the 5th District.

[2:47:50] Wanna thank those students

[2:47:51] for their civic engagement,

[2:47:52] involvement, and wish them much

[2:47:53] success as they graduate, in

[2:47:55] the next coming month. also

[2:47:57] last week attended the

[2:47:58] Bloomington Senior Prom. Wanna

[2:48:00] thank the, Family Service

[2:48:02] Association

[2:48:04] for providing the food and the

[2:48:05] Bloomington Parks and Rec

[2:48:07] District for putting

[2:48:08] on the entertainment. it's

[2:48:09] great to see our seniors

[2:48:10] socialize and have a good time,

[2:48:11] especially one

[2:48:13] of our county facilities there

[2:48:15] at Ayala Park. So hats off

[2:48:16] to the, staff. also, we had

[2:48:18] 100 items that we approved

[2:48:20] on the consent calendar,

[2:48:22] but just keep in mind these are

[2:48:23] things that are good

[2:48:24] for the entire county and, and

[2:48:26] throughout several districts.

[2:48:27] But I want

[2:48:28] to particularly highlight,

[2:48:30] just a few. One

[2:48:31] of them was item 31, which is a

[2:48:32] $2.85 million investment

[2:48:34] in the Days Inn, which will

[2:48:36] provide 49 permanent supportive

[2:48:38] housing beds here in the city

[2:48:40] of San Bernardino. And it's not

[2:48:41] a homeless shelter, it's

[2:48:42] basically those that are either

[2:48:44] disabled or maybe experienced

[2:48:45] homeless, but to give them

[2:48:46] permanent supportive housing so

[2:48:48] they can have the help that

[2:48:49] they need. And a lot of times

[2:48:51] people get confused between, a

[2:48:52] homeless shelter and permanent

[2:48:54] supportive housing. the other

[2:48:56] thing is item 46, operating

[2:48:58] support reserve

[2:48:59] for homeless youth program,

[2:49:01] which is $623,000 to help youth

[2:49:03] homeless and transition age

[2:49:05] youth help, success

[2:49:07] for housing, case management,

[2:49:09] and Supportive Services. 51,

[2:49:11] item 51, which will provide

[2:49:13] probation officers through many

[2:49:16] districts throughout the

[2:49:17] county, but I want

[2:49:19] to highlight the, Colton Joint

[2:49:20] Unified, San Bernardino City

[2:49:21] Unified, and, county schools

[2:49:23] will be receiving probation

[2:49:24] officers. item 55, continued

[2:49:26] progress. This is for Pacific

[2:49:28] Village Phase 3. We're working

[2:49:29] on Phase 2. This will be the

[2:49:31] next phase, which will receive

[2:49:32] some BCHIP money. It's a great

[2:49:34] program to continue continue

[2:49:35] to address homelessness,

[2:49:37] especially the substance use

[2:49:39] disorder beds, which are just

[2:49:40] so critically needed in our

[2:49:42] county. the other thing is

[2:49:43] wanna thank, the staff

[2:49:45] for item 62, the childhood lead

[2:49:47] poisoning prevention grant,

[2:49:48] $3.1 million in state funding

[2:49:50] to prevent, lead poisoning

[2:49:53] for our children. items 71 and

[2:49:55] 95, it's a cooperative

[2:49:58] agreement with the city of

[2:49:59] Rialto to help with, areas

[2:50:01] in the events

[2:50:02] with public works,

[2:50:03] filling potholes. It's a

[2:50:05] $500,000 cost-sharing

[2:50:06] agreement. It's a great,

[2:50:08] investment. Item 73, which is

[2:50:10] our Muscoy pedestrian

[2:50:12] improvement project this is a

[2:50:13] little over $3 million, which

[2:50:15] will help pedestrian safety

[2:50:16] in the community of Muscoy.

[2:50:18] And the last one is item 88,

[2:50:19] community cleanup employment

[2:50:21] pathway grant. This is a grant

[2:50:23] with Caltrans, a $575,000

[2:50:24] investment, which will help,

[2:50:26] litter and abate workforce

[2:50:27] training, which is,

[2:50:29] great investments. And the last

[2:50:31] thing, just want

[2:50:33] to thank our military

[2:50:35] for their service as we enter

[2:50:36] Memorial Day, next Monday.

[2:50:38] Thank you, Madam Chair.

[2:50:39] >> Supervisor Cook.

[2:50:42] Supervisor Armendarez.

[2:50:45] >> Yes, thank you. lots

[2:50:50] of stuff to be said. I,

[2:50:51] I wanted to make sure I,

[2:50:54] said something about, Item 4

[2:50:55] that we had where,

[2:50:58] I'm very pleased

[2:50:59] to see that we are moving in

[2:51:00] the direction where we're going

[2:51:01] to be able to take advantage

[2:51:02] and see what the technologies

[2:51:04] that are around, clean energy,

[2:51:06] energy in particular, are

[2:51:07] headed, and creation

[2:51:09] of this ad hoc.

[2:51:12] But I am just curious, and

[2:51:14] hopefully, the, the board can

[2:51:16] entertain a possible workshop

[2:51:18] prior to that ad hoc

[2:51:19] commencing. I believe it'd be

[2:51:22] great for all of us to kind

[2:51:23] of chime in up front

[2:51:26] for a better understanding

[2:51:27] of what the goals and

[2:51:28] objectives of this ad hoc are

[2:51:29] gonna look like. And

[2:51:31] at least, some of us give some

[2:51:32] partial direction

[2:51:33] of the stuff we also wanna see.

[2:51:34] So I'm hoping,

[2:51:35] you'll consider doing some sort

[2:51:37] of board workshop for that.

[2:51:38] Also wanna highlight some

[2:51:40] items. We're doing a lot

[2:51:41] for the 2nd District. we, we

[2:51:43] are, working with Upland

[2:51:46] Chamber and, helping them with,

[2:51:47] assisting of event cost. We're

[2:51:49] working with the Fontana Days

[2:51:51] Festival community project

[2:51:53] for scholarships. We're doing,

[2:51:54] we did $40,000 in Ranch

[2:51:57] Cucamonga, to fund one year

[2:51:59] of gold sponsorship for 2027

[2:52:00] to assist with facility

[2:52:02] improvements and the cost

[2:52:04] for their Route 66 welcoming

[2:52:06] center. $30,000, for, the new

[2:52:12] San Bernardino County Fire

[2:52:13] Foundation to help them get

[2:52:16] them up and running. $15,000

[2:52:18] for the community Little

[2:52:19] League, for their equipment,

[2:52:21] tools, and supplies for their

[2:52:23] youth. and the one that I'm

[2:52:25] most proud of is the $40K we

[2:52:27] are investing back in our kids

[2:52:28] through the SPARK program.

[2:52:30] SPARK program is something that

[2:52:32] those who know me know is very,

[2:52:33] very, very near and dear

[2:52:35] to my heart. And, we took,

[2:52:37] and put our Second District

[2:52:38] discretionary money, into play

[2:52:40] on this because we believe we

[2:52:42] want

[2:52:43] to affect more kids and we want

[2:52:45] to be able to help more kids

[2:52:46] in the Second District. So So

[2:52:48] we are gonna be working with,

[2:52:50] the county as part

[2:52:52] of that SPARK program

[2:52:53] to bring some additional kids

[2:52:54] into that, and we the second

[2:52:56] district will be funding that.

[2:52:57] also wanna commend,

[2:52:58] since it's, after the fact,

[2:53:00] our approval of, the $420,

[2:53:03] grant award for Omnitrans

[2:53:05] Measure I funds

[2:53:07] to support our elderly. I feel

[2:53:09] like that's very important.

[2:53:11] I've been asking about this

[2:53:12] through Omnitrans

[2:53:14] for a minute, like,

[2:53:15] how can we do more? More

[2:53:16] to help our seniors

[2:53:18] in our communities. And I think

[2:53:19] this is just one step

[2:53:20] in moving

[2:53:21] in that positive direction

[2:53:22] to continue to do that. And,

[2:53:23] I'm gonna let it go at that

[2:53:30] because there's no one else

[2:53:31] here. Thank you, Madam Chair. I

[2:53:37] just have a couple updates from

[2:53:38] district. recently he was able

[2:53:40] to support the Veterans Legal

[2:53:42] Institute, which provides free

[2:53:43] legal services to at-risk,

[2:53:45] low-income veterans. And I know

[2:53:47] that our Veterans Department

[2:53:48] does an excellent job

[2:53:50] with that as well,

[2:53:52] so thank you for all their

[2:53:53] work. I was also recently

[2:53:54] honored to attend the Chino

[2:53:56] Legends and Academy, the

[2:53:57] competition at the Chino

[2:53:58] Senior Center, which is you

[2:53:59] have to be over 55, so I do

[2:54:01] qualify

[2:54:02] to go compete next year, so

[2:54:04] we'll see. I also recently

[2:54:05] attended the City of

[2:54:07] Montclair's high school senior

[2:54:08] birthdays, or senior birthday

[2:54:09] celebration and Montclair's

[2:54:11] High School to College

[2:54:12] Graduates, which is a program

[2:54:14] that gives students the

[2:54:15] opportunity

[2:54:17] to earn a 2-year scholarship

[2:54:18] at Chaffey College. record

[2:54:19] number, 175 students completed

[2:54:20] the program this year,

[2:54:22] which is fantastic. And lastly,

[2:54:23] last week we also donated,

[2:54:24] $125,000 to the Chino Valley

[2:54:26] Fire District

[2:54:28] for a special vehicle

[2:54:30] to attack EV fires. And sure

[2:54:33] enough, 2 hours later An EV

[2:54:34] overturned on, on Grand Avenue

[2:54:37] in Chino Hills and started a

[2:54:38] fire out there. So they put it

[2:54:40] to work that, that very day,

[2:54:41] to help put out the, the EV

[2:54:44] fire. tomorrow we'll be

[2:54:46] speaking at Ontario Global

[2:54:47] Business Connects Symposium

[2:54:49] at the Ontario Airport. Also,

[2:54:50] we have our annual open house

[2:54:52] at our district office from 5

[2:54:53] to 7. And lastly,

[2:54:55] our next shredding event will

[2:54:56] be June 6th in Chino.

[2:54:59] For anybody who's interested,

[2:55:01] please check to register.

[2:55:02] Thanks.

[2:55:03] >> Thank you, thank you. I

[2:55:04] wanted

[2:55:05] to highlight agenda item number

[2:55:07] 29

[2:55:08] on our consent calendar today.

[2:55:09] It was an MOU with Loma Linda

[2:55:10] University Children's

[2:55:11] Hospital Resiliency Institute

[2:55:13] for Childhood Advocacy, also

[2:55:14] known as RICA. RICA's clinic

[2:55:16] services they serve all

[2:55:17] children in the Inland Empire

[2:55:18] with priority given to CFS and

[2:55:20] court-dependent youth. They

[2:55:22] provide holistic care to

[2:55:23] children who have experienced

[2:55:24] abuse and trauma while offering

[2:55:26] ongoing treatment to from

[2:55:28] professionals who are

[2:55:30] experienced

[2:55:31] in trauma-informed care,

[2:55:33] and I'd like to thank the team

[2:55:35] at the clinic for their work.

[2:55:36] And lastly, the Highland

[2:55:37] Library Farmers Market. The

[2:55:39] county library is bringing a

[2:55:40] new weekly farmers market to

[2:55:41] Highland every Wednesday from

[2:55:43] 2 to 7 at the Highland Sam

[2:55:45] Radicchio Library. The market

[2:55:47] will feature local vendors

[2:55:49] offering farm-fresh produce,

[2:55:51] artisan goods,

[2:55:52] and ready-to-eat food options.

[2:55:54] So that's exciting for

[2:55:55] Highland. That's it for me.

[2:55:56] Our meeting stands adjourned.

[2:55:58] Our next regularly scheduled

[2:56:00] Board of Supervisors meeting

[2:56:02] will be here June 9th at 10 AM

[2:56:03] in this chamber. Thank you.

Board of Supervisors Regular Meeting on 2026-05-19 10:00 AM

Agenda

Transcript