Morning, everyone! Looks like we do have a quorum. I think there might be some traffic, but we will get started.
So, good morning, the December 12th Board of Directors meeting is called to order. First, I'd like to ask our interpreters to explain how to access interpretation.
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Si se encuentran azala de reunion favor de pedira auricular es con la recepcionista.
en el vestibulo. Thank you.
Thank you. I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the land that we call home, the tribal nations of San Diego.
have historically faced injustices. We acknowledge the harmony that existed between the land, nature, and its original peoples, who have since endured displacement, persecution, and systemic oppression.
We pay our respect to the unceded territory and homelands of the 18 tribal nations in our region, the most in any county in the United States, from our… from four cultural groups.
The Kumeyaidenyota, the seno, the copenyo, and the kobeya. This land has nourished, healed, protected, and embraced them for many generations in a relationship of balance.
and Harmony, as members of the Sandin community, we acknowledge this legacy. We aspire to learn from Indigenous traditional knowledge and experiences in undoing the injustices of the past.
Now, please stand and join me in the flag salute.
Ready? We can. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Oops. Okay, Michael, can you please double confirm quorum? We do have a quorum chair with the cities of El Cajon, Escondido, La Mesa, National City, Oceanside.
Highway Invista absent. Okay, let's move on to non-agenda public comment. How many do we have?
We have, uh, 3 in person, and if you are online, please raise your hand now.
And… 3 online. Okay. So first, we'll have, uh, truth followed by, uh, Perita Javier.
Hi, Rebecca, love the jacket. Can that be my Christmas gift, please? Alright, for the long-term board members who remember, apparently there's a new mayor in town.
the mayor of Vonita? Technically, the mayor of Bonita.
Your symptoms. If that's true, Kim, while I go back to the mayor's paycheck?
Remember when I said it'd only take one board member to send this board into disarray? Manuela is it?
With the scheme provided by Dem Chair William Rodriguez-Kennedy, once accused of rape, Manuela tried to drag Sanak backwards by playing the FAPO game with $500 million in federal dollars.
Racist equity means projects to the favored few at the expense of the many.
Union grifters love to say they're for the minority and the underserved, yet they're the first who selfishly throw projects.
Uh, for them on the sacrificial altar of their anti-Trump games.
Republicans and Independents, your yes vote gave leverage to the progressives' political theater. How stupid can you be?
The DIE show had zero strategy and zero values, because so-called California values should not consist of breaking the law.
I want to commend Bill and Chris for not playing political games with SANDAC's bylaw compliance with federal law that affects funding for SAN-AG projects.
Because here's what progressive union games with our transat tax dollars already resulted in.
From a 2022 Reader article entitled, When the Temecula Traffic Hits Escondido, quote.
Senator Communications Director Gary Benelli says, we hope to have a robust transit system in place by 2030. You're going to have 5-minute frequencies.
transit, competitive with the car. Caltrans says, we need alternate work hours where we're not all on the freeway at the same time.
Two questionnaires solicit citizens' views. The first asks, what transportation improvements people think will work?
The second ask, what are they willing to do?
People will say, oh, public transportation, I'm willing to spend the money. Will you ride it? Well, no, end quote.
Same bleep, different day. In over two decades, Sanek has literally achieved nothing but broken promises.
So, colon stockings and bah humbug to that. And you know what else bothers me? It's Fitzgerald stays silent.
Thank you. Next is Parita Javier, followed by Cesar Javier.
Good morning. I am Purita Javier. Senior with medical condition.
And a victim of ceramic skin toxicity. next door.
I've begun residence in 1997. Cesar, my husband came in.
2012. Uh, divine intervention.
I knew nothing about clean air. Oxygen, nor about air pollution. I was merely good at knowing.
shopping and sales are… it was. That made me aware of the threat of our health and safety.
He being a teacher and a contractor. in his curiosity, I gave him the story of the business and about them.
Friends, honor. a business that began 1984 and in treacles.
on and off storytelling. My late husband.
Watch. Child. I'd only get out of there is.
Stay away from there. Also, I told and showed Cesar about the permanent.
Fascinating of… Windows. I told Cesar that the owner has not gone to hire.
A higher education on. bless his wife, a nurse.
I also inform Cesar that my late husband was sailor.
Um, in a Navy guy and treated. a calm, uh… the couple, like, son and daughter.
A father figure of them. Thank you, your time has expired. Next is Cesar Javier, followed by Mike Bullock, online.
A beer family wishes everyone. Merry Christmas.
Prayerfully after our toil for 4 years. Kneeling… Bleeding and even shouting at our elected.
11 officials of the city of San Diego.
acetylene. by our Constitution.
Working together. Perfect union, ensure justice, a system fair for everyone.
Including Haber family. Domestic tranquility defense.
Our stance. Councillor Rivera, Cheryl Mario is defense.
To protect our community. to serve our community.
For the totality of patrimony and posterity for all American sons and daughters.
We beg of you. Something is wrong, and we are supposed to correct it.
That's the tenets of what we call. The good thing that we will remember.
An owner. Forever, because… This is the greatest.
country in the world, and perhaps in few more years.
in the universe. We stand here… To remind our elected officials.
Don, when you. I mean, when you take office.
You raise your right hand, not your lap. Not your feet.
But you raise your heart and mind. And say to the Filipino, sorry.
We just attended the Filipino meeting yesterday. To all Americans.
I will protect the… Thank you, your time has expired.
Next is Mike Bullock online, followed by the original draw.
Yes, thank you. I am, uh… Mike Bullock, I live in Oceanside, and um.
I… when I retired from Lockheed Martin after 36 years, my title was Senior Staff.
systems engineer. So, uh, Honorable chair and members of the board, I'm honored to speak with you this morning, and my topic is, uh, climate.
change literacy. And, um, I'm gonna follow along with, uh.
the way that is defined in the California Democratic Party platform in the education plank.
And you'll find it there, and it says, uh, you have to know, um, why we have the problem and how bad.
it could get. Um, and uh… Also, you need to know, um… Uh, the difference between climate stabilization and, uh.
Uh, climate, uh, destabilization. Uh, and then also, uh, the, uh, requirements that the climate scientists have given us.
Uh, so we can achieve the desired outcome, which is stabilizing the climate and avoiding.
destabilization. Um, and then also the mitigation measures are there.
Um, so I don't have a lot of time.
But, um, it's really based on the NOAA plots.
And, uh, the 800,000 year plots, so there's a ton of science there, that's 800,000 years going back in time.
It shows the atmospheric CO2. And it shows the temperature anomaly, which is what the temperature of our atmosphere is relative to what it would.
should be, uh, without, uh, climate change. And, you know, we're very close to 1.5 degrees centigrade now.
Uh, and, uh… The plot, the other plot, the normal plot, is just 1,000 years, where you zero in on it, and it's very, very clear that it's the, um… our Industrial revolution. That's where our atmospheric CO2 climbed from where it should be, 280 parts per million, to 420.
And the temperature anomaly that corresponds to that is 15 degrees centigrade, so we are in a lot of danger. Thank you.
Thank you, your time has expired. Next, his original draw, followed by a last public comment, Casey?
Good morning, as you guys are here for the last one of these meetings for the year and before the holidays, as you are going to be going and spending your holidays, whatever holiday that is, with your families, and I bet it's going to be a really, really beautiful time.
Well, I would like you to think about, while you're with your family, all of the many children who have been ripped apart from their families in the county by the child trafficking organization known as CFWB, Child Family Wellbeing.
Um, or, you know, people like to call it CPS. In fact, the County of San Diego was in a documentary.
That has, um, gone viral, called Never in America. I suggest that you guys watch it, um, but it talks about this, um.
business that is a conveyor belt to get children through the system after ASFA came in in 1997.
through Bill and Hillary Clinton. to fast-track adoptions with children, and it's very lucrative, taking Title IV funding.
Because states used to have to actually pay when they took it apart from their families, and they did it only when there was actual abuse, not to create cases because it's a lucrative business.
But I want you guys to think about, how do you think it would feel for your child?
If when they were seeing you and begging to go home with you.
A social worker said. Isn't that sweet?
Isn't that sweet? Isn't it? Isn't that horrific to have to hear when you're begging to go home and there's no reason for you to be separated from your family?
Except for money. And all the while, the county is covering up sexual abuse, so you can't go home.
I want you to think about what it's like being with your families and what it would be like if you weren't allowed to for absolutely no reason at all, but for profit.
Our last public comment is Casey. If you are online, please be sure to raise your hand at the start of an item, please.
Last other common Casey, go ahead.
Hi, my name's Casey, I'm a high school student, and this morning I had to ask my AP human geography teacher if I could leave class early to give this comment.
He asked, why do you need to give public comment during class? And I told him that SANDAG is jeopardizing my future.
An AP Human Geography, one of the first things you learn in the urban planning unit is that widening highways doesn't fix congestion.
It creates induced demand. You add lanes, people drive more, and then traffic comes back and emissions increase.
So what I… when I see a plan proposing over 90 miles of new managed lanes costing more than $2 billion.
It feels like we're choosing to ignore what decades of evidence, and frankly, what we teach teenagers already tell us.
I do want to thank everyone for extending the Youth Opportunity Pass, and as a student who depends on transit, that decision genuinely matters.
This plan still centers highway expansion, even through. SANDAG's own modeling labels, these projects as high VMT, to compensate, the plan leaves heavily on rapid bus routes, but we already have proof that rapid and name-only rhinos don't work.
Take the rap at 2.15. When it launched in 2014, it was supposed to be faster and more reliable than the route replaced.
Today, it takes 6 minutes longer than when it opened.
on-time performance has dropped by about 10 points, and ridership is down 33%, even though overall trans ridership has largely recovered.
It's not a demand problem, it's a design failure. Without dedicated lanes and strong transit signal priority, buses are just stuck in traffic.
I'm also deeply concerned with how little attention the purple line gets for South County is meant to be a transit lifeline, and with SB79 enabling more housing near transit ridership potential is being underestimated.
Also, removing references to NATCO's safe bike infrastructure guidelines sends the wrong message to young people like me.
I want to be really clear at the end here, I'm genuinely begging you for my future and my generation's future, you are not powerless.
All it takes is one of you to step up and call a weighted vote. You have the power to pass a regional plan that works for everyone.
Thank you, your time has expired. That concludes our non-agenda public comment, Chair, and for the record, the cities of National City, Oceanside, and Poway are present.
Very good, thank you so much. We'll go to knowledge and member comments, and I see Ann Fox from Caltrans on the board.
Good morning! Um, so tis the season for holiday wishes, and retirement's usually around this time of year.
So, I just wanted to announce that Karen Jewell.
Right here behind me, will be retiring this month, um, with over 36 years with Caltrans, probably a little bit more of that, because she did start with us as a student assistant.
She's been our hydraulics engineer, our traffic engineering and analysis lead.
project manager in North County Corridors, working on State Routes 76, 78.
Then, as a shared Caltrans, SANDAG corridor director for our central corridors, working on our routes 805, 52, 15.
And as a good partner to many of you and your agencies around this dais.
So, she was part of my lunch crew for probably well over a decade. One of the nicest, level-headed, active people you'll ever know, and someone will all miss in retirement. So, thank you, Karen, for making Caltrans and SANDAG better.
Lovely tribute. Thank you. Sounds like you made your mark.
All right, I have a few comments. This is the final meeting of the year, so I want to thank you all so much.
And for stat… to staff for your engagement and hard work throughout this very, very busy year. I also want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season.
And I do look forward to working with you all next year together.
As a quick reminder, the Audit Committee Chair is conducting the annual performance evaluation of SANDAG's independence.
Performance Auditor. We received a request to fill out that questionnaire December 2, which.
I somehow missed, um, got the reminder the other day and filled it out. So if you.
please fill it out if you haven't already. There are QR codes taped to the desks in front of you, and also you have an email in your email box.
Um, so please fill that out. Your feedback is important.
Since our last meeting, Vice Chair LaCava and I had the opportunity to meet with the leadership of the Southern California Tribal Chairman's Association.
They generously hosted, and we appreciated the chance. to share, um, and discuss priorities, strengthen our working relationship, and create some steps for ongoing discussions.
I also met with Senator Webber Pearson to discuss housing policy, including SB79, and thanking her for her.
non-support of SB79 and discussing a number of other issues, including border region resiliency and the ongoing need for SB375 reform.
That's it, and I'll turn it over to Mario for his update.
Thank you, Chair. And Karen, congratulations. We grew together in Caltrans.
So, uh, I cannot envision, uh. not having you as a corridor director there, so we really, really, uh.
a big hug, and again, you know, we grew 3 decades together in the agency.
Um, we… yesterday, we had, um… Uh, city managers roundtable that we are starting to host here. We really appreciate those city managers who could make it.
Uh, we had a very robust conversation of what's coming up next year, as well as city managers provided us some recommendations of how we should be working with the working groups.
So we will be bringing up those ideas, we will bring them forward to the executive committee.
I really encourage all of you to encourage your city managers.
to come to this roundtable. It's… it's a good forum where we discuss.
ongoing issues, upcoming grants, and we strategize. Uh, to make the discussions here as well as in the PACs more meaningful.
So I really appreciate that. Also, this week, I participated at the California Infrastructure Development Conference in LA.
Uh, with me was Komi Ajitsu, the SCAC executive Director, and we were together in a panel.
talking about what we see in the future and how we collaborate in Southern California.
Between SCAC and SANDAC. We cover, um… All Southern California, and a good chunk of the majority of the population of California.
So, between both organizations, we can impact. quite a bit, as well as nationwide.
Also, earlier this week, even though it feels way back.
Uh, we took a really fast trip, a 23-hour trip to Washington, D.C.
to meet with the Federal Highway Administrator, Mr. Sheen McCaster, as well as with Mexican Ambassador.
in the U.S. Esteban Moctezuma. Um, with federal highways, we discuss all-time HIEs.
And understanding some regulations that federal highways. has been directing us on it, and that could open… hopefully open the possibility.
more partnerships, as well as with Ambassador Moctezuma, we discussed the project, but we also discussed the Tijuana River issues.
And how do we more partner on improving not just the Tijuana issue, but all the environmental issues across the border.
Uh, that's why we're working on the sustainability. plan that we're working for that, for the border region.
on project updates. We had a huge accomplishment. The first climate action roadmap.
for San Diego region was completed and submitted to EPA.
Why is it important for then your cities can go and.
take that plan and be eligible for funding because it's a regional plan, so you can take it as yours also in your cities. If you don't have that.
in your cities, it's an option. But that's pretty big, because we… For those smaller cities who may not have the bandwidth to do it, you can adopt the ones from SANDAC, and that allows you to pursue funding for EPA.
and other related subjects. So we really, really appreciate that.
We're restoring the nesting habitat. And we're really working on that project. We really want to think.
Santee. And the mayor for, uh, Mayor Mento for helping us.
CalGrants in SANDAC, and Caltrans is leading this effort on the SR52.
operational improvements, environmental document, so thank you for allowing us that.
This is the… what you consider beginning of conversations to start moving the 52 into reality.
those improvements, so… you know, it's a journey, and Mayormento is helping Caltrans and ourselves.
on walking that journey, so thank you on that.
on the audit update, um, we're really focusing and closing out the 2018 TrustNet recommendations.
that were submitted to ITOC. Um, it was very concerning to me that we were.
A decade behind in some recommendations, some of them from 2015. So.
We needed to check the box out of the 2015, now we're going to try to check the box of 2018, as we can get closer to just have.
Not a decade, but hopefully months or maybe a year to get to some recommendations.
So we really appreciate that. Um, today you will be hearing, uh, the finance audit assessment.
Uh, that's going to be really helpful, and I'll talk more about that, but we're also doing -- going to be launching internally in the agency.
In HR department assessment, and we are already working on a toll ops organizational assessment. The information.
has been very, very good. Uh, for us, that will help us.
reinvent our toll operations department. conference, we're really exploring on different types of partnerships.
So we can also align it with that reorganization of our toll department, also reorganize how we manage toll-ops. So we will have more information on that shortly.
construction updates. There were some concerns about the Omarf blobs.
a big dike that was built there, so we're going to coordinate with the mayor, with all the department, with the… City Manager, and… Again, it's a journey. The mitigation for the Del Mar Bluffs is a complex mitigation that was imposed to us by Coastal Commission.
So, we're gonna work and try to balance. what Coastal wants, what the city wants, what the transit agency wants.
And we're gonna try to get… like I said, a balance and all that. So we're meeting also with the Coastal Commission director.
to try to figure that out next month. We have begun construction on the west.
Washington Street and Mission Valley bikeways. So hopefully that will be moving forward.
And finally, you know, I want to mention that our offices will be closed.
to the public on December 25th and January 1st.
Our toll operations customer center will close. at noon, around noon on the 24th to allow those employees to go home, and then we will be closed also on the 25th.
And on the 1st. And I really want to wish you a happy holidays to all of you, and thank you for all the support during this calendar year.
Thanks so much. Uh, Mayor Gastelin. Yes, thank you.
Executive Director, thank you for mentioning the Del Mar Bluffs. I wanted to invite the board members here.
to come to Del Mar sometime over the next few weeks.
and walk the beach along the bottom of the bluff, see the over one mile of new seawall that's in.
That is in between the beach and the bluff.
And I also wanted to remind us. that the original cost of this project was $58 million in 2020.
It's now estimated that it will wind up totaling $88 million.
With $62 million spent so far. So, an extra $30 million has gone into this project.
In June of 2022. The Coastal Commission approved the project conditionally. One of the conditions is actively, vigorously pursuing.
And accomplishing getting the railroad tracks off the bluff into an inland location.
So that's one. And the other was beach access.
So, we're going to be asking for transparency and access to the construction plans that the Coastal Commission reviewed.
The exhibits apparently weren't, you know, they showed a 4-foot-wide culvert.
And the location at 11th Street, and what was built was 12 feet wide, 6 feet deep.
At the 6 feet deep, 6 feet wide at the bottom.
Yeah, it's a very large cement structure that stretches.
Two blocks along the top of the bluff in Del Mar. It was a surprise.
So, let's try to be more transparent and have no more surprises.
Okay, we now move on to the consent calendar. Michael, do we have any public comments on consent?
Yes, if you are online, please raise your hand now. We have two in person.
That's truth, followed by Caesar.
103.1, the remnants of a Dead Meeting should be admitted to say that crybaby William Rotigers Kennedy is the chair of the San Diego Democratic Party. For transparency.
And 3.2 says that the Tribal Transportation program is considered as amended into the RTIP. Does that mean the tribal projects are automatically given to the Building Construction Trades Council if they cost over $5 million?
Out of 3.3, I'd like to know why Loh Sun is so concerned about Form 700s, what corruption is going on there?
Item 3.4, new to $40 million to UN Global Compact Partner Jacobs Project Management for the Lagoon double tracking.
Also, there's a misspelling on the word qualification in the second paragraph, on the second page of this item.
I don't 3.5, I do not approve of the $2.5 million investment in Nefarious Novartis.
And then 3.6, if we follow the DIE nonsense that Lauren voted for, then I don't think that wealthy La Mesa should get a pass on their late financial report.
In fact needs to provide a more detailed explanation as to why they need an extension.
On a 3.7, here's a public transit needs story.
On the trolley ride from. An abusive mansurder arguing with a woman. He suddenly grabbed the dog out of her arms and threw it like it was trash.
Even worse, she didn't care. There was zero security able to respond to animal abuse, and that is a prime traumatic example of what you all voted to spend $6.5 million a year for children to experience.
For the millionth time, make public transit safety an immediate priority, or shut up about reducing VMT and GHGs, because the only safe mode of transportation is by private car.
I had a 3.8. Dona Escondido's unaffordable stack-and-pack trust fund with no required transit, and likely no parking either.
Noto Bikeway for Lemon Grove, which doesn't even have fixed streets or sidewalks.
And why did the LG only have to put up $1,000 in matching funds?
Why did IB put up $0 for the stupid cap update?
And for Sinex Excels, staff needs to more closely triple-check their mistaken work before releasing it, especially when it deals with who gets funding.
How long is this agency gonna keep messing up, is my question.
Next is Caesar, followed by Mike Bullock online.
Advocacy for… Community life.
Processes 3.1 to 3.8. We have to lump this, because there are.
a chain. And… The strength of this change is the weakest link in all this process.
Did we adequately. Prepared for this.
toilsome effort. For example, amending.
Rules and laws that are vintage. Not fitted.
to the call of times. I say this because.
the mission of SANDAG. To be specific, it's all about… Man's survivability as far as mobility and transportation. Without this.
You know the answer.
The changing time. Calls for changing roles.
The call of time, state and condition. requires us to be vigilant and watchful.
This is all about all these processes here today.
And we share with you. We support this, and we encourage you thinkers.
Including the public, of course. It's not your… jurisdiction alone.
Because you never exist without us. Hear from us! Hear from you, and we learn together. Your time has expired.
We have 4 comments online. That's Mike Bullock, followed by the original draw.
Yeah, thank you very much. Uh, Mike Bullock and Oceanside, I guess I introduced myself before, and uh… So, Honorable Chair and members.
Uh, I would like to, uh, resp… respectfully request that you consider removing, uh, 3.5.
for discussion. Um… I really appreciated hearing the, uh… Uh, statement by the director, and, uh.
I think the director, I agree with everything the director is saying in 3.5.
However, I think we need to discuss what is not going on.
And that is that, um, SANDAG is not. asking, uh, Sacramento, our legislators.
Uh, our governor to please implement the CARB scoping Plan.
And the reason that the scoping plan must be implemented as soon as possible is because it is.
California's official plan to stabilize the climate and achieve SB 32, which is a state law.
Uh, and, uh, corresponds to, uh. what the IPC is doing and corresponds to what the climate scientists tell us we must do.
by 2030. We don't have a lot of choice about this.
Uh, the climate scientists are not wrong, and climate, uh… destabilization is something.
We need to avoid. And, uh, so we need to ask.
the state of California to implement. The mitigation measures, which are in that plan and will reduce, uh.
VMT by 25% by 2030. They didn't want to tell us that 25%, but it's just math.
I have worked this problem myself, and they're in the ballpark. They're not, uh… off base at all. I did this 10 years ago, and I got 32% reduction by 2030.
their assumptions are probably a little more updated than mine. Electric cars are far superior technology, and so they're probably.
a little closer, but 25% is a lot. We have to get those mitigation measures. Thank you.
Next is original draw, followed by phone number ending in 1415.
Until you guys can maintain the infrastructure that we already have, you shouldn't be looking into things like double tracking.
and whatnot. I mean, you know. Public transit is not beneficial to people. It takes longer, and it's just more of a pain in the butt. You actually are putting children in danger by not having security on there and having them ride for free unaccompanied.
And when we sit here and we're talking about.
You know, reducing GHGs and all of that, and we don't even look into.
what Mexico, uh, the cars that are coming from there, and you're, you know, penalizing.
our own communities for things, and, you know, potentially road usage charges are coming in, you should be implementing that.
For people that are not having the same regulations that we do.
Um, to ensure that you're gonna reduce those, otherwise you guys are just hypocrites, because you're allowing things to happen from people outside of our nation to come in, and then… And basically, the people that live here are punished for it, because we're never going to meet the goals that you want, because all of it's BS anyway.
But your smart growth incentive program. And the way that you guys talk about projects and.
You know, aligning them with growth principles and. You know, that are compact, transit-accessible, pedestrian-friendly.
and environmentally responsible, you know, reduces. traffic congestion, you basically are putting people in these densely populated areas.
That are gonna be, you know, where people are gonna be tracked and traced, you're gonna have to walk and bike everywhere. I mean, if you guys want something to work, because nothing you guys do is really beneficial to the people, why don't you do it first?
Prove to us that it works, and then potentially ask us if we can want our money to be spent on that, and then we'll decide. Instead, you guys just push the United Nations agenda.
And you don't care what the people in the communities have to say, you don't look into the fact that you're creating a huge fire hazard and potential death for a bunch of people the way that you're planning things out.
Thank you. Next is phone number 1415, followed by phone number 8813.
Oh, Lord, um… On the transnet smart group stuff, uh… So, does climate action stuff is funded by the Transcendent Extension?
Our money going to places other than TransNet? Um, and I was just reminded that climate predictions often are based on.
One or two. There are several particular regions.
They're not applicable to all. To spread the divergent CAP projects with different goals is wasted money.
It is interesting and instructive that most of the initiatives listed in the appendix.
are not CAP-oriented. The same fold that you won't find as needed as affordable housing costs.
when they'll have 3 million left to give initiative such fees.
I also think it is unfair to deny. Funding completed the Escondido project simply because it relies on existing transportation infrastructure.
I've been developing new transportation infrastructure. This is press front.
Which means that not all of the individual housing projects or access routes are in planning at this time.
Uh, the, um… And the same contract, uh.
I'm glad to hear that there was a robust competitive bidding process for the construction management.
Uh, doesn't look quite the constructability review bids were competitive.
With two bidders, one of whom was locked out.
Our reviews for Jacobs are mixed with good work life.
Thank you, your time has expired. Our last public comment is phone number ending in 8813.
Work-life balance…
Controller here. So, um, because everything is connected, and um… Because everything we're seeing at the local level, from transportation policy to digital systems to financial restructuring.
Uh, is connected. to a much larger pattern. Many people shrugged off.
Uh, or didn't think twice when the penny was taken out of production.
a month ago. And, uh, you know… Nothing government removes is ever too small to matter. Every disappearance is a shift in our human behavior. When you remove the lowest denomination of money.
You normalize rising prices, you normalize rounding up, you normalize quiet inflation that nobody can track.
It's a psychological conditioning tool. Not an economic update.
And what happens next? Cash slowly disappears. Digital payment becomes.
Default tracking becomes unavoidable, and control becomes programmable. And, um… It's clear in the very frameworks that agencies like SANDAG follow, including the Regional Implementation.
Uh, for the UN 2030. Um, which pushes digitalized mobility, digital identity, cashless systems, and centralized data monitoring.
As if they are harmless advances. And the truth is simple, when everything is digital, everything is trackable. When everything is trackable, everything is controllable, and when everything is controllable, human freedom becomes optional.
And you see, this isn't a transportation planning, the push to restrict car usage increasing.
increased tolling, expand surveillance-based mobility systems. High transportation access to digital accounts, it mirrors the same pattern we see in the financial system.
Reduce physical freedom, increase digital dependency, shift power upward, make human behavior manageable.
Thank you, your time has expired. That concludes our public comment on this item, Chair.
Very good. Um, it's now time for the board to comment, um, and perhaps.
Give me a motion. Um… First Vice Chair Lacava. Uh, I'll move the consent agenda. Very good.
Second by Minto. Um, Mayor Sanchez, did you want to speak? I was just going to make the motion. Oh, okay, thank you. All right, so please use your devices to speak.
I mean, to vote?
Yeah.
Encinitas, yeah. It's gonna do that.
Okay, that passes unanimously. Uh, thank you. Uh, we'll now move to the 2025 Regional Plan. This is the time and place set for a public hearing on the 2025 Regional Plan and its final environmental impact report. The staff presentation will be heard first.
And then we will take public comment. Next, we'll hear comments from board members, and then I'll close the public hearing.
After the public hearing, we are being asked to certify the final EIR and adopt the 2025 Regional Plan.
So, Antoinette? Please go ahead.
Thank you, Chair. Good morning. I'm Antoinette Meyer, the Senior Director of Regional Planning here at SANDAG, and today is a big day. Today is the day.
Um, when we're asking you to adopt the 2025 Regional Plan that we've been working on together over the last several years.
And to certify the environmental impact report. Developing and adopting a regional plan every 4 years is one of SANDAG's most important responsibilities. You've heard me say this time and time again. Without a regional plan, the region, and that's every agency in the region, is not eligible.
for state and federal funding for transportation projects. So, having a plan that meets all of the state and federal requirements is a very important thing for the.
for the region. Um, in September. I presented to you the changes that we were proposing to make between draft and final. They were relatively minor changes.
And those changes are reflected in the final plan. There haven't been any additional.
changes since then. What you haven't heard about yet, though, is the environmental impact report, so we're going to spend a little bit more time on that today.
Um, before we open it up for the public hearing part of the plan.
So just a few quick reminders. This is really the culmination of years of technical work, coordination, collaboration with you, um, and your agencies.
And a lot of public outreach. We started this process back in 2021.
collecting current travel data, doing surveys, updating the modeling tools that we use.
to evaluate the plan, and then we really kick this off with you in 2023 at your board retreat when I was doing a briefing yesterday, Mayor Gasterlin reminded me that we kicked this off with the puzzle exercise that you were.
Your board retreat, um, and, um, you all helped us throughout the course of that year.
determine what the priority is for the plan were, and to set the goals for the plan.
We also started doing outreach really early for this plan, so getting input from communities about what their priorities were. Um, and then we developed an initial concept.
for the plan in 2024. That was not the draft, but that was the pre-draft.
We took that out, we got feedback from you, from communities, um, and then we incorporated that feedback into the draft plan that we released for public comment in May.
Shortly after releasing that draft plan, we released the draft EIR.
Um, and then, uh, the public comment period's closed. We've been addressing all of those comments.
Um, in fact, there is, uh, responses to the public comments as an appendix to the plan, and now we are here. But the final step today, adopting the plan.
This slide really summarizes all of the in-person outreach that we did over the course of the plan. You'll see there were quite a few board presentations and workshops, 20. Thank you for being.
Patient and active participants in the process. But it was very helpful for staff, because it allowed you to really provide guidance and direction along the way, and to have a better understanding of what it takes to put together a regional plan and all the laws and requirements that we have to meet and why we make certain decisions to include things in the plan.
We also worked a lot with your staff, both one-on-one and through our working groups, and we worked with our policy advisory committees.
We did a lot of community events, um, and we worked with our tribes. We did consultation through our tribal working group, but also one-on-one with the different tribes.
Um, and we went out and we met with groups all across the region, and that led to a lot of feedback.
So when we were working on the initial concept for the plan, we had both in-person and online opportunities to provide feedback.
That resulted in nearly 12,000 public comments. Then when we release the draft, I shared with you in September that we got, um, over 1,300, um, comments.
on the plan, um, and we held, again. in person, um, events all across the region, um, and took feedback, um, through email, mail, every mechanism.
And Appendix J, you can see the responses to those public comments.
This is the network. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on it, because we've talked so much about it. But, you know, the feedback that we get on the plan is about as diverse as our region, and we tried to really respond to that with a very balanced, multimodal plan. So this plan has investments across all modes, transit, active transportation.
roadways, safety and operation projects, um, it's all in the plan.
It also includes improvements to existing services, so you don't see those lines on the map, but all of the transit across the region gets upgrades, um, additional hours of service, better frequencies.
Um, there's community shuttles, we've heard a lot from you, um, about the desire to have more, um, neighborhood shuttle services.
And we have those in both our rural and urban communities. And of course, safety and operational improvements, we've heard a lot from our rural communities and the tribes about the importance of that, so that is reflected in the plan.
What you don't see is the programs and the projects, and we've received a lot of comments about the Youth Opportunity Pass program. I want to reassure you, YOP is in the plan for the life of the plan. In October, the board approved another additional few years of funding for that, and we're working with the operators.
on a long-term, sustainable funding source. The other project I want to, um, mention, because it's been coming up a lot, and we've got a lot of questions on it, is the Purple Line.
So the purple line, um, has not been delayed. It is… it is not removed from the plan, but we've done a lot of planning and analysis work, um, since the 2021 plan, and we learned a lot.
About where the line should be, and how complicated and complex and expensive it is to construct. And that's reflected in the plan. So the new timeline for the purple line.
Um, and the phasing for that project is based on reality. The cost of the project and how complex of a project it is to construct.
There was also some confusion and public comments that came in about the airport and transit to the airport. There is no automated people mover in the regional plan. We assume in the outer years of the plan that the trolley light rail will connect to the airport, and in the near term, we have improvements to the existing shuttle.
and bus service. And then last. I want to address Senate Bill 79, because there's been a lot of feedback and comments and concerns.
about the potential impacts of Senate Bill 79, um, based on projects in the plan.
So Senate Bill 79 applies to projects that have operated in the last 3 years, so it's backward-looking.
And, um, routes for which a locally preferred alternative has been selected. So projects that are already well along in the planning, environmental, um, stage, um, and that are included in the RTIP. So the lines on the map in the regional plan aren't going to, unless they've been.
really planned and gone through environmental trigger anything related to SB79. Also, we don't have the, um… what the state… how the state defines rapid in our region. So, the state's definition around rapid is dedicated infrastructure only for… exclusively used by the bus.
You need to have transit signal priority, you need to have all door boarding, basically all of the bells and whistles, and we don't have any qualifying rapid in our region, nor do we assume that rapids in our plan will require all of those things or have all of those things.
So I just wanted to clarify that about the plan.
The good news is, is the plan achieves the goals that you all set early on, um, and the performance measures are included as an attachment to the Appendix to the plan itself. Um, so you all set goals around convenience.
equity, health, and, um, safety, and at a high level.
Travel times are decreased for all modes, and that includes commercial vehicles.
So we achieve the convenience. Um, there's increased access to basic needs and opportunities for all populations in the region.
Um, there's an increase in transportation-related physical activity and cleaner air.
Um, and we have more safe transportation projects in the plan than we have in prior plans.
And very importantly, we meet all of our federal and state requirements. So, uh, across the top there, you see the federal requirements, there's more than this, but these are some of the big ones.
Um, there's a Title VI analysis that's included in the plan, that's Appendix E, and that demonstrates that the plan really does improve access to jobs, to education, to basic needs.
for our most vulnerable populations. We have to do the air quality conformity determination. Fortunately, we are no longer in a conformity lockdown, so we're able to submit our.
air quality conformity determination, um, to the federal, uh, government for approval, and that's one of the things you're being asked.
to approve today, but that demonstrates that we comply with the Clean Air Act, and that the projects in the plan don't worsen air quality.
And then fiscal constraint. We've talked a lot about this. The regionally plan has to be fiscally constrained. That means that the projects in the plan, um, we have to demonstrate how we could reasonably pay for them over the life of the plant, so it can't be a wish list. We do have a non-constrained list of projects. Those are projects that aren't.
Part of our funding strategy, they're not lines on the map, but they're projects of interest to the region or that show up in other agencies, other entities, plans. Um, so this plan is $125 billion.
That's quite a bit less than the last couple of plans.
That does not just include the new projects in the plan, and this is not just SANDAX money, this is operations and maintenance projects for Caltrans. This is the money that we pass through to all of you for local streets and roads projects or our grant programs.
Um, it's the bike projects that either you're building or that we're building.
It, um, covers really everything, even paying off our debt.
Um, and the bottom, we have the state requirements, so for housing and land use, we have to demonstrate how future job.
Um, and housing growth will occur in areas where there's planned or existing multimodal transportation infrastructure. We achieve this.
80% of the region's future growth, um, is in areas with planned or future transportation investments.
And Senate Bill 375, the one that we talk a lot about, and the one that we're working on improving for future plans, is the, um, greenhouse gas emissions reduction target, and if you recall, we have to meet that GHG target by reducing vehicle miles traveled.
The target that CARB set for this plan is a 19% per capita reduction by 2035, based on 2005 levels.
This plan achieves a 19.35% reduction, so we exceed our target, and that's actually higher than the amended 2021 plan, which was $18.6%.
So, we've met all of those laws. The last law that I'm going to turn over to Kirsten. Kirsten, you could tell, who's joining me today, is the project manager, um, for the EIR, the Programmatic EIR, um, for the plan, and she's going to walk you through the contents of the plan, the public comments that we received, and how we've addressed those.
Thank you. My name is Kirsten.
Kirsten, you could tell, and I'm here to give you an overview of the EIR and the other documents that are related that are in your packet.
So we completed an environmental impact report for the 2025 Regional Plan.
consistent with the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.
Which requires that we identify and analyze the environmental impacts of implementing the 2025 Regional Plan.
This is called a programmatic or program EIR, and as it sounds, it's intended to look at an interconnected set of projects, a program of them.
Over a longer time horizon, in this case, out to 2050, consistent with the regional plan.
So this EIR is not. clearing individual projects, it's not completing environmental analysis for individual projects.
site-specific impacts, or developing those related mitigation measures. It is analyzing the environmental impacts of the regional plan at the same level of detail contained in the regional plan.
And the expectation is that as projects are further developed.
and have a stable project description. They will then go through their own individual project-level CEQA analysis that will look at their impacts and alternatives and mitigation.
This EIR is looking at this high programmatic level at environmental impacts of the 2025 plan.
cumulative impacts. It contains an alternatives analysis. And it also contains programmatic mitigation measures.
One of the elements of developing the EIR. is to put it out for public comment, as Antoinette had already mentioned.
Our draft EIR went out in late August. And by the conclusion of the comment period, we had received 217 comments.
On the EIR, consistent with CEQA, we've prepared written responses to each of these comments.
And those are attached to your packet as Attachment 4, and they are Appendix N1.
in the EIR. Of the 217 comments that we received, maybe 80 to 85% of them were actually comments on the regional plan.
Those comments focused primarily on the purple line. On the Youth Opportunity Pass program, and on the desire for greater transit amenities.
Of the comments received on the environmental impact analysis in the EIR, there were two primary themes. The comments emerged around.
The first was GHG and VMT impacts. With most commenters opposing roadways, um, opposing roadway expansion.
advocating for sooner implementation of transit to reduce those impacts.
VMT and GHG impacts are fully analyzed in the EIR across.
three primary sections, which are air quality, section 4.3.
greenhouse gas and climate change, which is Section 4.8, and transportation.
Which is Section 4.16. The second primary area of comment.
was impacts to wildlife and habitat. With many commenters expressing concern that there is not an identified regional funding source.
to subsidize local habitat conservation plants. Impacts to wildlife and impacts to habitat, along with other resources, are analyzed.
in Section 4.4 of the EIR, Biological Resources. and comments to all… responses to all of those comments, as I said, are in the attachment to your packet.
None of the comments that we received raised significant new information that had not already been analyzed in the draft EIR.
Similarly, we had some changes draft to final in the EIR, and none of those changes.
rise to the level of significant new information.
In addition. to the EIR, CEQA requires preparation of some additional documents.
That are also attached to your packet. The first one of those is the findings.
which discusses the alternatives analyzed in the EIR. And also discusses.
the environmental impacts of the 2025 plan after mitigation.
That's attachment 1A to your packet. The second document is a statement of overriding considerations, or SOC.
Which is attachment 1B. And that sets out the advantages and benefits of adopting the 2025 Regional Plan.
And weighs them against the environmental impacts of the 2025 plan.
The third document, Attachment 1C. is the mitigation monitoring and reporting program.
Which sets out the mitigation that has been identified, analyzed, and committed to in the EIR at a programmatic level.
For the regional plan. And that concludes my presentation, and I'll turn it back to Antoinette for next steps.
Okay, so next steps, um, we will have the public hearing right after the presentation, and then the board will be asked to take two actions. The first will be to certify the EIR, and the second will be to approve, adopt the regional plan.
Um, once that happens, we will submit the Sustainable Community Strategy to the state, California Air Resources Board, for acceptance, and we will submit the Air Quality Conformity determination and RTP to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
And the EPA for approval. And with that, I will pass it back to the chair to open the public hearing.
Very good. I've opened the public hearing, and we'll now go to public comments. Michael, how many do we have?
If you are online, please raise your hand now.
We have 9 in person. First up is Chris Roberts, followed by Eric Rear.
Hello, I'm Chris Roberts, volunteer for San Diego 350 Climate Action. Thank you, SANDAG staff, for all your hard work on the plan.
We are very happy that funding for Youth Opportunity Pass program has been extended. Thank you very much.
Apart from this, we're very disappointed in the 2025 regional plan, and we don't believe that the plan is going to achieve the goals that were stated on particular decreasing transit across all modes. We don't believe it.
Um, the plan, uh, will have 93 miles of new lanes added, managed lanes, costing more than $2 billion by 2035.
This will result in induced demand, and so a few years after completion.
The congestion on these highways will be as bad as it is now.
And we don't think that's an effective way to spend $2 billion over the next 10 years.
SANDEG's own modeling characterized disease as high VMT increase, so there'll be more cars on the road, more greenhouse gas emissions.
to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions, many new rapid bus routes are added.
But as Antoinette said, these aren't real rapid bus routes. They're not going to have all the technology needed for them to be rapid.
To get the greenhouse gas emissions, they're going to counterbalance all of the induced demand from the highway expansions.
So, I don't… it's hard to believe we're going to meet our SB 375 greenhouse gas emissions in this plan.
So, um, and of course, as well, a lot of the things that Rapid bus routes need, for example, bus-only lanes, are actively opposed.
by many cities in the county. So, the biggest disappointment in the plan is the purple lines, barely mentioned.
We feel that with the passage of SB 79, the numbers of riders on the plan are going to be much greater than stated.
And it's extremely disappointing that NACTO-safe bicycle infrastructure guidelines have been removed from the plan.
That means that bike infrastructure will be built. unsafe, and the community will declare victory. So we're sorry about that, and we're disappointed in the plan.
Thank you very much. Next is Eric Ruhrer, followed by Truth.
Good morning, my name is Eric Rohr. Good morning, members of the board and everyone attending.
I'm a resident of San Diego, and just speaking as a resident, not.
Representing anyone. I do work as a transportation engineering consultant in the San Diego region, so.
I work for both private and public clients. I will.
most likely be working on individual projects that are part of this plan.
But I'm not speaking about any individual projects today. What my comment.
is to speak in favor of adopting the plan and certifying the EIR.
And, um, I followed the process from the beginning.
And I want to let you know, I believe this has been a robust process that resulted in a.
and a balanced plan, and I think you should adopt this plan. I think you should certify the EIR.
And thank you for allowing me to speak. Nexus truth, followed by Cesar Javier.
Total artificial input was 2,517 people divided by a 3.3 million population equals 0.0007% input.
Thumbs down. All modes of transportation are faster? Yeah, right.
An environmental impact report means nothing in the corrupt state of California. Ceqa is waived all the time for a dangerous and toxic projects like battery energy storage, fire facilities.
Because whatever makes the big political unions, big NGO profiteers, big green deal scammers, and the big cartel campaign funders rich is what gets a fast-track approval. And that includes projects like border crossings, which should only be built by the federal government, not in EPSANDAG.
The OTIMAC's project directly violates AQ07 because it will result in other emissions such as those leading to odors.
By encouraging unregulated building in Tijuana, which violates POP 1's substantial unplanned population growth by extending roads and other infrastructure.
Expansion of a state route by up to 25 cargo lanes and 20 passenger lanes, encouraging up to 12,000 cars and 1,500 trucks a day that are so-called fossil fuel based.
And do not meet emission standards violates EN2's renewable energy, AQ1's GHG12, 3, 4, and Teres.
emissions reduction goals in AQ6's carbon monoxide hotspots. What is the predicted GHG and VMT inventory of the OME project, and what highways are being sacrificed for those extra GHGs?
I'd rather see that 1.3 billion taxars go to immediate safety measures for the 67 and 78.
By not doing that, Sandek is violating has for impairing implementation resulting in inadequate emergency access.
Sineag's bluff tracks move in Del Mar is also violating POP 1 by displacing substantial numbers of people or housing units.
Necessitating the construction of replacement housing elsewhere. The City of San Diego is violating TR4 on lack of parking supply that causes secondary environmental impacts.
Notice socialist welfare transit, tax road usage charges, higher parking pricing, managed lane pricing, and arterial and freeway speed reductions, which all increase.
BMT, and emissions. And thank you for making me skim a lot of pages. I actually did it.
Thank you. Next is Cesar Javier, followed by Noelle Garcia.
Caesar and Purita. I solemnly swear.
To support the Constitution. So, help me, God.
What we are doing, ma'am, sir. Thank you for your presentation.
is good, better, best. I wonder, in the presentation.
Why only the air quality that is being given focus?
This is the summation of the two presentations. item 4. Why? Why only air quality aspect?
Why not the geological aspect, which is all. Within the sphere of the element shell.
As we were taught in the urban planning course.
Why? We won the war because of COVID communication.
We were taught how to read. But we were not taught how to understand what we are reading.
Is this how we… swore to the Constitution.
But anyway, we are doing our best. And who prepares the EIR?
Region-wide, citywide, community-wide. We, the residents in the community, suggest to you.
What is the actual frontline happening as far as environment?
And listen to us. Is this coded?
You didn't consider. The underbead of our foundation, the land.
Or geology aspect. What about hydrography?
Where our… Circulation, mobility passes through.
Where they are playing in the air. Thank you, your time has expired. Next is Noel Garcia, followed by Corelli Sadano.
Good morning, I am here on behalf of MidCity Can to actually thank SANDAG for its commitment to continued funding and give another extension to the Utahni Pass program.
And mid-city Can, we do a lot of work advocating for spreading the word about the importance of the youth's access to public transit to the residents and the local community.
So, it's not just I who's grateful for the continuation of this program.
It is mothers, dads, brothers, sisters, elders, and many, many workers.
That being said, I still strongly urge that this program eventually receive the permanent funding that San Diegans deserve.
Next is Coreli Serrano, followed by Anna Grossman. Good morning, board members. My name is Carly Serrano, the Transportation Organizer at Mid-City CAN. I just want to thank you all for your continued commitment to the Youth Opportunity Pass program.
Um, including it in the regional plan and extending it, your leadership in supporting free transit for youth has made a meaningful impact across the region. We really appreciate your continued dedication to supporting transit-dependent communities.
like City Heights to create a more equitable and connected region through transit services. Thank you.
Nexus Anna Grossman, followed by Gillian Quint.
Good morning. My name is Aria Grossman, and I'm the Policy Manager at Circulate San Diego.
In 2022, Circulate published a report analyzing SANDEG's 2021 draft plan.
The report ultimately found that the 2021 plan made billions of dollars in speculative revenue assumptions.
For example, from road uses charges and enacting multiple ballot measures in a very short span of time.
Circulate is supportive of these, you know, concepts in general, but finds that they're.
that SANDAGS 2021 draft plan made very, um, speculative and high estimations for these revenues.
The revenues were also set to be dedicated to extremely high-cost capital projects that were simply just not going to be built as proposed.
Circulate is supportive of transit capital investments, but when we prioritize unrealistic projects over near-term transit service upgrades.
We end up with no improvements to transits and implementing only highway projects.
The 2025 plan improves upon these concerns. The revenue estimations no longer include these unrealistic road uses charges and scales back ballot measures to a more realistic goal.
It's important to note that there is still $14.7 billion in revenue estimations that SANDAG currently doesn't have the authority to implement.
As well as federal discretionary award projections, which are based on the past 5 years, which is.
Very unrealistic, as the current authorizations expire at the end of 2026.
Additionally, expenditures have made progress. The large-scale capital projects are scaled back in favor of more near-term transit service enhancements.
Circulate supports the new rapid routes and encourages SANDAG to prioritize implementing rapid upgrades as soon as possible.
Including the support of infrastructure necessary to ensure that they are actually rapid.
I urge SANDAG to continue the trends I outlined in future plans. Thank you.
Next is Jillian Quint, followed by Ian Hembree. Good morning, my name is Jillian Quint. I represent the San Diego River Park Foundation. We are very appreciative that the San Diego River Trail and Regional Bikeway is a featured element.
in the 2025 regional plan, so many members of the community, including residents, regional travelers, and recreational visitors, have been waiting for the completion of this vital bike wave for over 20 years.
I must also express our gratitude to SANDAX Transportation Committee, Chair Zito and Vice Chair Illa Rivera for their strong and decisive support of the West Valley River Crossing, which is the pedestrian and bike bridge.
At last week's Transportation Committee, the leadership urged staff to utilize the next funding cycle to ensure that this crossing is funded.
The West Valley Crossing is the crucial missing link that anchors the entire river trail and bikeway network. It's a central piece of the city's natural heritage.
With no known opposition, and so many members of our community using the River Trail and anticipating the future enhanced safety and connectivity that this crossing will bring to unlock the entire regional bikeway all the way out to Santee.
It truly is a project that will unite the county. As this West Valley Crossing project moves forward, we have one small, specific request. We ask that a note be made in somewhere that when the design moves ahead for the West Valley Crossing, it must include the design.
eastward trail extension toward the future Riverwalk trolley Station.
The good news is that the preliminary design for this extension is being funded through the Riverwalk development. However, the projects are currently split in the regional plan, and with the eastward trail extension lumped with other projects, their union is essential, because from a design aspect, you want the pieces to align.
Thank you very much. Our next public comment is Ian Hembree, followed by Consuelo Online.
Good morning, SANDAG board. My name is Ian Hembree with the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. I want to begin by thanking SANDAG for building some of the best bike projects in the county.
These projects make biking safer and more convenient, and they also make our communities more livable and sustainable.
We're happy to see that more bike projects are included in this plan.
However, there are worrying signs that present commitment to bike projects are under threat. In October, Sandai gave back $3.8 million.
and grant funding for the Pacific Highway Project, and the project is missing a project delivery strategy.
Pacific Highway is one of the most dangerous roadways in the county, and the painted bike lane along Pacific Highway has earned demerits as one of the worst bike lanes in the United States.
It is a vital regional connector, serving as the most convenient corridor to connect many of San Diego's most dense, populous neighborhoods.
Last week, Eric Woodson Jr. Was walking northbound along Pacific Highway when he was struck by a driver.
And killed. The northbound side of Pacific Highway doesn't have a sidewalk, only the southbound side does.
He was killed walking in the street because there is no sidewalk, or he was trying to cross to the other side that does.
How is SANDAG's willingness to give back grant funds for the most dangerous roadways in the county represented in the regional plan?
There are many assumptions about increased grant funding in this plan.
But giving back grant funds for critical. projects runs counter to that assumption.
We need this board and this SANDAIG leadership to commit to delivering bike projects by building a project delivery strategy for projects.
funding projects that currently have a project delivery strategy, and not giving back grants that build life-saving infrastructure.
As you develop the budget for this next year, keep this in mind.
Thank you so much, and have a happy holiday season.
We have 5 public comments online. The first is Consuelo, followed by Mike Bullock.
Okay, so, um… 217 public commenters, okay, so, um… Index using as proof of public consent, that number means nothing.
When the people you're questioning don't even understand the true power… the true purpose of this agency.
So, uh, you're gathering opinions from a public that's been kept in the dark.
And totally not informed. Um, you're asking questions, then using the answers to pretend people support policies they don't even realize will restrict their daily lives.
And, um, SANDAG exists. solely to limit human mobility and not protect the environment, restrict movement.
Uh, and you've packaged it in the nicest words possible, too. Equity, safety, sustainability. Meanwhile, younger… the younger generations.
And I say this with sadness. Um, have been manipulated so deeply that they are now cheering their own restrictions.
And they have no idea their future freedom is being quietly erased under the language of carbon reduction.
And here's the reality, nobody on this board will say out loud.
We are the carbon they're trying to reduce. That's why mobility is being targeted, not because of science, but because controlling movement means controlling people.
And the forced bike lanes. Um, they're entirely inequitable.
And everywhere I go in this county, people call them exactly what they are, those stupid bike lanes, they you know, like, they're just known as those stupid bike lanes.
every demographic calls them those stupid bike lanes. Anyways… Um, yeah.
So you didn't ask the communities if they wanted them, you opposed them. You remove lanes, increased congestion, damaged, all by design.
Uh, damaged businesses and may travel harder for working families, all to force everyone into a system that they never agreed to join.
Thank you, your time has expired. Next is Mike Bolek, followed by Rod.
Yeah, thank you very much. This is Mike Bullock. I can introduce myself before.
Uh, the FEIR for the 2025 RTP does not comply with CEQA.
Because CEQA requires that the significant impacts of the RTP.
be described. The RTP fails to comply with California's official plan.
to achieve climate stabilization. That plan is the CARP scoping plan, which calls for reducing BMT by 25% with respect to 2019 levels.
by 2030. The RTP, with its SCS, claims to reduce driving less than 20%.
by 2035, which is 5 years later than 2030.
Therefore, the RTP will contribute to destabilizing the Earth's climate.
An environmental impact that can be briefly described as ending life forms on Earth.
Except for microbiology. It includes destroying our habitat, resulting in starvation.
Mass starvation and human extinction. CARB was tasked with creating its scoping plan under AB32.
Now, there's no excuse for Sandag for not understanding this. In the famous September 11th, 2011 letter to Sandank from the California AG, this was written in the footnote.
On page 8. Executive Order S305 is the official policy of the state of California established by gubernatorial order in 2005, and designated to meet the environmental objective that is relevant under CEQA.
Climate stabilization. Sand egg thus cannot ignore it.
The only difference now is that S305 has been replaced by SB32, which was established as a law of California.
Now, regarding item 2, regarding the second request by the SAS achieving air conformity.
There are, in effect, two different carbs. One is law-abiding. That carb.
created the CARB scoping Plan. So that's the carb that matters.
Um, the card that went for less than 20% by 2035.
is ignoring SB32 and is ignoring the common decency.
Thank you, your time has expired. Next is Rod, followed by Paul the Bold.
Hi, my name is Rod Streper. I am a member of the Community Planning Group here in Lakeside, and.
I'm also, uh, president of Fixed Pepper Drive Association.
I'm really speaking on behalf of the Fixed Pepper Drive Association, and specifically as a bicyclist here in San Diego.
Um, our East County is not really serviced very well with bike lanes.
The main thing that we had requested in the public comments, I was in.
I was one of the people that commented here when the draft plan came by here in El Cajon.
was to put a bike lane along Pepper Drive.
which would connect two of the major routes, uh, going north and south of East County.
Specifically, it would have connected Winter Gardens Boulevard with Magnolia.
Um, it would be an on… street bikeway, and so relatively inexpensive. So what I'd like to do is.
put into the public record here that we are requesting a.
By claiming to be included, hopefully it'll be included in the next master plan, but we'd like to see if this relatively low-cost.
bikeway could be included. It's about 2.5 miles, and shouldn't be that, uh, difficult to, uh, request.
Um… that is my request, so I'd like to put that on the public record, please.
Next is Paul the Bold, followed by the original draw.
Paul, yourself muted?
Great. Um, sorry about that. I'm glad you answered every comment on Ian.
EIR, and did, in fact, attach it. One major issue NCTD brought up on page 126.
is that SENDAG overestimated VMT per 20 years. Because the accuracy of data used in the EIR and the error conformity.
complete declaration. As I said, I just was reminded that climate predictions often are based on one or several particular regions.
are not applicable to all. But the spread of divergent CAP projects with different goals and the.
They pay a file is wasted money. Um, the letters.
I noticed a lot about making bike lanes safe.
I wouldn't do it on a city-by-city basis, one set or a side.
That are one tags or set of guidelines does not fit all.
Restoring the proposed purple line all the way to Sorrento Valley towards original length makes sense.
You should keep your promises and not… forward promise in the first place.
Uh, the meeting summary is a bit disturbing. The planning team had more presentations to the board than actual workgroup meetings, and I suspect, from my own experience.
But the pop-ups that commander, the events were skewed to what SANDAG wanted.
And we complete data and so on. The practice seems to have been on stakeholder groups and member agencies.
156 versus 66 meetings. So again, commended the input was minimized, probably severely misinformed, too.
On the other hand, I'm glad you answered every comment on plan.
Thank you, your time has expired. Our last public comment is the original draw.
Anything… anytime the government talks about our health and safety, and protecting or providing it.
Means that they're going to exploit the people for profit. That's what you guys do, and this is all about control, and it's sad that so many people are encouraging their own enslavement because they don't understand.
Because they do buy the propaganda that you guys give them, because on the surface, it seems.
very virtuous what you're doing. And so anybody that, you know, would believe that would want to.
Help and push that, but if you pull back the curtain and you see what's really going on, it is about total control.
And you guys, you know, you take our money and.
You know, you engage with contractors who wind up costing us more and more money and delayed projects, and things don't really ever get completed, yet you start more and more things.
And you're hypocrites, because you sit here on one hand and say you want to protect the health and safety, or reduce greenhouse gases, but then you don't go to things like another country to say that the vehicles that don't have the same emissions as we do here.
are going to be polluting in our area, as you can see in the South Bay, it has more pollution, that you guys say.
Right? So, wouldn't you think, like, you could immediately fix things.
If that was really what you were doing, but it isn't. It's about.
racketeering. It's about putting people in controlled situations where you can track and trace their every movement, and make sure you have them under your thumb.
And it's sad, because… You know, you could be doing things that are in line with what you speak, practice what you preach, but you guys don't, because.
You know, some of you probably do also buy into the BS that you are spewing out to the people.
But it's very dangerous, because at one point, we're going to get to a place where we're not going to be able to leave our own area.
And people are gonna see that when you're, like, basically, you know, we're continuing to be giving back our own sewage, all while you guys.
one of mine for lithium, and use our fresh water.
People need to open up their eyes and see, and they'll see clearly what you're doing.
That concludes our public comment on this item, Chair.
Very good. Um, Antoinette, would you like to make any clarifications after the public comments?
Sure, I can follow up on a couple. Um, first, there were comments about the scoping plan, and I want to clarify that the EIR does analyze consistency with CARB's scoping plan.
Um, the scoping plan sets statewide goals for VMT and GHG, not regional. At the regional level, our requirement related to the scoping plan is Senate Bill 375, and as I stated in the presentation, we meet the target that CARP set for the region.
Per Senate Bill 375. I think there were other comments related to transit and suggestions that there's less transit in this plan. I want to clarify that this plan has more transit than the 2021 regional plan did.
And particularly in the near term, more cost-effective improvements to existing transit and more bus service in the near term, which was based on a lot of feedback that we got about the desire for communities to have ServiceNow.
Not 25, 30 years from now. So those were two things I just wanted to clarify. Thank you for that opportunity. Sure, very good. We'll go to member comments now. We'll start with Ms. Maxson.
Good morning, thank you. The unincorporated area is encouraged to see.
The focus on rural corridors, um… And that not only are you focusing on them, but you truly understand the importance of those rural corridors. If you're a resident, it's vital for.
work and school. If you're a visitor, it's important.
For your recreational safety, as you… Come out with your trailers and all of your off-road equipment.
The public outreach section of the. regional plan is lacking in.
input from the unincorporated area. So I do encourage you to come out to where the people are present.
Come out to each of the 18 community planning groups, come out to the sponsor groups. I know you've done a.
A little bit of coming out to the. physical location, but there's a lot more to be done, and if you did, you might find that.
programs such as the Youth Opportunity Pass. are equally embraced both in the urban and suburban setting and in the rural setting.
But you also might find that the common themes under the CEQA.
Uh, those themes might be quite different. When you… when you listen to the rural voice.
Uh, finally, as a reminder, and for the record.
As we move forward to develop this advisory seat into a voting seat in the new year.
The Association of Planning Groups is comprised of all 18.
elected official community planning groups. Those members are elected by their community, they're on a ballot.
Their membership on the association is a voting seat.
The community sponsor groups, who we also have invited to be part of.
the association, because we want to hear their voice.
They are not elected, and they are appointed by county supervisors to be on those boards.
In our association, they also have advisory board member.
status, they do not vote. Um, the Association of Planning Groups looks forward to increased equity.
and representation in 2026. Thank you for presenting the regional plan.
Thank you. Councilmember Molina. Thank you very much, Chair Huebner.
Thank you for the presentation, and all of the comments regarding the EIR. I appreciate all of that.
Ms. Antoinette, I wanted to ask you some clarification about.
Uh, your comments regarding, um. The designation about rapid.
Um, buses, and I know that our… or at least in the EIR, it does state expanding.
Bus rapid transit, and, um, rapid bus lines. But, uh, can you help me understand what you… your comment earlier regarding.
the actual definition of rapid, and perhaps it not quite.
fitting to what we have for buses, for rapid bus lines?
Thank you. And my comment was specific to Senate Bill 79, which says that a rapid bus has dedicated infrastructure exclusive for.
the bus service. Uh, all-door boarding and transit signal priority, all of those things. We have some of those things in some areas in the region. At the regional plan level, though, we don't know what.
types of priority measures we will have on a… on a particular route. It's really a line on a map that gets refined as we get into the more detailed planning alternatives analysis, and ultimately going through the environmental stage.
But it is assumed that we will have some measures, maybe signal priority, queue jumps in some areas in dedicated lanes, managed lanes are.
Um, planned throughout the regional network and will help to facilitate the rapid routes.
But the exact, um… The exact route, the exact stops, and the exact priority measures are confirmed later in the planning alongside you and the transit operators.
Okay, first Vice Chair La Cava. Oh, thank you, Chair. Uh, I want to thank Mario Antoinette, Kirsten, and all the staff who have worked so very hard to bring the regional plan, the environmental document forward.
And all the public who have provided input, a plan we do every four years that was started in earnest 3 years ago, 3 years of relentless outreach and analysis.
was documented in the presentation. The plan before us today delivers key projects across our region with more transit improvements than any prior plan.
New bus routes, 36 neighborhood shuttles, and so much more.
reflects the priorities we hear every day in our communities, improved mobility, affordability, climate action.
economic opportunity. It's also rooted in reality, acknowledging our funding constraints and limitations. I appreciate the plan before us today.
focuses on putting our dollars towards projects we can really deliver.
It's a practical approach that will yield better, faster results for our region.
We must continue to direct our focus on what we can realistically develop.
and deliver within this time frame. The plan also reflects past promises made and our commitment to keeping those promises.
And although this plant has the smallest roadway expansion footprints thus far, it does reflect.
past promises kept to deliver some of those long-awaited projects in the pipeline.
I appreciate the commitment to keeping and earning trust through the delivery of legacy projects.
It is also important to note, as we've heard over and over again, that this plan is driven by the greenhouse gas reduction.
target set by CARB. We are meeting this target by setting bold goals to focus future residential and employment growth, specifically in areas.
With options like faster and frequent transit, complete corridors, flexible fleets.
bikeways and walkable neighborhoods. Just playing Alliance Regional Investments with our local goals, strengthening connections between where people live, work, learn, and play.
And residents in our region will see tangible improvements, better transit reliability, safer corridors, and cleaner air.
I also want to thank not only the staff, but all the board members who have helped shape this plan over the past 4 years.
And I'll close by adding my support for trying to figure out the funding solution.
to the West Valley crossing, as we heard from the public testimony.
Thank you, Mayor, and if it's appropriate, I'll go ahead and move. That'd be great. Thank you very much.
Um, and we'll go to Deputy Mayor Chavez, and would you like to second this?
I would like to say it. Very good. Sorry, I'm still dealing with the… sequels of some bronchitis.
Um, so I'm just gonna be brief. We need more bathrooms. I can't express that enough.
We need to include him. I know we have taken him away in the past.
We need to find a way. We have a lot of elderly.
Uh, use, um… just parents with children, we need to be mindful moving forward that we need to include more bathrooms. We need to do better.
I can talk about the 125 being a necessity for the South Bay.
You've heard me play this song like a broken record. I'm not going to give it up.
We need this 125 to be free, and also the purple line, since we.
house every single day, not house. But we have daytime visitors.
Uh, around more than 100,000 people. coming from south to north to work to study for tourism.
I would love to see a deadline in the near future for the purple line.
And when that's happening, thank you so much. Very good. Um, Councilmember, um, Edson from NCTD.
Thank you, Chair. And CTD's priorities for the plan include sprinter fleet replacement.
Double tracking to improve system reliability and enhance transit rider experience.
Coaster double tracking to improve system reliability and enhance the transit rider experience.
grade separation along Coaster and sprinter corridors. to improve safety and reduce congestion in surrounding communities.
Breeze bus increased capacity on key corridors. and CTD Plus implementation in strategic settings to support access to fixed-route transit service.
Expand Transit's reach and respond to transit riders. desire for on-demand transit service.
With regard to connections, new services in the regional plan should promote connections at key.
transit hubs. Additionally, NCTD offers the following feedback. in response to the project's proposed in the plan.
NCTD proposes including Sprinter fleet replacement as a transit project in the plan.
And CTD suggests including a prioritized list of railroad grade separation projects.
in an appendix to the plan. And finally, NCTD strong strongly supports the following near-term and long-term actions identified in the plan.
Identifying sustainable funding to continue YOP. Developing a strategy for implementing grade separation projects that improve safety and rail operations.
Continuing to implement low-san rail corridor improvement projects to improve safety.
resiliency and reliability on the corridor. corridor, sorry. Continue seeking sustainable funding for transit operations and flexible fleets in partnership with MTS and NCTD.
Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Xin. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, staff, uh, so much for this presentation, and I, as I was trying my best to read the whole thing, that must be quite a bit of work that you guys created.
Our city staff created a letter, and I know we got feedback back, and I just want us a little bit more clarification in regards to.
Um, the EIR is Comprehensive countywide region-wide. Um, but the question was asked from our staff of sub-regional analysis.
And I just wanted to get a better understanding of why we aren't able to do more sub-regional analysis on, um.
you know, on our EIR and different strategies. What we're required to do is a regional analysis. That's not to say outside of the regional plan in the EIR, we couldn't work with you to, or your staff to look at sub-regional analysis.
I think it, I think it should be considered, um, like almost across the board, you know, when I'm listening to everyone's concerns.
I'm hearing about the rural areas, the urban areas.
I would love to see, when I hear the comments and the stress about the 67 freeway, and it's so far removed from me.
I'd love to see the metrics of not just the fact that the default is the regional area, but sub-regionally, we have to take exceptions, meaning that.
Okay, the 67 may alleviate some traffic, but that might not be the priority why we're doing it. It may be the public safety reason.
Or, um… Some folks live in the coastal area, some folks live in the inland area, and those sub-regions require such a dramatically, you know, different sense of permitting processes.
What we can do. Some areas aren't built up for infrastructure, those costs are so different, and it would just be great to be able to.
Kind of get a little bit more granular with these opportunities, as opposed to saying what works in one area must work in another. We kind of deal with that in regards to the state housing, and I would just like to see that we're not going to be the same, um.
curators of that philosophy, if you will. So, yield back.
Thank you very much. Mayor Gasterlin. Thank you so much. Antoinette, thank you for your time yesterday walking through this.
And thank you for all the time for 4 years that have gone into this.
You know, the next one's gonna start next week, right?
Maybe 6 months. So, I wanted to say a little bit about how I approached reading the regional transportation plan and the EIR.
Um, I first read the 471 pages of the appendix, which is SANDAG's responses to all of the comments that came into the EIR.
I found Carlsbad's letter about the sub-regional analysis to be very compelling.
I found the Coastal Commission's letter asking for consistency with the North County Coastal Cities LCP's Local Coastal programs.
And sea level rise compelling. And I also found the Coastal Commission's.
Making it clear, asking to make it clear that planning for realignment of the tracks in Del Mar, now I sound like a broken record.
By 2035, be crystal clear in this plan. So, that brings me to three points, which are also questions.
Um, one of the themes that came out was habitat and funding for habitat conservation.
It mentions… Table 2 5. in the… in the RTP.
talks about habitat for $1.5 billion. Could you elaborate on that a little bit?
Um, so $1.5 billion is there for programs like the EMP, but this is above and beyond what we currently have in the EMP.
Keith or Kirsten, I don't know if you want to talk a little bit about the types of programming that are covered by that funding.
Keith, thank you also for yesterday's briefing. My pleasure. Good morning, Board. So, the question came up about the Habitat funding in the regional plan.
So right now, the original plan looks at two things. One is the mitigation, that's the requirements to offset the transportation projects.
And those are embedded in the cost in the regional plan.
There's also a look ahead of what else would be needed above and beyond that for the region.
The regional plan has a figure in there of $1.5 billion, as you mentioned, that's in the habitat plans for the acquisition and completion of the regional, um.
acquisition of lands related to the regional plan itself.
And you've heard today a desire for some people to push that beyond and to complete the funding for the region.
So, that's above and beyond the regional plan itself. That would be an additional $1.5 billion.
But there's a commitment in the regional plan to complete an assessment.
of what's needed for the region to do the habitat conservation plans that many jurisdictions have approved.
And what it would take to finish those plans up, both cost and actual implementation.
That will be completed as part of the regional plan's near-term implementation this fall.
Great, thank you. This is a really important part of the plan, and I wanted to make sure that we all understood that this is there.
It… little tiny habitat losses can be huge. For example, the .28 wetlands that were lost.
Recently, with a paving of. basically a half a mile of wetland along the toe of the bluff.
Up above, east of the railroad tracks, the frogs aren't there anymore, they're gone. And I know I sound like a broken record on that also, but they're wonderful frogs, and we don't have many frog habitats here in San Diego County.
TL003. is Oceanside to downtown San Diego, and it includes realignment in Del Mar. That's a $4.3 billion item that's only in the North County part.
is that $4 billion mostly going to be the cost of the actual realignment itself?
TL003.
You can answer that question later if you don't have the answer immediately right now, that's okay, so let's pin that question.
And the last is. in reading through all the items for each of the different regions, so we have North.
County, East County, Central County, and South County, there's some elements that appear multiple times.
An example is TL004, which is 9.144 billion. And that one is Camp Pendleton to downtown San Diego, grade separations, curve straightening, Miramar Tunnel.
And that's a 2050 visionary. item, but it appears 3 times, so I just want to make sure that when you add it all up.
That $9 billion is counted only once and not three times.
So, can you confirm that.
And if you don't have that right away, you can… yeah, let's just make sure the math is right. So we have… so, to summarize, we have a $125 billion strategic plan.
It's all in, and I think it's very important to note that this is not just SANDAG's budget. This is also Caltrans. There are funds involved here that are Caltrans funds, MTS funds.
NCTD and housing projects, and more. So, the $125 billion is more than SANDAG. Sandag's at the heart of it.
So, I wanted to echo that. We talked about that yesterday.
Hi, Rachel Kennedy, and um… One of the planning managers here at Zandig, so we do have some projects in Appendix A where we list them in multiple sub-regions, because they're projects that provide access and benefit to multiple sub-regions.
But we only count the cost one time. So, yes, just making sure.
Thank you, Mayor Minto. Well, thanks for the opportunity to speak. A lot of work, there's no doubt. Otherwise.
It wouldn't have taken 3 or 4 years. Well, unless you guys just, you know, going that slow.
I don't think so. So, I just kind of want to put some things into perspective.
Uh, for, if not least for myself, for maybe many others, and.
Others who are looking on. This is, I think, my third.
Maybe my fourth regional plan that I've been involved in.
And one thing that I realize is that. The county and the cities.
are all responsible for transportation. and environment, and whatnot within their jurisdictions.
Unfortunately, many, many years, or I should say fortunately, many, many years ago.
It was found that we couldn't do that very well individually.
The money wasn't there individually at the county level or the city level.
So they created this crazy organization here to try and coordinate all that together.
So, when we all talk about, um… specific regional, uh, areas.
That's okay, because they have to be represented. And, uh, you know, Kevin, you touched on it, that we don't always.
speak specifically about, like, for instance, I don't talk about what's going on in your neck of the woods, and you don't really talk about what's going on in my area.
But I think one thing that we realize is that we do have to help each other to make sure that.
things get accomplished. And so, uh, that's one thing that I want to continue to encourage everybody to keep thinking regionally.
It's not just about our individual, um… places. And then, when we talk about reducing vehicle miles traveled.
One of the things that we sometimes don't talk about is the fact that in the last few years we've been encouraging manufacturing and businesses.
to spread out and not to be in just one area, whether it's a Sorrento Valley or downtown, etc.
So what happens is that people don't necessarily always have to travel as far to go from maybe the East County to Serento Valley or downtown.
And, uh, so that helps to reduce vehicle miles traveled.
So having more, um, manufacturing and business. spread out is something that we should also continuously.
Talked about with, with our economic development councils and our, even our, um.
community, uh, chambers of commerce. Excuse me. One thing I do want to also talk about is, um.
Some of the comments that were made about public safety as far as pedestrian and bicycle.
lanes. And, um… There's… every bit of work that we do.
to engineer bicycle lanes, pedestrian safety, and even motor vehicle safety.
It can only go so far. We have to take into consideration that there are so many people out there that do not exercise personal safety when they're driving, walking, or bicycling.
And as tragic as it is that there would be somebody severely injured or even killed.
in these areas, we have to also remember it's not necessarily always the roadway or.
the infrastructure that did that. I have personally bicycled over 6,000 miles.
on the roads in East County, and part of La Mesa and Lemon Grove. I've mentioned it many times here.
And I continue to see people that are riding bicycles in an unsafe manner. They ride on the wrong side of the street.
I see people walking in the street where they shouldn't be, or you would think that common sense would say you don't walk in the street if there's a sidewalk.
And so… and I don't want to say any of this to diminish.
you know, the tragedies that occur. I just want us to also consider that we can't spend every dime that we have to make a street safe.
When people won't act safely on those streets. and whatnot. So that was important for me. And then, and I do want to address real quickly that the gentleman that mentioned the pepper drive.
Um, uh, bicycling lanes. And the fact that it would be pretty inexpensive just to.
you know, draw some lines down there. Well, I've been on that road many times, and I try not to go on that road because it's unsafe.
Not just because there's not a bicycle lane, but because the road conditions there are terrible.
Um, it's really old there, for instance, and so there's not really a curb, there's not a gutter, there's no sidewalks.
So you'd have to do a complete infrastructure change there, and I know that our supervisor for that area would love to do that, but you know what? The county still has limited funds also.
And, um, I know in my city, we got a grant, and to me it was wasted money because.
We put bicycle lanes on a roadway that was just unsafe for anybody to drive on.
because of the condition of the roadway. And so then, you know, 6 months, a year later, we come by and we repave that road. Now we get to spend all that money again to put bicycle lanes and traffic lanes.
So we also have to think about when do we put this stuff on the roadways?
Are we spending money and then we're going to have to re-spend it, so that's a waste of time, waste of money, and I think we get a lot of that at our local levels. People talk about that thing all the time.
Uh, why did you do this? You're wasting money.
Well, I think we should at this much higher level, think about the same thing.
What do we have to do first in order to save the greatest amount of money, to make our roads as safe as possible.
Considering that not everybody appreciates. the work that we do, and that's all I have to say.
Thank you, Mayor Jones? Thank you so much, Chair. Uh, first, I'd like to start by saying.
This, um, this plan, thank you for all of the work that staff put into it.
But also for leadership, because I have to say, after being on the board, uh, when the last plan came forward, and then now, it's a totally different experience.
I actually feel heard, um, and I know that many of us, you know, do feel the same way.
You know, um… the transparency that is in this, and not… Not having to feel like you have to look.
and read things over and over to see if you're reading it right, because things are hidden.
That, that to me is a big deal. Um, you know, so I do have a couple of clarifying questions, and then I have, um, some other comments.
But first of all, there's no local road user charge or tax or fee or anything in this plan, right?
Correct. Okay, I want everyone to hear that, so… When we have people out there dramatizing and acting like they're actually his one in here, there's not one in here that's a local road user tax or fee.
Um, there is, however, the state one, which we have no control over. It is in this plan.
Um, there's no federal one, though, but there was in our last… in the last plan, it was federal, state, and local. No local one in this one.
Um, there is, however, a 3 quarter cent tax that will be.
predicted, and this… so us approving this plan does not mean that we are approving a tax. It means.
that we know that we're going to need some sort of funding mechanism that's about 3 quarters of a cent.
You know, for me, I always talk about opium in my city. Everyone knows exactly what I mean when I say that, but it's other people's money.
Um, I do know that we need to have local funds to get matching funds. So, uh, that's kind of the, um, the.
more complex part of this. But, um, I do want to talk specifically about TransNet.
I was thinking it ended in 2040, and then I looked on ChatGBT, and then I… and it said 2048, so it's actually 2048.
Um, and then… and by the way, I never used it, I thought, you know, everyone tells me to use it, I'm going to fact check things.
Um, so it… so this plan actually says that there'll be a new tax approved, I believe, in 2038, starting in 20… I think 2036. Is it 2039?
Sorry. So this would be only if residents of the county.
vote for this. Correct. Good morning. I'm Michelle Smith, Manager of Financial Programming. Yes, so we assume one, like, an additional transit sales tax in 2038.
For the three quarters. The other sales tax that's closer is the MTS.
sales tax that is assumed for 2036. And that would be just for the MTS service area?
Correct, and the 2038, is it starts in 2038, or it's approved, and it needs to be approved in 2038? It would be approved in 2038, so what we assumed is, like, a small, like, a quarter of that would be in 2038, and the rest would start later.
Correct, okay. Um, and then, um, okay, thank you on that. I just wanted to get clarification on that. You know.
And, you know, back to the whole transparency. I know that all of North County, we've been talking time and time again, we did not want any current lanes, and this was in the last plan, which everyone knows.
Um, no current lanes on the freeways to be converted.
From a regular general-purpose lane into a managed lane, toll road, anything like that.
I just want to get clarification on that, because again, you know, this is one of the things that we were running into.
I think in the last plan that was so frustrating because.
We would ask these questions, and our director at the time would say.
Well, that's not what it says, but it actually was what it said. It was just named something different. So, I just want to get clarification. There are no lanes in.
Um, in North County that are on… that are highway lanes on the 15, the 78.
5 that are going to be converted to. Um, lanes that are general-purpose lanes.
the HOV lanes on the 5, but not the general purpose lanes, and we're adding managed lanes on the 78. Correct, adding not… it's a new add, not something that's current and existing. This is a.
big deal, because, you know, we've talked about this time and time again, it's been very frustrating.
And I did see in here, finally, uh, the, um… oh, let me find it real quick.
My tabs everywhere. Uh, the… Uh, TL046 on page A20 of Appendix A.
That's the, um, new, uh, bus rapid transit. So, I do want to… I do want to mention that, because 2035 is when it's predicted to happen.
Um, is that correct? No, so we don't do year-by-year phasing in the regional plan, so that's by 2035. We kicked off planning for that now, so the likelihood that it'll be much sooner.
Uh, than 2035, but it's in that time frame, the early years of the plan. Perfect. I wanted to double check on that because, you know, we have the new Scripps Hospital that's coming to San Marcos specifically, and then Kaiser Permanente just opened up.
Um, but that's going to land at, um, and that's from Riverside.
To regular area to Palomar College, and then, um, also CSUSM.
Correct? Yes, and we're doing the route planning now, so if there are other stops that you want us to consider, we'll be working with your staff and CTD and the other jurisdictions to identify that. So I've specifically heard from Palomar Hospital, and then also Kaiser Permanente. So those two, if we haven't reached out to them, I would definitely.
Um, like, for that to happen. And then, um… let's see… I think that was it. I mean, I really am just loving the, um… the NCTD Plus, which, you know, I know Jewel's here today for them.
We… we really are, um, finding that that is so helpful for people in our community. Obviously, we want to expand that, but I really like seeing that we're also bringing that to Fallbrook.
And some of the unincorporated areas, because. If you don't have it yet, and I know, um, Escondido, uh, Dane's over there.
You're gonna love it. It's great, it's on demand. Our residents really find it beneficial, and they can't.
They just can't say enough about it. So, anyway, I love it when I come into my little neighborhood and I see it… I see it there, um, uh, stopped and picking up people, so it's really a great thing.
Um, and I know that our high school students want to use it, so I think that's one of the things that would be helpful, and.
Other than that, um, oh, one other thing. Sb375.
When do we think there might… we might see some reform on that? Because there's been a lot of discussion about that. We will be coming to the Executive Committee in January.
To bring up where we are with the discussions.
and ask guidance from the Executive Committee. Where we should continue going.
And might some executive committee members end up going to Sacramento to talk about this?
Because I would love to be part of that.
I know Chair Huebder and I have talked about that. Um, we definitely need.
to hear from everyone, I think. That, you know, we need to perform on this and some relief.
Perfect. Thank you. Thank you. Um, Councilmember Fisher. Thank you, Chair. I just want to echo the sentiments from Mayor Jones. You know, when I was on the board a few years back.
All we talked about was the mileage tax and getting it out of the plan, and it really was… Um, I felt it was laborious just hearing about it. I can't imagine how staff felt about having to go back and.
create a plan and get all the approvals. Um, it's good to see a plan that doesn't involve this.
Um, big thing of 5 big moves and all the stuff that seems.
like, it'd be nice, but probably unrealistic, and staff have to just run around and figure out how to do it. And to Mayor… to Mayor Jones' comments, you know, we heard a lot from.
from the seat over here that made us think things were okay, but.
Um, it really wasn't. There wasn't a whole lot of transparency, so I appreciate the transparency, I appreciate staff bringing something to the board.
Um, that's very practical in nature. Um, you know, I can't imagine what it's like doing a plan like this. I feel like it's probably.
Akin to having a family of 6 going on vacation, having to pack all their clothes for 2 seasons, and.
three weeks in a suitcase and hoping it fits on the airplane.
Um, and is okay, but… Uh, staff always does a great job with this. We've heard a lot of support for the Youth Opportunity Pass. I'm a big believer.
That it has been good for our region. I've mentioned it once in a board meeting, probably a little bit more passively, but.
I, you know, as we go forward, I really want to look at something, providing something for our seniors.
Um, and it's something that, you know, be like a senior responsibility pass.
youth at some point turn into young adults into adults.
Seniors don't really change from being seniors. And we know that there are large populations going for.
Um… being unhoused, and I'm sure the financial strains are very difficult on them, and I think that it would be.
something that we should look at, um, because at some point.
We will have a lot of seniors who will be needing transportation and probably will be struggling, unlike our youth, who we've heard from today.
grateful they're here in attendance and to speak up, that's wonderful.
Uh, but I think our seniors should probably have some opportunities in the future to have access to transit for a reduced or free.
Uh, Kosh, thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Geary.
Thank you, Chair. I want to start by thanking staff for all of their work around this plan. I think it's really great that it's guided by convenience, equity, health, and safety.
Obviously, those are priorities for our region that we've all, including the board and staff, have been working very, very hard to.
prioritize. I… I want to center my remarks around equity. I think that it's incredibly important to ensure that people have the same opportunities in all of our regions throughout the county.
I think it's very important to make sure that our public transit, for example, offers opportunities, especially for, uh, you know, young adults that are on their path to entering the workforce.
have the ability to reach job centers that are accessible by transit. So I think I really like that we're moving in the right direction with the purple line. I think that's incredibly important.
I think it's also important to, um… look at, uh, the 24-hour, um, and express service for the blue line, the backbone of our public transit system.
That is, um, so important for so many people who work and come across the border on a daily basis. I think that's incredibly important.
Um, I think it's really important to focus on the flexible fleet microtransit, because it not only brings benefits, uh.
to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but especially in unincorporated areas and more of the rural areas, or where there's more limited public transit, like in North County, I think that first mile, last mile traveled will be essential.
And by implementing these types of fleets will be very important, so I appreciate that we're focusing on that.
And then as it relates to safety, I think it's great that we're focusing on complete.
corridors. Um, I just wanted to mention the Federal Highway Administration evaluation show that complete corridor treatment reduces crashes by 19 to 47%.
with strong reductions in pedestrian safety. raise medians and pedestrian refuge islands, reduce pedestrian crashes by 46%.
Curb extensions, uh, reduce pedestrian crashes for… by up to 40%.
And we know that every 10 miles per hour that are reduced.
the likelihood of someone surviving increases. So, if you are involved in a crash, if you're a pedestrian that gets struck by a car moving at 40 miles per hour.
Your likelihood of surviving is something close to 5%.
If it's 30 miles per hour, your chances of surviving increase.
Especially, uh, when you're talking about between 20 and 25 miles per hour, your chances of surviving exceed 85 to 90%. Now, I'm not advocating, of course, for free waste to be limited to 20 miles per hour.
But it's important, because as we look at the next 5 years.
planning regionally, these complete corridors are incredibly important for especially families that are walking their kids.
seniors that are, um, having trouble crossing a very wide roadway and may not be.
fast enough to beat the red light. We are seeing an unprecedented amount of.
deaths, I'm pretty sure you've been watching it every day on the news. There's some new, you know, accident, a fatal accident, and I think it's important that.
You know, we do it planning well. It may not be right for some communities, as Mayor Mintel mentioned, but for example, on Imperial Beach, where we have… it's a bedroom community where we have a lot of young families with kiddos.
That's absolutely essential to ensure that families. Can… can walk to and from school, uh, in a safe way. So I think that's, that's really important, and I'll just close with, um.
banking, uh, staff again for all of your hard work.
Um, and echoing my colleagues' calls to. Uh, address the issue with the 125.
and continuing to uplift the Youth Opportunity Passes, which is incredibly important to me, too.
Thank you very much. Thank you, Mayor Sanchez.
Thank you very much, um, I want to thank staff for the presentation. Um, I actually want to thank, um.
staff and, uh, my colleagues. Um, because it's my first year on SANDAG.
And, of course, I had heard a few things about.
What had happened in the past, and so I wondered what this year was going to be like.
I want to say that I've been. Thoroughly amazed at the level of cooperation, coordination, and just.
being able to be heard as the most northern city in San Diego County.
Um, and certainly… having different needs than, say, a metropolitan area. I've really appreciated being heard.
Um, uh, it's, it's, uh, at certain levels at government, uh, you know, we feel like.
Uh, there are certain assumptions that are made that just don't apply.
And so, uh, for me to be able to see that our diverse.
communities in San Diego County, um. the needs are being heard and are being taken into consideration by regional plans and by, um.
I want to say our colleagues here. is truly refreshing, and for me, it's about unity and trying to get the best for our entire.
Um, county. Um… in Oceanside especially.
We have over 60… I think it's about 64%.
of our workforce driving. I'm talking about how we need to reduce our greenhouse gas.
Um, to work. every day. How do… and that's… that's a… something that we need to figure out how to do.
Um, for me, and in what I'm seeing, it's the microtransit.
has really, really helped. And is helping us to, um, in terms of planning internally to meet the needs of our community.
And it does sound like this year there's even more interest in microtransit. I think.
Others have said, this is what we need, this is the gap, this is something that we thought we were going to get 25 years ago.
Um, we're getting it now. I feel that this.
Um, does build trust. This is kind of like ground zero.
In terms of, okay, this is where we're heading. If we are going to be needing another tax, it is going to get a lot more of us at the table saying, yeah, this, you know, we can all agree.
These are their needs based on, you know, all the needs of our diverse, geographically diverse communities.
Then we can, you know, look to. a better future for our communities.
Um, yesterday I was a little down because I heard that 6 of our businesses were closing.
Mostly restaurants. even longtime, long-term ones.
And I know that, uh, you know, things for us, um, and I'm sure in other places.
some of our affordable housing is being replaced by.
unattainable housing, high density, and we don't want to see that. We want to ensure that we can.
be able to survive and thrive. Um, as communities, each one of us. So… We're looking to see how can we make things better at every level.
So, thank you very much. Thank you. Um, I see Mayor Minto is back up again.
Yeah, I'm sorry about having to speak a second time, but there's something I completely forgot.
Hard to believe, right? Um… Mario mentioned the, um… Caltrans and Highway 52 meeting we had last night, and.
CNT. And the reason why I wanted to bring it up, because it's about hope.
Uh, you know, in 2019, I came up with this crazy idea about doing some things to increase the flow of traffic on.
Highway 52, because for so long, almost since the day it was built, all I ever heard was complaints about, we can't get out of Santee. People from El Cajon can't get through the bottlenecks.
And so, um, people coming southbound on the 15, coming home, can't get to.
the transition to the 52 East, uh, very well.
And so, we started talking with, uh, Sandag, of course. We met with all the leaders over at Caltrans.
Uh, very early on, then started just going out, you know, around the communities and talking then with the state representatives, the federal representatives, even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce saying.
We need help and so, um… Unfortunately, things were, uh… delayed a little bit because of some pandemic thing.
But, um, but what happened in 2019, one of the ideas was to.
Uh, take and create a new transition from 15 south to 52 east.
And so, even though we were raising the money, Caltrans saw that that was an extremely important, um.
project to take on. And believe it or not, from the inception of that concept of doing that.
to the engineering, the planning, design. Um, environmental, all the stuff that normally goes into that.
Today, that actually is… that portion of it is completed. The transition has changed.
And it is actually much easier to get on the 52 East.
So, for a 5-year, from conception to completion, and I'm talking about.
construction, that means, you know, pavement on the ground.
5 years is absolutely almost unheard of. So, if you work hard enough, and you have really good partners.
And District 11 is one of the best partners in Caltrans, in my opinion.
to work with because we do things that other places, when I'm traveling around the state, talking to other cities.
They're always asking, how do you get those things done?
Today, we're in the process of getting some changes on the 52 going westbound so that we can get those, uh.
the bottlenecks that happen in Santee, which. causes actually some environmental harm, um, because of all the cars.
idling, we expect now, and take that from about.
Um, it was scheduled to be done in 2050.
And we expect that to be completed now, I think, in 2034.
So to, you know, reduce, um, you know, that kind of.
issue by 25 years. Uh, we're gonna have to still work on some of the other things, the 78… the 67, but uh… We… I think we have some good formulas to get that work done a lot sooner and a lot faster.
than we ever thought that could be done, so I just wanted to give that message of hope.
That's good, thank you. Um, Councilmember Edson? Thank you, Chair.
Mayor Jones touched on the mixed rapid 483, which reminded me that I'd neglected to mention that NCTD.
has expressed concerns regarding the mixed rapid 483. Commuter Express from Temecula to Palomar Airport College via I-15, SR-78.
USM due to budget and operational constraints. Um, we support the concept, absolutely.
But request that it come with a sustainable source of operations… operational funding.
Um, also, I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge and thank staff for the work that went into creating the plan.
And, um, the robust contributions from the board. And from the public are also appreciated.
Thanks. Thank you. Councilmember Lee.
Thank you, Chair. And, um, thank you to the team for your hard work on bringing this plant to fruition.
Of course, only been here for the tail end of it, or at least what feels like that, but the… efforts to really engage the public, I think, have been critical here, and what I always recognize is that what everyone is advocating for doesn't necessarily all make it into the plan.
Uh, for a variety of reasons, and we should be willing to acknowledge that the plan's not going to address every need that has been expressed.
But it is an opportunity for us to really chart.
in the realistic time frame, what we believe. can be accomplished. I find that, same thing with the City of San Diego, we often struggle, I think, as agencies to.
Think about what we're planning in terms of capacity and a vision.
And then what actually can come to fruition as well. And we both, you need to be able to dream and have a vision that is.
Um, long-term and bold enough that you can be shooting for something, but you also actually have to have projects that can be completed.
Um, and I do believe that this RTP does accomplish a bit of that. There are a couple things in it that I do want to.
Note in particular, um, one is the increase of microtransit and the.
talk about community shuttles. For me in particular, the Kerni Mason convoy area is one that has been discussed quite a bit, at least within the City of San Diego.
Um, being a growing, uh, both industrial, commercial, soon residential hub.
Tied to that, though, is of course, the purple line, and I want to acknowledge all those who have continued to advocate.
And fight for ensuring that the Purple Line is not just on a back burner somewhere, but that it is.
part of the long-term vision of what we need to accomplish, just maybe not within the shorter time frame that we've.
previously envisioned. The purple line, I think, is going to be critical for the region, especially, again, running up through some of the most critical.
economic corridors, especially in that Serena Valley, Serena Mesa area, moving forward.
And then one last thing I just thought I would ask about, since it came from some of the public comment, even today.
Um, but as we look at designing bike infrastructure in the region.
And I know there's always going to be a debate about.
Where and what infrastructure is wanted, needed, etc. Um, those debates will always happen, but when we have put into a plan.
Um, infrastructure that we are… planning on. I think it's important that we have best practices that help us guide.
the design of that infrastructure. And so, I know folks have mentioned that some of the previous.
language around design standards, specifically with NACTO. But aren't lined out in this plan.
And wanted to ask again. You know, the thinking behind that, and how SANDAG plans to move forward so that as we guide.
bike infrastructure from a SANDEC perspective, we ensure that design guidelines are applicable across the region.
Thank you, Councilmember. So, at the regional plan level, we don't get into project-specific design. We don't have design guidelines for any of the projects. Our transit projects, the roadway projects, um, and that is why the NACDO design guidelines were removed between draft and final, because it's really not appropriate at the regional plan level. We get into that.
when we start designing bike projects, and you all do when you start designing bike projects.
Thank you again for sharing that as well. That concludes my comments. Thank you. Mayor Jones, did you have a follow-up comment?
You're on the board. Yes, sorry, I just… it was about the funding. So, um, I know that Riverside used to actually fund a part of that, um.
Uh, that bus rapid from Riverside, so maybe we check out… check with them to see if.
They would be willing to, um… be participating in that.
Yeah, once we implement. project-specific mitigations.
and the environmental document that, um. Hasn't yet been finalized for 1578, but it's in the process. The draft went out.
It has on the mitigation that part of the managed lane revenues will be going to subsidized transit.
Which is into that line. Um, you know, I have to say that, like Antoine has said, it's not a project-specific, the regional plan.
the regional plan, it says Snapchat of what we can achieve by 2035.
or post-2035 to 2050. to achieve those goals that the federal government and the state governments are asking us.
then we have to have, and we have begun the conversation on funding priorities, and we began that here.
just recently, and we will continue that. Um, so it is very important.
that we understand that this is kind of the big snapshot.
But we do have some challenges ahead of us.
How do funding specific projects. And also, a big challenge that the entire San Diego region, north, south, east, west, will have to have.
All of us is also dealing with the financial clips that are transit agencies are dealing with.
So that's a big conversation. It's not within the regional plan.
conversation, but we are bringing it up, uh, and I think it is something that.
during the next coming calendar year. leadership here, as well as in North County Transit and MTS Boards.
as well as each of your individual city councils.
We have to have that hard discussion. Yeah, and you know, just to follow up on that, um, so recently, well, I guess it was last week, um, I was speaking to leadership over at NCTD, and I was mentioning, you know, there are a lot of beneficiaries from these specific projects. Like, for instance, in my city, with the microtransit.
You have Palomar, you have CSU San Marcos, you have the school district.
San Marcos Unified, and then also North City, which is our new downtown that's emerging.
I suggested to them that we start having meetings to talk about what they would be willing to participate in, because financing isn't all going to come from one place.
Again, I'm going to say it again, opium. Um, other people's money, I mean, when we cobble money together, it's less.
the one person paying for it, and it's, you know, kind of spread out. So, um, if we aren't having conversations with the transportation agency up in Riverside, I suggest we at least start that.
Um, so that we can see what their level of interest would be. And then we figure out who benefits the most.
And again, you know, back to the participants that actually would benefit.
Palomar Hospital, CSU San Marcos, Palomar College. Scripps, Kaiser, I mean, all of the different, um, you know, if you could make a stop.
then there should be some participation level financially in that. And not to deviate from the conversation of the regional plan, but you brought up SB375 in.
setting up some trips to have those discussions in Sacramento.
Um, next year, the funding package for the transportation bill is up for discussion in Congress.
So, I think we will organize as a region also to advocate at the federal level all the different funding paths for the next.
transportation bills, so… Hopefully you can come with us also to watch it in that advocacy. Absolutely.
Yes, thanks. Road trip, we'll all go. Um, well, thank you, everybody. Thank you, staff, so very, very much. I have to say, it was really gratifying to hear all of the comments.
Um, there was a real intentional change in the way this particular RTP was crafted. As was said, it was started 3 years ago, so if you're new to this board, the person who is sitting in your seat.
previously was in workshops, drawing lines and putting stickies on maps, and really working hard to.
do the… put on their regional hat as well as their city hat, and understand that this is a required plan. We've got all these goals that we have to meet, metrics that we have to meet.
Um, but this turns out to be a really great example of what happens when you listen to the locals.
Um, it would be lovely if other levels of government did the same thing. But when you listen to the locals, you can actually put together a plan that works for us all, because the beauty of this region is in our diversity.
And I mean that in every sense of that word. Each of our cities is unique in terms of the regional plan. Each of them is unique, and for us to.
homogenize our cities into one is just not what we want to do. We want to maintain.
our attributes, um, but also get around the region. The transportation plan doesn't know boundaries, so we need to work together to make sure that how they land in each of our communities works.
A reminder, as Mario said, this is a high-level plan. It's, um, as he said, a snapshot, but it's a really wide lens of a snapshot.
And each project that's in here, and again, these are, you know, visionary, they're… they each have to have their own plan. They're each going to come… it's got its own path, basically, to conclusion.
into construction. It's gonna have to have a design, it's gonna have to go through environmental.
We're gonna have the discussion about, are we gonna fund it or not? Is it going to be in the RTIP, which is the 5-year plan where we know, you know, that's what's getting done, that's getting funded, and it will be built?
And then there's construction, and then there's ribbon cutting. So we do this every four years. I think it's, uh.
And really great exercise to, uh, each of us to understand each other's cities a little bit more, too, and recognize the continuity that we want within our region, but also the, um, the uniqueness that we would like to maintain.
So with that, I'm going to close the public hearing, and let's vote on this. We have two, um… Uh, so the action is, uh, today to adopt Resolution 2026-08 and 2026-09, certifying the final EIR and adopting the 2025 Regional Plan.
Alrighty. I pass this with one note, and the rest, yeses.
And we are now going to go on to.
The assessment of SANDEG's finance department. The team will present items 5.1 and 5.2.
Followed by public comment, and then member discussion. Courtney.
So, are you ready?
Yes, Chair. Chair.
Chair Fisher, did you want to… Oh, I'm sorry, let me, um, turn this over to Councilmember Fisher.
to introduce this item. As the chair of the Audit Committee.
Thank you, Chair. Uh, board members. Uh, last week we got the, uh, results from the assessment that was done by Weaver.
Regarding the, uh, financial… the finance department. Oh, we had a good, robust discussion.
A lot of transparency. Not only from Weaver, from the audit side, but also from staff.
They were there, they were present, and you really could see the collaboration and bring this forward, you know.
Been through a few audits this year. Uh, assessment's a little bit different than an audit.
And some of the findings that we have were, um… kind of eye-opening, if you will.
Uh, but again, it helps us build up a roadmap of where the agency needs to be in the future.
Uh, and it was mentioned earlier that, you know, there's different assessments going on that one we'll see in the future for.
HR department, but it really was, uh… an eye-opener, and again, nothing that we probably was surprised, but.
Overall, you know, the key is that. This agency still operates well, still is really well-regarded in the nation, is very high functioning.
We continue to receive. funds much more in excess of what our budget is, and that continues. And so, some of the things that will be discussed today may be a little bit by opening.
Uh, to the board members, but I really want to thank Courtney for getting this going, finding a fine company with Weaver and the work that they did.
And again, the collaboration between Weaver and staff to work together.
To get the assessment done and to get to the point where.
It could get presented to the board at this point, so thank you.
Thank you, Chair. Good morning. I'm Courtney Ruby. I'm the Independent Performance Auditor, also known as the IPA, and as such, I am the Chief Audit Executive at SANDAG.
I'm pleased to introduce the Accounting and Finance Independent Assessment conducted by Weaver LLC today.
I'm joined by Rima Parapili, partner and subject matter IT Advisor.
and Holly Hart, Director and Project Manager for this engagement.
I'd like to give a little background as to why this report is before you today.
When I first became IPA, I was immediately thrust into the investigation of SR125.
The investigation found ETAN's Fastlane financial reporting could not be relied upon.
And the accounting and finance department lacked adequate internal controls.
Including proper review and supervision to ensure SR125's financial information was accurately recorded.
and reported. The investigation recommended an independent assessment of the accounting and Finance Department's policies.
procedures and practices. As a result, I wrote the scope of work that was advertised and is included in the transmittal letter that precedes the assessment.
Weaver was successfully awarded the work and has done an outstanding job.
Additionally, Weaver's assessment, when needed, extended into the areas that would provide greater operational insight and value to SANDAG's leadership.
I do want to highlight this work evaluated the current state in the operational areas being assessed.
It is not an audit, which typically looks backwards, but instead an assessment of the current state of operations. Holly will go over this as well in her introduction, as well as the Chair mentioned it in his comments.
I want to acknowledge SANDAC's Accounting and Finance Department and senior leadership for their patience, fortitude, and commitment to this assessment.
In addition to budget management, project management, and other senior managers who assisted in the assessment.
Management provided their response to the report at the same time that the Office of the Independent Performance Auditor, or what we factionally call OIPA.
release the report. And I'm pleased to report that management has stated their agreement with all the recommendations.
We will meet with management in the coming week to hash out the details to ensure we have actionable agreement that aligns with the recommendations.
And can be reported out during OYPA's annual and quarterly CAP reporting processes.
CAPSAN stands for Corrective Action Plan. I will now hand the presentation over to Holly Hart from Weaver to present the report findings and recommendations.
And then management will present their response next. Holly? So… I'm gonna start, but… My apologies. No worries. Um, so we had a strong team that helped support this, and one of the team members that's not available today is Brandon Tanos. He was the overall engagement partner.
Um, along with Holly that focus more on the overall accounting.
and operations areas then, kind of, my team and my role is really to focus on the IT area, and we really work together over those.
To broad subject matters. As Courtney described, we did an assessment, so separate from an audit where we are looking at the past and.
We're writing at a conclusion, we are really doing this assessment to be able to provide recommendations over the current state of the environment.
And to be able to look at those results and to be able to provide kind of a state of where you are and what those recommendations can look like, which.
management has started to think about, start to work on. We started our procedures earlier in the spring and are really reporting it out to you today, but management has been.
Um, aware of the things that they need to work on, and then this kind of really solidified it and kind of give them some direction on what.
What we looked at and the things that they recognized also needed some areas of improvement. And so the focus area of what we did as part of this assessment, which you can see really looked at the finance and accounting department over those.
process areas, accounting, finance, revenue, project control, toll operations accounting, and we really focus on a number of key functions and core functions in that. And then we also looked at.
the state of the ERP system implementation that occurred a couple years ago to really understand.
how that system implementation. Um, was performed, and then how has that helped support the processes that are occurring in the.
Uh, finance and accounting departments as well. So we did a number of different items, and one of the other areas that we looked at was really performing a, um.
skills assessment, which I'll have colleague go over. Thanks, Rima. Yes, so, uh, we also… included an organizational structure and skills assessment as part of this project, and that was really to look at role clarity, responsibilities.
qualifications, credentials, the three, what we like to call the three pillars of a successful.
competent team. And so, we also looked at how these teams collaborate, and I just want to be clear as well that this was not a staffing-level assessment. We didn't look at cycle times or.
do a heavy analysis of the, uh. various quantification of tasks that were performed, but we all… but we did identify some general resource constraints within the InScope process areas.
as a root cause of some of the conditions that we found at a high level, some of the procedures that we performed, again, as is an assessment, they were done in collaboration with the management team.
Looking at the current state, as Courtney mentioned, we looked at policies and procedures, looking at the internal controls benchmark to globally recognized internal control frameworks and standards.
We did lots of stakeholder interviews and follow-ups where needed to ensure that we had a good understanding of the current state, validating that understanding, making sure there was clarity.
between us and management and to how things were operating in its current state, we looked at evidence, a lot of various.
pieces of documentation. Uh, to validate and ensure that we had an accurate understanding.
Uh, and of course, really dug into the technology and systems implementation component, as you guys are transitioning.
in various systems in your current state. So, as a result of our assessment, we identified what we call our core themes.
We grouped these in core themes because they generally, overall, as you're going through the report, the results of the assessment.
really do kind of shine through, and so looking at the results through the lens of these core themes can help orient you in terms of what to really focus on whenever we're talking about our roadmap as well.
We had 18 observations associated with our recommendations, which we categorized into various groups as they naturally related to the process areas in which we found them.
Next slide. All right.
So to go a little bit more into those core themes, and I'll just provide a brief overview of these. They are not necessarily in any particular order. The first one is very critical and foundational to all the others, which is why it is first.
regarding governance and oversight, really an overarching theme for this assessment. We definitely identified the need for more.
clear oversight. governance and accountability, particularly within the areas of budget management, ERP, systems implementation, and of course, some of those core key accounting controls that we've identified throughout.
The assessment. The second area was really policies, procedures, and internal controls. Really, the backbone of your control environment and how we ensure that we implement.
our risk mitigation strategy in terms of control activities consistently. So we evaluated that and found that there is definitely a need for some standardization of key accounting controls as well as.
system implementation protocols to close some identified gaps that we identify in those controls, especially the ones that are fundamental to ensuring.
accurate, complete financial reporting, as well as ensuring that the information, operational information that's received by management, the board, and other stakeholders is also completely accurate.
We have a list of appendices in our report that have additional details if you're.
If you want to dig into that. The third area, uh, core theme, technology and systems integration.
really looking at some of the gaps in the implementation lifecycle that have.
limited the ERP's impact. Not that we can't move forward and continue to work on those things, but definitely some areas where in our.
requirements as we're going through the life cycle to better ensure that it's, uh.
really impactful and ensure… it meets our requirements as we configure our systems and work to reduce manual workarounds and improve reporting.
The fourth area, performance measurement and accountability. really, here we identify some opportunities to better define different various performance metrics that would give both management and the board insights into how effective our processes are in these various areas.
Particularly in the areas of budget management as well as IT governance. There are some.
very well-recognized KPIs that we think could be used in these areas to ensure that there's always a pulse on how effective we are in these areas.
The fifth core theme, Training and Workforce Development. Here we identified a lack of some formal development that is consistent with specific job responsibilities and duties.
As well as a need to formalize role-based training and then.
Look at how we emphasize and are intentional about the credentials and qualifications and experience that we expect for our workforce.
The second, uh, the sixth one here, the sixth core theme, change management and communication.
Change management is also fundamental and foundational to almost every evolving thing that goes on at Zandag, whether it's a new business process or assistance implementation, change management is always going to be a part.
of that journey to ensuring that it's an effective transition. And so, we did identify that there is a need for some consistency in our change management processes in both the process.
business process and the technology change. Um, and adoption and transition.
Uh, to ensure that we adopt and sustain our technology as well as integrate necessary updates.
to the business processes as we are implementing that technology. And then the seventh core theme here, roles, responsibilities, and collaboration. We did identify various ad hoc practices.
that don't have necessarily some well-defined. Uh, areas of roles, uh, responsibility, accountability, who's informed, who's consulted.
You know, really that foundational framework of ensuring that those roles and responsibilities are well-defined to reduce cross-departmental.
Um, to increase cost of departmental coordination and ensure clear understanding.
for optimal financial management and your operational processes. Okay, so as we talked about the core themes, we did identify, out of our 48.
48 recommendations, some priority actions that we hope can help orient management into where to focus on in both.
the short-term, medium-term, and long-term. So we will go into those a little bit. Those top 10 priority actions, the first one is really on the internal controls and compliance framework.
Here, we would recommend really standing up a unified internal controls and compliance.
framework. This is really evaluating our agency-wide controls in these finance accounting processes.
As we know, there's a lot of cross-functional activities and process and controls in these areas.
And so, having a well-recognized framework that defines key controls, owners, frequency, the various key components of internal control, and also looking at our residual risk and how are we comfortable with our mitigation strategy, and that can also be used to ensure consistency in succession planning.
And just make sure that everybody's on the same page about our control framework.
The second priority action is establishing that true technology and ERP governance.
Uh, structure. centralizing our IT governance, which we recommend to be led by a qualified CIO equivalent to oversee that technology strategy decision-making and issue escalation and ensure alignment between technology and the various business processes that technology is.
is touching. And then the third priority action here is really raising expectations for management competencies that are associated with.
those three pillars of qualification that I mentioned, which include experience, education, and credentials.
Uh, and tracking that training centrally, prioritizing high-quality technical training that is.
very clearly tied to specific job responsibilities. The fourth one, Titan System Implementation Quality Gates.
requirements such as traceability, testing, and go-live criteria. These are the critical actions that are needed for truly any systems implementation or major update to a system, anything that has a material or significant impact when we are transitioning our technology.
making sure that we map requirements to our testing before we go live, formal pre-go-live validations.
sign-offs and documented… we document any workarounds so that it's very clear to everybody in the agency. If for some reason there was something that was affected, um, that's well documented and we know our strategy and how we're going to.
Uh, implement various, uh… Or alternative methods of getting what we need from those systems.
The fifth one, institutionally and key accounting reconciliations. policy-approved templates and executive oversight, as well as the 6-1 centralization of invoice management.
and establishing risk-based approvals. These are specific challenges and opportunities to increase control effectiveness in key accounting controls, specifically.
Making sure that there are policies and expectations around these key accounting controls.
And also, centralizing certain areas of our invoicing processes.
To help with visibility, making sure that we are meeting our expectations for our stakeholders and making those payments and strengthening our vendor relationships as well as ensuring compliance.
The next four priority actions here are also focused on improving controls for some key financial management processes.
Uh, including oversight of funding sources, toll revenue accounting, and reporting, budget management, and grant payments and reimbursements.
The seventh when that centralized billing oversight across all funding sources.
This is really focused on creating a single mechanism with management review for real-time visibility into billing progress across our projects and programs, including our program requirements and deadlines.
all know that we have a lot of various funding sources that are critical to tracking and overseeing to ensure that we continue to meet our mission as an agency.
Stabilizing toll revenue accounting and reporting, reducing some single-point reliance that we.
identified, uh, to, um, ensure that those workarounds that are currently in place right now.
between Fastlane and ERP are well documented. any necessary reconciliations and reviews are happening on a consistent basis.
And then making sure that we have a path to reducing that single point of reliance as well as an integration between our accounting systems and the back-end tooling.
Uh, accounting system. 9 clarifying budget ownership and enforcing continuous budget to actual monitoring.
another key area of SANDAG that's critical to ensuring from a project management perspective that we're on track.
That's publishing agency-wide budgeting roles and responsibilities, as I mentioned before, making sure that we're performing that monthly, quarterly.
And, um, you know, as often as it's necessary, even real time if possible.
Uh, looking at budget to actual, and what is those variances, and why do we have those variances, and implementing a mandatory mid-cycle review.
And then finally, increasing grant reimbursement expectations, payments, controls, and visibility.
Grants are another critical area for the agency. Ensuring that we align our program guides to that, to our 30-day payment requirements, tracking receipt date status, any delay reasons.
And then reporting that compliance upwards to leadership as needed.
And just for a visual for you guys, the priority actions and recommended roadmap.
You know, in something like this, execution matters to ensure that an assessment like this is fully realized to its maximum benefit. So we did provide you a 0-18 month roadmap that aligns each priority action with a timeline for implementation.
Focusing on internal controls, IT governance, training, reconciliation, all the great priority actions that we talked about before, and that 0-6 month timeline.
timeline, really, the internal control framework, which we would say is definitely a high priority on those actions, standing up ERP governance.
initiating both the improved or enhanced credentialing and training program as well as quality gates for system implementation.
and proper change management, and then also looking at our institutionalizing all the various 50-plus reconciliations that occur in SANDAG.
Then within that 6 to 12 month timeline. Some of the things that might require a little bit more effort, especially the things that are cross-functional, across multiple departments.
Such as centralizing invoice receipts, approval, deploying that centralized billing oversight.
Which requires project management involved, stabilizing the toll revenue processes that we discussed, and embedding budget monitoring cadences throughout the agency.
And then some ongoing areas which will continue to evolve for SANDAG and should have an intentional focus.
is maturing our performance and KPI dashboards, automating and.
Automating integrations, completing those training pathways, and then hardening governance routines to improvement sustained through future system changes, which is ongoing.
That's all our prepared material, and so, uh, I think we're going to go through management response, and we welcome your feedback and questions. Thank you.
Once our team is setting up. They're gonna come in, give… their responses here, um… I think our… I want to start with.
a couple of comments here. Um, and probably go back a little bit and, uh… A little bit of memory lane, and… What have we done? We began, um… 18 months ago.
The first objective was to stabilize. Enhance trust inside and outside the agency.
and assess and implement. And that's the phase where we're at, assessing, implementing.
And we truly, truly appreciate this. Now, also.
SANDAC is… is… I want to go back and just… High level, what is SANDAC?
SANDAC is a very complex organization that meets multiple purposes, and it's probably very unique in the state.
It's an MPO, the planning organization. If you go to LA, there's one huge organization called SCACT.
But it only does the MPO. It only does the planning.
Ink here, our… Our responsibility as the MPO.
is we look at the transportation network, as well as we provide some housing.
information and policy. through a consolidation act.
that was passed around 2008. If my memory serves right.
We are also a capital delivery. agency, which other MPOs are not.
So we are responsible to delivering the transit projects, planning and delivering the transit project for San Diego County.
and coordinating with the state, Caltrans. on the state highway system.
projects. So that's another site, another business of SANDAC.
We are a toll operating agency. which we operate the SR125, we operate.
the I-15 managed lanes were the very first ones in the nation with having dynamic tolling.
So that came, that idea in the nation came out of SANDAC.
And we are in the process. of implementing a substantial amount of mileage of future managed lanes.
We are an agency that acts and houses. criminal justice information.
for every single police department that your city has.
Either via the county sheriff's department or your individual cities.
We are an information data center for both transportation, housing.
And in addition that houses, RGS houses, we also do criminal justice data analysis.
That's just a snapshot of what you all have as a responsibility.
But that's a snapshot of what each of those leaders in front of you.
are responsible to manage. with more than 100 different colors of money to be managed.
All of them with different requirements. That creates a humongous amount of stress in the organization.
of how we manage all that and keep the accounting.
I truly, truly appreciate this assessment. Because this is that.
turning point, like I said. We came, we stabilized.
We worked on enhancing the trust inside and out. We still need to work on that.
And we are now in that assessment, but also implementation.
And all that… While we're keeping an organization moving, and you just saw an awesome regional plan.
delivered. So… giving a tune-up to the car?
Changing the tires, and we're driving it in the freeway. That's no easy task.
So, you… you all have an incredible setup, more than 400 employees who really are working hard.
Among them, OYPA, who's really working hard on highlighting where we can get better.
So I really, really appreciate this assessment. Like I said in my opening statements, we're also internally doing an assessment of the organizational structure.
Optolabs, we will be putting out a request for proposals.
for an assessment of our HR department. We have had discussions about how we are going to go about.
our future management of our toll systems and the business structure of it.
And we will be having more conversations. So I just wanted to put it.
out there of all what's going on, all what the team is doing.
And in the… in the meantime, there is a humongous amount of opportunities.
There is a lot of places where we can work.
and focus and get better. No doubt about it, but I'll let the team.
tell you a little bit what they have identified.
And what they're working on, because the assessment, as well as all the other past.
uh, audits, let it be from OIPA or FDA or any other group.
I don't know, it compiles about 200 action items, or whatever. I can't remember.
I do have a meeting and keep track of them.
bringing that together with the assessments is one… what's going to help us make a better organization.
And it's a journey. It's a journey. It's not something that's going to happen tomorrow.
Team, take it over. Thank you. Good afternoon, I am Shanae Pickney-Forest, the Director of Internal Controls.
With me today is Kim Trammell, Director of Accounting and Finance, Susan Huntington, Director of Financial Planning, Budgets, and Grants.
Grace Mino, Senior Director of Data Science in Bits, and Don Vatis, our Chief Financial Officer.
We're here to provide an overview of our management response.
And today's presentation, we want to acknowledge that we agree with the recommendations from the Weaver Assessment.
We do thank Courtney and her team, as well as Weaver, for their observations.
The assessment identified 7 key areas where strengthened internal controls can help improve and elevate SANDAG's accounting.
finance and budgeting functions. We'll discuss how some of the core themes in the report relate to some of our existing efforts.
The report provided confirmation that we are on the correct track with the areas we prioritize and presented to you.
In earlier months related to policies and procedures. documentation, training, and change management.
The report also provides us with insight regarding the need for specific improvements within our budgeting, accounting, and IT departments.
Our team will then provide an overview of specific next steps within their respective.
Uh, purview. So, as you see in this slide, and as Holly discussed earlier.
The report summarized its observations into seven core themes.
We want to highlight that 3 of these themes we have as an internal focus as we continue to focus on the basics and bolster our foundational practices.
So, for example, with policies and procedures. We are in the process of finalizing our policy framework and guidance.
This framework is providing guidance that will standardize the content and the structure of the various types of guidance we have within the organization.
We're continuing to identify, draft, and or revise policies as specified in other audits.
other assessments and through internal discussion. The Weaver report also identified for us specific areas, um, where specific policy and procedure areas.
to enhance within our accounting and budgeting practices. Within the training and workforce development, we are currently identifying the needed content and training hours for our organization.
wide training plan. which has been informed by previous audits, assessments.
regulations and internal discussions. We're identifying mandatory trainings, trainings that are mandatory by legislation.
and required trainings, trainings that we're currently identifying internally as necessary.
to conduct job responsibilities. In that plan, we've also already identified anticipated training hours.
So we have training hours slated for budgeting and invoicing practices are ready.
And we'll use the Weaver report to inform the content for those two areas.
Additionally, we're currently developing the equivalent of a procurement training series and a project management series as well.
For change management, we're actively reviewing and revising our change management protocols to be in alignment with best practices.
We also want to note that all 7 of these themes, of course, are on our radar.
The assessment also recommended that the Director of Internal Controls develop an.
comprehensive internal control framework. that captures accounting, budgeting, and information technology risk and controls.
With this, I have already begun developing frameworks for practices related to our policies and procedures.
trainings and inventory management. These frameworks at a high level are iterative documents that are capturing risk.
that have been identified by previous audits, assessments in my discretion.
For documenting best practice controls in this particular framework.
We're assessing whether we have those controls currently in place. If we have them in place, we're documenting what we're doing. If those controls are currently missing.
It is an indicator for us to prioritize putting those controls in place, testing them, and making sure that they are effective.
Um, I will continue this effort of developing these frameworks and will include accounting, budgeting, and IT.
a risk as well. These frameworks will provide structure for how SANDAC manages its risk.
Um, continuously monitors its operations. And these frameworks will also serve as succession planning tools.
as how the organization conducts its business. would be documented, accessible, and easy to follow.
And now I will turn it over to Kim.
To discuss our next steps related to accounting and finance recommendations.
Good afternoon. Kimberly Trammell, the Director of Accounting and Finance, and I just want to cover the recommendations for the accounting and finance team, which fell into three general categories, the first one being vendor invoice processing.
Um, this area of SANDAG went through major changes with the implementation of our ERP system. Less than 2 years ago, and since then, we've been reevaluating the process.
Um, to see what is working and what's not working.
And so we had already been working on 3 of the 5 areas identified in the report for improvement.
One of those that we have already underway is the implementation of the vendor module that came in our ERP system.
Um, we are just getting ready to move forward with a pilot program, and then we'll have that available.
for all of our vendors at a later date.
Um, another area that we have been working on is our… establishing a risk-based threshold for approvals of our invoices.
And this has been a little complicated because SANDAG is not a one-size-fits-all. So, um, your toll operations might want to review invoices at a different RESC basis than your construction, um, versus your engineering.
So, um, we have been trying to figure out what will work best with the organization. We're moving forward with a dollar-based threshold, and we'll continue to evaluate whether that's meeting our risk needs.
Um, so establishing that, like I said, has been in process and will be available soon.
Another area that we've been looking at and working on are our invoice payment timeframes, and really making our staff aware of the timeliness for processing payments.
Um, and tracking of invoice dates should the invoice not meet our requirements, because there are a lot of requirements that come with a grant-funded invoice.
Um, we often have to do a lot of back and forth with our vendors and make sure we're getting all of the appropriate documentation, and so it's on SANDAG and our staff to make sure that we're documenting that back and forth time, and there's sufficient reason for why an invoice might not be paid in the appropriate time frame because it didn't have appropriate documentation.
So, um, we will be able to utilize our EIP system to track our received dates.
And, um, our due dates, and we have already put out guidance and, um, are working with our con… essentially our contract manager staff to make sure that they're documenting those dates and any of that back-and-forth that I mentioned.
The last area for vendor invoice processing is a centralized invoice receipt, and what we're proposing to do is put together a centralized invoice receipt within each department of SANDAG.
Um, that also includes additional monitoring. We get about 150 invoices a week here at SANDAG, and so, um, we think the best way to make sure that those are getting to the right person for processing is to do a centralized invoice receipt within each department.
The second area I want to talk about is reconciliations within the accounting department. Um, we do have over 50 documented reconciliations that the accounting group does right now, and with other priorities and projects going on, sometimes those don't get done until year-end, and that's an area we want to improve on.
Um, so we will institutionalize the existing reconciliation tracking schedule that we have, and make sure that it is being monitored to make sure that our reconciliations are happening more timely, and we'll also be going through.
to look and make sure that, um, if that list is comprehensive and includes all of the reconciliations that need to be included.
As an example with bringing payroll in-house in the last 6 months, there's additional reconciliations that need to be added to that list.
And to bring all of this into our policies and procedures around these areas. One thing we also noted, but was not necessarily a recommendation, was that we can add some clarifying language to some of our quarterly reporting to make sure that it's clear what we're reporting and how that information can be used.
The third area is around systems and manual processes, and we're always looking for ways to automate. It's been a big change for the agency to go into the ERP system.
And, um, so we continue to learn it and learn ways we can automate. Um, one of the areas touched on in the report is our toll revenue accounting.
And, um, that has been a difficult area the last couple years with limitations to the back office system. Our management team has been very hands-on in this area to build a reliable process.
for pulling the information we need out of the back office system and getting that into our accounting system, and making sure the reporting is accurate.
We had to identify a way to… we had to identify what the system could do and its limitations, and design a process around that that mitigated risk.
So we've now designed that process, it's in place, we've been using it.
it's working well with our audits, but we need to institutionalize that, essentially, and write up the policies and procedures that go with that, and make sure we're defining and assigning roles so that there's not a single point.
Of, um, in that process, but that the whole team is a part of it, the staff accountants working on the appropriate pieces, and the management is reviewing those pieces.
So that is something that we have in place, um, and as I said, we're looking at other ways that we can institutionalize automation in our programs, but you first have to kind of, once you put in a new system, you first have to kind of learn that one and learn what it can do, and then you learn how you can augment it.
So with that, I will turn it over to Susan Huntington. Thank you.
Good afternoon, I'm Susan Huntington, I'm Sandaga's Director of Financial Planning, Budgets, and Grants.
The assessment provided a clear path forward, and many of the recommendations align with work already underway in the financial planning, budgeting, and Grants Department.
Our top priority actions fall into two areas, the grant compliance and the budget monitoring.
on the grant compliance side, we're focused on ensuring accuracy and improving the timeliness of reimbursements to our grantees.
So, this will be, um, similar to what we've just heard from Kimberly as she was talking about the vendor invoice processes. So first, we're addressing the prompt payment requirements under CFR 200.
Which indicates that a recipient of federal funding must make payment to a subrecipient within 30 days after receipt of the payment request, unless the entity, in this case it's SANDAG, reasonably believes the request to be improper.
So the assessment noted that the invoice receive dates are not consistently tracked in the ERP, and some program managers maintain logs outside of the system.
In addition, there's been confusion about which date should be entered. The initial submittal date, or the date a complete and accurate invoice is received.
Which may come at a later date after issues are resolved with a grantee.
So, address this, we are evaluating updates to our contract language and training to our program managers to clearly define invoice requirements.
And to require the use of a standardized invoice form. Until now, we've strongly encouraged the use of the form, but have not required it.
in the near term, we will establish a central location for invoice logging, tracking, and issue documentations that all program managers will use.
This will increase transparency and accountability and better support timely reimbursements.
We'll also begin regular reporting of our timely payment performance to senior leadership.
This connects directly to our second priority action, developing invoice and reimbursement checklists tailored to each program.
So the current agency-wide checklist for our invoice review does not capture the program-specific requirements. We must verify across our federal, state, and local funding guidelines.
So documenting the full review steps for each program will strengthen accuracy, consistency, and compliance.
And then our other set of priority actions relate to the budget development, monitoring, and reporting.
The assessment notes that SANDAG does not yet have a single integrated budget development and monitoring system. So while implementing the ERP was an important step, our budget still spans several platforms. So we use, um… a tool, it's called PM Tools, to put together our capital budgets. We use IMBM for our personnel resource allocation, and we use ERP for non-capital budgets and actual expenditures.
to improve oversight, we're formalizing required monthly and quarterly budget to actual reviews for project managers, department directors, and senior leadership.
We have established a group of department analysts who serve as budget coordinators and provide support with annual development and ongoing monitoring. These staff are key collaborators with project managers, department directors, and central budgets, and provide additional oversight and analysis of budget utilization.
As part of documenting processes and procedures in a budget handbook, which is currently under development, a RACI matrix will be implemented to clearly define roles for each step of the budgeting and monitoring process.
In addition, we're working with our technology team to create automated reports that pull data from all these various Spirit systems to provide consistent, real-time financial information.
This will allow us to shift from reactive analysis to more proactive financial.
financial management and strengthen financial decision making. And I do want to note the timing of this assessment is particularly helpful as the agency is currently developing the FY27 budget, so this work occurs.
in the main… in the November through May timeframe. The findings and recommendations from this assessment will guide our work throughout this process and will inform our lessons learned for the upcoming year.
With that, I'll turn it over to Grace Mino to discuss technology implementation and change management.
Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Second Vice Chair, and Board Members. My name is Grace Mino, and I am your Senior Director of Data Science, and I oversee our IT department as well.
Again, I just want to echo Mario's sentiment to both Courtney Oipa and also the Weaver team.
Um, just for presenting gaps in areas of opportunity to help us improve, and also highlighting.
The systems development lifecycle, and how that is a very iterative process.
Where we're processing, analyzing, designing, developing, testing, implementing, and maintaining all the things when it comes to new software.
I want to also, um, echo what Shanae, Kimberly, and Susan have already highlighted, that.
A lot of the processes and recommendations from Weaver are things that staff have already been working on, and so that's like formalizing our change management process.
Formalizing our IT governance and data governance. And also, moving forward, that any technology or software that is being brought into the agency.
Um, is going through a needs assessment, a risk assessment, also going through systems requirements.
And we also want to ensure that it can integrate with our ERP system, and that we can also find ways to automate and make sure we're not doing these manual workarounds.
Um, another thing that was highlighted and is continuing to be highlighted is training. We want to ensure that our staff are being trained and are comfortable with anything new that's coming into the agency.
And moving forward internally in January, we'll be doing a cross-discipline deep dive workshop on our ERP system.
Taking the system's requirements when it was conducted as a competitive process about 3 to 4 years ago, and aligning it to what the business needs are within the agency. What is it not.
meeting right now. We're also looking into hiring an ERP-specific systems administrator.
And we'll probably be doing a RFP for a consultant to help us bridge the gaps and also help us maximize utilizing the system and helping us implement and develop the KPIs.
We've also been talking to our partner MPOs across the nation that are also doing ERP implementations.
And we're, uh, we're just sharing lessons learned. Lastly, Mario had highlighted that we, along with the financial assessment, we're doing an assessment of our HR department.
We are also looking into doing an assessment of our IT department.
Um, and then now I will also pass it over to our CFO, Don Batiste.
Hi, thank you. Wanted to just wrap this up today by acknowledging all of the work that's been going on in the agency that you've just heard about. There's a significant amount of work going on. As you heard Mario mention at the top, you know.
We still have outstanding. Um, uh, corrective action plan items from previous audits. We've added these in, but this assessment.
You know, really has given us a good roadmap.
And it took items that we knew we needed to work on, things that you've heard we had already started working on.
And really helped us prioritize them in a more efficient manner.
Um, so we really want to thank the Independent Audit Office. We really want to thank the Weaver team.
And I also want to acknowledge all the staff here at SANDEG who participated in this process, the interviews, the documents that were.
We're provided for it. So, with that, I think the audit.
team will come back up to the table, and we will close this out and be open for questions.
We're available to take questions. Okay, we'll go to the public first, and then we will go to the board for questions. Michael?
Yes, uh, we have two in person and three online.
First is truth, followed by Cesar Javier.
Mario, the SANDAG car has racked up way too many GHGs and VMTs and has refused to pay its tolls.
Why does it take 5 people for Sanag to just say they agree?
For some, the question is, what's the difference between an audit and assessment? But for me, the question is, what's the point of an assessment? Seems like a waste of tax dollars.
I don't know when this was approved or how much it cost us to do, but it feels like answers everybody should already know.
I had to look up the term principle of least privilege, and I like it because it's the equivalent of a need-to-know basis.
It's right next to Know Your Role. Hassan and the previous board did not know their roles, and that's why I showed up to disrupt.
their systems. Corrupt systems. And as I said before, Senek has not had a controls issue, or a technology issue, or a systems issue more than it's had a people issue.
If someone wants to argue that a corporate setup with 19-plus representatives who were never elected to be on SANDAG, deciding what happens for transportation and housing and who knows what in the future, is a technology-based system and control problem, I'll 100% agree to that.
Senang was built with policies that were not followed. Senag had plenty of well-qualified employees in the past who chose to do the wrong thing for either greed or fear.
Proven experience and proven character are the solutions that no assessment or audit can make everyone at Tanag willing to choose.
The right people in the right places will stay here when the transition and resolution to pass corruption is complete and consistent.
For transparency and accountability, sometimes all it takes is one brave whistleblower or speaker or board member to make permanent changes.
Don't allow SANDAG to go backwards like it almost did at the last meeting.
If this is a project-driven agency, then focus on projects, not checks.
checked box politics. I'm gonna repeat it again, so you really hear it. Projects, not politics.
It's very clear. Get the work done efficiently, timely, and ethically.
And then somebody, tell the county how to operate that way so we can all live much better. Thank you.
Next is Cesar Javier, followed by Paul the Bold Online.
Cesar and Purita in 2 minutes. Thank you, Sandag. We'll be repeated students in this great university.
Thank you, sir. Mito. I… Could switch to Honorable Sito.
Thank you, because it's… Educating us.
The city of San Diego. is an independent.
You know, planning… Visioning about… Shell, man.
shelter, society, and the specialty of Sandag. Which includes now, we heard.
sheltering. Home, home, or house.
For San Diegans. Thank you, Sandag. My question is, did you include in your investigation how this.
members of this elite thinkers. How they perform.
Like, a question. How did the mayor… declared in his.
city address last year. Oh, we have 252… The million deficit.
When the EBA organic element, says only 85. What's happening to our city.
Sir La Cawa, Shirley?
You know it, San Diegans. And we are fearful.
That our money. It's not going to where we should be enjoying life in our community.
Thank you for the investigation, that's a thesis writing.
Thank you for that dissertation. We are repeater for next year, and it's free.
Thank you, Sandag. the city of San Diego. Thank you, your time has expired.
Next is Paula Bold Online, followed by the original draw.
Oh, my test starts highlighting deficiencies in ants and eggs internal controls.
were bad, but this is scathing. It is shocking that Sandag still does not have a comprehensive framework to consistently assess and monitor.
key internal controls. After years of scandals and scathing audits.
The non-key deficiencies are basic areas that should have been properly controlled from the start.
But instead, you devise overly complex policies and procedures.
To weaken these. Does telling that this audit. Gently called an assessment.
specifically recommends. Quote, using external qualified advisors, unquote, rather than internal processes you have relied on.
So who is exactly… is calling the shots at Sandag?
It is time to include the Sandag and independent auditor on the board.
The continuing audit failures would be less. If there were regular finance, accounting, or audit advice right here for you to hear before this scandal.
As for the response, it's a real tragic comedy that management agrees with all of the recommendations.
That it is not implemented after all the promises we've heard.
We hear the excuses, but just do it! Amazing that there is still no centralized point for collecting invoices.
And now, time frame for paying them. I wonder how many potential contractors and workers this is alienated.
Because they want to get paid. Um, it's amazing that reconciliation.
No, thank you.
Thank you, your time has expired. Next is original draw, followed by Mike Bullock.
You know, part of the problem is that you guys never want to look at the people that are engaged in fraud, waste, and abuse, because you'll sit here and you bring up these.
presentations and, you know, sit there and try and paint a pretty picture that you guys are really, you know, mitigating things, but you have your hands in way too many buckets.
And you are ill-equipped to provide the things that you are, you know, professing that you're going to provide.
So when you sit here and virtue signal, like, it's so great that you're doing so many things.
When there's so many issues with all of the things that you're doing.
You know, it just shows that these things are… that you… this presentation is just to continue the.
fraud, waste, and abuse, because you just want to set up.
all this stuff, you know, and we pay more and more money to.
To try and have accountability and all this stuff, but I mean, you even sit there and profess that you listen to the local.
community. You don't. I mean, you don't even reach out to the people in the community like you should.
And you should be, you know, when you're implementing things like tools, be getting a vote from the people.
Because if you really did get the input from the people, you wouldn't have the support that you do. I mean, people don't even know who you are.
And that helps you guys so that you can say that you're doing what the people want.
You know, and it's unfortunate, because. the people should be, you know, having a voice, not the stakeholders, not all the people that you're gonna make money from.
The people that you get your money from, that you sit here and waste.
Because you engage, like I've said before, with people who, you know, cost us more and more money, are engaged in the fraud, waste, and abuse when you contract with them, whether it's internally or externally.
And nothing really gets done about it. People retire with, you know, pensions and all of these great things.
And the fraud, waste, and abuse continues, and the people, you know, are sitting here, you know.
Buying the propaganda, if they do listen. And so they think you're gonna do what you're gonna do, but all they have to do is look at the world around us and see.
Our next public comment is Mike Bullock, followed by our last public comment, ending in 8813.
Yeah, thank you, uh, Sandag. What I hear is a lot of very professional, smart, hardworking people.
trying their very best. to address a very unfortunate sequence of events.
Um, it may have seemed pretty simple to just have a toll road and operate a toll road.
Uh, but it didn't turn out to be that simple.
And, uh, I'm wondering, listening. to what is, uh… being described and being predicted in terms of what needs to be done in the future, if it's not really time to just cut the losses.
Um, I hate to say that, and I don't say that disrespectfully or, uh… But I want to talk about some things which are… have no future.
which are going to become obsolete. And the first one is the internal combustion engine vehicle.
All of them. It's very bad technology, as it turns out. We didn't know that.
It just went 100 degrees. of financials.
You know, we thought, uh… Cathode ray tube televisions were just great, didn't we, until we got digital televisions.
Every automobile manufacturer knows that there is no future for internal combustion engines, yet we're going electric.
So the other thing that there's no future for is, um, gasoline tax.
And that is actually a tax. And, um, because there's no future for that, because we're not going to be using gasoline.
Um, we have to move to, um… road use charge, and that road use charge has to replace the gasoline tax. We need to actually get rid of the California gasoline tax. That's the big tax.
57 cents a gallon. It's odd to me that so many Republicans there are so pro-tax.
Michael, please keep on topic, or remember we're on…
Um, the road use chart. is a charge. Oh, I am… This is on topic. You need to cut your losses because there's no future in toll roads.
There's no future in toll roads, because we have to have a road use charge.
Thank you, your time has expired. Last comment is phone number ending in 8813.
Consola, go ahead.
Oops, okay, my device is muted. Can you hear me?
Yes, go ahead.
Okay, great. Okay, so amen to… Um, all the previous concerned citizens, um, the handful who chime in and pay attention to the corruption.
Um, and especially Paul the Bold, uh. Uh, no, let's talk about this so-called audit and assessment. First question.
Is Sandag seriously still using TurboTax? I remember hearing that back in the Karada days.
And I thought it was a joke, but apparently not.
This is an agency handling billions of dollars in public funds and, um, yeah.
It was just funny to remember back in the day that you guys used to use that.
Software. Anyways, um… Let's see what else… what else, what else? And then you talk about best practices and controls. Controls is right, but in the way.
But not in the way you pretend, because nothing about this audit looks… Like, accountability. Um, more rubber stamping.
Um… And, uh… Yeah, and then when the person mentioned how.
Uh, what's working and not working. Uh, let me translate that for you. What's working is your rollout towards the UN, uh.
2030 plans, your ability to push policies. The public never actually agreed to, your ability to operate in the shadows while telling everyone it's for their own good.
Uh, what's not working… I mean, that is what was working.
What's not working is the fact that you keep pulling the wool over the public's eyes, especially the younger generations who have no idea.
How deep this manipulation runs. And then someone in the presentation said SANDAG is not a one… or… It's not a one-size-fits-all.
And, uh, really, because everything you're doing in this county looks exactly like a one-size-fits-all control system.
Restrict mobility imposed bike lanes, nobody wants to push.
Thank you, your time has expired. That concludes our public comment on this item, Chair.
Thanks, Michael. Mario, did you want to say a few things? Um, probably just wrap it up on making a point of clarification on certifications, which are extremely important.
For the different positions, but also putting that much weight on.
all that experience, and uh… that the employees have, um… It's to make a well-rounded professional.
It's a combination of both. Uh, in some cases, certifications are extremely important, others.
the certification, as well as that experience, you know, decades of experience.
And the uniquenesses of the positions, like, I try to.
highlight, uh, that, that it's also. uh, something that we put in, you know.
a lot… a lot into it. It's… you can't… put, uh, under just one single description.
for so many different specialties that we do. Um, sometimes you're required to.
have a whole life of experience. As well as certifications, uh.
sometimes. So I do want to highlight that because.
Our teams are very dedicated, very professional, if you see.
And I want to highlight that because. That's my job, highlighting the great team that I have.
Thank you. Now on to member comments. We'll start with, uh, Deputy Mayor Chavez.
Thank you so much, um… First of all, to our independent auditor team, but our staff and our leadership.
I know we've been talking about this for over 2 years.
Uh, since it was discovered, and. Unfortunately, this is impacting.
South County more than anyone. South County users, and.
Um, you know, SANDEC being, uh, over a billion.
dollar in budget, uh, association. that we represent. One thing that worries me, and I can go to the spell of.
what I've mentioned in many other meetings. And how Chula Vista, the fairness of the South County people, the community, traffic.
impact and the day visitors that we have that are impacting the 805 and the 5.
But I do want to mention that in page 16.
8.4… You mentioned, um… Our auditor marked this as a high risk for the agency.
And it's the reliance on a single individual for manual tracking.
Combined with undocumented processes and on. Timely reconciliations increase.
The risk of errors in complete records, non-compliance. and operational disruption.
So… are we relying on a single individual? To process every single payment from the tolls? Where am I reading it incorrectly?
Because we have toll system errors to this day.
And why is it a high risk? So, uh, Councilmember, we found… there's one person that is working on the reconciliation part, so there's a point.
a single point there. And I know the team is aware and working on putting the policies and procedures and training staff.
So it's not one person processing. It is a CPA at the Toll Ops.
That is mainly responsible for the reconciliation process, so that's what we're.
identifying in the report. So when we talk about reconciliation.
Can we be more specific? Do we still have toll errors?
I am going to leave that to Kimberly. I certainly will. Let me clarify, um, the one person is not processing.
payments or individual transactions. So we, um, on a monthly basis, will pull the information out of the back office system so that we can populate it into our accounting system.
So, as I said, because there are some system limitations, there's no direct integration, and we know that there have been, um, issues with how the information is pulled into the reports in the past.
We have developed a process so that we make sure the information that we're getting is correct.
So there's a couple steps that have to happen in the back office system, and then we run the reports that come out of that, and then the accounting entries are being booked from there.
So because this has been, as you said, something we've been working through for 2 years.
And, um, we really want to make sure that it's correct and accurate. We have had our manager in that area working on this.
Um, and as I said, we feel that we've got a good process in place now that's reliable, and so we can have… we can kind of spread that to.
Um, the rest of the total accountant area, so that it's not being done by.
There isn't one final person doing it, but it's done by various people throughout the process.
I think I want to add a little bit.
Again, we came… We stabilize.
And we have done the assessment. So the teams.
have set up a process. To adequately be doing.
The checks and balances. at the toll operations center.
Now, is that perfect? No. That's why we're going to be moving into a new back office system.
And we have had robust discussions with this board.
of where this organization is pivoting. from a new strategy of a back office.
to make it more enhanced with proven operators. So, first, we needed to stabilize.
and manage the current situation. as we are also working, this is a.
on the financial department process. I'm talking a little bit also of the operations.
But they all come together. Right? Um, so we… we… we are working very hard, and.
that people are not being mischarged? I think that was your question.
Um, but we are… that is… that checks and balances that has been put out there.
It's… it was to evaluate that. If the system has some errors at some point, identify them as soon as possible and reconcile them.
Again, that system is not perfect. And that's why we're pivoting.
to others who have done it better than us.
I so appreciate this, this transparency. And it's my job, it's our duty.
to represent, uh, who elected us to this seat.
And finally, um… What is the current estimate on that transition to the new system?
We will be coming and providing. a little bit more information, probably.
Later, early next year, we are evaluating all the options that we have in front of us.
We have begun some conversations. Um, if you were to ask me right now, I foresee that a transition will be happening within the next 12 to 18 months.
It's a very sophisticated system. But the first thing that we needed to do was shore up the existing system.
like I said, stabilize. I think we have achieved that.
Is it perfect? No, it's not perfect, and that's why the team is doing so much.
Checking and balancing. Um, but I'm very confident that we are having an appropriate operation, appropriate charging.
But we definitely need to pivot. to something more modern and more con… with more confidence.
And we're looking into. other partners, other governmental agencies who have done this.
and who are operating and seeing how we're going to partner with them.
Uh, we will be coming probably early next year with a full assessment, and more than anything.
a proposal of where we're pivoting. Thank you so much, and before… I stop my comments, I just want to say that.
We need to have a better conversation and how.
We can return the services and all the tools that have been paid.
To the community. Eventually, that's what our main purpose, right, to make a better life to everyone who's using our.
Our transportation, our roads, and. Just living in our community. Again, thank you.
Um, Councilmember Molina? Thank you very much, Chair Huebner. Uh, thank you once again to our OIPA team, our team of directors.
Excellent presentation again. Thank you for covering my questions last week, last Friday, during the audit committee.
I have one additional question that didn't… I didn't quite ask.
And it has to do with the timeline, how far back.
Did you look in the assessment of our financial, um, system?
I don't know if that was part of the presentation.
last Friday or today. Holly, can you go over the assessment, uh… How you conducted the time period.
Yes, so as Courtney mentioned earlier in our presentation, we really work to evaluate your processes in its most current state.
when we needed to, we referred to periods as far back as necessary to fully understand the current condition.
So, you know, that might have been for certain processes 6 months back, that might have been for others 18 months back. So, it's a little bit dynamic, you know, in order to truly dig into and understand the current state.
like Courtney mentioned, this is a forward-looking assessment, and so going back years and years, you know, and everything really doesn't make sense, and so… Everything that we evaluated should be looked at through the lens of a current state assessment. Thank you.
Uh, that is very helpful, and I think that is what helps me understand the fact that this is an assessment.
And we are looking at the current state versus an audit, which is, you know, looking back and.
And checking things that way. So I really do appreciate all of the work, and I have.
a good understanding of the work that's before us. And again, our team of directors and our CFO, um, being so willing.
to take this bull by the horn, you know, and being unafraid, and knowing that this is where we're headed and this is what we're gonna do. That is the attitude that really does give me a lot of confidence moving forward. Two other things I want to point out. One is.
Um, from our, um, Director Pickney Forrest. The internal risk assessment, um, that she previously mentioned, it was the chart that had the three X's.
on the, um, on her presentation, it identifies, of the seven core themes.
that the Weaver assessment, um, uh, discussed. 3 of them were already identified by our internal risk assessment.
team, and so I really do appreciate that. It shows that we are on the same track. We are on the right track. So that.
Again, gives me a lot of confidence. And then one other point that was made last Friday during the audit committee by the Weaver team.
Um, as part of the executive summary in their report, there was this, um, beautiful one-page roadmap.
that had green lines across it. It was a timeline, essentially, of how to get.
so that what we're speaking of, how to get to that next.
phase of SANDAG, which will inevitably be a better SAND Act. So, um, sadly, it didn't get presented today, but if you do dig in.
Um, it's a roadmap, and they went through it in detail last Friday, so you could also view the recording there, but I really did appreciate that one-page recommended roadmap.
And my final comment just has to do with the, um, entire attitude.
Um, of, um, not just our leadership, our CEO, Mario Orso.
Um, but being able to work, and I'm taking his words from last Friday, work with these independent arms, which is our OIPA, which is, um, the folks from Weber.
Um, and it is a huge strength. Uh, perhaps it wasn't initially realized as a strength, you know, from previous leadership.
Um, and it was instead something to resist. But now to see that it is, in fact, embraced by current leadership.
this proverbial car that we keep talking about, I feel not only has new tires.
But it also has a new engine. And, um, you know, I anticipate at some point it'll be driving on this journey on a toll-free 125, or a safer 78 or 52.
You know, um, or even taking the purple line. So… I look forward to a lot of good things in SANDAG. I have a lot of confidence.
Um, certainly I feel good with the leadership that's in place. There's a lot of work to be done.
That is for sure. Now we know what the work is.
And I appreciate that, thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember. All right, we're going to go on to Mayor Minto.
Well, you know, it's interesting, having sat here for a long time, and.
hearing all about the things that, uh… You know, you don't know what you don't know?
And I just need to know from the CEO, are we, uh… Uh, have we enhanced the, um… Medical, um… you know, benefits for these folks, because I know there's got to be some.
Traumatic brain injury from all the. So… repeatedly, because every time you get down there, tell me I'm not wrong. You get into this thing and it just… I can't believe it! One more time.
And uh… it's… the reason why it's frustrating for me is because I sat here for a long time, and I listened to.
reports on the budget and the finance and this and that.
And everything was just perfect. We were really going along. Then we had that big debacle with Marnie Cox, and.
Found out that not everything was being reported correctly, and then it just kind of like an avalanche of caving from the glaciers.
And to where we got, you know, the last CEO, who I think didn't tell us anything was true.
And, um, and so… I can't believe we've actually operated so well.
I don't know if you want to call it, so well over so many years.
Uh, with what we had, you know, with, um… You know, who is the MacGyver behind everything, holding it together.
Um, but what I see is, you know, and we did talk about this roadmap.
The roadmap is only as good as. You know, the people that are driving the car.
Because if you don't follow the map, you get off the road.
And so, from this time forward, we have to make sure that every bit of IT is the most.
Best and best and updated. We do this at our city all the time. We're always looking to say, is there a better finance program? Is there a better tracking program? And you know what?
The days of using, you know, an abacus for one thing to, you know.
figure out how much money we have is long gone. However, it seems like that's what we've kind of done in the past, and I'm not trying to disparage anybody that's.
that's working here today that has been working for us in the past, but I think there were probably some great frustrations about the notability.
What I would suggest is not having the ability to do your job the best that you could do, and just putting things together that you were told to put together. I don't know, I'm just kind of, it's conjecture, but based on the fact that we're seeing all the problems that had to be somewhere.
And, um… I just think that, uh, I think we're heading in the right direction, finally.
And, um, I just want to say to this board of directors, if we have people that aren't doing their job, we have to get rid of them a lot sooner.
And make sure that people are doing their job.
Not saying anything, Mario, but uh… That you're not doing your job. That's just things… things happen.
We have to be very cognizant of what's going on. So I just wanted to vent a little bit on.
what I see and how I feel about things and where we've come from, and.
It doesn't make me feel comfortable that we've had, you know, put these things together, paperclips and chewing gum all the way, so… I'm going to answer your question, who kept it together, the employees.
They really are a dedicated. group, um, and now the job that Courtney, myself.
The incoming general counsel and all of us. Here, all of you in the board.
It's to bring them together, right, and to. Institute the changeup culture, breaking those stockpipes so that different groups can talk to each other, as well as externally with the cities.
And then we can understand what are the needs. We codify the needs.
We call that Systems Requirements for. systems, but we also call systems requirements for, like, the gen… the regional plan, right? Understanding what you need in your city, what you need in your city, what you don't want in your city.
And what Carolina wants for South Bay, as well as Paloma.
and on and on and on. So we need to bring that together and have that.
Communications, but definitely what kept it moving, and it's keeping it moving, and it will keep it moving.
It's our employees, so that's where we need to invest.
Very good. I'm here, uh, Jones, you're up. Thank you so much, Chair. Um, I just want to say thank you, um, for everyone, uh, for this report.
And then, um… I really… I really want to understand when we're planning on having all of the infrastructure across the board. I know that's a big, um.
But, uh, Shawnee had talked a little bit about the infrastructure so that we have everything put in place, set in place. Maybe you called it, actually.
Framework. The framework, uh, when that will be in place, um.
Do we have any idea when that would be?
So, the goal… excuse me… the goal currently is to at least have an iterative document within the next 6 months.
Um, and that document is something where there's… it's foundational, and then based on what we see when we start, kind of.
diving deeper into the recommendations, we can update it accordingly, but.
At the very least, having some sort of draft documentation or iterative document within the next 6 months. So basically summer 2026.
Great, okay, and then, um, just as a follow-up on that, and maybe you want to answer this, Mario, I'm not sure.
Um, when we… You know, when we hired our internal controls person.
I was… it's a little different, but kind of the same. Uh, we are getting a 6-month check-in update back to the board. Do we have that scheduled? I think we talked about it, but I don't recall.
Uh, what that was going to be. We can curr… we can certainly place something on the calendar for a review. Uh, currently, right now, the idea is to.
Um, try to come back to the committee at the very earliest February.
Um, probably at the very latest March, but to get you some updates in terms of.
where we are regarding our recommendation, implementation, and then the frameworks would be a part of that review.
Or update. Is that going to be the audit committee or the full board, or both? I'm assuming both. Both. Okay, perfect, great. And we're also going to be coming with multiple assessments.
grace eventually, together with the team, will come in with a data governance.
assessment and where we are with all our different systems and where we need to do, we continue to assess.
Courtney keeps helping us. I have a lot of… a lot of conversations with her of where.
how we bring everything together, and we'll be reporting in us.
timely as we can to let you know where we are, but also.
tell us if we need to pivot, right? That's part of the new roles or the enhanced roles of the.
executive committee, so you're going to be seeing us coming more and talking about how to manage the agency.
and asking for your opinions and your advice and guidance on that.
Great, because this is really important work, because it's building the foundation of us being trusted again.
So, um, and again, thank you for all of your input, all of our staff.
One last thing, when you were talking about Mario, um, infrastructure as far as the toll itself goes.
the toll road, and then the infrastructure that other agencies, public agencies, have in place.
I think that's a prudent step because. We don't need to reinvent the wheel. If there's something that's actually working, because the one-off situation that we were in is just not.
Um, we know. I mean, I don't want to be the dead horse, we just, we can't go down that road again, so… Anyway, thank you. Thank you, Mayor Ehlers.
Yeah, thank you. Um… I really appreciate the Weaver analysis. This is as broad and comprehensive of a set of recommendations as I've seen in a long time.
I really support them. I love the detail you went into.
I want to talk a little bit about the roles. So, of course, you've got the independent auditor, and I always think of the Director of Controls as being the internal architect of the reporting structure, but not the operational person.
The operations, the implementation of this will all fall upon the people to the right here, the actual operation.
I appreciate the fact that the internal auditor is relatively new, and the internal control structure is relatively new.
tells me the, uh, sheriff, so to speak, coming into town and the internal sheriff are fresh eyes, and then bringing Weaver in was a very good move.
Uh, so I've worked on a lot of, uh… on several ERP implementations in my career, and they're always.
fun, I don't know, they're difficult, right? I think anybody that's done them.
They, uh, they cross over between software and IT.
Versus the operations side, be it, uh, be it, uh, finance, accounting.
toll collection, all that. And so, uh, I thought the one… I'm going to pick on one select recommendation. That was about a, uh.
status of a CIO. I really support getting that CIO in place, and I don't know if.
Mario, you have any comments on where we are on that?
First of all, you know, I have had a lot of discussions even with Courtney about this.
And for an organization of our size, 400 people.
You know, we aim for all the roles and responsibilities that we have.
our CIO, it's very important, but we need somebody.
far beyond just the CIO, due to the activity-based model runs that we're doing.
The data analysis, so… Actually, grace is… feels part of that role.
the IT person, we had one, and we lost it to private industry.
Um, we are putting that advertising out right now.
But Grace is my point person. for data and intelligence and information systems.
We will be evaluating if that's working. But it's very hard to have.
a chief data officer, a chief informational officer. So, therefore, we have consolidated based on some new models that are coming up.
And seeing how that works. We are advertising for an IT next week.
And we have put out that. Hopefully, we can keep them longer than what we kept the prior one.
Uh, industry went very hard on us. We had some very… a very good person who had.
come from Ravian, and they… poach him back. So we will be putting that out.
But definitely IT security system is an issue. Um, that we take very serious, and we've been focusing on that. Our cloud security also.
Our operations, I'm seeing, again. highlighting all the multiple activities that we're doing at one size.
one model doesn't fit all for the toll operations, we would… that's why we're looking into what others are doing.
And maybe rely more on operations with some of our other partner agencies.
I know I'm pivoting a little bit outside, but.
But that also affects our IT structures, right? So we're looking and kind of combining multiple things.
Being strong from an IT perspective internally, but also relying with others.
They have done other things better, so they can do those specialty items, and they can also take care of their IT.
security and efficiency. Okay, so, um… I think key in what you've said is that you're putting together an organization that will manage the ERP implementation and the overall IT data science strategy.
And that requires a very strong leader in that role with both.
operational experience and in IT understanding at the same time.
And then I did hear earlier, I thought I heard that you're hiring a.
ERP expert and outside consultant? Absolutely. I don't think I've ever done an ERP implementation without having somebody who is a nuts and bolts expert.
They make all the difference in the world. I guess what I'm looking for is an update in the future. I think along the lines of what Mayor Jones was asking for.
I would say quarterly. I would say quarterly timed with the internal auditor report. I would like to see it to the full board, but I'd like to see it go down to the level of what Weaver is describing at the high-level initiatives.
I certainly first, in the first review, would like to hear about the organizational changes or updates or additions.
Such as… and status of hiring whatever expert, ERP expert.
uh, IT, CIO, whatever it might be, because I think it's the people, as has been correctly identified here at all times, it's always the people that make things happen.
And that's the first phase. Get your organization straight.
I think that there are many more areas I could spend time going into, but I think the IT one and the ERP one is key. Tyler Technologies, they've got their act together. If we get on board with that and can integrate our systems with Tyler.
We… you will be orders of magnitude above where you've been. The trouble is, we've done too much.
glue by people and spreadsheets and that is destined to failure.
Or, uh, potentially corruption, whatever. And I think we've been down that path. We want to stop and.
get on a path to solution, which we are. I think we're headed down there. So I'm looking forward to quarterly updates if others agree with me.
Yeah, for sure, and we're also going to be bringing the updates of the different assessments.
HR, the one that Grace is planning for IT.
Um, the one that we're doing for Tollabs, because at the end of the day, everything glues together. Of course, the city… Yeah, and the city follow the money, right? We need to keep glued with finance. And in the interest of time, I was only picking on… on IT and ERP is probably one of the biggest ones, but I could have gone into many other areas. I won't do that today, because I think others have done that.
Okay, everybody else on the board. Yeah, Courtney. Thank you very much.
So I just wanted to address, um, two things. So, one, when you talk about the role of the IPA and the role of the Director of Internal Controls.
So the model is that there's three lines of.
defense for governance and risk management. That's how. It comes from the IIA.
So for… and you can even say people would consider the IPA a fourth line because of the independence. We're not an internal op.
internal audit function. Typically, internal audit is the third line of defense, so you have management.
who does the operations. You have the Director of Internal Controls, depending on how you address it, is doing the monitoring.
And then you have internal audit, and then you have independent or external.
on it. So those are your lines of defense when it comes to government and risk management, and it's really important.
that in order to give you all the assurance that that is occurring.
We were clear in the recommendations for the internal control framework.
that it be done, we recommend it because of the bandwidth from an external party, and then.
monitored, um, by the internal. the Director of Internal Controls, because you want that compliance.
You know, to ensure that before… so before we come in and spot issues, that issues are being managed internally. That is the model. So I just put that out there.
for information purposes. for the CIO, and as Mario said, we've had conversations, and the recommendation and.
in the report is for executive level. CIO, and I know he is working.
To determine, um, how has he expressed. Um, but I just want to stay true to the recommendations that we put forth, so thank you, Chair.
Great, thank you, and thank you to all of you, to Courtney and Weaver. It's… it's… Excellent work. I mean, I can't imagine.
the detail, and how you find out all of these things, the number of questions you must ask, and our team for, you know, responding and working well with them, and thank you for looking at all of these, I guess, corrective actions.
You're going to be really, really, really busy not only creating this foundation or framework, but then.
Doing the work that's going to go into all of that, just to keep this agency running, and the myriad ways that it runs. As Mario outlined.
So thank you so much for all of this. Um, there's just discussion on this, there's no action, and so we will now move to the revised position, classification and salary range table.
with Josh.
Good afternoon. My name is Joshua Golter, and I serve as SANDAG's Director of Human Resources.
And I will be presenting recommendations or recommended revisions to the FY2026 position classification and salary range table.
I do want to point out this item was updated yesterday, and you can see the current version online. You will find the summary of changes.
in Attachment 1, and… the red line table in attachment 2.
At a high level, the recommended changes are relocating the associate capital project manager to.
to strengthen mobility within the new capital delivery project management career ladder.
The recommendation is to relocate the classification as the current placement limits hiring transfer.
and promotional pathways from related career tracks within the agency.
Second, relocating Deputy director. to establish appropriate differential from direct reports.
And as part of a strategy to consolidate Director 1 and Director 2 into one classification.
The agency is recommending relocating the position from class range 130 to 131.
Also, relocating Deputy General Counsel classification. The agency reviewed the Deputy General Counsel role and found the position's responsibilities, complexity of work, and agency-wide impact.
are consistent with the director-level work. to maintain consistency across leadership roles, reclassifying the position from.
Class range 133 to 135 is recommended. Fourth, relocating Deputy Independent Performance Auditor.
This classification is recommended for salary reallocation from Class 131 to 135.
To maintain current alignment with newly proposed salary relocations for similar classifications.
Uh, streamlining the director-level structure to simplify and modernize the classification system, we recommend moving the current four-tier director structure to three levels.
Which would be Deputy Director, Director, and Senior Director.
The agency would no longer hire or promote into Director 1 or Director 2 classifications.
And these classifications would be removed from the salary range table once they are vacated, essentially no employees in those specific classifications.
A consolidated director classification is proposed for Class Range 13, based on scope and appropriate promotional differentials.
Elimination of the Chief of staff classification. This classification is recommended to be removed for elimination as it no longer aligns with the operational needs or the strategic direction of the agency.
The classification has no current incumbents and is no longer part of the organizational structure.
And lastly, the placement of the independent performance auditor position classification on the salary range table would be evaluated.
And recommendations will be presented to the Audit Committee and Board of Directors.
These updates maintain the board-approved FY2026 salary ranges while improving internal mobility, simplifying our structures.
and supporting our operational strategy. With that, I can take any questions you may have.
Thanks, Josh. We'll first take public comments, and then we'll go to the board member for questions and discussions. Michael.
Yes, we have two in-person, that's… Truth, followed by Caesar.
How many people actually want to be here? I don't.
Because you're crazy. When you present an item to the public about class ranges.
You need to include a clear explanation about what the differences actually are, so I don't continue to fall asleep.
I don't care if it's at the bottom of the page, there's an asterisk with information, it just needs to be defined.
I'm glad the two directors' rolls costing $228,000 and the chief of staff role costing $278,000 will be eliminated.
Uh, it's totally wasteful for us to be paying for somebody's coffee servers, binder deliverers, speechwriters, and parking validators.
Like, every county supervisor does with their money. But I'd like somebody to explain and justify why a CEO should be paid almost $500,000 a year at the maximum.
How is that an appropriate paycheck for a quasi-public service role?
And I'm not referring to Mario, but there have been a number of Sanic staffers that have made major flubs the last few years, and even this year.
And yet, some are making anywhere from $110,000 up to $338,000.
There needs to be matching pay reductions for major mistakes.
And SANDAG may technically be a blatant corporation, but if there's going to be an appearance of it being a public agency, and it is funded with our tax dollars.
And some of you are actually elected by somebody, or maybe not.
Uh, that means every penny of our money needs.
to be handled like it's gold. Take this job seriously, and the quality of your work, earn your paycheck, and you should be treated well, and be able to have fun doing it.
Uh, three great examples I've seen, uh, Michael, Francesca, and Arianna.
All very helpful and reliable people at the back.
Uh, even for Mario, I can say that he's able to somewhat have fun, get answers, and get the work done.
should have more fun. When people leave, you can… I think you're allowed to have more fun.
Uh, now somebody tell the representatives, some of them are not even here, that says a lot that they need to live up to that as well.
And I don't care if you get paid pennies on the hour, you get junk sodas and old XanXL, which isn't even chips, so come on.
Start working harder, quit making me fall asleep. Thank you.
Next is either Javier, followed by the original draw online.
Oh, next is original draw online, followed by Paul the Bolt.
It's funny to see you guys shift things around. It's like having a bunch of clutter, and then you just, like.
move it around to act like you cleaned it up.
Um, and, you know, this could potentially just be shifting things around to get people more money, and more of this, and more of that to not provide the things that.
You guys profess to provide, you know, because there'll always be something that gets in the way.
But it… I don't understand how you can have positions that you're saying that you're not going to need anymore, but you're going to keep them until there's no employees in there.
It doesn't make any sense. Why would you do that? And then even the ones that you take out and you say you no longer need, are those in the budget that you are.
Saying for the salaries that you need, that you'll, like.
pull that out as money that's needed, just in case that position was filled.
Um, and, you know, if they're not, and you did.
Um, you know, take that money out, where does that go? Does it go back? Does it go into somebody else's pockets? Are you just going to reclassify somebody to, you know, kind of put it in their pocket?
Um, just, you know, interesting to see the things that are so important to you guys to do, which is definitely making sure people are paid.
I mean, that is 100%, which, I mean, on the surface, that looks good, because you do want to be paid.
But then when you don't provide the things that, you know.
people that are promised to the people, and then you mismanage all of the money that you guys get because you do have your hands in so many buckets.
It's like, how many more positions are gonna be… I mean, like, 400 people.
To do all of this nonsense. And we just keep paying people more money, but we don't really have anything to show.
For the fruits of your labor, so it's like… You know, I mean, once people start to see that you're just paying more and more for nothing.
Um, but total control, because that's it. That's why you guys have to change behaviors, right? Through punitive actions.
Good. It's good. That's the way you treat the people, but if you're an employee, heck, you guys will make sure that you're paid a pretty penny all the time.
And our last public comment is Paul Devolt.
Not much to say here, but, um, after that scathing assessment in name only by a truly independent.
outside auditor. It is clear to me that some of the people here do not deserve raises. In fact, I suggest that maybe.
A lot of the people here seem to want.
Uh, long holiday, that's… Yeah. Um… Class 120 Associate Capital Project Manager 2.
Does not need a backhanded raise by reclassifying him or her to Class 121.
The only ways that I see on the list.
Um, capital projects cost us a lot more than it should.
Um, it is a rather sneaky move. What? We can, I think, expect from SANDAG.
I did not get to speak on non-agenda, by the way, because there was silence on the courting while waiting for quorums. Horn went to another room to see whether the meeting was on.
So, I suggest some background noise for. Um, the period of silence on the.
call-in systems. Happy Holidays!
Uh, to all. Um, where are you on getting voting seats for the Native Americans in East County?
But then taxation without a representation. Waymo driverless taxis are coming here.
The MTS Taxi Advisory Committee came out against Waymo, and I hope you do too.
These rowing menaces do not belong in our streets.
That concludes our public comment on this item, Chair. Okay, very good. Um, any board member comments? If not, I'd entertain a motion to approve the recommended changes to the SANDAG position classification salary range table, moved by Minto, second by Asterland.
Gastoline, okay, please vote. Nobody could do that fast.
I don't know if I should use hers are fine.
Use hers.
That was easy. Okay, that passes unanimously. Let's move to our last item, the bond issuance refunding Overview.
Dawn, this is you. As Don is setting up, um… She's going to be talking of, uh, there's some bonds coming for, for… Um, oh my god, I lose track of what we call… the call date for the bonds.
So our financial advisors evaluate if the terms that we have.
are good enough to continue, or if we go and do a reissuance.
This is not to get new money or anything like that, this is to save.
financing, and the team will talk about it through the life. I think we're talking about $40 million.
Um, potential savings, but I'll let Don take care of that.
All right, thank you. Um, so yes, I'm here with an overview of this proposed bond issuance.
We do everything that we do related to our debt in association with Board Policy 36.
Um, and so we have an opportunity. Uh, to achieve some savings here, the 2016 bond series is callable this year. They were issued as 10-year per call bonds.
Um, so I'm just gonna start out with an overview of.
Um, the team for this transaction, we have quite a few folks internally here at SANDAG.
working on this, um… PFM Financial Advisors is our financial advisor for this and on our retainer for.
Uh, everything else that we do. Mudra Patel from PFM is here with me today.
Our bond council selected for this transaction is Norton Rose Fulbright and Stradling Yoka Carlson, and Roth is our Disclosure counsel.
Our senior underwriting team is Wells Fargo. They are joined with co-managers from Barclays, B of A.
And Hilltop Securities.
So we're just gonna go over a few things, why we're issuing the bonds, uh, some issues related to the timing, potential size and the structure.
Our estimated savings and cost of issuance. Um, some issues concerning the credit ratings and the calendar of events.
So, again, Board Policy 36, um, is what we use. It guides us in our refunding considerations.
We're looking for net present value savings. In this case, we have an opportunity to do some blended arbitrage yield.
Um, scenarios that will actually help us, uh. Uh, earn a little bit more in our arbitrage of callable and non-callable bonds, both will be involved in this transaction. Typically, we would never have an opportunity on a non-callable bond.
Um, but in this case, the numbers are penciling out to blend these, uh.
Together, we can maintain our high credit ratings, that this structure will allow us to continue the matched maturity.
Um, leveled that service that we, uh, have on our senior lien bond.
So, timing, the 2016s, again, callable, uh, April 1st, 2026.
We have some callable 2019 A bonds and some callable and non-callables in the 2021A.
Again, I mentioned this positive arbitrage opportunity. So, within 90 days prior to the call date.
Um, we can actually, uh… do this refunding issuance and have an escrow deposit that earns a blended.
Uh, yield rate. So it blends the rates together and actually pushes up what we would be otherwise able to earn.
Uh, so we are trying to get this transaction through in January. That'll give us a couple months of.
of earnings on this as well. In terms of the size and structure, we're looking at about 334.3 million in PAR that we would refund.
Um, you know, we're saying all of the 2016 A's, but the actual.
2016 that are actually, um, coming. Uh, maturing in April.
Uh, may not be included in the actual refunding, we may let those just, um.
Mature and be paid. We're looking at, right now, what's penciling out about $17.4 million in the 2019 A's and 2021 A's at.
Uh, about 97.6 million, but we will have parameters, you'll see them in your documents.
So we do continue to watch this all the way from the time that we imagine doing the refunding to when we actually do it.
We are looking at the market, where things are.
lining up to achieve a minimum level of savings for the whole transaction.
and include the bonds that make the most sense to achieve that savings.
And, uh, these will be issued on the senior lien. They'll be tax-exempt fixed rate bonds.
And that matched maturity structure with uniform debt service savings.
Um, really, uh… We'll just keep things lined up the way they are now in terms of our debt structure. I know you see in the quarterly report the charts that show.
The only ascending debt level structure we have is on our TIFIA loan.
Everything else we really have been maintaining as a level debt service.
So, again, estimated savings and cost of issuance right now.
The 2016 A's are looking at nearly $40 million and another $3.4 million in net present value savings by.
Pulling those, um, maturities that are penciling out in the 2019 A's and 2021 A's.
with a cost of issuance of about $1.1 million.
In terms of the credit rating agency reviews, um.
We have our appointments lined up with Standard & Poor's and Fitch right now. We're carrying AAA ratings.
Uh, on the senior lane, we don't expect anything to change with that.
But what you can see here is on our subordinate lien.
S&P has us at AA, and FIT has us at AA+, and we think this is a very good opportunity.
to request S&P to look a little closer at this and not just up, because we feel strongly.
That we should be in the AA plus category.
Um, and again, that final junior subordinate lien of the TIFIA loan is an A-plus rating, which is.
Pretty… all of our ratings are very solid. Um, in terms of next steps, I wanted to mention first, um, what you have in your packet does include.
a pretty robust set of the draft documents. We are not planning to go over those with you today in detail.
We will be back in January with our bond council, with our disclosure Council, and we will be walking through.
the documents and what they contain and responsibilities for review.
Um, but today we wanted to give you the overview, uh, allow you to, you know, ask any questions about the overall transaction that you have.
And let you know, uh, what the process is.
So we anticipate receiving the ratings from the agencies the week of January 19.
Again, we'll come back, uh, January 23rd with the final bond documents.
We're going to post the preliminary official statement and do the marketing of bonds the following week.
With an anticipated pricing date, uh, that first week of February, and closing.
the second week of February. And with that, Mudra and I are available to answer any questions you might have.
Thank you very much. All right, we're going to go to public comment, please, Michael.
We have one public comment, if you are online, please raise your hand now.
Versus truth? I thought I'd get extra laughs, because you can't have enough of that in boring meetings. No offense!
No offense financing, but I hate numbers. Uh, let's see, I can say hi to somebody. There's Bruce. Hi, Bruce, how you doing? I did already give him a shout-out. Um… oh, I like Terry. Terry's great.
Kevin, I think about it.
All right, they look how much time my waist is. Sanag has a peak debt service of $161 million, a $2.2 billion in outstanding debt.
Thanks, Hasan and Andre. You know, it's, uh… Interesting that no matter what SANAG or the media says the numbers are showing that Trump policies seem to be resulting in a much more stable market than Biden policies. I'd just like to throw a controversy.
I'm not even a Trump fan, but when you look at the egg prices, $8 down to $3.
What are you gonna complain about? Uh, in fact, if you're outside of crazy California, you know, everything's affordable. It's amazing how that works.
Um, but let's see, let's see, uh… indentured debt slavery is what bonds are. Sati needs to pay the debt off that it unjustly incurred for fake transportation solutions, like toll lanes and then never implement managed toll lanes ever again.
Uh, and it's actually unjust to celebrate no road tax, but then confirm.
two new sales taxes, which. Actually, I say confirmed, but that's not gonna happen. I think that's dream world.
So, again, finance, you need to look at that, because that's not happening.
And it says something about, uh, there's a team.
that engage the financial advisor, uh, can we get names for those people that we're paying for it? I don't even know who that is.
Um, question, when the 2026 A bonds with Wells Fargo were decided, was that when SENAG was located within the Wells Fargo building? I would hope not, because that seems like a conflict of interest, or some kind of conflict.
And, uh, speaking of financials, uh, Terry officially joined the Broken Record Club today. Congratulations on that. And you did it with numbers, that's how it's relative. See, I put it all together.
Um, how everyone can stop being a broken record on every topic. Work is hard, as the Santee City Council members. How about that? Merry Christmas.
Next on line is the original draw, followed by Paul the Bold.
The item here is the proposed 2026 bond issuance.
Man, talk about a perpetual state of debt just all the time, and it's… It's interesting, because it makes you wonder how many, you know, projects have you guys engaged in that needed this bond, um, to use them to get the money to…
You know, complete, or start, or whatever, and that never were, and then we're just continuing to pay.
on debt, and it's like, you know, you guys just continue to get more.
money of our… I just… there's nothing to show for the amounts of money that comes across any government hands.
Ah.
I mean, it's astronomical amounts, all while people sit here and they're suffering, they don't get to sit and.
be in debt like this, I mean, you'll take their house.
And sell it for $100. Which is what the county does, because you can't pay your taxes. It's like, but you guys sit here, and you rob us.
of our money that could be used to help people actually, you know, just survive.
And instead, you go and you just create more debt for us to have to pay off.
And then you want to come at us and be like, we're gonna need some more money, because you know what? We need to pay our employees and make sure that we can still provide all the things that you guys.
that we're providing for you, which is nothing. It's like, you look around, and you're, like, taking things away. Like I said before, trying to change people's behaviors, which is psychotic in itself.
And it's like… it's just sad, because, I mean, nobody should have even given up their money for gold, like, their gold for IOUs.
But people who were stupid enough to do that.
And now money is worthless, and then we're gonna go into some, you know, fully digital kind of currency.
Or it's going to be even more easy to regulate people, because, you know, you're gonna bring in some kind of.
Or the… whatever the government will, we'll bring in some kind of, you know, um, universal basic income, and then take out how much you need to pay for your rent, your transportation, and everything, and they'll be like, here, you have a couple pennies left, but you know what? Pennies are worthless, and we're gonna take those out, so you don't even have anything. It is just so sad.
To see how much money goes through your hands, and we have nothing to show for it, and you virtue signal like you're perfect.
Thank you. Our last public comment is Paul the Bold.
bold here. Um… Again, the happy holidays.
Uh, the staff report cites, uh, $55 million savings under.
Current market conditions. current, that is the operative word.
The market is changing fast, so you might want to proceed rather quickly on this, but I'm not sure if.
really practical. Because there's another issue I hope people snap up the new bonds.
Otherwise, uh, there's… Debt refunding won't work.
And, um, are actually there are less and less people in the county, or probably who want this.
Who want the new bonds. Um, I see, by the way, that the draft resolution goes.
From Section 6 to Section 9. What would we do without people to actually check the resolution to see if the.
The sequence is logical. Proofreading error, or is this… Purposeful omission.
Um… anyway. As I say, happy holidays, uh, to all.
Um, and, um… keeping it short, thank you.
That concludes our public comment on this item, Chair.
Thank you very much. Okay, I see nobody on the board. Thank you so much, Don and Mudra. We'll see you early next year to do the deal.
Um, and get this done. I should be on the board. Oh, okay, Mayor Gasterland? Okay, thanks.
Um, Don, I wanted to… put 3 questions on the table, and I doubt that you have the answers right now.
But I'd like to get the answers. So the first one is, how much of the future transnet revenues are obligated by these bonds?
You know, what portion is going to the bond service, and what portion is.
Available going forward. I don't have it off the top of my head right now. I should have brought the last quarterly report… Yeah, and I didn't give you these questions in advance, but I will for sure get that to you.
Great. What will the bond revenue… what did the bond revenues pay for, or will be paying for, is my second question.
And what I'll request is a table of the 2016A 2019A, and 2021 bonds, how much each was.
And what they were for. I'd like to review that so that I have an understanding of what we have done with this money.
over the years since 2016. Yes, so first let me say that the bonds that have been issued with the transnet Revenue Pledge have been.
Transnet major corridor projects. Uh, the most of the debt was related to the Early Action Program.
of projects, so that… that group of projects that was identified for early action when the ordinance initially passed. Things like.
completion of State Route 5276. Mid-coast, I-5 North Coast corridor, the 8, uh… 805 HOV lanes.
Uh, just several projects that… oh, I-15, I think, was also in the list. This is my capital person who can remind me everything that was in the Early Action Program.
But the debt is related to the transnit major corridor Program, predominantly the Early Action Program.
It was envisioned that we would do debt financing on the projects that were prioritized at the time the ordinance passed.
then move into a pay-as-you-go. situation. Um, the board policy on debt.
It indicates that, so of the. Transnet revenues that come into the major corridor.
We are restricted to assuring that we have a one-to-one ratio, so the debt on the major corridor program can never be more than.
Uh, that one-time coverage. Right, so that we have money to go into the program. So every dollar we put into new capital projects that are currently in the program.
No more than a dollar and… Go into the debt. If you would like the table to include.
The specifics of projects that it went into. Uh, that may take a little bit more time to get, but the reality is that, I mean, so these bond issuances.
Um, I think the 2021 was… Likely, um… small amount of new money, maybe, but mostly a refunding. So some of these have been refundings as well over time, because we began issuing bonds back in 2008.
Um, and so when we have the call dates come up, we've done several additional refundings.
Um, so I can work directly with you and figure out what you want that table to encompass. That's great. Mayor, um.
If my memory serves me right, and Susan will correct me later on.
We have delivered… All the projects in the early action item except 52.
is the only one remaining, but all the ones on the early action were delivered.
have been delivered, so maybe a reminder to the board of what those early action items were, because.
then we'll be in a position to speak to.
What was this money used for, and we're being wise, and thank you for bringing the refunding or refinancing of this.
forward so that we hear about it. So, there's no motion to be made, correct?
Okay, very good. This concludes our meeting. Thanks for staying for the whole time. The next Board of Directors meeting will be January 9th.
2026 at 9am. This meeting is adjourned. Happy, safe, and healthy holidays.