[14:59] The Santa Cruz County Board of

[15:01] Supervisors calls this meeting to order

[15:02] on September 2nd, 2026 at 9:30 a.m. in

[15:06] the Board of Supervisors meeting room

[15:08] 120 located at 2150 North Congress

[15:10] Drive, Ngalas, Arizona, 85621.

[15:13] Former student Victor, would or excuse

[15:16] me, Dr. Diaz, would you please uh lead

[15:18] us in the pledge of

[15:19] » Allegiance

[15:27] to the stands nationy

[15:33] andice for all.

[15:37] » Thank you, sir.

[15:40] [snorts]

[15:41] » We'll go to item B, adoption of the

[15:44] agend uh of agenda. Mr. manager.

[15:48] » Mr. Chair, there's uh there's one change

[15:50] to the agenda. We're going to move

[15:54] item six

[15:58] to action items from the consent

[16:00] » Under consent. Okay.

[16:02] » Thank you.

[16:03] » Do I have a motion?

[16:05] » I move the chair.

[16:06] » Second.

[16:08] » Okay. There's been a motion and a second

[16:10] uh with the uh um aforementioned uh

[16:14] change number six on the consent agenda.

[16:18] Move to uh H action items. We'll go to a

[16:22] vote. All those in favor, please signify

[16:23] by saying I. I.

[16:25] » I. Motion carries unanimously.

[16:28] Call to the public. Just a reminder for

[16:31] call to the public, we do ask uh that

[16:34] that uh each length be limited to three

[16:37] minutes. And if you could please state

[16:40] your name and your address um prior to

[16:42] beginning, that would be greatly

[16:43] appreciated. Ben Lameli.

[16:56] » Good morning everybody. I'm Ben Lee 546

[16:59] Camino Ramanote in Rio, Arizona. I want

[17:03] to talk about public health and safety

[17:05] because everyone has a constitutional

[17:09] and human right and even the pledge of

[17:11] allegiance says we all have a Equal

[17:14] justice for all. We all have a human

[17:17] constitutional right to clean air, clean

[17:21] water, clean food, and the pursuit of

[17:24] happiness, which means peace and quiet

[17:26] in our neighborhoods, too. We need to

[17:29] enforce our codes in our neighborhoods.

[17:31] There's too many things popping up there

[17:34] that need to be addressed and have been

[17:37] chronicled for some time now. Science is

[17:39] important. We're going to hear some

[17:41] science today. I've always advocated for

[17:43] good science because science should be a

[17:45] quest for the truth, the whole truth.

[17:48] And nobody has a right to risk our

[17:52] public health and safety through

[17:54] pollution, contamination, or other ways

[17:58] of risking our safety. We all deserve to

[18:01] be safe, to have good clean food, good

[18:04] clean water, good clean air. Those are

[18:06] essential and they all come from our

[18:08] environment. So we cannot separate

[18:10] ourselves from our earth, from our

[18:13] environment and from each other because

[18:16] we depend on each other for everything.

[18:19] No man is an island. We all need to work

[18:22] closely together. We have a

[18:24] comprehensive plan coming up and so the

[18:26] science there is going to be very

[18:28] important and everything is tied

[18:30] together. the water, the watersheds, the

[18:33] mountains and and I saw that as we

[18:36] started the meeting today from the

[18:38] mountains to the lakes and the rivers.

[18:40] It's very important our watershed is

[18:43] also our airhed. So we need to take care

[18:46] of our air, our water resources and our

[18:49] soils, the land itself.

[18:51] This land is your land. This land is our

[18:53] land. And we need to all have a

[18:56] responsibility,

[18:57] meet up to that responsibility to do our

[19:00] part. Yes, every drop of water counts,

[19:03] but we have seen the presentations by

[19:06] other scientists how our groundwater

[19:09] tables are plummeting and that does not

[19:13] spell for a good future. We're entering

[19:15] into the comprehensive plan and so we

[19:18] need to be very conscientious of what

[19:20] our scientists, local and other

[19:23] scientific resources are telling us.

[19:25] Thank you very much for this

[19:26] opportunity. Thank you for caring. I

[19:28] know you got a lot on your shoulders and

[19:31] every one of us here needs to do our

[19:33] part. Thank you very much, gentlemen.

[19:35] » Thank you, Ben.

[19:38] Chris workovven.

[20:00] » Good morning supervisors and everyone

[20:03] here. My name is Chris Workovven and I

[20:05] used to live in Senoida.

[20:07] Not anymore because truck traffic and

[20:10] compromised ADQ permits have started to

[20:12] lower quality of life for me and others.

[20:15] Today already after one year of

[20:17] monitoring.

[20:18] » Where do you live? Your address

[20:20] » At the moment?

[20:20] » Yeah.

[20:21] » Morana

[20:22] » 7905 North Cold Train Lane.

[20:26] Thank you.

[20:29] Today, already after one year of

[20:31] monitoring, ASU will present data

[20:33] confirming the Calabasasa's airsmart

[20:36] program has produced a true baseline of

[20:40] PM2.5,

[20:42] the smallest

[20:44] regulated particle.

[20:47] This validates the calculated annual

[20:50] background concentration of PM2.5

[20:53] which determines how much PM2.5

[20:56] the Hermosa mine can release to be

[21:00] compliant with national standards.

[21:03] PM2.5 requires careful monitoring

[21:07] because of its wellstudied

[21:09] correlation with Parkinson down to very

[21:12] low concentrations.

[21:15] Some conclusions and recommendations

[21:18] on this subject.

[21:21] Background 2.5 concentrations are nearly

[21:24] twice as high as used by SA 32 in its

[21:30] air permit application

[21:33] over time and across downwind area of

[21:36] the Hermosa mine that was found by the

[21:39] airsmart people.

[21:42] There is a 30% exceedence

[21:46] uh of the national standard when adding

[21:49] the mine emissions listed in the granted

[21:52] air permit.

[21:55] Airs smarter airs smart monitors are

[21:57] close are as close as one and a half

[22:00] miles from the Hermosa mine. But

[22:02] surprisingly the only ADQ air monitor

[22:06] used is 41 miles away and not in a

[22:11] mountain area with mineralized soils and

[22:14] with very different climate conditions.

[22:18] Before submitting its first air permit

[22:21] application, South 32 had four years to

[22:24] assess air quality on site.

[22:27] ADQ did not request any on-site

[22:31] assessment by which public health was

[22:34] unnecessarily compromised.

[22:37] The EPA rule to use best available data

[22:41] with an adequate margin of safety was

[22:44] clearly abandoned.

[22:49] This new evidence, which we will talk

[22:51] about later, must lead to a 30%

[22:54] reduction in mine output to obtain true

[22:58] compliance with national standards.

[23:01] Renown Barrow Neurological Institute of

[23:04] Phoenix found in 2003

[23:07] the relative risk on Parkinson is not

[23:10] zero below the current national PM2.5

[23:14] standard.

[23:16] Santa Cruz County is therefore asked to

[23:19] determine premature death and society

[23:22] health cost

[23:24] um when PM2.5 increases from this

[23:27] background to the national standard.

[23:30] use the available EPA software.

[23:34] Community science groups will keep

[23:36] publishing findings when methodologies

[23:39] of regulators and judgment of elected

[23:43] officials is found to be compromised.

[23:47] Thank you for your attention.

[23:48] » Thank you, Chris.

[23:52] » Jay Thompson.

[24:09] Good morning, supervisors, county

[24:11] management, Dr. Lim, and members of the

[24:14] public. My name is Jay Thompson from Rio

[24:16] Rico. Today, I'm speaking with my

[24:18] engineering and analyst hats on and on

[24:20] behalf of our experts. Since many of you

[24:23] come from education,

[24:25] I want to frame this as a simple look

[24:27] for. In other words, what is most

[24:29] important to list listen for for do in

[24:31] Dr. Lim's airsmart presentation. First,

[24:34] the data you will see is independent,

[24:35] transparent, and scientifically

[24:37] calibrated. The kind of data set anyone

[24:39] anywhere in the world can download,

[24:41] analyze, and verify. That's happening.

[24:44] And the purpose of the communitybased

[24:46] monitoring, it removes questions of

[24:48] trust, access, and interpretation. The

[24:51] data stands on its own. Next, Airsmart

[24:53] now has produced over 6 million one

[24:55] minute observations and the report will

[24:57] state that all monitors are calibrate

[24:59] calibrated against EPA reference

[25:01] monitors. The reports will also state

[25:04] the quality of data is defensible and

[25:06] reproducible. It's not modeling, not a

[25:09] consultant's interpretation. It's direct

[25:12] measurements. Second, listen for the

[25:14] pattern of findings. Number one, air

[25:17] quality is clean on average. However,

[25:19] it's punctuated by frequent acute dust

[25:21] events and then those events are not

[25:24] evenly dist distributed across the

[25:26] county. We all see that the documents

[25:29] show that 33,000 plus sensor minutes

[25:31] above the EPA PM10 standard and 10 to 14

[25:35] times the spread between the most and

[25:37] least exposed sites. That is exposure

[25:40] inequity visible only because a network

[25:43] has more than 20 sensors across homes,

[25:46] schools, and businesses. Today we're

[25:48] adding more as we speak. Third, listen

[25:50] for the baseline. Year one is pre-oper

[25:53] operational record for the mine. It's be

[25:56] the before mining data set. As the

[25:59] report will note, only a minority of

[26:01] year one events came from the direction

[26:03] of the mine. That's exactly what a

[26:04] baseline should look like and is the

[26:07] foundation for measuring all future

[26:09] increases. Finally, remember this

[26:11] distinction. South 32 has a monitoring

[26:14] program that is being seen as being

[26:16] designed to protect South 32. Airsmart

[26:19] is designed to protect the community

[26:21] health. South 32 operates three

[26:23] stations, reports with a month delay,

[26:26] and provides no real-time PM10 or PM2.5.

[26:29] That's the stuff that gets deep in our

[26:31] lungs and impacts our health. Airsmart

[26:34] provides countywide real-time public

[26:36] data and captures acute events that

[26:38] their system cannot see. So our goal

[26:40] today is understand the difference

[26:42] between mind focus program and a public

[26:44] health program. Dr. Limb's presentation

[26:46] will make that clear. This is about real

[26:49] protections. Thank you.

[26:52] » Thank you sir.

[26:55] Debbie Gonzalez.

[27:03] » Good morning everyone. supervisors, um

[27:06] » Morning

[27:07] » Management and law enforcement. Um I am

[27:10] here to speak this morning about the um

[27:14] traffic safety on Dukane Road. Since the

[27:18] COVID pandemic, we've seen, by the way,

[27:21] I live on 100 Dukane Road. I didn't

[27:24] mention that.

[27:24] » Thank you.

[27:25] » Yeah, thank you. Um, so living on Dukane

[27:29] Road and I must disclose I'm also serve

[27:32] as a school board member for Santa Cruz

[27:35] Elementary District 28 which is commonly

[27:39] known as Little Red. Um, so I'm on their

[27:42] board and so uh I have a deep concern

[27:45] for the safety issues of that the

[27:49] traffic increase has um recently

[27:53] occurred. Initially with the COVID

[27:55] pandemic, um we saw a sharp increase in

[28:00] recreational vehicles. Not very pro

[28:03] problematic for us, but it caused a lot

[28:06] of commotion over the weekends. That's

[28:08] part for the course. But when the wall

[28:11] construction for the border wall began

[28:14] in spring of this year, it was instantly

[28:19] much more um dangerous to travel, walk,

[28:24] ride your horse, whatever along Dukane

[28:26] Road. I wanted to raise that um

[28:30] awareness for everyone.

[28:32] And I wanted to thank the uh county

[28:35] management for working with uh the

[28:38] residents along uh Dukane Road and the

[28:42] school to try to figure out ways to

[28:45] provide a immediate answer to safety

[28:49] concerns especially as it relates to the

[28:51] school and um we appreciate that. So, I

[28:56] wanted to also say thank you. And I also

[28:58] want to say thank you to the sheriff

[29:00] deputies that have been um showing up

[29:02] more to patrol and to sit parked,

[29:06] especially in the school zone. But, u

[29:09] especially this past week, I wanted to

[29:11] say thank you. So, that's all I have to

[29:13] say, and I did it in two minutes. Thank

[29:16] you.

[29:16] » Thank you so much. And thank you for you

[29:18] do for all you do for the school

[29:19] district.

[29:21] » Uh Martha Mona

[29:26] I hope I pronounced that right. If not,

[29:27] I apologize.

[29:28] » Oh, it's all good. Yes. Hi. Uh, good

[29:30] morning. My name is Marta Mona. I live

[29:32] on um Emily Lane in Patagonia.

[29:37] Um,

[29:40] okay. So, my name is Marta Mona and I

[29:43] talked about Cross Creek Connector a few

[29:45] weeks ago. Cross Creek Connector is a

[29:47] new road that was built with the main

[29:48] purpose of the mine trucks to get to the

[29:50] mine and back. Now there are probably

[29:52] almost a hundred trucks going back and

[29:54] forth there all the time. I feel that

[29:56] two weeks ago I was listened to and

[29:58] thanks to uh the management Christopher

[30:01] Young, some ideas and solutions have

[30:03] taken place. My neighborhood has been

[30:05] concerned about the high number of truck

[30:07] trucks idling on the side of the road

[30:09] close to road number um 82 on a regular

[30:12] basis causing pollution and

[30:14] unfortunately littering. However, the no

[30:17] parking signs have been placed on the

[30:19] side of the road. there is less trash

[30:21] and we have been promised a fence making

[30:24] it possible for the making it impossible

[30:27] for the trucks to idle. So, thank you. I

[30:30] really appreciate that. I wanted to

[30:32] thank the county supervisors for their

[30:34] work and time and yet um I'm afraid that

[30:38] there is still so much that should be

[30:40] done. the residents on the other side of

[30:43] Cross Creek connector. And if I have

[30:44] time, I would like like to read a little

[30:47] bit um like a short email that I got

[30:50] from uh one of our neighbors. Do not

[30:52] want trucks, especially mine trucks, to

[30:55] idle on the other side as well. There is

[30:59] no reason why 10 or more vehicles at the

[31:02] same time should be idling there.

[31:05] uh it is not healthy for anybody who

[31:07] lives there and there is no reason why

[31:08] these people should be exposed to this

[31:11] amount of pollution. These vehicles

[31:13] should not station there. It is not safe

[31:15] and it's not healthy. Uh we would also

[31:18] like to prevent the deaths of wildlife

[31:20] on that road. We think that proper

[31:22] signage with speed regulation and watch

[31:24] for animals on the road message might be

[31:27] the only thing that makes the drivers

[31:29] more careful as d as they drive up and

[31:32] down the road. Um, so there was a turtle

[31:35] that got run over on Cross Creek

[31:37] Connector some time ago and it drew huge

[31:39] attention from residents or or and

[31:41] organizations like UFA, Arizona Game and

[31:44] Fish, Center for Biological Diversity

[31:46] and ADAT to name just a few and

[31:50] something has to be done about it. I

[31:52] have seen dead animals so many times on

[31:55] this road. There is also um an idea of

[32:00] building some type of coverts crossing

[32:02] like culverts for animals to cross since

[32:04] the washes used to be a natural and safe

[32:07] habitat for a lot of animals and they

[32:10] are not anymore. Um and we have to do

[32:13] something about it and signage and

[32:15] coverts might be a really good solution

[32:17] and we hope we have the county support

[32:20] as we are talking to other agencies and

[32:22] stakeholders. And at the very end,

[32:24] something really important. We're

[32:25] concerned about dust and pollution. It

[32:28] starts on Cross Creek Road and keeps

[32:30] going up on Harsha. There are many

[32:32] people concerned about our health and

[32:34] well-being and wildlife. Of course,

[32:36] there's this huge impact in our lives

[32:38] and we want to make sure that the

[32:39] problems are addressed and solved. Uh we

[32:42] did not we did not ask for this bullion

[32:45] and we don't want it. We hope we have

[32:47] your support and you can help us to

[32:49] overcome some of these issues.

[32:52] Thank you.

[32:53] » Thank you, Martha.

[32:54] » Yeah. Uh I don't know how that works. I

[32:56] uh I got a just an email from my from

[32:59] one of the neighbors, but I don't know

[33:00] if I can read it or later or how how

[33:02] would that work?

[33:03] » If you could forward that to uh the

[33:05] clerk of the board, Miss Alma, I could

[33:07] » And then that way we can all receive

[33:08] that.

[33:09] » Okay. Thank you.

[33:10] » Thank you, M.

[33:12] » Okay, that does it for the slips. Is

[33:15] there anyone else who would like to uh

[33:16] come up to the podium for a call in

[33:18] public? Yes. Come on up, please. Thank

[33:20] you.

[33:25] Thank you.

[33:27] » Thank you so much, Wendy Islas, Ral

[33:29] Rico. Um, good morning.

[33:31] » Morning, Wendy.

[33:32] » Morning,

[33:32] » Chairman, board of supervisors. Uh, I'd

[33:35] like to recognize um Dr. Lynn for being

[33:37] here today to present his research. And

[33:40] also, I'd like to thank Calabasas

[33:41] Alliance for their ongoing and steadfast

[33:44] advocacy. We truly are at a crossroads

[33:47] when it comes to protecting our

[33:49] environment, our water, our air, our

[33:51] land, our wildlife.

[33:53] It is evident we need to implement

[33:55] essential and independent testing for

[33:58] water quality given the mining projects

[34:00] that we have in our county. I see on the

[34:03] agenda today that you're renewing

[34:05] contracts with South 32. What I have yet

[34:07] to see on any agenda, unless I've missed

[34:09] it, are contracts for independent water

[34:12] testing. Um I think that we um all know

[34:16] the importance and essential

[34:20] necessity for this. Mr. Workovven

[34:23] mentioned how Parkinson's can be caused.

[34:25] I'm here to share that I am witness to

[34:27] my mother who has Parkinson's and I'm

[34:30] witness daily to her um debilitating

[34:34] state and it's not fun to watch. It's

[34:37] not fun I'm sure to go through it. And

[34:40] we also know that contaminated air and

[34:43] water will cause other um diseases.

[34:47] I also would like to mention two other

[34:49] items um unrelated on the agenda. I've

[34:52] seen for the last three or four years a

[34:55] quite a number of duplicate warrants

[34:57] coming out of the school district and

[34:59] I'm wondering if there's been any audit

[35:01] regarding this. There's a very large

[35:04] what $34,000 sum on today's agenda and

[35:07] I'm just curious what's going on or why

[35:09] this keeps happening. I have gone and

[35:11] done my own audit and I'm happy to share

[35:14] my results, but I feel that that should

[35:16] be something that you all should be

[35:17] doing. And lastly, I would like to

[35:19] request again um the opportunity for the

[35:22] public to call in for a call to the

[35:24] public remotely. So, thank you so much

[35:26] for your time.

[35:27] » Thank you.

[35:28] » Thank you.

[35:30] Any

[35:33] any other folks?

[35:38] Okay, seeing none, we'll go ahead and

[35:40] move to item D, current events, uh,

[35:43] supervisors, and I will start off to my

[35:45] left. Supervisor Mleta.

[35:48] » Good morning. Good morning, Mr.

[35:50] Chairman. I have several items to

[35:52] report. Uh, I had the privilege of

[35:55] meeting with uh uh our two uh our county

[36:00] manager and and Chris Young along with

[36:03] the mayor of city Nogalas and the the

[36:06] current city manager. And it was a

[36:09] really fruitful meeting, one of the best

[36:12] I've had with the city and and I want to

[36:14] thank them and I want to thank staff

[36:16] too. It seems like uh good things are

[36:20] happening with us in the city and that's

[36:22] that's great to see. Uh it's it's

[36:26] important as uh Mr. Davis has uh really

[36:30] pushed for it and I want to thank him

[36:32] for continuing to to do that. Um on 8:26

[36:37] I attended the educational leadership

[36:39] consortium. Uh superintendent of schools

[36:42] did an amazing job with that. Thank you

[36:44] for inviting us. uh 8:28 Friday uh

[36:49] Supervisor Davis uh uh invited Senator

[36:52] Ggo to host a town hall and is a very

[36:57] successful event. Thank you for doing

[36:59] that. We really appreciate it. And

[37:01] yesterday I I had the privilege of

[37:04] attending an event for Senator Cali. It

[37:07] was men's mentorship initiative. He's

[37:11] pushing for for

[37:13] us to help kids with single parents. He

[37:17] feels that a lot of uh kids with single

[37:20] parents are falling through the cracks

[37:22] and uh so he's pushing for that. And he

[37:26] he uh uh had a a good Q&A with uh quite

[37:29] a few people from Tucson. Uh we were one

[37:32] of the few that were weren't from

[37:34] Tucson, so it was nice that they invited

[37:36] us. Um, but uh it's good to see Senator

[37:41] Kelly uh really uh uh coming out and and

[37:44] and I also invited him to come down uh

[37:48] and uh do do some something here for our

[37:52] county uh a Q&A sometime soon hopefully.

[37:57] Uh and that's all I have to report.

[38:00] » Thank you, sir. Vice Chair.

[38:05] Good morning.

[38:07] So, Senator Go held his first town hall

[38:09] in New Galas at the 1904 historic

[38:12] courthouse. The event was great. It was

[38:15] a great success and full house made

[38:17] possible through tremendous teamwork and

[38:20] effort. Special thanks to Maya Donnelly,

[38:22] Carrie Munoz, and the entire staff for

[38:25] all their work. U Maya worked really

[38:29] hard like before and during the town

[38:32] hall. She also helped us coordinate and

[38:35] got a hold of the Nugalas High School

[38:37] Apaches. So, thanks for that Maya. I

[38:39] really appreciate that. Also, a special

[38:42] thanks to the Nugalas High School

[38:43] Mariachi for joining us at the center

[38:46] gayos town hall and welcoming our

[38:48] community with their beautiful music

[38:50] during the town hall. We also thank

[38:52] Mexico Dansa Machica for creating a

[38:54] unique atmosphere with their music,

[38:56] drums, and dance before the town hall

[38:58] began. We also thank uh Abby Cume right

[39:03] student from Guatimundi for her

[39:05] beautiful re rendition of the star

[39:07] spangled banner. She did an amazing job.

[39:10] I also want to thank county manage

[39:12] management Mr. Valdez, Mr. Shalis for

[39:14] supporting this idea and helping bring

[39:16] Senator Ggo to Nugal in Santa Cruz

[39:18] County. This all started like four or

[39:20] five months ago when we met with the

[39:22] senator in Phoenix and since then we

[39:25] worked together to make this town hall a

[39:27] reality. so that our community could

[39:29] have an opportunity to ask those

[39:31] questions that are having an impact in N

[39:34] gallas and Santa Cruz County. I also

[39:36] want to thank all the community members

[39:38] who attended and participated during

[39:40] this town hall.

[39:42] I also it was also a pleasure to see the

[39:45] city manager Mr. Fontes, Councilman

[39:47] Bonas, newly newly elected officials,

[39:50] Mr. Lu Para and Mr. Diaz. It was a it

[39:53] was great to see the city of Ngalas in

[39:54] Santa Cruz County come together in

[39:56] support of and participate in this

[39:59] important town hall meeting. I want to

[40:01] thank Jordan Toyo sound Arizona director

[40:05] in the office of Senator Ggo. He worked

[40:07] very closely to bring the senator to

[40:09] Nalas and it was a pleasure

[40:11] collaborating with him to make this

[40:13] event happen. We truly appreciate his

[40:15] partnership and dedication in making

[40:17] this possible. Lastly, I want to thank

[40:19] Senator Ggo Ruben Ggo for his first town

[40:23] hall in Nalis and we hope it will be the

[40:26] first of many more to come.

[40:29] I also got a chance to attend the

[40:31] Arizona Sonora mega region industrial

[40:34] capabilities mission in Nugal Sonora at

[40:36] the US consulate in Ngalas, Mexico.

[40:39] There was it was a one-day program

[40:40] designed for Arizona companies, regional

[40:43] businesses, leaders interested in

[40:44] crossber manufacturing suppliers,

[40:47] relationship, investment opportunities,

[40:49] and industrial cooperation. The morning

[40:52] features several presentations followed

[40:54] by a tour of local manufacturing

[40:56] companies. In the afternoon, I had the

[40:58] opportunity to participate in the tour

[41:01] which provided me with a better

[41:02] understanding of the manufacturing

[41:04] industry and a more complex perspective

[41:06] on the opportunities and challenges

[41:08] within this region. Yesterday, I

[41:11] attended the Jed transformative

[41:14] transformation summit. It was I was

[41:16] invited by I was invited to attend the

[41:18] Jed Summit, an event focused on career

[41:21] and technical education, CTE, workforce

[41:24] development and preparing students for

[41:26] the jobs of the future. Some of the

[41:29] highlights included hands-on

[41:31] demonstration featuring drone

[41:32] technology, medical stimulation, and

[41:35] other CT equipment. Industri industrial

[41:38] panels leaders leaders from

[41:40] construction, aerospace, optics,

[41:42] manufacturing and healthcare discuss

[41:45] future workforce needs and the skills

[41:48] employees are seeking and they also

[41:52] provide a district update an overview of

[41:54] the regional CT growth accomplishments

[41:57] and strategic planning for the future.

[42:01] So those are my my updates.

[42:02] » Thank you sir. [clears throat and cough]

[42:04] I just have a few. Um I want to thank we

[42:07] serve uh the group of realtors for

[42:09] allowing us to uh um be part of their

[42:11] meeting recently. Um also took part in

[42:14] the US international boundary and water

[42:16] commission roundt uh located in Tubac. I

[42:19] know there was a few folks here that

[42:20] were part of that. Thank you so much for

[42:22] being there. Very important. Um I was uh

[42:26] part I I was able to um be present at

[42:30] the best of Santa Cruz County awards.

[42:31] I'd like to thank the Ngalas

[42:33] International for that as well as the uh

[42:35] I know the Green Valley uh paper.

[42:38] They're basically one and the same same

[42:40] owners. So, thank you for that. Uh first

[42:43] things first, South Southeast area cross

[42:45] regional strategic planning. Also part

[42:48] of the watershed group steering

[42:50] committee meeting. Uh I also was at the

[42:53] Senator GGO's town hall. Thank you um to

[42:56] uh Vice Chair Davis. Thank you uh um

[43:00] Supervisor Mleta and thank you for all

[43:02] the folks that showed up that asked some

[43:03] some very good questions. um yesterday

[43:07] took part in my samba meeting um was uh

[43:10] lucky enough to be uh to help with the

[43:13] NHS that's national honors society

[43:15] faculty council um meeting uh held two

[43:19] days ago uh to choose the NHS students

[43:23] um or who would be inducted into NHS

[43:25] which happens tomorrow evening at 7

[43:27] o'clock at the high school. Uh that was

[43:29] quite an um an event and uh community

[43:32] check-in yesterday in Elgen. I want to

[43:34] thank those folks who uh accompanied me

[43:36] to Elgen for the check-in and then after

[43:39] the check-in we uh we had uh an

[43:42] extensive discussion um and folks were

[43:45] able to see you know what's happening

[43:47] with the bridge um in the Baba Kamari

[43:50] Bridge at Elgen. So thank you to all

[43:53] those folks who took part in that. And

[43:55] lastly, I promised this person that I

[43:56] would apologize in person. She said I

[43:59] did not have to, but I'm going to. and

[44:01] Mitten um uh called me on Friday. I

[44:04] wasn't able to call her back, but then I

[44:06] looked back at my emails and uh it was

[44:09] buried about a month ago. So, I called

[44:11] her yesterday and uh we we came up with

[44:15] a a plan of action. So, I wanted to

[44:17] personally apologize to her for for

[44:19] missing that uh that email and not

[44:21] responding within uh 24 48 hours. So, I

[44:25] apologize for that. So, with that, I

[44:27] will turn it over to

[44:30] Mr. manager.

[44:32] » Mr. Chair, members of the board, uh,

[44:34] [clears throat] County Manager

[44:35] Association made in TubeBck a couple

[44:37] weeks ago. We discussed uh the bills and

[44:40] the resolutions that you guys will all

[44:41] be hearing in October. So, there's some

[44:43] interesting ones. There's more to come.

[44:46] Um, also attended Santa Cruz Provisional

[44:48] College and South 32 automated

[44:52] industrial technology program. It was a

[44:54] ceremony uh to introduce their cohorts.

[44:57] It's nice to see uh local people trying

[44:59] to further their education and their

[45:01] career. Um I also attended the Moonshot

[45:05] uh pitch competition. That's where local

[45:08] entrepreneurs myself and supervisor

[45:10] Davis, they uh get to pitch their uh

[45:14] basically uh their company to a panel.

[45:18] It's a competition. They get po uh

[45:20] pointers and and what they could do

[45:22] better and what they're doing right. So,

[45:23] it was it was nice to see local local

[45:26] people that go through that process.

[45:28] » Isn't there like a $5,000 prize or

[45:30] something like that?

[45:32] » I I think it was 2500 for this one and

[45:35] then

[45:36] there's another one. So, one

[45:38] » State level. Yeah. Yeah. For this one

[45:40] was 2500.

[45:43] So, Stephanie, I forgot to say Stephanie

[45:45] Bermudez is doing a great job working

[45:47] with entrepreneurs and local businesses

[45:49] and helping them prepare for to pitch

[45:52] this, get feedback, improve their

[45:53] business plan. So, thanks for her. She's

[45:56] Miguel's native and doing great here,

[45:58] too.

[45:59] » I agree. I agree, sir. And lastly, I

[46:02] want to congratulate Marisa Chavez and

[46:05] having uh for his uh the birth of his

[46:08] second grandchild. So, congratulations.

[46:10] » Congratulations.

[46:12] » That's all my report. Thank you, sir.

[46:14] » Thank you, sir.

[46:15] » Okay, we'll move to item E. E1, finance,

[46:18] cash, and investment expenditure and

[46:20] revenues report.

[46:30] Good morning, Mr. Chair, members of the

[46:31] board. For the cash and investment

[46:34] report, in the general fund, we have an

[46:36] overall balance of 20,560,124

[46:41] with an invested amount of 17,23,235.

[46:45] For the road fund, we have an overall

[46:47] balance of 5,210,634

[46:51] with an invested amount of 5,266,519.

[46:56] For the flood control, we have an

[46:58] overall balance of 2,364,270

[47:02] with an invested amount of 317,48.

[47:06] For the jail district, we have an

[47:08] overall balance of 5,641,967

[47:12] with an invested amount of 4,523,744

[47:18] a total overall balance of 55,620,940

[47:23] and an invested amount of 29,312,114

[47:28] and an estimated end of month balance of

[47:30] 6,16,829.

[47:35] Thank you, madam vice chair. Any

[47:37] questions?

[47:39] » No, sir.

[47:40] » Thank you.

[47:43] [snorts]

[47:44] » Any other department updates?

[47:49] » Come on up.

[47:56] Good morning, Chairman Fanning,

[47:58] Supervisor Davis Mera, County

[48:00] Management, members of the public. My

[48:02] name is Sidamante. I am with Arizona at

[48:05] Work. Um we are a one-stop center that

[48:08] provides career services, job

[48:10] opportunities, um workshop, workshops

[48:14] for resume writing, um application tips,

[48:16] mock interviews, and I am here to um

[48:21] provide an update of what we're doing.

[48:23] Uh we have a current event that we're

[48:26] going to be having October 14th. It's

[48:27] our annual job fair. It's a job fair and

[48:31] community resource expo. Last year we

[48:33] had great success. We had about 700 job

[48:36] seekers attend. Um more than a hundred

[48:40] employers and community organizations

[48:41] attend and provide their services,

[48:43] interview applicants. Um there were a

[48:46] lot of hires uh that were done. This

[48:48] year is going to be at the Ngales the

[48:51] city of Ngales recreational uh center.

[48:54] We have I have flyers that I'm going to

[48:56] be providing there. Um, they're going to

[48:58] be in the back if you guys wish to

[49:01] participate. We always look for

[49:02] volunteers. Um, and there's going to be

[49:06] transportation available. And we we like

[49:09] this this this spot specifically only

[49:12] because it's closer to um our job

[49:16] seekers, the people whom we serve. Um,

[49:18] so we're very happy that the city of

[49:20] Nales was was able to provide this this

[49:23] location for us. And the other reason,

[49:26] any questions regarding our job fair,

[49:28] annual job fair?

[49:30] » I just have a comment and I want to

[49:32] apologize ahead of time. I will be out

[49:34] of town October 14th.

[49:36] » Okay. We'll we'll we'll still save your

[49:38] shirt.

[49:39] » We're making some shirts for board of

[49:41] supervisors.

[49:41] » I love that event and

[49:44] I'm sad that I won't be able to attend.

[49:48] » Thank you so much.

[49:48] » Quick question, SA.

[49:49] » Yes.

[49:50] » For those that need transportation,

[49:52] how's that?

[49:53] » Yes. So, the transportation is a free

[49:56] roundtrip transportation. They are

[49:58] picked up at the Pimeiala Museum. Okay.

[50:01] » And uh transportation will begin at 8:30

[50:03] a.m. The event starts at 9:00 and the

[50:06] last pickup to the fair will be at 100

[50:09] p.m.

[50:11] » There would be uh there's two shuttles,

[50:13] okay,

[50:13] » That are that are transporting our job

[50:15] seekers.

[50:16] » Yes, sir.

[50:17] » Clarification. Go ahead.

[50:18] » Yeah, the flyer says October 14th and up

[50:21] there it says October 15. Okay, that is

[50:23] actually an and um that's not the um

[50:28] that's not the

[50:29] » That's not the um flyer. So, I apologize

[50:32] for that.

[50:33] » So, it is the 14th.

[50:34] » It is the 14th. Yes. Last year it was

[50:37] the 15th. So, I think there was a

[50:38] confusion there.

[50:39] » Thank you, madam.

[50:40] » Thank you.

[50:41] » Yes, of course. And then I also want to

[50:43] introduce um Tanya Ernnandez, one of our

[50:46] workforce development specialist. She is

[50:48] here to share a successful um

[50:50] participant and his

[50:53] um path with Arizona Network.

[50:58] » Good morning, Board of Supervisors. My

[50:59] name is Tanya. Morning uh members of the

[51:02] public. Um I've been working uh with

[51:06] Arizona Work for three years. I love

[51:08] what I do and I love to share my success

[51:11] stories. I have with me Luis Gahiola. Um

[51:14] he started the program in July 9th. Um

[51:18] he got his CDL license. Um he got his

[51:23] permit in July 22nd, his license, actual

[51:27] license on August 27th. Um and he's here

[51:32] with me to share his his experience.

[51:37] » Good morning everybody. My name is Luis

[51:38] Kiola. Uh I just like to share a little

[51:40] bit. I want to thank Tanya and Zida for

[51:43] helping me and being with me this entire

[51:45] time having me under their wing. Um it's

[51:48] been a journey for me. Uh I got laid off

[51:51] from my job since March and I haven't

[51:53] had a job since then. So it's been a

[51:56] struggle but um they've been under

[51:59] they've been holding me down, been

[52:00] patient with me and very showed me a lot

[52:02] of confidence within myself to get this

[52:04] license. And I'm proud of myself and

[52:06] proud of them for being with me the

[52:08] whole time because without them, I

[52:09] wouldn't be where I'm at right now.

[52:11] Already seeking a CDL uh job pretty

[52:14] soon. And uh I just want to thank them

[52:16] very much and thank everybody.

[52:19] » Do you have a job yet?

[52:20] » Not yet.

[52:22] » We might have openings here at the

[52:23] county. So

[52:24] » Yes, I did put an application here at

[52:26] the county and I talked to Mr. T Romero.

[52:28] So I'm seeking

[52:30] » Perfect.

[52:31] » Thank you.

[52:32] » Congratulations.

[52:32] » Thank you.

[52:34] Quick question and it's not a question

[52:37] more than anything it's a comment. So SA

[52:39] da thanks for like you said sharing

[52:42] those su successful stories because

[52:44] there's a lot of stuff going on a lot of

[52:46] positive stuff going at the county and

[52:48] sometimes those stories get varied. So

[52:50] this shows like the effort the the the

[52:53] team work your effort as a community

[52:55] member trying to improve your life. So I

[52:58] always love to to hear these stories

[53:00] when I go and visit you guys. I know how

[53:02] hard you guys work. So, thanks for

[53:04] bringing those stories. I hope keep

[53:06] bringing more and more of those stories.

[53:08] We appreciate them

[53:09] » And congratulations on that.

[53:11] » Thank you very much.

[53:13] » Great story. Any other departments?

[53:21] » Okay. And let us know if you can't find

[53:24] a job.

[53:25] » We know a lot of produce people.

[53:30] » All righty. We'll move to E3 awards

[53:32] recognition and accomplishments. Uh

[53:35] recognition of Cecilia A Mahia, public

[53:38] fiduciary director in honor of her

[53:40] retirement and an appreciation of 35

[53:43] years of dedicated service. Um Miss

[53:46] Cecilia, Miss Mahia, will you come up to

[53:48] the podium, please? another great story

[53:53] » And I'm going to read something on

[53:55] behalf of the county and then we'll give

[53:58] you a few minutes to uh

[54:01] » Say a few words.

[54:02] » Okay.

[54:02] » Okay. Uh today on behalf of Santa Cruz

[54:05] County and the board of supervisors, it

[54:07] is my privilege to recognize Cecilia

[54:09] Mahia, director of the office of the

[54:12] public fiduciary as she prepares for her

[54:15] retirement. Cecilia began her career

[54:17] with Santa Cruz County on November 12th,

[54:19] 1990 and will retire on September 16th,

[54:23] 2026. That represents more than 35 years

[54:26] of dedicated service nearly 36 years to

[54:29] Santa Cruz County as an and its

[54:31] residents. Throughout her career,

[54:33] Cecilia has served with professionalism,

[54:35] integrity, compassion, and dedication.

[54:38] As director of the public fiduciary, she

[54:40] has carried an important responsibility

[54:43] serving some of the most vulnerable

[54:44] members of our community as a

[54:46] courtappointed guardian or conservator

[54:48] and administering uh estates when no one

[54:51] else is willing or able to serve. This

[54:53] work requires sound judgment,

[54:55] compassion, and a strong commitment to

[54:57] protecting the dignity and interests of

[54:59] those the county is entrusted to serve.

[55:02] For nearly 36 years, Cecilia has

[55:04] provided steady professional leadership

[55:06] and dedicated service to Santa Cruz

[55:08] County. Cecilia, Santa Cruz County is

[55:10] grateful for your for everything you

[55:12] have contributed during your many years

[55:14] of service. Your dedication to this

[55:16] organization, and most importantly to

[55:19] the people of Santa Cruz County is

[55:21] sincerely appreciated. On behalf of

[55:23] Santa Cruz County, the board of

[55:24] supervisors, your colleagues, and the

[55:27] residents you have served, thank you for

[55:29] your outstanding public service. We

[55:31] congratulate you on your retirement and

[55:33] wish you happiness, good health, and

[55:35] many wonderful years ahead.

[55:37] Congratulations, Sicilia, and thank you

[55:38] for nearly 36 years of dedicated service

[55:42] to Santa Cruz County.

[55:45] [applause]

[55:49] » And with that, the floor is yours.

[55:52] » Oh my god, I'm going to cry.

[55:56] Thank you. Thank you members of the

[55:57] board, members of management, and all

[56:00] the public.

[56:02] Thank you for the trust that you've

[56:05] given me in all these years.

[56:08] Um,

[56:12] and I also want to thank my staff.

[56:15] They've been wonderful. They've been

[56:17] great. They're team members.

[56:20] Um,

[56:22] my deputy Giovanni, my Toena, Are

[56:26] here present. Uh, the other staff are

[56:29] out on the field because we have a

[56:31] schedule to keep.

[56:34] Um, I can't believe I've walked these

[56:38] hallways for 35 years, met a lot of

[56:42] amazing people along the way, met a lot

[56:45] of new friends, colleagues.

[56:49] It's just Santa Cruz County is an

[56:51] amazing place to work. It gives you an

[56:55] opportunity to expand

[56:57] and

[56:59] the opportunities, the people and the

[57:02] community that I've served, it's it's

[57:05] been an honor working,

[57:08] but I decided that it's time for me to

[57:11] move on to other adventures.

[57:16] Thank you.

[57:18] » Thank you.

[57:20] » [applause]

[57:23] » In the short time that I've known you,

[57:26] um, the words that come to mind when

[57:28] when to describe you are are humble and

[57:31] genuine. And so, you are very much

[57:34] appreciated. And with that, would you

[57:36] like

[57:36] » Thank you.

[57:37] » Yes. Uh, I'd be honored. It is a true

[57:40] honor. And look at that smile. I love

[57:44] your smile. You You've made so many

[57:47] people's days. you know, especially

[57:49] these people you work with, a lot of

[57:51] them are going through tough times,

[57:53] » And I want to thank you for that. You

[57:56] you uh are a true leader,

[58:00] » And I had the opportunity to uh hire you

[58:05] for that position, I believe.

[58:07] » Yes.

[58:07] » Uh and be a part of it. And and and

[58:10] you've done an amazing job.

[58:12] » Thank you.

[58:13] » You are a true leader, and we're going

[58:14] to miss you. Um, we have this very nice

[58:19] little uh momentto here and it says

[58:23] presented to Cecilia A Mahia, public

[58:27] judiciary director, Santa Cruz County in

[58:30] recognition and appreciation for 35 of

[58:33] dedicated public service to Santa Cruz

[58:36] County. Your commitment, leadership, and

[58:39] dedicated service have made a lasting

[58:42] impact on county and the community you

[58:45] faithfully served November 13, 1990

[58:49] through September 16, 2026.

[58:52] With gratitude and best wishes on your

[58:55] retirement on behalf of our board and

[58:58] Santa Cruz County, thank you.

[59:01] » Thank you.

[59:52] That's a lot of

[1:00:08] Mr. Chairman, members of the board is

[1:00:10] can I make a comment on

[1:00:12] » Absolutely. I

[1:00:14] » And I and I've spoken before on on uh on

[1:00:17] Cecilia's um management of her

[1:00:20] department.

[1:00:22] You know, she has to manage not only the

[1:00:24] operational of dealing with all the

[1:00:26] awards, but she also has a

[1:00:28] responsibility with her staff and to

[1:00:30] deal with so many different uh bank

[1:00:31] accounts. uh checking accounts of of

[1:00:34] dealing with all the of of the of the

[1:00:36] warts. I mean, at one point she might

[1:00:38] have maybe 50 or or 60 bank accounts and

[1:00:40] every year she has to reconcile that and

[1:00:43] present it to the auditors and present

[1:00:44] it to us. And uh you know, she's always

[1:00:47] on time. She's always reconciled to the

[1:00:49] penny uh on all those accounts. So,

[1:00:52] credit to her and her team. I mean,

[1:00:53] she's she's amazing. We're going to miss

[1:00:55] her, but she she does really really

[1:00:58] great work, you know, all around.

[1:01:01] » Thank you. Thank you.

[1:01:02] » I want I want to say something really

[1:01:03] quick, too.

[1:01:04] » Please do.

[1:01:04] » So, Cecil, I know you're retiring, but

[1:01:06] yesterday I received a call from

[1:01:08] somebody in the community. So, we're

[1:01:10] gonna before you leave, I'm going to

[1:01:12] stop by

[1:01:14] to give you their to try to set a

[1:01:16] meeting before you leave. [laughter]

[1:01:26] » Well done.

[1:01:26] » That's true.

[1:01:27] » Well done.

[1:01:29] Okay, we will

[1:01:30] » We need a favor, assistant.

[1:01:34] » We'll go ahead and move to uh item F1

[1:01:37] uh report on year one, air quality

[1:01:39] monitoring by Dr. Chris Lim, associate

[1:01:41] professor, Arizona State University. And

[1:01:44] I know Robin, you wanted to say a few uh

[1:01:46] introductory words for Dr. Lim.

[1:01:51] » Thank you, supervisors, our county

[1:01:53] management, and our audience. Thank you.

[1:01:55] Uh my name is Robin Luck. president of

[1:01:57] the Calabasas Alliance. First, before I

[1:01:59] introduce Dr. Lim, I want to acknowledge

[1:02:02] uh Dr. Denise Moreno Ramirez, who grew

[1:02:05] up in Ngalas. She uh went through the

[1:02:08] entire public school system here, no

[1:02:10] Gallas Unified School District. Um and

[1:02:13] is now the assistant director of the

[1:02:15] Earth League secretariat at the ASU,

[1:02:18] Julie Anne Wriggley Global Futures

[1:02:20] Laboratory, which is an international

[1:02:22] voluntary alliance focused on

[1:02:24] sustainability and climate change where

[1:02:26] the top scientists around the world are

[1:02:28] working to solve these monumental

[1:02:30] challenges.

[1:02:32] The work we do in Santa Cruz County

[1:02:34] would have not come together without

[1:02:36] her. So now, Dr. Chris Lim, our guest

[1:02:39] today, is an associate professor of the

[1:02:42] new school of technology for public

[1:02:43] health at Arizona State University,

[1:02:46] guided by the motto, environment becomes

[1:02:49] health and inequality. His health and

[1:02:53] urban modeling lab combines sensor

[1:02:55] networks, global spatial and population

[1:02:57] health data, AI, and community

[1:02:59] partnerships to turn environmental

[1:03:02] signals into actionable placebased

[1:03:05] solutions. Dr. Lim currently leads an

[1:03:07] NIH funded study examining air

[1:03:10] pollution, heat, and 911 activations in

[1:03:13] the US and is a member of the University

[1:03:15] of Arizona Super Fund team. He completed

[1:03:18] his post-doal training at the Yale

[1:03:21] School of the Environment and obtained

[1:03:23] his PhD from the NYU School of Medicine.

[1:03:26] Dr. Lim along with his team at ASU and

[1:03:28] UVA are the chief investigators for the

[1:03:31] airsmart program. It is a great

[1:03:33] privilege for the Cowbas Alliance to

[1:03:35] work with him and his team. Chris, all

[1:03:38] we can say is thank you. Come on.

[1:03:48] Good morning. Um, Chris,

[1:03:50] » Morning.

[1:03:51] » Good morning to the public. Thanks for

[1:03:53] having me here today. Um, I'm really

[1:03:56] pleased to share the results of the year

[1:03:58] one of the AirSmart program. As Robin

[1:04:00] mentioned, um I'm currently at ASU, but

[1:04:03] as of a few months ago, I was at

[1:04:04] University of Arizona where um I work

[1:04:08] with Calabes Alliance and other members

[1:04:10] of the public to establish the sensor

[1:04:12] network and um collect the data that's

[1:04:14] being presented here. Uh next slide,

[1:04:16] please.

[1:04:18] Um so what Aerosmart is is a network of

[1:04:22] real-time sensors with a free public

[1:04:25] online dashboard. Um so so far we have

[1:04:29] 11

[1:04:31] um PM sensors particular matter sensors

[1:04:33] for called quant modular air um

[1:04:37] installed across homes, schools and

[1:04:39] businesses across Santa Cruz County. We

[1:04:41] also have additional 13 or 13 or so um

[1:04:45] lowcost sensors called purple air also

[1:04:48] installed across um uh Santa Cruz

[1:04:50] County. Um I added those plus signs

[1:04:52] there to show that we're um in the

[1:04:55] process of expanding this network over

[1:04:57] time. Um the dashboard is bilingual. Um

[1:05:00] the data is open and real time um free

[1:05:04] to download the data and there is zero

[1:05:06] cost to host the sensors to the public.

[1:05:10] Before these sensors are installed

[1:05:11] across the community, we also place

[1:05:13] these right next to reference uh PDQ or

[1:05:17] ADQ EPA reference monitors in Tucson. Uh

[1:05:20] we do this so that we can assess their

[1:05:23] accuracy against these more expensive

[1:05:25] regulatory monitors. Um next slide

[1:05:28] please.

[1:05:32] Um so this is what the dashboard online

[1:05:35] dashboard looks like. So um is it shows

[1:05:38] a map of where the sensors are located

[1:05:40] across uh the county. Uh when when you

[1:05:43] click on the on the dodge you can see

[1:05:45] what the levels show. The dashboard also

[1:05:48] has uh real-time plots and graphs

[1:05:50] showing changes over time as well. Um on

[1:05:53] the right is a picture um I believe in

[1:05:56] um the town of Patagonia with a sensor

[1:05:58] installed um under a gazebo. Um and

[1:06:02] these sensors are pretty small,

[1:06:03] lightweight. Um they just require um

[1:06:06] cell signal and electricity. Next, next

[1:06:10] slide, please.

[1:06:12] So um in Santa Cruz County there's just

[1:06:15] one EPA monitor covering the entire

[1:06:17] county in Ngalas the post office. Um in

[1:06:21] the past um the county was in non

[1:06:23] attainment for PM2.5 which are the

[1:06:26] smaller particles. Currently it's

[1:06:28] obtainment for PM10 the coarse dust

[1:06:30] particles. The next closest monitor is

[1:06:34] in Green Valley. Um so again there's a a

[1:06:37] big l gap of um air pollution data

[1:06:41] across across the city but also the

[1:06:43] county. Um air pollution levels can vary

[1:06:46] um minute by minute, second by second.

[1:06:48] They can change very rapidly over time

[1:06:50] and over short distances and these uh

[1:06:53] regulatory monitors cannot capture this

[1:06:55] uh very well. Uh again there's just one

[1:06:57] monitor across the the location and they

[1:06:59] report hourly values as well. It's uh it

[1:07:02] it it misses a lot of these real-time

[1:07:04] short changes in air pollution. Next

[1:07:07] slide, please.

[1:07:09] Um as we all know, the county's air

[1:07:11] pollution sources and profiles are

[1:07:13] changing over time. Um there's a big

[1:07:16] mine that's being developed with

[1:07:17] construction operations, heavy truck

[1:07:19] traffic on rural roads. There's also the

[1:07:21] border activity with the wall

[1:07:23] construction, materials transport, and a

[1:07:25] lot of idling trucks as a lot of the

[1:07:27] members of the public has already

[1:07:28] commented. uh wildfire smoke can carry

[1:07:31] uh carry smoke over long distances but

[1:07:34] also more regional sources as well. Uh

[1:07:36] the PM itself can also change uh the

[1:07:39] metal composition due to these changing

[1:07:41] activity patterns um can change as well.

[1:07:46] Next slide please.

[1:07:49] Uh so far what we have collected is more

[1:07:51] than 6 million one minute observations

[1:07:54] across these sensors more than 14 months

[1:07:57] of measurements. Uh we all again we also

[1:08:00] um colllocated these sensors across the

[1:08:03] across the EPA monitors and they show

[1:08:05] very high agreements against the EPA

[1:08:07] monitors. Um we have also observed very

[1:08:10] um high pollution days. So we found six

[1:08:13] site days above uh the EPA regulatory

[1:08:17] 24-hour um um regulatory limit of 115

[1:08:22] micrograms per meter cubed. Next slide

[1:08:24] please.

[1:08:27] Um and this is what a one one day of

[1:08:30] sensor measurements look like. So this

[1:08:32] is at um at Linia AC close to the um the

[1:08:37] Ngalas border. Um so this shows very u

[1:08:41] rapid changes as you can see in PM10

[1:08:43] levels across time and across minutes.

[1:08:46] Um AC in the early mornings we pick up a

[1:08:49] uh an elevated signal as well maybe due

[1:08:52] to traffic in the region or other

[1:08:54] sources. But the point of this plot is

[1:08:56] to show that again um the the one hour

[1:08:59] averages really miss these peaks that

[1:09:01] you're seeing um changing rapidly over

[1:09:03] time. Uh there's also a lot of um spikes

[1:09:07] in high uh PM dust levels. Um so uh on

[1:09:10] this particular day we had um 93 um

[1:09:14] spikes above the 150 uh the limit. Um

[1:09:17] although the the EPA limit is for the

[1:09:19] daily average. I just put that there to

[1:09:22] show uh kind of to kind of compare

[1:09:24] against um what you see here. And on one

[1:09:27] day we also found more than 300

[1:09:29] micrograms per meter cubed um which is a

[1:09:33] huge um um exposure profile that people

[1:09:36] are being exposed to.

[1:09:39] Next slide please. Um and also these

[1:09:42] dust exposures and PM exposures are

[1:09:45] unequal across sites. Um as I mentioned

[1:09:47] earlier the air pushion levels can vary

[1:09:50] a lot uh depending on the location um as

[1:09:53] well as time. So um we in the Linia

[1:09:56] location we found more than 135 hours

[1:09:59] above 150 in one year. uh at the

[1:10:02] treehouse site by the in the Patagonia

[1:10:04] Mountains, we observed a a thousand plus

[1:10:09] hourly peak at this location. And th

[1:10:12] this value across locations can vary as

[1:10:15] much as 10 to 15 times.

[1:10:18] Um and and the treehouse we found more

[1:10:21] than 6,000 minutes above 150 um 1100

[1:10:25] more than 500. Um, and this number was

[1:10:28] also pretty high at the Little Red

[1:10:30] Schoolhouse as well. Uh, next slide,

[1:10:33] please. Uh, we can also pick up and

[1:10:36] detect dust storms. So, this is um one

[1:10:38] one event that we picked up in August of

[1:10:41] 2025 when the the monsoon rolled in with

[1:10:44] with the dust. Um, and across all

[1:10:47] sensors, we saw this elevated um event.

[1:10:50] Um and these sensors again are able to

[1:10:53] pick up these minute by minute, hourly

[1:10:55] by hourly um PM events. Um and this dust

[1:11:00] storm lasted more than four hours. All

[1:11:02] sensors captured it and this was above

[1:11:05] the 24 24-hour standard as well. So this

[1:11:09] sensor network can pick up not just

[1:11:11] minute-by-minute averages but all these

[1:11:13] regional events that are driving um

[1:11:16] these air pollution episodes as well. Uh

[1:11:18] next slide please.

[1:11:21] Um, one point I would like to mention

[1:11:23] um, in this presentation is that

[1:11:25] although there are these EPA regulatory

[1:11:27] standards, they're not um,

[1:11:31] I I would have to say that the standards

[1:11:33] are behind by a couple of years what the

[1:11:35] science scientific evidence shows. Um,

[1:11:38] so um, a lot of recent papers and

[1:11:41] studies have found that there is no safe

[1:11:43] number when it comes to air pollution

[1:11:46] um, even below the EPA standards. Um

[1:11:49] although EPA standards are for daily or

[1:11:51] annual averages um all these minuteby

[1:11:54] minute second by second um short

[1:11:56] episodes can trigger um health effects

[1:11:59] like asthma, heart attacks, cardiac

[1:12:01] arrest, stroke. Um our bodies are very

[1:12:05] sensitive to these uh short-term

[1:12:07] exposures. Uh things like dust storms as

[1:12:09] well can also um trigger health effects.

[1:12:13] uh things like mortality, premature

[1:12:15] mortality, um respiratory impacts,

[1:12:17] cardiovascular impacts and all just uh

[1:12:20] pretty much every body system you can

[1:12:22] think of. Air pollution is impacting um

[1:12:24] your organs and body systems as well. Uh

[1:12:27] next slide please.

[1:12:30] Um also um our monitors, our network

[1:12:34] also um although it's expanding, there's

[1:12:36] a lot of potential hotspots with no

[1:12:39] monitors. Um the networks are mostly

[1:12:41] west so far around Patagonia and Ogalas.

[1:12:44] So there's a lot of uh locations within

[1:12:46] the county with no monitors yet which

[1:12:48] we're um working to um address. Um we as

[1:12:53] the members of the community knows the

[1:12:54] the ongoing construction moves a lot of

[1:12:56] the heavy trucks over dirt roads which

[1:12:58] can kick up a lot of these dust

[1:13:00] short-term dust events that can trigger

[1:13:02] the health impacts. Um, and what we're

[1:13:05] trying to do with the sensor network is

[1:13:07] to quantify how their occlusion levels

[1:13:09] are changing in the community over time.

[1:13:11] Uh, next slide, please. Um, thank you.

[1:13:15] Any questions or comments?

[1:13:20] » Sure.

[1:13:21] » Okay. So, [clears throat]

[1:13:24] just a quick question. So

[1:13:27] you said that that you guys have 13 airs

[1:13:29] smart like sensors [clears throat]

[1:13:32] » Plus how many would you want to have?

[1:13:35] How many more like to cover the the

[1:13:37] region or the area?

[1:13:38] » Uh that's a good question. So um

[1:13:41] obviously more the better is the I guess

[1:13:44] the easy answer, but at least 20 um

[1:13:46] » At least 20

[1:13:47] » 20. So um just to clarify, we have um 10

[1:13:51] of like the more expensive sensors and

[1:13:53] 15ish of the purple airs and they do

[1:13:57] different things. The more expensive

[1:13:58] sensors are able to pick up dust, the

[1:14:00] coarse particles. Lower cost sensors

[1:14:03] pick up the fine particles. Um so they

[1:14:05] are kind of a mix of two sensors, but

[1:14:08] overall maybe doubling the number would

[1:14:10] be ideal for both of these sensors.

[1:14:12] » So like 30.

[1:14:14] » Yep. Uhhuh. A and once you put on these

[1:14:17] sensors, who maintains them or how often

[1:14:19] do they use?

[1:14:20] » Yeah. So, so far we've been working with

[1:14:21] the community group Calabasus Alliance

[1:14:23] and other um members of the public that

[1:14:25] are hosting these sensors at their homes

[1:14:27] or businesses. Um but we do have plan or

[1:14:30] my students from UOVA or ASU will come

[1:14:32] down and help them um maintain these as

[1:14:35] well as installations.

[1:14:44] Sorry. Thank Thank you for the

[1:14:46] presentation. Thank you for your

[1:14:48] research, sir. Um, you said EPA only has

[1:14:52] one sensor in Santa Cruz County.

[1:14:56] » I think we need to reach out to the EPA

[1:14:58] » So they can put more more sensors here.

[1:15:01] » Right.

[1:15:02] » Are you also do you all doing water as

[1:15:05] well or just air?

[1:15:06] » Just just air.

[1:15:07] » Just air. Okay.

[1:15:09] » Okay. Thank you.

[1:15:11] » Thank you.

[1:15:12] » Ask another question

[1:15:13] » Please. So, so you said something also

[1:15:16] when it comes to EPA that uh

[1:15:20] there's their their standards are

[1:15:21] behind.

[1:15:22] » Uhhuh.

[1:15:23] » So, so what can it be done?

[1:15:25] » Um that's a good question. Um I would

[1:15:28] say that you know minimizing just any

[1:15:31] sources of air pollution is the primary

[1:15:34] um need right now um across not just

[1:15:38] here but across everywhere. Um just like

[1:15:40] I mentioned any any level of air

[1:15:43] pollution is unhealthy for you. Um in

[1:15:45] terms of like the intervention side um

[1:15:48] ways to protect yourself are things like

[1:15:50] air purifiers

[1:15:52] u masks during really high air push days

[1:15:54] or wildfire days. Um eating a healthier

[1:15:56] diet, things like that are personal

[1:15:58] level things you can do. Overall

[1:16:00] minimizing the sources is the most

[1:16:02] important thing.

[1:16:04] » Thanks for your presentation.

[1:16:05] » Thank you.

[1:16:08] And I have one one other question.

[1:16:11] You mentioned the Ngalas border sensor

[1:16:14] was one of the ones that was really

[1:16:16] peing high.

[1:16:18] » That's one of my big fears because of

[1:16:21] the factories

[1:16:23] » In Mexico

[1:16:25] » And it just

[1:16:27] a lot more activity in Mexico

[1:16:31] » And everything pretty much.

[1:16:32] » That's a huge potential source as well.

[1:16:35] For sure.

[1:16:38] Um I want to say thank you. Uh my you

[1:16:41] know personal story and and we were

[1:16:43] always told that it was the dust in the

[1:16:46] air. My dad um had valley fever

[1:16:49] » Back in the day turned into menitis in

[1:16:51] the hospital for three months. So I I

[1:16:53] understand the implications of of dust

[1:16:56] in the air. So thank you on that. My

[1:16:58] question is South 32 was mentioned quite

[1:17:00] often and well a few times in your

[1:17:02] presentation are and I know they have

[1:17:05] air monitoring

[1:17:06] » And one of the things that that I've

[1:17:08] attempted to push for and maybe you can

[1:17:11] help me out with this is is there any

[1:17:13] collaboration between what ASU is doing

[1:17:16] perhaps U of A and South 32 so that

[1:17:20] » Whatever particles are in the air

[1:17:22] whether they're they're they're um um

[1:17:25] picked up by by your monitors or by

[1:17:28] theirs. Is there any collaborative

[1:17:29] efforts between the two?

[1:17:31] » Yeah, I we've had a couple of chats and

[1:17:33] I think um our monitoring efforts are

[1:17:35] complimentary. Um what we're measuring

[1:17:37] is real time air pollution. What they're

[1:17:39] me measuring is long-term metals in the

[1:17:42] PM which are very different things. So I

[1:17:44] think um by I mean our data is also open

[1:17:47] data. So we're sharing this on the

[1:17:48] website so people anyone can look at it.

[1:17:50] Um and I think their plan is to do so as

[1:17:53] well. I think um we can definitely chat

[1:17:56] more to integrate our efforts a little

[1:17:57] more closely over time.

[1:17:59] » Wonderful. Thank you. And and I'll allow

[1:18:02] for one question if there's a question

[1:18:03] from the audience if anyone has any

[1:18:05] questions. But Rob, go ahead. No,

[1:18:07] » Hold on, Robin.

[1:18:07] » I I I agree with uh Mr. Fannon. I think

[1:18:10] the

[1:18:11] » If you can collaborate with South 32

[1:18:13] early

[1:18:14] » Like right now. I mean and I said it in

[1:18:16] other meetings if anybody and they were

[1:18:18] willing to to collaborate get together

[1:18:21] and if you join forces

[1:18:24] uh gather all data you know

[1:18:25] » Y really encourage that as well.

[1:18:28] » Yeah sure

[1:18:28] » Anything to do with with safety is

[1:18:31] important. Robin did you have a question

[1:18:34] » Please?

[1:18:38] Um, I think it's important to know I

[1:18:40] Does everybody remember what happened

[1:18:42] during the summer with the fires coming

[1:18:44] in from Canada and New York? Stuff like

[1:18:47] that. We hope to God that never happens

[1:18:50] here because the emergency room spikes

[1:18:53] went like up 300% just in New York City.

[1:18:56] So, this is really, really important. We

[1:18:58] do have right now we're going to be

[1:19:01] putting out 10 more of the quant

[1:19:04] modulars. Those units are cell phone

[1:19:07] bone powered and normally there's a $500

[1:19:11] fee for anybody that you know takes one.

[1:19:14] ASU is picking up the complete tab $500

[1:19:17] per year per unit. So I'm incredibly

[1:19:20] grateful for that. They're also going to

[1:19:22] buy some more purple airs and there's

[1:19:23] also some other types of equipment

[1:19:25] coming. So we're we're happy about that.

[1:19:27] Um, as far as collaboration, you know,

[1:19:31] we've struggled a little bit in in our

[1:19:33] conversations uh with South 32 on that.

[1:19:36] But, um, we we need to do bigger

[1:19:38] science. We need to uh, for instance,

[1:19:41] the um, the EPA unit that's that is on

[1:19:44] the uh, the post office. We're going to

[1:19:47] put one of the the quants up there um

[1:19:50] and and just to make sure things are you

[1:19:53] know that all these these devices are

[1:19:55] very close in the data that they track.

[1:19:58] So I just wanted to you know comment and

[1:20:00] again thank you all.

[1:20:02] » Thank you and thank you Dr. Lim very

[1:20:04] much appreciate it. Can

[1:20:06] » One last comment or or ask c can we have

[1:20:11] that uh web information? Oh yeah.

[1:20:13] » So we can monitor

[1:20:15] » Or or our community if they want maybe

[1:20:18] we can post it on our uh website. Yes

[1:20:21] sir.

[1:20:25] » Yeah we'll we'll do one question and

[1:20:27] that's that's

[1:20:36] » Chris I'm sorry. Can you come up to the

[1:20:38] so that we can get it on on Thank you

[1:20:41] sir.

[1:20:44] » [clears throat]

[1:20:44] » My question is about the average levels

[1:20:46] you have seen. Uh how does that compare

[1:20:50] with the average level seen in the state

[1:20:52] and nationwide?

[1:20:54] Better worse for

[1:20:57] » For PM 2.5 for PM.

[1:20:59] » Okay. Um I mean the the the sources of

[1:21:02] air push are very different from other

[1:21:04] places in the US. So definitely a lot

[1:21:06] more dust, the larger particles, a lot

[1:21:09] more peaks as well as you've seen on the

[1:21:11] plot. Um PM the final particles are tend

[1:21:14] to be cleaner than um rest of the um

[1:21:18] state or nation, but the dust is

[1:21:20] definitely um a big issue here.

[1:21:25] » Thank you very much. Chris, did you have

[1:21:28] something that you would like to add?

[1:21:33] » Okay, very good. Thank you. Thank you,

[1:21:35] sir. Great. Thank you.

[1:21:36] » Thank you for all you do.

[1:21:38] » Okay. At this time, we'll move to uh

[1:21:40] item F2, Santa Cruz County Strategic

[1:21:43] Workforce and Wage Growth Plan, uh by

[1:21:46] John Brower, Dr. Victor Diaz, and Randy

[1:21:49] Tillery from West.

[1:21:53] You guys want to come up?

[1:21:56] Supervisor Fanning, Supervisor or sorry,

[1:21:59] Chairman Fanning, Supervisor Mleta,

[1:22:01] Supervisor Davis, uh, County Leadership,

[1:22:04] members of the public. A little less

[1:22:07] than a year ago, uh, we approved a

[1:22:09] collaboration agreement with South 32 to

[1:22:11] do a workforce development strategic

[1:22:13] plan. And so, uh, we created a RFQ

[1:22:18] and then we create, we had a team

[1:22:20] together to evaluate the submitts. And

[1:22:22] the winning submitt was from West Ed and

[1:22:24] that's where these fine young gentlemen

[1:22:26] are from this morning. Um and so for

[1:22:29] about seven months, seven, eight months,

[1:22:32] uh we've been working with them, uh the

[1:22:35] executive committee with the three

[1:22:37] superintendents from the local high

[1:22:39] schools, Maya Donnelly here in the here,

[1:22:42] uh along with Greg Lucero, who's also

[1:22:45] here from the community college. Thank

[1:22:46] you for being here, Greg. Uh and and

[1:22:48] South 32. We work through this project

[1:22:51] which is a hugely important project

[1:22:54] because what we what we saw before this

[1:22:56] is we saw a lot of entities working in

[1:22:58] silos and so it was agreed upon that we

[1:23:02] would do this and this would be the one

[1:23:05] for everybody to work towards. Uh and so

[1:23:09] they're going to give you a presentation

[1:23:11] as far as their findings and what we

[1:23:12] plan on doing moving forward regarding

[1:23:14] workforce in the county. Um,

[1:23:18] Mr. Fanning, you already mentioned Dr.

[1:23:20] Diaz, former student, high school, Riri

[1:23:23] from Ririco High School.

[1:23:25] » I think it was Mountain View

[1:23:28] » Elementary

[1:23:29] » That long ago. All right. Uh, and I'll

[1:23:31] just read on the on the websites their

[1:23:33] their biographies.

[1:23:35] So, I'm not going to read it. I'll just

[1:23:37] read the first couple sentence. Dr. Diaz

[1:23:39] brings commitment, academic opportunity,

[1:23:41] wide range of experiences, and public

[1:23:43] education to work he leads to West Ed.

[1:23:46] Dr. Diaz leads and supports projects

[1:23:48] related to building and sustaining

[1:23:49] highquality educated workforce and

[1:23:51] schools across the country. Uh second we

[1:23:55] we have Mr. John Brower.

[1:23:58] His background is in promotion of

[1:23:59] economic mobility and DEI through

[1:24:03] facilitating the development of

[1:24:05] workforce strategic plans, professional

[1:24:07] development and contextualized learning

[1:24:09] resources that build a competitive

[1:24:11] workforce and improve access to career

[1:24:13] pathways as part of industrydriven

[1:24:15] workforce development and education uh

[1:24:18] partnerships.

[1:24:20] And then third, we have Randy Tiller.

[1:24:24] Randy Tiller has 29 years of experience

[1:24:26] related to building and implementing

[1:24:28] workforce development, community

[1:24:30] development, and educational strategies

[1:24:32] to increase economic mobility for

[1:24:34] vulnerable lowincome communities and

[1:24:36] individuals. So, without further ado,

[1:24:38] gentlemen, the floor is yours.

[1:24:42] » Thank you, sir.

[1:24:44] » Um, supervisors, uh, county leadership

[1:24:46] members, community members, it's it's

[1:24:48] really an honor to be here today. Um I

[1:24:50] would be remiss if I didn't sort of

[1:24:52] really thank the community overall for

[1:24:54] being so gracious in terms of welcom

[1:24:56] welcoming us here. People have been

[1:24:57] incredibly giving um throughout this

[1:25:00] process and it's been a real honor to

[1:25:01] get to get to come here. Um West Ed just

[1:25:04] by background is a national not

[1:25:06] for-profit um that focuses on

[1:25:08] educational early learning and economic

[1:25:10] mobility solutions um to build kind of

[1:25:13] thriving thriving communities which are

[1:25:15] really good places for people to learn

[1:25:16] and grow. Um we are a we are a not

[1:25:19] for-profit but we are actually a joint

[1:25:21] powers agreement of a number of states

[1:25:24] of of US states. So essentially we all

[1:25:26] kind of work for you um at some level

[1:25:28] and it's important to know that that we

[1:25:30] work on behalf of states on behalf of

[1:25:32] communities like this to really help

[1:25:34] them figure out kind of what are the

[1:25:35] most important things they need to do

[1:25:36] advant to advance community and economic

[1:25:39] welfare um in those communities. Um the

[1:25:42] study was um a great honor to do this. I

[1:25:45] will mention a little bit about some of

[1:25:47] just some of the very kind of high level

[1:25:48] components of the study and this is a

[1:25:50] very high level summary. Um it is backed

[1:25:52] up by very detailed documents. The full

[1:25:54] plan is 175 pages long. It's accompanied

[1:25:57] by an economic and workforce analysis

[1:26:00] that looks at all the labor market data,

[1:26:01] community data, and other sources with

[1:26:03] both quantitative and qualitative. Um

[1:26:05] Dr. Diaz, I'll have to get used to

[1:26:07] calling you that. um uh actually led the

[1:26:10] community engagement portion of this

[1:26:11] where we really talked to as many people

[1:26:13] as we possibly could to get people's

[1:26:15] inputs on sort of on what was happening

[1:26:17] here in the community. Um next slide.

[1:26:23] Hello.

[1:26:26] Oh, here we go. Uh so this is just very

[1:26:28] quickly about kind of our basic

[1:26:30] framework. And one of the things to

[1:26:32] understand about workforce development

[1:26:34] as a field of practice. People think

[1:26:36] it's sort of job training or it's

[1:26:37] education. Um workforce development

[1:26:40] actually emerged in the late 1990s

[1:26:42] because of the failure of federal job

[1:26:44] training programs. So there were massive

[1:26:46] investments in training alone thinking

[1:26:48] that you could move people out of

[1:26:49] poverty if you just provided more

[1:26:50] training in the community. And what they

[1:26:52] began to realize is that that by itself

[1:26:53] was not enough. So the study, the

[1:26:55] national study of the Job Training

[1:26:57] Partnership Act in the mid 90s found

[1:26:59] that just making a lot more training

[1:27:01] available did not move individuals out

[1:27:02] of poverty, particularly adult learners

[1:27:04] who were really kind of have were in

[1:27:06] that kind of intergenerational poverty

[1:27:08] pool where families had just been poor

[1:27:09] over over a number of generations. So

[1:27:12] the goal was to connect um job training

[1:27:15] and education strategies with economic

[1:27:18] development strategies really focused on

[1:27:20] bringing employers into the equation. So

[1:27:21] you had educators and workforce

[1:27:23] professionals working much more directly

[1:27:24] with business and industry around their

[1:27:26] pain points and needs um to really help

[1:27:29] them problem solve for what are the

[1:27:30] needs of an industry. You know I could

[1:27:32] go to any employer and say look the

[1:27:33] labor market you know data says this so

[1:27:35] I think this is your problem. They're

[1:27:36] going to be like no I have these other

[1:27:38] three things that I really need in my

[1:27:39] workforce. So having that employer voice

[1:27:41] at the table and really thinking about

[1:27:43] the ways in which a county wants to

[1:27:45] expand its economic base and to bring

[1:27:47] more jobs in the region is an important

[1:27:49] component of the work as as well. And

[1:27:51] finally, it's also connecting it to

[1:27:52] community development, which is what are

[1:27:54] the needs of residents. You know, you

[1:27:56] you can you can have jobs available for

[1:27:58] people have to get to jobs. They have to

[1:28:00] get to training programs. So, in this

[1:28:02] case, we found issues related to

[1:28:03] transportation, related to child care,

[1:28:05] um related to housing costs that people

[1:28:08] identified that the residents in the

[1:28:09] community identified that yeah, you can

[1:28:11] talk about training programs. If people

[1:28:13] can't get to that training program, then

[1:28:15] it's not really going to help them. Um

[1:28:17] and it's worth noting that um in in

[1:28:19] working closely with Chris that we

[1:28:21] really have been sharing information

[1:28:22] back. So this also informs the county

[1:28:24] general plan that we owe a local plan

[1:28:26] and other plans that are being created

[1:28:28] in the region. The idea is that all

[1:28:30] these things should work together. There

[1:28:32] should be like one voice, one community

[1:28:34] people. I mean the different things are

[1:28:36] going to happen but it's how you connect

[1:28:37] it together. And we call it the people,

[1:28:38] programs and jobs framework. You know

[1:28:41] that you have to really be thinking

[1:28:42] intentionally about the aspirations um

[1:28:44] assets. Oh, there's a typo. And

[1:28:46] challenges faced by residents,

[1:28:48] communities, and special populations

[1:28:49] seeking to create wealth and access

[1:28:50] opportunity. What do people say they

[1:28:52] want to do? What are they bringing to

[1:28:53] the table? Just because someone's

[1:28:55] low-inccome doesn't mean they don't have

[1:28:56] skills. Doesn't mean that they don't

[1:28:58] have assets. And how do you build upon

[1:28:59] those assets? Then programs. What is the

[1:29:02] education and training infrastructure

[1:29:04] look like? What's being offered by the

[1:29:05] provisional college? What's being

[1:29:07] offered through K12 CTE programs? what

[1:29:09] kinds of programs are on the the

[1:29:11] eligible training provider list, the

[1:29:12] ETPL list managed by the workforce

[1:29:14] development board and how you think

[1:29:16] about that infrastructure and how it's

[1:29:17] responding to both the needs of people

[1:29:19] and employers. And finally, jobs. It's,

[1:29:22] you know, occupational demand, what's

[1:29:23] happening um in the labor market, what's

[1:29:26] happening in your local economy, but

[1:29:27] most importantly, what are employers

[1:29:29] saying that they need? you know, how do

[1:29:31] you center the employer voice and the

[1:29:33] resident voice within a conversation

[1:29:35] that builds a coherent cohesive plan for

[1:29:38] really moving over? So, there's going to

[1:29:41] be three parts to this and it's going to

[1:29:42] be way too fast and it's going to be way

[1:29:44] too high level. So, we will obviously

[1:29:46] share all the resources with you that

[1:29:47] sort of set behind this. Um, Dr. Diaz is

[1:29:50] going to talk about the community

[1:29:51] engagement we did and what people really

[1:29:52] told us. John's going to talk about um

[1:29:55] regional industry and some of the major

[1:29:57] recommendations of the plan. And then

[1:29:59] I'm going to talk about implementation

[1:30:00] at the back end. How are we going to

[1:30:02] move this forward? What have people sort

[1:30:04] of agreed to sign on to and what does it

[1:30:06] mean to create a regional collaborative

[1:30:08] that pulls the best of every system that

[1:30:10] pulls the best from industry and that

[1:30:12] really recognizes the assets with within

[1:30:14] the community and building together kind

[1:30:16] of more more coherently. So Victor,

[1:30:22] » Thank you. Uh next slide, please.

[1:30:24] [clears throat] Yes, Mr. chair, members

[1:30:26] of the board, uh, members of county

[1:30:27] leadership, and members of the

[1:30:28] community. My name is Vicas, and I'm

[1:30:30] just so happy to be here with you all

[1:30:32] today. It's been an absolute honor to

[1:30:33] work on this project. Uh, I am a member

[1:30:35] of the first graduating class of Rick

[1:30:37] High School. Go Hawks. Um, and it is

[1:30:39] always an honor to get to bring the

[1:30:41] resources and the expertise of our

[1:30:42] organization to this community. Um, and

[1:30:45] and this project has been just an

[1:30:46] absolute uh honor for me professionally

[1:30:48] and personally. Um, I know people are

[1:30:51] really eager to hear about the the

[1:30:52] what'ss, the so whats, the now whats of

[1:30:54] of our report, but I think it's

[1:30:56] important for us to also uh capture the

[1:30:58] how uh and how we how we came to to the

[1:31:01] place where we have this plan. Um, and

[1:31:03] so one thing uh that Randy mentioned

[1:31:05] that's very important to us is that we

[1:31:06] were very responsive to the community.

[1:31:08] Uh, we wanted to make sure we were in a

[1:31:10] listening stance for several months and

[1:31:12] in several different ways and and very

[1:31:14] much respecting the assets uh that we

[1:31:16] have here in the community. We know that

[1:31:18] we have urban, we have rural

[1:31:19] communities. We know that um our

[1:31:21] bational, international, bilingual

[1:31:23] character is a strength that isn't

[1:31:25] always viewed that way in the outside

[1:31:27] world. Um we also know that there are

[1:31:29] several different anchor industries

[1:31:30] that's very different from other rural

[1:31:32] communities um and and economies, not

[1:31:35] just in the state, but in the country.

[1:31:36] Uh we know that the labor market isn't

[1:31:38] always the truest indication of economic

[1:31:40] activity. And we also know that what we

[1:31:42] experience in the community um the way

[1:31:45] we experience in the community, excuse

[1:31:46] me, is a group of people who really do

[1:31:49] care about the future of the region. And

[1:31:51] so we took a very assetbased framework

[1:31:53] in the way that we integrated and

[1:31:55] interacted with the community. Uh next

[1:31:56] slide, please.

[1:31:59] In terms of uh making sure that we

[1:32:01] captured community voice from March

[1:32:03] through July, uh we engaged residents

[1:32:05] and stakeholders through several

[1:32:07] different processes. We did interviews,

[1:32:09] we did focus groups. Uh we launched a

[1:32:10] communitywide survey and we also held uh

[1:32:13] planning convenings ac across the

[1:32:14] county. Uh we did 12 initial interviews

[1:32:17] with priority stakeholders that really

[1:32:19] helped to set the context and to gather

[1:32:21] different perspectives in the region. Um

[1:32:23] we then developed using those uh what we

[1:32:25] found in those surveys um I'm sorry in

[1:32:27] those interviews we developed and

[1:32:28] implemented a communitywide survey uh

[1:32:31] where we gathered information from a

[1:32:33] wide variety of industry leaders

[1:32:35] residents and educators and then in May

[1:32:38] our team was here for three days where

[1:32:39] we conducted seven different focus

[1:32:41] groups in different regions around the

[1:32:43] county. Uh several people in this room

[1:32:44] participated in those and so thank you

[1:32:46] very much to those who did. Uh we also

[1:32:48] had a advis executive advisory

[1:32:50] committee. Again we have some members of

[1:32:51] that committee here. Thank you so much

[1:32:52] for participating in that committee

[1:32:54] that's met each month and very recently

[1:32:56] we have launched a group of champions uh

[1:32:59] to discuss the implementation and the

[1:33:00] governance for this plan. Uh next slide

[1:33:03] please.

[1:33:06] So some themes that we heard from the

[1:33:08] community um Randy already mentioned

[1:33:10] this notion of working in silos and I

[1:33:13] think it's really important to really

[1:33:14] understand you know where that comes

[1:33:16] from. Uh in the work that I do I find

[1:33:18] often silos come from very well-intended

[1:33:20] places. it's usually somebody who's

[1:33:22] doing extra work to overcome the

[1:33:24] shortcomings of a system. Um they do

[1:33:27] that work in a way that isn't always

[1:33:29] collaborative because um they're just

[1:33:31] kind of focused on putting their head

[1:33:32] down and doing the best job that they

[1:33:34] can. Um so even in in understanding what

[1:33:36] silos come from, it was important for us

[1:33:38] again to take a very assetbased

[1:33:39] framework to understand that again silos

[1:33:42] do come from well-intended places, but

[1:33:44] they do lead to um people not always

[1:33:47] rowing in the same direction or even

[1:33:49] understanding that they're in the same

[1:33:50] boat. Um we also saw from community

[1:33:53] voice that the region contains immense

[1:33:55] assets. Um but those assets are not

[1:33:58] leveraged to increase opportunity for

[1:33:59] residents in any systemic or strategic

[1:34:02] way. There's a lot of individual effort

[1:34:04] that's happening again at a very high

[1:34:05] level but it's not always coordinated.

[1:34:08] Um one reason why that is happening and

[1:34:10] and why that impacts workforce is

[1:34:12] inadequate access to child care and

[1:34:14] transportation. We see though we saw

[1:34:16] those as consistent barriers for adults.

[1:34:18] Uh we also saw housing identified as a

[1:34:20] concern for the workforce where we have

[1:34:22] people who commute into Santa Cruz

[1:34:24] County to work but cannot afford homes

[1:34:26] in certain part of the counties. Um

[1:34:28] there were also concerns about talent

[1:34:30] that leaves the region both in terms of

[1:34:32] young people who need to leave the

[1:34:34] county to seek a bachelor's degree in in

[1:34:36] other places. Um as well as working

[1:34:38] adults who might find that they plateau

[1:34:41] in their career and in order to seek

[1:34:42] more career opportunity they have to

[1:34:44] look outside the county. Um in terms of

[1:34:47] looking at a couple of solutions that

[1:34:49] came from the community, one was the the

[1:34:51] need for the provisional college uh to

[1:34:53] be strengthened in order to have more

[1:34:55] training available in the region. And

[1:34:57] another that industry and education need

[1:34:59] to work more closely together so that

[1:35:01] employers are investing in upskilling

[1:35:03] their their current workers. Uh and we

[1:35:05] do have this nice quote from one of the

[1:35:06] committee members who participated in um

[1:35:09] in one of our uh focus group sessions.

[1:35:12] Uh, and so with that, I will pass it off

[1:35:13] to John to go into a bit more of what we

[1:35:16] found in in our work.

[1:35:19] » Thanks. Next slide, please.

[1:35:26] » Thank you. Um, uh, happy to be here

[1:35:29] today. Uh part of my background uh even

[1:35:32] before I worked at West Ed is in uh

[1:35:35] putting together workforce development

[1:35:37] partnerships uh in just about every

[1:35:39] industry of the economy in several

[1:35:42] different ways and in different sectors

[1:35:44] and in different regions. So the um goal

[1:35:48] of this is um always trying to move the

[1:35:51] workforce system

[1:35:53] uh to being one that is obviously

[1:35:56] recognizing that it's a dual customer

[1:35:58] model that it's obviously engaging

[1:36:00] employers in industry and then also job

[1:36:02] seekers and folks looking for work. Um

[1:36:05] and out of that for job seekers um it's

[1:36:09] a one part of their personal

[1:36:11] identification uh in addition to our our

[1:36:14] family and our

[1:36:16] jobs are also one way that we think

[1:36:17] about ourselves health in relationship

[1:36:20] to that. Um the other axiom I've kind of

[1:36:23] come to believe in and part of how we

[1:36:25] approach this study and this work is

[1:36:27] starting with the jobs. This isn't about

[1:36:29] a supply side uh situation. It's about

[1:36:32] finding out where industry and employers

[1:36:34] are looking at it from a problem solving

[1:36:36] perspective and where they're where they

[1:36:38] are and where they're trying to go to

[1:36:39] move. So the quantitative analysis that

[1:36:42] we did, we drew on LCAST which takes uh

[1:36:45] Bureau of Labor Standards data, state

[1:36:47] employment um projections from the state

[1:36:49] of Arizona, uh US Census Bureau,

[1:36:52] American Community Survey data, and then

[1:36:55] um other studies like the Ernston Young

[1:36:57] study done for um South 32's project.

[1:37:01] And we we looked at those for sources to

[1:37:03] assess industry trends, occupational

[1:37:06] demand, wage progression pathways. Um

[1:37:09] because to us part of this isn't just

[1:37:11] where folks are in terms of immediate

[1:37:13] employment, but thinking about it from a

[1:37:15] career pathway uh as well as as um

[1:37:19] retention that um Victor talked about

[1:37:21] earlier. Can folks stay and come back if

[1:37:24] they see some pathways forwards for them

[1:37:26] in addition to skills gaps that

[1:37:28] employers see and need relative to it

[1:37:30] and your economy as it changes. your

[1:37:32] ability as a a community to address

[1:37:35] those skills gap and and who can help do

[1:37:37] that. And then just overlaying that with

[1:37:39] demographic patterns across the county.

[1:37:42] Um if you'll notice the um slide that

[1:37:45] we've got up here um is kind of our

[1:37:48] summary of of that that piece of of kind

[1:37:52] of overall what we saw. We kind of

[1:37:54] prioritized in this um uh different

[1:37:58] industry sectors. We uh looked at it

[1:38:00] both in terms of particular sectors but

[1:38:02] frankly also parts of um the regions of

[1:38:06] the county. We didn't consider the

[1:38:08] county one big particular region and

[1:38:10] understood that things like um tourism

[1:38:12] or other things may have a particular

[1:38:14] value in Tubac that maybe also cuts

[1:38:18] across but in a different manner in the

[1:38:19] east part of the county for instance or

[1:38:21] how is manufacturing working from a

[1:38:23] bational perspective and those kinds of

[1:38:25] things and and those are described in

[1:38:27] much more detail um in relationship to

[1:38:31] the report itself. So it um the primary

[1:38:36] piece of this I think for you moving

[1:38:38] forward is to think about which industry

[1:38:39] sectors uh you all may want to

[1:38:42] prioritize that the executive team has

[1:38:44] been talking about as um some initial

[1:38:47] action teams and focus on um Rome like

[1:38:50] Naggalis wasn't built in a day. So you

[1:38:52] may want to figure out relative to the

[1:38:54] sectors that you have moving forward. Um

[1:38:57] some of the the labor market drivers

[1:38:59] that we saw in particular were clustered

[1:39:01] around wholesale trade. the logistics

[1:39:04] obly obviously the aspect of this um uh

[1:39:08] infrastructure and construction

[1:39:10] obviously is another area that whether

[1:39:12] that's the family housing that folks

[1:39:14] raise to all the things that you're

[1:39:15] seeing having to deal with relative to

[1:39:18] general infrastructure in the county. Um

[1:39:21] healthcare is another one that folks um

[1:39:23] kind of raised um as as one of those six

[1:39:26] sectors. Next slide please.

[1:39:31] Um the other is just to get what you'll

[1:39:34] get in the study as well is to sort of

[1:39:35] understand how we framed this piece um

[1:39:39] in terms of the employment and um career

[1:39:43] pathway pieces of this. I mean part of

[1:39:45] this and again we really heard a couple

[1:39:47] of different things uh um supervisor

[1:39:51] Donnelly was talking about the fact that

[1:39:53] they uh had seen students where roughly

[1:39:55] 30% of those students that are

[1:39:57] graduating don't really have an idea of

[1:39:59] what they're going to do next. They 70%

[1:40:02] know they're going to go to UOVA,

[1:40:03] they're going to go to Puma Community

[1:40:04] College, they're going to go to ASU,

[1:40:06] going to go into the military, they've

[1:40:08] got an employment idea. A lot of folks,

[1:40:11] uh, younger folks in particular, uh,

[1:40:13] wondering what their future holds and

[1:40:15] what could the the future in the county

[1:40:17] hold for them in relationship to to the

[1:40:20] system. Others, folks leaving, is there

[1:40:22] something to come back to as part of

[1:40:24] that? If I go off to college or I go off

[1:40:26] to the military, what can bring me back

[1:40:29] and contribute to the economy and shared

[1:40:31] prosperity. So we we provide kind of

[1:40:33] basic analysis for you of entry level,

[1:40:36] middle skill employment and more

[1:40:37] advanced skill employment relative to

[1:40:39] those sectors. Again, this is a starting

[1:40:41] point, but this is a way to go have a

[1:40:43] conversation with industry along with

[1:40:45] all of the stakeholders that you've got

[1:40:48] to figure out where those skills gaps

[1:40:50] are, where those opportunities are, and

[1:40:51] what those pathways are talking to. Next

[1:40:55] slide.

[1:40:57] Um so some of the pieces that uh uh

[1:41:01] again the sectors a little bit of a

[1:41:03] description relative to those obviously

[1:41:04] trade supply and and logistics and that

[1:41:08] can cut across both what you've seen in

[1:41:09] produce has been one of your primary

[1:41:11] pieces you obviously have manufacturing

[1:41:13] going back and forth and manufacturing

[1:41:15] is now all about supply chain and

[1:41:18] management and how do you uh uh

[1:41:21] including AI and all that kind of moving

[1:41:23] forward. healthare. We tried to take

[1:41:25] into account what you've been having to

[1:41:27] deal with in terms of work that's

[1:41:28] already been done and pipelines that the

[1:41:30] provisional college and uh school

[1:41:32] districts have done relative to health

[1:41:34] care as well as some other areas

[1:41:35] relative to your needs around mental

[1:41:37] health and behavioral health uh in your

[1:41:39] chip plan and and other plans that you

[1:41:42] have. Again, trying to build off of of

[1:41:44] other regional plans that you've got

[1:41:46] going on. Um manufacturing construction

[1:41:49] I already talked about. There's quite a

[1:41:50] bit of public sector employment

[1:41:52] opportunities uh uh for folks um and

[1:41:56] including you just saw it the gentleman

[1:41:59] truck driver is maybe a place to come

[1:42:01] and talk to and thinking about that in

[1:42:03] whole and both in terms of the county

[1:42:06] and municipalities but frankly also um

[1:42:08] the state and fed. Uh one of those was

[1:42:11] Customs and Border Patrol has quite a

[1:42:14] bit of openings and an aging workforce

[1:42:15] that you may want to think about that

[1:42:17] Fed partnership. That's the kind of

[1:42:18] thing you could have a conversation with

[1:42:21] Senator Ggo or other folks kind of

[1:42:23] moving forward. Hospitality, recreation,

[1:42:25] and tourism is obviously a a big um

[1:42:29] value for you all. In another area, um

[1:42:32] we also tried to talk about a little bit

[1:42:33] a lot of entry- level jobs seem to be

[1:42:35] that retail uh kind of entry level

[1:42:38] low-wage jobs. Can you build uh some

[1:42:42] pathways up and out of that relative to

[1:42:43] other kinds of professional services,

[1:42:45] entrepreneurship, and other things like

[1:42:47] that? So uh those are some of the

[1:42:49] primary sectors we've lifted up for.

[1:42:53] Next slide.

[1:42:55] Um and these are just two examples. The

[1:42:57] other thing that we did uh again was to

[1:43:00] frame this within a longer term not just

[1:43:02] the immediate but for you all to think

[1:43:04] about um what you can do over the next

[1:43:07] uh year to 18 months something more over

[1:43:10] the next one to three years and then uh

[1:43:12] three to seven years in relationship to

[1:43:14] particular sectors. And so to give you

[1:43:16] again uh all the stakeholders coming

[1:43:19] together how does this fit within those

[1:43:21] other plans but also where you go again

[1:43:24] ngalis and real work bu next slide

[1:43:30] and then some of our major

[1:43:31] recommendations

[1:43:32] uh frankly and and uh I think Ry's going

[1:43:35] to lace a little bit more of what this

[1:43:37] might look like but one is is just

[1:43:39] create a a workforce collaborative with

[1:43:41] form a formal governance structure

[1:43:42] decision making and implementation

[1:43:45] process

[1:43:46] And uh I think Chris and others will

[1:43:49] down the line share with you what that

[1:43:50] might look like. But something that

[1:43:52] won't go away that it's not built on

[1:43:55] personal relationships or a couple of

[1:43:58] specific relationships. Something more

[1:43:59] formal that over time folks are invested

[1:44:02] in and everybody knows why everybody is

[1:44:05] there and what they're going to get out

[1:44:06] of being in that particular partnership

[1:44:09] from different parts of the camp. um of

[1:44:11] building a clearly mapped regional

[1:44:13] pathway system to support career

[1:44:15] navigation. Uh again, that kind of thing

[1:44:17] will certainly help both the school

[1:44:19] districts, um Arizona Works, uh young

[1:44:23] people, families, everyone um to figure

[1:44:26] out where they're going. Another is

[1:44:28] obviously the role and positioning of

[1:44:30] the provisional college as a central

[1:44:31] training in addition to the schools for

[1:44:34] for doing that and in partnership again

[1:44:36] with Arizona Works. um tying the

[1:44:39] regional workforce strategy into your

[1:44:41] your regional economic development

[1:44:43] strategies and trends. So some things

[1:44:45] may be changing moving forward relative

[1:44:47] to manufacturing or infrastructure

[1:44:50] projects you're doing or whatever you're

[1:44:52] doing in there and just again tying it

[1:44:54] to those larger efforts that you've got

[1:44:56] successes. Um and then adopting sector

[1:45:00] strategies uh within the framework to

[1:45:02] address the needs and growth of those

[1:45:05] priority industries. Again, starting

[1:45:07] with the jobs, really engaging the

[1:45:09] employers uh in them and understanding

[1:45:12] where they're what they're trying to do

[1:45:13] from a problem solving standpoint is one

[1:45:16] really important way. And then looking

[1:45:17] at this to adopting strategies to stop

[1:45:20] the the talent drain. One of the

[1:45:22] principles that we put in the plan for

[1:45:24] instance is the idea of having an action

[1:45:27] team looking at workbased learning. the

[1:45:29] idea of building social capital, which

[1:45:31] right now in a lot of ways is built more

[1:45:33] on sort of familial relationships as

[1:45:36] opposed to having that kind of business

[1:45:38] connection, industry connection, so

[1:45:40] folks understand what the possibilities

[1:45:42] are for employment, for career

[1:45:44] awareness, what the the nature of the

[1:45:46] work is like, um what they may need in

[1:45:49] terms of education skills. So those are

[1:45:52] some of the major recommending

[1:46:03] force for me in this work is that

[1:46:07] everything that I've learned in 29 years

[1:46:09] about how you advance the economic

[1:46:10] interests of residents about about how

[1:46:12] you help industry kind of build more

[1:46:14] collective wealth about how you pull

[1:46:16] communities together the ability to

[1:46:19] actually realize economic mobility and

[1:46:20] economic IC growth is highly reliant on

[1:46:22] the relationships between systems.

[1:46:25] There's no single system that's going to

[1:46:26] step in and sort of solve this problem.

[1:46:28] Economic development is going to solve

[1:46:29] it. The college by itself isn't going to

[1:46:31] solve the workforce board, but it's the

[1:46:33] collective actions and how you build

[1:46:35] across systems strategies that everyone

[1:46:37] agrees to row in the same direction on

[1:46:39] that really builds economic strength and

[1:46:42] helps residents realize economic

[1:46:44] opportunity. Um, and so the core

[1:46:47] recommendation for this plan is really

[1:46:49] built around that recognition. There's a

[1:46:50] there's a long and storied history

[1:46:52] around what's called workforce

[1:46:53] intermediaries where you have exactly

[1:46:56] this kind of structure. So your economic

[1:46:58] development players, business and

[1:46:59] industry, education, higher education,

[1:47:01] workforce development sit at a common

[1:47:03] table to build strategies that really

[1:47:06] can connect residents with economic

[1:47:08] opportunity and build more e economic

[1:47:10] opportunity for the for the future. And

[1:47:13] so that was one of our core

[1:47:14] recommendations and it builds upon all

[1:47:16] those things that Victor was describing

[1:47:18] about rowing in the same direction. and

[1:47:19] how come we're all doing different

[1:47:20] things if we could just all get on the

[1:47:22] same page. There was a ton of quotes

[1:47:24] from people that we could have put up

[1:47:25] that basically said that exact same

[1:47:27] thing. What this would do is it would

[1:47:30] create a shared space for decision-m by

[1:47:32] educators. Um, and this has come up.

[1:47:34] It's like, well, if we all agree to do

[1:47:35] this, how do I know that this entity

[1:47:37] over here isn't going to continue to do

[1:47:38] its own thing and isn't going to be part

[1:47:40] of this? So how do you kind of create

[1:47:42] common understanding for that shared

[1:47:44] decision- making and how do you ensure

[1:47:46] that all not only that the public

[1:47:47] systems involved are at the table but

[1:47:49] the business and industry are also at

[1:47:51] that table making those decisions and if

[1:47:54] there's a need for a collective

[1:47:55] conversation around transportation and

[1:47:57] logistics then you can spin up an

[1:47:59] initiative where you're pulling in

[1:48:00] dozens of employers in that sector to

[1:48:02] kind of dig deep about to do some

[1:48:04] collective problem solving just around

[1:48:05] the needs of that industry. So this

[1:48:08] shared table that would get created then

[1:48:09] would some cross agency collaboration

[1:48:12] around specific implementation

[1:48:14] priorities. So you have 15 people

[1:48:16] sitting at a table. We're going to work

[1:48:18] on these five things this year that are

[1:48:20] really important. How are we going to

[1:48:21] assign people from our agencies to work

[1:48:23] on this together? And then how are we

[1:48:25] going to measure that it's being

[1:48:26] effective and it's actually getting

[1:48:28] done. So it's not just a place where

[1:48:30] people talk. I'm working with a state

[1:48:31] right now where they've created a new

[1:48:33] cross education inter agency council

[1:48:34] where they're going to slap each other

[1:48:35] on the back a lot but they're not

[1:48:37] actually going to change what happens on

[1:48:39] the ground. The idea is that this is not

[1:48:41] only sort of shared decision- making and

[1:48:43] agreement, it's driving action within

[1:48:45] the community. And then so this can

[1:48:47] support like I was saying any number of

[1:48:49] broader industry specific kind of kind

[1:48:51] of kind of sector initiatives. So you

[1:48:53] know there's different ways in which

[1:48:55] these kinds of collaborives get framed.

[1:48:56] One of the one of the things they talk a

[1:48:57] lot about are sector collaboratives,

[1:49:00] industrydriven sector priorities where

[1:49:01] you create a room where initially the

[1:49:03] employers are kind of talking to each

[1:49:05] other. there's some agreement about what

[1:49:06] the primary needs of the industry, not

[1:49:08] just individual employers are. The

[1:49:10] educators are watching and listening and

[1:49:11] learning from that conversation and then

[1:49:13] they all agree together about how to

[1:49:15] move to advance advance manufacturing in

[1:49:17] the region or another industry that you

[1:49:19] want to focus on. Having this kind of

[1:49:21] collaborative and having it be formal

[1:49:23] and having it have formal operating

[1:49:25] agreements and a and a common shared

[1:49:26] charter strengthens the ability of the

[1:49:29] county to apply for funding of this

[1:49:31] group of entities. I can think of no

[1:49:33] fundamentally really important funding

[1:49:35] source for this work when they're not

[1:49:36] asking about the partnerships you have

[1:49:38] around you. And do business and industry

[1:49:40] have skin in the game? And this is where

[1:49:42] you come to agreement. What are the

[1:49:44] funding sources? One of the parts of the

[1:49:45] plan includes a really exhaustive almost

[1:49:48] a little bit way too long inventory of

[1:49:50] all the funding sources that you could

[1:49:51] potentially be looking at as a part of

[1:49:52] this. But rather than people competing

[1:49:54] with each other about who's chasing

[1:49:56] dollars, it's making collective

[1:49:58] decisions. We should go after this. This

[1:50:00] partner can be the lead and going to

[1:50:02] support these strategies that we all

[1:50:03] agree on or we have something that can

[1:50:05] fund the whole collaborative and we have

[1:50:07] a nonprofit who can be the 501c3 to

[1:50:09] receive the money and we all decide

[1:50:10] together how that money is going to be

[1:50:12] administered. These are really important

[1:50:14] steps forward for advancing community

[1:50:16] interest as a whole is your ability to

[1:50:18] talk about money. And at the end of the

[1:50:20] day, these things sometimes break down

[1:50:21] about the inability to talk about money.

[1:50:24] And then at the end of the day is also a

[1:50:25] space we can be sure that the plan like

[1:50:27] that we've created and future versions

[1:50:29] of that plan that that this group sort

[1:50:31] of renews and refreshes are aligned to

[1:50:34] your other kind of planning in the

[1:50:36] region. You we owe a local plan. There's

[1:50:38] a recompete plan with the Department of

[1:50:39] Commerce which has some really amazing

[1:50:41] things in it that we tapped into. Um

[1:50:43] your count your regional economic

[1:50:45] development strategy managed by Thiago

[1:50:47] and the county general plan like there's

[1:50:50] going to be different flavors in each of

[1:50:51] these things. But if there's some really

[1:50:53] core strategies that everyone agrees

[1:50:55] need to be need need to sit in the

[1:50:57] middle of this. It creates a framework

[1:50:58] for doing that. Next slide. I know I

[1:51:00] talk way too fast.

[1:51:03] Um this is just a little bit about the

[1:51:04] structure. These things differ in a tent

[1:51:07] a little bit. These kind of formal

[1:51:08] collaboratives, you always have some

[1:51:10] kind of we call a champions table. It

[1:51:12] can be, you know, a governance council.

[1:51:14] You can call it whatever you want, but

[1:51:15] you have some number of folks who sit at

[1:51:17] a table who represent their agencies and

[1:51:20] have decision-making authority who are

[1:51:21] coming to agreement about what the

[1:51:23] priorities are going to be that they're

[1:51:24] all going to work on together and that

[1:51:26] that drives the creation of action

[1:51:27] teams, which I talked about a little bit

[1:51:29] in the prior slide, or industry sector

[1:51:31] discussions. And there's a backbone

[1:51:33] function. So, what you're you're

[1:51:36] building a distributed agency, right?

[1:51:39] That it's not its own entity, but it

[1:51:41] pulls upon the resources and capacity of

[1:51:43] all the agencies and and industry that

[1:51:45] are that are participating at it. But

[1:51:47] someone's got to sort of be sure the

[1:51:48] meetings get scheduled. There has to be

[1:51:50] a communication strategy involved. Um

[1:51:52] there's a number of things that this

[1:51:54] entity has to have if this is going to

[1:51:55] be an effort that you you can broadcast

[1:51:57] to the community and say like look what

[1:51:59] we're doing together. We were talking

[1:52:01] about an issue yesterday. We had a

[1:52:02] champions meeting yesterday afternoon.

[1:52:04] You have the oncoming issue around kind

[1:52:06] of Medicaid eligibility and and

[1:52:08] nutrition assistance programs where

[1:52:10] people have to demonstrate their ability

[1:52:11] to work or demonstrate that they're

[1:52:12] working in order to be able to continue

[1:52:14] to receive those benefits became a very

[1:52:16] animated discussion. There's lots of

[1:52:18] different perspectives, but the general

[1:52:19] agreement was this is a problem that no

[1:52:22] one agency can solve. But an entity like

[1:52:24] this where everyone agrees to work

[1:52:25] collaboratively around what's going to

[1:52:27] be a really dire community need here. Um

[1:52:29] this is what this would enable you to

[1:52:31] sort of tackle together. Everyone looks

[1:52:33] at the same information. Everyone agrees

[1:52:35] about the roles that different entities

[1:52:36] can play. You can have a collective

[1:52:38] conversation with industry about how

[1:52:39] they're going to help support the

[1:52:40] ability to actually for for more people

[1:52:42] to be able to work to keep their health

[1:52:44] benefits. Um it's exactly that kind of

[1:52:47] problem solving um that this supports.

[1:52:50] Next slide.

[1:52:53] So these are some of the initial

[1:52:54] recommendations

[1:52:56] um and these are all based on

[1:52:57] discussions we have had and you know so

[1:53:00] we have had this executive advisory

[1:53:02] committee we've met with every month

[1:53:03] throughout this a lot of these things

[1:53:04] have been sourced through them we

[1:53:06] reviewed this list yesterday with the

[1:53:07] champ with this group of champions that

[1:53:09] we have um so the the Santa Cruz County

[1:53:12] Office of Education seemed like a really

[1:53:14] good place neutral space to house this

[1:53:16] one of the important principles here is

[1:53:18] it doesn't represent the interests of

[1:53:19] any single organization

[1:53:21] But it's an entity that everyone agrees

[1:53:23] agrees could play a neutral role in

[1:53:25] pulling people together, scheduling the

[1:53:26] meetings, housing some staff to support

[1:53:28] the work of the group and that there

[1:53:30] would be a champions group. This group

[1:53:32] to grew by two yesterday. Um, but what's

[1:53:35] most important are not necessarily the

[1:53:37] individual names here, but you have

[1:53:39] representatives from the important

[1:53:40] government entities that need to be

[1:53:42] involved. You have representatives from

[1:53:44] your anchor industries and drivers. Um,

[1:53:47] so employers are always sitting at this

[1:53:48] table. And then you have all the you

[1:53:50] have the education continuum also

[1:53:52] involved and it doesn't mean that other

[1:53:54] people can't be involved. There's going

[1:53:55] to be a lot of committees that get spun

[1:53:57] up. There's going to be a lot of work to

[1:53:58] do and people can definitely connect and

[1:54:00] tap into this. But you have to have one

[1:54:01] place where the people who actually have

[1:54:03] to do the work sit in the same space and

[1:54:05] figure out kind of what's what's most

[1:54:06] important. And in fact, the the first

[1:54:09] step that we actually took yesterday was

[1:54:11] to schedule a champions meeting at the

[1:54:12] end of September. So the idea is this

[1:54:14] group will meet for the first time and

[1:54:16] it's going to be like for a whole day

[1:54:17] for like five or six hours to talk about

[1:54:19] governance and decision- making and

[1:54:20] begin the process of setting priorities

[1:54:23] and nobody bulked at that which is

[1:54:25] really important to identify that this

[1:54:28] was

[1:54:29] um that nobody balked everyone was sort

[1:54:32] of on board I guess. Um and so what that

[1:54:35] shows to me as someone who has had to do

[1:54:37] this in a number of places um is that

[1:54:40] there's a level of community willingness

[1:54:42] here. there's a level of common

[1:54:44] understanding of a problem that needs to

[1:54:46] be solved collectively and not

[1:54:47] individually. Um and then we have some

[1:54:50] other recommendations for action teams

[1:54:52] that there should be an economic

[1:54:53] development team which can be the

[1:54:54] county's existing economic development

[1:54:56] efforts can actually be that part of

[1:54:57] this group. um but also will sit on the

[1:55:00] team you we have SEC economic

[1:55:01] development up there an education team

[1:55:03] where we're going to leverage the

[1:55:05] existing consortium meetings among the

[1:55:07] districts um through the county office

[1:55:09] to have those hard district you know

[1:55:10] conversations among the the the K12

[1:55:13] districts and a workforce team that'll

[1:55:15] be led by the provisional college and

[1:55:16] the workforce board and we'll have

[1:55:18] employers involved in every part of this

[1:55:19] that we can and then we will stand up

[1:55:22] some sector initiatives we're

[1:55:23] recommending manufacturing construction

[1:55:24] and infrastructure and trade supply

[1:55:26] chain and logistics healthare came up

[1:55:28] yesterday, the group could get together

[1:55:30] and say like, "No, it's going to be

[1:55:30] these two, not these two just because

[1:55:33] West um recommended them." And finally,

[1:55:37] I think before we get to questions, I

[1:55:38] want I just want to read the vision

[1:55:40] statement that the executive committee

[1:55:42] co co-crafted with us that actually

[1:55:44] drives this and it's actually on the

[1:55:45] first page of the executive summary of

[1:55:47] the report and I think it really

[1:55:49] captures what people really feel about

[1:55:52] this. Santa Cruz County will build a

[1:55:54] workforce development system rooted in

[1:55:56] its bational identity and bilingual

[1:55:58] strengths, connecting every resident

[1:56:00] from youth to adult learner to quality

[1:56:03] jobs at economic mobility and

[1:56:05] positioning the county as a model border

[1:56:06] economy where community and industry

[1:56:08] thrive together. I think captures the

[1:56:11] plan really. With that, I think we'd

[1:56:13] have some time for questions. We talked

[1:56:15] a lot.

[1:56:19] vice chair

[1:56:25] just as when you started doing this once

[1:56:27] again thanks for the presentation a lot

[1:56:29] of information so when it comes to

[1:56:32] stakeholders and and the advisory

[1:56:34] committee right from the beginning do

[1:56:37] you feel that somebody was missing or

[1:56:40] you would have liked to have somebody

[1:56:41] else just from the origin

[1:56:47] Um I mean I don't know about specific.

[1:56:49] So we made a real effort to be in every

[1:56:50] part of the county because we we

[1:56:52] understood the regionalism in different

[1:56:53] parts of the county was really important

[1:56:54] that the character of East County is

[1:56:56] very different than the character of

[1:56:57] Tubac and the character of Rio Rico and

[1:56:59] and the Ngala. So we made a real effort

[1:57:01] to that. I'm not aware of any we would

[1:57:04] like to have had more individuals. I

[1:57:06] mean I think a total we had between 200

[1:57:08] and 250 folks who did surveys or were in

[1:57:10] the interviews or or came to community

[1:57:12] meetings that we run. you always would

[1:57:14] like to see more. One of the things

[1:57:16] about a plan like this and an effort

[1:57:18] like this is it's not it's not one and

[1:57:21] done, right? You don't do this like,

[1:57:23] "Okay, we're done now. No one else no

[1:57:24] one else gets a word." You know, one of

[1:57:26] the things I put into kind initial work

[1:57:29] plan was was after after the group

[1:57:30] begins working, you know, like in a

[1:57:32] couple of months, like in November,

[1:57:34] maybe you have a community celebration

[1:57:35] of this where people are prizes the plan

[1:57:38] where there's like something like an

[1:57:39] event that you can pull people in to get

[1:57:40] more voices to the table. You always

[1:57:43] want more voices included and that's

[1:57:45] probably the most important principle of

[1:57:46] this. But I I don't I don't feel like we

[1:57:48] missed anyone specifically. We tried to

[1:57:49] hit all the industries. We toured a

[1:57:52] warehouse. We saw we saw the port. We

[1:57:54] really kind of tried to be as much as we

[1:57:56] could, but you can always do more.

[1:58:00] » Anything else?

[1:58:03] » I just want to thank you for recognizing

[1:58:05] the different regions

[1:58:08] because Santa Cruz County is really

[1:58:11] different. every different region.

[1:58:13] Eureales,

[1:58:15] tube, ammo, and uh cenoida, Patagonia.

[1:58:21] Yeah, we're we're really different and

[1:58:24] uh we have different needs. Uh and thank

[1:58:28] you for your study. It it seems like

[1:58:30] it's really detailed and uh I'm excited

[1:58:35] personally.

[1:58:36] » Yeah, it's so detailed it's a little

[1:58:37] overwhelming even. I'll admit that.

[1:58:39] [laughter]

[1:58:39] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, one of the things

[1:58:41] about the regional aspect of this is

[1:58:43] that look, when you form a group like

[1:58:45] this, you're going to make decisions

[1:58:46] that not every single per not every

[1:58:48] single person or every single region is

[1:58:50] going to be their top priority. It's

[1:58:51] going to make them completely happy.

[1:58:52] What's important is that everyone's in

[1:58:53] her has been heard in the process. And

[1:58:55] there's transparency about the decisions

[1:58:57] that were made or the folks, you know,

[1:58:59] the directions that were chosen. And

[1:59:00] that's what the structure that we have

[1:59:02] recommended should do. It should be an

[1:59:04] open transparent transparent form, you

[1:59:06] know, forum. And we tried to be sure

[1:59:08] every so one of the things we paid

[1:59:10] attention to yesterday that came up in

[1:59:11] the meeting is we needed another

[1:59:13] representative from East County because

[1:59:14] they weren't as strongly represented. So

[1:59:16] we're trying to address that as well.

[1:59:18] » Perfect. Thank you. Thank you again.

[1:59:22] » Speaking of the the East County, um I

[1:59:24] have a name that I'd like and we'll see

[1:59:27] if he's interested if you're interested.

[1:59:28] Josh Montesana. Um he's someone who's

[1:59:32] attempting to, if I'm not mistaken,

[1:59:34] Chris, you revitalize the uh the chamber

[1:59:37] in that area. So that's

[1:59:41] okay. Yeah. Um a couple things I have to

[1:59:43] say. First of all, um I know you call it

[1:59:46] rowing in the same direction. Um I'm a

[1:59:48] firm believer in in that I I always say

[1:59:52] get your arrows pointing in the same

[1:59:53] direction.

[1:59:54] » Everyone's arrows are pointing in a

[1:59:56] direction. And people have heard me say

[1:59:57] this before, but if you want to get

[1:59:59] something done, they all have to be

[2:00:00] pointing in the same direction. So that

[2:00:02] that I agree wholeheartedly with that. A

[2:00:05] [snorts] couple recommendations about

[2:00:07] industry. Um especially from the eastern

[2:00:10] portion of the county, the wine

[2:00:11] industry. That's something that that you

[2:00:13] might want to tap into.

[2:00:14] » Um also the hotel uh hotel motel

[2:00:18] restaurant management.

[2:00:20] » A thought there. Um, I love the idea of

[2:00:25] the first step is getting everyone in

[2:00:26] the same room and a shared space for

[2:00:29] decision making. So, I'm very very

[2:00:31] excited about that. And, um, I know

[2:00:34] there's a lot of different personalities

[2:00:35] and a lot of different thought

[2:00:37] processes, but getting them all in the

[2:00:39] same room and starting to turn those

[2:00:41] arrows

[2:00:42] » Or the ro or those ores rowing in the

[2:00:44] same direction. I know it's going to be

[2:00:46] a chore, but but uh like like I think

[2:00:49] someone stated, having everyone in the

[2:00:51] same in the same room at the same time,

[2:00:54] I think that's a step in the right

[2:00:56] direction. Um so, thank you. What great

[2:00:59] work. And lastly, and I say this in

[2:01:01] justest,

[2:01:02] um you know, talent leaving,

[2:01:06] still waiting for Dr. Diaz to come back

[2:01:08] home.

[2:01:12] [laughter]

[2:01:15] Well, Supervisor Fanning. Um, I will say

[2:01:18] although I've called Phoenix uh my me

[2:01:20] and my family called Phoenix home for

[2:01:21] almost 20 years, this is always home to

[2:01:23] me. Um, I'll be leaving here to have

[2:01:25] lunch with my mother uh who still lives

[2:01:27] in Rico. Um, I have so many family

[2:01:29] members who still live here who are who

[2:01:30] are buried here. Uh, this will always be

[2:01:32] home. And I think that's an important

[2:01:34] part to also talk about here. It didn't

[2:01:36] get mentioned much, but Santa Cruz

[2:01:37] County is part of a larger

[2:01:38] infrastructure in southern Arizona. Um

[2:01:40] um it's impossible to to put Santa Cruz

[2:01:43] County on an island uh devoid from

[2:01:45] talking about Puma County, from talking

[2:01:46] about Maricopa County um and and

[2:01:49] Interstate 19 on and interstate 10, soon

[2:01:52] to be Interstate 11. And so um I think

[2:01:55] uh one of the things I I really

[2:01:56] appreciate about my positionality here

[2:01:58] is the ability one to communicate to

[2:02:00] folks early in this project that there

[2:02:02] isn't just one Santa Cruz County. Uh

[2:02:04] there's so many different communities

[2:02:05] here and two the connectivity that does

[2:02:07] exist in other places. Uh, and so, uh,

[2:02:10] yeah, like I said, I will always

[2:02:11] consider this place home, even if my

[2:02:13] address is in a different

[2:02:15] » I know. I'm just giving you grief. And,

[2:02:16] you know, it's been said a couple times

[2:02:18] today, and I want to I want to, uh, draw

[2:02:20] everyone's attention to our our motto.

[2:02:23] Um, and thank you to Shannon and the

[2:02:25] folks that were responsible for that. It

[2:02:27] was mentioned by uh, Supervisor Mleta.

[2:02:29] It's been mentioned here. The place of

[2:02:31] amazing places. Santa Cruz County, the

[2:02:33] place of amazing places.

[2:02:35] » We also want to just give a special

[2:02:36] thanks to Chris Young. He has been an

[2:02:38] extraordinary champion working beside us

[2:02:41] and dealing with really complicated

[2:02:42] issues and how to get things scheduled

[2:02:43] and when we could come out and it's it's

[2:02:45] been a real joy to work with him and the

[2:02:48] county on this. It's been great.

[2:02:50] » Thank you gentlemen.

[2:02:51] » Just really so when it comes to talent

[2:02:56] returning like I heard that Lisa Favlla

[2:02:59] somebody that went to the high school

[2:03:00] with me she's returning after a lot of

[2:03:02] years she's going to work for N USD as a

[2:03:05] psychologist. So that's something good.

[2:03:07] Uh I already offer my help and

[2:03:09] everything. But I I I have another

[2:03:12] question. So I see a lot of like

[2:03:13] information, a lot of theory, a lot of

[2:03:15] concepts this space uh that we need to

[2:03:19] work together. So when it comes to like

[2:03:21] putting all this into practice, when do

[2:03:24] we expect to start seeing some of that

[2:03:26] and how what do you envision? How would

[2:03:28] that work all this information into like

[2:03:32] » So we're starting this month. Okay.

[2:03:35] » Essentially, so we're convening we're

[2:03:37] convening the champions group. They've

[2:03:38] all agreed to come together for an

[2:03:40] entire day to begin to sift through the

[2:03:42] plan and prioritize and we'll help them

[2:03:44] with that process to identify some

[2:03:46] initial some of the most important

[2:03:48] things we'll be able to identify some

[2:03:49] things that can get done this year. And

[2:03:51] we talked about that a lot yesterday.

[2:03:53] There's some things that just we should

[2:03:54] try and get some wins for the county and

[2:03:57] for people in the county right away

[2:03:58] while you're building towards

[2:03:59] recommendations that are three years out

[2:04:01] or seven years out that take longer to

[2:04:03] get to. If this doesn't move to action

[2:04:06] quickly, it'll it'll it'll stop. So the

[2:04:09] and the goal is for it to be very

[2:04:11] public, have a communication strategy

[2:04:13] that people know what's happening

[2:04:14] because one of the gaps we encounter is

[2:04:15] just an awareness gap. You know, adults

[2:04:18] don't know what's available for

[2:04:19] opportunities in many ways or they might

[2:04:21] know kind of vaguely, but they don't

[2:04:22] know how to get there. So how do we

[2:04:24] address if there's going to be a lot of

[2:04:26] retirements and customs and border

[2:04:27] patrol, how do we ensure that local

[2:04:29] residents are getting access to those

[2:04:31] jobs? because wouldn't you want local

[2:04:32] residents representing the culture of

[2:04:34] the community actually playing that role

[2:04:36] um on the border? So, it's going to be

[2:04:38] how quickly we can move. The most

[2:04:40] important thing will be not to try and

[2:04:41] do the top 100% of things all at the

[2:04:44] same time. So, to create some priorities

[2:04:46] right away. I'm sure there's going to be

[2:04:47] opportunities for Chris to come back and

[2:04:49] brief um all of you on sort of what's

[2:04:51] what's happening and how it's moving. Um

[2:04:53] but it has an implementation plan.

[2:04:56] Everything here is meant to move to

[2:04:57] action right away. So, that's that's our

[2:04:59] goal. And when you said that like for a

[2:05:02] lot of this to be transparent and people

[2:05:04] know like all this information is this

[2:05:06] the committee or the community overall

[2:05:10] like to know what's going on?

[2:05:11] » No, it's for everyone.

[2:05:12] » And how is that going to be shared with

[2:05:14] for example with the with the community

[2:05:16] besides like meetings like this?

[2:05:17] » So so it's important to understand that

[2:05:19] this is just the beginning of the

[2:05:22] process. Um, now that we have the plan

[2:05:24] that now that we have the the asset

[2:05:26] mapping, uh, this as mentioned up there,

[2:05:29] it's now going to go be seated in in

[2:05:32] Maya Donley County School

[2:05:33] Superintendent's office and she's

[2:05:36] already identified a staff member that

[2:05:37] can take on these additional

[2:05:38] responsibilities. Um, and so there will

[2:05:41] be a work plan once that once we have

[2:05:44] that first initial meeting in September.

[2:05:46] One of the subjects that will be talked

[2:05:47] about will be how do we make sure that

[2:05:49] the community knows what we're doing and

[2:05:51] and we're advertising and so that'll be

[2:05:53] part of the discussion at the end of the

[2:05:54] month. Um but also as you know Maya's

[2:05:57] office is out there in the public with

[2:05:59] the literacy bus with the different

[2:06:01] grants and programs that she already

[2:06:02] has. So it'll be a very transparent uh

[2:06:06] and publicized

[2:06:08] uh process that we're going to go

[2:06:10] through.

[2:06:10] » Okay. and less common. So the

[2:06:14] government, industry and education,

[2:06:15] those are the stakeholders who are on

[2:06:18] board right

[2:06:19] » Right now. Am I correct? So I would just

[2:06:22] recommend to try to include um

[2:06:23] nonprofits because we have a lot of

[2:06:25] them,

[2:06:25] » Right?

[2:06:26] » You know, like a lot of nonprofits that

[2:06:27] even some of them are here with us in

[2:06:29] this meeting. So

[2:06:30] » So one thing that if the the a couple

[2:06:33] slides before what you saw, you saw some

[2:06:34] arrows coming down from this this core

[2:06:38] group. And so you have things like child

[2:06:40] care, housing, as you guys already know,

[2:06:42] we're doing those studies. Um, so there

[2:06:44] will be a lot more to it than just that

[2:06:46] core, but that will be the core that

[2:06:47] meets probably monthly depending on how

[2:06:50] Maya wants to run it. But there'll be a

[2:06:52] lot that comes off of that. Uh, because

[2:06:54] as was mentioned in the presentation,

[2:06:56] you can't just provide training. You

[2:06:58] have to look at transportation, child

[2:07:00] care, housing, everything else. And then

[2:07:02] nonprofits are the ones who play a huge

[2:07:04] role in those activities.

[2:07:08] Good. Well, thank you for your

[2:07:09] presentation and thank you, Chris, too.

[2:07:12] » Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen.

[2:07:14] » Safe. Safe.

[2:07:15] » Mr. Chairman, members of the board, can

[2:07:17] I I have a question on on on the

[2:07:18] presentation. Would that be okay?

[2:07:20] » Yeah.

[2:07:20] » I know one of the slides mentioned um

[2:07:24] some some jobs that were looked at,

[2:07:26] multiple jobs, and some medium wages.

[2:07:28] And I I may have missed it, but were

[2:07:30] those medium wages uh at the local level

[2:07:33] or is that a national level on those?

[2:07:35] All the data all the data is Santa Cruz

[2:07:37] County. It is that Yeah. Yeah. that we

[2:07:38] pulled and that that that slide is

[2:07:40] important because it draws the dist a

[2:07:42] lot of times when you do training

[2:07:43] programs everyone's training for those

[2:07:45] entry level jobs only. It's important to

[2:07:46] understand what you know what jobs you

[2:07:48] can get with a high school diploma,

[2:07:49] which jobs require some additional

[2:07:51] training and which jobs require um a

[2:07:53] bachelor's degree and having that in

[2:07:56] front of you because if you're just

[2:07:57] building for an entry level job then

[2:07:59] you're not saying but then how does that

[2:08:00] person get from that job to the next to

[2:08:02] the next rung on the ladder? So, we're

[2:08:04] always talking about career pathways,

[2:08:05] occupational ladders, staff credentials,

[2:08:08] things like that. So, thank you.

[2:08:11] » Thank you again.

[2:08:14] Okay, at this time, we'll move to item

[2:08:16] G. I have a motion to exit regular

[2:08:19] session and move into flood control.

[2:08:21] » I move second.

[2:08:22] » It's been moved and seconded. Any

[2:08:24] further discussion? Hearing none, all

[2:08:27] those in favor, please signify by saying

[2:08:29] I.

[2:08:29] » I.

[2:08:30] » Motion carries unanimously. Allan, give

[2:08:32] us the news.

[2:08:33] » Yes, sir. Chairman Fanning, Supervisor

[2:08:37] Davis, Mera.

[2:08:40] Uh, this is the flood control district

[2:08:44] uh re report and it's going over u

[2:08:47] what's kind of been happening in August.

[2:08:49] Um, so we did finally get some more rain

[2:08:52] uh pretty much countywide, two inches on

[2:08:54] all gauges.

[2:08:56] Um we are still below um here in the

[2:09:00] Ngalas area uh where

[2:09:04] uh the average

[2:09:06] rainfall for the month of August is 4.43

[2:09:10] in we received uh approximately 3 in. Uh

[2:09:14] some outliers um Casablanca Road at uh

[2:09:19] the Highway 82 received over five inches

[2:09:22] of rain and then the town of Patagonia

[2:09:25] as well uh received a little bit more of

[2:09:27] three. Uh one thing I want to note is

[2:09:30] that we are um could be experiencing an

[2:09:33] uptick in monsoon uh moisture. Um and

[2:09:36] that's should be happening within the

[2:09:38] next few days. Uh there is a tropical

[2:09:40] storm uh Marie that's coming up the

[2:09:42] coast off of Baja and some there'll be

[2:09:45] some additional uh moisture that is

[2:09:47] going to be invected into the area. So

[2:09:49] we should expect an uptick in some of

[2:09:50] the storms. Of course we don't know

[2:09:52] where they're going to be. They're going

[2:09:54] to probably be intense because most of

[2:09:56] the storms nowadays are intense in in in

[2:09:59] uh we have straight line winds, tornatic

[2:10:01] type of uh storms that have been

[2:10:03] happening in in August. Um so that's the

[2:10:07] rainfall. Uh uh moving on to flood plane

[2:10:10] management. Um the district received 227

[2:10:14] flood reviews in August. 199 of them

[2:10:17] were in Santa Cruz County. 27 in Ogalas

[2:10:20] and one in Patagonia. We received uh 10

[2:10:23] flood plane use permit applications.

[2:10:26] Seven in Santa Cruz County and three in

[2:10:28] Ngalas.

[2:10:30] Not site reviews and uh we had a a few

[2:10:34] drainage complaints. So moving on to

[2:10:38] projects. Uh first is the Ephrom Canyon

[2:10:41] project which is u mainly a retention

[2:10:44] detention uh project that's happening

[2:10:46] off of Ephrom Canyon. Um, we have been

[2:10:50] looking for some grant opportunities and

[2:10:54] our engineering contractor, Soliss

[2:10:56] Engineering has applied for grant monies

[2:10:59] from two FEMA grant programs, flood

[2:11:01] mitigation assistance and building

[2:11:03] resilient infrastructure and communities

[2:11:05] and that happened last month.

[2:11:08] Moving on to Patagonia Regional Flood

[2:11:10] Control uh project and that's um

[2:11:13] something that's coming out of our

[2:11:15] community agreement with South 32. Um we

[2:11:19] had our second phase uh kickoff meeting

[2:11:22] yesterday with our consultants and u we

[2:11:26] have some pretty high tone consultants

[2:11:28] have been doing some amazing work in the

[2:11:31] uh town of Patagonia to try to resolve

[2:11:33] some of the flood plane excuse me some

[2:11:35] of the flooding issues that we have in

[2:11:36] the town. Uh the first phase uh happened

[2:11:39] yesterday. Uh we all got together to

[2:11:42] discuss some of the alternatives. Some

[2:11:44] of the alternatives in Patagonia being

[2:11:46] uh retention detention, multiuse

[2:11:48] retention detention that would look at

[2:11:50] parks and things like that. Um we were

[2:11:53] we looked at some storm drain designs.

[2:11:57] Um we're looking uh to uh perhaps work

[2:12:00] with the Nature Conservancy on doing

[2:12:02] some watershed restoration and some

[2:12:04] restoration of Cenoida Creek just

[2:12:06] immediately upstream of Patagonia. Um

[2:12:10] there's some modeling that was um

[2:12:13] presented during to during the meeting.

[2:12:15] It was a you know very high tone type

[2:12:17] modeling uh 2D type modeling with flow

[2:12:20] vectors so we could see where all the

[2:12:22] excess water is going through the two

[2:12:24] year the 10 year the 100year events uh

[2:12:27] those sort of things um and one of the

[2:12:29] main places that we identified for you

[2:12:32] know maybe perhaps um a project is the

[2:12:34] bridge there it's um

[2:12:37] highway 82 right there in Patagonia so

[2:12:40] that bridge is kind of constricting flow

[2:12:42] right there and some of it's going over

[2:12:43] the top u river Right. Um so

[2:12:48] the next steps there will be a public

[2:12:51] meeting um and that should happen

[2:12:53] sometime in October and then it'll be at

[2:12:56] the uh um

[2:12:59] uh town's

[2:13:01] um

[2:13:03] » Town office there. Yeah.

[2:13:05] So that's what we got going forward. Uh

[2:13:08] moving on to Monte Carlo. Monte Carlo is

[2:13:11] a subdivision that's been uh built uh

[2:13:14] designed in 1974.

[2:13:16] Uh circa uh final report submitted um

[2:13:20] 8626 waiting for final acknowledgement

[2:13:23] and approval from the uh from the

[2:13:25] county. So it's it's on our desk. We're

[2:13:27] reviewing it. Um

[2:13:30] three individual private floodgate

[2:13:31] designs have been identified for for

[2:13:34] individual people. Uh what we're looking

[2:13:36] at is trying to provide some floodgates

[2:13:39] that are for folks that are receiving u

[2:13:43] flooding from the street uh that's been

[2:13:45] exasperated by folks driving down the

[2:13:49] road. These uh private individuals have

[2:13:53] a home that's built below the road in

[2:13:55] their driveway and so they're

[2:13:58] [clears throat] getting water that's

[2:13:59] flowing into their into their properties

[2:14:01] right there. So we looked at three

[2:14:03] different designs. One is pretty high

[2:14:04] tone. Um, an automatic floodgate. Uh, we

[2:14:08] looked at a different one that I

[2:14:09] described last time that was an aluminum

[2:14:12] type floodgate that can be constructed.

[2:14:15] And then also now we're looking at a a

[2:14:18] high-grade plastic type of floodgate

[2:14:21] that can be snapped together. So, we're

[2:14:24] looking at those three different

[2:14:25] options. [clears throat] We're looking

[2:14:26] to do a demonstration project for a

[2:14:29] couple of different uh individuals there

[2:14:31] in Monte Carlo. And the idea is that we

[2:14:34] would create a a policy and process that

[2:14:37] folks could apply um and and get these

[2:14:40] floodgates. And so that's kind of where

[2:14:42] we're going forward. Um on a more

[2:14:45] tactical level, uh Monte Carlo, uh we

[2:14:49] did receive our uh new phase 2 report uh

[2:14:53] from CMG. And again, you know, we're

[2:14:56] looking at very high tone type of

[2:14:58] modeling that's basically identifying

[2:15:00] areas of breakout within some of the

[2:15:02] drainage channels within the

[2:15:04] subdivision. And now we're going to a

[2:15:08] design phase uh where u there'll be a

[2:15:11] design layout. And that layout will look

[2:15:14] at um different areas where we might

[2:15:16] have to have acquisition and easements

[2:15:18] and rightaways as far as putting in some

[2:15:20] new flood control structures. Some of

[2:15:22] the new structures could be channels,

[2:15:24] could be some bank protection, uh that

[2:15:27] sort of thing. Um,

[2:15:29] another thing that was identified within

[2:15:31] the report is looking [clears throat] at

[2:15:34] uh three

[2:15:35] retention detention uh basins that are

[2:15:38] immediately upstream of the subdivision

[2:15:41] um and making sure that those are

[2:15:43] maintained on a regular basis, annual

[2:15:45] basis. And also looking at the main

[2:15:48] Monte Carlo basin uh which uh has

[2:15:53] received quite a bit of sediment and

[2:15:54] that sediment is redirecting some of the

[2:15:57] flow within the basin. So, um we're

[2:16:00] looking at having somebody to go in

[2:16:02] there and remove some of the sediment

[2:16:03] and and also making sure that that basin

[2:16:06] is, you know, uh function as it should.

[2:16:10] Um so, there's that. And also one of the

[2:16:13] other recommendations was that on an

[2:16:16] annual basis and after storm events to

[2:16:19] um do some inspections of some of these

[2:16:21] basins and the uh different drainage

[2:16:24] channels and things like that. So going

[2:16:26] forward um like I said I think the next

[2:16:30] uh phase is going to be a design phase

[2:16:32] where we're actually going to see where

[2:16:34] these potential flood control projects

[2:16:36] can happen within the subdivision and

[2:16:39] then at that point identify what kind of

[2:16:41] acquisition and then uh look for

[2:16:44] additional funding as far as taking care

[2:16:46] of some of the flood control projects in

[2:16:48] that area.

[2:16:51] So

[2:16:52] that's it for my presentation. Um the

[2:16:56] town of Patagonia is going to have a

[2:16:58] flood and flow meeting here coming up

[2:17:00] this month and so we'll have something

[2:17:01] from them. Um oh I there is one that I

[2:17:04] forgot was the Ngalas uh wash. So,

[2:17:07] Ngalas Wash um we have received

[2:17:11] um the incident report from our uh

[2:17:14] consultant. Um and so that incident

[2:17:17] report has been [clears throat]

[2:17:19] submitted and we also have a rainfall

[2:17:21] analysis of that particular storm so we

[2:17:23] could kind of understand

[2:17:25] um you know why that storm happened and

[2:17:28] why we had the flows we did. And so we

[2:17:30] have a pretty good understanding of of

[2:17:32] what to expect in the future. And um

[2:17:35] this sort of storm is something that we

[2:17:37] could probably um have on a uh every

[2:17:41] other year uh interval. So two-year

[2:17:45] event, something that you know heavy

[2:17:48] monsoon type watershed wide type of

[2:17:51] storm will create the kind of flows that

[2:17:53] we saw within uh Sonora and also which

[2:17:57] ends up down the Ngalas Wash. So

[2:18:00] something we could maybe plan for in the

[2:18:02] future.

[2:18:04] That's it. Did you have any questions?

[2:18:08] » Sure.

[2:18:09] » Thanks for your update, Alens.

[2:18:10] » Yes, sir.

[2:18:11] » When it comes to the demonstration

[2:18:13] project in in Monte Monte Carlo with

[2:18:15] those two or three families, do we have

[2:18:17] a date for that?

[2:18:21] » No, sir.

[2:18:21] » No, no. I' I've been given the green

[2:18:24] light to purchase the the structures.

[2:18:27] So, whenever you want me to do that, I

[2:18:29] can. Uh we need to reach out to those

[2:18:31] folks

[2:18:32] » To make that's what they want sort of

[2:18:34] thing.

[2:18:35] » Yes. At least let's let's talk to them

[2:18:36] to to make sure if that's the way they

[2:18:38] want to go.

[2:18:39] » Yeah, absolutely.

[2:18:40] » So we can move forward

[2:18:41] » And moving forward with that and then

[2:18:43] also also moving forward with this this

[2:18:45] project that that we're working on too.

[2:18:48] » Thank you.

[2:18:48] » Yes, sir.

[2:18:49] » Thank you.

[2:18:50] » I I have a question on the effort

[2:18:53] project.

[2:18:54] » Okay.

[2:18:54] » You know, you said Caliss uh applied for

[2:18:57] some grants. How much money do we

[2:19:00] realistically need to

[2:19:02] begin that project because I know it's

[2:19:05] been on hold. I thought it was like 80

[2:19:08] 80 million, right?

[2:19:10] » Mr. Chair, members of the original cost

[2:19:13] estimate came in around 80 $80 million

[2:19:17] [clears throat] because of

[2:19:19] the submitt for the grant uh and the

[2:19:22] scope of the of the work that was going

[2:19:24] to be conducted

[2:19:26] essentially that BM that we were going

[2:19:27] to construct was deemed as

[2:19:29] jurisdictional dam. So that's what it

[2:19:33] needed to be a pump. It had a lot of

[2:19:35] requirements. Since then, we we've

[2:19:37] revised the scope and and and looked at

[2:19:39] a an offline basin. Um

[2:19:44] that

[2:19:46] would do would reach the similar

[2:19:47] results. That's closer to a 2530 $30

[2:19:51] million

[2:19:53] project. Mr. Mayor, good question. Go

[2:19:56] ahead. No,

[2:19:56] » No, finish. I'm sorry.

[2:19:59] » These grants that were

[2:20:01] that we're applying um

[2:20:04] have the potential to if we're

[2:20:06] successful to bring in about $10 million

[2:20:09] » And and we already have 10 for that

[2:20:12] project.

[2:20:14] » Initially we had $12 million in that

[2:20:16] project.

[2:20:17] » We would need like maybe like three

[2:20:18] more. Well, the period of performance is

[2:20:22] about to end for for the resilient

[2:20:25] community and it's because we had to

[2:20:27] change gears with with uh what we were

[2:20:32] trying to construct. So, at this point,

[2:20:34] we're not going to hit the we're not

[2:20:37] going to be able to complete the project

[2:20:39] before the period of performance. So,

[2:20:42] that's why we're applying for a

[2:20:43] different grants.

[2:20:46] » Thank you. Thank you, Ellen. I I you me

[2:20:49] you at the very end of your discussion

[2:20:51] you talked about future expectation by

[2:20:54] looking at to see what happened um you

[2:20:57] know in uh that the last rain that

[2:20:59] created what it did create with the wash

[2:21:01] and so forth in Mexico and in the United

[2:21:04] States.

[2:21:04] » You also mentioned we have an upcoming

[2:21:06] storm activity.

[2:21:09] » Do you see them similar power?

[2:21:13] [clears throat]

[2:21:13] » It's it's a it's a degrading tropical

[2:21:15] storm. So there could be rainbands

[2:21:17] coming across

[2:21:18] » Okay

[2:21:18] » The state which would be um have the

[2:21:21] potential of having you know as much as

[2:21:23] seven inches of rain falling. However I

[2:21:26] don't think that's what's going to

[2:21:26] happen. Okay. It's more of an ad vection

[2:21:29] of the of moisture coming from that

[2:21:31] particular storm. So and in in in when

[2:21:34] that kind of scenario sets up it's going

[2:21:36] to be on an individual basis of you know

[2:21:39] where this is where these storms going

[2:21:40] to happen. So wherever the you know you

[2:21:43] know wherever the the proper dynamics

[2:21:45] are happening then there's going to be

[2:21:46] more moisture um in order to feed those

[2:21:49] sort of storms. So it's it's going to be

[2:21:51] really hard to predict where exactly

[2:21:52] it's going to happen until you can kind

[2:21:54] of see it happening so to speak. But but

[2:21:57] I just wanted to mention that um that

[2:21:59] you know that's that's what's coming

[2:22:01] across my desk right now.

[2:22:03] » Wonderful.

[2:22:03] » So I I don't think it's like all hands

[2:22:05] on deck or something. just just that

[2:22:07] more more of a an observation of of to

[2:22:10] uh try to educate everybody on what some

[2:22:13] of the monsoon storms are like and what

[2:22:15] what drives them.

[2:22:17] » Gotcha. Thank you. Any uh number four,

[2:22:20] any public comment?

[2:22:24] » Thank you, sir.

[2:22:25] » Yes, sir.

[2:22:27] » Okay. Uh with that, um do I have a

[2:22:30] motion to reconvene into regular

[2:22:32] session?

[2:22:32] » Move to second.

[2:22:34] » Move to adjourn.

[2:22:36] flood control and move into general

[2:22:39] session.

[2:22:41] » Second.

[2:22:42] » Okay, we have a motion to second. Any

[2:22:43] further discussion? Hearing none. All

[2:22:45] those in favor, please signify by saying

[2:22:47] I.

[2:22:47] » I. Motion carries unanimously.

[2:22:50] » Okay, we're going to move to H action

[2:22:51] items. I'm going to go to number six

[2:22:54] under consent agenda first. That was

[2:22:57] discussed at the beginning of our

[2:22:59] meeting to move into action items. Um so

[2:23:02] with that number six discuss discussion

[2:23:04] possible action to improve proposal with

[2:23:07] Wilder Landscape Architects to document

[2:23:10] uh landscape related impacts from border

[2:23:13] wall construction in the loil area in

[2:23:15] the amount of 8,680

[2:23:18] including authorized reimburseable

[2:23:20] expenses. Do I have a motion?

[2:23:23] » Move second.

[2:23:24] » It's been moved and seconded. Discussion

[2:23:28] Mr. Manager.

[2:23:29] » Mr. Um this is an attempt from the

[2:23:31] county to look at the repairing area

[2:23:34] that's in the loil area. Um it's poss

[2:23:37] it's about a half mile that we're going

[2:23:40] to monitor. So what the goal is to

[2:23:42] inventory everything exit the existing

[2:23:45] conditions that we see now and see if

[2:23:48] because of the wall and

[2:23:50] um see if if they deteriorate uh dur

[2:23:55] through the year. So we're going to

[2:23:56] monitor this if if we show

[2:24:00] We're going to use this as as almost a

[2:24:02] pilot project to understand what's

[2:24:03] really happening. Um if we see that uh

[2:24:07] if we're seeing much deterioration or

[2:24:10] the the repairing area, you know, not

[2:24:15] the the trees and the vegetations and

[2:24:17] and also the wildlife not flourishing

[2:24:21] the way we were used to because this is

[2:24:22] the wall is the first time we ever, you

[2:24:24] know, it's been a barrier in that area.

[2:24:26] So, we're going to just monitor it. Um

[2:24:28] there's different techniques that the

[2:24:30] welder will use to monitor that and

[2:24:32] we'll do it on a yearly basis to uh to

[2:24:35] see what impacts that wall had on that

[2:24:38] area. Um our goal is to if there is

[2:24:41] impacts is to go after um

[2:24:43] [clears throat]

[2:24:44] grant money um and sit with our

[2:24:47] delegation see what we could do to

[2:24:49] mitigate all the any impact that have

[2:24:51] occurred because of the of the port

[2:24:53] hole.

[2:24:56] » Wonderful. Thank you sir. And there's

[2:24:58] some beautiful trees there. I mean,

[2:25:01] really old trees. Uh, and initially

[2:25:05] that's where Santa Cruz crosses to

[2:25:07] Mexico, right? Right in that area.

[2:25:10] » That was Yeah, you're correct, Mr. uh,

[2:25:13] members of the board, uh, that was a

[2:25:15] port of entry at one point.

[2:25:18] » The Santa Cruz River actually crosses

[2:25:22] into Mexico there, right?

[2:25:26] the rivers outside uh the the area we're

[2:25:29] going to monitor but not by much.

[2:25:33] » Sir

[2:25:33] » And Mr. chair and board the as a

[2:25:36] technical measure. Uh we recommend that

[2:25:39] there be a contract with Wilder. Uh and

[2:25:42] so if the board well the procurement

[2:25:44] policy that the board has already

[2:25:47] approved a couple of years ago uh allows

[2:25:49] for uh I think county management or the

[2:25:53] finance director to sign a contract. It

[2:25:56] would be helpful if the uh board

[2:25:59] authorizes

[2:26:01] county management to sign any contract

[2:26:03] with Wilder.

[2:26:06] » Thank you.

[2:26:07] » Any further discussion?

[2:26:09] » No, I just want to thank um county

[2:26:10] management for uh taking this proactive

[2:26:13] initiative and document that area on the

[2:26:16] east side and document it right now and

[2:26:19] the impacts it's going to have for

[2:26:21] building that fence, the border wall.

[2:26:24] And like you say, like maybe in the

[2:26:25] future hopefully like we're going to

[2:26:26] have that documentation and if we need

[2:26:28] to apply or make a case on on the on

[2:26:32] what happened there, we would have that

[2:26:33] information. So it's good to to be be

[2:26:37] proactive.

[2:26:39] » I concur.

[2:26:40] » Mr. Chair,

[2:26:42] » Bob, do we need to amend the the motion

[2:26:45] or are we good with it?

[2:26:48] The motion as it is certainly is to uh

[2:26:52] accept the proposal and that's fine. But

[2:26:55] yes, I think uh supervisor it would be

[2:26:59] helpful if the board further authorizes

[2:27:02] the county management to sign uh on

[2:27:05] behalf of the county the any contract

[2:27:07] with Wilder and then you

[2:27:10] » Yeah, just just a friendly amendment,

[2:27:13] Mr. Chair, to my motion. Move to approve

[2:27:17] uh allowing uh staff a county manager to

[2:27:22] sign.

[2:27:25] » Second.

[2:27:26] » Okay. Any further discussion?

[2:27:30] » Move forward with the vote. All those in

[2:27:31] favor, please signify by saying I.

[2:27:33] » I.

[2:27:34] » Motion carries unanimously. Thank you

[2:27:36] for uh recommending to take that off a

[2:27:38] consent agenda. I think it's incredibly

[2:27:40] important. With that, we'll move back up

[2:27:42] to H. Um action items. Number one,

[2:27:46] discussion possible action to approve

[2:27:48] and adopt proclamation declaring a

[2:27:51] September 2026 as suicide prevention

[2:27:53] awareness month throughout Santa Cruz

[2:27:55] County. Vice Chair.

[2:27:59] Okay.

[2:28:00] » Oh, wait a minute. Um, do I have a

[2:28:02] motion?

[2:28:03] » I move.

[2:28:04] » I'll second.

[2:28:06] » Okay, it's been moved and seconded. At

[2:28:09] this time, this will be considered

[2:28:11] discussion.

[2:28:12] » So, I'm going to read the the

[2:28:13] proclamation, right?

[2:28:16] Proclamation September 2026 suicide

[2:28:19] prevention awareness month. Whereas

[2:28:22] suicide is a serious public health

[2:28:24] concern that affects individuals,

[2:28:26] families, friends, workplaces, schools,

[2:28:29] and communities throughout Santa Cruz

[2:28:30] County. And its impact reaches people

[2:28:33] all ages and backgrounds. And whereas

[2:28:36] mental health challenges, substance use,

[2:28:39] isolation, trauma, significant life

[2:28:42] changes, and other circumstances may

[2:28:44] increase vulnerability, making

[2:28:46] prevention, early identification,

[2:28:48] intervention, and timely access to

[2:28:51] appropriate support critically

[2:28:53] important. And whereas rural and border

[2:28:56] communities may experience unique

[2:28:58] barriers to accessing behavioral health

[2:29:01] services including transportation,

[2:29:04] providing a availability, financial

[2:29:07] limitation, stigma, and lack of

[2:29:08] awareness about available sources. And

[2:29:11] whereas suicide prevention requires

[2:29:14] collaboration among healthc care and

[2:29:16] behavioral health providers, schools for

[2:29:20] first responders, law enforcement,

[2:29:22] courts, government agencies, nonprofit

[2:29:24] organizations, families, community

[2:29:27] leaders, and residents. And whereas

[2:29:30] increasing awareness of suicide warning

[2:29:32] signs and available resources encourage

[2:29:35] individuals to seek help and creating

[2:29:38] supportive environments where

[2:29:39] conversations about mental health can

[2:29:42] occur without shame or judgment can help

[2:29:45] save lives. And whereas Santa Cruz

[2:29:48] County recognizes the dedication of

[2:29:49] behavioral health professionals, health

[2:29:52] care providers, first responders,

[2:29:55] educators, law enforcement, social

[2:29:57] service agencies, community

[2:29:59] organizations, families, and families

[2:30:02] affected by suicide. And whereas every

[2:30:06] resident in Santa Cruz County can

[2:30:08] contribute to suicide prevention by

[2:30:10] promoting connection, compassion,

[2:30:13] understanding, and hope. and by helping

[2:30:15] individuals experiencing emotional

[2:30:17] distress connect with appropriate

[2:30:19] resources and support. And

[2:30:23] whereas proactive parents who raise

[2:30:26] safety concerns in family court deserves

[2:30:29] to be heard on the evidence rather than

[2:30:32] dismissed. And children deserve to be

[2:30:35] believed. And whereas suicide prevention

[2:30:38] awareness month provides an important

[2:30:40] opportunity to educate our community,

[2:30:42] reduce stigma, strengthen partnership,

[2:30:44] promote prevention and early

[2:30:46] intervention, and reaffirm that suicide

[2:30:49] prevention is a responsibility shared

[2:30:52] throughout our community. Now,

[2:30:54] therefore, be it proclaimed that Santa

[2:30:57] Cruz County Board of Supervisors hereby

[2:30:59] recognizes the month of September 2026

[2:31:02] as suicide prevention awareness month

[2:31:05] throughout Santa Cruz County, Arizona,

[2:31:07] and encourages all residents,

[2:31:09] businesses, schools, healthc care

[2:31:11] providers, government agencies,

[2:31:13] nonprofit organizations, faith and

[2:31:15] community organizations, and other

[2:31:17] community partners to participate in

[2:31:19] suicide prevention awareness efforts.

[2:31:22] Learn to recognize warning signs,

[2:31:24] promote available resources, support

[2:31:26] individuals and families who may be

[2:31:28] struggling, and work together to build a

[2:31:31] community rooted in hope, connection,

[2:31:34] compassion, and resilience. Pass and

[2:31:37] adopted this second day of September,

[2:31:39] 2026.

[2:31:41] » Thank you, sir.

[2:31:44] Okay, we'll move to uh the vote. All

[2:31:46] those in favor, please signify by saying

[2:31:48] I.

[2:31:48] » I.

[2:31:49] » Motion carries unanimously. Thank you,

[2:31:51] sir. Item B, September 14th through

[2:31:55] September 20th, 2026 as National Diaper

[2:31:57] Need a Awareness Week. And I'll ask uh

[2:32:01] Supervisor Metta, if you could please

[2:32:02] read that proclamation.

[2:32:03] » Honored, Mr. Chair.

[2:32:04] » Prior to do I have a motion to accept

[2:32:08] and move.

[2:32:09] » Okay, it's been moved and seconded.

[2:32:11] » Um, go ahead.

[2:32:13] » Okay. Thank you, sir. In the irony

[2:32:16] because I'm having issues in my district

[2:32:20] with someone throwing diapers on the

[2:32:23] frontage road right before right in

[2:32:25] front of Calabas's school. I I had a

[2:32:30] a text this Sunday where someone

[2:32:33] saw a bunch of diapers thrown in the

[2:32:37] middle of the street and this has

[2:32:38] happened quite a few times in the last

[2:32:41] year. We're hoping to maybe set up some

[2:32:44] cameras or something to see if we can

[2:32:46] catch this person unfortunately.

[2:32:50] So the proclamation is diaper need

[2:32:54] awareness week September 14th through

[2:32:56] September 20th 2026. Whereas diaper need

[2:32:59] the the condition of not being able to

[2:33:02] afford a sufficient supply of clean

[2:33:05] diapers to keep babies and toddlers

[2:33:07] clean, dry, and healthy can adversely

[2:33:11] affect the health and well-being of

[2:33:12] children and their families. And whereas

[2:33:16] national surveys and and research

[2:33:18] studies reported that nearly one in two

[2:33:21] families struggles with diaper need and

[2:33:24] 48% of families delay changing a diaper

[2:33:27] to extend the availability of supply.

[2:33:30] And whereas a daily or weekly supply of

[2:33:33] diapers is greatly and eligibly uh

[2:33:37] required for babies and toddlers to

[2:33:40] participate in child care programs and

[2:33:43] quality early education programs that

[2:33:46] enable children to thrive and parents to

[2:33:49] work. hand. Whereas many parents

[2:33:52] struggling with diapers need report

[2:33:54] missing an average of five of

[2:33:59] of work each I'm sorry an average of

[2:34:03] five days of work each month due to the

[2:34:06] insufficient supply of diapers and

[2:34:08] whereas without enough diapers

[2:34:12] babies and toddlers risk infection and

[2:34:15] health problems that they may require

[2:34:17] medical attention resulting in medical

[2:34:20] costs and parents may be prevented and

[2:34:24] access from accessing child care need to

[2:34:28] go to work or school nearby

[2:34:32] destabilizing the family's economic

[2:34:35] prospects and well-being. And whereas

[2:34:38] the people of Santa Cruz County

[2:34:39] recognize that diaper need is a public

[2:34:42] health issue and addressing diaper need

[2:34:45] can lead econ to economic opportunity

[2:34:48] for states families and communities and

[2:34:52] improved health for children. Thus

[2:34:55] ensuring all children and families have

[2:34:58] access to the basic necessities required

[2:35:02] to thrive and reach their full

[2:35:04] potential. And whereas Santa Cruz County

[2:35:07] is proud to be home to trusted

[2:35:10] community-based organizations, including

[2:35:13] that recognize the importance of diaper

[2:35:16] and ensuring uh health and providing

[2:35:20] economic stability for families and thus

[2:35:24] distur

[2:35:26] I'm sorry distribute

[2:35:29] diapers to families through various

[2:35:31] channels and whereas through their

[2:35:34] important work of addressing diaper

[2:35:36] need. Diaper banks play a critical role

[2:35:39] in supporting families, improving infant

[2:35:42] health and well-being, and advising our

[2:35:45] local and state economic growth. Now,

[2:35:48] therefore, the board of supervisors,

[2:35:51] Santa Cruz County, do hereby proclaim

[2:35:53] the week of September 14th through

[2:35:57] September 20th, 2026 as National Diaper

[2:36:01] Need Awareness Week.

[2:36:03] and passed and adopted this second day

[2:36:07] of September 2026. The chairman John

[2:36:10] Fanning, Vice Chairman Luc Carlos Davis,

[2:36:12] and yours truly.

[2:36:15] » Thank you,

[2:36:17] » Mr. Young.

[2:36:20] » I just wonder if we could take a picture

[2:36:21] uh with the for the proclamation with

[2:36:24] the group.

[2:36:25] » And I don't know if they I don't know if

[2:36:26] you guys would want to say something. I

[2:36:28] don't know if that's possible.

[2:36:30] Miss Molina,

[2:36:32] » There's circle

[2:36:33] » Put on the spot

[2:36:36] » If anyone would like to uh come up and

[2:36:38] » Thank you for what you do, by the way.

[2:36:40] We really appreciate it.

[2:36:46] » So, good morning to everyone. Um, we've

[2:36:49] we've all been waiting patiently for

[2:36:51] this and thank you so much for allowing

[2:36:53] us to to be here. So, Patty Molina with

[2:36:55] Maroposa Community Health Center. Uh

[2:36:57] suicide awareness month is a really

[2:36:59] important month for people to be aware

[2:37:01] of and to understand that there are

[2:37:03] resources out there for people to get

[2:37:04] and that we need to dismiss the stigma

[2:37:07] that a lot of people have because it's

[2:37:09] important to get the help and you need

[2:37:12] to uh take care of yourself in all

[2:37:15] levels of whatever profession you're in.

[2:37:16] And so there's really significant um

[2:37:19] impacts that this month has for a lot of

[2:37:22] different people and their families who

[2:37:24] have gone through this. So, we're

[2:37:26] creating an awareness for the entire

[2:37:28] month and we're going to have different

[2:37:29] activities throughout the month that we

[2:37:31] hope that the community will join us

[2:37:33] for. They'll all be posted on social

[2:37:35] media. Just to name one in particular,

[2:37:37] we are going to have uh a table at the

[2:37:40] national um night out, right? That's

[2:37:42] what it's called. Uh at the park and

[2:37:45] then we'll also have a walk on the 16th

[2:37:48] starting at 8 a.m. from city hall down

[2:37:50] to the border and back if you'd like to

[2:37:52] join us as well for that. So, thank you

[2:37:54] so much.

[2:37:55] » Wonderful. If we could have uh Yeah,

[2:37:58] let's

[2:38:01] Thank you. If we could take a picture at

[2:38:03] this time, if you'd like to come on up,

[2:38:04] that would be greatly appreciated.

[2:38:12] » You bet.

[2:38:31] Of

[2:38:44] course.

[2:38:49] » Turn sideways.

[2:39:05] » [applause]

[2:39:10] » Does anybody wants to say something

[2:39:11] else? Add something else.

[2:39:14] It would be good when you have the

[2:39:16] flyers or anybody like share it with us

[2:39:18] so we can see if we can share it through

[2:39:19] through Shannon

[2:39:21] to promote those events.

[2:39:23] » Yeah. Um I'm happy to share them. Okay.

[2:39:26] Thank you.

[2:39:27] » And thank you for all that you do,

[2:39:28] folks.

[2:39:28] » Yeah.

[2:39:29] » But I do I think it's important to

[2:39:30] acknowledge that the members that are

[2:39:32] here with us, Service of Peace, CAC, and

[2:39:34] Kodak.

[2:39:35] » Hi, come over here.

[2:39:36] » Kodak. Yes.

[2:39:37] » You could all introduce yourselves.

[2:39:39] » Yeah. Don't don't be shy.

[2:39:42] » You do great things for our community.

[2:39:47] » Good morning. I'm Aaron Soul. I'm a

[2:39:49] community health worker for CEKC, which

[2:39:50] is Southeast Arizona Health Education

[2:39:53] Center.

[2:39:54] » Thank you. Hello everybody. My name is

[2:39:56] Lupita Gonzalez, certified community

[2:39:58] health worker also for CEK.

[2:40:01] » Good morning. Felix, certified community

[2:40:03] health worker for CEK.

[2:40:06] » My name is Alberto Daso. I'm a counselor

[2:40:08] and case manager for Kodak, a behavioral

[2:40:10] health agency.

[2:40:12] » Thank you.

[2:40:15] » I'm also representing Blanca Costa

[2:40:17] Circles of Peace. Thank you so much for

[2:40:18] this opportunity. This may be routine

[2:40:20] for all of you, but it's something very

[2:40:22] special, something we look forward to as

[2:40:24] an alliance. Thank you.

[2:40:30] » Thank you. Thank you everyone.

[2:40:32] » No, thanks again for all your work.

[2:40:35] » Thank you.

[2:40:37] [applause]

[2:40:39] » Okay, with that we'll take go to vote.

[2:40:42] All those in favor, please signify by

[2:40:43] saying I.

[2:40:44] » I. I.

[2:40:45] » Motion carries unanimously.

[2:40:47] » Okay. Lastly, um, under this portion,

[2:40:50] uh, 1 C, uh, do I have a motion to

[2:40:54] approve September 18th, 2026 as Rotary

[2:40:57] International District 5500 day?

[2:41:00] » I move.

[2:41:01] » No,

[2:41:03] » Then I will second it.

[2:41:05] » Just kidding. I'll second. [laughter]

[2:41:08] » All right, it's moved to second it. It's

[2:41:11] going to be a two-1 vote

[2:41:14] and I will go ahead and read it under uh

[2:41:18] comments. Whereas Rotary International

[2:41:20] is an international service organization

[2:41:22] comprising 46,000 clubs in more than 200

[2:41:25] nations with 1.2 million individual

[2:41:28] members providing approximately 47

[2:41:31] million volunteer hours each year and

[2:41:33] whose stated purpose is to bring

[2:41:35] together business, professional, and

[2:41:37] community leaders to provide

[2:41:38] humanitarian service. In addition, the

[2:41:41] Rotary Foundation helps Rotary members

[2:41:43] to advance world understanding,

[2:41:45] goodwill, and peace by improving health,

[2:41:48] providing quality education, improving

[2:41:49] the environment, and alleviating

[2:41:52] alleviating poverty. And whereas Rotary

[2:41:55] International District 5500 has been

[2:41:57] created within this larger international

[2:41:59] organization to encourage and foster the

[2:42:02] ideal of service as a basis of worthy

[2:42:05] enterprise with more than 50 Rotary

[2:42:07] clubs and approximately 1,400 members in

[2:42:10] southern Arizona working together in

[2:42:12] community to be of greater service to

[2:42:14] those in need throughout southern

[2:42:15] Arizona. hand. Whereas district 5,500

[2:42:19] have joined together to bring Rotarians,

[2:42:21] Rotary youth, and other others to a

[2:42:24] district conference at the Tubback Golf

[2:42:25] Resort and Spa on September 18th and 19,

[2:42:28] 2026 to share ideas and initiatives for

[2:42:31] local and global service projects and to

[2:42:34] build greater awareness of the services

[2:42:36] that Rotary provides. And whereas

[2:42:38] District 5500 fosters high ethical

[2:42:41] standards in all aspects of personal,

[2:42:43] professional, and community life. And

[2:42:45] whereas district 5500 part of a global

[2:42:48] network values diversity and celebrates

[2:42:50] the contributions of people of all

[2:42:52] backgrounds regardless of their age,

[2:42:54] ethnicity, race, color abilities,

[2:42:57] religion, socioeconomic status, culture.

[2:43:00] hand. Whereas Rotarians have been

[2:43:03] anticipating gathering in person to

[2:43:05] educate, inspire, and engage one another

[2:43:08] on topics relevant to the southern

[2:43:09] Arizona communities they serve and enjoy

[2:43:12] learning from one another across varied

[2:43:14] types of collaborations. hand. Whereas

[2:43:17] the district 5500 conference offers

[2:43:19] Rotarians, Rotary youth, and others to

[2:43:22] chance to a chance to grow together

[2:43:24] through the shared goals of enhancing

[2:43:26] mutual collaborations on international,

[2:43:28] regional, and local humanitarian efforts

[2:43:31] as well as exposing the wider world of

[2:43:33] Rotary to Rotarians interested in

[2:43:36] providing leadership for Rotary's

[2:43:38] efforts in the future. Now, therefore,

[2:43:41] the board of supervisors of Santa Cruz

[2:43:43] County, Arizona, does hereby proclaim

[2:43:45] September 18th, 2026 as Rotary

[2:43:48] International District 5500 day in

[2:43:51] Tubac, Arizona, and encourage all

[2:43:54] residents to join us in honoring all

[2:43:56] Rotary Clubs in Rotary International

[2:43:58] District 5500 for their commitment to

[2:44:01] humanitarian efforts throughout the

[2:44:03] world to provide service to others,

[2:44:05] valuing diversity and inclusion,

[2:44:07] promoting high ethical standards, and

[2:44:09] advancing world understanding, goodwill,

[2:44:11] and peace through its fellowship. In

[2:44:13] witness whereof, we have here unto set

[2:44:15] our hand and caused the seal of Santa

[2:44:17] Cruz County to be affixed the second day

[2:44:19] of September, 2026, signed by myself,

[2:44:23] uh, Vice Chair Luis Carlos Davis, and

[2:44:27] member Rudy Mleta and future Rotarian

[2:44:30] hopefully.

[2:44:34] [laughter]

[2:44:35] » Is that Is that a motion? No, that's not

[2:44:41] okay. With that, uh we'll we'll go to a

[2:44:44] vote. Uh all those in favor, please

[2:44:46] signify by saying I.

[2:44:47] » I.

[2:44:49] Um passes unanimously. Okay. With that,

[2:44:52] we'll move to uh um

[2:44:55] » Mr. Chair.

[2:44:56] » Yes, sir.

[2:44:56] » I miss you saying Davies.

[2:44:58] » Davies.

[2:44:59] » Yeah, you said Davies now.

[2:45:00] » I apologize. [laughter]

[2:45:03] » It will not happen again. No disrespect.

[2:45:05] I apologize. as I'm going to go back up

[2:45:07] to H2 discussion possible action to

[2:45:10] approve and authorize partial release of

[2:45:12] substitute assurance agreement number

[2:45:14] 2025-0667

[2:45:18] specific to lots 48-61

[2:45:21] inclusive and 63 through 78 inclusive

[2:45:26] um two back golf resort development unit

[2:45:29] number two do I have a motion

[2:45:30] » Move to approve second

[2:45:32] » Been moved and seconded any further

[2:45:34] discussion hearing none all All those in

[2:45:36] favor, please signify by saying I.

[2:45:38] » I. Motion carries unanimously. And now

[2:45:41] um I consent agenda. Do I have a motion

[2:45:44] to approve the consent agenda as

[2:45:45] presented minus number six?

[2:45:47] » I move. Second.

[2:45:49] » Been moved and seconded. Any further

[2:45:51] discussion? Hearing none. All those in

[2:45:53] favor, please signify by saying I.

[2:45:55] » I.

[2:45:55] » I. Motion carries unanimously. And last

[2:45:58] but certainly not least, uh least um Jay

[2:46:02] adjournment. Do I have a motion to

[2:46:04] adjurnn?

[2:46:05] move to journ.

[2:46:06] » Yes, sir.

[2:46:08] » You had mentioned I think you mentioned

[2:46:10] this earlier and we have a board meeting

[2:46:12] before then, but we do have a you had

[2:46:14] asked me to to make sure we have the

[2:46:16] Santa Cruz County Fair September 18th

[2:46:18] also coming up.

[2:46:20] » Very good.

[2:46:21] » So, I want to make sure we got that. We

[2:46:22] have a board meeting before that, but I

[2:46:23] know that you wanted to mention that.

[2:46:25] » Yes, most definitely. Thank you, kind

[2:46:26] sir. Hope to see everyone out there. A

[2:46:28] lot of fun for the family. Okay, with

[2:46:31] that, do we have a motion?

[2:46:34] Move to ajourn.

[2:46:35] » We did.

[2:46:35] » Did we?

[2:46:36] » Uhhuh.

[2:46:36] » Yeah. Before I was rudely interrupted.

[2:46:38] » Oh yeah.

[2:46:39] » Yeah. Before you were rudely

[2:46:40] interrupted. [laughter]

[2:46:42] » Okay. We have a motion and a second. All

[2:46:44] those in favor, please signify by saying

[2:46:46] I. I.

[2:46:48] » We are now adjourned at 12:01. Thank

[2:46:51] you.

Regular Meeting of the Board of Supervisors

Agenda

Transcript