Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

ready okay good morning welcome to the calaveras county board of supervisors meeting for june 23rd uh supervisor stopper will not be here today and then seeking by the fallen door will be here late so we will call this meeting to order stacy can you please read

Closed session. Closed session item 1 pursuant to government code 54957.6 conference with county designated labor negotiators Teresa Hitchcock, Judy Hawkins, and Shea Johnson regarding the following employee organizations. Deputy Sheriff's Association, Sheriff's Management Union, Calaveras County Public Safety Employees Association, and Service Employees International Union Local 1021.

With that, is there any public comment? No public comment, any online?

We have no online public comment.

And with that, we will go into closed session.

Good morning and welcome to the June 23rd, 2026 Board of Supervisors meeting. If you could please stand for the pledge. Earlier this morning, we were in closed session, so I will turn it over to the clerk to report out.

Item 1, pursuant to government code 5, 4, 9, 5, 7.6 conference with county designated labor negotiators, Teresa, Hitchcock, Judy, Hopkins and Shay Johnson regarding the following employee organizations. Deputy shares association shares management unit, Calaveras, county, public safety, employees, association and service employees, international union, local 1 021 board action. No reportable action taken.

Thank you. Let's next go to staff announcement. Lisa?

Good morning, Tara. Good morning, honorable board members. Lisa Medina, Environmental Management Agency. And this is Shauna and Peggy. Peggy is a spayed Belgian Malinois German Shepherd mix. She's about two years old and about 60 pounds. She was one of 24 animals that was recently surrendered to CCAS. She came to us with her 11 puppies. They were brought together along with Mama Cat and her four kittens. Sadly, this group of animals spent most of their lives confined to crates, lacking proper care and the chance to experience the outside world. Though a bit underweight and initially overwhelmed by the shelter, her sweet, gentle nature, as you can see, is shining through. She is dog friendly and now realizes she is safe and is making friends with new people. She is dog friendly and since Belgian Malinois are really intelligent. These are the dogs that are used for police and other activities. She's very athletic and she thrives on mental stimulation and daily exercise. She'll do really good in a home that is active, that can give her time, attention, and adventure that this breed craves. She is very affectionate. She likes to crawl in laps and isn't too pushy about it. And she has the Malinois group characteristics that are quiet, sweet-tempered, affectionate, and athletic. She keeps her kennel clean, so we estimate that she'll be easier to train, potty house train, right, Shawna? And again, if you have a dog at home and you are interested in Peggy, a meet and greet is required. And like always, we do not test our dogs with cats because we don't want to stress the cats out. But you can call us at 209-754-6509 or visit our website. We had our last clinic, focus-free rabies and microchip clinic. That was another huge success. It was a hot success. Our rabies vaccines that were given were 217 and also 63 microchips. So despite the intense heat, our dedicated volunteers powered through. A special thank you goes out to Dr. Kathy Gatlin and our incredible volunteer team for making the state possible along with our focus partners. Looking ahead in 2027, the clinics will be held in March, April, May, September, October, and November. So no longer those hot June clinics. And that is all. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Who's up next? You want to go? Good morning.

Good morning, Madam Chair, members of the board, Lurie Durham Assessor. I'm here to report our closing and turning of our roll on June 17th. Our 2026 assessment roll was $10,860,627,590. This represents an increase of about $368 million over the 2025 assessment role totals, which results in about a 3.51% increase over the 2025 role. I need to say that this is the lowest increase we've had since 2016, which was after the Butte fire, but also as we were climbing out of the recession. So it's kind of showing that the market is steady for the last three years, but it's dipped some. So that is it. Any questions for me? Thank you. Thank you.

I brought some swag to show you guys this time. So I'm going to bring it up here so you can see. These are our adult bingo cards, and it's our children's summer reading lots. I'll just start from each end. These are the... We don't get the bags? You haven't earned the bags. So I brought the bags to show you, but on adult bingo, if you get blackout, you get one of five tote bag designs that our staff designed and had. made. Well, they actually got the transfers and they transferred them on the totes themselves. Kids and adults can get pens and trade the pens. They can even trade them at four different locations in Murphy's. We had a couple of local businesses reach out to us and be like, hey, we want in on this pen trading thing. So Gold County Roasters, the bookstore, the witchy Emporium and the toy shop are all doing pen trading. A couple of other towns have had people reach out to their branches. And so I believe some of them are in the process of getting involved as well. Next year, we want to continue the pen trading and we're definitely going to get local businesses involved. But yes, those are the children's and adults readings logs. We already have over 300 adults signed up for summer reading. We actually ran out of logs the first two days of signups and had to do a second print run. So we hope you guys get involved with summer reading. You can keep the logs, but you have to earn the totes.

Thank you. Are there any other staff announcements? Okay. CNN will move on to recognition and acknowledgement. And I will turn it over to Supervisor Hebedy and allow Stacy to read it out.

Item to proclamation clerk at the board of supervisors, adopt a proclamation recognizing the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, 1776 to 2026 and encouraging residents to participate in educational historical culture, cultural and civic activities commemorating this historic milestone.

Thank you, Stacey. Whereas on July 4th, 1776, the 13 American colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, establishing the United States of America as a sovereign nation founded upon the principles of liberty, equality, self-governance, and individual rights. And whereas the year 2026 marks 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America, commonly referred to as the semi-quincentennial, providing an opportunity for reflection on the nation's history, achievements, and enduring democratic values. And whereas for 250 years, Americans have worked to advance the ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, striving to create a more perfect union and expand opportunities for future generations. And whereas the state of California has played a significant role in the growth and development of the United States, contributing to the nation's economic prosperity, cultural diversity, innovation, agriculture, natural resource stewardship, and democratic institutions. And whereas the semi-quincentennial provides an opportunity to honor the service and sacrifices of veterans, members of the armed forces, first responders, public servants, and countless individuals whose dedication has strengthened communities throughout California and the nation. And whereas this milestone also provides an opportunity to recognize the rich and diverse histories, cultures, and contributions of Native American tribes, immigrants, and all individuals who shape the state of California and the United States. And whereas the Board of Supervisors encourages residents, schools, businesses, community organizations, and local governments to participate in education, historical, cultural, and civic activities that commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary and promote civic engagement and community pride. With that, I'll ask if there's any public comment.

And this is public comment for the proclamation, not general.

God bless America. Terry McBride, New California State District 2, fifth generation, Calvary County. Let us not forget our roots. Let us stand for the Constitution. And this is a constitutional republic, not a democracy. Always remember that. That's nothing against Democrats. That's a fact. It's a constitutional republic. This is the United States of America. Let's start acting like it. Thank you.

my father passed down a desk that um was from the revolutionary war period back before and uh i use that now i've been around a long time um you know oftentimes i feel feel that uh i need a passport to come into calabar's county calabama is called because there's a tendency not to uh There's a tendency not to be very American. A tendency not to obey the laws of our nation. And I've been in Calaveras County a long time. I know a lot of people. I can get to 75% of the voting public. It doesn't cost me hardly anything. I prefer not to. I live here, so I don't piss in my own bed. This is basically a community to me. So I hope that you understand that. And you are part of the United States. You're not Calabama. You're merely a subsidiary of the state of Cal. Okay. Back to work, people.

Thank you. Is there any other public comment that I'll bring back to the board? Any comments?

Do I have a motion?

I'll move this.

Thank you. I'll second this item, but it's a very important anniversary here. 250 years our nation has been moving forward and there's a lot of things going on, especially this weekend and the following weekend. I just want to bring up fireworks over Hogan. It'll be an outstanding program this year because it's 250th anniversary. So if you have a chance to get out there, it is going to be a good show. With that, I'll second.

All in favor? Aye. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Supervisors of the County of Calaveras hereby recognizes and celebrates the 250th anniversary of the United States of America and joins communities across California and the nation in commemorating this historic milestone. Be it further resolved that the Board of Supervisors encourages all residents to reflect upon the nation's history, honor those that have contributed to its progress, and renew their commitment to the principles of liberty, equality, democracy, and civil responsibility. Passed and adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Calaveras, State of California at the regular meeting held on the 23rd day of June, 2026. HAB-Jacques Juilland, Supervisor poppin only I think probably the most appropriate thing is that he would hold this and we just have our patient with it. HAB-Jacques Juilland, There's anybody here is two years old. HAB-Jacques Juilland, To.

HAB-Jacques Juilland, Stay here.

HAB-Jacques Juilland, let's go back.

And we're ready to come on.

So.

I mean, one, two, three, four.

Thank you.

Anyone else want to take a picture? Sure.

Okay, we'll move on to the next agenda item, which is item number three. We'll have Stacy read out and turn it over to Autumn.

Item three, proclamation. Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, adopt a proclamation recognizing McClemmy Hill Fire Protection District Chief Michael De La Horta and congratulating him on his retirement.

Whereas, Michael DeLorto has dedicated many years of service to the residents of Calabasas County through his leadership, commitment to public safety, and devotion to the communities he has served. And whereas, Michael DeLorto has been a member of the Macalmy Hill Fire Department since 1963. And whereas Michael DeLorto has served in the Calaveras Fire Service for an extraordinary 62 years, all served with distinction as Fire Chief of the McCalmy Hill Fire Protection District, providing exemplary leadership, promoting firefighter training and preparedness, and ensuring the protection of life and property within the community. And whereas Michael DeLorto provided exemplary leadership, promoting firefighter training and preparedness and exemplifying the role of a dedicated working fire chief, serving as both the administrator of the district and primary responder to emergency incidents. And whereas he worked diligently to strengthen fire protection services, support emergency preparedness, advocate for firefighters, and promote the safety and wellbeing of the residents of Calabasas County. And whereas Michael DeLorto also served as a Calaveras County supervisor from 1988 until 1996, providing dedicated representation and leadership in county government. And whereas, Michael DeLordo was instrumental in the planning, development, and successful completion of the new Paloma Fire Station, completed in 2025, and contributed to the advancement of fire protection services through Calaveras County through his volunteer service on committees of the Fire Chiefs Association. And whereas it is fitting and proper to recognize individuals whose commitment and contributions have significantly enhanced the quality of life and public safety of their communities. With that, I would like to open it up. Ask Chief if you'd like to say anything.

50 years.

And I just realized I was part of that, and you are too. Life is good. Thank you. Keep moving things forward.

Anybody else?

You agreed, right? Okay.

Looks like our agreement will stand. Nobody else?

Yeah.

Mike has been here a long time, as long as I can remember. He's served the public well in every position he's held, supervisor, chief, fireman. He's synonymous with McCombie Hill. I don't know a better man that we can honor. I like him as a person. I think he's just fantastic. And when I'm in Jackson, he tends to park near me. He doesn't know this, but I park far away, and he parks right next to me, defeating my purpose of being away from, you know, not getting a dent or anything. But he doesn't dent my car. Anyway, so with that, I just want to say that we've been privileged to have Mike around, Michael Delgado. I've been really privileged. Just a fantastic person and has done so much for the community. A true community member and a true American. So, yeah. 20 bucks or 40?

Yeah, I just would like to say that Chief Delorto, 62 years, I got to tell you, that's got to be some kind of record. From the Fire Chiefs Association, congratulations on a well-deserved retirement. Thank you for all your years of dedicated service. And to the next step, we're really going to miss you in all those ways that we've worked together. You deserve it, my friend. Congratulations. Thank you.

With that, I'll bring it back to the board for comment or motion.

I'll move this item.

And a second?

I'll second.

And all those in favor?

Aye.

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that the Calvers County Board of Supervisors hereby honors and recognizes Michael DeLorto for his distinguished service as Fire Chief of the McCallum Hill Fire Protection District and for all of his contributions to the Calvers County community and congratulates him on his well-earned retirement. be it further proclaimed that the Board of Supervisors expresses its sincere gratitude and appreciation for Michael DeLorto's years of dedicated service, leadership, and commitment to public safety, commends him for the lasting legacy he leaves for future generations of firefighters, public servants, and community leaders, and wishes him well in his retirement.

Thank you, Shuke.

you do that you want sloan apple yeah no no i'm slow no someone wants to take the fish i can take it that's okay i'm good oh no i just want to take it also then i'm on this side instead thank you

We're a small county, and we had 15, well, 15 island people. So they taught us how to do it, and we just kept doing it. Keep going.

One, two, three, four, and one.

Grab it.

And we'll move on to item number four and Gary will read it out and take over.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. The next item is item number four. This is a proclamation. This is to adopt a proclamation recognizing Calaveras Consolidated Fire Protection District Chief Richard Dickinson and congratulating him on his retirement. I'm going to read this proclamation. And I want to say I reached out. I was involved in putting this together. And I want to thank Stacy. But I reached out to a lot of people to get a lot of different information. And what I received was fantastic. I want to thank everybody that gave me some information for this. But there's one special letter that I got that I want to read specifically because it touches on almost everything that everybody else said. so i'm also going to um what i call pulmarita and that means that i'm not going to read this from up here i'm going to walk down to the lectern and read it and ask Okay, I want to, I want to thank this letter was written and it was sent to me and Keith Young and his staff put this letter together and it's very touching, well respectful. We used a lot of, like I said, a lot of different people who gave us a lot of information. We used information from everybody. This particular letter I think is, is real fitting. It is with deep respect and heartfelt appreciation that we recognize the retirement of Fire Chief Richard Dickinson, who has faithfully served as the Fire Chief of Calaveras Consolidated Fire for the past 10 years. Chief Dickinson's dedication and leadership has left an impact that will be felt across Calaveras County for generations. Chief Dickinson has been more than a fire chief. He has been a builder, a unifier, and a driving force for progress. His vision elevated not only his own fire district, but the fire services throughout the entire county. The improvements in training, inter-agency coordination, and community protection can be traced directly to his leadership, dedication, and relentless pursuit of excellence. One of Richard's greatest legacies is the working relationship he has fostered among the fire chiefs of Calgary County. For many years, such unity and collaboration were difficult to achieve, yet Richard made it possible. His professionalism, humility, and willingness to listen created a level of cooperation that has never existed before. Many of the strong partnerships we rely on today were built because of him. In truth, Much of what we now consider normal interagency cooperation was made possible by Richard's steady hand on genuine commitment to teamwork. Richard Dickinson is, in every sense of the word, irreplaceable. Leadership style, his dedication to the community, and his ability to bring people together set a standard that will be difficult to match. While we will miss his presence, his influence, will continue to guide the fire service in Calaveras County for years to come. We extend our deepest gratitude to Chief Dickinson for his service, his sacrifice and his unwavering commitment to the people of Calaveras County. We wish him a retirement filled with rest, joy and satisfaction of knowing he leaves behind a legacy of strength, unity and progress.

Thank you.

Now I'll read the proclamation. If I don't read this, if I don't read the proclamation, does that mean he can't retire? All right. Whereas Chief Richard Dickinson dedicated his professional career to the protection of life, property, and the well-being of the communities he served. Whereas following a distinguished career, with the Fremont Fire Department, where he retired as a battalion chief. Chief Dickinson joined the Calaveras County Fire Service as a fire chief of the Calaveras Consolidated Fire Protection District, bringing the extensive experience and leadership to the communities of Valley Springs, Person, Foothill, and Jenny Lynn. And whereas during his tenure as a fire chief, Chief Dickinson provided visionary leadership that strengthened the district, enhanced emergency response capabilities, and expanded services to the community through the acquisitions of new apparatus, the hiring of full-time firefighters, and the staffing of an additional fire station. And whereas Chief Dickinson fostered strong partnerships among fire agencies throughout Calaveras County and the neighboring jurisdictions, recognizing that effective public safety is built upon collaboration, trust, and mutual support. And whereas an innovative leader, he established the county's first rescue task force in partnership with the Sheriff's Office, resulting in the development of a countywide active shooter response policy that remains a model for coordinated emergency response in the region. And whereas Chief Dickinson led the district in both routine emergencies and complex challenges with integrity, professionalism, and an unwavering commitment to safety of residents and emergency personnel. And whereas his dedication to mentoring firefighters, developing future leaders, and building meaningful relationships throughout the community has left a lasting impact on the district and those privileged to work alongside him. And whereas Chief Dickinson often stated belief that it is all about relationships reflected his leadership philosophy and helped cultivate the strong partnerships and community connections that will remain a hallmark of his legacy, and whereas Chief Dickinson's retirement marks the culmination of a distinguished career defined by service, innovation, leadership, and commitment to others. Rich?

Thank you.

Thank you, everybody. Thank all of you. It's not easy to retire. I'm not going to lie. I've had some medical issues. It wasn't my plan, but God has a different plan. Most importantly, it is all about relationships. I know sometimes with some of you I can look at, I haven't been easy, but I do have a passion for the job. Some people have to go to work. and other people get to go to work, I got to go to work. I loved it. I'm hoping that, you know, I'll say when I came here, where we were, we struggled. Volunteers, the budget was really tough. Where we are, we were able to get the trust from the community through past Measure 8, which was phenomenal, which allowed me to actually have a paid firefighter, engineer, and captain, which we call traditional staffing on the rigs, which was monumental. And so thankful to the community for doing that. Where we're going to go, new chief's going to come in. I think we'll continue to move forward. But where we're going to go, budgeting is still difficult. Fire engines cost more. Everything is expensive. And at the end of the day, the employees put food on the table. That's the most important part. I'm sure the chief's going to have challenges, relationships. many board members that I've dealt with, CAOs. And this group here, the fire chiefs, amazing. Yeah, an incredible group. Chief Cassie, amazing relationship. Now, when I came here, I didn't think the relationship was that big with Cal Fire. So it takes a village, right? And there is no I in a team. Sheriff, you're amazing. I know I've pushed your buttons a couple of times, but I love you to death. You know, I love all the... opportunities for the active shooter and um being able to you know again relationship thank you everybody appreciate it i'm going to get first up here again chief thank you so much for everything

from the Fire Chiefs Association. Congratulations on your retirement. Thank you for all you've done. Turning on the news this morning, seeing that shooting that happened in Northern California, and I thought about your program. You did good to us and brought us all together. And immediately I thought of this morning and you. I just want to thank you from all of us. So congrats.

Yeah, Rich, I just want to say I thought the same thing when I saw the Chico shooting of just how organized. So your leadership with joint projects, shared trainings and resources, and especially the coordinated responses between our office and the fire agency have all been enhanced because of you. So we thank you for your service.

Any other public comments?

Everybody's focused on him. I'm happy to be here. Everything that was said in the letter is true. There should be an exclamation point at the end of that, because you've been a fantastic asset to this community. And I have a feeling we've been here before. Good going. Thank you.

Any other public comments? Chief Cassie? No? Okay. Any public comments online?

We have no online public comment.

All right. Well, I'll bring it back to the board. Any comments from board members?

I'll say thank you for all your service to our county.

Thank you.

I'll just echo thank you again. All right, looking for a motion.

I'll move.

A motion, a second?

I'll second.

A motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Passes 4-0-1. With that, now therefore be it proclaimed that the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors hereby recognizes and honors Chief Richard Dickinson upon his retirement from Calaveras Consolidated Fire Protection District and expresses its sincere appreciation for his 10 years of exemplary service and lasting contributions to the safety and preparedness and resilience of the community. Further proclaimed that the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors extends his heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to Chief Dickinson and his family for a happy, healthy and rewarding retirement and thanks him for the enduring legacy he leaves to the Calaveras Consolidated Fire Protection District and the residents of Calaveras County. John Gerstle PB, David Ensign PB, David Ensign PB, John Gerstle PB, David Ensign PB, John Gerstle PB, John Gerstle PB, John Gerstle PB, John Gerstle PB, John Gerstle PB, John Gerstle PB, John Gerstle PB, John Gerstle PB, John Gerstle PB, John Gerstle PB, John Gerstle

the other we can we can all crowd the whole thing come on all people come on up here absolutely but one goes they all go you know yeah or like behind my there you go perfect okay ready 12322

And we'll get back up and just boom. Just.

Okay, we will move on to the next agenda item. Next item is general public comment. Please remember three minutes, keep an eye on the light. Once it turns red, I will be stopping you. So I'll turn it over to the clerk to read out.

Any item of interest to the public that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the board and is not posted on the consent or regular agendas may be addressed during the public comment period. California law prohibits the board from taking action on any matter which is not posted on the agenda unless it is determined to be an emergency by the board of supervisors. Public comment is not or is completed before the 30 minute allotted time period. The board may immediately move to the next order of business. If public comment is not completed during the allotted time period, it will be continued as the last item of business in order to provide an opportunity for the remainder of comments to be heard. Who's up?

Okay, good morning.

Good morning, Chair and Supervisors. My name is Roland Wheeler, and I am the owner of 49er Eats in Angels Camp. I wanted to take a few minutes today to share a positive story and ask for your continued support of small businesses in Calabasas County. 49er Eats was created by transforming a long vacant former car lot on Highway 49 into a food truck gathering place. Rather than leaving the property underutilized, we invested in improvements, utilities, lighting, seating, landscaping, and infrastructure to create a welcoming destination for residents and visitors. The vision is simple, provide opportunities for small business owners and start and grow their food business without the enormous costs associated with opening a traditional restaurant. Many food truck operators are family owned business work, family owned businesses working hard to support themselves and contribute to our local economy. The project benefits the community by bringing additional visitors to Angels Camp, increasing sales tax revenue, supporting nearby businesses, and creating a place where families can gather and enjoy a variety of local food options. I want to thank the county staff for working through the recent questions regarding commissary requirements and permitting. We appreciate the efforts being made to help vendors understand and comply with applicable regulations. As Caledonia County continues to grow, I respectfully ask that the county support clear, practical, and consistent business and consistent implementation of regulations so that small businesses can succeed while maintaining public health and safety. Projects like 49er Eats demonstrate what can happen when local government and local business work together. We all share the same goal, a thriving local economy, more opportunities for entrepreneurs, and a better experience for residents and visitors alike. Thank you for your time, for your service to Calaveras County. Thank you.

Thank you all. Who's not up next? We've got a long line this morning. Good morning.

Good morning. My name is Deborah Roby Rojas. I reside in Calaveras County, and I'd like to read this letter from Paul Preston, Governor pro tempore to Mr. Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America. subject his formal request to meet with President of the United States and his cabinet to discuss the great state of New California state admission into the union known as the United States of America. Dear President Trump, on behalf of the patriots of the great state of New California, congratulations to your administration for the remarkable transformations that you have brought to not just the United States, but to the world. Never in human history has such a positive turn of events changed the world since you became president. The citizens of California and new California states stand united to stop the unconstitutional tyrannical government of the current California governor and its model party legislature. All California citizens of the United States are dedicated to restoring the constitutional governance and self-determination. The state of New California was founded in 2018 by grassroots Americans loyal to the Union, following the historical precedent, the West Virginia's formation in 1863. When Virginia's government succeeded from Virginia to join the Confederacy to preserve slavery, the Union rejected that act as a violation of its compact. obligations northwestern counties loyal to the union separated forming a new state while remaining within the united states today californians confront a profound governance crisis The current state administration has violated the Guarantee Clause, Article 4, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution with corrupt elections, sanctuary policies that enable unchecked illegal immigration contributing to the elevation rates of serious crime, human trafficking and slavery where California ranks highest in the nation. These measures undermine the republic form of government assured to every state and has breached the measures undermine the republic form of government, sorry, breached the 1850 statehood admissions act. California was granted by Congress in order to become the 31st state in the union. Further Cal exit style ballot initiative cleared by California state officials separate from our movement proposes placing a question on the November 2028 ballot asking whether California should become an independent country. a non-binding legislation that signals deep public discontent amid ongoing failures, skyrocketing costs, crumbling infrastructure, rampant homelessness, uncontrolled wildfires, and mass exodus of families and businesses.

Good morning, Senators. Sorry about that. Good morning, Supervisors. Good morning, Chair. I'd like to finish the letter that Debbie was speaking about. In response, New California have built a viable alternative with a state constitution ensuring a Republican form of government, a bicameral legislature, and full compliance with federal requirements for a mission as the 51st state, expanding the union by one state. It is our time to affirm our shared dedication to constitutional principles, federalism, and the rule of law. A meeting with you and your cabinet would provide an invaluable platform to discuss these challenges and explore federal avenues to restore liberty, security, and prosperity to this vital region. Vital region meaning the state of California. Please contact me at your earliest convenience to confirm participation or discuss the logistics needed for our meeting with you and your cabinet to discuss New California State's admission to the United States of America. We eagerly anticipate the opportunity to meet with you and your cabinet. Best regards, Robert E. Preston for New California. We also yesterday, many of us took a letter to the counties. It was submitted to both the register of voters, the county clerks, and to the board of supervisors clerk as well. And I'd like to read that letter to you also. Dear supervisors, registers, and also the sheriff. Sorry, I forgot about that. The purpose of this notice is to ask for an opportunity to address the entire board and to present a claim contesting the certification of any election results at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Supervisors. I am also requesting the board direct the register of voters to respond to the request for information below. I invite your attention to the California election code section 16100 D, which states in part, any elector of a county city or of any political subdivision of either may contest any election held therein for any of the following causes. D, that illegal votes were cast. The factual basis of my request is that it is common knowledge that there has been a flood of illegal aliens into the state of California, its counties, cities, and school districts. These non-citizens have apparently been allowed to register with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Without registration, these non-citizens have been provided with voter registration and election ballots. it is also common knowledge that investigative reporters have discovered that some illegal aliens non-citizens have in fact voted providing these non-citizens voter registration and election ballots gives you the members of the board of supervisors and you the register of voters the legal basis to set aside the election and deny its certification and due to the number of illegal voters as set forth in the california election code 16100 specifically subsection d

Good morning. Terri McBride, New California State. So we brought these in. Mostly we want to protect you guys so you're aware of what you may be authorizing. So I really want to talk about what we're doing. I want the citizens to be aware that we've given you notice that there's a problem with our election system. California right now is the laughingstock of America for its election system. Do I think our folks are?

No.

I have the highest regard for our election office here. We are always treated respectfully. I think the honest to God do the best job that they can. I really have a high regard for them that there's something going on. And until we as the people of California, which will soon be New California, frankly, want this one-day voting, bring back local polling centers. That was COVID, you guys. That big scam put upon America and the world took care of that. One person, one vote, ID required, be a citizen and only a citizen. And remove electronic voting machines. It's very important. Look what's happened to our country. without good, legitimate elections. And we stay and stand by it that Gavin Newsom has never won an election truly in his entire life. So you like being told what to do by a fraud? Because you are. Also, New California. I mean, California's constitution is a corporate document. Go read it. Go look at the one written in 1849 and you're going to be like, wow, what a constitution. But the one that's ruling over California is a corporate document. And that's why our rights have been crushed. And we as citizens, American citizens, have got to stand up and say no more. On Sunday, June 28, we are having a birthday party for America. at Utica Park, which is beautiful. I can't believe what a great job they've done with the place. It's amazing. Also the birth of this new state because it's coming. It's coming really soon. And you guys, I want Calgary County to be very proud. We are well represented within this movement. I'm very proud of all the work and the effort. I cannot imagine tell you how many hours we've all put into this. But we love our country and that's why we're doing it. And we love this state. And we hate seeing children be treated like chattel. Child sex trafficking, which the state, the government of this state seems to think is just hunky dory, fine, go find out what happens to those youngsters. It's a horrible thing. We should all be standing up against it and all the other depravities that this government of California has allowed to stand. So I invite you not to come and be mocked or anything on the 28th. Come and find out what it is we're doing and see why it's going to be so great to be a part of new California as we let go of old California, let all of that behind. Thank you so much.

Good morning.

Good morning. I'm here as a homeowner next to the Sierra Ridge Academy School on Frico City Road. My husband and I bought 288 acres of property 26 years ago. We've been neighbors to the Sierra Ridge Academy School. I mean, maybe you're aware of the school and we have an issue at the moment. We have always had a fairly good relationship with them. We've had over the 26 years water issues, kids trespassing on our property. You know, they have difficult to place children at the school and they're of different issues. They've gone into our minds with flashlights. Our truck was stolen a few years ago, breaking into our home. All of that's water over the bridge. We have not discussed that for many, many years. However, recently on May 25, there was a school fire. The administration building was put on fire by a student, and our property was greatly in damage. But thanks to all firefighters in this county in California, that fire was contained. The school administration completely burned out. Now, June 9, trucks started. No permit to clean up this toxic waste. Now, think of all the things that were in that school. Computers, carpet, plastic, asbestos. It's pre-1950, so lead paint. all of these things truckload after truckload for three days in a row big dump trucks three of them went past our property to an adjacent property and they dumped everything there this dump site is over my son's property he's planning to build a house we have springs we have a pond we have wells These will be contaminated by this toxic dump. They had no permit to do this. We called the sheriff's department. We called everybody that we can think of to come and stop them. And people came out, but nobody stopped them. They did not have a permit. They had a cease to desist cease to act. They continue to act for 2 more days, ignoring everything. So I'm very upset with this. Our. Property, our water source, our wildlife is all being affected. I have filed permits. with the environmental service, with the parks, with the water department. I don't know where that's going to go or I've not really heard much. I was told by the sheriff's office to call the fire department because this was an arson. I should speak to the arson person. So I'm a little upset with all of this and maybe my son can also speak to this issue. Thank you.

Thank you. Doug, co-compliant? Doug, co-compliant? Doug, co-compliant? Can you give her the co-compliant number? Sarah? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Thank you.

Okay.

Okay. Thank you.

My name is Ross Thornton. I also have property at a Joynes Rite of Passage and Mrs. Crane's and Timmy's property. And I moved to Calvary County in 1959. I believe I went to school with Mike Lordo. And I want to thank all the firefighters that responded to write a passage, all the calls they get, the sheriff's department are overwhelmed because of the children that lit the administration building on fire and burn it to the ground. And another one was trying to stab people and stab themselves. My wife and I will be 81 this year, both of us, and it's extremely dangerous living next to these people. When their use permit was first issued, there was nobody against it because it was called environmental alternatives at that time, and they had They had pretty good kids, young from eight up to 18. And then write a passage about it, I believe in the year 2000. And it's been detrimental to the neighborhood. There isn't one neighbor that dares living there anymore because of the danger of these particular children they had. They used to have up to 100. And they dropped all that out. rid of three quarters of their staff. And now they have, I believe, a total of 16 that are not conducive to this neighborhood. And there ain't any neighbor that agreed to this type of child, I'm going to say, but they're not children. The neighbors, we don't ask, but we demand that their use permit be revoked and let them reapply, let the neighbors put their two cents in there. The only problem I had when they first, before they issued this use permit was to do with their sewage, because everything comes onto our property. We're a little bit lower than them. And at that time, the county assured me that anything done to their sewage, I would be notified. Well, they've done many things to their sewage and never notified. So I don't know what happened to that, Um, again, thank you to the sheriff's office. They're, they're getting so much sucked out of their division from these calls and all they can do with these kids is follow them. They can't catch them lighting their, their, uh, administration building on fire. There's just something wrong. Thank you.

howdy my name is tim lanning um i've lived up on frico city road for 22 years now i just want to reiterate a little bit what my mother said um about you know this this trash uh being right uphill from our agriculture um goes downhill to two wells a pond that feeds our vineyard continues down natural springs from this area all the way down to the san antonio creek If you go down our road, you can hear it running as we speak. It goes most of the summer even. You know, yesterday they ran an excavator all day long burying this rubble. and um i know because i saw it it drove about three quarters of a mile down the road leaving metal track marks and are already riddled roads and um i just you know they just do what they want out there um like ross always said it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission but um you know i just want people the county to know what's going on up there and what certain neighbors deal with. You know, the Weebies down the street have had two vehicles stolen out of their front yard. Another neighbor in Calabria has had, you know, a kid pulled out of his front bushes as he was sitting there at night. It's just, it's getting a little crazy and they don't always call us when the kid runs. But in the last week they've had two and they only have 15 students there now. And if the management and staff can't manage 15 kids, it's getting a little ridiculous. And I just want to keep it short and sweet, make sure people know. I know that Lisa has, Lisa Medina has informed us today about actions for the environment being taken. And that's good to know. Just being a little more informed myself and like all the messages that I've left and hardly get any callbacks is just a little frustrating. But we have been informed. I'm very happy about that and appreciate everybody's help. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Okay. I think no more in push and I'll move it over to you. Are you talking? Okay, come on up.

How you doing? Um, I thought I had bad neighbors. That takes it. Um, I was very pleased this morning. I had a little time, and I was walking around campus.

I found out a lot of good things.

First off, Wendy Ault back there is in a little bit of trouble with Cat Lady. She's complaining. The Cat Lady ran up to me and was complaining that the noise is disturbing the cats. But that's fine. That's fine. Don't hammer so hard. um she's a nice lady the cat lady i can't remember names sometimes uh other than that uh michael martin came before you i believe um last uh last meeting and uh announced this free recycling event you know we missed it um i think last year but it's back and um i plan on taking advantage of it i have an eight foot freezer yeah pretty cool huh um they used to hunt a lot and uh So I'm going to be taking advantage of that. I see in West Point, it will be July 11th. I'll make myself available, hopefully. I don't know what that day is. If it's a Friday, I'm busy. I have my chemotherapy every Friday, 10 hours of pure love. For you out there in the board, the cancer is not really that big of a thing for me. Yeah, it was in the beginning because they only gave me months to live. But since then, the prognosis has changed. I'm very happy. I think I'll be sticking around West Point for a while. Let's see, what else do we have that we should be talking about here? It's been a very pleasant morning. I got extra information from Integrated Waste regarding this and stopped by a planning department, had a little conversation with them about something I'm interested in, and then came over here. I had a little extra time. so as far as county business i'm pretty much uh i don't get around as much as i used to get over in amador county once a week they're doing a fine job over there i think we could look uh look to them for uh for some guidance on some issues um i think i'm a little hard on teresa hitchcock these days but uh not on county council

Do we have any online public comment? We are hitting pretty close to a 30-minute allotment, so.

We have no general public comments for online.

Okay. None in the room still? Okay. We will move on to the next agenda item, which is consent. We've got a lot of consent agenda items. At this time, are there any public members or staff that was with the fallen agenda item?

Hello. Mike Johnson. Item number 15, I believe it is, for the transient occupancy tax.

Okay. Thank you. Kathy Galino, I'd like to pull item seven.

Is there any other public or staff? Okay, seeing none, are there any online?

We have no online requests.

Okay, I'll bring it back to the board. Is there any item from the board?

Sure, I'd like to abstain from voting on item number 19. Okay.

Are there any other board requests at this time? Nope. Okay. With that, I'm sorry. I just took a break.

Can we vote? I'll move the remaining.

Thank you. Is there a second?

I'll second.

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed?

passes 401. okay so with that we will start with item number seven um clerk item seven agreement administrative office authorized for chair to execute an agreement with the calaveras county chamber of commerce for tourism promotions throughout the west end of calaveras county for the period of june 23 2026 through june 30th 2029. good morning kathy galino economic and community development

Before you approve this preliminary budget, I would like to ask that you please consider how we got here. When I came on in January of 2018, and I know Supervisor Toffanelli, you were here at that time. One of the most important things that happened at that time was CAO Tim Lutz had asked me what would be one of the most impactful revenue generating projects that I could undertake in the first year. It was simple to answer. I said increasing our TOT, our transient occupancy tax at the time was 6%. It had been that way since 1974. Yet our counties to the north and south, east and west were between 10 and 12%. So it seems like it was a good idea to have Calaveras County aligned with our other Meadowload counties who have strong recreation and tourism based economies. And the purpose of the 2018 voter approved Measure G was for maintenance and improvement of emergency fire district and response for protection, sheriff's patrols helping prevent thefts and burglaries, roads, pothole repair, and attracting and retaining and growing businesses and visitors to Calaveras County. I was told at that time that the TOT would offset my impact for my position to the general fund, but that never happened. I kept asking and wondering why the TOT was not being utilized to backstop the Economic and Community Development Department. And since grant funds are a significant part Portion of income that comes into the department. The balance of the 2 would have had left no impact to the general fund. And now, in the 2026, 27 proposed budget. This position is being eliminated altogether. What is even more disheartening is that in the past few years. 50,000 dollars a year is being allocated to the caliber's chamber of commerce. The Chamber does serve an important role in this community. However, it does not take the place of a seasoned, experienced local economic developer with the inner workings of local, state, and federal government or specific regulations to help businesses succeed in this county at no cost. The services provided by me to this residents and businesses in Calaveras County doesn't cost them anything. There's no membership. It has been a true privilege over the past eight and a half years to have served more than 500 businesses and community organizations in Calaveras County. Together, they have invested millions of dollars into our local economy, creating jobs for our families, building community assets, and helping this amazing county thrive. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any other comments?

Yeah, I think it really is shameful that Catherine Galeno will be going away. She's a part of this community that we all know her, staff as well as the community. Yeah, you know, one of the less flattering legacies of Jack Garbendi is when When the prop was proposed, he went around and said, had these conversations with people that weren't interested in raising the TOT. And he basically said that, you know, we're going to use this as a stopgap if the general fund finds itself in trouble. I don't like that kind of behavior. But it happened. um kathy fantastic job and hopefully you'll find in the budget a way to keep you maybe uh you know what happens right now is you guys just tense up when i say this maybe you want to look at your own pay you know we have a c we have a ceo and i'm a cio now And we all have to make adjustments. What your pay is based on is a comparison with other counties that have CAOs compared to other counties that have larger economies. Other counties live far wealthier. Sometimes we have to make the cuts ourselves. I've made cuts. I no longer control my own finances. It's part of the cancer. I don't have the privileges I once had. We all have to make cuts. We all have to look out for our neighbors, our fellow citizens. It's important. I know it will affect you. I know you have families. But do you have other sources of income that can make up the difference, that are making up the difference? important this is the most important thing you can do is is help the people in the community help your help the staff it's not doggy dog world out there we are neighbors thank you thank you

Hi, Jamie. Hi, Jamie Angiola, Deputy CEO. I just feel like I need to clarify that this item before you is not tied. There's no money tied to this agreement. This is a three-year agreement with the Chamber. Should they receive any transient occupancy tax, what they'll do with that money. But it's part of the budget process in which your board decides if or how much they should be allocated. So there's no money tied to this agreement. It's just a three-year agreement should they receive. So I just wanted to clarify that.

Thank you.

my name is bruce judacy i'm living valley springs um i wasn't planning on speaking today but um to see that our economic development department is being um axed in this budget is concerning and the fact that um we're losing a staff who is responsive to our supervisors and not only turning that function over as a subcontract to an organization that really we don't have any control over. And I'm concerned about that process where we find contractors to do work that we already are doing. And so after eight years to lose the Economic Development Department, I know I know it's not you know, there's no budgetary money tied tied with this. But is this is a three year agreement. The budgets are year to year. And it's true that that with this contract, there is no there's no money tied to it right now. But it's sort of a uh convenient not to have the money tied to it and have it done in a separate process like this because that's not normally how the budget is put together the budget is put together by saying this person is is is going to be funded and this is where the funds are going to come from so um the tot i think really should fund economic development because that's sort of you know it's it's the the tax that we're that we're generating in order to come up with that So anyway, I'd like to just speak in support of the Economic Development Department.

Thanks.

Any other public comment on this item? Seeing none in the room, is there any online?

We have no online public comment.

Boards, do you want to approve each item separately, or do you want to do them in one suite? Separately. Separately? Okay. With that, is there a motion for item number seven?

I just want to bring to attention everyone. This is just, this is a preliminary budget that we're required to do by the state to have funds going forward July 1st. Our final budget, which has some adjustments to it, usually always does, is in September. And that's after the state has adopted their budget. And we don't know what they're going to do. They have some issues themselves. And I've been doing this for a long time. I went through a recession back in 2009, 10, and the state was taking all of our money. So we have to do, it's very difficult a lot of times, but again, this is a preliminary budget. We're moving forward until September. So I think everybody needs to keep that in mind.

Supervisor Haberin?

Thank you. And on that note, Supervisor Toffanelli, I just would like to point out that on this item that the chamber is receiving their full allotment that they had been receiving where everybody else is taking cuts.

Any other board comment?

Is that something we want to explore?

I think going forward, it should be on the table.

Sorry, I just want to be clear and I think there was some confusion about this item since. When I got pulled, it necessarily wasn't necessarily being spoken to what this item actually is. This item is just an agreement with the chamber. Um, whereby, as Miss Angela said, whereby the county and the Chamber are agreeing that the Chamber will provide tourism promotion services in the lesson of the county. And then, on an annual basis, the board will decide whether it's going to allocate any tot to that um this agreement has actually nothing to do with the budget specifically um this is just the contract so if uh the board did want to potentially revisit this year's budgetary allocation for the chamber you actually just voted on that so that would require a motion for reconsideration that's a whole different item

And since this is preliminary, we can discuss that in September before final.

I just wanted to put that on the table. Yeah. And that's fine. And we can revisit in September if we want to. That's why I was bringing up preliminary budget.

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay. With that, is there any other comments from the board? Okay. Seeing none, is there a motion? I'll second. All in favor?

Aye.

Aye. Passage 401. Okay, we'll move on to item number 15, clerk.

Item 15, resolution administrative office adopt a resolution approving fiscal year 2026-27 recommended budget for the distribution of transient occupancy tax revenues allocating $367,435 to cover the remaining costs of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection dispatch contract and $132,565 in funds to the fire districts. Okay, Chief Johnson.

All right. Thank you. It gets a little bit organized here. Good morning again. I'm going to have myself and then Chief Winhold were the designated speakers for our group today. So, you know, not to confuse or maybe to clarify, you know, we're the local government fire agencies for all of us here in the county. We like to think of ourselves as the county fire department and it goes back to the 90s right and uh really interesting for me to go and look at these old documents even my uh predecessor two fire chiefs ago at ebbets pass ward wilks he was 23 years on he had some great notes about the annexation of what the county had a fire department at one point and that annexation to the fire districts pretty unique really and what we've done here together partnership take a couple of Chief Dickinson's words, right? Relationships. And I look at that legacy of what this group, maybe different people and different names, right? And this group out here, I certainly wasn't here. Some folks who retired were, but built this program here for the fire agencies in the county. So looks like to me by reading, there's a a board resolution back in 1999 from this board here that specifies the annexation and those jurisdictional lines growing fire districts from special districts to have a contiguous you know jurisdictional line to absolve really the calaveras county um you know fire department all together so i think that's pretty clear part of that in this document does talk about dispatch that the county will provide for the dispatch. And that was that was the agreement, really. I mean, hey, we'll figure out how to put volunteers in turnouts and at back then and and we'll run calls and you pay the bill for dispatch and there was even some other pieces that were only temporary that have since gone away like workers comp even so just a little bit of history um you know moving forward we've all grown the county's grown the fire agency have grown we like to think going back to the earlier comments about unity us coming together and being a better partner to the county i understand there was probably at some point that we were just so fragmented we would overwhelm the cao's office now the ceo's office and i just had an informal meeting with theresa the other day and i feel like that opportunity uh for us to have that communication we've started down that path right um certainly i wouldn't be here in front of you if i felt like you know what happened on the 9th wasn't really feeling like there was some things Oh, I didn't know I was on the three-minute timer. Because if I was, I'd be like, oh my gosh, I got to read from a script. So we wanted to start down a path of partnership, really to be more or less a department head and work with the county, ultimately. And that's a dream, a vision, that we could be part of concessions when fiscal times get tough, things that we can do, strategize. I really feel like we're more a part of this county group than we ever have been. The ninth, I mean, I don't want to put anybody on the offensive. We really felt like Boy, we really missed a really important memo or a text message or a phone call because we didn't show up to the party. And at the fallout afterwards for us was like, oh my gosh, our TOT is completely gone. I know we're not talking about 172, but 172 is gone. I mean, 88% reduction. So here I am. And I don't know how I got saddled with talking to everybody here, but I did. So I'm going to do my best. So 99 resolution county decides they're going to take care of that dispatch for. It didn't have a sunset clause. It just said for the forever and we're going to do the firefighting and the EMS calls and be the 1st responders for local government. Sounds good fast forward 2018, the calipers on this calipers county document and I could have brought a bunch of copies. You can have all of this. They're just my notes. So in 2018, we went out to the public, to the voters. Again, collaboration, teamwork, partnership, fire service is named as 25% recipient for those funds. And it just mentions, it says fire districts for maintenance, improvement, emergency response, and protection. i know in my area when we're getting ready for fourth of july we're adding extra staffing we've got the death ride it happens at alpine county put on extra staffing for that because it impacts the county we've got fireworks and other parts of the county we use those funds to put extra you know people on on the ground and the equipment to support that for sure and we have since 2018 and we're very very fortunate and thankful to be a part of that process to get that 25 If we had felt or structured a budget that reflected that these monies were going to go to dispatch, our preliminary budgets, which have already been approved, by the way, would have certainly had reflected that if back in 2018, we knew those monies were going to go to dispatch. We didn't know. I had no clue, right? So fast forward, you know, farther and we. We look at all these numbers and quite frankly, I'm not a subject matter expert, but my layman's understanding of a couple of hours of Internet research along with my compadres back here. You know, it does look like when you guys looked at that TOT and you're trying to par that down or figure it out, there are some numbers in there that are like questionable, right? It's not my ask to go back to the board and say, hey, can we restructure this? Really the ask is, we like our tot at 25 right we want parity with the other public safety entity that's named which is the sheriff's office you know they're getting 662 000 public roads same number i know the visitors bureau gets a different number but you know again we're not here to talk about what they should or shouldn't we just want parity and what it said and for the voters they agreed back in 2018 to give us 25 And if other areas of the county that we're also getting 25%, they're getting 25%, we're banking on that 25% too. If the county and the board and the CEOs, however it happens, needs to sit down with us, we've already months ago sat down and said, hey, we're ready to come to the table if there's something coming. Please, if there's a storm brewing, let's not wait until the lightning hits before we get an opportunity to help out, right? I mean, Theresa and I have talked about that. And boy, it just seemed like we weren't at the bus stop and the bus rolled through and we didn't even have that opportunity. So we're kind of caught flat footed with these funds being, you know, dissolved. And I made a lot of other notes. I know Chief Winhold's going to come up here, but I feel like I'm doing all the talking. So are there any questions about what I've mentioned or? There's a bazillion things in the details. I see some options here. You guys can certainly have the authority. Of course, you know that. You can say, hey, that's just the way it's going to be. There are other options that say, hey, it's preliminary budget. We could work a different plan or a different approach. We appreciate that. Of course, we could be made whole in the TOT and talk about other funds maybe to help out with the dispatch fee. And the last couple of comments on that is I looked at, you know, the language in the preliminary budget as far as working down the, oh, I'm sorry.

No, no. Teresa, do you want to respond to some of that? Because I believe dispatch is covered.

so dispatch is in the tot um numbers that were proposed we were proposing to pay for dispatch and i think that there was some misunderstanding about how we were funding dispatch before i don't believe that the departments realized that we were funding dispatch out of general fund if i'm not mistaken so um

We actually discovered, yes, I mean, that was part of the obligation that you guys put forth in 1999 of the county was going to pay something for the fire districts to be able to respond because that was the deal when we were assuming that responsibility. And we didn't specify where the funding would come from other than We were under the understanding that dispatch service would always be there provided by the county in some fashion. And we would be able to continue to function with like, when the 2018 funds came from, we structured our financial budgets. With those based off of our understanding from 18 well, I guess 8 years now. Never the understanding that someday it would be leveraged back over to an obligation to 99.

dispatch is covered we just allocated it out of a different out of a different funding choice which is still general fund and i think sarah wants to speak to that yes the line item the fire

I just wanted to offer a point of legal clarification. I think there was maybe an implication that the TOT measure that was approved by the voters in 2018 was some sort of a special tax with particular percentages designated for particular, and that is not accurate. It was a general tax. is general fund dollars. The measure did state that the funds would be used for, amongst other things, emergency fire response, in addition to sheriff's patrols, road repairs, and attracting tourism dollars and helping businesses. it did not have specific percentages or anything or say that it was going to be all of those things those were just the things that the county could that the board could use the funds for uh the full the measure did mention that historically there had been that sort of 25 25 but i just want to be clear that that is not any sort of a um legal obligation and it was a general tax not a special tax and they are just general fund dollars just so everyone's clear

why council is absolutely correct it was just you know the news and the media released that talked about the 25 25 20 so it was information from the county to the public regarding what the initial you know what how we're going to split the money up and they voted on that to me the understanding even though maybe not legally binding was the understanding as a voter that it would go to what the media released at the county release and told the public that they would would give to you know the different areas And to re-back to, oh, go ahead.

No, no, go. I was going to ask if you had any more.

So Chief Young's talking about Fund 1130. And when looking at that fund, which is the original funding that still gets collected from the county for the old county fire department, a piece of that goes to Central Fire for a piece, I believe, of sheep ranch that was never dissolved completely. It's still responsibility of the county. And Central Fire, if I'm misspeaking, he's going to beat me up. So he'll be up here in a minute. That goes to that there's a residual amount of the whole line item looks to be much larger than the tax generates based off of the contributions from the general fund. The contributions from the general fund make up the headroom from what that tax doesn't cover, which is roughly 70,000 dollars of. Headroom that doesn't go towards central fire that is up for a, um, it's. On obligated, right? It's it's goes to fire service, which you're doing the appropriate thing of putting it towards that. Towards that contract for dispatch, we're completely fine with that. And then the remainder that it doesn't cover also goes, you know, comes from the general fund. That's correct. working with Cal Fire and Chief Cassie's here. He's the expert. I am not looking at the actuals that dispatch. It's like a do not exceed amount for the dispatch contract. For example, this year it's at 400 and something thousand. I'm given approximations. But in 2024, that number was much lower at 228,000. So, when you look at the actual bill that califier actually builds the county at the end of a year cycle, it's always less than the maximum. Right? It's not hey, pay us the whole and we'll give you the service. It's hey, this is how much it could cost. This is how much we came in at. And that number is not reflected in the email from the TOT that we were getting prorated. So we were getting prorated 100% of the headroom, right, Theresa?

2024-25 was actually probably the lowest year we've had on dispatch. We've had some years that actually exceeded the current budgeted amount. So I will let Ms. Huebner talk to that.

How are you?

Denise Huebner, Assistant CEO. So just looking at the current actuals for this year, we're at $392,569 of the 454 budgeted. So there often is some wiggle room in there. 24-25 was an unusually low year. The prior year was 344 to 29. That being said, we always budget for what the contract amount is because we can spend up to that amount. So just to provide clarification, I also want to speak to the current fund equity in that account. As of today, there's $145,835, of which $75,000 is budgeted for that offset that Chief Johnson just spoke about in the upcoming year, which leaves a balance of $70,000 in that account at the end of the year.

So we're not still collecting.

We do collect, uh, the anticipate the current year we have budgeted 107,000 in revenue, but funds to central. Or actually that's the actual, so we received 107,000 revenue and the funds to Cal fire or Calaveras, uh, fire was 83,000, three, four, five to date. So for only an excess of 24,000, and we're almost done with the fiscal year.

Thank you. Chief Johnson, Cassie is behind you. Is that okay?

Good morning, Board. Nick Casci, Union Chief for CAL FIRE. I think we might be crossing some items here, but they're relative to what Chief Johnson's talking about. Numbers we have for your previous agreement, which was a three-year contract, roughly the not-to-exceed limit was about 1.3, 1.299, 111, I think. We came in at 949 over the three years, about 73% of the not-to-exceed. So we have a history of coming in lower than what your not-to-exceed costs are for the relevance of this conversation. Thank you.

Thank you.

So kind of looking at that number, If we ended up somewhere like saying, hey, the board decides it wants to use the funds from TOT, which we're not asking for, by the way, we want the whole $662,500, just so you know. But according to the breakdown, it looks like the original $662,500 is reduced by the whole amount of what's left on the contract of what the maximum it could possibly be charged. I think Chief Cassie explained that, you know, we've never hit that 100% mark or at least recently 70-some percent. So we wouldn't want that number in there to begin with, right? We certainly wouldn't want to be prorated the amount. The amount, even if we pull all that money out that's coming out of the general fund out of TOT, would have been not $132,565, but the amount would have been $232,565. How do I put it? $295,065. So we're being shorted again. So we're not getting 25%. Even if the contract came in at 100%, even if we paid every single cent out of TOT out of our share, you're reducing us down to 18%. Again, not part of what we understood as being the agreement. Or it's not even an agreement because it's not written, right? It's just what was told to the public back in 2018. So in any case, however we look at this, actuals versus targeted amount that it could possibly cost, 25% of TOT never having anything to do with the 1999 dispatch agreement with the county. And now, of course, we just want to be able to sharpen the pencil and work or figure it out. And I felt like that opportunity, we were just never given that either. So it's a lot of,

talking and a lot of information um i have a question for you and the whole association and and i don't expect you guys to have an answer but over the last couple years you've heard us that we had to make cuts so my question to you guys is what are you bringing to the table after we've said for years when we just had to lay off five positions and took a massive hit to the sheriff's office I have never, and some of you and I have talked, and I know that we've gone round and round and disagree with how I vote in the past, and that's why I feel like I can say it, because they haven't taken the beating that I've taken from you guys. What have you offered? What have you offered to help us with the Sheriff's Office? We just asked the Sheriff's Office to take on OES, which supports you guys. the coroner's office, which supports the community too. We've got probation and issues with the court system for public safety as well. So I know that we may not have that answer today, and maybe this is a discussion that you guys have offline with the CEO to continue, but you guys got measure A. What can we do What can you do to help us? Because we've got to possibly lay off more staff. So I understand, yes, Measure 8 isn't a whole lot, but we're not getting a lot either. And so we've got to find a balancing act. So where does it stop? Because we can't ask the Sheriff's Office to pull more deputies off the street.

We're here to work. We're here to work. And I came months ago to Teresa's office on this very topic. And I talked to Denise. We were there. We had a collaboration. And I think the specific words out of my mouth where we want to be partners with the county, and if there's financial reductions, we want to work hard with the county and find those solutions together long before things like this happened. That did not occur.

And we said it last year.

No, two months ago for this fiscal year.

no in this boardroom last budget we have been hinting over the last couple months that we are going to have to make reductions and this went i verbally i can't i've stood on my soapbox over and over again and have said that but over the years i haven't seen any solutions come back we simply sat down with county leadership and said hey we're ready to be part of the solution process

And go ahead, Teresa. I don't want to speak and throw you in a bad situation.

I appreciate Chief Johnson and his professionalism. He's always approached this with a definite sense of we're looking for solutions here. I do want to say that at that time, we had not been given direction to make any adjustments to the TOT allocations from the board. We try not to get out in front of the board and make adjustments that they have not um provided to us so what happened on the 9th was the opportunity for everyone to come and speak their piece and we did hear from a lot of county departments that we had worked with in order to do budget reductions where they were laying off staff unable to hire staff and what that was going to do to their operations. And I'm going to say that as we looked at our own county departments, we didn't do a straight percentage reduction. We tried to look at how we could do the least amount of harm to county services. And so if we had, and I know that Measure A was hard fought by you guys and it should have gone through, I appreciate the citizens for actually putting that in place for our fire districts because it was much needed. But if we saw the Sheriff's Department with a 50% increase in budget from some special revenue source, we would have looked harder at reducing in other areas of the sheriff's department. You asked about a percentage reduction. We looked at departments who perhaps had grant funding that could take care of supporting some of their positions, what that looks like. We looked at SRF funds where we could pull money in from those in order to support county operations. But we were still left with a deficit that had to be filled. And so we still have departments here most of whom took reductions this year. I don't think one county department was unscathed in this process. So I know it feels personal because we did sit down and meet. And again, I appreciate how you always approach things that you're very much a solution-oriented person. In this particular instance, Had we treated you like a county department, we would have sat down and said okay here's what your I mean, because we can pull that data from the auditor, we would have said here's your projected budgets across all these different. agencies here's what we feel like you need to reduce in order to. meet what we can afford to provide this year, that conversation didn't happen. What I might recommend is that we take a look at it from that perspective going into the September final budget.

I got to assume it won't be more than 88% reduction.

So could I ask, Chief, could you tell us how Measure A has affected the departments?

Yeah, so let me give you, you know, obviously moving forward from like the TOT, and I have to throw in the 172, we get 10% of that, or we had up to possibly a change. So we constructed, you know, finances with, you know, personnel, equipment purchases. We got a $92,000 a year engine payment at Ebbets Pass. We don't pay all of it out of there, but a portion, the overtime for some special events, ski week up at the mountain, the big holidays, summertime, our extras. A lot of that comes from those like TOT funds constructed over the last, you know, let's just put it eight years, right? Measure A had nothing to do with that, right? It didn't allow us to push money around or save things in other places. It said, you shall at least 70% augment and increase the staffing of your fire district. Some literally went from volunteer to minimum wage paid overnight. No benefits, no retirement, but something along those lines. Some of us, like Ebbets Pass, we added fire captains that were 24-hour in a station that never had fire captains before. Up to 30% could be used for equipment for those new people. It does not allow us to go back in time and say, we can use Measure A to start paying the overtime for the visitors at the parade in Arnold, because that's what we want to do. I mean, we just can't. You see where I'm going with that. And all these things escalate, and they cascade back on one another, right? So it's $90,000 for each of the districts. It really is. And it comes down to $100,000. And I'll be frank with you. I got to speak on behalf of everybody. If your budget is $500,000, or $600,000 and you take away $100,000, it's going to make huge ripples. And I know Chief Windholtz is going to talk more about that. I don't want to take that thunder. But we won't be able to just move things around because the Citizens Initiative was very specific on what it was to be used for. We don't have the discretion necessarily that we do in other parts of government, right? So we're bound to be audited every year for those things. Otherwise, the funds get turned back in into the pot again and then reallocated the following year. So our hands are tied with Measure 8. It is a fantastic support from the community. We're doing more than ever, but it doesn't replace anything that came before, whether it was 2018 TOT or even back when we started getting 172, which is about the same time, or that the dispatch has been paid since 1999 and we now have to figure out a way to prevent. We're more than willing I shouldn't say more than willing. Those are my words. We are willing to come to the table and make concessions. I've told you this, Teresa, time and time again, and I appreciate your time. And you know that. And you know I'm genuine. I'll go back and I'll get beat up by these guys, but we're willing to do it. We just haven't had a chance to even swing at the ball. And that's, I want to reiterate that. Chief, I know you got some words. I feel like I've been up here for an hour. Probably have.

Chief, you got a couple people behind you.

All right, I'll step aside. How about that?

Delotto, Young? Did you have anything?

No, I just got very uncomfortable sitting down. Oh, okay.

I just wanted to make sure. Okay. No, that's fine. I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss you. Okay, you go.

You can't miss him. Good morning. My name is Bill Winhold. I am the fire chief for Central Calaveras Fire. Related to Chief Young, I have a second hat that I have been an elected director for Santa Grace Fire District for 37 years, and I have been their district treasurer. And the experiences from that better prepared me to stand before you as a fire chief and over the years work collectively most of the time with Chief Young on his goals and the limitations we had. I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak this morning. The fire chiefs gathered behind me are essentially the CEOs for their agencies. It is our responsibility to manage the business of fire and life protection with the resources that we are each given. We have all been challenged to recruit and retain qualified firefighters with minimal wages. We have been challenged to provide the minimum nationally recognized staffing to provide safe and efficient incident operations. We have been challenged and have had to defer engine and equipment replacements due to lack of funds. Under the provisions of Prop 13, our fire districts have been limited to a maximum of a 2% increase in property taxes each year, while annual inflation and new equipment costs have skyrocketed. We took our concerns and challenges to our communities, our joint constituents, and the people agreed that the highest threat to their lives and property was from the danger of fire. whether from a brush fire that destroys our home or from a home fire that extends to the brush and destroys a community. The people agreed to a new additional tax to give the fire service the people and tools we need to better prepare and protect them from the greatest threat. Over 25 years ago, the county approached fire districts to expand their historical district boundaries to cover areas of the county that it was responsible with its county fire department. We are the de facto county fire department. Many years ago, fire districts were highly protective of their assets and sometimes didn't work well together. Those days are long past. Today, we all recognize the need to respond and support each other, be it local government or our partners from the state and CAL FIRE. Our independent budgets are built each year based on the combination of revenues from property taxes, special taxes, fees for service, or reimbursements from supporting allied agencies. Same as you, we must live within our budgets and we must adjust our priorities and spending to match. There are no bailouts. This year, our 2026-2027 budgets were created and submitted to the County Auditor's Office over a month ago based on revenue estimates provided by the county that included historical revenues from the county and state collective funds that support fire and life safety protection. As Chief here has alluded, the fire chiefs held multiple meetings with county administration and the county auditor to confirm the revenues and our business plans to provide services for our communities based upon their wishes and the financial support. However, in the last 10 days, it has been proposed that the funding for fire and life safety for fiscal 26-27 be reduced by $900,000 to help with county shortfalls. The fire chiefs have left those meetings with the insurances that our funding was secure and would remain status quo. We are here today to state for the record that the loss of nearly $1 million of funds to protect our communities will have a direct and negative effect on our capabilities. The citizens of the county voted for additional funds to make their fire departments whole and more effective than in the past. The partners have been able to hire additional staff and purchase much needed equipment to meet the expanding needs of our communities. Those improvements are now in immediate jeopardy. Based with the unanticipated loss of $1 million for fire protection funds, we, as CEOs of our departments, will need to rebalance our finances with cuts to equipment and personnel. Newly acquired equipment may be returned, and newly hired staff may be laid off to meet the new financial limits. There is no doing more with less. The math does not work. Some may say maybe it's time to go back to volunteers. or keeping the 30-year-old fire engines running. California's labor laws have all but eliminated the ability to use volunteer labor, and hopefully that 30-year-old equipment will start, but are there parts today to replace that equipment that has exceeded its design service life? As a chief, as a leader, I will do what I need to do to protect my community, my neighbors, and my organization. My question to you this morning, Can I count on the county's continued support or are we headed for a divorce? Thank you for the consideration.

Mike Delorto again. One nice thing about getting old as you know history. And one thing about being on the board when the After they decided to create County Fire, they created County Fire, then realized, what are we going to do? How are we going to do this? So they opened a contract with Cal Fire to manage County Fire. And some of the fire departments, including McAllen Meal, got yellow turnouts. We used to go to fires in cotton shirts and Levi's. County Fire became an issue when they realized what the insurance load is for workman's comp. Because the county provided workman's comp to all the fire districts at a certain point to cover their territory, their county fire area. McAlemy Hill originally was one square mile. We're now 35. Every district expanded out through the county's direction and concurrence, uh, that filled everything in calories County in a fire district. And those fire districts will have to pay their own work in this comp, which is pretty impressive. Cost-wise the counties at that time, I don't know now was self-insured or work these comp and that's why they wanted to get rid of the fire districts. So when. They decided to dissolve County Fire. They talked to, what they did was they reserved part of the tax funds that still come under quote, quote County Fire so that they could contract with Cal Fire to do the dispatch. Dispatching has increased immensely over the years. They've gone to cell phones that come up and tell you where you're going and everything else. That's good. These people are now paying. And Cal Fire is now going to an entity that tracks all the engines in the county, and they can see where an accident is here. It's that district, but there's an engine right here. They can notify that engine. They're getting very efficient. That's an evolution right now. It's working, but they're the ones that do it. They're the ones that have the workman's comp insurance. I've been trying to find for years where that money was. And I finally figured it out the last meeting I came here. These people rely on that money. They have really smart people that gather and They call them the NFPA and they have, this would be wonderful if we had this. This would be wonderful if we had that. We can't do that. That'll never happen here. We try to meet safety standards. They do. So I just wanted to give you a little background that the County was in the fire business. They decided to get out primarily because of workman's comp and all the misery that was involved.

Thank you, Mike. Chief Johnson, is it okay, because we are still in preliminary, you schedule, you guys have a meeting with the CEO, and then you guys can work on your proposal. I don't know what you want to call it. You guys can work some of this stuff out and then bring that back to the board. Is that reasonable for the board? i mean the board just taking the consideration the direction that the board gave out in june we're asking for some of these we're eliminating a lot of stuff but i'm i keep going to the sheriff's office and i know at the department they're not going to be able to go to some of these activities that I don't know what you want to call them you know and so they're even scaling back themselves so just know that we've got we've got some we don't know what the state budget's going to look like We could be making more cuts. And so everything is in a flux, I guess is the best word. And so nothing is definitive, but I have hope that with your meeting with the CEO's office, administration, that everyone can come to something they can live with. I don't know. We're not going to be happy. I know that we're not going to be happy. But is that something that we can do to move forward? And I'm asking because we're looking at the sense of time. I know this could go on for hours. So I want to make sure that maybe we go, we can go to staff level and then you guys can come back.

Sounds like some very amenable and some good direction from the board. Thank you.

Uh, yeah, I don't have a problem with that, but I want to point out that it keeps being brought up. You guys met with Teresa and when Teresa brought us the budget, especially the, she didn't touch it. It was this board that touched it. That's why you didn't see it on that agenda. When it came back to us on the 10th, we came back in the following Wednesday, the board divvied up what was going on to make some of the. Issues go away that we had, especially with the sheriff, probation, the DA took a big hit too. These are all things that we as a county have to look at. The fire departments, if you go back, was it five, six years? We gave you the TOT. This board gave you the TOT that you never got before to try and help you guys resolve some of the issues that you had. And, you know, I'm very proud that we did that because you didn't have it before and you guys are struggling very deeply and we recognize that. So we did give you the 25% and it helped out tremendously at the time. But going forward, it didn't settle all the issues that you have. Obviously, that's so and all the financing problems that you did. So you guys took on. Measure a, but some of you do get property taxes. Your district is 1 of them that gets the property taxes every 2, twice a year, but not all of you do. So all of you are not in the same boat. You're not all, you know, you have different funding mechanisms for you, but I don't have a problem if we can work something out here. And again, this is a preliminary budget. This budget is preliminary until we get to September. Like Amanda said, we don't know what the state is going to do to fix their budget. And a lot of times, and it's happened in the past as I brought up earlier, it's the counties that fix their budget. And then we have to deal with it. So I don't have a problem with you guys working out or meeting with the CEO and her bringing something back to us. Whether that be before September or not, I don't know. Whatever it's decided upon. But again, our final budget is not to September. And there can be some things done between now and then that when it comes back to us, it could maybe take care of some of the issues here.

So, if the board's okay with it, we really would like to work with the fire districts and our departments in totality. We're trying to take a holistic approach to the budget again. We're trying to balance the services to the public and what's going to affect the public the most. So we'd like to continue that process, and if that's okay with the fire districts, that we would meet with them and basically treat them almost the same as our departments as far as what we're able to provide or not provide. And somebody said, not everybody's going to be happy. I guarantee that's the case. It's hard, and if we had all the money in the world, everybody would be happy, but we don't.

And we also heard this morning we're going into a dip, you know, what's getting collected. So that's the first sign of what our revenue projections are. So I know this fiscal year, keep that in mind. And I mean, I've been speaking to all the department heads too. Keep that in mind. We're only at the tip of what it's going to be. not fun over the next couple fiscal year cycles. And so we need to be as proactive as we can. So when those hits come, they're not as hard as what happens. So just keep that in mind when you have that discussion with the CEO.

Absolutely could I could I also ask chief my understanding with measure a was that we were anticipating 5Million coming in and then approximately 8Million has come in. So, a lot of these decisions were made with the idea of that. I would love to know what the restrictions are within your department because you brought out a couple of things that I didn't know today. Yeah. So how that money I mean, again, we're looking at a huge influx of money into your departments.

Yeah, I wish it was discretionary, sir. I mean, I wish it was able to pay other things.

How that affects your department is what I really would like to know.

Yeah, essentially for, um. It allows to increase the staffing once again, but it's not. If there's a position that's existed 3. Measure a, it can't be, it's not meant to be applied in the way and the. equipment that's above 70%, if you want to look at the 30%, you could spend up to 30% on the equipment for those individuals. So turnouts, which are $5,000 a set, or even fire apparatus money towards those types of things. That's all okay, as long as it's for the people that are hired with the Measure A monies. We can't just pay for a 10-year veteran that came before Measure A and say, we're going to buy you some turnouts out of this new extra funding. And it's how audits are. And we're all fearful, like, oh my gosh, hopefully we get all this perfect just right. And we're trying to do a really good job with that. And sometimes when you're confined to that very specific lane without discretion, you know how difficult it can be to be like, hey, we got to stay on top of this one budget kind of its own entity. We're just not able to offset other costs necessarily. But it's a great thing. It's very specific.

Thank you. The sheriff would like to speak.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chief. I know he said he was just standing up. Oh, you do? Okay. Okay. So I thought you were still standing up, stretching your legs. I'm sorry.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

the discussion. I know this is hard on everyone. The budget process, although it is ongoing, and I'm happy to hear that ongoing discussions can continue. We're in year five of these ongoing budget reductions, as I've already pointed out in the budget hearing. And this process that we go through is annual. defined steps that are highly publicized of when we should be here talking about it. So I just want to make sure with the current discussion of the ongoing process and coming back to the table that we are talking about final budget and I'm hoping that this preliminary recommended budget is still going to be passed today because this board already made decisions at the last meeting to uh allocate things back to the general fund that has an effect on staffing critical staffing that need to be filled and the auditor in the assessor's office probation department the district attorney my office it's it's already been recommended tied to staffing so if the vote is put off and not done today um then the direction that this board already gave at the last meeting is going to have an effect on those FTEs that were already discussed. So I just encourage you guys to make the decision today. And just like everyone's already saying, we can revisit as we always do it at final budget, at mid-year, at preliminary next year, you know, it's an ongoing process. We're used to that. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair. Chief Young.

No, I'm going to abstain.

Okay.

I would just like to remind the board that a lot of what's happening in probation and the work that we're having to take on has to do with Supreme Court decisions that actually nobody has any control over but the courts themselves. It is going to be highly impactful to the jails and even more impactful to who is being released from the jail and whether or not those people will be supervised as they're released going through the pretrial process. our funding is cut we are in jeopardy of losing one of those pre-trial positions and not being able to provide electronic monitoring to some of the pre-trial folks that are released so it's a very big impact public safety-wise that at this point that there's very little control even the state legislatures had no control over this yeah thank you Micah

Yeah, just as the board continues to decide on how this budget gets finalized and whether more discussions are had or not, I just want to make sure that there's some perspective maintained in the other departments that are affected by this. And for Public Works, biggest majority of our budget is federal and state funding and that's compromised and that's going to continue to be compromised more and more as these next few years go on there's no one else to maintain the roads there's no one else to do the snow plowing there's no one else to maintain the culverts and the drainage a lot of the work we do is critical for them to be able to be successful with their work we have staffing issues as well we have equipment challenges as well we've got 20 30 year old equipment out on the road. Our snow plows are a laughing stock because of how old they are. But without other funding sources such as this, we can't make those changes. We can't make those improvements. So we get complaints all the time with the conditions of the roads. And if we had the funding, trust me, the paving would be done. But we're very limited on those resources. We're very limited on what we could do with them. Our funding is discretionary as well. We can't just pick and choose where it goes. So I just want to make sure that that perspective is maintained as these decisions are being made, because there's a lot of other departments here in the county that are essential services as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Michael.

I wasn't sure if I was going to speak or not, because everything that got cut in my budget remained cut last time. And I just wanted to remind people of what that is. Our bookcases in Murphy's still break fire code. Because of the hiring freeze, we're not able to rehire our courier, which means that we are looking at reduced hold pickup days, maybe not even having books go back and forth between branches, which includes new books going out to the branches, DIY crafts going out to the branches, all of that. Because of the hiring freeze we're looking at after summer reading, reduced hours in Murphy's, Angel's Camp, and Arnold because of not being able to rehire that staff. If people are not aware, like I mentioned last time, there are three full-time equivalent staff in the library department. That is me and two other staff who are not managers. They make like $24 and $27 an hour, respectively. Everybody else in my department is an 18-hour a week, unbenefited person. And when budget is cut and services are reduced, the people that bear the brunt of that from the public are those part-time people. One of my staff moved to a branch that was closer than home, and she fielded angry complaints for months from patrons who were mad that she had the gall to prioritize her own personal life over their comfort. If I sound a little angry today, somebody mentioned the wonderful public service response to the incident that happened last night. What they didn't mention was that that incident happened at a library, and what a lot of people in this room may not remember, that was my library. I was the branch manager for two years. Those were my staff and my patrons, and I spent the last 24 hours wondering who died and if they were somebody I knew and cared about. When public services get cut at the library, the people who get all the anger are my staff. And there is an uneven amount of misdirected rage directed at libraries. That is not actually the first of my library to have an active shooting. I went through that at Stanford University when I worked there. I've been subject to violent threats, both at this system and at others. And I've been physically attacked in the library. And this happens to staff at all the libraries I've worked at. And I don't know why that is, but I'm kind of tired of seeing my staff get treated like they're volunteers and not Bay County staff while we bear the brunt of this public rage for reasons I don't understand.

Lurie Durham assessor. I wanna say, I appreciate our public safety and I honor them. I think they do a wonderful job. I'd like to echo though what the sheriff said. As you know, my job is to bring revenue into the county. No, I don't believe myself as a revenue generator, but by not approving this today, it puts us back. And as we know, as you've reiterated that, special districts get money from property tax revenue and if we're not bringing in the property tax revenue and have people to do the job that money doesn't get dispersed so i'd like to see um more talks and stuff to help out um the districts but at this time to get us going for people we need to do our stuff i urge you to approve today's budget thank you that's

This is arguably the dumbest thing I could deal with the smartest thing I could do this month. I have a deep and abiding respect for every 1 of the fire chiefs in every district in this county and I have. Demonstrated that in the last 7 years, especially. 5 of those years while I work diligently with each fire district to try to stand up a. Our prevention program. fire prevention program that this county spent arguably up two hundred thousand dollars on trying to stand up and you know we had some very good results while it lasted i'm very proud of that work and i'm very thankful for each one of these fire districts our department directly supports them just like every other department in this county as i said especially code compliance we are force multipliers if anyone needs anything we enhance their service But in this budget, your board asked me to reduce my staffing. And I said, yes, ma'am. I didn't ask for anything because I know that every department is suffering and I know that next year may be worse. And I understood the decision. I approved the decision. I agree. It's terrible. It's terrible. I asked nothing from your board. I still don't ask anything from your board. I am now asking something from your fire districts. And I typically don't ask anything from the fire districts. I say, yes, sir, I need a code compliance officer. I need a building inspector. They need a citation. They need a code reference. Anything they need, I provide it. I'm asking something now. Can we not just set this aside and work on it next budget when it gets really bad? The sheriff is right. This is not getting better. I've lost $160,000 in removing a staff member and reducing the enforcement budget that actually cleans up the significant fire hazards. One of them recently, $80,000 cleaning up something in Calco that was going to burn up a third of his district. Right action. I'm asking the districts now, can we not set this aside? Just this budget. We all are gonna bleed and I understand the sacrifice. I don't want this to, I don't want the hyperbole of, is this going to be a divorce to gain traction? I think perhaps we could all just nod and say, okay, let's all take a little pain together just once and then sharpen our pencils next budget. Once again, I don't ask your board of anything, but I would hope that I could ask chiefs and please. Help us a little bit. Just this one. With all respect, I'm not trying to piss anybody off. Let's just set this aside a little.

Thank you, Doug. Okay. I want to wrap up this item, so we'll be last one.

Let me be real fast on this. There was a tipping point here, and that is when somebody mentioned divorce. You are public servants. You do a great job being public servants. But you're not divorcing. You're going to continue with your job. You may be doing less and less. It's the way it is. That's the way it is for all of us. I appreciate the board standing up to this. Amanda Fullendorf saying, you know, we need to talk. Gary Tofanelli saying, this is just preliminary.

Appreciate Doug Oliver's words.

Come on. So thank you, and we're going to move forward now.

i'll bring it back to the board yeah any discussions okay um if there's no other discussion is there a motion

Before we have a motion, we had a conversation about the fire chief's meeting with the CEO. And we all agree with that. And then bringing maybe something back to our final budget, which would be the final budget. And we'll see if there's any other funding that we can separate out between all the other departments and the fire departments that we can come up with to help.

but i'm do we all agree with that so you guys can set up with her and it may not be ideal chief johnson because we pulled our own staff their marching orders yeah okay just just to be clear i think we're very

amenable and we want to work with the county for a solution like again you know so not that hey we don't want any cuts nobody wants any cuts and i agree with doug oliver when he says hey we just want an opportunity to participate in the cuts doug and we weren't given so i don't i want to work with the county and say hey what are those pets look like we're going to do the play with you and uh keep the ball rolling for the county um rather than the what we saw here so thanks for that opportunity thank you so with that the motions

yes i will make a motion and i'll say you know the value of the fire district is unquestionable um you know we are tasked with balancing the budget and you know the cuts are wide and deep as you've heard today and i appreciate your energy towards more collaboration and communication and all you've shared with us today i have learned a lot as well so um yes let's please set that up and get it going and i will move the item today okay second uh

So, I'm sorry, I will 2nd, and I'll tell you all the time I've been a supervisor and when we go into budgets that are going down, it's the most difficult time as a supervisor. You have, you're not going to please everybody. You're going to have to everybody's going to get mad at you. But you're only, it's like, you only have so much money to go around and try and do the best that you can. And I'm telling you, this is a difficult situation, a difficult decision that we have to make. I fully understand everything that you guys have to say and what you have said to Chief Johnson. Hopefully there's something we can do. You can meet with Teresa and go in again till we get to the final budget. So I will second.

Okay, Martin, you still had something, didn't you?

I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for the communication. Thank you for all that you all do. And yeah.

Okay, so we got a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? 401. Thank you, Chief. I honestly have lost a little track of time. We are almost at 1130. Do we have another item? Yeah, we have.

No, that's consent done.

That's done. Consent done, right? Okay. Okay, perfect. So with that, what we're going to do is we're going to take a 15 minute break. and then we will come back and kick off regular agenda we'll see how far we get with this um before we will have to break for lunch and my goal if it's okay with the rest of the board um we do a check-in at 12 15 if we're not done and possibly break for lunch at 12 30. is that okay with everybody is that amenable for staff okay great okay thank you Okay, welcome back. We are now into regular agenda. We have item number 45.

Item 45, action item, clerk of the Board of Supervisors, consider the possible cancellation of the regular board meeting scheduled for Tuesday, July 14, 2026.

I turn it over to the CEO. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Chairwoman Follendorf and members of the board. Our office asked the clerk to bring this forward to potentially consider cancellation of the July 14th meeting. At this time, that meeting appears to be extremely light. I think there's only a couple of non-time sensitive items that have been proposed for that meeting. And we do believe that that would continue. And since we have had a very lengthy budget meeting earlier this month, and then again, today, we've had quite a bit of budget discussion with all of the departments, we felt that it might be good to cancel that meeting and move everything to the July 28 meeting.

Any board comment? Before I go to public? Public comment?

I'm not going to call you lazy asses or anything, but I have plenty of work for you to do. You could be looking at the board rules. They need to be updated. I mean, that's just one that's on my mind right now. It allows you to appoint a vacant seat if somebody were to leave the board, but it doesn't allow you to discipline a board member that's behaving in a way that's detrimental to your reputation and the public's well-being. That's going to take quite a bit of time, but it can be added in one meeting. Yeah. Budget's always lengthy, but you don't show up that often anyway. Face it. Twice a month, and you have a CEO doing your bidding for you, not a CAO. You don't directly manage your departments. I'm paying a lot of money for you folks to be here, and I want you to be here. I want you to work on those board rules. I'll take a close look at them with you, in fact. and may give my opinion without being rude. I think it's very important, important to the reputation of this county. We get back on track. We just had many years of problems dealing with the public and the sensitivity training. That's all pretty much I'd say. I really should go in. I wanted to talk about some other agenda items, but I'm hungry. And you guys don't serve double cheeseburgers, do you? CEO, do you serve double cheeseburgers here? She does not. So today, vice chair, or chair today, I'd like you to really consider that. It needs to be done. It's your reputations.

OK.

Thank you for this time. Today's meeting was good. Everybody behave like adults. Have a good day.

Any other public comment in the room? Okay.

Any online? We have no online public comment.

Okay. Bring it back to the board.

I'm not going to be voting for this. I don't.

the conversation you and I don't agree with it so um I will be voting no on it um given that it is 250 years of this nation country uh birthday and that we have been um working on budget and I think we at least I know gay we don't have other committee meetings that month um I think It would give staff, I support the CEO's recommendation, give staff a break, especially since they're going to have to be working to crunch some more numbers after today and allow everybody a moment to celebrate and get a break. So I'll be supporting the recommendation. Are there any other board members, comments? Okay. With that, is there a motion?

I'll move it.

Okay. Is there a second?

Second.

Okay. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? No. Okay. Passes 3-1-1. Did I get my math right? Okay, great. Thank you. Next, we have item number 46, cloak.

Item 46, action item, county council adopt a policy addressing disruption of remote access during Calabasas County Board of Supervisors meetings as required by Senate Bill 707.

Good morning, board. This item, so some changes were made to the Brown Act as of January 1 of this year. Certain of the changes don't actually take effect until July 1. and one of the changes that goes into effect july 1st is that legislative bodies such as the board of supervisors are required to have policies in place that will address how we are going to deal with any disruptions to remote access to board meetings as you all know we have essentially as a courtesy been allowing remote access zoom access to board meetings for years now we're mandated to do that as of july 1st And up until July 1st, because we were providing it as a courtesy as just another way of accessing board meetings, if Zoom, for instance, went down during a board meeting, it was fine for us to continue the meeting because we were just providing that as an additional courtesy access. As of July 1st, if zoom or whatever other platform, you know, audio or audio video, we may be using in the future. If that goes down, we're required to pause the meeting. To take measures to attempt to get it working again and then only after we've, um. got it going again or an hour has elapsed, can we actually restart the meeting? So we don't have a choice on those. And what the law requires is that the board adopt a policy stating that and stating what specific measures we are going to take if that comes to pass. And so I did work with the board clerk's office to give this list of what measures staff will take at a minimum if service goes down during a meeting. This policy tracks the law. I'm happy to answer any questions you have. One thing just of note that the amended Brown Act does specifically provide for is during that time if Zoom is down, while the clerk and or IT are working to get it back up, If we have outstanding closed session items that we still need to address that day, we may properly go into closed session, since obviously there's no Zoom access to closed session in the first place, handle those items and report out when we come back. So we do have some ways that we can make use of the time. So just something to note.

Any board questions? Any public comment? Seeing none in the room, any online? We have no online public comment. We'll bring it back to the board with no motion.

I'll move.

Moved by Supervisor Hebbity, seconded by Supervisor Cianfinelli. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Passes 4-0-1.

Next, we have item number 47. Clerk. Item 47, resolution, public health. One. award rfq 25106018918 for local health officer services to renee ramirez md to authorize the board chair to execute agreement one zero six zero two six zero one with the room renee ramirez md to serve as calaveras county's health officer and amount not to exceed one hundred sixty six thousand four hundred four four hundred dollars and four cents For the term of July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027, and three, adopt a resolution reappointing Renee Ramirez as the Calaveras County Health Officer, effective July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027, pursuant to Agreement 10602601.

All right, good morning, Chair, members of the board. Marcos Munoz, Health and Human Services Director. Before you today, I'm seeking approval for a one-year agreement for county health services with Dr. Ramirez. Over the past several years, the board requested a formal process for securing county health services. With that in mind, HHSA posted a request for qualifications for up to an initial term of three years with two one-year extensions. The RFQ was posted on March 19th, 2026. on public purchase. It was open for five weeks and closed on April 23rd, 2026. To be considered, all responses needed to be submitted via public purchase. In order to maintain equity amongst all potential applicants, we ask that all questions were posted on public purchase where they were answered. Not only for the individuals asking the questions, but the answers are also for any other potential applicants that have similar questions. By doing this, this minimizes protests and allows for everybody to have the same information when applying. If questions are received via email, we ask that the person asking the questions post them on public purchase prior to us responding. In terms of questions, we received a post with several questions regarding benefits, travel reimbursement, splitting health officer duties, and defining the minimum and maximum commitment. We provided a response and at the end we received two applicants. Packets were then sent out to each reviewer and they were scored individually. We had a total of four reviewers. The applicant who scored the highest is the contract that is in front of you today.

No protests were received during the seven-day protest window.

I do want to point out that while our RFQ was up to three years with two one-year extensions, the contract before you today is one year with the option of two one-year extensions. So unless the board directs otherwise, it is the one-year initial term that is before you today. With that in mind, are there any questions?

Sorry, I thought I turned it on. Thank you, Susan. Oh, Dr. Ramirez. Good morning. Almost soon to be afternoon.

I just want to say I've been watching all morning. It's been a very sombering session for you guys. I feel the heat that was cast onto you, and I heard that last time there was some heat kind of cast on my way. I would say I was disheartened to hear of some foul words that were spoken the last time, but I think my heart, with regards to as low as it can go, went as low as it could go last December when I found out my daughter had brain cancer. Everything beyond that is a plus. We are all given today. And whenever we hear hearsay or rumors, I'm reminded of the three seams of Socrates. Number one, is it true? Number two, is it kind? Number three, is it helpful? And I know you guys are quested every day, every meeting with difficult decisions, and as am I, in terms of reflecting as an emergency medicine physician, I am arguably quested with sometimes some of the most difficult decisions with split second life and death questions. I was just conversing with animal services, some cases that we've shared regarding rabies, where I may have been in a different city at a different time, 10 o'clock at night, 7 o'clock here. The emergency department still needed to get a hold of somebody. There was somebody on call for me that I had arranged, but my cell phone's always open for those people. And we made an important decision regarding a rabies case, and it turned out to be the right decision. But this is what I do every day. It's what I'm available to do every day, every minute. I answered a call, whether I'm in building, outside the building, whether I'm in the emergency department or outside the emergency department. Responded to a car crash. There's three physicians there. Car turned over. They said, don't worry. I have it. I'm a doctor. I said, oh, no problem. I'm just an ER doctor. Just want to make sure everything was OK. They quickly brought me back. They said, well, I'm a psychiatrist. I'm an internal medicine doctor. I'm a family doctor. We need your help. Because every day when you call a doctor's line, the first thing they say on that line is, before they give you options, if this is an emergency, hang up and call 911. I am 911. I just want to say thank you for listening to me. I feel and share in the difficult decisions that you make, and I appreciate your time.

Thank you. Any other comments? Public comment? Anything online?

Just a reminder to online, if you wish to make a comment on this item, you will need to raise your hand. We do not have any online public comment.

Do I need to worry about delay or anything? We're good? For Zoom, no. Okay.

Okay.

With that, I'll bring it back to the board. If there's no discussion, is there a comment? Motion, sorry. Move to the side. Is there a second?

I'll second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye. Any opposed? Thank you, Dr. Ramirez, for coming up. We appreciate it. Okay. We'll move on to item number... Well, let's do a check in. It is the last item. Do you think we can get through it? Yes. Does everybody want to get through it? Okay. Let's go.

You're up Lisa.

Just a second.

Item 48, informational item, environmental management agency receive a presentation from the environmental health director department for micro enterprise home kitchen operations and discuss whether local implementation of this program should be further explored.

Whenever you're ready, Lisa.

Good morning or good afternoon already. You can start in three minutes. Thank you.

I think they're here to support me.

So good afternoon, everybody. I'm Lisa Medina, Environmental Management Agency, Environmental Health Director. And I'm here today to present the Mico Enterprise Home Kitchen, also familiar, also called Mico. So what are micro enterprise home kitchen operations? This was a bill that became effective in 2019. It allows for basically the operation of a restaurant in a residential setting, which means every home in Calaveras County could open a potentially a small, unique restaurant. There was a following bill, AB-377, that kind of helped clean a little bit of the language up, which helped with the inspection process and some of the food safety standards. So Amico is defined as a food facility. It is operated by a resident in a private home where food can be stored, handled, cooked, and prepared. So the food facility is operated by the resident. They can have up to one family member or one employee per the MECA rules, in addition to which could be family and or household members. Food is prepared just like anything, sitting down for a meal in a restaurant, cooked and served on the same day. It's limited to 30 individual meals per day, no more than 90 meals per week. Food has to be consumed on site or it can be picked up by the actual consumer. It is a direct sales only, so it means that it has to be the type of situation, say, for example, I would call up and say, hey, you know, I want some enchiladas. It would have to be delivered and given to that person the same day. There can be no more than $100,000 in gross annual sales, but due to CPI for 2026, it's a little over 110,000. You can't post any signs or do any type of advertising, which is strictly prohibited. And it has to be done in the primary home only, which means no secondary homes, no vacation homes, no RVs, no tents, et cetera. Also, the MECO kitchen residential cannot give away food to any temporary events, community events, certified farmers markets, or any other mobile food facility. MECOs can prepare up to two of their own compact mobile food and operations. And what a compact food mobile operation is, is a push cart, a stand, perhaps maybe selling hot dogs and or churros. Those particular types of compact food operations and or carts have to be submitted to the building department for referral and for approval. MECOs also have to use potable water, which meets the United States Drinking and the California Safe Drinking Water Act. They must test for total coliform, E. coli, and that's the bigger one. It's very dangerous, nitrites and nitrates. MECOs also have to have a working on-site sewage disposal system for those systems that are utilizing our on-site wastewater treatment, which are the systems that go under the ground. They're not tied to a municipality. And especially something of concern is they have to make sure that that septic system can handle the commercial type of applications such as fats, oils, and grease that typical restaurants might not have or residents might not do all the time. So in addition to their regular residential use per person, per waste stream. Homegrown fruits and vegetables are always a plus, right? We love our homegrown fruits and vegetables. They want to make sure that we can ensure that they are designed or not designed, that's not the appropriate word, that they are grown, you know, to the best management practices and that they're cleaned and handled appropriately. Also, MECOs are prohibited from using ingredients such as cannabis, CBD, or kava. Kava is a Pacific Island root that gives some psychological effects. So some of the restrictions on MECOs are a few. You cannot produce and or service any sale of raw milk or raw milk products. That means if you have a goat, you can't get the goat's milk and sell it directly to the public. The service of sale and or sale of raw oysters. And also any foods that require what we call a HACCP plan. And those HACCP plans are very, very fundamental. They have seven fundamental principles, and those determine what are the critical control points. They set limits and maximum minimum cooking temperatures. They also look at measurements and create observations on what are the critical limits. And also verification procedures. They use tests, audits, and checks to confirm that the HACCP system is actually working. And then, of course, documentation of all those. Some of those things might be Using oxidation, pickling, that type of thing, making salsa, things that use that particular type of process. And also plant other things as smoking, curing, using food additives, and operating a live shellfish tank. I already spoke to the acidification, that's the addition of vinegar and things to bring the pH down to less or greater than 4.0 because that prevents the growth of clostridium botulism. We've all heard of that, right? When we were growing up, our mom's parents always said, don't get that can that has a dent in it because that could be a potential harborage for clostridium botulism. And of course, any of those potentially hazardous foods that use the reduction and reduce oxygen packaging method. That just means that the oxygen level is 21% or low, which is our environment here, 21%, and they decrease it. So it prevents the growth of other bacteria and organisms. MECOs can use an open-air barbecue, an outdoor burning oven, and or pizza oven, as long as they're operated within the reasonable proximity, they're operated safely, they're not accessible to the public, and they don't create a nuisance smoke, that type of thing, and or a fire hazard. And also, they must meet the requirements of the California retail food. Some of the health concerns that have been noted are inspections are limited to once per year, and they have to be by appointment rather than our unannounced inspections that we typically do with all our other permitted food facilities under our permit inspection, unless we have a serious violation that could be suspected. And what that might mean is a foodborne illness, right? Inability to require any food, safety requirements that are different from and or in addition to the requirements of AB 626. So we're very limited in our authority. There may be an increase in foodborne illnesses incidents due to, you know, temperature controls, cross contamination, hygiene and illness. This is taking place in a residential home. And then also processes which are prohibited, canning, reduced oxygen packaging and that forth. Some other concerns that have been brought up are the different planning provisions. We cannot prohibit the operation or require a rezone of a property or impose any other restriction on the MECO for residential dwelling or zoning purposes. And if the county were to authorize a MECO, their permit would be valid in any city, which includes Angel's Camp, because we would be prohibited from separating them in that particular city. neighborhood concerns might include excessive traffic traffic parking issues and excessive noise and that concludes my presentation are there any questions thank you Lisa um are there any board questions or do we want public comment I know there's a few public comments online it's up to them um okay

So seeing none, no public comment in the room, we'll go over to online. Stacey, do you find them? For those of you online, remember it's three minutes.

We have four individuals now. So I'll start with Janice White.

Good afternoon. You guys can hear me okay, right? Yes, thank you. Yes, totally in support of bringing the fabulous growth and the produce and the farm to fork that you have in that we have in our county in Calaveras County to be able to support good, healthy food to the local residents and be able to have the benefits of doing that and offering that to the local people, local food to local people. That's it.

Thank you. The next public comment, Lauren.

Hi. Yes. Good morning, Vice Chair Fullendorf and supervisors. My name is Lauren Wolfer, and I'm speaking today on behalf of Cook Alliance. We're a nonprofit organization that supports home-based culinary small businesses. We work closely with both MECO entrepreneurs and environmental health agencies across California, and we've seen the success of this program firsthand. Since 2019, MECOs have continuously created new small businesses, expanded access to fresh, locally prepared food, and provided flexible income opportunities for families, for caregivers, people with disabilities, as well as aspiring entrepreneurs. A quick review of social media shows that informal home-based food sales are already happening in Calaveras County, just without any food safety oversight or accountability. MECOS really should be best understood as a natural extension of the county's existing cottage food program, which has operated successfully for over a decade. Like MECO's, cottage food operations are micro home-based businesses that are regulated to reflect their scale and are exempt from certain requirements that apply to full commercial facilities. Research has found strong economic outcomes from the MECO program. Research showed that approximately one third of operators have used the permit as a stepping stone into a larger food business like catering operations, food trucks, and brick and mortar restaurants. The program has also created meaningful entrepreneurial opportunities for women who represent 70% of MECO operators, which is substantially higher than the figures of new entrepreneurs nationally. We were a little surprised by some of the concerns raised in today's presentation. For example, MECOs are administered at the county level, just like every other retail food program that's overseen by environmental health. And most importantly, the concerns about food safety do not reflect the program's actual track record. MECOs are not new, they're not untested. Research evaluating the first five years of the program conducted with the University of Washington found that 97% of MECOs received zero complaints related to food safety, noise, traffic, or nuisance concerns, and that same research found zero foodborne illness outbreaks. Furthermore, every jurisdiction that initially adopted MICOs as a temporary pilot has ultimately voted to make the program permanent. Time and time again, environmental health directors return to their board and share that concerns raised before implementation simply did not materialize in practice. Now, this is fundamentally an individual and property rights issue. Why should a Calaveras County resident be prohibited from safely preparing and selling meals from their own kitchen when that same activity is legal and regulated across California. This program is not a handout. It's not a social service program. This is an economic development opportunity that gives residents the freedom to use their, excuse me, to use their skills to earn income and start new businesses. We encourage the county to ground its decision in the experiences of jurisdictions that have implemented the program and the growing body of construction safety and success. Thank you.

Thank you. Amy? A reminder, you have three minutes. I know you guys don't see the light, but... Amy?

Can you hear me?

Yes. Just as far as the City of Angels Camp is concerned, our main concern would be impacts to the neighborhood, especially since we have very small compact lots, which may not be always the case in Calaveras County. Primarily traffic, traffic, and traffic would be our concerns. We recently are looking at salons as home occupations, and we basically put a limit on the number of traffic stops you could make during a day at those. Things had to be by appointment. And we also looked at the size of the lots and basically if they were larger than an acre, no problem. So we would love to work with the county on this to try to reduce any potential impacts that would change the character of the neighborhood, as well as we really liked the idea of the temporary pilot program. So if you saw that there were problems, you could rectify them. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Amy. Okay, we have another public comment. I think we have two more, but whoever, Stacy, you call on who? Stacia?

Stacia, go ahead. Let's see. I'm gonna try to allow your other one. She has two on here.

Let's see. Can you hear me now? Yes. Yeah, now we can hear you. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you so much. And thank you very much for saying my name correctly. I appreciate that. It's sometimes a challenge. So thank you, board members, for your time today. My name is Stacia Varga, and I'm a Calaveras County resident. And I'm here to support moving forward with this exploration of MECOs and specifically what that means for those of us who live in the more rural parts of the county. So I'm up in kind of between Mountain Ranch and mcconnelly hill so the reality of being here is that while it's wonderful to live here if there were a night i don't want to cook and by the way i'm recovering from ankle surgeries otherwise i'd be standing there in front of you but here's a an instance where i'm really challenged for cooking wouldn't it be great to have fresh locally prepared food and that's just not an option for us i mean i can go to senders but there's just only so much that you know i can eat there on a day-to-day basis i like variety and when i'm more mobile i will go all over the county in support of good food so having options just means i have more places to go spend my money and so um bottom line is a traditional restaurant does not survive in these areas where i'm at the population just isn't concentrated enough to make those numbers work but a talented home cook who already lives here Diane, what if they can deliver something great? They know their neighbors. They're already there. People will support them. And that's what makes MECO as powerful as an economic opportunity for people. An entrepreneur can start small. They can test their idea. They can build a customer base and they can grow without that enormous financial risk of a commercial kitchen or a brick and mortar storefront that they might never be able to afford. and so it's a legitimate a legitimate on-ramp to small business ownership it gives home chefs and cooks a chance to make something special right here in our rural areas a fresh meal prepared by somebody you already know and trust now um the previous commenter said something about angels camp and i i get that there are you know different concerns in an environment like angels or copperopolis but i honestly i have a hard time imagining that there's going to be this flood of MECOs popping up everywhere. Honestly, the market decides what it can support. If somebody does something great and pulls in customers, then that's what we want for our local community. If they don't do a good job, they're not going to last. because diners are going to vote with their dollars. And don't we all want to support our local small businesses? With regard to traffic and parking, these are important things to keep in perspective. But remember, MECOs are a maximum of 30 meals a day. It's not restaurant level traffic. It's a handful of people stopping by to pick up a meal. So anybody who wants to stay in business, ought to be a good neighbor to those around them and the county still has enforcement tools if somebody is not being a good neighbor so i'm asking the board please explore this further we'd love to keep this conversation going thank you enough one more comment okay um daisy

Daisy, did you want to speak on this item? I am assuming it was an accidental hand raise.

If it changes while we're still on the item, we will consider that. At this time, I'm going to bring it back to the board. Are there any board questions or comments to that? Thank you.

Lisa, I think that also a lot of my questions are answered by Lauren online, but I am concerned about the food margin for our restaurants is so slim. And I know that it's only 30 meals, but again, I also take the point of Stacia when she's saying that not everybody's going to be successful. James Forrest, Norcal PTACC, i'm going to be trial and error, I think I actually never miss a potluck in this county I mean some of the best chefs i've ever eaten from right have been cooks on our end always why don't you open a restaurant, this would give them an avenue to do that, so I actually would love to see a pilot Program. James Forrest, Norcal PTACC, And I think I believe that you said that it had to be countywide so we couldn't actually draw any sort of different districts for this so to try and protect our restaurants yeah we cannot okay.

Okay, any questions?

I just had one question. You said that they would only be inspected once a year. And that's by appointment. Is that regular restaurant that we inspect?

So our permitted food facilities are inspected annually unless there is a complaint that's received and then we will respond to that complaint.

Are you done?

On that note, you can. respond more frequently to MECO if there are complaints as well, right?

The complaint response has to be coordinated with the MECO person, which means it has to be scheduled.

Okay. I appreciate you looking into it and bringing it. I think that, you know, it's been asked for and specifically in areas of District 2, like one of our callers mentioned, there isn't opportunities to eat and I feel that as well. You know, there's not for one, the infrastructure for restaurants, let alone the clientele to support an owner keeping that restaurant open regular hours. So I think it's a nice avenue. You know, we have a very strong agriculture community that wants to share their products. So I would definitely support either, you know, whether we do a pilot program, jump right into it, or we create some sort of a study group. to research this more, pulling people like Lauren who called in, who seems to have done a lot of the work on researching it. I know it's in Amador County and might be of interest to see how it's working over there specifically because they have those cities and kind of those population

similar to what we experienced so um thank you well thank you uh uh back on the inspection they have to pass inspection before they open an operating career correct okay i just want to notify that there is a checklist

um um I'd also be interested in understanding what it costs to get one of these things going because obviously if you have people eating your home you're there's got to be some sort of insurance liabilities as well and what have you that have to be looked into so um is there like a miko checklist for a new uh

There is a checklist, but that would be on the inspection side only. As far as the actual fees, we would have to probably go back and create a fee study and a schedule to do that because currently it's not in the approved fee schedule. So that would have to be brought back and a consultant would have to be probably entertained for that again for the fee study.

Great. Thank you.

um i'm gonna give one more chance for public comment online if that's okay with the board um is there any more public comment uh the one speaker had already spoke she rose her hand again but she's already given oh okay yeah then if they've already given yeah the three minutes okay i just want to make sure that the other individual that couldn't get to my no i think it was accidental hand okay so okay thank you okay we will um bring it back i have a couple questions um how Would this impact HOAs?

So that would be up to the HOAs, you know, they would not have a choice.

Okay, no, sorry, to be clear. So, HOAs can put all sorts of things in their CC&Rs that are different, that deviate from county regulations. So, individual HOAs, if they did not want them operating within their HOA, they would have to, they absolutely could, to be clear, but they would have to put something in CC&R that's not in there already, and then they would have to do that enforcement. So, it would be up to the HOA to then undertake enforcement if people were operating them within the HOA, if it's prohibited by their CC&Rs.

Okay, because I see that as being one of the biggest issues. We already have issues with HOA, not happy with other at-home businesses operating within their communities, so I just want to make sure that that is um i guess educated out to the hoas on that um and then uh the city touched on it and i have similar concerns or questions about traffic um yeah it might be 30 meals but if that's 30 people some of these roads can't support that type of traffic um nor is there a certain parking um to be quite honest i mean i'll use myself as an example if i were to do that i have No parking. Literally, it's street parking. So how did that transition into, how would that transition into traffic? So I would be curious about that and how that's alleviated. If maybe there's one person that ordered all 30 meals, then that A moot point, but I am worried about the traffic pattern, because if um, it's already an issue in some of these areas, and I just don't know how that I don't know what these calls are going to go.

So we would super as a fund. That's something. Traffic is something that we would have to look at. We, if the board is interested in, in allowing these, you know, we would have to do undertake a sequel analysis and that would involve, you know, potentially looking at that, whether we can impose. I don't know what limitations or restrictions as the city was proposing. to a large extent the state has tied our hands on this um and i don't think that's something and please correct me if i'm wrong um julie but i'm not i'm not confident that that's something we would be able to limit like if someone has one of these permits they're of course limited to those 30 meals per day but i don't believe that we can impose additional restrictions on that front

Julie Moss Lewis, Assistant County Counsel. And Ms. Edwards is correct. I don't know why the state drafted it this way. Usually when the state offers some sort of program, the counties are allowed to be stricter. We saw that with cannabis. The way this statute is written, it's take it or leave it. The micro enterprise home kitchen Um, permit cannot be issued unless we take the entire state program the way it's drafted right now. So we are tied now. Pilot program is something that we could do. There's nothing that says that once we opt in, we can't opt out. We will have created a structure under program. Um, we could. Draft an ordinance to make these permits not an entitlement. We could do a temporary pilot program, which could possibly reduce some of the sequel analysis we'd have to do. But that's still something that we would have to think about. Um, so. piloting is an option, but again, there would be some enforcement implications when it comes to if we then opt out later because of problems, we will have had people investing in some, possibly some structures and some infrastructure that we would then be in the situation of having to take back. So that's just one of your considerations.

Okay. Okay. That one of the, my next question is equal impact. You answered that. That's all I have at this time. Oh, do you have one more, Gary?

She brings up a good point with parking. And maybe you guys can answer. If I come to the county and I want to open a business or a restaurant or whatever, and I'm asking for a permit, do I not have to show where parking is depending on the amount? How much parking I have or parking required? Is that something that I can just open a business? There's no parking. They're going to park in the street. They're going to park anywhere they want.

I would respectfully defer to planning as we always have our applicants and people that are interested in that type of business operation. We start them off with planning.

good afternoon everyone um yeah we would at the building permit stage if there were infrastructure but that's the key if there was infrastructure needed that the planning department would look at we would assess some type of parking value to the to that use um in our code we have parking standards for different uses we would have to assign that or we'd have to amend our code to allow a specific parking criteria but for the most part i would Certainly listen to what county council was saying is that it's. It's very ministerial in nature and. The parking and the required parking would probably be minimal. So, you know, as far as 30, 30 trips a day up to that 90 a week. That we could have a substantial code amendment that we would have to conduct. To regulate the park.

And just so we're clear about that, that's only if they actually are doing something that requires a building permit, like new construction, correct?

We would have to have something to review.

If instead they were just looking to get the permit to open 1 of these, then there would be no such review process.

So, as I read the statute, I think certainly. Mr. Sampson has corrected it as a ministerial process. It's not something that planning would be able to impose a use permit on. The way this statute is written is unusual in this regard. It actually forbids us from requiring any type of zoning. We can't do a use permit or a discretionary planning review for the adequacy of the parking. There's a little bit of fuzziness around at the programmatic level. Could we do anything there? The state in their drafting has introduced some tension around our ability to. regulate parking the way that we normally would. So it's not entirely clear how much we could do. The building permit process is intact. This is how most of my colleagues are interpreting the ordinance as not. It doesn't say anything about building. It says it talks about zoning, but it doesn't talk about prohibiting building permits or other ministerial permits like encroachment permits. So their processes would still be Intact, but there is some preemption when it comes to enforcement and inspection and the types of things that they consider. So we would need a special process for the building department and code compliance to do some of their normal businesses, usual permit processing.

I mean, typically, in many cases, just almost similar to what happened on Canvas, we would have to front load the CEQA and conduct the CEQA analysis up front to then program future actions for this to be a ministerial process. Unfortunately, the state did not exempt this per CEQA. So they gave this as half an option. um and so the other half is the sequa and i believe the county council has given you some some very good advice on on sequa but the cost of that sequel would be substantial um in the hundreds of thousands of dollars And so, you know, then there's also the issue of. If we did move forward with this, if we did conduct sequel, if we did implement it. Then what happens the next time we go to update our general plan and our general plan? What's the assumed baseline of traffic to every residential parcel. In Calaveras County, so there's. kind of a two-way street issue there of where it would be very difficult for us to update our general plan and our general planning ir to take this program into account because it wouldn't really be consistent with our general plan and yet if we put it in place and conducted sequa now in the future we would probably have to take that into account And so long story short, there could be significant unavoidable CEQA impacts on our local roadways in the future. Right now, they're just significant unavoidable for our state highways that very much could roll into county roadways. So just implications of the future. Everything, it can absolutely be handled. It can absolutely be analyzed and any qualified consultant could walk us through the CEQA, but it would be significant.

You said something that triggered a question. With our current regulations or ordinances, is there a way to, because there is an interest, is there a way to maybe accommodate this through a different process that we currently have to avoid, or I don't want to say avoid CEQA, but to work around the CEQA because Financially, can we afford a couple hundred thousand dollars for, say, 10 people? There is a need, there is a want, we recognize that, but are there alternatives that maybe the board can hear that won't trigger the amount of money in front-loading that CEQA that we could maybe look into?

That would have to be investigated. Yeah, I don't have the answer for that. Because it's like County Council referred to it's it's very straight on how the MECO program is is implemented, even through a pilot potential pilot program.

And, and then how would we answer that? Maybe this is an Amy question. If Amy still online from the city, would then they would that then trigger the city sequel to?

no um the city doesn't have any choice in i mean i don't want to speak thoroughly no no i don't see why why if we were cloud if we're this have the sole discretion to determine whether or not this is a thing in angel's camp i don't think that the city would have to do anything they would have to live with the consequences of what whatever we chose and again i mean as with every decision there isn't a bright line answer as to what CEQA document is for sure going to apply or how expensive it's going to be until the whole situation is analyzed. And so it could be expensive, depends, CEQA is a risk decision that the board has to make as well. And so, you know, you have to look at your appetite for costs and risks against, you know, some of who's going to be benefiting it, just like everything else.

I know this is coming out from Autumn. Would this be something that we could consider a strategic planning to maybe talk through some of that stuff and then what other investigative ideas and then plan that out and then you guys can get the financial, do some cost comparison and take some time to work on that?

Um, Supervisor Poland on the issue here, there are some things that can be done with regular restaurant permitting. If the board is interested in looking at zoning for where restaurants allowed and incrementally liberalizing certain things in the zoning code, I submit the board could certainly. direct planning to do that but the the type of permit at issue here is a special permit micro enterprise home kitchen and the state as i read the statute is saying you can only have an issue these Lower level permits that don't come with as much regulation. You can only issue them if you adopt the entire state program as is.

I understand that what I'm saying, I think the direction, I think supervisor phone understands. I think the direction is to explore. Non Nico options that might get some of these folks allow them to do at least some of what they're interested in doing that falls completely outside of. The MECO process, right? And to cost out what this might be, and then kind of vet those options more fully with the strategic planning committee.

Kind of to compare the costs where we're looking at the CEQA requirements with the MECO. and workarounds. Could you give information on that? I'd like to ask, Chair, if you don't mind to circle back to public comments. Somebody just arrived who has put a lot of information.

FYI, Supervisor Polanderp, some of those options are already available through our cottage food operations, A, and cottage food operations, B. They just don't have the amount of foods that could be made available for that. So their cottage food operations are very limited.

Okay.

OK, I'm going to let this go, but just normally not normal process. So public comment. So yes, come on up. You still got your three minutes.

I was trying. I was raising my hand on the side of the road, and I don't know why I wasn't getting through. So sorry, I'm late. I apologize. Thank you guys for taking my comment. I was listening to the meeting on the way here and I heard a whole bunch of stuff about research, hundreds of thousands of dollars. There were a couple of things that I wanted to touch on. One is I know that the MECO operation would be open to every home in Calaveras County, but not every home is going to qualify for a permit. I don't know if you guys had gone over to Amador or not, but they actually do the MECO program. two permits, two MECO operations in all of Amador. So hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on research and two permits? It just seems kind of interesting. Why would they spend all that money and they just only issued two MECO permits, right? So I don't see everybody getting it with two operations in the entire county. Let's look at traffic, you know, that's 180 meals a week if they're maxing it to two locations. So I know that there is a little bit of lack of oversight. I know that you guys like to watch everything, which is fine. That keeps everybody healthy. There's no problem with that. The inspection stuff I think is really more about a commercial kitchen has a lot more stuff happening on it. They've got freeze traps and they've got all this stuff happening in refrigerators and produce and walk-ins and employees and staff. This is your home kitchen. When you come out to somebody's home kitchen, Like, I think I have a fairly decent 1 and if somebody comes to my house, they have no problem. Eating the food I produce out of my kitchen, they'll sit at my table and eat it joyously. And, you know, I just wonder how many of these places are so horrible. That they're not going to pass, but they only issued 2 permits in that county. So. Again, not to argue oversight, I believe that's reasonable. I just don't understand the hundreds, half a million dollars in research just to figure out if MECO is okay for this county when right next door, they've already done it. It seems like it's a trial, like a rollout, right? So they only got a couple of businesses going to see how it works. It's only a year. If they fail, they fail, they're not coming back, right? So it's just kind of like you can see the support from the people online, 40, 50 people on a post that I shared about this meeting today liked it. I'm sure we got some people online that are watching the video. And I think it's going to be a good thing if you guys explore it and we kind of work out these bumps and see what happens. So thank you for your time today.

Thank you. I don't have any other board questions, comments to staff. This was informational only, so there's no action. But I'm sure staff would like some type of direction. Supervisor Endall?

I think whether, you know, we decide to bring it back here or bring it back into strategic planning where we can dig deeper I think it is worth exploring some of these things that we've questioned today and just try to work it through um you know to see where we can get with it and it if strategic planning seems a better place to hash out some of these conversations um but I'm open to that yeah yeah I'm open because I think the biggest hurdle as Bert said would be the sequel yeah I'm more curious about the sequel

I'm okay with that. And then could I please ask that when that conversation happened to at least include the city. And those conversations, however, that works through internal staff procedures. Thank you.

You must definitely I would like to say that Ali eats isn't based out of Murphy. She has her own. Little. kitchen and she probably serves like 100 meals uh every thursday you know from around the world and You go pick up your meal between 4 and 6, and I've never been there where there have been more than three cars picking up a meal at any given time.

Yeah, but she's also in a commercial space.

Yeah, but that's only three spaces. Yeah. So it's not like it's huge.

I know.

Any case.

Yeah.

I know you're not going to get that many, but I just got to be devil's advocate. If my neighbor was doing it, I'd be pretty upset because all the cars were taking up our parking, to go on street parking. That's my worry. I'm okay with staff exploring it. I think there's opportunity. I just want to, yeah, I'm okay with, and I think maybe that's the avenue to, I don't know, like we've done with other topics. Planning.

Yeah.

Because then you guys can also talk about the SQL impacts and that kind of stuff. Okay.

I'm fine with that.

okay they got okay they got satisfied okay okay so the the direction is is that um staff directives are to explore this a little bit more maybe perhaps get with planning building and approach this at us from a strategic point and of course include Angel's Camp yes please thank you

okay um if there's no further board comments to staff um we'll move on to the next agenda thank you thank you for the presentation and thank you for that um okay where are we at we are supervising um okay jade is that anything

I attended Mountain County's EMS agency board meetings, and then we attended the interview of candidates for the new CEO position in Mountain Counties. And yesterday, I attended the Central Sierra House Support Agency meeting. And that's all I have for right now.

Supervisor Endall? On June 10th, I attended the UC Extension Predator Meeting here. June 13th, I attended a forest health and wildfire resilience workshop in Rural Flat put on by RCRC. on june 17th i attended the parks and recreation commission meeting and yesterday i attended both strategic planning committee meeting and the central sierra child support agency meeting i wanted to invite everyone to the farmers market in west point at the blue mountain coalition of youth and families is starting back up every tuesday from four to seven on the 30th it will be kids day And I wanted to invite everybody as well to the 4th of July in Macaulay Hill to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the USA. Also on the 4th of July in Railroad Flat is the traditional black powder shoots and sportsman swap meet. And they are all online if you'd like more information.

Good to have you here.

sorry uc extension uh which was very informative and i've actually had to change that on to say animal predator because when i said i'm attending the predator meeting they were all wondering what kind of predators around like no no animal predators um a huge shout out to the arts council i heard that they did an amazing or plan b had an amazing turnout at lake hogan it was great i just want to say i was there and it was an awesome show it was really fun Awesome. And then I was at the 12th, I went to the Arts Council reception that they had, which was the seven-county exhibit, which was actually really amazing. Really loved the way the gallery looks and the way that they sort of represented, Calaveras represented everybody really well. On the 16th, the USFS, I was there with Supervisor Fallendorf at the Town Hall at the Native Sons in Murphys. Justin Delacruz- On the 22nd the strategic planning session. Justin Delacruz- supervisor and all focus meeting we did later on the afternoon and again just to pitch the the fourth of July parade in Arnold, which would be awesome this year.

Reminder, we do not have COG next week or next month, whatever that week is. I'm off my weeks, but we do not have a COG meeting for the month of July. I too attended the predator meeting hosted by the UC extension. I also attended the USFS town hall. And I also hosted a town hall on the Monday, the 15th, related to the proposed draft for the shoreline management plan for Lake Tahoe, which that has been, for anybody listening, that has been extended to July 17th with no anticipation of in-person events. collaboration, unfortunately, which is really sad to hear. But that is all I have. And with that, since we voted today, our next meeting will be July 28th. So everyone have a happy Fourth of July, celebrating 250 years. Thank you.