Interagency Governance Review Committee for Violence Prevention - Regular Meeting

Good

afternoon. I'd to call a let's see if committee meeting to order here. And, do we have any additions or corrections on the agenda?

There are none.

There are none. Great. Move to public comment if there's anybody online because I see nobody in the chambers. I would, like to address matters that are not on today's agenda.

No. I haven't responded.

Very good. First item up is approval of the minutes from nine eight. Yeah. I'll vote the minutes, chair. Very good. I am too. So we'll approve those by consensus.

Any public comments?

Well, we should have some public comments, shouldn't we? Thank you for that. Yeah. Any public comments?

No. Hands raised.

Alright. Very good. We'll move on then to reports for the legislative offices. Don't know if, you know, if we have a I'll go right down with senators Padilla and Schiff. I know they're not usually here with anybody. So assuming no one is on there representing those offices, then we'll move to congress member, Panetta if, who we have representative on from his office.

Or

congresswoman Lofgren?

I'm not seeing anyone else.

Okay. Senator Larry's office.

We have Isabel Mesa with Hanra East.

Okay. Please go ahead, Isabel.

Thank you. I am Isabel Mesa, and I'm here on behalf of state senator John Leer. I have a quick update. I wanted to mention that governor Newsom signed two of senator Leer's bills, which includes s b two eighty three, which drains the battery the safety standards for development of new battery storage facilities. And, governor Newsom also signed into law s b four eighty four into law advancing affordable infill housing development in the coastal cities while preserving the state's environment protections. Other than that, Danadella continues to be in the district. This week, he's scheduled to visit South Monterey County. And on Friday, he will be speaking at, end of state of the region. So if anyone will be there, we'll see you there. Thank you.

Thank you, Isabelle. Any representatives from a ceiling member office?

Seeing any kind space for about this. I don't see anybody.

Okay. Or assembly member Addis.

Good morning, everybody. Well, good afternoon, everybody, actually. Thank you for having me. I have an quick update. The member has had several of her bills signed into lawn, and, one of

the bills that I I'm gonna go over the list of bills starting off with assembly bill five sixty, the special educator support act. AB five sixty strengthens support for special education teachers and establishes a teacher to student ratio for classes promoting fair and balanced workloads and improving education access for students. AB twelve eighty eight, which is a local bill for a local locally focused bill, the retain the retain and train act has been signed into law, by the California Association of Environmental Health Administrators and County Health Executives Association of California, a b twelve eighty eight addresses workforce shortages in public health by creating pathways for training and certification of environmental health specialists. These professionals, as we know, are critical for monitoring and ensuring community safety during emergencies, including wildfires, floods, and other natural disasters. AB eight zero eight, the Cal Access Modernization and Transparency Act, has also been signed into law.

That's AB eight zero eight, which updates California's campaign finance and lobbying reporting system, making it making it easier for the public to access information for campaigns, to file reports, and for regulators to ensure compliance. And it also supports the transition to new Cal access replacement systems, a modern platform currently under development by the secretary of state and the Fair Political Practices Commission. Assembly bill ten ten one zero zero eight has been signed into law. That's, authorizing the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to issue up to 10 new on sale alcohol beverage licenses over a two year period in San Luis Obispo County. A b seven fifteen, educational equity discrimination and antisemitism prevention has also been signed into law.

And, just in, a b seven sixty one MST tax cap, which allows the Monterey Salinas Transit District to submit a measure to the voters of their district if they choose to do so, has now been signed into law as of today. AB ten seventy six CalABLE accounts has also been announced that it's been signed today, which expands access to CalABLE accounts, making it easier for individual for people with disabilities to save and use funds for essential needs, allowing individuals who receive CalKids funds but don't plan to attend college to transfer that money into CalABLE accounts, ensuring they can use it for other critical expenses. And another bill that has also been signed today is a b fourteen eighty seven, the two t g I wellness, bill, which recognizes two spirit identities and ensures allocated resources reach the full diversity of the LGBTQ plus community. And lastly, I wanna leave with all of you that assembly member Addis Hat is proud to announce that Catholic Charities of the Central Coast will receive $1,500,000 to expand immigration services across the region. The $5,000,000 allocation, secured through SB one zero four and signed by governor Newsom was led by assembly member Don Addison, Esmeralda Sororia as part of a statewide effort to strengthen legal service infrastructure in underserved regions after earlier funding reached only a handful of organizations throughout the Central Coast and the Central Valley.

The new funds are aimed to help strengthen legal representation, rapid response efforts, and community education for our immigrant families facing increasing federal enforcement with Catholic charities of the Central Coast serving as a recipient to expand services in the region. So that allocation is $1,500,000, and that is all of my report.

Great. Thank you, Alexis. That's, great report. Is there any, public comment on these items?

No hands raised on

Zoom. K. Director Lehoe? No. I think none. Alright. Thank you very much. We'll move on into item item three, which is the federal report. With Maria and Caitlin, I'm turning it over to you.

Right. Thank you, sir. Great to be back in front of you today. So I guess I'll just drive right into it with our first item under the federal government update being congressional overview. As as everyone's well aware at this stage, we are in a federal government shutdown.

And that's because when the fiscal year expired on 09/30/2025, Congress had not come to an agreement on either, the 12 appropriations bills or on a stopgap funding measure. And so we went into the shutdown then at midnight on October 1. And as as you'll know in my report, it says at the time of the writing of the reports, unclear how and when lawmakers will reach a resolution. Unfortunately, I wrote the report with Caitlin a week ago, and we are no closer to having any inclination of how and when this shutdown may end. It was certainly discouraging when the speaker and the majority leader canceled votes for the week of October 6, which was unexpected.

And the house is out of session. It will remain out of session until tomorrow. And that was discouraging because what that indicated was the speaker and the majority leader decided that it was not, you know, worth members' time to have them in DC last week because there was no progress anticipated. Members are advised that they will have forty eight hours to return to DC if notice goes out. Now, of course, they are scheduled to be in tomorrow, but it's it's been a challenge, and it does put pressure on the senate to approve a measure to reopen the government.

The Republican majority leader on the senate side has had a vote every single day on a funding resolution, and and has put Democrats in the position where they have needed to vote no each and every one of those days. So there is certainly some political showmanship going on, and sometimes that's a positive because pressure does sometimes mean progress. Unfortunately, that has not been the case the

current

current stance. Now you'll you won't see this in in the report, but I will say that, there are a couple inflection points coming up that I do think we may see progress. You know, unfortunately, on October 15, active duty service members are currently set to miss their first paycheck. Federal employees in the civil service have already missed their first paycheck on October 10. You know, that will, you know, apply some level of pressure.

There's obviously been a lot of news in in the media about DOD and some interesting options there that would essentially move money from certain areas, and employees into ensuring that active duty members do get paid on time. No way of knowing how that's gonna go. I think there's a lot to unpack in that approach. You know, there is another, paycheck due at the end of the month, which would I think would serve as an additional inflection point. But as you know, the the ACA subsidies have been a line in the sand for most Democrats, and ensuring that those subsidies are reinstated.

There is a timing element there with a lot of commercial plans needing to provide notice to their members about rate increases for 2026. Those are expected the November. So I think there's, you know, there's a lot that's really percolating under the surface right now that is gonna have real impacts if, you know, commercial plans are gonna have to determine rates in the assumption that the ACA subsidies won't exist where that might take us in terms of the federal shutdown. But it is a very tense time here in DC. You know, there's there's no mistaking that.

For the county in particular, the shutdown does mean that there are further delays in processing obligated FEMA funds and different EPA grant applications. It also means that the county will need to fill the financial gaps for certain programs, such as SNAP, the supplemental nutrition assistance programs, which do not have access to new funding during a government shutdown. Other programs like Medicaid will continue payments as scheduled, although the review of new applications, which is a discretionary task, are paused. And that is similar as well. I don't know if Jack is on for veterans benefits payments.

Veterans did receive their monthly compensation check on October 1. They will do so again on November 1 regardless of the government shutdown. But any other veterans who are filing applications for compensation benefits won't see those applications even started to be processed until the government does reopen. Now VA is an interesting one because there's some advanced money there, but by and large, most most agencies around town are working on with a much reduced workforce, and that's purely for furloughed workers without even getting into the topic of mass layoffs, if you will. I will pause there before I move into executive order updates.

K. I don't have any any comments or anything.

Or I have one

go ahead.

Question. One question just, as it's related to our funding streams for Department of Social Services. I talked to state of California, had about thirty days worth of funding for programs like WIC and other SNAP perhaps. But now I'm hearing in news reports that some counties might run out in three weeks, shorter than that, and then people's benefits will dry up and without any recourse. Any any updates just on on those social, service programs funding and what we have available in the state?

Any any guidance from our state department of social services or other agencies on when this may impact directly at the local level our low income families?

I'll I'll attempt to answer, that from the federal perspective, and then I'm happy to yield the floor to anyone else, from the county or staff who might have a greater insight at the state level. One of the challenges is, of course, that county by county, you know, the the needs are different, and there's the, you know, there's the anticipated and forecasted spend. But sometimes that drawdown rate can differ in real time, and that is where you're starting to see some of those discrepancies. Unfortunately, without an influx of funding from the federal government, that is going to fall on state and local governments to make up any shortfalls or, unfortunately, to see their residents go without. But I I will yield the floor if there's anyone who has a greater insight at the local level.

Do you have anybody with a hand raised?

I don't see any help.

Ashley? Ashley? Is Ashley on?

It might be Kasha today.

Oh, okay. Kasha?

Yes. I'm here.

Okay. Yeah. And do you got anything on that, or can you get us? Or if you if you've heard of anything, I don't mean to put you on the spot, but it came out just till I saw the news report, from another county, and it it was predicting their funding for those programs any much sooner than originally anticipated.

I mean, we've definitely been hearing, right, the same thing you're seeing in the news reports and and trickling that the longer that the government shutdown goes on, the more at risk those programs are. But as I haven't heard anything specific as what is what is the state going to do. I know that Newsom has released a few press releases as to what he's going to do about other programs and trying to fill in, but he I haven't seen anything coming out yet on those specific programs. So we certainly will be paying attention and can let you know if we hear of anything.

K. Thank you.

This is Ashley. Sorry. I'm on the move, so Kasia is helping me today. But I did hear the discussion. And I would just also maybe ask any of our offices that are still on the line too, not to put them on the spot, but if they've been hearing anything at the state level as well. And we can, of course, circle back with our delegation and ask them kind of if there's any plans, to come together on this. I'm I'm sure that there's a lot of attention on this from our representatives as well.

Yes. So that would be Roderick or Eva Hironimo if they're on.

Maybe not.

See that.

Okay. Alright. Alright. Question now. We'll get an answer another day, I guess. Actually,

Maria had mentioned, when she was talking about veterans issues, with whether or not Jack was on or whether I've just seen if he had anything he wanted to add if he in case he is on.

Hi. Thank you, supervisors. So with respect to, veterans health care, there have been minimal impacts thus far. We have seen sort of the tail end of, VA employees in health care who took the early retirements effective, September. But the VA, at least locally at our clinic here in Marina, is trying to make up for some of those personnel losses by bringing in, basically traveling medical staff from outlying locations with, who have better staffing.

And then, I think it was Maria's comments about, compensation and benefit claims being slowed down. That is true. They have been slowed down a little bit. They have not they have not stopped, and then payments have not stopped either. So I I guess to kinda summarize it, we're seeing some bumps in the road, but they're not big yet. And barring any further fiscal cuts or or significant staffing cuts on the health care and benefits side, I don't anticipate anything federally at this point, subject to your questions or comments.

Thank you very much, Jack. With that, I guess, we'll move it. I think we're ready to go to executive order. Maria, I think that's where we dropped we we stopped.

Yes, sir. So you'll you've likely heard that on September 19, the White House did issue an executive order establishing the gold card, a plan on the green card, of course, which allows certain foreign immigrants to establish eligibility for an immigrant visa by making an unrestricted gift to the Department of Commerce. The requisite gift amount is $1,000,000 for an individual donating on his or her own behalf and $2,000,000 for a corporation donating on behalf of an individual. These petitions will receive expedited adjudication. It's an interesting take on the immigration process.

So we're following that to see how that plays out. There are other a couple other notable executive orders in September, one of which included designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, and the assuring the security of the state of Qatar. And then, of course, the saving TikTok while preserving national security. So those are some of the executive orders that have come out. As always, Caitlin and I are following those closely.

We'll continue to provide any updates as are relevant. Turning to b on appropriations. Of course, we've we've talked significantly about the current shutdown. One of the questions we've received is what does that mean for the status of f y 26 federal funding? And I think one of the most relevant components for the county is that at this stage, while there was some early discussion of a one year continuing resolution or CR, that seems to have fallen away by and large.

And and I I flagged that because one of the challenges we encountered with the, prior fiscal year, FY '25, was with that one year CR. There were no provisions for community project funding or congressionally directed funding earmarks. And so as long as we are not looking at a one year CR at this stage, our earmark applications do remain in play. And so, of course, we will continue to focus on those and ensure that we are advocating for that federal funding to come to the county. As you'll see from the chart, the San Lucas clean drinking water, the Nacimiento and San Antonio dams and safe and reservoir safety project, as well as the Salinas Regional Soccer complex complex projects are those that are at play for potential federal funding under the f y twenty five cycle.

And while we're on the subject of the San Lucas Clean Drinking Water, CPF, I did wanna note that Randy Ishi and his team reached out to us in early September regarding the f y twenty four CPF award for this project. The county did receive just shy of $1,000,000 for the project, and, public works facilities and parks is currently working on a grant application to secure the allocated funds from the EPA. We did work with, PWFP to complete the appropriate forms to ensure that this project does continue to move forward, with those funds being released, hopefully, in the near term. Unfortunately, the shutdown may delay the processing of the application. But, again, hopefully, we'll soon have access to those appropriations.

And just in in the interest of, clarity, the way it typically works when a earmark has been granted is that it is technically a grant, and a grant application has to be filed. But Monterey is the only entity that is eligible to apply for that grant. So just to to remove any questions about why it is now we're applying for a grant when we've already been awarded the earmark, it it's just the way it works, but it is we are the only ones who could possibly apply for that grant or be awarded that funding. Under federal advocacy, as you may recall, after last month's in last month's presentation, there was some conversation about FEMA reimbursements relative to the 2023 winter storms and some of the funding that had been awarded. And the question was raised as to how those funds compared to the total amount that had been requested from FEMA.

And we've included a chart here which summarizes some of that information. And if Kelsey Scanlon or Laura Emmons is on, happy to, you know, to to cede the floor, yet again, for that discussion on FEMA. Or if it's preferable in the interest of time, I'm happy to review this data briefly.

Are either one of them on?

Don't think so.

Missing county staff today. Yeah. Both family. Yeah.

So you'll you'll see here we do have the table, you know, regarding the twenty nineteen winter storms, COVID, the twenty twenty wildfires, the 23 storms, the 23 storms, and then the February 24 storms, which are the primary events that we are tracking. You see the best cost available across those items is hefty. You know, it's just north of $70,000,000. The best available estimate on the federal cost share is just north of $60,000,000. About half of that has been obligated from the federal share with 23,000,000 on the state advance.

I got a couple questions just making sure we're clear on this. So the the obligated is the amount that the county will receive?

Yes.

Okay. So and with the state advance, so it looks like we would have

Now that is to be clear, that is what the county well, let me reframe. My understanding is that is what the county should receive.

That is

what should be obligated. The challenge, of course, has been our challenge throughout is the speediness with which both FEMA is agreeing to that and then ensuring that we are in receipt of the funds to replenish what the county has previously paid out of pocket.

So have we had any decisions in the first six, seven, eight months of the current administration to go as a as as some kind of a a template here to weigh if if we are making what we should be receiving here. Have we received any funds from FEMA since the administration's been in office?

So we have. I think I don't know that I think there's or that I've heard at least from the Department of Emergency Management that there has been a particular change in tenor about the funds that should be awarded, aren't being awarded, or what have you, that there's been a particular difference between this year and last. To put it into context, I think the challenge is simply the speed of FEMA, and that is a constant. I'd highlight here under the obligated federal share section that the number does reflect the funds the county has received from FEMA with January and March 23 winter storms being the exception. And that is in large part because some FEMA funds were received directly from the state.

And so Cal OES will be receiving the obligated funds to pay off the state advance. And once that balance hits zero, then any difference in that delta would be released to the county.

And so between the obligated and the state advance, there's about a little over $6,000,000. So, potentially, we could have $6,000,000 into there. I don't know if we have anybody on a budget office, but where's our and I just heard this couple weeks ago, but I just wanna get confirmed. Where's our strategic reserve at right now? And and I is it 50 something million? Is that my understanding? Do you know if we have everybody on there? Otherwise, I'll just inquire some other time.

Hey, supervisor. Hi. This is Nick Chulos.

Wondering, Nick.

Me try to get a quick answer for you. I I don't wanna guess at it. Let me let me see if I can get a specific answer for you. Okay?

Yeah. And and, Nick, if you could just let me let us know here what the the target goal is that we're trying to reach here as well for our for our strategic reserve, maximum.

Yeah. Let me let me give me just a minute, and let me see if I can get an answer for you. Okay?

And thank you. And at least from our my my past experience on the budget committee, for a while there, we had, like, $7,080,000,000 as a and we and back then under, Duane Woods, it was considered that was a healthy reserve, and we were, like I don't know. Last time I checked, we were, like, what, $3,035,000 35,000,000, I should say.

It's or maybe we're 50, I thought, or something.

Be up. But I

think the goal is around 85. I'm just since we're discussing this

Might even be higher now because that's was years ago. Right? Yeah.

That's true.

Yeah. I think you're correct about the goal, generally speaking. I think the the actual amount is a little bit more than what you were just discussing, but let me try to get a specific answer for you. Okay?

Well, for heading into winter, I sure like to Right. See a little healthier than what I'm afraid it is. For sure.

I

mean, we don't know what's coming around the corner.

That's that's that is correct. So, anyway, Maria, any

Yes, sir.

Come back to us on that, so I'll let you continue.

Yes. I will say that DEM, the Department of Emergency Management, has shared that they anticipate that the obligations for January 23, March 23, and February 24 are likely in the near future. So 23 of those projects have not yet been obligated, and 10 are pending final review, nine are pending award, and one is pending final validation, and with two pending large project review, but also cognizant of the fact that storms are likely in the near future. So my understanding from speaking to county staff is they are following those outstanding, owed funds very closely.

Thank you.

Moving to item d, legislation. Since the last committee meeting legislative committee meeting, as you know, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors took support positions on three bills, HR 4,889, HR 5,449, and S 2,885. And these are all specific to redistricting and redrawing of federal congressional districts in the midterm cycle. I'd also like to note, h r forty three fifty eight, the Anti Rigging Act of 2025, is similar in nature to those three bills and is one that the Ballard team is recommending for support. The anti rigging act seeks to prohibit states from carrying out more than one congressional redistricting after a decennial census and appointment.

This would allow for exceptions if a court is required, a state to conduct redistricting to comply with the constitution or to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Representative VC introduced this legislation in the house. There is not yet an identical companion in the senate. And pending the legislative committee's determination, as I mentioned, I do recommend support For the next item is, excuse me, Roman numeral two is h r forty five zero four and s twenty three forty nine incorporating national support for unprecedented risks and emergencies, the Insure Act. This is a reintroduction of a 2024 bill that the county previously supported.

It would create a catastrophic property loss reinsurance program, which provides reinsurance qualifying insurance companies and alleviates the cost and availability issues currently challenging insurers nationwide. The county did previously support this bill, as I mentioned, but suggested several changes, which I've listed in the written report. Do recommend that we share these potential improvements again, which were at the recommendation of county staff. Senator Schiff introduced this legislation in the senate, and representative Kamlager Dove introduced the companion bill in the house. And just as with the others, we do recommend support for these two.

So pending, response from the legislative committee on those three recommendations, sir.

Okay. Any other particular No.

I'm I'm good. The I think the HR the, letter d, that was out of the bill that when we had the discussion at the full board level. Yep. It was one similar to the what's this? The congress member Republican congress member. That was the

I mean, Kylie.

Kylie. Kylie's bill. So this was a bill that was filed before Kylie's bill that had bipartisan support for it, and then Kylie filed his. So we sup the board supported his. This was just an a companion Yeah. Or similar bill with similar text and purpose. So I'm I'm good with that one, and I'm good with these other two recommended, bills.

I I am too. I know the board didn't take a position on Kylie's because he didn't have his language there. Has he ever that never been

I think they approved it that day.

Approved it. Yeah. The board approved it.

Yeah. They they did. And they did. Yeah. Oh, okay. Alright. Alright. Well, let me go to a public it's you're basically at the end of your report. Am I correct? Just waiting for the recommendations on this for you?

Yes, sir. The only other item I have is the attached federal bill and issues track.

K. Let me just see since where we just take the by full precision on these bills, see if there's any public comment from anybody on these. Raised on Zoom. No. No hands? Okay. I think you've got consensus from the the committee here to support that. I'll let you continue there, Maria, if you have anything else you wanna say.

No, sir. Just the the billing issues track is attached for your reference, and thank you for your time today.

Thank you for your time.

Wait. Just for staff clarification, did you take a position on HR forty five zero four and senate bill twenty three forty nine?

Yeah. We we I said we said we're both good at

the we're we're good with all those. Got it. Let me see. We go to the state report, Ashley. Well, Kasha, I think, is the one giving them today. Correct?

Yes. Supervisors, Kasha Hunt here with Nossman to give our state report. So we don't have as much going on on the state level as I know that Maria and Caitlin have been dealing with on the federal level. As you know, the legislature has recessed. They were scheduled to recess on September 12.

However, they did not recess until Saturday due to some last minute amendments on bills. So because they recessed on the September 13, then the governor now has until the October 13. So that's one correction in our in our report that we wanna make is that he actually has until the end of today to sign or veto all of the bills. About 800 bills were moved to the governor's desk, and he is he has several bills left to to act on in these final hours that we're waiting to hear from, and I'll go into those details in just a minute. But, also, just wanted to talk quickly about the the budget.

There were also, at the end of session, a lot of trailer bills that were submitted at the last moment. Specific to what the county cares about and great news was that proposition four, the climate bond was allocated. And that's something that I'll talk about more in the grant report, but that, the budget, there were a number of trailer bills, that were that were introduced and passed at the last moment, of the legislature. And so then that takes us to the legislation where we are. So as I mentioned, there have been some updates from your report.

At the time that we were submitting the report, we gave you the updates of what was the latest and greatest. But today, I wanna give you a few more. The first bill, a b one on your report, it's noted that it's at the governor's desk and that has been signed. And then also a b two two six, your report says that it was on the governor's desk and that was also signed. So what we're waiting for, remaining a b seven two six, we have not heard on that.

That's still on the governor's, desk, and also a b seven six one. We just heard, with Addis's report as well today that the governor has signed that bill. So it looks like you all are waiting then on just, a b seven two six and a b that might be it. Seven two six, one bill left, and everything else has been addressed. So once we get the final take on all of the bills, once we get that final bill announced, we will then send you an update that provides what all of the actions were that the governor took on all of the priority bills that the county has.

So then that just takes us on priority bills. There's no actions for us to take today because the legislature's on recess after the governor is done signing bills at the end of today. Then there will be a little bit of respite, where we'll take a little bit of a break, circle back, looking ahead to look at our legislative priorities moving into 2026. The governor has been busy with his, executive orders and actions, which we detailed in section c of our report, and then we also attached the state issues track, the bill track for your review, which we just covered the updates. So that is it for for our state report. I know it's short and sweet today, but are there any questions?

I don't have any. I had a comment on legislation, but it's it wasn't on our list because I think, it was one of those bills that got a lot amended in the last days of the legislature. So we probably weren't officially on record, but we did support for, I think, three years legislation on modernizing the Brown Act, in particular, allowing nondecision making, which are advisory committees, which we have many, and other agencies that supervisors serve on have advisory committees as well. So I think this was a really good thing. It it took a long time.

There was a lot of resistance to it, but it finally got signed into law, but it was delayed. Implementation is on July 1 rather than January 1. But it gives us time as a county to educate our many advisory committees that they can now do their meetings on Zoom without having to drive all the way from King City or Greenfield or Pajaro or VCSR to wanna participate in these in these bodies that only give advice and recommendations. They don't make the decision that usually comes to the planning commission or to us. So that's a great piece of legislation, but I hope that, our county council will maybe, at the beginning of the year, be able to talk about that legislation, what's good that's in it, what is perhaps maybe challenging.

There may be some things we do already. And and for other counties, smaller counties that have less resources, they might have new requirements on them that they're not doing, but I know a lot. We do a lot all our meetings online and in person. So it did it'd just be good to know for the our advisory committees and our board of supervise to know what's in that law and to understand it because it will be the the new rules after July 1. So we have plenty of time to be able to do that, but it'd be nice to have our county council prepare some kind of memo for advisory committees and for the board of supervisors to get to know what's what what exactly is in that bill because there was a lot of pieces to it at the very end.

And supervisor, we're already, looking at that and working on that.

Great. Thank you.

Yes. Supervisor, a b seven zero seven is the bill you're referencing, and we've been very involved in that and shared some updates with the county on that as well. And as you mentioned, the new provisions don't go into effect until July 1. However, it did extend the sunset. So, therefore, the sunset, which was due to expire January 1, will go ahead and be pushed.

So it gives you the good, and then you have a little bit of time to digest the rest. I will say that most of the provisions within that bill, you probably are already doing. So, hopefully, it won't come as too much of a burden to the county. But as you mentioned, your offices and the council will be reviewing that and and providing a report. But, yes, you're right. That was not a position a a bill that you all took a position on, you were watching, and it kinda merged with another bill at the last moment, and there's a lot in there. But, yes, that did get signed and and and is passed.

Yeah. And I I'm saying that because, CSAC from which it looks at the point of view of all 58 counties. Right? The Graham Kanas, the executive director, said there were some concerns for some of those counties and that there may be be cleanup legislation next year that that couldn't, that there was an agreement on. So we expect some of that legislation in next in the next session that we should just be aware and watch out for what what, senator Durazzo might wanna, bring forward in light of of of that some of that work was incomplete for her.

Yes. And thank you for correcting that. That was SB707 because that was senator Dirazzo. So thank you.

Yep. Yep. I'll go and see if there's any public comment on, the state report.

That's right.

No hands raised? Very well. Then I'll keep you, going forward for the grant report then.

Alright. Well, again, we we will be short and sweet on the grant report. First, we wanna update on the San Lucas drinking water project. As you know, there was some funds allocated from the budget, and we are working right now with the, water resources board to try to bring that water. I mean, to bring that money, into the county and have started the initiating those conversations.

So hope to have some updates, in the coming meetings, of how we can start to access those funds. Moving on to the proposition four. So as I referenced in the state report, great news that the legislator wait legislature waited till the last moment, but they did give us our allocations for proposition four. We did attend a webinar that was hosted by the Natural Resources Agency, and they were talking about what are the next steps. What are they going to do?

How are they gonna get this money out? And it was a very, very informative webinar for us to attend. You know, what we learned is is that it's going to be a busy next few months. Right? This money has been allocated for this fiscal year, so we need to be moving be ready to move quickly, on on the next steps. So first, what they have to do is look at the guidelines. They have to come up with the guidelines for the grants, then they're gonna go to the solicitations, and that's an active part of us being able to apply for the grants. And, then they'll be able to start allocating those funds through the grant process. So they're working on that. We are paying attention and monitoring.

As soon as those guidelines have been finalized, then they're gonna move to the solicitation period, and that's where where we wanna be agile and ready to go. We have had several meetings with different departments within the county and are aware of some of the projects that would fall within proposition four. And so once those solicitations are available, we'll jump on that. We detailed just for for your, you know, quick reference where the money was allocated within proposition four in the report so that you can see which agencies got what amount of money and what's the big bucket that each of that money was put into so that then we can start looking at how we can put some of the county projects within those little mini buckets. So we're right at the beginning of the process, and I think that it's going to be it's gonna be some work in the months to come, but it's money that's there that's for the projects that would help the county.

Yeah. This this looks really great on the on the breakdown. I'm I'm gonna so I'm I'm gonna throw some hard questions at you. We'll see how you're Hold up. How how you do on this.

Okay. I'm ready.

Alright. So the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, it's broken down your 30,000,000 for regional fire prevention and forest health projects. And then about two bullet points down, it says 80,900,000.0 for forest health programs. Kinda curious what that difference between that 30 and that 80.9 since they're both Forest Health. I I think we lost you there. We can't Akashi, we can't hear you. Can you hear us? Yeah. We can't hear you. See.

Nope. Still nothing. Oh, she's talking, though.

Yeah. It's on her end. She's on

It must be on your end, but it doesn't show that you're

I I can chime in here. I'm I'm actually I'm I'm listening as well here.

I got two. Yeah.

I you know, I'll have to look into this, supervisor Church, but my inclination is that the forest health program Dominic has his hand up too is an existing program, and that may have been back filled with funds. Regional fire prevention may be separate and apart from the forest health program, which is an established program. But, Dominic, do you have additional information about that?

No. I was gonna chime in with the same thing. It has really been a guess that one is an established program that that's getting funding, and the other sounds like it might be a, you know, a little bit more of a open, availability type thing.

Yeah. I agree. That's likely the case, but we can look into this. Again, the the legislature outlined pots of funds without detailed information. The detailed information needs to be worked out through the agencies and departments that are gonna be administering these programs.

Some of these, as I mentioned, are existing programs that just have been backfilled with funds. Even if it's an existing program that's being backfilled with funds, this is a new proposition, which means they will still have to go through a new grant solicitation process to reference this proposition and these propositions, rules and regulations separate and apart from however that program was previously funded, if that makes sense. So every department and agency that's gonna be receiving and administering funds is going to have to come up with a draft grant solicitations even if the program is existing. That'll include the forest health program. We'll take a look at those guidelines and be able to evaluate projects based on the updated guidelines.

Okay. Great. Thank you. On that, I I have, you know, probably relate to, to your team is and wanna publicly is, I mean, anything we can really do and and pull funds out here for fire protection in this county because we're so vulnerable in the past, I I really think is a a great step forward. And, I mean, there's a there's a lot of money here.

There's a lot of lot of programs, and I'm hoping there's something we can we can get a bite of out of that. I I did have a couple other questions on this. One of the another part in here, see 54,000,000 for sustainable fisheries as well as number of other issues. And we do have a couple of ports in this county in Monterey and and Moss Landing, and the fishing industry is always under under a lot of a lot of pressure. So I there's any way we could ever assist them in any way, I would be very supportive of that.

I also had one and what one of the part this is department of conservation. This is my last question. I just didn't quite understand what these projects were. It's a third bullet point down. Vegetation waste projects. It was 10,000,000 for infrastructure that reuses wildfire mitigation waste and noncombustion projects. I'm not quite sure I understand what that is.

You know, I don't I couldn't tell you off the top of my head, supervisor. I will look into that. I do appreciate you flagging these issues for us, particularly the the fisheries one as well, because sometimes we don't put together two and two for for you all, like, unless you flag it for us. So so that's very helpful. And Kasia and I will note that, and also the Department of Conservation to look into a little bit deeper and and see what the intent of those funds are all about.

Yep. Yeah. Sorry to put you on the spot.

I don't expect

all those details on that.

But Yeah.

To you.

Well, some like I said, some of these programs are existing, so we have more information about what projects might be funded. And some of these are brand new funds that we've never doled out as a state, and so we have to kind of figure that out as the agencies and departments put together their solicitations. I see Dominic's hands up as well.

Yes, Tom.

Yeah. Just a low key guess on the the fisheries one just because the aquarium did a presentation to folks last week. It might be something that touches on the slough more than your harbors, and the reason for that is they're really looking at efforts, to restore kelp forests in regions like ours, because of the effect it has on the local ecosystem, not just for animals, but also, on protecting against things like erosion. And so, apparently, there's some concerted efforts about taking a a better look at that, and I'm guessing where that's where some of the, Ocean Protection Council funds are are gonna be dedicated to.

Okay. I do notice invasive species issues here too, and you've mentioned the slough. I I can't recall what it is, but it seems like there is some concern on some invasive species in there that I, you know, try to look it up and maybe get back with you on on detail. Supervisor Lehov, do you have any thoughts on

Yeah. Just four four comments on on prop four. Obviously, I don't know by the time they finish San Lucas if all is gonna be fully funded, but we, but Ashley and I and we had and our team had just worked to make sure we had special language in that bill just to support San Lucas, and it got inserted. So I wanna make sure that that even though we might feel the project is funded, we we never know. And I just wanna make sure that if if an application opens, that we apply for some to make sure that there's no shortfalls at the end the project.

There's, like, 5,000,000 for parks, trails, and desert habitat protection. Certainly, if that's an opportunity for some of our parks Mhmm. Or soccer complex as well, that that it's a small amount, but you gotta go after it to to try to draw some of that our way. I saw the flood control subventions. Most people don't know what that is, but that directly is that state share that goes to the Pajaro River levy project, and it would certainly help out the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency that both Glenn and I, serve on.

So that one that one's important for us and to make sure that, hopefully, that continued state funding comes to advance the work that's underway. We just gotta go to the different other portions that we're still planning and, the design on. And lastly, obviously, the the dam levy and dam safety improvement funding, almost 300,000,000 for reservoirs. We we all know we got a long list of items that we need to do just to, make our our dam safer at Lake San Antonio and Acimiento. So make we just wanna make sure, Ara of the water resource agency is, pursues any potential opportunities there to advance the work that is needed at the reservoirs.

Those will

be my four, Ollie.

Yes.

The team already know that he's gotta restate it each time. Now that we got a little bit more information on funding, coming through on prop four.

No. No. I appreciate this too, and and I wanna just note two important items on what you stated. We have traditionally participated in a coalition of other agencies that rely on flood control subvention funding, so we will continue to do that. And it was great to see those those funds included. And and, secondarily, I just wanna note on the dam safety funding, it is unfortunate. I believe I've been hearing that our the pending application that we had submitted is going to have to be resubmitted for this funds or for these, funds that are in proposition four. So we are monitoring, that program and these funds as to how and when we resubmit our application for consideration.

Alright. Thank you. Yep. Very good. Thank you.

I see Dominic's hands up.

Yes, Dom. Yeah. Ashley, if

you can follow-up with us just if there's any issues with that application, I'd love to make sure we're looped in on that. And then secondly, just an early reminder with the great ledge workshop you put up in the New Year, as you start to make sense of these Prop four fundings, definitely highlight what it is our our state legislators need to have eyes on as we move into a new year come January, February.

Will do.

There's a lot of good exciting stuff in prop four here, and I'm hoping we can get some of these dollars because so it's quite a it's quite a range. It's quite a range, and so hopefully something we get out of that. Any public comment on these items on the grant report?

I see no hands raised, so I assume

Good. I no hands raised. I guess in that did Ashley or, Kasia, if you're back on, did you have anything else on the grant report that you wanted to present, or are you done?

We are done. Are you able to hear me?

Yes. We can hear you now.

Okay. Great. Sorry for my trouble before. I'd called in now with my phone. We're having some crazy storms here, so I wonder if maybe it's knocked out my Wi Fi or something. Mhmm. But nothing more on the grant report at this time. So thank you.

Okay. Great.

Has his hand raised.

I'm sorry. We do have a

Nick Chulos.

Nick Chulos. Oh, yeah. Nick.

Supervisors. Hi there. Yes. I I was able to reach our budget staff, and I have some information for you on the strategic reserve. So the target amount based on the size of the county budget is about 92,000,000, and there's about 68,000,000 in the strategic reserve now according to and that's a fairly approximate number, but that's based on the best, you know, the best information the budget staff has as of right now today.

And that was 68, you said?

68. Six eight. Right.

Six eight. Okay. So and 98 is

the goal.

90 90 a little over 92, 93.

Okay. Good.

That's good to know.

So we're about 24 shy of there. And if everything goes alright on these obligated numbers, we'd pick up six. So it'd still be it was about 18 on the the short side, which is difficult in these these days, but at least we're we're up there close to 70,000,000 right now, which gives us a little breathing room.

Mhmm.

Okay. I guess that pretty much wraps things up at this point. We're gonna meet again on November 10. Same place, probably same time. And see everybody then. Have a Alright.

Thank you, everyone.

Thank you, everybody. Bye.

Bye. The storm is coming.