Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

Good morning and welcome everyone to our board of supervisors meeting for 01/13/2026 I will call this meeting to order and ask for roll call, miss Hoskins.

Vice chair Manfrey? Here. Supervisor Ramos? Here. Supervisor Alessian?

Present.

Supervisor Gallagher? Here. Chair Cottrell?

Here. And can I ask Chris Benz to lead us in the pledge of allegiance? And now we will introduce our pet of the week. I believe we have Nova here with Luis. Good morning, Luis.

Good morning, Luis. And what can you tell us about this beautiful Nova?

Hi, good morning everybody. This is Nova. This is Sorry, I'm like really nervous today. This is Nova. She's a three year old pity mix.

She hasn't been at the shelter too long but she was one of those dogs that I kinda had a hard time not wanting to bring to the shelter or not bring here to the board of supervisors because of how friendly and social she is. Just a really, really awesome dog. One of those types of dogs that is a pity that does have a bad stereotype and is one of those solid, solid dogs that has high pet qualities that will literally break that stereotype that will break the stereotype for for pities. She's super social, super outgoing, has been very gentle. Something about the the staff up here that has a really soft touch that just kinda suits her suits her down.

And then, go in and pet her and then she gets all excited. Clearly, I need some lessons from you guys. But otherwise, once she gets into a home setting, we think that she's gonna be one of those pitties that is essentially a couch potato. Gets excited to go out for a walk, if it's raining or it's really cold outside, good luck getting her outside to go to the bathroom. But otherwise, she's gonna find a good spot on your couch or a good spot on your bed, then she'll stay in there with you. I

think she's kind of looking for you, Barry Eberling. But, and once again, it's a great offer that the adoption fees for Nova will be waived this week. So please come by and meet this sweet dog. Thank you so much, Louise.

Thank you, guys.

She could stay for a little bit. That's okay. Alright. Well, we will go ahead and move ourselves on to our administrative items, and we will start with 4A election of officers for the calendar year 2026. First up we have the board of supervisors chair and vice chair and then we will go into public comment, but first I will ask for if there's any public comment on this item or on the phones.

Then I will turn to my colleagues for let's see we're going to take these and I'm just going through we're going do the two through nine in a different order okay perfect so items two through nine for the special districts will follow the chair and vice chair selection The secretary to the special districts will be the clerk of the board, Neha Hoskins, and the treasurer will be the auditor controller, Tracy Schultzey. May I please have a motion to elect supervisor Amber Manfrey as chair, president, and supervisor Liz Alessio as vice chair, vice president? Sure. Yes.

Vice chair.

Chair, with, tremendous gratitude for your service in 2025, I would hereby appoint supervisor Manfrey as chair of the board of supervisors, supervisor Alessio as vice chair of the board of supervisors. We'll take that motion and then we'll move along to items two through nine. Perfect.

Sounds great.

There is a motion by Supervisor Ramos, a second by

Supervisor Gallagher. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

Now, Chair, with gratitude for your service for all the other, entities that we serve on, listed in our agendas, four a two through nine, I would nominate supervisor Manfrey to serve as chair and or president, supervisor Alessio to serve as vice chair and or vice president, for our clerk to serve as secretary, Neha Hoskins, and then for our treasurer to be to those districts where one is noted for the treasurer to be our auditor controller, Tracy Schultzey.

Second. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. So at this point, we will take a five minute recess to switch seats.

Oh, right. Thank you.

Okay, Madam Chair, we're back.

Wonderful. Thank you, Neha. We're now going to continue with the remainder of the meeting. Up next is the approval of proclamations and commendations. And our proclamation today will recognize the service of Supervisor Ann Cottrell, as well as her accomplishments as Board Chair for the year of 2025. Is there any public comment on this item? Is there anyone on the phones? No? Okay. Seeing no public comment, may I please have a motion to approve the proclamation?

So moved.

Second, Ramos.

Okay. Moved by Supervisor Alessio, second by Supervisor Ramos. All those in favor? Aye. All right. Passes unanimously. And I would like to read this proclamation to Anne Cottrell. And we're going to go share the reading today. And everyone has a copy. So I will kick us off. Whereas in 2025, District 3 Supervisor Ann Cottrell served as chair of the Napa County Board of Supervisors, providing thoughtful leadership and working collaboratively with fellow board members to achieve important milestones for the county.

And whereas during her tenure as chair, Supervisor Cottrell led the board through complex and consequential issues guiding policy discussions and board action with clarity, inclusivity, and a strong commitment to public service.

And whereas Chair Cottrell played a central leadership role in advancing wildfire preparedness and response, including guiding the county's coordinated response to the Pickett Fire and supporting major investments to strengthen fire resilience, such as approval of a new three year cooperative fire protection agreement with CAL FIRE and a $3,500,000 agreement to support community welfare preparedness efforts and

Whereas recognizing the importance of equitable connectivity, Chair Cottrell worked to advance broadband expansion through her participation in county roundtable discussions of the Regional Climate and Transportation Committee supporting improved access for Napa County's rural residents and businesses and Whereas Chair Cottrell strengthened Napa County's role in statewide and regional leadership through key appointments, including service on the California Wildfire and Forest Resistance Resilience Task Force and her appointment as second vice president of the rural counties representatives of California and

Whereas in recognition of her leadership and service, Supervisor Cottrell received the California State Association of Counties Circle of Service Award honoring her exemplary work on the Agricultural, Environment and Natural Resources Policy Committee and her effective representation of rural counties on wildfire and forest resilience issues.

And whereas Chair Cottrell is widely recognized as a trusted connector and collaborator, this is true, Building strong connections, building cross jurisdictional relationships across a broad political spectrum, and serving as an active and effective advocate for Napa County at the state and federal levels, representing the county's interests in Sacramento and Washington, D. C. On issues affecting the day to day lives of residents, the local workforce, agriculture, infrastructure,

and public safety. And Whereas under Chair Cottrell's leadership, the Board advanced major county initiatives, including adoption of the Napa County strategic initiatives and the launch of the baseline data report update to guide long term planning while also supporting innovative community centered service delivery through the expansion of mobile county services such as health and human services programs providing behavioral health and supportive services directly in neighborhoods and mobile probation services that broaden access to rehabilitative programming and supportive supervision beyond traditional facilities and

Whereas reaffirming the county's commitment to modern rehabilitative public safety infrastructure, Chair Cottrell supported the opening of Napa County's new state of the art Corrections and Rehabilitation Center in mid-twenty twenty five, replacing the former downtown jail and providing enhanced security, modern medical and mental health care, therapeutic design, programs aimed at reducing recidivism and supporting successful rehabilitation. Now, therefore, let it be proclaimed that this Board of Supervisors, County of Napa, State of California, on this January 2026, does hereby commend and express sincere gratitude to Supervisor Ann Cottrell for her exemplary leadership, collaborative spirit, and steadfast commitment to the county during her tenure as the chair of the board in 2025. Thank you, Anne.

Supervisor Ramos, it wasn't quite walk on music, but it was pretty darn close. I just want to

say We'll

continue to work on your walk on song.

I just want to say thanks to all of my colleagues and to our staff, our department heads. I think when we started last year, we talked about the importance of resilience and teamwork. That incredible list of things, I think, shows how much we accomplished as a team. So thank you. And Chair Manfrey, I'm so excited for what you're going to do this

Thank you. Just thank you so much for an incredible year last year. We did so much. And I'm really looking forward to continuing to work with all of you going forward this year. And so I have the proclamation here. Are we doing a photo? Yes. Yes? Okay. We're doing a photo.

Kind of being told.

Okay. We are going to move ahead to our consent calendar. Items A through K. This includes special districts. Do we have any board comments items to pull off of the consent calendar today? No? Seeing nothing, does anyone present wish to make a public comment on any item on the consent calendar? Is there anyone on the phones? Okay, seeing no public comment, may I have a motion and a second, please, to approve the consent calendar items A through K? So moved. Second. All right. And all those in favor?

Aye. All

right. Madam Chair,

can you tell me who's first and second? Oh, I'm sorry. That's Okay. Gallagher

Gallagher and Alessio. Gallagher for the motion and Alessio for the second. Okay, thank you. All those in favor?

Aye.

Okay, there we are. The motion passes unanimously. Thank you very much. We will now take public comment for any item not on the agenda today. Is there anyone in the room wishing to speak on any item not on the agenda? Kelly Anderson.

Good morning, supervisors. Kelly Anderson from Angwin. Congratulations, Amber. Thank you, and thank you all. I'm coming today speaking to you from the community of Angwin. And I hope in our general plan, we can introduce Anguin as the gateway community to outdoor recreation. We have all these wonderful trails and open space and waterfalls and mountain biking. The preamble in the general plan about Angouin was something that Angouin residents wrote last time and want to make sure we still have a voice in that. So keep that in your mind. Gateway Community to Outdoor Recreation.

Just a couple of quick thoughts. I want to thank you for whoever managed to put together the mastication up there along Hell Mountain Road and removing so much fuel, and they're starting to burn those piles. So, thank you, Anne and Leah, for going on the death march through the Scotch broom. I do want to mention one thing. I know we're going to update our general plan.

And from my experience in the past, one of the things we did is we made action items in the general plan. We said these are things that we need to work on in the future. And from my observations, over thirty years of being here working in vineyards and in the forest, is that I think we need to update our conservation regulations. And there are specific things that we haven't really addressed. For example, permitting vineyards in areas where there is no electricity.

So in other words, we have to rely on generators and importing fuel in far flung areas of the county to run irrigation and wells. So I think we need to address that. We need to address fertilizer storage and fertilizer injection points where they are near creeks and streams. I don't think that's addressed at all. We need to review the use of level spreaders and tea spreaders as a method of controlling water flow from vineyards.

That infrastructure routinely is failed. It is not protecting our watersheds. We need to evaluate the impacts of sump pumps in the valley floor and their impacts on river otters. I've seen dead otters coming out of those sump pumps. We need to evaluate how we protect conserved areas in vineyard developments.

In other words, no parking of equipment or storage of equipment or materials under conserved areas. We absolutely have to address the uncalculated impacts of rock spoils from vineyard developments. The impacts are heat islands, destruction, permanent destruction of habitat, and the ongoing deposition of sediments into surface waters. So, again, we need to have, an action item in our general plan to update the conservation regulations. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comments. Is there anyone else wishing to speak? Yes. Mike Hackett?

Do I still have to introduce myself? From Manguine. Mike Hackett from Manguine. Okay. Thank you. I don't want to rain on anybody's parade. I'm here mainly to congratulate Amber. As you all know, she and I go way back. She worked with us on Measure C in evaluating land use decisions and I'm just so I don't wanna get teary eyed, I'm very proud. And congratulations, Anne, for a great year.

And so that you all know, I'm positive about this board. I think the environmental activists part of Napa County are responsible, without doubt, in electing all five of you. I don't think you could have done it without us and you've started to listen to us. And that is heartwarming. I'm entering my eightieth year and I've been at this with you for a decade and a half, almost two decades.

So I've seen a lot and I learned a lot more. I used to think that things were way too biased for the wine industry and also I was really concerned that we had a pro development board. I think we have a very fair and equal minded board now, which is what I had always hoped for. The one issue, and I'd like to, you know, I don't want to rain anybody's parade because, actually, I'd like to talk more than three minutes so I can see if Amber will gavel me off.

Will, we have to keep it fair, please.

I shouldn't have used that word. Anyway, you all know that with the blame for the fact that I thought the wine industry was too strong and too biased, I think the proof is in the collapse of the wine industry now. We have way too many, way too many wineries and I think that's a product of a pro development board at the time and there was too much strength in the wine industry when you have a wine industry town, that's the way it's going to work out. I blamed it all on the board because everybody caved for any kind of development. But over the last two years, we've done a considerable amount of work to review in-depth the planning division's work.

And I still will say to you, and I have said it last summer, I said it last spring, I saw all of you at least twice except one I only saw once, There is inadequate analysis that's going to the planning commission. There just is. And I can cite SITUI, I can cite Silverado, I can cite Myers on, and now there's a new one coming up. So please step this year for me, for the whole county, let's make sure that we improve on the analysis that comes out of the planning commission. Save Napa Valley Foundation is going to put together some ideas.

Should I sit down, Amber? Thank you all very much. Really, let's have a great year.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, mister Hackett. Is there anyone else in the room? Welcome.

My name is Thomas Falcon. I'm the owner, of property at 307 Circle Oaks Drive. I too am optimistic about this board. I wanna begin by thanking this board. Last year, you approved a settlement that avoided years of litigation and saved Napa County taxpayers probably a couple million dollars. This was a responsible decision, acknowledged a serious failure. It was corrected and allowed everyone to move forward. Unfortunately, county staff has now put you right back in the same position almost immediately before the ink even dried on the settlement. Staff approved and facilitated a permit allowing a neighbor, to dump storm water directly onto our property. Let me be clear.

This is not a private dispute between neighbors. It's not a misunderstanding. It is a failure of the county enforcement that directly undermines the decision this board made earlier last year. Staff approved inspections, staff observed the work, staff signed off on a permit knowing drainage plans were nonexistent. You and I have to provide drainage plans, but this individual apparently didn't have to.

And when the problem was brought to their attention immediately, nothing was done. No stop notice, no enforcement action, no correction. This gentleman is dumping his storm water onto now three additional private property owners, which will probably create another slide, another issue, another lawsuit. Staff later said they warned the committee that a final might not be issued. But that point, the wall was built, the pipes were in, the drainage was already done. The county's own actions conveyed authorization to proceed. Supervisors, you did your job when you approved that settlement. Your staff has undone it. You adopt the codes. You oversee the departments.

You have the authority and the responsibility to demand enforcement. The county permits, inspects, and then looks the other way while storm water is discharged on a private property, that's not oversight. It's participation. And participation exactly how the county ends up facing the same exposure it thought it had already resolved. After everything that this county has been through in Circle Oaks, after the slope failure, the damage, the settlement is deeply troubling, the staff would facilitate the same dangerous conduct to continue on the same hillside, affect the same properties.

I'm not asking for special treatment. I'm not asking for favors. I'm asking to direct staff to enforce the code, correct their actions, and stop the illegal discharge immediately. Because if this continues, the public's gonna find out. They're gonna see that although you acted properly and saved the county millions of dollars, the staff has created the same problem, and now you're facing the same loss again. Please don't allow staff negligence to erase the responsibility decisions you already made. We need your help. Please instruct staff to do their job. Thank you.

Thank you, mister Falcon. Are there any other comments in the room on items not on the agenda? I'm seeing none. Is there anyone on the phones? No? Okay. Well, that concludes public comment. And we will move now to Board of Supervisors reports and announcements. Would anybody like to jump in? Supervisor Ramos?

Thank you so much. And to my colleague, staff, happy New Year. And it's great that we got a little extended vacation there from these formal board meetings and excited for Supervisor Manfrey's leadership this year. I just wanted to touch on a few things of regional importance, not necessarily specific to Napa County, but supervisor Manfrey and myself in our capacities as MTC commissioners were present at a meeting on January 7 that created the new public transit revenue measure district. And this is a five county district.

It's a sales tax that is going to be put in place in Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, Alameda, and Contra Costa County. Those counties because those are the counties that are served by either BART, Caltrain, or Muni Transit. And it's important to know, one, if you travel in those areas, sales tax would likely be on a voter approved initiative. It's gonna be a citizens initiative moving forward. For the November ballot, your sales tax will go up next year in those areas.

But I think what's also of regional importance here is that some of the revenue is actually going to be deployed for regional system improvements, including wayfinding. I don't know if you've ever had this occasion, but you start in one county and the signs and the wayfinding look very different from another county. So you might have started with blue signs in one area and one type of font and you move to another and that is disruptive to the commuter experience. So we're looking at overall ADA accessibility enhancements and also system improvements. And just as a reminder, we are incredibly fortunate here.

And if you've ever thought we are not, consider yourselves lucky. We have one operator of public transportation in Napa County. The rest of the Bay Area has a total of 26. 26 in the entire rest of the Bay Area. So that coordination and collaboration takes a lot.

This revenue measure is really to address the operational shortfalls, specifically with with great care to Kaltryne and and Bart. I also wanted to note just for general update. Previously approved by this board, the American Canyon Library had its renovations and those are now open. And everyone is welcome to attend the reopening party on Saturday, January 31 so you could see the the new space. I remember the last time we renovated it, and I was just coming on to this board.

And so I thought to myself, oh, that was 10 of distance and time. But that actually tells you how well used and loved the American Canyon Library is. As many of you know, a lot of the residents in American Canyon are commuting out of areas so when the schools get out early release on Wednesdays, the library is packed on Wednesday afternoons because kids are told go to the library. And so that furniture is very well loved and so was that carpet and we're so excited to have that refresh at the library. Our offices remain open in American at American Canyon City Hall, typically Wednesdays and Thursdays, and you're welcome to come and see the new art that we have from the county sponsored student art contest for District 5.

Additionally, on January 21 in the evening at the Napa Little Theater, I'll be moderating the League of Women Voters Building Community Bridges Not Barriers Forum with organizations like Puerto Saviartas and IIBA and others to discuss how we support our immigrant community. And one request and referral I had brought this up before, and that was we have a lot of proclamations and some that are as a matter of course that we do and some that are certainly ceremonial like like today. But if we could just have a review and I think it would be helpful to have a forecast of what our proclamations are consistent with our board policy, board policy part one section eight ID four, which is where our declarations are noted and what is appropriate. I think it would be great to have a list that forecasts the year and which ones come up. We know that some months are very large, like May.

There are a lot of celebrations in May and recognitions. But as a matter, of course, we have this first meeting that discusses our committees, I think it'd be great to have that come forward to the board so that we can just be all on the same page. And then if there are certain additions, certainly the chair's prerogative can have them. But it would be great to know what's on the horizon for the year ahead. Thank you.

Oh, I'm sorry. Supervisor Gallagher, you're up.

You're so enthralled.

Know. Was really Man

free. Okay. Which is great. First, I just want to say congratulations to the community members who were appointed and reappointed to county commissions. We had a few of those in our consent calendar.

And we have two District one people who were appointed, Anthony Halstead and Frank Cabral. So I just wanted to say a special thank you to them for their service. I'd like to speak just a moment about PG and E. PG and E is seeking multiple significant electricity and natural gas rate increases with the CPUC, which will result in compounding bill impacts on customers. Rising utility rates would intensify affordability pressures already faced by residents, seniors, farm workers, low income and fixed income households, small businesses, and agricultural producers, while also increasing county operating costs for essential services such as public safety, health and human services, and water and wastewater systems.

So I would like to actually, if I may, make a referral to staff to develop a resolution to oppose the proposed Pacific Gas and Electric Company rate increases and call for rate relief, affordability, and utility accountability. And so that's my comments for today.

Thank you, Supervisor Gallagher. Supervisor Alessio?

Thank you. So I think we're just going to start with a couple of things. One, I want to thank Senator Cabaldin and Senator Perez, who co authored a new bill, SB two ninety nine. This is kind of the cleanup of last year's bill SB, I think it was 131, where looking at child care centers being exempt from CEQA. So last year, as it got through the process and over at the Governor's desk, it included an exemption for childcare facilities in every area except for where they're actually at.

And they're actually in residential areas. And so SB two ninety nine is really a cleanup bill. Senator Kobolden invited me to testify yesterday. So I was in a hearing yesterday and was able to kind of share a little bit of the NAPA story and advocating for access to affordable quality child care. And to do that, we need to remove these unnecessary barriers that people use to put up and make it very difficult.

Child care providers, businesses, it's a very small business. They don't make a lot of money. It's not a wealth business, but it has incredible value to our community. So I want to thank them for that and the opportunity to speak on that yesterday in Sacramento. Next, I want to share that and Barry Eberling is here.

He did a story last week. I'm learning more about, with the undergrounding approval of PG and E to underground their lines for, I think it's 47 miles, which would be Redwood Road up through the In And Mount Theater, which is identified as a high fire risk area. What I didn't realize, but I want to thank a constituent who lives up there, Daniel McCullough, think it is, he brought to my attention that the telecommunication lines will still stand. And so AT and T is the carrier of last resort and they have their copper lines up there. So, when PG and E completes their project, which is going take several years and it's going to be kicked off hopefully in February, this coming February, the telecommunications isn't coordinated.

It's not a coordinated process. So the polls will continue to stand with the telecommunication lines. My concern with that is, you know, if something was to happen up there, such as a fire or a slide or something, and there need to be evacuation, is that those poles are compromised and people will not know that there might be an evacuation needed. That those poles may fall and block access for people to evacuate and be able to leave that area. So I've reached out to PG and E and they're working on getting some clarification about their normal process, which is to reach out to the telecommunications to co coordinate.

So I'm waiting for verification on that. But I also learned that CPUC received direction from the state to allocate what's called the Bead Program. It's Broadband Equity Access Deployment. And it's federal funds from the previous administration that actually hasn't been delivered to the state. But once and when it does, the state has asked the CPUC to go ahead and manage that.

So, this is my understanding, is that CPUC has contacted three different telecommunications and that's Frontier, Comcast and AT and T. And interestingly, CPUC has selected Comcast to be brought to underground the broadband communications for Mount Veeder, even though AT and T is the Cary Flask Resort. I'm kind of airing this all because for me it's been very interesting and educational and it really does pinpoint the importance of working together in terms of prevention, of safety, in terms of evacuation, and all those, and communication. Those are all very critical areas of safety in addition to PG and which I'm thrilled personally that they are undergrounding those lines. It's going to take the risks down to 99%, reduction of risk for fire as a result of their lines.

So I want to thank PG and E for the work they're going to do. I think there's opportunity here to reach out to CPUC and see what they do in terms of looking at this holistically and not just have the bead program in one box and the undergrounding with PG and E or other utilities, electric utilities companies in another way and they're working together. I'm not sure if that happened, but I want to work on that and thank you for letting me kind of air what I've learned and share with everybody else. So more to come on that and I am working on that. Last, I'm going to just say MCE, which I've been appointed to be on that board, they're in their fifteenth year and so as a board member I've been asked to be on the ad hoc to look at the governance of the board.

This is a 34 member board. It's a lot. That meets at two locations in addition to remote areas. And the board has self identified that we're not as functional as we could be. And so it's coming up this week.

I'll be at the board meeting. It'll come up this week in terms of the board approval to move forward with reaching out to, you know, identifying a consultant to look at the board and the board governance. So I think that'll I really think it's going to help a lot in terms of the overall function and what we can do for MCE and for our MCE residents folks who use MCE, Marine Clean Energy. And the very last, I'm looking forward to going to NACO, the National Association of Counties. This will be my first trip to DC. And I'm looking forward to that and talking to some folks regarding some local issues that are happening here, and then going to the conference. Thank you.

Wonderful. Thank you, Supervisor Alessio. Supervisor Cottrell?

Thank you, Chair. A couple of updates. First of all, thank you, Ms. Anderson, for calling out the mastication work in Angouin, and indeed that is work being done by Firewise funded by Napa County, and PUC is adding great help along the way organizing the piles and things like that. So a collaborative effort there for sure.

I also wanted to thank several staff departments in District three over the holidays. There was a family that had a crisis, and many departments came together to support that family. So I want to thank the sheriff, public works, county council, code enforcement. We had social workers, housing staff involved. It was a great example of interdepartmental collaboration.

So thanks to all those teams, and fire marshal and the fire department as well. So thank you for that. And then I also wanted to mention that I had several questions from constituents over the break with the storms that we had looking at damage and wondering about conditions of our roads. And CEO Alsop, I know we've talked before about the impact that Measure U will have, and we're getting closer to that timeframe. So I'd like to ask for a referral where we could hear from our Rhodes team once again just an update on the plan where we're going to start to see the impact of the Measure U dollars.

That would be great. I wanted to give a shout out to Calistoga School District and the library. Students in the Calistoga School District can now use their student IDs as a library card. So shout out to our terrific library director, Anthony Halstead, and the superintendent there for working on that project. And then finally, John Tudor and I will be on a panel at a Latino Leaders Roundtable event on January 23, talking about Latino power, civic engagement, the future. So looking forward to that. And again, welcome, Chair Manfrey.

Thank you, Supervisor Cottrell. All right. My announcements today are that on Wednesday, the fourteenth, there will be a prescription burn meeting at Tucker Farm Center, which I believe is open to the public. That's up Valley, and I am hoping to attend. It'll be after a long day of MTC, I do hope to be there. And we also let's see. I also want to give a shout out to Firewise for the clearing on Soda Canyon Road. I see it almost every day when I'm driving. And I really appreciate it. It looks great, much improved.

And then also I'm hearing from residents in Gordon Valley that they very much appreciate the paving from public works. And they're also noticing a big improvement in their daily commutes and travels. And also that Cuttings Wharf is looking great. That's been paved, there's a new dock going in soon. It was a little bit draggled, and it's really a much nicer facility now.

So thank you, Public Works, for getting those things going. And on the MTC item, thank you, Supervisor Ramos, for all of the updates. I will not repeat them, but I also wanted to note that the I-eighty Express lanes in Solano County have started operating. And so if you are commuting or traveling between here and Sacramento, you'll notice fast track lanes on the left hand side. And if you have a fast track what are those things called?

Transponder. Transponder. That's why I didn't know. If you have a fast track transponder, the new ones you can set to how many people you have in a car, and you'll be charged according to how many riders you have if you're carpooling. Or if you're just yourself, you're charged the full rate.

So if you don't have a current transponder, I would recommend getting a new one because they do have a new and improved model out that allows you to set the number on how many people are in your car so you can get reduced rates on tolling lanes. Just be advised that that is now how that lane works, and you're told between the gantries that you'll see along the highway. Let's see, I've got one more. Well, not really. Okay, I think we're just about there.

I look forward to the year ahead. I look forward to bringing science to the Board and continuing the many initiatives that the County has underway, and also averting conflict where possible with communication and planning, and meeting conflict with Grace when necessary. That concludes my comments. And we will

Chair? Can I

add one more staff update?

Oh yeah, please. Thanks.

Just wanted to call out congrats to Linda Weinrich, who is now on maternity leave, and who will be filling in for her is Janet Upton, who's been a longtime great public information person here for the County. So, congrats to Linda and welcome, Janet.

Supervisor And Cottrell reminded me, I do think it's important that I do update the storm damage that happened in District 2 because it's significant and it will come back to this Board in terms of repairs that are going to be needed. So through the rain, did see that California for the first time in twenty five years is no longer in a drought area anywhere in the state, which is fantastic. Mount Veeder has had more than its share of rain and has constant issues in terms of the terrain there and as much water as it receives. So there's new slides down at 4620 Redwood Road. There's one from the previous year that still needs to be repaired, that means there's two slides on Redwood that will need to be attended to this year.

A new slide on Mount Veeder at La Colla, which right before the five point two mile marker slide that I think has just reopened and finished from last year. And there's two slides, small slides, but I was up with our Public Works Director to look at those in person last Friday on Wall Road. So just a heads up on that. Also, let's see, yesterday on Monday, January 12 from 9AM to 2PM, Pinnacle Power for PG and E scheduled a road closure at Mount Veeder for a crane set pole replacement. This Thursday from 6PM to 6AM, the reverse one way traffic control at State Route 29 will be starting the next morning for the culvert replacement work and road stabilization on State Route 29 between Rutherford And Oakville Roads.

And then last, in February, Dry Creek Road, traffic will shift to the one way controls on the new bridge. So the Dry Creek Bridge, it's going to be incredible once it opens up. In the meantime, be very careful as you've got a couple sharp turns in the interim with a single bridge that's been there. But I'm excited when that is going to open up, I think that will be potentially in March, depending on weather. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you for very thorough announcements from everybody. I think we're all caught up. So we're moving on to Item nine, discussion of items pulled from consent calendars. We did not have any items pulled today, so we're just going to move right through that to Item 10, administrative items 10A through D.

We'll be talking about committee appointments, making a statement on labor strife. We will receive an annual report on the county's legislative and regulatory platform, and we will discuss a resolution on a non matching employer contribution for item 10D. And we will take a break as close as possible to 10:30 as we move through these items, and we'll have closed session after that. So let's go ahead with item 10A, annual appointmentreappointment of members of the Board of Supervisors to various committees, commissions, and advisory boards. I welcome a staff report.

Thank you, madam chair. So we can do this in a various way. I'm gonna pull up our worksheet. You can either address the items that you see before you each committee one by one, or we can go ahead and just hop to the yellow, which highlights the terms that are expiring that we would need either a reappointment or a new appointment from one of the board members here today.

Okay, great. Supervisor Ramos, do you?

What is your preference?

Chair, if I may suggest, I think the easiest way since we did extensively go through this process last year would be if anyone wants to relinquish anything and we start from there. So I'll go ahead and stay. I do not want to relinquish any of my committee assignments.

Would any other supervisors like to say whether or not they are wishing to see any I

do not wish to relinquish any of my assignments.

I'm fine with my current assignments. Thank you.

I'm also fine with mine. Thanks.

And so am I, so this should be pretty straightforward. So do I need to read through these all as a matter of no?

Okay. You do not. It's published with the agenda item.

Okay.

And then you'll have an updated 2026 copy over is what we're doing. Copy over the column. We'll give you a new sheet at the end of this meeting. And we just need a motion that

Okay. Thank you so much for the guidance. May I have a motion?

So moved.

Second. Okay. Moved by Supervisor Galessio, second by Supervisor Cottrell.

Point of order, Chair, it comes with the Clerk will make the proper notification to CSAC and will renew the terms and notify each clerk of each committee of the renewed terms.

Yes. All the regional committees that you see here, the clerk generally reaches out for the pending items that you see here that you were reappointed to your committee that you sit on.

Thank you.

Thank So,

Chair Manfred, I apologize for interrupting, but I don't recall if you asked for public comment before you take the motion.

That's right.

Thank you. Is there any public comment on this item? I don't see any in the room. Is there anyone on the phone? No? Okay. Then, we have a motion and a second to appointreappoint members of the Board of Supervisors to their existing various committees, commissions, and advisory boards. All those in favor? Aye. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you very much. Item 10b: Approve a statement on economic and community impacts of labor strife, and I welcome a staff report on this item. Mr. Meiss, thank you.

Good morning, members of the board. My name is Andrew Mice. I'm the county's legislative and policy analyst. Thank you for allowing me to speak today on this issue. This issue is before your board on referral by supervisor Gallagher at your regular 12/16/2025 meeting, and it is related to an ongoing labor strike in American Canyon.

So at the supervisor's request, I've prepared a statement on the economic and community impacts of labor strife. The recommendation here is adoption by your board of the statement subject to any changes from the dais. So I'll go ahead and read it. Whereas Napa County in 2025 adopted strategic initiatives providing a clear framework for the board's priorities and community needs, emphasizing the board's vision to build vibrant, inclusive communities where every person belongs and thrives. And whereas this board holds in the highest regard the freedom of individuals to earn a living wage, provide basic necessities including affordable health care for their families, and in doing so act in as pillars of and models within their communities.

And whereas the employment of Napa County residents and the attraction of job seekers from surrounding communities through the availability of stable employment are paramount to the continued economic stability and vibrancy of Napa County. And whereas the labor dispute between the leadership of Westlake Royal Stone Solutions and the members of Teamsters Local eight fifty three has resulted in a labor strike that has persisted for nearly six months. And whereas a substantial majority of the members of Teamsters Local eight fifty three are Napa County residents whose ability to engage in gainful and beneficial employment and thrive is of direct concern to this board and affects the socioeconomic fabric of our community. And whereas the board has been advised by public comments from union members alleging reckless disregard by Westlake for the personal in addition to economic well-being of their employees, and whereas Westlake Royalstone Solutions is a valued employer in Napa County providing a strong base of skilled jobs that contribute to the depth and talent of the Napa County workforce. Now therefore be proclaimed that the board of supervisors of the county of Napa strongly encourages the leadership of Westlake Royal Stone Solutions and the bargaining committee of Teamsters eight fifty three to work diligently to resolve their labor dispute.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mice. Are there any public comments on this agenda item in the room today? Seeing none, is there anyone on the phones? No? Okay. I will bring this back to the board for discussion. And I see Supervisor Gallagher.

Thank you. And thank you, staff and Mr. Meiss, for putting this together. I did want to make a bit stronger statement in the now, therefore be it resolved portion, which would be at the end. So I'm going to put this out there for discussion.

The Board of Supervisors of County of Napa strongly encourages the leadership of Westlake Royal Stone Solutions and the bargaining committee of the Teamsters eight fifty three to resolve their labor dispute at their January bargaining sessions to bargain in good faith and work diligently toward a contract that includes fair wage terms, reasonable periodic cost of living adjustments in employee wages, and access to meaningful choice in employee health care. I think this reflects back on what we would like to see as a Board, especially in light of the testimony that we heard from the Teamsters members at our December meeting. So I just wanted to put that out there as a possible amendment to that.

Thank you. Supervisor Gallagher, Supervisor Cottrell, did you?

Yeah, I will go ahead. That works for me. I think what we heard was particularly the reference to the importance for choice in medical care, which was explained as not something that was actually a large economic hit to the employer. I can be supportive of that language.

All right. Any further discussion from the Board? Okay. Seeing none, I'll say that I also support the change in language that you're recommending, especially as you say, Supervisor Cottrell, in light of the comments that we received and the discussions I've had since. I would welcome a motion.

I'll make a motion.

I thought

did somebody what?

I think I already did public comment for this item. You did. Yeah, you did.

Okay. Yeah, and I'm happy to make the motion.

Okay. I'll second it.

Okay, so motion by Supervisor Gallagher, seconded by Supervisor Cottrell. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you very much. And we will move on to item 10C. This item is an annual report of the county's legislative and regulatory platform for 2025, and we will consider approving and adopting the proposed 2026 legislative regulatory platform, subject to any modifications by the Board. And that might be a typo because we'll be looking at 2020 I'll let you present, Mr. Mize.

Yeah. Okay.

Okay.

Thank you, Supervisor. It is I think it is correct.

Okay. Very good. Thank you.

Members of the Board, my name is Anthony Mize. I'm the county's legislative and policy analyst, and I'm privileged to serve as your primary analyst for the county's legislative and regulatory affairs. The run of play is going to be a bit different this year than prior years. I've added an annual report to improve public awareness of your board's 2025 advocacy. That was courtesy of my counterparts in Marin, Talia Smith and Sophie Halpern.

So thank you to them. I'll ask you today to approve the 2026 legislative and regulatory platform subject to changes from the dais, which are welcome. This document is really a roadmap for your board's legislative and regulatory policies this year. It is a non exhaustive list of those priorities. As we are all aware, the state creates new solutions to problems every year that we have not anticipated and cannot anticipate in a single document.

This is simply a way for staff to act quickly on issues that we have anticipated. Issues that arise where we did not anticipate action being needed will continue to come before your board for full and transparent public debate. The annual report will summarize advocacy and also state actions and priorities in 2025, provide a 2026 stake out state outlook, and then do the same vis a vis the federal government. So let's start with the state. The state had three priorities in 2025.

They had a $15,000,000,000 deficit that they had to deal with. They had LA fire relief that they had to deal with, and they had substantial federal grant and program funding clawbacks and cuts. Your board conducted substantial advocacy on both budget and COAIR obligations related to wildfire preparedness in the legislature and also conducted substantial advocacy before the Department of Insurance on their proposed insurance reforms and catastrophic modeling. We do expect all of those priorities to continue in 2026. In addition, in 2026, the state is now looking at at least an $18,000,000,000 deficit.

This is in addition to the budget solutions that were reached last year. So $18,000,000,000 is conservative. We do expect it to go up to about $20,000,000,000 per the legislative analyst office if the cap and trade auction proceeds don't pick up substantially from where they're at. The LAO additionally expects a $35,000,000,000 recurring structural deficit starting in fiscal year twenty twenty seven, twenty eight. So that is the baseline number that we will have to deal with as a state and that we will have to deal with as a county moving forward.

County priorities for 2026 reflect a lot of the actions of 2025. The first is that we would like to reach as a collective. The 58 counties would like to reach an agreement with the state on the administrative cost shifts that result from HR one as well as indigent care. And then second, the counties would like to reach an agreement with the state on insurance and liability reform as those costs have continued to skyrocket for municipal governments since, I think, it's AB twenty eighteen or AB two eighteen in 2019. Moving to the federal government.

2025, I would say, saw the executive branch assert an expansive view of its power over congress, the judiciary, and the several states. Your board took action in January forming an ad hoc committee and committing county funds to community based organizations in response to this assertion of executive power. And departments also took that action by your board and ran with it, training throughout the year to better prepare their employees. 2026 brings some really key funding deadlines in congress. We've got the January 31, apologies for the error, expiration of the existing continuing resolution.

And then we've got two additional opportunities for shutdown. One related to the fiscal year twenty twenty six appropriations package, and then we get to do it again for the fiscal year twenty seven appropriations package. It also brings some the opportunity for the county to engage in two really key pieces of legislation that will affect both us and affect our residents. The first is the FEMA Reform Act, which has substantial governmental implications in the way that small and mid sized disasters are funded by the federal government shifting to a block grant based system rather than a reimbursement based system. In this way, we'll know how much we have to deal with the disaster upfront rather than holding the money and waiting in arrears for reimbursement.

The other big priority is going to be the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act, which affects the way that our roads and bridges are funded. Napa County maintains a substantial portion of the county's surface paved roads and bridges. And there are some proposals, we've not seen language yet, but there are some initial proposals that shift the way in which proposals are funded from weighted toward more competitive proposals to weighted toward more impact based proposals. So we've got some significant legislation ahead of us and I think a valuable perspective to share on both of those issues. Let's talk now about the proposed twenty twenty six legislative platform.

During 2025, I've listened to every meeting of your board, and let's talk about what I took from those meetings and how I translated what I heard into a single document, which again is non exhaustive. Our guiding principles for advocacy fit nicely within your board's vision for a vibrant and thriving Napa County adopted in its strategic initiatives plan. You can think of this document as nesting within that broader strategic initiatives document. As to content, we've got key themes, things that crop up over and over and which can be applied to different issues. So I've adapted the structure a bit this year to reflect those key themes right up front and then apply them in a kind of methodical fashion to the key issues that I'll list here next.

I do want to note that as counties and as public servants, we are called every day to advocate above and beyond what we are required to do in the interest of our communities, even in instances where we receive no money from the state to do so. When we consider what issues we expect to be before us in 2026, these represent a best guess. The events of the last twelve months show us that we need to be flexible and responsive to changes in Sacramento and Washington. I think we'll see almost all of these crop up. There's no telling what else.

We'll see. So I welcome any feedback from Reward. I welcome feedback from the public. This has been a particularly, I think, collaborative document with both departments and with the public. I can attribute that to the really substantial changes that we've seen in state and federal policymaking this year. So thank you for the opportunity, and I welcome any questions.

Thank you for that update, Mr. Mize. Let's see. I would like to go first to public comment. Is there any public comment on the county's legislative platform for 2026? Okay. Yeah. Feel free to come forward to the mic. And then for anyone else who wishes to comment to queue up. Exactly. And everyone will have three minutes. Please go ahead.

Good morning. My name is Peggy Squires and I'm here to express my appreciation to the Board for listening to the community regarding concerns for the new FAA flight paths coming into Napa that are causing a lot of outcry about noise and environmental issues. So I want to thank you for conducting listening opportunities and taking some action. On that note, I went into the agenda for today and I dove into the draft and I noticed the paragraph on airport operations and read through it. And in the background on that paragraph, it says Residents of Southern Napa County oppose the Federal Aviation Administration's FAA new flight path into the Napa County Airport.

The county will engage the FAA to determine an appropriate solution to the issue. I'd like to make a small suggestion to add the letter S to PATHS. It's more than one airline approach. The approach is coming over the Eastern Part of the Napa Valley, as well as coming from the Western part of the Napa Valley, which covers approaches over like Food City, Shear School, that area, and over my house. So I'd like to just suggest that you consider adding an S, not just one path, but path.

So that's my suggestion, and thank you for taking our direction and input and turning into some action.

Thank you, Ms. Squires. Welcome. Come forward.

Hello, chair and members of the board. My name is Adrian Maldonado, and I'm the director of the Community Leaders Coalition. On behalf of the Community Leaders Coalition or CLC, we thank the county of Napa for its inclusive and intentional approach to developing the annual legislative policy platform. Especially want to acknowledge the leadership of Andrew Meiss, for proactively seeking the CLC's perspective and partnership throughout the process. His intentional engagement reflects strong commitment to community informed policy making and helped ensure that community voices and nonprofit partner organizations perspective were meaningfully included.

Our CLC steering committee reviewed the draft legislative policy platform and recommended the addition of adapting the new state and federal requirements and social safety net programs, including this key issue would help ensure that the county's legislative priorities reflect the evolving policy landscape and the real on the ground impacts these changes have on historically underserved communities. CLCs affirms that the language used in public documents matters, especially naming children, seniors, people experiencing homelessness, immigrants, people with limited English proficiency, LGBTQIA residents, and other underserved communities signals that they are valued and included in shaping local decisions. We appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this process and look forward to to the partnership with Napa County as, the legislative platform is finalized and implemented. Thank you.

Thank you, mister Maldranado. Welcome.

Good morning, supervisors and staff. My name is Jenny O'Cone. I'm the Executive Director of the Up Valley Family Centers and also a member of the Community Leaders Coalition. The CLC recommended that the Napa County's legislative platform include recognition of the vital role that community based nonprofits play in the provision of services to Napa residents. Nonprofits are a core component to the safety net in Napa County, delivering a multitude of services and often filling gaps that government programs cannot always reach.

For populations lacking trust in government institutions, nonprofits often serve as a lifeline and access point for vital health and safety net resources. And further, our sector is a major employer, purchaser, and service delivery engine. We appreciate recognition in the policy platform of the importance of community based nonprofits referenced in the public health section of the document, and we value the collaborative approach of the county. We would also like to highlight that there are additional threats to nonprofits outside of the realm of public health that we hope the county will consider supporting. The CLC has endorsed Cal Nonprofits twenty twenty five-twenty six state sponsored bills, policy measures designed to strengthen nonprofit capacity and fiscal stability, bills that would, for example, ensure prompt payment and improved coverage of indirect costs or protect nonprofits funding eligibility amid federal targeting of organizations serving immigrants and other vulnerable communities.

When nonprofits are underfunded, subject to arbitrary enforcement, or delayed in receiving reimbursement for government contracts, their services shrink or shut down. This directly harms low income families, seniors, people experiencing homelessness, and other vulnerable Napa County residents who rely on nonprofits for economic stability, food security, basic needs assistance, and much more. Policies that undermine nonprofit capacity create gaps in the safety net that are costly both fiscally and morally for our whole region. So thank you for considering these comments and for all of your support of the community.

Thank you, Ms. O'Connor. Welcome.

I'm Lee Nordland, a resident in the Oxbow area. And, firstly, thank you. We applaud you. We're so grateful for you and to mister Meiss for including the new jet path, issue in the legislative platform. We also wanna thank you for taking swift action starting in November 18.

And supervisor Ramos, you said that you thought this issue should be elevated at the supervisor level, and this legislative platform shows that you you meant it. And we're we're so grateful for that. I realized that this is the first public airing of the legislative platform and I don't know much about legislative platforms, so you may have some tactical reasons for for sort of downplaying the language. But I would like to suggest that you make the language stiffer. It currently reads, in my view, a little bit on the tepid side, and this is a very serious issue that could have long range effects.

And we are going against the might of the federal government. Little Napa County against the federal government. Went communities have been successful against the FAA. I shouldn't say against, but working with FAA in developing the new flight, flight paths. It's because the communities have been unified.

They've been well organized and they've been resolute and strenuous about providing the FAA with viable options. And so we need to do that. Organizations throughout the county are looking to you for that leadership and your language there will count. City councils are waiting to see how our county supervisors are gonna line up on this issue. So the stronger the language you can make to protect the residents, to protect the environment, to protect our industries, to protect our wildlife will mean all much more to the people here and the organizations here.

And so you're not gonna be able to do this alone. We wanna stand behind you. We'll help you with your search, but we need a strong, strong statement in this legislative platform. I'm holding up here just a couple screenshots from flight radar based on the new flight path, which is supposed to keep, jets at least a thousand feet over residential areas. The one on the left shows a jet, 675 feet above Oxbow Nature Preserve and above all Alta Heights.

That's well below a thousand. The one on the right, 858 feet above Vintage High School. These jets are not going to obey a good neighbor jet, a new flight path that's voluntary. We need really, really firm coordination with the FAA to get a viable flight path back in order. That's happened before. It's only happened with strong leadership and unified vision. So asking you to do that. I'll leave my, so, you know, speech is too big a word. I'll leave it with you to be on the public record. Again, thanks for all you're doing. We really, really appreciate your stepping forward to do this.

Thank you, Mr. Nordling. Welcome, Mr. Wilson.

Thank you, chair. Hello, board. Jim Wilson. I'm speaking on behalf of NABA Climate Now today. Last year was the last year that the standing committee met.

Supervisor Cottrell and Gregory were on that committee for a while, and we appreciated your reaching out to us and making us part of your legislative and regulatory platform during those years. We also want to thank Andrew Meis for continuing to reach out to us now that the committee is no longer meeting and keeping us in the loop about progress and deadlines. And we are very happy to say that our recommendations for guiding principles, key themes and issues were taken into consideration by Mr. Maes, and you see that, those recommendations of ours, in this final document. Just a couple of things briefly that I would like to point out if you didn't have a chance to read this platform that thoroughly.

There are five guiding principles. Number four is the climate emergency. The county added the climate emergency to its former list of three guiding principles last year, and so that is retained basically the same as it was last year. And that, we would tell you, is a guiding principle and I think an overriding governing principle because the climate emergency affects all of us. As far as the key themes and issues that Andrew has put forth for your consideration today, I just want to pick on one right now because I don't have much time, and that is environmental environmental and disaster resilience.

And the policy here that you're putting forth for consideration is Napa County supports strategic federal and state investments to build more environmentally resilient communities. And so so the county supports environmentally resilient communities, the various working lands, natural lands in the county. How does that happen? Well, we do that by expanding on the capacity of these systems if we can. And this brings to mind Napa Climate Now's recommendation to the CAC committee over five years ago now, and that is, first, do no further harm.

And that is how we preserve basically a baseline. When we get up in the morning, we say, I see this landscape. What can I do to make it a stronger net carbon sink? Am I going to make it a net emitter here in the near term? Well, I'd better have a plan for reversing that emission and making that landscape a strong negative emitter or a strong durable carbon sink while we have time.

And so I would ask that when we send our lobbying firms to Sacramento and Washington that we keep that in mind. We keep in mind that we have an ambitious 2030 goal that is the recognition that physical risks can be abrupt cascading and systemic, and that postponing or reducing or averting

Jim, if you could please conclude your comments.

Calls for effective lobbying. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, I don't see any other public comments in the room. Is there anyone on the phone? Okay, no one on the phone. Thank you. I will bring this back to the board for discussion.

I see Supervisor Gallagher.

Thank you. And thank you to Mr. Meiss for all the work that you've done. I really appreciate your communication with the community, different community organizations. It's really refreshing, and you've done that since you took on this job.

It's well received by the community and by us as well. And also your really thorough conversations with our department heads, which I know that many of them have contributed to this, and that is in many ways due to your intention to reach out and to make sure that everyone participates. So thank you for all the work that you've done. I don't know if there's a place in the regulations of utilities infrastructure to talk about the PG and E rate increases and the issues with CPUC. I don't know if maybe there's a sentence or two we could add, but I'm just going to put that out there as a possibility.

Otherwise, I'm really impressed by the platform and wholeheartedly support it. Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor Gallagher. Supervisor Cottrell?

Thank you, Chair Manfrey. And yeah, I just want to echo Supervisor Gallagher's some of her comments. First of all, Mr. Meijs, thank you for the outreach that you did. As Jim Wilson mentioned, we don't have the legislative committee anymore, and with the goal being that having a discussion at the board level is more it brings in more voices from the board, but also hopefully brings in more voices from the community.

I think we're seeing that accomplished. And then I also wanted to say I like that the platform is getting shorter. I actually think that makes it more effective. And I think the range of public comment we've received shows that the document is accessible and people can find the issues that they have priorities around. So I wanna keep supporting that. And I did have a question. I know we've changed our federal advocates this year. Did they have they reviewed this? And what were their comments? Because we want them to use this tool as well.

Thank you, supervisor. Both the federal and state advocates provided substantial input on this document, both structural and substantive. So for instance, one suggestion that the federal advocates had, Paragon Government Relations, was to include that issue summary at the top and to separate it from the body of the text to make to your point about accessibility, to make it that much more readable for both legislative staff and members of the community.

Got it. Thank you. That's good to hear. And yeah, in general, I'm supportive of this. I also like the idea of building in some reference to concern, county concern about PG and E and rate setting.

Okay, thank you. Supervisor Ramos? Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Meiss. I think I've had the opportunity now to see the development of our legislative regulatory platform. And I think you've brought a real you've raised the bar here on how we are defining the issues that we want to pursue. So I want to thank you for that. I want to start off on page nine on public safety. And my apologies, I didn't mention this to you beforehand in the drafts, but that's because I hadn't seen the abysmal budget forecast that the governor has put forward.

And we still are in a position where we don't have direct funding that is supportive of Prop 36. And Prop 36 administration, and while there are grant dollars that are coming through behavioral health and others, those aren't actually addressing the costs of law enforcement and probation and general administration related to the additional mandates of Prop 36. So we started off this platform by saying, hey, HR one costs that you're pushing down to counties, I think we need to carry this throughout. The costs that are coming to this county, we are not alone. But certainly, when you look at at what is being imposed upon us, I'm fully supportive of of carrying out the the desires of the California electorate in prop 36, but we need to seek funding.

And that, I believe, needs to be front and center on the public safety element. So I put that forward to my colleagues. Next one, I turning to page 12 of the platform, as I was looking airport operations and I was listening to the public comment, I I feel like I I I was in in reviewing this, I was probably just reading it and not actually and just becoming agreeable to the words as opposed to noticing that I needed to add something to these words. So I'm gonna go put this out for my colleagues. And I think what's important here is I don't want us to put in a to be out there and saying that our residents are opposed to this.

That doesn't put us in great standing with the FAA because then they'll tell us, go ahead, shut down your county airport. So I I don't wanna put our residents in an opposition to this. At the same time, it is we are not looking for a new flight path. And I've I said that quite clearly. We are looking for additional published flight paths.

Other flight paths exist. They're just simply not published. So it's the nuance of it. So I'm going to read this in. And then maybe through looking back at the video and through discussion with my colleagues, I'm going to suggest that we include that recent changes to the FAA's instrument approach to Napa County Airport have had unintended noise impacts to residents. The county will engage the FAA to encourage the publication of alternative approaches to our airport. Doing so will enhance the coexistence of the airport and our residents for the long term. And so I I put that forward because more paths, more publications is what we need. This instrument approach is not going away. I've been very forthright.

It is the safest instrument approach, and that is what needs to happen. But for us to be able to facilitate additional publications of paths, So I put that out for my colleagues. And those are agreeable to the additional recommendations made in regards to rate setting. I just want it to be very clear as it being within our county purview to participate in CPUC rulemaking and rate setting in that sense as opposed to stating an opinion on necessarily an operation that is not within our jurisdiction. But through the CPUC, most definitely would be.

Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor Ramos. Supervisor Alessia?

Thank you. Thank you, Andrew. Deserve the recognition of your dedicated work and including so many people and groups in the thoughtful approach for this. So I appreciate this greatly in your work. I do agree that, we need to add something in terms of, working with PG and E and CPUC.

As I mentioned earlier, what's happening with Mount Veeder, I didn't mention that there's a direct impact also on rate payers because of that. So if PG and E is doing the line as they're doing and approved by CPUC, and CPUC has approved Comcast to do that, even though AT and T is the the carrier of last resort. Comcast isn't doing it because they haven't received the funding yet. But that's going to be telecommunications are going to have a whole new project. It's gonna it's not gonna be cost savings.

It's gonna be more expensive, which means that's going to trickle down to the ratepayer. So thank you, Supervisor Gallagher, for bringing that up. I also want to thank the public comment. We have such thoughtful, intelligent residents here that really take the time to come up on the podium and share their thoughts, such as what was mentioned in terms of maybe some stiffer language. I'm all about that.

I think sometimes we want to be diplomatic, but sometimes we also want to show our boldness too on issues that we're standing behind. Additionally, the CBOs, the community based organizations, they're vital to our community. They're vital to the most vulnerable and the disenfranchised. They do so much of the work that really helps us as a government agency in partnership and collaboration. And I know that's noted in here.

I see that. But whatever we can do to bolster that, I am very concerned about the next couple years of what's going to happen economically. We see the clawbacks that continue to happen through our health and human services, clawbacks on childcare recently, clawbacks on care, with hospital psychiatric care for behavioral health. There's a lot of clawbacks that are happening from the federal government at this point. In addition, at the same time, we also know that our primary economic engine, the wine industry, as I call it, is recession.

In There are so many things happening at the same time, which those funds that go there with those funds. And in the past, what they've done is that they've been able to provide funding for our nonprofits through the Napa Valley Bitners and the Barrel Auction. But with them being constrained financially, they're not able to sponsor as many nonprofit events to raise money. The vintners are not going to be able to donate as much money back to those nonprofits. We're going to see not only are we going see the clawbacks, but we're also going to have the impact that's going happen in terms of what I believe will be a downturn in tax revenues that we receive, that we normally have received historically for the last ten, twenty years.

So we're going to see several things hit us financially here, economically. And how are we going to continue to serve the most vulnerable and disenfranchised in our community? So many of them, our neighbors, our family members, are vital to this community in so many ways and for their children and the older adults that they also care for. So I really appreciate Jenny O'Conn. Thank you for being here. Thank you for mentioning that. Whatever we can do to bolster that and also recognize that there's a lot of economic uncertainty, not just in our industry, but that's going to happen in local government and for our community based organizations to serve the people in our community. Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor Alessio. I think that I don't see anyone else right now on the board. So I just want to say that overall, this is a wonderful reflection of the values of the board and the values of the community. And it does make a wonderful roadmap to sustaining what makes Napa County Napa County. And that I support the proposed language from Supervisor Ramos on the airport.

And I also want to say that I really appreciate the property insurance part of the platform is present because I'm concerned that will continue to be a really problematic area for residents throughout the county, the region, and the state. We're not in a good way there. So I'm really glad that we're working on it. And I have a couple of comments on the environmental and disaster resilience section, which are that personally, I would like to see language stating that we are in support of carbon drawdown generally in addition to disaster resilience and our regional climate action and adaptation plan. And I'm curious this is more of a question, not necessarily a directive.

But this does not name check the regional shoreline adaptation plan, which is now rolling out. And that's something that I very much support, and especially for the south part of the county. And even anything tidal in our county, which includes the Napa River right next to us all the way up to Trancas, we will be seeing higher and higher tides throughout the century and beyond. And we're going to have to do some planning around that. And everyone in the region knows it, the state knows it.

And there are opportunities for funding. And I just want to make sure we're always seeking those opportunities. This also doesn't mention water specifically. And we are rolling out our groundwater sustainability plan as per the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. So that's a consideration that we may want to include here or include here next year.

But that's a really, really important part of disaster resilience. And it relates especially to the disaster of drought and drought resilience, which is something that we are luckily not experiencing currently. Thank you, Supervisor Alessio, for mentioning. California is out of a drought at the moment. But our long term climate record shows that we tend to have really long sustained droughts and that we would do well to be prepared for them.

And let's see, I had I think that's about it. I appreciate also the focus on unfunded mandates. It's a classic for counties, I've learned. But it's, of course, good to see it there. So I need a little guidance here. Oh, Supervisor Ramos?

Thank you so much, Chair. In regards to whether we're including things like the GSA and the RSAP and our legislative and regulatory platform, What I would just note for that is we really try and leave this platform as leave behinds and discussion guidance with legislative partners for what we need as opposed to what we are doing. And so when it comes to the GSA, we are actually doing the work. And so wouldn't necessarily see it as appropriate for the legislative and regulatory platform unless we are seeking some sort of relief or assistance in some way in that space. When it comes to the regional shoreline adaptation plan, I think if the what is it?

Is it the Prop four? Prop four. Yes. The the prop $4 were to not come through in helping us with the deployment of the r s a p, then that would definitely be something that would be appropriate. But because there are already grant eligible funds, we just need to get our plan together, I don't necessarily see that as important. A statement of, you know, we would be supportive of decisions and rule making that is consistent with our deployment and administration of the GSA and the RSAP might be prudent to include in here. But I personally don't see that we have it as a to do list or a want at this moment.

Okay. Thank you for that clarification. That's very helpful. CEO Alsop, did you have a comment?

Yes, ma'am. If it's coming back to staff at this point, I just wanted to walk through. First of all, good job. But I don't mean to get in front of you, I want to help sort of unpack what we just heard so that we're all clear. Supervisor Gallagher, I appreciate you, your earlier referral, which is noted, and we will bring back a resolution.

But I appreciate you bringing that up and making that part of this discussion. The end of the story here is we're going to bring back this at a future board meeting. This is what I'd like to do, bring back to a future board meeting the ledge platform with these changes. At that time also bringing back, having it include something about Supervisor Joelle Gallagher's referral on rates so that we both have a resolution and then that will also be part of our Ledge platform. Supervisor Ramos, you've mentioned Prop 36.

I'm assuming that that was just you wanted to make a comment on that. You're not asking for anything specific related to that or a change.

Well, I'd like to specifically ask the state to pay us for the administration of it, not so not so boldly, but as to at least call out the unfunded mandate portions of Prop 36.

Okay. Copy that. We we do not have your statement or your language on airport, but you did read it or state it into the record. We will go back and reference that through video. But you all heard that. So we will proceed if that is what the Board would like to do, proceed with including that language in the ledge platform. And, I believe, supervisor Alessio, your comments on PG and E were sort of in line with supervisor, Gallagher's comments. Okay. Thank you. So we'll bring that back. We will bring this document back at the next meeting. Hopefully, that's what you're thinking, Andrew, I'll turn it over to you.

And if I can just make a clarification, Chair. Can I?

Okay. Go ahead.

Thank you. Just real quick to what our CEO was saying, PG and E and CPUC, it's both. Correct. Thank you. That's all.

Mr. Mice?

Next meeting will be fine.

Okay. Thank you. So unless there's any further discussion or questions from the board, I believe we are moving this item to the next meeting for reconsideration with proposed changes. Is that Yes. Yes? Okay. Great. So I'm going to go ahead and move well, I want to check-in first because we've blown past our 10:30 break time. But we have one more short item. But would you like to take a break?

Yes? Okay. We're going to go ahead and move through the last item. I expect this one won't be too long. So item 10D is adopt a resolution providing a one time nonmatching ing employer contribution in the amount of $30,000 to the four zero one a pretax subaccount of the Napa County auditor controller for the calendar year of 2027. I welcome a staff report on this item. CEO Alsop.

Yes. Madam chair, thank you, members of the board. First of all, I don't want to add any more to this item, but I just wanted to say happy New Year. Thank you very much for your support. On behalf of all the staff, we appreciate your leadership, your support of us, and to the public.

It's our pleasure to serve you and to constantly be in a mode of continuous improvement as a staff, as an organization. So we are grateful for your input and we're going to continue to seek it out and thank you all for engaging with us. This item is really related to a couple of some key staff transitions that are happening in my office going into the end of the year and beginning of the year. As you know, our budget season starts now and so the development of next fiscal year budget is underway and that's critical because it requires quite a bit of attention and it involves the entire county. For the last couple of years, we've had our Deputy CEO and Chief Financial Officer, John Busilic handling that.

He has accepted a new leadership position with our information technology services area and over there supporting our Chief Technology Officer, Ms. Reagan, and I want to congratulate him on that. We really value his expertise and background and looking forward to the leadership that he'll provide there. But he is our budget guy, chief financial officer. In addition to that, one of our senior management analysts also who helps deliver our budget and develop it.

Daniel Sanchez has accepted a new position over at our Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation supporting our interim director AJ Olicorn over there. It is due to a key retirement that happened over there. Really excited for Daniel. Congratulate Daniel on that position, but a key couple of key budget staff. I am very happy to report that joining my team as the new deputy CEO and chief budget officer is Michael Kleinman.

She is a long time county employee. She's been in this county for twenty years with terrific budget experience, terrific fiscal experience, most recently in public works. But she used to be in the CEO's office back in the day doing some of this work, so she's coming back in a leadership role in my office. I'm very, very lucky that the timing is right to bring her back. But given the fact that we are in budget season, this is a key moment for us.

We've got a lot of transitioning due to all of this transition and at my request I've asked the auditor controller, Tracy Schulze, who has agreed to assist my office and Ms. Kleinman, who is taking over our budget duties with the development of next fiscal year's budget, providing technical expertise and support to my office during these critical transitions to include training and guidance for staff on accounting processes, procedure and standards, financial and transactional analysis, the administration of the Tyler budget module, for those of you who don't know what that is, that's the back end of the accounting system and how we account for things in the budget here in the county, our budget projections, calculation of salary and benefit projections, end user training, end user guide updates and overall county wide continuity of budget development for improved efficiency, quality assurance, and alignment with best accounting practices here in the county during this transition. I thank your board for your support.

Thank you, CEO Alsop. I will go ahead and ask now for public comment. Any public comment on this item in the room? Okay. Seeing none, is there anyone on the phones? No? Okay, then I will bring this back to the board for any questions about this item. Oh, I see Supervisor Ramos? No. Oh, okay. Supervisor Gallagher.

Thank you. And I just wanted to say thank you so much to our CEO for making these really important changes. And it sounds like a wonderful plan. Very excited to have Maiko join us and wanted to thank our auditor and controller, Tracy, for taking on additional work. I know she's here like twenty four hours already, so I don't know. I think she has a bunk downstairs or something. But did want to mention that she needs a key to get in to upstairs. Her badge doesn't work, but let's get her a working badge so she can get in and out of our office. But happy to support this and to make a motion

to do so.

Okay. I have a question before we go to a vote. So I just wanted to check-in and see, like, about how many hours is this expected to be? Auditor Controller Chelsea is elected by the people to do that work. And so we're adding a significant burden to a job that's already, I'm sure, more than full time.

We are. And she has the capacity to do it, assured. And, you know, there are there's quite a bit of interaction in any given budget year with our auditor controller's office. This is really one time in nature for the next, let's say, six to eight months. And again, supporting our new Chief Budget Officer, Maiko, who has tremendous experience.

And I have she's going to have great capability on her own. This is just to make sure we've got the belt and suspenders in place during this transition. And I think that through discussions with Ms. Schulze, she's good with it. And that would be my report on that.

Okay. Thank you very much. It's good to know that it's six to eight months. And we'll reconsider, I guess, if it goes anything beyond that. Very good. So I have a motion by let's see if I remember a motion by Gallagher. Is that right? And a second by Ramos. Right. All those in favor? Oh, I took public comment, right? You're good. Okay. All those in favor? Aye. All right. Any opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you very much. And we will now be moving into closed session for items 11a and 11b.

These include conference with legal counsel, existing litigation, government code section 54,956.9 d one. Name of the case, Min Tran versus County of Napa, Napa Superior Court case number 23CV001593. And also public employee performance evaluation for County Council, government code section 54,957. Thank you very much. Is there any public comment on any items in closed session? I do not see any. Is there anyone on the phones? No? Okay. Then we will recess to closed session and return before we adjourn the meeting. Thank you.

Madam chair, we're live when you're ready.

Thank you. We are resuming our public meeting now following closed session. And before we adjourn, I would like to report out on our closed session regarding conference with legal counsel, existing litigation, name of case Min Tran versus County of Napa, Napa Superior Court case number 23CV001593. The board received an update on the status of the matter of Tran versus Napa County for which a trial is approaching. We believe the evidence will demonstrate that the county acted appropriately, and we are confident in our position as the matter proceeds to trial.

While the county would prefer to focus on serving our community, we are prepared to vigorously defend the county and protect taxpayer resources. On the closed session item regarding public employee performance evaluation, there is no reportable action. Thank you. We will now adjourn to the next board of supervisors meeting on Tuesday, 01/27/2026 at 9AM.

Do I do this?

Perfect. You couldn't have done that any stronger.

Oh, thanks.

Hey, Jake. If you're back there, can you come help me, please? Please, and thank you.