Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you. So,

Thank you.

Call to order the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners. Roll call, please.

Jebin Singh.

Here.

McGuire.

Here.

McMurtry. Here. Miller. Here. Moran. Here. Zong. Here. And Ortega.

Aye. Could we stand for the Pledge of Allegiance?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,

OK. Every community owns its existence and vitality to generations from around the world who contribute their hopes, dreams, and energy to making the history that led to this moment. Some were brought here against their will. Some were drawn to leave their distant home in hope of a better life. And some have lived on this land since time immemorial. Truth and acknowledgment are critical to building mutual respect and connections across all barriers of heritage and difference. We are standing on the ancestral lands of the Dakota people. So we want to acknowledge the Ojibwe, the Ho-Chunk, and the other nations of people who also call this place home. We pay respect to their elders past and present. Please take a moment to consider the treaties made by the tribal nations that entitle non-native people to live and work on traditional native lands. Consider the many legacies of violence, displacement, and migration, and settlements that bring us together here today. And please join us in uncovering such truth at any and all public events. Thank you.

I'll entertain. A motion on the agenda of July 7, 2026. So moved. Second. Seeing no discussion, roll call.

Moran.

Aye.

Zhong. Aye. Jebensingh. Aye. McGuire. Aye. McMurtry. Aye. Miller. Aye. And Ortega.

Aye.

I'll entertain a motion on the minutes of June 23, 2026, as presented. So moved.

Second.

SEE NO DISCUSSION, ROLL CALL.

MIRAN. AYE. ZHONG. AYE. JAVIN SINGH. AYE. MCGUIRE. AYE. McMURTRY. AYE. MILLER. AYE. AND ORTEGA.

AYE. ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS.

All right, Mr. Chair, I'd like to move number three, the release of storm sewer easement. I'd like to move to administrative item four, first amendment to the joint powers agreement with the city of St. Paul for the administration of the bird grant for the familiar faces program. I'd like to move item five, the gift acceptance from the Minnesota State Fair to the Social Service Department. And last, I would like to move item six, summary of the conclusion from the performance evaluation of the county manager and second amendment to the employment agreement between Ramsey County and Lane Becker County Manager.

Chair, I'd like to pull that. Second. Second.

SEE NO DISCUSSION ON THE OTHER AGENDA ITEMS, WELL CALLED.

MIRAN.

AYE.

ZHONG. AYE. JAVIN SINGH. AYE. MCGUIRE. AYE. McMURTRY. AYE. MILLER. AYE. AND ORTEGA.

Aye. Commissioner Singh?

Yes, I'd like to move item number six, the summary of the conclusions from the performance evaluation of the county manager and second amendment to employment agreement between Ramsey County and Lingbecker County Manager. And I just wanted to be able to address the fact that we had a closed meeting to discuss not only the last year performance, some suggestions for continued professional development and cohesion and leadership throughout our county, And just to say that collectively, there was overall enthusiasm and support for the work that our county manager is doing. She has really been successful in leading the county through a dynamic and evolving environment marked by significant opportunities and challenges, including Operation Metro Surge, major federal actions, and organizational transformational efforts. Through strong strategic leadership, thoughtful decision-making, and a focus on organizational alignment, she has guided teams across the county in delivering responsive services, advancing strategic priorities, and ensuring the organization remains focused on achieving its mission and serving residents effectively. The evaluation that we gave her resulted in a rating of distinguished performance. And just to make a note that the salary increase includes the standard cost of living increase that has been established for our county staff, plus the 3% performance pay. And this is also taking into account being mindful of comparable county manager salaries in our area and organizations of this size, which we are not at all an outlier in and wanting to make sure continuity of our leadership. And I'll just say as an individual who has come into this role and you lean on the leadership through all of the challenges that we said and talked about that County Manager Becker has a very steady hand through her leadership. She is very thoughtful and deliberative and yet is not somebody who's afraid of action when action needs to be taken in a time when we could not stall out in process, when community called for us to be in the moment and meet the moment. So I just wanted to move that and have that reflected on the record.

Thank you. I need a second. Second. Thank you.

Kelly? I echo everything Commissioner Jevonsingh says. I just also want to say that I appreciate the work that County Manager Becker has done for the past year. She has really led our organization forward through some significant challenges while continuing to move our priorities forward. And I believe that the distinguished evaluation is well deserved. I also appreciate, though, your thoughtful leadership, Ling, and your continued focus on operational excellence. At the same time, our work, it's never finished. It's never done. And as a board, we have a responsibility to continue looking for ways to improve every part of our county government, how we deliver services, how we operate, and how we serve our residents. I know that means continuing to ask tough questions, looking for opportunities for ways to improve, and just being willing to challenge ourselves so we can be better to serve our community. But I also want to say miigwechling for your partnership and want you to know that you have my continued support through as we take on these opportunities together. So thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair. So, ditto, ditto. I echo.

I had to beat all of you guys to the punch because I saw hands go up and I had to make sure.

Right. I would extend just a little bit here. Thank you. But for sure, I feel what an honor that we was able to select and pick, really internally, someone who has been innovative, who has been creative, who have just stepped in and really engaged and challenged staff to go outside of the norms and be innovative, to be creative, and push a little bit so that we can continue along that line of excellence here at Ramsey County. I think that is important. And so I just ask that you continue to strive for that. And change is not always easy. It's not done quickly. And so what you're seeing our county manager do comes from us as a board. We want to push and challenge a little bit. We want to continue to move forward. And we want to do that in the best interest of our county, but also in our employees. So I just want to thank you for that. taking on this load. This is not easy work. And the increase that you received is well deserved. It's probably not enough. And I know times are hard, but we need someone who's going to strong and keep Ramsey County moving forward. So I really appreciate your work and your leadership.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair. Ditto, ditto, ditto. Just to echo so much of what my colleagues have said, to thank you, County Manager Becker, for all the work that you have done. When you first interviewed for this position, we really appreciated the work you've done as Workforce Solutions Director, and we said, wow, she can do that for the county. And you've just done that and more. You've just exceeded our expectations, and I am so grateful for the work you're doing. I want to just comment on the fact that you have to internally focus on our internal excellence, but how you've really managed to continue to have an external – FOCUS AS WELL WITH ALL OF OUR COMMUNITIES. MY CITIES REALLY APPRECIATE, ALL THE CITIES IN RAMSEY COUNTY APPRECIATE YOUR WORKING WITH THEM, WITH OUR NATIONAL AND STATEWIDE ORGANIZATIONS, HOW YOU'VE REALLY UNDERSTOOD THE IMPORTANCE OF PARTNERSHIP AND HOW RAMSEY COUNTY IS PART OF A BIGGER PICTURE IN MANY WAYS. AND YOU HAVE REALLY MADE YOURSELF VERY VISIBLE AND INSTRUMENTAL in those arenas. I know that people throughout the metro area have commented on how you've made their space better and how you've made it better for all of us. So thank you so much for all of that.

Mr. Chair, I want to say our entire board had similar experiences working with you, County Manager Becker, and it is very well deserved. In addition to that, I just want to highlight some of the things that You have also accomplished with your team, with having a strong team, that includes decreasing the wait times for getting waiver services, decreasing the amount of time that people are waiting to get services such as our SNAP and medical assistance. Those go a long ways into affecting the quality of life for residents who need it most. And so I just wanted to highlight some of those things because, you know, of course, you know, coming to the board asking for 80 FTEs was crazy. However, you came with a plan. Your team came with a plan. And that was what helped for the board to support that. And in addition to that, when you're successful, we're successful. So we want to continue supporting you in that way. Thank you.

I guess I have to.

Thank you. Yeah, absolutely. Everything that's been said is absolutely spot on. The only thing I will add is that I not only appreciate the work that you've been doing, Ling, of really helping guide us through a lot of these challenges and prepare for what we know will be additional challenges coming our way, but to also do so with the mindset of being bold in some of the actions that we need to take. When I think about building stronger together. That is a bold push that we are making as a county. Despite all the different challenges that we have, I think you've been able to really guide us in a way to address those immediate needs while also still looking to the future and building for the future. So I really appreciate all the work you're doing there and just continue to look forward to working with you in this position. So thanks again.

Okay. Let me just say that I have worked with many county commissioners throughout the years, and they were all talented. They all brought something to the table. They all brought us to this point, bringing their talents and gifts. But I think Ling beats them all in energy. She has so much energy. that I spend a lot of my time calming her down. But you know, to everybody's point, she addresses the problems. And she doesn't shy at all away from them. She comes up with solutions. And the other thing is that she loves engaging in the community. It's natural for her and it's something we need right now. So I just wanna say that we're very fortunate that the county has been blessed with some much good leadership throughout the years. So thank you for your service. Okay, roll call.

We now have a presentation from Recycling and Energy, Trista. Trista, we would like you to leave your garbage at home.

I'm here to come take yours and teach you how easy it is. Hi, good morning. Tristan Martinson, Executive Director, Ramsey Washington Recycling and Energy. Very happy to be here with you all today to talk food scraps. We have just rolled out our next phase of food scrap collection across Ramsey and Washington County. So I just wanted to walk through. This is an infomercial opportunity just to talk a little bit about that. So this is a review of how it works. And I have props. We have two different sized bins. You can get these at your environmental center in Ramsey County. And I just want to shout out the entire environmental health team at Ramsey County has been a really strong partner with Ramsey Wash and Recycling the Energy to roll out this program. It seems quick, and you're like, just let me do it. But it has taken years of work to coordinate, to educate, to reach community, to set up the program, to build transfer stations. And the comms team has been working for about four months behind the scenes to get all of the right people in place. We have to educate the haulers. We have to educate community. So it is extensive behind-the-scenes work. your team, along with our team, has done a really outstanding job. So just wanted to share that really quick. So as you know, the Food Scrap program, many of you are familiar, this is what is indeed Food Scrap. So anything that you're doing in the kitchen that is related to your food can go into our new green bags. We do have trial kits available. But for the new communities, they can just order their bags and get them delivered this week, and we'll start collecting. So what we'll ask people to do is put all their food scraps in their bags, in their bins. And then once a week, they're going to take their bags out and throw it in their regular trash can. So very easy to do. That includes bones, napkins, biodegradable paper plates that you get can all go into the bags. And you just tie it in a knot and toss it in your trash. Easy as that. Behind the scenes, of course, we're taking care of that by taking those bags back out of the trash. So easy peasy, everyone can participate to include multi-family units, apartment buildings, and individual residential households. So where can we do this? So this is now completing this phase, completes the rest of Washington County, and then the parts you see here highlighted in green in Ramsey County. So the north half, Commissioner Devin Singh, your district, welcome to the food scrap program. So again, the now new communities are Arden Hills, Gem Lake, Little Canada, Moundsview, New Brighton, North Oaks, Shoreview, Vadna Tights, White Bear Lake, and White Bear Township. And Commissioner Miller, I think now all of your community is also in the program. So thank you very much. So EZ, we do have some trial kits. Excuse me. Yes.

This boy wants to know what happened to Roseville.

Roseville will be on board by the end of this year. We are building that transfer station. I drove by it this morning. It's at the Como Transfer Station. So as soon as that is up and operational, Roseville will be on board. Until then, Commissioner McGuire will personally pick up their food scraps. I'm just kidding. So any questions? Excuse me. Yes.

In addition to Roseville, I'm very curious about St. Paul. Yes, of course. They're our largest city in the county. What is going on?

So as you know, this is a very complicated rollout program. We are waiting for that transfer station at the Como site where the waste or the food scraps will get sorted for Roseville and Falcon Heights and St. Paul. St. Paul will actually be in phase four. So we have two more phases. Phase three will be Roseville Falcon Heights and then phase four will be st. Paul it'll be a couple months behind Roseville part of that is so that we can coordinate with the city of st. Paul as you can imagine it's a lot more complicated in st. Paul because of the way they have their trash collected now with multiple contracts and so it'll probably be February March timeframe of next year st. Paul will be on board

Mr. Chair, and as for the rollout within the city of St. Paul, will it be a full rollout all across the board? Yes. Or is it going to be in certain districts?

When St. Paul comes on board, it will be all of St. Paul, which is part of the coordination issue, yes. So spring, early spring, before winter's over, we'll be collecting in St. Paul next year in 27. Okay. Thank you. Yes. It's close. I know. I live in St. Paul, too. But the drop-off sites are available, so people can collect and continue to go to the drop-off sites.

I have Tyra from Kansas. Yes.

I just want to say folks in my district are ecstatic. I am getting stopped all the time. People are really excited. One question that I get from folks who are living in either condos or in rental areas and apartments is if they live on a top floor and they drop one of these bags down four flights into their basement, Shoot is this thing going to make it?

Yes, it's going to make it look there We have a great video on our website that you could actually gear them to and we have a website with lots of information We also have a 24 7 hotline for customer information about the bags But there's a video that's called the journey of a food scrap bag. You should check it out But if you see how much these bags can tolerate they're going in our trash bins are going in a trash truck that it gets crushed it gets dropped on our floor and It's getting pushed with a front-end loader up to a conveyor belt. So it's being dropped, pushed, crushed lots of times, and it is making it to the compost pile right now. Already to date, we have collected 347 tons of food waste that has been diverted from landfill just since this program rolled out. So we're very excited about getting to complete rollout.

And then a follow-up question. Knowing that there has been a lot of community engagement and a lot of pre-work to educate people on this, again, I will say I have some connections of folks who have raised their hand and said, we would love to be part of what it looks like for a home or an apartment user to engage with this. Excellent. They're thrilled enough to offer themselves up. Excellent.

We will take all those volunteers. Yes, absolutely. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am very excited about this, especially the rollout in St. Paul. I was wondering, though, do you have any key takeaways from the educational and communication piece as you've done the rollout throughout other parts of Ramsey County? Because when you think of St. Paul, it's going to be a... A much larger feat. And I would love to get a sense of what strategies you all may be taking differently to make sure that communities across St. Paul are educated as to the benefit of this, they know how to do it, and hopefully that will compel them to partake in this program.

Yeah, I don't know if I have any new strategies. We keep adding more layers. So we have done multiple community engagement events, tabling events already this year. I think we've covered 55 different tabling events in community, along with your recycling ambassadors, with your environmental health team, our team. We've got interns. We've got summer program folks that are working to get the education out. I think really continuing to do that. Our 24-hour phone line has interpretive services. We are doing things in multiple languages. We've added a podcast. We've added some additional multimedia production as well to really get people to understand. Some of it is going to just take time. What we have seen is in every community, the moment we turn on the opportunity, we hit about 10% participation of all residents. We currently are at 13% in all the communities that are available. So we are really excited about District 1 and the rest of Commissioner Miller's district to help us bring those numbers up. And so as we keep doing more and more, we're learning. And also when it just becomes normal and expected and they realize how easy it is, we hope that that's going to help drive participation. But we're always auditing, checking, adjusting, auditing, checking, adjusting for all of our strategies.

That's great. I appreciate that and continue to encourage to making sure that we're on platforms and events and meeting folks where they're at and even thinking of more unconventional organizations and folks who have that built-in trust in the community who can help us get the message out.

Yes, we use the Trusted Messenger program. We also have coordinators specifically for multi-units, and that will be a huge strategy in St. Paul with the number of multi-units to go and organize entire apartment buildings, which will help us get the numbers up and participation as well. Yes.

I have to comment because, of course, thank you, Mr. Chair, for asking my question about the communities that I represent. And half of my communities now are going to be included in this rollout. And then where I live will be in December. We're so excited. Commissioner Jevonsingh said, you know, our residents are so anxious for this to happen, and it's indicative of the fact that our organics drop-offs are continually being used now and will continue to be used. But to have it so convenient at your home and to be able to put it in a bag and put it in your garbage is so... I'm so excited, and we're going to get those numbers up higher. I know we're going to get those... that percentage higher with the entrance of all these communities. And I just want to say to the people that are watching, they said, oh, won't that be awful to have that garbage in a bag and with the other garbage? I said, no, it's great to have it separate from all the other garbage. I mean, it's better to have it in a bag. It just keeps all the other garbage so much cleaner when you're not putting all your food scraps into with all your other garbage. So I am so excited about this and just can't I can hardly wait because I'm making that trek to my drop-off all the time. And I can now just put it in the garbage. So I thank you and everyone for all this work. It has been a long haul. And we're just going to keep working on getting these numbers up. So thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Excuse me a minute. I'm going to do an infomercial here. You know, originally, St. Paul was first on the list. So we were ready to come into St. Paul first. This is going back two years or so, at least, maybe three. And the city was not ready. They had a lot of issues. I'm not going to get into that. But I just want folks to know, because a lot of people ask, why are we last? And we went to the back of the line. But now it's coming, so it'll be here this year, right?

Yes, it will be. St. Paul, again, will come probably the first part of 27. That relationship with the coordinators and the waste processing at St. Paul is really important, and we are coordinating closely to work with them to make sure it's a good transition. As they went to organize collection and other things, it complicated the system, and they want to make sure, again, to this education point, that residents truly understand what they're doing They want to make sure they understand their billing cycle and what is included, what's not. They've rolled out some new things with bulky waste collection and some adjustments. So it really is, at this point, a coordinated effort for really good education in the city of St. Paul.

OK, go ahead.

Excellent. I'm all finished. Oh, you're done? That's it. So order your food scrap bags. If you're in a new community, the hotline is up. The website is up. You can order your bags. We've already had over 500 people order their bags. So we're really excited. And they'll get their bags delivered probably within about 48 hours. They can start filling them and throwing them in their trash bin this week.

I was going to wait for the rest of your presentation, but since this is it. So the other communities, the Roseville, Lauderdale, and Falcon Heights, I think will be the next phase. Yes. And that's in December? Yes. I just want to make sure that it says July 6th for those communities. Yes. But for the other communities, other than St. Paul, that will be in December.

As of right now, it'll be December. Again, it is construction dependent. So that transfer station is under construction right now. It is currently on target. We're checking in with them weekly at the Como transfer site. So construction dependent. Let's hope for good weather and continued success there. But December of this year, it'll be a rollout. Again, we take four months to begin the comms process. So by August 1st, we will have a go, no go for a December start date. So it's Just a month away that we have to make that decision, and then we'll roll forward.

I love it. And then several months later, we'll be St. Paul is what we're hoping.

Yes, yes.

So that's great. Thank you.

Can I just quickly ask, if they want the trial bags, the try it first, I think they're available at the libraries. Is that correct?

Yes, they're available in lots of places. So libraries, they're available. They're available in many grocery stores and community centers. They're available or right now, And that would be great for residents who aren't in the program area. Otherwise, they can order their first set of bags right on the website or a hotline. Excellent. Thank you.

And just a point that we could, our cities hopefully, the cities that are already participating probably would have the child care system.

Yes, and we have worked with all the city recycling coordinators, and the cities are all on board. So they're sending communications out as well and have bags available. Thank you. Thank you, Trista. Thank you very much. Thanks. Thanks.

We now have county connections.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. Before I jump into my county connections, I just really wanted to thank you all for your trust and your support over the last year. I know I appreciated your comments today and also at our review. I just want to also acknowledge the incredible staff that we have in the county. I lean so hard on our executive team, our directors, and then just throughout the organization. I was really grateful to be able to share with our senior management team about a month ago that one of the, I think, best things I can do is ensure we're hiring really the smartest people in their fields to work for Ramsey County. And I'm just so honored that we have so many people that, regardless of where they sit in the organization, they're just really experts in the things that they do. it makes my job a lot easier. I'm really grateful for their responsiveness. I just want to tell the organization how important that is for them to be responsive and to prioritize things that I'm hearing from you or from our community. I also just want to once again remind ourselves of the importance of, you mentioned the community and the residents, and it's never been far from me the benefit I've gotten to be very close to residents in my roles. I was grateful to have worked at the East Building. I think those employees who've been over there have a unique view of residents in a different way, obviously. And as myself, with my family, having been on public assistance, it's always been that part of lived experience in your work, you just can't have it really taken away from you or removed from you about the role you have today to sort of make that experience better. And seeing the new service center and the investments this county has made into that building for the employees in the government center and for our residents, it really is transformational. So thank you for those investments. And then in terms of the community, it's a hard thing, as Commissioner McGuire mentioned, to both run the internal organization, but keep one eye out to the community. And it is just so important. I want to continue to urge our staff and myself to challenge ourselves to continue to do that, where we, I always say, you know, we all have a limited amount of time every week. And our time is really our currency. and where we decide to show up. And even if it's for 10 minutes or for an hour, it really makes a difference. And so I know I've really appreciated all the invitations and opportunities I have had to get to go out to community or be with our staff when I am invited. And I just want to say how much it means to me to see all of you I think I'm one of the few people that actually gets the bird's eye view of what you all do. And it is a lot. And so to be able to see how engaged you are with whether it's showing up at something for staff or The countless meetings you guys are doing in community, it's all of us that are doing the work. So I want to thank you for another year and for the trust that you have instilled in me in doing this work. I think we all know it's not easy, but there's a certain part of the work that is less about an occupation and it's more about a vocation. You're at a point where you're saying yes to something that you feel you're really called to do, and every day you get up with two feet and just are grateful that you get to do the work. And so thank you for your trust. So switching to county connections, I wanted to just acknowledge our social services department this weekend. Along with NAMI Minnesota and the St. Paul Parks and Recs Department, they are doing a really creative way to highlight mental illness and mental health resources. They are doing a bounce back three by three basketball tournament. And it's going to have a lot of mental health resources with a resource fair, lots of games and entertainment. So it's going to be over at the Jimmy Lee Rec Center, which is located on Lexington Avenue. I know Commissioner Moran will be there. And it is going to.

Excuse me. Yeah. Are you going to play basketball? We might. Show them those jumps. We'll be there.

Come out. Yeah. It starts at 10 a.m. There's going to be a fun tournament. So there's still details on our website. I just, you know, I just think I've seen this events of around mental health evolve in our community in lots of different ways. to normalize the conversation and to make the conversations less fearful or stigmatizing. And I just really want to acknowledge the Social Service Department for just finding such creative ways these resources out to our community. So that's going to be this Saturday. And then the next thing I'd like to do is I'd like to invite up Jolie Wood. Jolie has recently been named our new director of government relations. She's been with the county for eight years and served on many multiple enterprise-wide roles and has contributed to lots of things. My exposure to Jolie has, I had the chance to work really close to her because she was helping with a lot of the ARPA projects. funds at one time, and so I got to see Jolie's work close hand. But certainly in the last year as we've had transitions, I want to acknowledge Jolie and Chief of Staff Sarabia for just continuing to move the work forward in a very difficult and challenging legislative session, continuing to engage commissioners, engage our team, and engage legislators in doing the work. So welcome, Jolie. I want to also give you a chance to say a few words and then for you to introduce your new team.

Thank you very much, Chair Ortega, Commissioners, County Manager Becker. This is a really exciting opportunity for me. I'm honored to take on this role, and I'm grateful for your trust in me. And it's really been great working with you over the last year or two as a government relations specialist and then interim director. So thank you for all of your support in that way. I would also like to introduce our two of three new government relations specialists. If you'll join me up here, please. First of all, I'd like to introduce B2 Ibrahim Adam, who joins us most recently from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. She has served as an advocate and policy strategist in violence prevention, public safety, public health, and victim services, among other areas. And of course, Matt Freeman, who joins us from Association of Minnesota Counties and as the executive director of the Minnesota Association of County Social Service Administrators, or MACSA. And joining us on August 4, we will have Rick Varko joining us from SEIU. where he has worked for over two decades sustaining the healthcare services industry and supporting healthcare workers. So I'm really excited about this team as it brings a unique set of diverse skills, subject matter expertise in improving outcomes with state agencies, advocacy organizations, city government, statewide associations, and labor organizations. The team's expertise ranges from public safety and public health to human services, bonding, taxes, and systems redesign, and much more. So please join me in welcoming our team.

Welcome.

Thank you. Thank you.

Let's see. Let's begin with Tara.

Alrighty. Well, we haven't been together for a little while because of the holidays, so I'll get through a long list of activities and community. I had the chance to attend our Ramsey County Youth Violence Prevention Network at Neighborhood House and see presentations from Healing Streets and Ramsey County Social Services and connect with a lot of the organizations and individuals inside and outside of Ramsey County who are working on these issues. And I have to say that these kinds of formats where we have both very informative information that's on the ground and with the work that we're doing, but also time to then debrief and connect on a personal level during the meals and such is so important. I was able to reconnect with folks from our St. Paul collaboration and was able to revisit conversation that we had during another convening. And so the overlapping ecosystem and relationships that we have with the folks in community who are working alongside us in this work, I just want to say these opportunities, I think, are immensely valuable in that. I was invited to visit Villa Gardens, an affordable senior housing community in Moundsview. And I just want to say this was one of those success stories coming out of some of the mutual aid efforts that happened over the wintertime. The senior living facility ended up finding time, not only in gathering to make sure that they were taking care of each other during a difficult time, but raised some of the other issues. And so they were able to, alongside the people who were volunteering in that space, to advocate and to get some dollars from their watershed for a rain garden, some other things, and created some raised beds. And they're growing their own vegetables. The idea of how do we make sure that we're eating healthy and are not so dependent on on the whims of the outside access to food and have created a community in what had been somewhat isolating circumstances. So just really appreciated seeing that level of community and being invited to be part of that. I was with my fellow Commissioner Moran at the State Community Health Services Advisory Committee retreat, or SHAC, and was happy to step up as an alternate to the executive committee representing District 10 with my fellow colleague from Washington County, Bethany Cox. She and I sit on the Health Policy Steering Committee on NACO. And I think it's just another opportunity for us to continue to build those collaborative relationships around really important topics. Some of the things that we talked about that day were the expansion of SHAC membership to our Minnesota tribes. And also a really important presentation from the Minnesota Department of Health on well and water safety, which is really important because we actually do have a lot of residents that do have well water in different sectors of our county. And there are different ways of making sure that those residents and their municipalities are working with them to make sure that their water is safe. I was able to attend the Youth Leadership Initiative's 20th anniversary. This initiative started with Wilder, and then during COVID, had to struggle to come out and be independent on their own and to seed a whole generation of community leaders who had gone through that program. have reestablished themselves and continue to be mentors within the community is so impressive. And a mentor of mine who I've worked with in the anti-ageism work with the Vital Aging Network, Sally Brown, was their founder and leader. And as she turns 80, the idea of her breadth of impact on leadership and advocacy at every age and stage, from our elders to our youth, is tremendously inspiring. As part of my work with Direct Care and Treatment Board, I and my colleagues went up to Moose Lake to tour the Minnesota Sex Offender Program and to realize some of the challenges that continue to face how we spend our collective dollars to make sure that we stay safe and to bring down crimes and things like that. Lots of questions still to be explored in that front. I and my colleagues from District 7 were able to meet with the Lake Links, with White Bear Township, the city of White Bear Lake, and other elected officials to look at that last piece of Highway 96 that's part of our 96 corridor study to make that area safe for pedestrians and bikes. things like that. And this is really a project that is a MnDOT project, but we are with our local leaders in wanting to advocate for community safe spaces and just kind of waiting to see how that progresses going forward. I'm happy to continue to have those conversations and advocate for safety along that route. I was able to, I ended up getting rained out on what I was going to do for the Twin Cities Pride, and then ended up at Como Homo Pride, and absolutely adored it, seeing families. This was for all generations, and to see a family-focused event that is just bite-sized enough. I mean, I remember having littles, and being able to take on Loring Park might have been too much, but there are a lot of families enjoying the Como Pavilion. And able to talk to some of our Ramsey County folks who were there, too, and to be able to see them in every corner of our community just makes me smile. I had the opportunity to be at Market Fest for the first time this season in downtown White Bear. And it was a great way to start off the Independence Day weekend. I do want to say, celebrating the 250th anniversary of our country, I know that as part of the Arts Commission at NACO, You know, last year, it was dispiriting to see how the 10 years of plans for celebrating, you know, became politicized this year. And it was very inspiring to see that local communities said, yeah, we know how to do the fourth just fine and found neighborhoods and friends and celebrate. And maybe that's just as well. And then I just want to say, too, on more official side, the Rice Creek Commons JDA met last night, and just happy to say that we got a presentation on the Rice Creek Boulevard. The design there is moving forward, and it's also moving through its city and county last-minute approvals, the last little bits that go through for such a project this size. We anticipate site prep starting in late September and going through the end of 2026. you know, all on the path towards bidding for the project this winter and construction starting this spring. So very excited to see that moving forward. We have some public engagement anticipated just to be able to inform people about the project at the Arden Hills 75th anniversary celebration on July 17th and some additional educational opportunities this fall yet to be determined. We're looking at Like, what's the best way to do that? And then exciting news on Outlot A. We anticipate a ribbon cutting soon on microcontrol, that first building that was built. And then also, while we're still not, the project is still in negotiation, but getting closer and closer, Project Keystone, which is a second MedTech project that's anticipated to be announced soon with the hopes of adding 500 to 600 new jobs in Arden Hills and Ramsey County and the MedTech Corporation. So that's great. And then my last thing to announce is that my annual District 1 picnic is this Thursday at Snail Lake County Park from 6 to 8. And we'll be catering from Red Luna, a township, local, family-owned restaurant. So all are welcome if you want to come out. And our whole... theme this year is around community resources and celebrating how community has come together and happy to say that Serenity will be there as well, our mental health bus. So folks, come on out and enjoy a good time on Thursday.

That's it. Thank you. Garrison?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, a lot has happened over the last week since we last met. I wanted to highlight a couple of things here. First, I had a chance with County Manager Becker to welcome the right track interns at the Ramsey County to Ramsey County at their orientation a couple of weeks ago. Just great to meet with a number of the students who are excited to, as we saw when they presented a few weeks ago, to just engage in a lot of the work that we're doing here at Ramsey County, to learn more about what we do and also hopefully get a chance to really enhance some of their skills and lean into some of their passions that they have and in doing so set them up for success. after they finish his internship. So really great opportunity to speak to them and to meet with a few of them as well. I also toured the Junior Achievement Facility that's off of University in my district. This nonprofit, they do a lot of partnerships with local school districts to provide students with an experiential opportunity to learn specifically around the economy and how they can be financially stable as they enter adulthood. So I had a chance to tour their facility and meet with a number of folks from their team. They're doing a lot of good work in their partnership with these different school districts. I also, a few months ago, had a chance to volunteer at Como Park High School with Junior Achievement and spent a day with them there. communicating with some of the students. So great to see their facility and looking forward to hopefully building a partnership with the work that they're doing. Also, I spoke at the Black Men Healing Conference. This was at St. Paul College. This is the second year that I've had a chance to speak. Just a two-day event where just bringing together so many different partners to really address a lot of the trauma, a lot of the trauma. the challenges that black men continue to have to face and to give us a space to really talk through that trauma and to heal together. It was a great event to be a part of and to also speak to my own experience of not only being a new father, but also being a leader in the community and also just what it means to be a black man and facing a lot of the the challenges that we know that we continue to deal with in today's environment. So really, thank you to all of the organizers who put it together and for inviting me back to speak. A couple of weeks ago, I also had my latest District 3 Small Business Collaborative. A special thank you to the Neighborhood Development Center that allowed us to host our meeting there and also provided a number of information to the small businesses who were in attendance to just explain what NDC does, how they've been helpful to small businesses throughout the community. And so it was, it remains to be a great space where small businesses in my district can not only learn about what's happening on the county level, but also can create this community amongst themselves and meet with other small businesses who they may not have interacted with before, but to also learn different best practices and takeaways and resources that others have been using. So I continue to appreciate the space that we have been able to build for our small business owners in the district. I had a chance to last Tuesday, along with Commissioner Miller and Commissioner McGuire, to tour the 4-H building at the State Fairgrounds. The State Fair and the University of Minnesota Extension, they recently announced a $35 million grant. fundraising campaign to completely renovate that building. And the renovations will ultimately improve the health and safety and accessibility of the building and really create a modern program for the students who participate. So we had a chance to tour the entire facility. Boy, they need that renovation. I've been in that space when we all go to the State Fair, but didn't know that 4-H students actually stay in that building on the third floor. And I am very happy that they are making those renovations to make it more appealing for the students who have to stay there. And then I want to wrap up with, you know, yesterday marked the 10-year anniversary since the murder of Philando Castile, who was murdered in Falcon Heights back in 2016. Last night was the candlelight visual. And then today will be the unity gathering at the Falcon Heights City Hall from 530 to 8 p.m. But I just want to mention, you know, this moment that we're commemorating. It's something special. that our community honestly is still reeling from uh and and i specifically want to lift up mama valerie castile who has really uh continued the legacy of philando and has been working hard pushing legislation making sure that in his name students across our communities are getting that they're getting meals at their schools, and they're not having to pay for it. So I really appreciate the amazing work that she has done. I have a picture of Philando in my office, and it's a constant reminder of just the spirit of who he was and how we need to continue to work uh push that that spirit forward and everything that we do at the county um i think you know especially coming off of operation metro surge a lot of the things we saw in our community of members stepping up for each other uh was was really what philando was all about, and I'm just happy to see that his legacy continues to live on in the work that Mama Castile is doing and that so many people who loved him are continuing to do across the community. So, like I said, the vigil was last night, and then for those who want to attend the Unity Day gathering, that will be today, 5.30 to 8 p.m. at the Falcon Heights City Hall. That's it.

All right. I attended the Minnesota State Tribal Relations. It's TRST for State Employees Training. I'm the chair of the AMC's Tribal Relations Committee, so it was really a great opportunity to learn how this training could be adapted to strengthen county and tribal relations. It was a two-day training. It covered tribal history, state and federal policies, and included insightful panels with tribal liaisons that are placed throughout the state systems. and tribal leaders. So I really look forward to working with AMC and the TRS team on how we can develop this larger and in conversations now with NACO as well and how to take it nationally and regionally too. On June 27th, it was a very busy day. I started my day presenting the proclamation. for the 44th Annual Hmong International Freedom Festival. So the festival was filled with sports tournaments, vendors, cultural exhibits, and, of course, incredible food. I also just want to give a quick shout-out and thank you to Commissioner McMurtry's assistant, Dua Yang Hernandez, and to my assistant, Kathleen, for helping coordinate my attendance, because we were on some tight timelines. Later that afternoon, I spoke at the grand reopening of the Manitou Ridge Golf Course. And I even participated in the community classic nine hole course showcase. Let me get that right here. So it was a great afternoon on the course. It was my first time ever golfing. I did not even do any practice swings, OK? I just thought I could go out there. I was really grateful for the newly installed forward tees, because that's where I hit from.

And I'm a little sad to report that I won't be going to the women's PGA any time soon.

But it was a great time. And maybe you'll catch me on a course practicing and learning how to golf. I'm not sure. So June 30th, even though it wasn't a board meeting, it was such a busy day. I started my morning with coffee with Executive Director Daniel Huff from the Metropolitan Mosquito Control. We did the tour of the Four Extensions building. I swung by the Midway Area Job Fair at the Allianz Field. And then I ended my day at a tour with Commissioner Zhang at the Elders Lodge. So I just want to note that that day was really just reminding me how diverse our jobs can be, so how rewarding this role is. I was able to learn more from Mosquito Control, see the renovations, the third floor. I'm going to tell you guys. I thought the third floor looked like a barracks more than a welcoming space for 600, 400 students that sleep there. So hopefully they will get that renovation soon. And then I was able to visit at the job fair. That was really great to see job seekers and people in community and just how important it is to have these events in our community to reconnect people. So I also just want to say I hope everyone had a good Fourth of July. I was really glad to see I did not get many emails from any staff that weekend. So that's a good thing. I always appreciate when people can take the long weekend and really enjoy themselves and unplug. My family and I did go to the cathedral, to the St. Paul Rotary. We did have to shelter in the cathedral for a little bit while the storms passed. We did rent Lime scooters. and scootered around downtown. I can tell you, if you see me on a scooter any time, they're so much fun. I will tell you guys a little. I did race a random gentleman on the other side on Wabasha. He won because I got hit in the face by the tree by Ramit. I did not duck because I was watching him beat me. Just make sure you duck if you're scootering by Ramit. And with that, oh, this upcoming, I have one more really great upcoming. This Thursday, Parks and Rec, we will celebrate the reopening of the Battle Creek Waterworks. It's reopening. The celebration includes free admission from 11 to 5, along with some food trucks, some prizes, and plenty of family fun. So come and bring your kids down if you can sneak away and have some fun at Waterworks.

And that's it. Thank you.

Yeah.

I'm going to have to go scooter riding with you one time or something. You should. You really should do it. And check it out.

Yeah, it's a lot of fun.

Oh, my God. Tell me when you guys are going to be riding around.

We're going to come find you, Ortega.

I'm going to start off by saying that I met with former Commissioner Nicole Featherman. who, former county commissioner, who is now working in the county attorney's office, just to check in with her and the work that she's doing there. I wanted to know her current priorities. She's a strong advocate for youth and family and community. So I wanted to know just a little bit more of her role there and what she's doing and how to partner more closely with the county attorney office and the work that she's doing. Very, very insightful and just awesomely smart. I look forward to what comes out of that. Let's see here. I am the tri-chair of the pre-trial initiative group, which is an initiative that works to improve the outcomes of adjusted involved individuals. But also, one of the bigger parts of the work that we're doing is to work with individuals who have been incarcerated to work to ensure that they return to court. And we do that work by supporting them through the expanded services that they may need. And they can self-identify what they need to be successful so that they can return to court and be successful. So we were able to have that meeting. And the two other co-chairs are community members. So it's really good to share that leadership with community members. and allow them to bring their experience and expertise to that leadership role. We was able to discuss the program's outcomes as the contract is ending soon and just need to evaluate whether the initiative is producing their intended results that we want and need. And so further discussion will happen around that, but it was just really good to come back and do that evaluation and reflection of the program. Let's see here. Let's write that out. Let me see. As spoken by Commissioner Japan-Sing, we both attended the State Community Health Service Advisory Committee, SHAC, which advises the Minnesota Commission of Health on statewide public health priorities and promote collaboration between state and local public health partners to improve the health outcomes of Minnesota communities. And so Commissioner Jevenson has just stepped into that role. She lead. I know she has a passion in this area. So you bring so much that is needed. It is something that's not here. It is like here. So there's so much to be involved and engaged in. So we just got to find a place where we can get in and do that effective work. But has been leading gracefully. And often when we meet, it's like a whole day's event from like, what, 9, 10 o'clock to the afternoon, right? So it's a whole day's event. But there's much to do and much to talk about. I was able to deliver the opening remarks at the Community Empowerment Through Black Men Healing Conference that is hosted every year by Sam Simmons of Sam Simmons Consulting. The event this year was at St. Paul College. I was able to congratulate Sam Simmons on celebrating the organization's 18th anniversary. He has been doing this work 18 years. And so I just kudos to him for sticking in there with that conference, recognizing the continued importance of creating spaces that support healing and leadership, accountability and community empowerment to strengthen our black men and boys in our community. And remember, and just remind us and them that trauma is real. And a lot that we see is coming through that lens of the trauma that they are enduring. And that they endure not with just or within a community, but a system that sometimes pull them in to it disproportionately. I attended the 30th anniversary of Kumbaya, the Juneteenth story that is sponsored by Rose McGee. Rose McGee has been doing these plays for 30 years with community and youth. And so she invited anyone who had participated over the last 30 years to just show up and participate. And it was just an awesome evening. telling that Juneteenth story. So for those who don't know who Rose McGee is, so she invented and starred the origin of the sweet potato pies.

You remember the sweet potato pies?

So what she calls sweet potato comfort pies. So that was found by her in 2014 in response to the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. So she just traveled around state to state bringing people pies to give them comfort and help people heal through the lens of eating and sharing a good pie. And this is the work that she does. I also met with Director Jamie Wilkins of Heading Home Ramsey, the director of Heading Home Ramsey County Continuum of Care, just to do some checking as I am the chair of the Heading Home Ramsey County COC. But to look at coordinating a network of housing, which is a coordination and network of housing and service providers working together to prevent and end homeless through a coordinated community response. It's a lot to do that, from homelessness to home ownership. And everything in between is what we're working on. I attended a luncheon with myself and County Manager Becker with Lola Adebara. Am I pronouncing her name correctly? Adebara. She is the founder and CEO of Partnership for Permanence. It was an initiative that worked to strengthen permanent family connection by engaging youth and young people who've been impacted by the child welfare system and all the home placement. And as I was sharing with Lean, as we are, as Ramsey County is one of the one of the counties who are implementing the African-American Family Preservation Act and finding out how we roll that out statewide, it really is important that we work with people who've been impacted by the system. It is called the child welfare system. And these are kids who went through the child welfare system. And if no one can bring a change in perspective and some insight into that system, it is our young people who've gone through that system. So I really would like to see us work more closely with those who've been impacted, especially these young people, you know, because they have their story. But they also have solutions. And they're leaders in their own right. I had a meeting with this young lady. Her name is Daniela Lopez Moran. Right? It's like, ooh. So Daniela was. Is that her same name? There's a whole history about that. I won't go into that right now. But she was a recipient of the Dave Winfield Scholarship Award. Back a couple of weeks, I talked about showing up for that event and watched all these young high school students be recognized for their awesome work. And after that event, she came up to me and said, you know, I really want to be active this year. in this whole process and engaging young people. So it was really inspiring to learn more about her educational goals and, again, to congratulate her on a well-deserved recognition. But it was really, I was so impressed. She's 18. She graduated. She's on her way to the University of Minnesota. But when she came to that meeting with her mom, I was impressed with that. that her mom wanted to be a part of that meeting, and to be knowledgeable, and to be informed, and to listen. Because you don't know who people, young people, are talking to these days. Even though she knew I was a commissioner, it was important for her to be there, to be a part of that meeting. I mean, I was just really, really impressed with that happening, because that does not always happen. So we're going to work together. I think it's so important that we engage our young people who are young leaders in their own rights to be the solution about how we need to move our state and our county and our cities forward, especially during the election cycle. So we're doing more work with her on that side of the work. Let's see. I joined a commissioner zone. I joined the St. Paul Children's Collaborative Strategic Action Working Group, which was good. But I was like, how did I get here? I don't remember volunteering for this. So I point Commissioner Zong out because you're leading in that. But it was good to be there to look at the three collaboratives. Did my son volunteer you?

He volunteered.

I'm like, I don't remember this. Tell me more. But it's looking at the three collaboratives, the St. Paul Children Collaborative, the Suburban Collaborative, and the Mental Health Collaborative. and finding ways, if possible, just, you know, can there be more collaboration between the two collaboratives? What does that look like? And just bring us together to just try to figure out what that means and what that looks like. And I will end with that. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you, Commissioner Moran, for taking that on. So first, I just wanted to name that I've been joining these roughly monthly calls with folks from NACO around human services and the strategies around a response to HR1. And particularly, Ramsey County is a big part of it. or Minnesota is, because we're one of the few states that are county-administered federal programs. So what I have been hearing from folks on the call is that there are Republican legislators who are concerned about H.R. 1. They know that it's coming down and how it's going to affect their communities. They're feeling that pressure. and they are asking county commissioners, what are other workarounds, right? Like they're trying to broker deals or exemptions specifically for their areas, right? But the consensus, again, is really that, you know, we need the best strategy right now is to delay the implementation of H.R. 1, right? Delay it so that they can go back to the drawing board and fix it. Say that out loud in public.

Can we hear them say that out loud in public? No, I'm kidding.

Oh, no. I wish, right? So that's still around the strategy. And I know Angie Teese from AMC attends that regularly, too. She's helping us track those conversations and also sharing about what the county is doing. So we definitely shared about the path that the legislature took this year, as well as many of the unresolved challenges that are coming up as well. And then also, I joined Commissioner Miller and visited the Elder's Lodge. Elder's Lodge is in Ramsey County, and it's a specific affordable housing type that they use federal funds for. And unfortunately, of course, as with all buildings, over time, it needs upkeep and maintenance or capital changes. And then what we heard more so was just around retrofitting many of the units for seniors so that they can actually age in their community, age in their homes. So we did direct them to what the county does for affordable homes and the funds that we have available if they so choose to apply for that later on. And then next, I also wanted to just highlight that Wakantipi Awanyagapi received, as a part of the 3M Settlement Awards, they were awarded funds for phase one of the daylighting of Lower Phelan Creek, which was huge. In addition to that, Ramsey County also received some funds for many of our parks, including Battle Creek, Beaver Lake, I think I'm pronouncing this right. Jarvis? Lake Jarvis? Yep, Lake Jarvis. So many of those too. So that's a win for all of Ramsey County. And then next, I just want to name next week, Monday, July 13th, SECO, or the Southeast Community Organization, it's a district council in St. Paul, is hosting both Councilmember Johnson and myself for a housing forum focused on some of the housing concerns that they are hearing in the community, as well as just wanting to learn more about resources in our community. It's just a really good reminder that the work of both education and getting feedback about how our programs are working is so helpful and critical to myself as an elected official to just receive it ongoing. Because community members are moving in and out of our communities or they don't know about these things. It's just really a great opportunity for residents in my district and or I would say Ramsey County to just learn about it as well, too. That's all, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is amazing. Commissioner Miller mentioned how the wide range of activities that we all do. And it's just so fascinating to hear all the amazing work that you're all doing.

And I just couldn't be more.

I'm honored to be on the board with all of you getting all this work done. And it has been two weeks, so there has been a lot going on that I've shared. I've been to meetings with many of you. But I'll start with the AMC Solid Waste Work Group Met. And this is a work group that focuses on solid waste for AMC. We have a group from around the state, and these are such great calls to be a part of because you hear from everyone around the state that's really concerned about solid waste. And so we talked about all the things that we can do together, and we are hoping to do a presentation at our AMC Policy Conference to talk about the work that we can do together, what we can learn from each other and how we can get statewide help for some of the work that we all want to do. So it continues to be a great working group. Also, Commissioner Zhang and Commissioner Moran and I did advisory board interviews, which is always an amazing activity because we get to hear from so many amazing residents who apply for these. We interviewed for the Personnel Review Board and the Capital Region Watershed. And we just have amazing people who apply for these positions. And it's always great to talk to them. And we have amazing incumbents on these boards, but we have amazing new people that want to be a part of it. Thank you, everyone who volunteers for that. The Partnership on Waste and Energy met. There's a representative from Ramsey County, a representative from Hennepin, and from Washington County. And we meet to talk about waste and energy. And we did a brainstorming session after we heard about our legislative update and just our partnership annual report meeting. We brainstormed on the things that the three counties can do together. And we make up a huge part of the metro area. So it's always a great meeting to really talk about the things that we can do together. So thanks to everyone who's involved with that. And then out in community, of course, lots of festivals. The Taste of Rose Fest was a couple Thursdays ago. And thanks to the restaurants, the beverage vendors, all the musicians, everyone that came together in community to put on an amazing fundraiser for community. So it's put on by the Rotary and helped by Optimist Club and a lot of different community organizations. Do Good Roseville, we had a lot of people helping with that event and we give money back to the community as we've raised it. So kudos to the Taste of Rose Fest and mainly the Rotary who spearheads that Then the AMC Board of Directors met, and Commissioner McMurtry is our rep on that, but I'll just give a couple highlights because I also serve on that board, and we have a lot of updates and come together with people from around the state, but the one that just is so stunning, well, we talked about a dues update and the value that we find in AMC, but the Biggest takeaway, one of the biggest that I had was a presentation we had from one of our policy analysts on the Office of Management and Budget and a rule that impacts grants administration. So anybody that gets a federal grant, which we get a lot of in Ramsey County, the Office of Management and Budget proposed a draft rule that represents the most significant update to uniform guidance in over a decade and it affects all counties. And the key changes would include expanded authority to terminate funding at any time. Like they can just say, we're going to stop funding you now. It also allows for political appointees to review the grants and new administrative and compliance requirements. These are all really bad for counties. It's just not the way that federal grants should be administered. So they would increase costs and administrative burden, reduce predictability, and introduce new financial and operational risks. with key details still unclear. So this is the kind of thing that's coming down from the federal government. This is a draft rule that we just need to to let our congressional delegation know is really detrimental to counties. So learning about things like that and just realizing how much work we all can do together. We also got a SNAP advocacy update because, you know, we know that the SNAP cuts are coming and we're going to all, you know, do as much as we can to use the toolkits that AMC and NACO are providing to help us with our advocacy. for that. And then just about our fall policy conference, which is going to be this fall. So another great meeting with AMC and just learning all sorts of things that we really need to be working on. I just want to say it was great touring the 4-H building, but oh my goodness, they really have to do something with the residential part of that building. It's great that they're actually addressing that and the great work that 4-H does in all of our communities. And it was a great tour. So I encourage all of you, when you're at the fair, go to the building, look around, and ask, you know, if you see somebody, say, can you take me upstairs or take a tour? They welcome that. So I encourage all of my colleagues to do that. Also, attended the JDA meeting that my colleague, Commissioner Jevenson, chaired yesterday. It was a great meeting, as always. And we're excited about the movement stuff we've got going forward on that. Upcoming is Thursday night. It's a busy night because along with a lot of community events, Lauderdale Day in the Park is this Thursday. So I'll be there. They're going to have lots of activities going on. I'll be speaking. And it'll be a great day there. Also, oh, that's from 5 to 8, I should say, at the Lauderdale Community Park. So I encourage everyone who's in the area to attend that. Also, the Ramsey County League of Local Government is doing a Reimagining the Riverfront, the Highland Bridge district tour. So they're doing that on Friday morning. So anyone who wants to go to that, they're touring the district in St. Paul there. And then on Monday night, Ramsey County Public Works is going to have an open house on County Road D from Cleveland Avenue to Fairview. So that'll be July 13th at Oasis Park from 430 to 630. So anyone who lives in that area that wants to comment. On the road construction for County Road D, please put that on your calendar. And I just want a couple more things. They've been doing a lot of press on the activities going on in Falcon Heights for Philando Castile. And just if you get a chance to watch one of the clips, a young student who had... Philando Castile, as their lunch director, calls him Mr. Phil. It was precious, the impact that he had on her life. And then years later now, 10 years later, it still impacts her. So it's very moving. And kudos to everyone who's putting that on in Falcon Heights. I want to just say, if you get a chance to do a tribal relations training, you should do it. Commissioner Miller did that. I was able to do it through AMC. It is so powerful. And so I think you should bring it to NACO. Everyone in the country should be taking this training. It's so powerful. So thank you for bringing that up. And I was lucky to go to a session with Rose McGee and have her sweet potato pie years ago, though. And I'm so glad she's still doing it. Such a great way to bring community together. Yes, she makes these amazing pies. And then you sit around, and you talk, and you eat great pie. Great. So I'm glad you gave a shout out to Rose McGee because that's amazing. If ever you go to a conference and she's doing a session, you go to that. And my last thing is about I just have to say about these workarounds that this is really a disturbing thing that Republicans don't want. and all the things. So they're trying to find all these things that they can do to save their community from the impacts, even while they're supporting it. There was a senator or a congresswoman from Alaska. She was really clear about it. She said, this is horrible for my community, but I'm voting for it because they're giving me exemptions. I'm exempted from it all. But this is a horrible thing to do, and I'm sorry that I'm supporting. I'm sorry I'm doing this because all of you have to suffer while I'm exempting my community. I mean, it's blatant and it's unconscionable, quite frankly, that they're doing this. And so I think we just got to keep working. Thank you, Commissioner Zhang, for being a part of those NACO calls. I think as a country, yeah, we just got to keep fighting that H.R. 1 and the impacts of it. So thank you. Thank you for that.

Thank you. I want to report that Ling and I had a very productive meeting with the sheriff We got together for two hours now. Ling, you will be sharing the draft of the detention report, right, with the rest of the board. But that report, that staffing report, pieces of it have already come out. And of course, as we discussed, during our workshops and so forth, and I had suggested that, you know, the overtime factor has cost us millions of dollars for a long time now, probably as long as I've been here, and we need to address that moving forward. So we came to agreement with the sheriff And he will be bringing in RBA. Ling will work out the details, cross the T's and dot the I's. But hopefully we establish that baseline that we talked about so you could measure moving forward, you know, the impact of, you know, that... overtime factor that comes in at the end of the year. And it's always $2, $3 million, or maybe sometimes even more, depending on the environment, right? So anyway, it was very productive. And I want to thank Bob. I mean, he really came to the table. Unless we have the sheriff or the county attorney working with us in tandem, it does, you know, we're always going to be at odds. But there was full agreement, and Ling will be sharing that in the next week or two, right? Yep. Within that time. So you would have that information.

Yeah, and then thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to piggyback off of the SNAP and HR1 conversation and provide an update that Commissioner Ortega and I have been working on with the staff as well. So thank you to our government relations team. We've been engaged with our federal lobbyists. For those who don't know, HR1 and the Farm Bill are directly interconnected in the way that they sort of lock in some of the agriculture programs and some of the the safety nets and the significant tax relief that was kind of tied into H.R. 1. And so as a result of that, we've been able to pull together a set of meetings using our federal lobbyists. So we already had a meeting with Senator Smith's staff because she's a significant person on the farm bill. We already had the meeting with Senator Klobuchar's staff. I'm sorry, we had that last week. We are going to have the meeting with Senator Smith's staff, and then we're hoping to actually get the Ag Committee chair staff to meet with us as well. And in doing so, I want to thank our team for going to those meetings. I actually sent Karen Francois to represent the message on my behalf with Commissioner Ortega, but I wanted to, and I will share this letter with the board. We haven't shared it yet because we haven't finished the meetings. But Commissioner Nortega and I put together a letter that follows each of the meetings that gives the estimated fiscal impacts on H.R. 1 to Ramsey County. So I'm just going to say that out loud right now. So the estimated impact for 2026 is about $1 million. It's $4.2 million in 2027. We did receive some one-time funding that reduces our 27 impact to 3 million, but the ongoing projection is still 4.4 million. So it's about one leverage, one levy point. In addition, the cost share is actually another really significant factor. Our estimated impact is $2.2 million in Q4 of 2027, $9.2 million annually in 2028. So that's another 2.5 levy points. So in summary, we were able to share that HR1, if nothing else happens at the state, would impact Ramsey County by $13.6 million annually, which would be 3.5% on our levy. So we'll share that. It'll be a lot more part of the budget conversations as we go forward. We'll make that roll off the tongue a little faster and better. Wanted to pull that together just quickly since you guys brought it up. The other thing is I appreciated, Commissioner Zhang, what you said is the next step. So the things we're asking for in these meetings is a delay, is a targeted budget manageable ask. So a two-year delay would allow states and counties to adjust their systems, staffing, and budgets before implementation. thereby reducing the risk of catastrophic impacts to our residents and significant property tax pressure as well. And, you know, as you guys have said, a delay has some bipartisan support. Several Republican senators whose states face similar budgets, exposure, are willing to appear at least to discuss a delay. And I think we want to leverage that. And this is a little humbling, too. Like, the farm bill is really the last off-ramp. implementation begins October 2026, so less than four months from now. So the farm bill really is our last chance. to mitigate the serious risks of HR1. So we drafted that letter. It's going out. Like I said, it's going to become regular talking points for all of you. While we don't want to appear to be like the sky is falling, it literally is we have to be realistic and honest to the community about what these impacts are. And now we have a much more granular understanding of them. This doesn't account for the Medicaid impacts. We only focused on SNAP because we were talking about the Farm Bill. So there's many layers of these costs that are coming to counties. And one thing you'll hear me say in regular as we go forward is this idea of this state supervised county administered program. recognizing that we don't always make the rules, we don't control the systems, and yet it is our job to pay for the impacts on the burden of a regressive property tax. And so that's going to be the message we carry forward as we work with our metro communities. I know I had asked Commissioner McMurtry to share some things at the AMC board meeting. I don't know if that's what you're kind of, I see you're nodding, so yeah.

Just in context, that's why it's important that we address some of our old, and by old I mean like the overtime. This board is going to be hit with a lot on top of. So we need to address some of those longstanding issues and hopefully so we can grapple with the new ones that are in front of us. I have Reena and then I have Garrison.

I just want to say that I am glad that our lobbyists and counties are able to have a conversation with Republicans and hear them reject the H.R. 1 or to find a carve out for themselves. which is not OK neither, because it's going to impact a lot of other people. So for me, a conversation is good, but a no vote would be better. And that's what should be happening.

That's really the question.

That's your bottom line. Thank you, Mr. Chair. One quick clarifying question for the county manager. The $13 million that you mentioned, that's the impact of the overall H.R. 1 or specifically the SNAP portion? That's the SNAP. Just the SNAP. Okay. Thanks for that. No, and you mentioned from the AMC board meeting, this was definitely a big topic, especially as all of us started thinking about it. property taxes and getting assessments and statements together for the end of this year. One of the things that I raised for AMC is to make sure that we are kind of working in tandem with all 87 counties to be clear with the general public on, you know, the context of why you're seeing these increases to really understand. And I know that they mentioned working on putting together maybe an insert that all of us can use so that our languages, that we all have similar language and include that insert in those property tax statements, sharing with residents why they are seeing these increases and the impacts of things like H.R. 1 and how that's going to have on the property tax levy. So there's a lot of work that's still ahead of us. I think there's a lot more that we could be proactively doing when it comes to communications and educating the general public. Uh, and that's something that I know that I'll be continuing to push for, uh, on AMC. Uh, but it, it, it will have a tremendous impact on our communities if this thing officially goes through, uh, and it's fully implemented next year.

Uh, yeah, just a quick follow up to that too, is just, um, I, I happen, my sight line is our, some of our new government affairs, uh, team that we were introduced to earlier. And I'm just thrilled that they are here in this moment. Um, I have been throughout the summer, you know, post session, our local state legislators, this is the time when they can connect and have more substantive talks about how things are impacting us and how they can be partners at the state level. And already I, just today I had another outreach to say, how can we partner with the counties to mitigate the impacts on property taxes? So I think that, um, These kind of updates on the impacts and then even suggestions on how we can partner at the state level to help with that, we're fielding those calls. So as much as we can get some of that message together to and be true partners with our state partners as they try to find ways. Because their constituents are our constituents. We're knocking on the same doors. We have the same neighbors we're seeing in the libraries, in the park, and in community who are saying, We want to take care of our neighbors, but there's a limit to how much we can bear on our property taxes, and we all feel that. So thank you for these updates and continuing to push and how we can impact these changes that need to happen.

All right. Thank you. Following the board meeting, we will have Mai-Zhang chair the Housing and Redevelopment Authority meeting. And then we have a board workshop. We're a little bit behind schedule here. Board workshop on Minnesota Resource Management, and that is chaired by Kelly, Commissioner Miller. And then this afternoon, we will have a board workshop on the Opioid Response Initiative chaired by Commissioner Moran. We are adjourned.