Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

para verificar que lo que cultivan coincida con lo que venden en el mercado. También verificamos que el vendedor tiene una báscula. Nos aseguramos que la báscula esté sellada por nuestro departamento con este pequeño sello aquí, lo que garantiza que sea precisa y que el cliente reciba la cantidad por la que está pagando.

We are standing here with cohort one.

We're representing 609.

We're here for our time, committing our lives and strides with honor, resilience, and pride.

Today is one of the primary educational days for our students. They are doing a lot of their trauma scenarios.

So this involves treating more traumatic injuries, things like gunshot wounds, stab wounds, that sort of stuff. There was a lot of like a rapid response, critical thinking, quick acting. It was really fun.

The resources we have here is like nothing like I've seen before. I was supposed to be attending another program, but I decided this one was the best choice for me.

I was looking into another EMT program and then my mom was just strolling on Facebook.

Good morning, good morning. Good morning. Thank you very much. If everyone can please take your seat. Please take your seats. I now call the September 15th, 2026 San Diego County Board of Supervisors meeting and Fire Protection District meeting to order. We first would like to take a moment to acknowledge the land we call home. There are communities in the San Diego region that face unjust conditions and circumstances related to the environments in which they live. The tribal nations of the San Diego region are an example of one community that has historically faced such injustices. We acknowledge the harmony that existed between the land, nature, and its original peoples who have since endured displacement, persecution, and systemic oppression. We pay our respect to the unceded territory and homelands of the 18 tribal nations in our region, the most in the county in the United States from four cultural groups, the Kumeyaay, the , the and the . We aspire to learn from indigenous traditional knowledge and experiences and undoing the injustices of the past. Andrew, please call the roll for today's session.

Thank you, Chair Lawson-Riemer. Supervisor Anderson. Supervisor Desmond. Here. Chair Pro Temigiri.

Here.

Vice Chair Montgomery-Stepp. Here. And Chair Lawson-Riemer.

Thank you. We now have Reverend Melissa Tucker, who will deliver the invocation, and Casey Strang, who will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand.

Please join me in a posture of prayer that suits you. God, the one who is in all things, works through all things, and holds all things together. We come together today to do the best work we can for and with the people we serve. And to do our best work possible, we ask you for wisdom, a strong sense of justice, patience, and a unity to bond us. Each of us finds ourselves here today as a result of much passion, study, trial and error, and experience. May we see the position we hold as a precious vocation, an opportunity to put our heads, our hearts, and our hands to good use. We also all have our lives outside this room, the people and the commitments that ask for our attention. So would we be able to center on the tasks at hand, bringing full awareness and presence to this very moment? Would we trust that our perspectives and questions have value and significance and bring them forward with a blend of confidence and humility? And would we persevere through difficult conundrums when it seems there is no apparent solution? We thank you for each supervisor here, for every member of the staff who supports their efforts, for every community member who is here to give of their attention and their care. Public service is a high calling, and it asks a lot of us, the hours, the demands, the way it stays with us long after the workday ends. So would the gift back to each person here this morning be the reward and the joy of fulfilling such a necessary role in our society? We ask all this in gratitude. Amen.

Please put your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you so much. We now proceed with the proclamations. The first proclamation will be given by myself honoring Hunger Awareness Month. Accepting the proclamation will be Casey Castillo. Colleagues, today I'm proud to recognize September as San Diego Hunger Awareness Month. In a region as prosperous as ours, no child should go to bed hungry. No seniors should have to choose between groceries and medicine. And no working family should have to wonder where their next meal is coming from. But too many San Diegans face that reality. And new federal cuts are making it even harder for families to get the help they need. Nearly 8,800 San Diegans have already lost food assistance under the new CalFresh rules. Many more families will be affected in the months ahead. That is why the work of our local food banks and community partners matters so much. I'd like to thank the Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank, Feeding San Diego, the San Diego Hunger Coalition, and the hundreds of organizations working every day to make sure our neighbors have enough to eat. Last year, the San Diego Food Bank provided nearly 42 million meals to people across our county. Feeding San Diego helped families, children, seniors, and veterans access the food they need. And the San Diego Hunger Coalition brought so many amazing organizations and community partners together to strengthen food assistance across our region. But nonprofits cannot do this work alone. Government has a critical responsibility to protect our safety net and help families through difficult times. That is why the county continues to connect people with CalFresh assistance and why we created the safety net bridge program this year. Food is a basic need. When people have enough to eat, they are healthier, children are better able to learn, and families have a stronger chance to thrive. So today, I'm pleased to be joined by Chris Castillo from the Jacobs and Cushman San Diego Food Bank, who is here to accept this proclamation. Chris, thank you for the work that you and the entire food bank team do for our region. And on behalf of the County of San Diego, I'm honored to proclaim September 2026 as San Diego Hunger Awareness Month.

Well, good morning. Thank you, Chair Lawson-Reimer and members of the Board of Supervisors for this proclamation recognizing Hunger Awareness Month here in San Diego County. On behalf of the Jacobson Cushman San Diego Food Bank, our staff, volunteers, supporters, and community partners, I am honored to accept this recognition. We are incredibly grateful to the county for helping shine a light on an issue that impacts far too many of our neighbors. This year's Hunger Awareness Month theme is working families, hungry realities, which reminds us. that having a job does not always mean having financial security or enough food on the table. In fact, 97% of San Diego County households that are unable to meet their basic living costs have at least one working adult. At the same time, 25% of county residents, including 219,000 children, face nutrition insecurity. These numbers remind us that hunger is a systems issue, not a personal one. With the rising costs of housing, groceries, childcare, transportation, and other necessities, too many working families are being forced to make difficult choices between putting food on the table and paying for other basic needs. At the San Diego Food Bank, our mission is to provide nutritious food to people who need it, advocate for the hungry, and educate the public about hunger-related issues. Our team works toward that mission every single day. But we cannot do it alone and we do not do it alone. It truly takes a community to feed a community. Hunger Awareness Month is an opportunity to turn awareness into action. Whether it is volunteering, donating, advocating for policies that address hunger, or simply helping others understand the realities facing working families, everyone has a role to play. And while September gives us an important opportunity to raise awareness, hunger does not end when Hunger Awareness Month does. Our neighbors need us throughout the entire year. Once again, thank you to Chair Lawson-Reimer, the entire Board of Supervisors, and all of our supporters for standing with us in the fight against hunger. Together, we can work toward a San Diego County where every family and every child has access to nutritious food that they need. Thank you very much.

Okay, thank you very much. The second proclamation will be given by Vice Chairman Greenstep honoring Andrew Strong. Accepting the proclamation will be Andrew Strong.

Well, good morning, everyone. Today, I am truly honored to recognize Andrew Strong and his contributions to the County of San Diego before he sets sail for his new chapter, next chapter. We celebrate Andrew who is departing from the county after more than 18 years of service, a career that began fittingly with service to country as a Navy Corpsman. Andrew's journey began as an intern with the county and from there he rose to some of the most significant roles in county government. Chief of Staff to the Chief Administrative Officer, the county's first Director of the Office of Equity and Racial Justice, and Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for the Public Safety Group. Andrew is a builder. He stood up the county's first data and performance analytics unit and launched the countywide data portal. Both programs provide residents and district, excuse me, decision makers alike with better access to the information that drives good government. As the county's inaugural director of equity and racial justice, Andrew didn't just hold a title, he built infrastructure for equity. This included a $2 million equity impact grant program that put resources directly into grassroots organizations and a strengthened human relations commission. In public safety, Andrew enhanced emergency readiness, advancing the firehawk helicopter and air attack program. He also supported the creation of the OES Community Engagement and Recovery Team, helped launch the EMS Core Initiative, and promoted the Recovery Bridge Center and One Stop Shop programs. And when our region needed steady hands most, Andrew played a critical role in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond programs and policy, Andrew invested in our people, serving as executive sponsor to the Veterans Valor Employee Resource Group. He also drew on his own Navy service to make sure veteran employees felt valued while championing in every one of our ERGs the sense of belonging they create. Andrew Strong's career is a case study for what public service can look like, courageous, curious, and always centered on the people that we serve. Thank you, Andrew. We will certainly miss you. On behalf of the County of San Diego, thank you for your Navy service, your County service, and the mark you leave on this organization and this region. So I'll read the last line of the proclamation. Be it proclaimed by Chair Tara Lawson-Reimer, myself, and all of the members of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on this 15th day of September, 2026, that we commend Andrew Strong for his outstanding service, leadership, and commitment to the residents of San Diego County and do hereby declare this day to be Andrew Strong Day throughout San Diego County. Congratulations.

Wow, what an honor, man. I got to say, 18 years ago when I came in as, let me be clear, a non-paid student worker intern. So I really started at the bottom. I had no idea I'd end up in one of these roles. And it's just been an honor. And I just want to thank Ebony for trusting me as the CAO, our former CAO, Helen Roberts Myers, for trusting me as her chief of staff. And what makes these types of jobs just so amazing and great is the fact that we get to serve the community. I know that sounds cliche, but it's actually true. Because we don't just serve the community, we also build relationships with the community. And I have some lifelong friends that I've made in the community through this work that I cherish for the rest of my life. And my beautiful wife, Josie, is here. I'm about to say something that she hates, but I also have my work wife here, Kathleen Flannery. who's our amazing chief operating officer in our public safety group. And without her, I would not have been successful in this role at all. She's a phenomenal leader. But I will say, I have to divorce you now, Kathleen. You can keep all the kids. All the kids are yours. you know and i'm leaving the county uh not because of you know financial gain or because the job is crazy none of that is i'm leaving the county because i'm putting my faith first i'm putting my family first and it's something i haven't done in 18 years being at the county and i'm excited to do that um so god bless you all you know thank you for this honor and i thank you supervisor montgomery step um he was a dear friend uh ross fellow generation three uh cohort member that's right And our board of supervisors. So I just say God bless you all and thank you for this honor.

I would just ask the supervisors to come down for the picture if you can. And if you want to say anything.

Amen. Thank you.

Yes, you both should stay up there because the third proclamation is being given by Vice Chair Montgomery Stepp and Chair Pro Tem Paloma Aguirre honoring Latinx Heritage Month. Accepting the proclamation will be Cristina Juarez, Emilia Castillo, Liz Ramirez, and Daniela Perez.

And we'll see you after.

Hi, how are you?

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for joining us, everyone.

There's more space behind me. Come on up, come on up.

You can line up here, too, if you'd like. I don't mind. There we go.

Casey Castillo, come join us.

Buenos dias a todos. Thank you for being here. I am incredibly proud to recognize Latina Heritage Month here in San Diego County. I also want to thank Supervisor Monica Montgomery-Step for partnering with us on this proclamation and on the beautiful reception we hosted this morning. As a proud Latina myself, this celebration is deeply personal to me. It was wonderful to begin the day by bringing together community leaders, organizations, and partners who contribute so much to the well-being of our communities. In District 1, Latina heritage isn't just something we celebrate once a year. It's built into our daily lives. You see it in the people, teaching our children, running our small businesses, organizing our workers, and caring for our neighborhoods. Our community represents over 19 Latin American nations, each bringing its own distinct history, traditions, musica y color. This month gives us an opportunity not only to celebrate our culture and our history, but also to recognize the individuals and organizations that contribute directly to the well-being of District 1 and the rest of our region and our country. These are the people working to improve access to health care, support families, create opportunities for young people, protect workers, strengthen small businesses, advance environmental justice, celebrate arts and culture, and address hunger as well, as we heard this morning, and make sure residents have the resources they need to thrive. Their work often happens quietly, but its impact is felt across our communities. They are building stronger neighborhoods, creating trusted spaces, connecting families to resources and making sure that our communities are seen, heard and supported. And in our border region like ours, that work is especially meaningful. Our Latina communities are deeply connected across generations, neighborhoods, and borders. Our culture, language, traditions, and lived experiences are an essential part of San Diego County's identity. Today, we honor that legacy by also recognizing those who are carrying it forward through service and leadership. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Vice Chair Monica Montgomery-Step.

Thank you so much, Chair Pro Tem. I'm really honored to be standing alongside you this morning, this September, as we celebrate Latinx Heritage Month here in San Diego County. And the inclusive language is the point, right? Because this month embraces identities across gender expansive, indigenous, Brazilian, and non-Spanish speaking communities. As the chair pro tem said, it is extremely inclusive and that's why the language is so important. This month didn't happen by accident. It exists because Congressman Edward R. Roybal and Henry B. Gonzalez and Representative Esteban Torres spent careers fighting prejudice with education and the unapologetic celebration of culture. 50 years later, we stand on their shoulders and continue the same fight. And let's be honest about what this year asks of us. Right now, federal immigration policy is tearing families apart in our own San Diego County neighborhoods, restaurants, and schools. But here is the truth that no policy can erase. The Latinx community isn't just thriving in San Diego County, it's leading it. Cultural innovators, civic leaders, entrepreneurs, essential workers who keep this region running when it matters most. That contribution is permanent. It is not up for debate. Today, we're proud to recognize four organizations doing that work in real time. And I know there are a lot of other organizations represented here today, so we're not leaving anyone out. But we do have four organizations that we're recognizing here today. And you guys got to correct me on the pronunciations, okay? Enrique Flowers. Enrique. Got it. I said, you know, it's accountability. You got to check me. Practicando con mi gente. Yes, Chicano Federation and Mana de San Diego. Each one in their own way breaking down barriers and lifting community voices. We celebrate our communities across this region and across District 4 that include Choi's View, Casa de Oro, Spring Valley, and City Heights. And I'm honored to share that two of the organizations here with us today call District 4 home. This Latinx Heritage Month, we celebrate loudly and we fight without apology because hope was never meant to wait quietly. It means showing up. And with that, I will read the last line of the proclamation. And then the chair pro tem will read it as well in Espanol. Being proclaimed by Chair Tara Lawson-Reimer, Chair Pro Tem Aguirre, myself, and all members of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on this 15th day of September 2026. that we commend the four organizations for your outstanding service, leadership, and commitment to the residents of San Diego County and do hereby declare this month to be Latinx Heritage Month throughout San Diego County.

Muchas gracias a mi hermana. Gracias. Por lo tanto, se proclama por la presidenta Tara Lawson Reamer y nosotros, todos los miembros de la Junta de Supervisores del Condado de San Diego, en este día 15 de septiembre del 2026, que reconocemos y celebramos la historia, la cultura, el liderazgo y las contribuciones de las comunidades latine en toda nuestra región y por la presente proclamamos el mes de la herencia latine en todo el condado de San Diego.

Sounds so much better.

Hello, everyone. Good morning. Buenos dias. First, I want to say thank you to Supervisor Paloma Aguirre and Monica Montgomery and the entire board of supervisors for this recognition. and to our members, volunteers, and staff for carrying this legacy forward. My name is Daniela Perez. I'm CEO of Mana de San Diego. And at Mana de San Diego, we believe that when Latinas rise, communities thrive. We see that every day. Our mission is to transform communities by empowering Latinas to achieve upward mobility and a better quality of life. For 40 years, that belief has taken shape in women like Venus Molina, who went from our first Hermanitas cohort to our board and serving our broader community. It is women like Leslie Lopez Moreno, an Hermanitas alumni who earned her master's in social work and now supports young people. It is like women like Esmeralda Valverde, who started two businesses in our program and also went back to school, a mother transforming her family from the inside. Their stories remind us that the impact of investing in One Latina reaches far beyond her own success. It reaches families, workplaces, and the next generation. It is no coincidence that today is National Voter Registration Day, I want to take advantage of this day to remind everybody to register to vote. At MANA, we are leading a Get Out to Vote campaign currently, and we're reminding our community on this very important day to get out to vote and exercise your right to vote in the name of your community, but also for your own protections and to make sure that our community is safe and it continues to thrive. We accept this recognition in honor of the women who built Mana de San Diego and everyone carrying that legacy forward. Muchas gracias.

Buenos dias. On behalf of Chicano Federation, I want to thank Supervisors Paloma Aguirre and Monica Montgomery-Stepp for this recognition and for celebrating Latina Heritage Month with such meaningful way. Each year, Chicano Federation has the privilege of serving more than 55,000 individuals and families across San Diego County, largely from our Latina community. And we are incredibly proud to do this with amazing partners, some of which are here today, and the county. that recognizes the beauty, power, resilience, and contributions of our communities. At this moment, that recognition matters deeply. As families continue to face fear, uncertainty, and the threat of ICE enforcement, we must stand together to protect our communities and defend their dignity, and make sure that families are not alone. No están solos. El pueblo unido jamás será vencido. El pueblo unido jamás será vencido. Our culture and communities make San Diego stronger. Thank you, Supervisor Aguirre, Supervisor Montgomery Stepp, for honoring that truth and for your continued leadership and partnership in this work. Gracias.

Hola, buenos dias. Mi nombre es Christina Juarez. It is an honor. Thank you so much to the supervisors for inviting me and thinking of me. And it is an honor to be amongst inspiring women here. I'm here to also talk about something that we are fighting for, and it's beauty. Why we're defending our communities, it's because of this beauty. I, among 18 local creatives and other flower farmers, make Inequi, a flower and gift shop in City Heights that focuses on uplifting our microeconomy. Throughout my journey, flowers have taught me about beauty, community, and care. A flower needs soil, water, and water to grow, but it also needs sunlight, attention, and companions. Nothing blooms alone. Inecue is the same. It all began with the dream as our seeds. Our courage and community support was the water and the soil that really pushed us out of our shell. We grew in a colorful neighborhood, and we are honored to flower a long reach and a diverse community. As a local business owner and flower grower, I have learned that tending is an act of love. Tending to flowers is as needed as tending to our communities. I am here today to invite you to lead with direct actions and be community tenders. Visit and invest in local flowers, local farmers, and local makers. Think of women-owned and Latinx-owned small businesses for grants and your purchases. Hire us to adorn your events and celebrations. We also do workshops and also have a flower membership. I may say so. Lead with actions by tending and nurturing our local neighborhood so we can grow together in a flower garden where we can all have what we need to bloom. Muchas gracias. Have a good one.

Give me one second. It's gonna be short. Thank you, everyone here. Thank you, Board of Supervisors. Thank you, community members in southeastern San Diego. And not San Diego. Thank you for your unconditional support. SDPD for 11 years of National NIDA Gompers Park, helping to bring the community together. Thank you, Supervisor Montgomery-Stepp.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

All right, we're going to take the floor, OK?

OK, Shorty's in the front.

I'm going to come all the way up to this arrow here. you Thank you.

So Maria, you can smile.

Everybody smile big. All right. Gracias.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, thank you all very much. The fourth proclamation will be given by Chair Pro Tem Paloma Aguirre, honoring Cetus University. Accepting the proclamation will be Dr. Fernando Leon Garcia. And if we could please be quiet as we exit the chamber so the Chair Pro Tem could give the next proclamation. Thank you.

Okay. Today we honor the 65th anniversary of CETI's Universidad. What began in 1961 as a single campus with a visionary goal in Mexicali has transformed into a world-class university system, expanding across Mexicali, Tijuana, Ensenada, and into a global campus that connects students across borders, oceans, and cultures. At its core, education is the single most powerful engine for upward mobility. By opening doors to advanced skills, critical thinking, and professional opportunity, CETES does not simply educate individual students. It uplifts entire families, transforming their long-term economic trajectories and building lasting prosperity that reverberates across generations. As a founding member of the Cali Baja Higher Education Consortium, CETES creates essential synergy between academia and industry across Baja California and San Diego County. Beyond creating cross-border partnerships, CETES transforms the academic connection into real power. CETES equips the talent that fuels our shared economy. With a 90% graduate employability rate within their first year, SETI's alumni directly power the high-tech aerospace and biomedical sectors that define the San Diego Baja regional market. That is extremely important to our region. In an era of rapid technological shift, building a future-ready workforce requires leaders who can adapt across disciplines and drive evolving industries forward. And that could not be truer as it is today. CETES is preparing bright, forward-thinking professionals equipped to tackle our region's most complex challenges, from technological transformation to economic integration. As we commemorate 65 years of academic excellence, innovation and cross-border unity, we recognize CETES Universidad for its enduring contributions to our students, our regional economy and our shared future. So it is now my honor to read the last paragraph of the proclamation. Be it proclaimed by Chair Tara Lawson-Reimer, myself, and the rest of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on this 15th day of September 2026, which by the way is one day shy of Mexico's Independence Day, that we commend CETES Universidad for their outstanding service, leadership, and commitment to the citizens of San Diego County, and we do hereby declare this day to be CETES Universidad Day, all throughout San Diego County.

Good morning. On behalf of CETES Universidad, our Board of Trustees, Friends of CETES Foundation, and our entire university community, I want to express our deepest gratitude to the San Diego Board of Supervisors, especially Supervisor Paloma Aguirre, for the extraordinary honor of having September proclaim CETES University Day throughout San Diego County. This recognition holds a very special meaning for us as it marks 65 years since CETES was founded by a group of visionary leaders in Mexicali, Baja California, with a mission to develop talent and prepare leaders through education who make meaningful contributions to society. Today, that mission is increasingly binational. We firmly believe that education has no borders and that Baja California and San Diego share far more than geography. We share families, talent, business and industry, ideas, and above all, great opportunities for our future. As a founding member of the Cali Baja Higher Education Consortium and through our partnerships across San Diego, we have seen this firsthand. Perhaps that is why one statement in this proclamation resonates so deeply with us, that our region should not be defined by physical borders or political demarcations, but by the impact of our collaboration. For CETES, this proclamation therefore represents more than a recognition of our past 65 years. We are extremely proud to be part of the San Diego Baja California community. and we look forward to continuing to build bridges, create synergies, connect opportunities, and shape this future together. Thank you, Board of Supervisors, for recognizing the impact of education, for valuing the importance of binational collaboration, and for sharing our belief in what this region can accomplish when we work together. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

All right, we'll go up here first. Now here.

Now we're here.

Now we're over here. And this thing. And that. If I can scoot you guys out a little bit.

And then finally.

Okay, thank you all very, very much. Thank you. The fifth proclamation will be given by Supervisor Anderson, honoring Biodiversity Month. Accepting the proclamation is Nadine Lemberski.

Thanks for coming up. This is the other half of the room. Good morning, everybody. Today, it's an honor to recognize the San Diego County Biodiversity Month at a time to celebrate and reaffirm our duty to protect the incredible natural biological diversity of our region. I'd first like to thank our Vice Chair, Montgomery Stepp, and her team in District 4 for all their help in coordinating this well-deserved recognition. I'd also like to thank Nadine Lamberski, I'm sorry, it's a slow morning, Makeda Okolo, Okay, so far so good. And Sarah Sulkin with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, as well as the alliance's many conservation partners. Last, I'd like to especially acknowledge the contributions of the tribal nations in conserving our region's biodiversity. Their traditional ecological knowledge and leadership are invaluable in the stewardship of San Diego County's natural beauty. San Diego County is one of the most biologically diverse regions in the world and one of just 36 global biodiversity hotspots. From our coast in rivers to our mountains, parks, and open spaces, The natural environment is an important part of what makes our community so special and unique. Biodiversity supports healthy ecosystems, clean water and air, and resilient communities. By taking the time to care for our natural environment, we can help ensure that these resources remain here for future generations to enjoy. This month is an opportunity to appreciate what we have, recognize the work being done to preserve it, and recommit ourselves to being good stewards of San Diego County's natural environment. We encourage everyone to spend more time outside, explore the natural beauty of our communities, and take a moment to appreciate the incredible diversity of life that surrounds us. I'd like to read the last paragraph of this proclamation.

And I'm going to have you hold it while I read it, the last paragraph.

Thanks, Nadine. Hold it. No. If only I could read that small. Be it proclaimed by Chair Tara Lawson-Reamer and all the members of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on this 15th day of September 2026 that we commend the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and all its conservation partners for their outstanding service, leadership, and commitment to the citizens of San Diego County and here do declare this month to be Biodiverse Month throughout San Diego County. Nadine, I'll take that from you, and I think that you want to say a few words.

I do. Thank you. Go ahead. Good morning. I'm Nadine Lamberski, and I'm the Chief Conservation and Wildlife Health Officer for the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. On behalf of the Alliance, as well as the many organizations that have joined us today, we're so honored to witness the county's recognition for the first ever San Diego County Biodiversity Month. To the entire board, thank you for this recognition and for being here to celebrate with us. Special thanks to Supervisor Monica Montgomery-Stepp and the District 4 office for helping us elevate this proclamation and understanding the uniqueness of San Diego's biodiversity. And Supervisor Joel Anderson, thank you for being such a strong champion to the Alliance. to our many partners that are here today, and for sponsoring today's proclamation. As San Diegans, we're so fortunate to call the most biodiverse county in the continental United States our home. The richness of this biodiversity comes with a cautionary tale. Recent estimates indicate that more than 200 of our local species are threatened with extinction today. The challenge before us is great, Every time we step outdoors, we're reminded of the beauty and why it's worth protecting. This work will require all hands on deck. Whether local conservation groups, community and tribal partners, government agencies, elected officials, and especially our youth, we each play a critical role in preserving the great biodiversity that sustains us all. All life on Earth is connected. And in fact, our own health, the health of wildlife, and the health of our ecosystems are inextricably linked. That's why it's important to protect and celebrate biological diversity like we're doing here today. Thank you, and happy San Diego County Biodiversity Month.

I think they want us to come up here for a photo. If any of my colleagues would like to join us in the photo, we would welcome to have you. Every one of our districts has a unique aspect. Supervisor Desmond has the desert area. I have some of the mountains. And of course, many of our colleagues have the beach areas. So come on down if you'd like to get in the photo.

Sure. Thank you.

Okay, thank you everyone right here. One, two, three, thank you. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you all so much.

The final proclamation will be given by Supervisor Desmond. Supervisor Desmond, where are you? Okay. Supervisor Desmond will be honoring San Marcos Prevention Coalition. Accepting the proclamation is Casey Strang.

Well, good morning, everyone. It's my honor to welcome and recognize Casey Strang, Executive Director of the San Marcos Prevention Coalition. Four years ago, when unfortunately fentanyl was wreaking havoc on our communities and throughout the country, and still is, but we called it out what it was, and it was poison. And this board of supervisors, along with the DA and the sheriff, all took action. Since then, overdose deaths have fallen 36% from their peak in 2021. Fentanyl-related deaths dropped from 802 in 2022 to 340 in 2025. Still way too many, but the program is showing progress, and progress is being made, and it's real. The mission continues. We've educated our kids. We have Narcan available now. We've taken community action, and we keep fighting until every family is safe. And a very powerful example of community action is right here with us today. It's the San Marcos Prevention Coalition. Since its inception, youth substance abuse in San Marcos has declined significantly. 60% decline in alcohol use, 43% decrease in marijuana use, 80% decrease in tobacco use, and 57% decrease in prescription drug use among youth. And today, more than 70% of the San Marcos High School students have never used drugs or alcohol. That is what is all due to community collaborations like this. The Prevention Coalition brings educators, parents, law enforcement, health care professionals, community organizers, local leaders, and most importantly, our youth to the table to talk to them about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Together, they strengthen protective factors, reducing risks, and promoting healthy choices, including education on fentanyl and opioid awareness. And the San Marcos Prevention Coalition are providing something very, very important. It's when a community comes together, they can change lives. And the statistics and data shows that. To educate, empower, and connect the people. Together, we're all building a healthier, safer, stronger community. So whereas the county of San Diego, we're committed to recognizing and honoring organizations that embody the highest ideals of public service, and the San Marcos Prevention Coalition is one such worthy organization. So therefore, here, Casey, I'm going to have you do some work. I'm going to hold that up for the picture. There you go. So be it proclaimed. By all the members of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today, the 15th day of September 2026, that we commend the San Marcos Prevention Coalition for their community service and leadership and commitment to the residents of San Diego County and do hereby declare today to be San Marcos Prevention Coalition Day throughout San Diego County. I want to congratulate Casey Strang for all the work and effort that you put into this and the dividends are paying off. Thank you so very much. Appreciate it. Yeah, you want to say a few words?

Good morning, everyone. Good morning, Chairwoman Lawson-Rehmer and Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Desmond, it's an honor to receive this proclamation. I'm able to receive it on behalf of all of our coalition members, so it's an honor to do so. Sincerely, we'd like to thank you for the recognition and the acknowledgement. Supervisor Desmond and his office has always been great supporters of our coalition mission. and goals to reduce and prevent youth substance use. There's many other organizations that do the same work, all working together to ensure that our youth are healthy, safe, and drug-free. Now more than ever before, preventing our young people from using drugs and alcohol and potentially going down a path of addiction warrants our collective efforts. Youth mental health crisis, it's real, and far too many of our youth are turning to drugs and alcohol to self-medicate. Our coalition members come from all walks of life and represent all the different sectors that make up a community. We have representatives from our schools, from civic organizations, businesses, churches, law enforcement, government agencies, and of course parents and youth all working together to help reduce and prevent youth drug use. To be drug free, our coalition promotes and strengthens the protective factors in our city and addresses those risk factors that we identify that contribute to youth drug use. And this is one great example. Many years ago, our coalition identified a need and desire in our community to bring back into our schools, after about a 15-year hiatus, a school-based drug prevention curriculum. Supervisor Desmond listened and spearheaded the county's adoption of a measure that led to an evidence-based drug prevention curriculum in our schools across the county. Any school district that wanted it could implement it. the San Marcos Unified School District was one of the first districts in the county to implement this new curriculum. And now it is in every middle school in San Marcos. This is just one of many examples that Supervisor Desmond has led and championed to implement evidence-based prevention policies and laws that have really moved the needle in reducing and preventing youth drug and alcohol use. On behalf of our coalition members, we'd like to thank you for this proclamation and look forward to bringing this back to share and celebrate with our members. Thank you very much.

All right, Casey. Thank you so much.

All right.

Okay, thank you very much. Before we begin the meeting, I'll take a moment to address our House rules. Public engagement is a cornerstone of transparent and accountable government. These Board of Supervisors meetings are a primary venue where San Diegans can make their voices heard. Under our Board's rules, speakers may not use loud shouting, threatening, impertinence, slanderous, profane, or abusive language to any member of the Board, staff, or the general public. All remarks and questions must remain on topic during the duration of your speaking time. All remarks and questions must be addressed to the board and not to county staff. And any speaker engaged in comments that break any of these rules will be issued a warning. After warning will be asked to leave the chambers for the remainder of the meeting. Speakers threatening violence will be reported to law enforcement and removed. We now proceed with non-agenda public comment. This is an opportunity for the public to address the board on subject matters within our jurisdiction, but not on our meeting agenda today. Under our rules, speakers may speak once per meeting for non-agenda public comment, either today's session or tomorrow's, but not both, and you may select which one to speak at at your convenience. We have five speakers in person and five speakers by phone at the beginning of the meeting. The first five speakers in person are selected at random. The remainder of non-agenda public comment will be heard at the close of the session. For any discussion item with 10 or more speakers, individuals have one minute to share their opinion. And members of the public that are non-English speaking and need interpretation receive twice the allotted time. A final reminder, audience members shall not whistle, clap, stomp feet, or do anything that disrupts the proceedings. Manager, please call the speakers.

Thank you, Chair Lawson-Riemer. We have 17 requests to speak on matters not listed on the agenda, four individuals in person, and 13 requesting to speak by phone. For those that requested to speak by phone, please dial into the conference line using the instructions that were provided to you. We'll begin with the in-person speakers, and we'll hear from all four individuals. As your name is called, please come forward and stand on the arrows until it is your turn to speak at the podium. You will have two minutes to address the board, and I'll ask you to begin by stating your name for the audio record. I'd like to invite forward Mark Leog, Shaqraq Sadatahed, Michael Anthony, and allegedly Audra. If I've called your name, please come forward.

Please come forward and state your name. Thank you. Michael Anthony. This is a DM for Michael, the presiding judge at Superior Court here in San Diego County. Superior Court East County Department 1 is wholly corrupt and is systematically violating civil rights. The supervising judge, Judge Epley, The current judges, the two sitting judges at this time in Department 1, and even the Sheriff Bailiff, Pignon, is violating disability rules and civil rights in Department 1. This department is wholly corrupt, violating civil rights, and is acting as a school for criminals. I'll be back at future meetings to describe what is currently happening in Department 1 in East County. Thank you, Supervisors.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

How weird I'm speaking today.

Tara, I would like you to give you a pointer. If you could be a little bit more enthusiastic, it wouldn't feel like we're just kind of here, you know, it could feel like we're maybe at a game show, something like that. Andrew, the sign-up obviously is having issues because you didn't have my sign-up, so I'm hoping that you're going to be graceful with people if there's potential issues with the call-in and or whatever else. So I thought about what am I going to say, you know, and it's like I've been coming here for years now and when I first came I thought, I went because people say you go to your local government and they listen to you and you tell them, you know, they're constituents and so they represent you. I found very quickly that that was not the truth. And actually, Nathan Fletcher is the one that gave me that little lesson, which I thank him for. He was very tyrannical, but he was actually fun, Terry. You could take some pointers from him. And I'm sure you're going to go just like him and Nora. But it's interesting to have had such a well education of, you know, seeing what is actually what the government is, which is totally organized crime. It's a racket. And that is all you have to do is pay attention. And so I'm so thankful that I have switched course because it's like I used to tell you guys, well, not all of you, but laws that you guys were breaking. I was like, they're going to care because they don't want to do that, right? that's not true. You find any and every law that you can break. And so then Michael Workman, it was interesting, he's the one who told me to speak from my heart. So lucky you guys, that's what I've been doing for the past several years. And, you know, it's just my goal is to have the people see what you're really about so that we can defund the government because it's funded by us and you guys terrorize us with our money. We literally fund our own demise. From cradle to grave, you guys are here to Rob Peter to pay Paul. So I just can't wait until people see it. We can defund you guys and turn this thing around because this spiritual battle is going to get real, real quick.

Final call for Mark Leog and Sharok. Not seeing those individuals in the chamber. We'll now hear from those that requested to speak by phone. Again, in accordance with the board's rules, we'll be hearing from the first five callers. The remaining callers will be heard at the conclusion of today's session. When it is your turn to speak, you'll be unmuted and you will hear a recording that will tell you to begin your comments. We will start with our first caller.

Hello, both. George Bernard Shaw described Politox saying the biggest problem in communication is the illusion that has taken place. You do not live in an illusion so much as a dream. The Voice of San Diego filed their records request in March, got them in November after eight months of inciting and ballyhoo, and five months after a judge ordered their release. More PRA requests that the county tried to withhold citing phony reasons. Several supervisors seem genuinely shocked now, though I hope for no more pretend independent oversight or other business as usual. First, county officials claimed they didn't have the records to disclose. Then they incorrectly claimed that two county facilities weren't part of the department we sought records from, and later said they accidentally failed to include them in their search for records. The county also maintained for more than a year that complaints couldn't be released under state law about whistleblower hotlines. Not releasing them could have a chilling effect. The Public Records Act, the government code 7922.600, says when a member of the public requests to inspect the public record or to make a copy, the public agency three must provide suggestions for overcoming any practical basis for denying access to the records or information sought. Now we know about significant cultures. Here's an Edgemore facility that serves medically fragile adults.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

Consuelo, order out of chaos. The rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer. The government has the media, they have the money, they have the gullible masses ready to hand over their hard-earned money and willingly accept even more restrictions. The corruption continues. And the masses are still buying into the illusion that they actually have a choice, that they actually call the shots. They don't. Politicians don't work for the people. They don't serve the people. They serve an agenda. They serve the powerful interests. They serve globalist ideologies. And many are simply climbing that political ladder, looking for the next position, the next title, the next opportunity. And right here in our county, our county officials continue to ignore concerned parents, They ignore struggling families, ignore veterans that are suffering. They neglect the very people who need their help the most. But they have no problem finding money for stupid-ass bike lanes that only a minuscule fraction of this county will ever use. And they have no problem pouring money into institutions like CPS and the Polinsky Center, systems that tear families apart. And so ask the question, where is the government investing and why aren't the government investing in our families and keeping them together? And where's the help for the parents who are struggling? Where's the support for the families who need a hand instead of government intervention? That's where their priorities should be, but they're not. And to those who want to enter the system and run for office, I say this. The system was never intended to benefit humanity. You want to play a game that you will never come out ahead in. The system is running exactly how it was designed to run. So stop fooling yourself. Stop perpetuating the system. Thank you.

We'll hear from the next caller.

Hi, my name is Madison, and I'd like to talk about a form of waste that we see everywhere, which is cigarette butts and discarded vapes. Cigarette butts are one of the most commonly littered items in the world. They contain toxic chemicals that can leach into soil and waterways, and the plastic filters do not simply disappear. They break down into smaller pieces, creating microplastic pollution. Vape waste also creates a problem because these products contain batteries, plastics, electronic components, and leftover nicotine. When they are tossed onto sidewalks, into parks, into the gutters into irregular into the regular trash they can become both an environmental hazard and a waste management problem as a parent my concern is where this waste ends up on our sidewalks parks beaches and other places where children play children should not be regularly exposed to vape or cigarette waste while walking to school or playing at a park we should be thinking about the full life cycle of these products not just what happens when they're sold but what happens when they're thrown away I encourage the city to continue looking for meaningful ways to reduce cigarette and vape litter, increase proper disposal options, and hold the tobacco industry accountable for the waste its products create. If we care about protecting our environment, that also means protecting the places where our children live, play, and grow. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

My name is Kathleen Lippitt. Excuse me. I'd like to comment on the county's biodiversity proclamation this morning. I would like to point out that the biodiversity name only and just ending up there and speaking, it does not, it has to be reflected in your policies and none of your policies are respectful of biodiversity. All of them are undermining the environment, the residents who live there, the air, the soil. You are going backwards, and it's frustrating because there is no need, but it is frustrating that there is such a lack of information and education that your county planning groups need to recognize These green energy policies are not green. They're not recyclable. They are not sustainable, and they are very, very low energy, and they are costly, and they will economically devastate the residents. Not just the residents, but the groundwater, the animals, the wildlife that you say you care about. If you care about them, then stop these policies. You do not have the right to do this. Just because you have four years or three years, hopefully short years, of your political careers, and I hope they do end soon, you don't have the right to ruin this land for our future generations, not to have, not to enjoy, and not to be able to live on. Sorry, it's been very... I hope it helped it.

Thank you. We'll hear from the final caller.

Good morning. My name is Becky Rapp and I'm here today because I'm deeply concerned about the complete disregard for the planning groups and residents who took time to participate in the socially equitable cannabis program process. They brought legitimate environmental concerns, land use concerns, and public health concerns. They participated because they believed their voices mattered in the county planning process. But those concerns were not acknowledged. Your own environmental impact report identified significant concerns, including impacts related to odor, traffic, noise, water, and wildlife, concerns identified in the county's own environmental analysis reports. It seems contradictory as today during proclamation, San Diego was recognized as the most biodiverse county in the nation. And yet simultaneously, this board is choosing to move forward with a program that could place additional pressure on some of our most environmentally sensitive areas. Planning groups exist to provide local knowledge and community input on land use decisions. They should not be treated as an obstacle when their recommendations or concerns are inconvenient. If the county's own environmental document identifies significant impacts, those impacts deserve serious discussion. And if residents raise public health concerns, they deserve answers. If planning groups raise land use concerns, they deserve to be heard. It shouldn't be about whether the board respects the planning process. It should be that they respect the residents who participate in it. And it takes its own environmental findings seriously. I ask you to reconsider. Thank you.

Thank you. And Chair Lassen-Riemer, that concludes requests for non-agenda public communication this morning. Again, all the remaining speakers will be heard at the conclusion of today's session.

Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you to all our speakers for participating. We now move on to the approval of the minutes. This is for the session of September 1st and September 22nd and September 2nd, 2026, as well as the minutes for the concurrent special district meetings of the San Diego County Fire Protection District for June 24 and June 25. Is there a motion to approve?

Second.

Thank you. Is there a second? Okay, we have a motion and a second. Please, Andrew, call the vote.

Chair Lawson-Riemer, that motion passes unanimously with all supervisors being present and voting aye.

Okay, great. We now proceed with the formation of the consent agenda. This is items 1 through 15 and fire protection item 24. Items on consent will be acted upon with one motion. Does my colleague, Vice Chair Montgomery-Step, have anything to pull or any comments to make?

No need to pull anything, just a couple comments on item number 10. The approval of bonds for the promenade apartments in Hillcrest that will be built in District 4. This, I think, is a phenomenal project that unlocks $40 million in private capital to build 94 affordable homes for families in a high resource area under the criteria of the California Department of Housing and Community Development. What sets this project apart from most affordable housing developments are the amenities and services included, such as the Life Steps program. The program will consist of on-site financial literacy, adult education classes, homebuyer education, nutrition classes, and health and wellness services. This project embodies an investment in upward mobility with life-changing tools for our residents. I'm happy to support this project, and I will move the consent agenda. Thank you.

Okay, we have a motion on the floor. Chair Pro Tem.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm not going to pull any items, but I do have a few comments. Happy to second. I just want to take a quick moment to recognize the tremendous work that has gone into, this is on item three, into updating the emergency operations plan. And I want to thank the Office of Emergency Services, our county departments, our community partners, and regional agencies who contributed to it. For those of us representing District 1 and 4, the January 2024 floods were deeply personal. We saw firsthand the devastation they caused for families and neighborhoods across our communities, and most devastating, the loss of life that occurred that day and the trauma that survivors continue to deal with today, every time it rains. Those floods exposed areas where we as a collective region of 18 jurisdictions needed to improve sheltering, evacuation, public communication, and coordination. But at the end of the day, we all have a shared responsibility to support one another and to make sure every person in this region is protected, especially the elderly, people with disabilities, residents with medical or mobility needs. those who may need additional assistance during an emergency, or those without the means to leave. I appreciate the update, and I appreciate that this update takes those lessons seriously and incorporates them into how the county prepares for the next emergency. And I know we'll hear a dedicated presentation today on El Nino preparedness, so I'll save the broader discussion for then. But I did want to recognize the work that has gone into this plan and underscore why it matters. I also want to speak to quickly item two and give tremendous gratitude and thanks to our firefighters, medical dispatchers, paramedics, and everyone who makes the system work. Obviously, whether you're responding in District 1 or anywhere across the county, our communities depend on you for some of the most difficult and dangerous moments of their lives. The work that you do doesn't stop just because the conditions are difficult, when it's raining, when there's a wildfire, wherever that is happening to our communities. you are there in the time of need. And I just wanted to thank our first responders and firefighters for all of their work. And then just lastly, quickly on item four, I wanted to briefly call it out. Safe Routes to School is a program that improves the routes children use to get to school. making it safer and easier for students and families to walk, bike, and stay active. I want to thank Caltrans for the funding to support this work. We also want to shout out the Childhood Obesity Initiative, which has championed safe routes to school for many years as well. The Childhood Obesity Initiative is celebrating their 20-year anniversary this year, and AND THEIR CONTINUED EFFORTS TO BUILD NEIGHBORHOODS THAT GIVES KIDS SAFE OPPORTUNITIES TO MOVE, PLAY, AND THRIVE, ADDRESSING CHILDHOOD OBESITY, ARE CRUCIAL TO ADDRESSING CHILDHOOD OBESITY. SO THEIR WORK, ALONG WITH THE FUNDING FROM CALTRANS, ARE VITAL TO THAT ONGOING MISSION. THANK YOU, AND THAT CONCLUDES MY REMARKS.

OKAY, THANK YOU SO MUCH. SUPERVISOR DESMOND.

NO ITEMS TO PULL, NO COMMENTS. THANKS.

OKAY, SUPERVISOR ANDERSON.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to pull item 13, please. Has there been a motion already?

Yes, there's a motion and a second on the floor.

Okay.

Okay. Thank you very much. We'll go to public comment.

Thank you, Chair Lawson-Riemer. We have 13 requests to speak on matters on the consent agenda, two in person and 11 requesting to speak by phone. As a reminder, item 13 has been pulled from the consent agenda for discussion, so any individuals that requested to speak on that item, please hold your comments until we receive comment on that item separately. For those that requested to speak by phone, please dial in at the conference line using the instructions that were provided to you. We'll begin with the in-person speakers. As your name is called, please come forward and stand on the arrows until it is your turn to speak at the podium. you will have two minutes to address the board. Please begin by stating your name for the audio record. Also, when speaking, please identify which item or items on the consent agenda you are speaking about. I'd like to invite forward the in-person speakers, Billy Tomasello and allegedly Audra. If I've called your name, please come forward.

Property tax. You guys love taking people's homes. Wonder how many you're going to take this coming year. It's just creeps increasing. People never in the home. It's fantastic. And then the refugee support services. Interesting over the many years that we funded the invasion of our border and exploited all the people that you are trying to protect right now, claiming that you're upset that things are happening. You didn't seem to care when they were being raped and all the things along the way, but you know, it's because you were making money off of it. And number five, this children's services program. I'm wondering if this is going to be funding the abortions, the ones that are after birth. Also, you know, the transgender surgeries, so children can go, you know, chop off their penis if they have one or you know potentially when they don't even have breasts they could still just chop them off and then just put hormones in them that's fun because it's so great to do that to children it really shows that you care about them and then let's see we got your fuel contingency plan that's going to be interesting if there's a shortage who's going to get the fuel definitely not the people because you're going to come and rob them blind in the process of some natural disaster, right? Like a storm that comes every 100 years has nothing to do with weather modification. And your operational area emergency operations plan. It's funny that you create projects that put people in danger for a fire that we have no evacuation plans. I bet if you asked anybody here, what would you do in a fire? And they'd be like, I don't know where to go. We're just... supposed to figure it out when it happens. And then when your phone doesn't work, you're supposed to go to those apps that will tell you where you're supposed to go. It's so smart. And then it's interesting with this competency stuff. That's a whole other racket. The whole judicial system and keeping people in the jail and drugging them up and stuff like that, and then, you know, deeming whether or not they're competent. It's a great way to, like, extend criminal charges and stuff, you know, and drug people up to just get money off of them. Great job racketeering, you guys.

And we'll hear from the next speaker. Good morning, Chair. And members of the board, my name is Billy Tomasello. I represent over 1100 firefighters, Cal Fire in San Diego County and 10th District in San Diego. I want to take this moment to sincerely thank for your continued trust in Cal Fire and San Diego County Fire Protection District for recognizing the importance role our members play in protecting the communities of San Diego County. The relationship between San Diego County Fire and Cal Fire is something our members truly value. You have placed a tremendous amount of trust in our firefighters, our paramedics, our engineers, our captains, and our chief officers to protect the communities of the county, and we don't take that responsibility lightly. Our members take this responsibility serious. Every day we respond to fires, medical aids, and rescues of wildfires, countless other emergencies, also working to prevent and prepare the next disaster. We are proud of the partnership we have built, and we are proud to serve these communities. Most importantly, our members don't take your trust for granted. We know what's at stake, and every time these tones drop, we will continue showing the county that you have made the right decision in trusting Cal Fire and San Diego County Fire. On behalf of our members, thank you for your partnership, your support, and your continued confidence in the men and women we serve. I appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll now hear from the individuals that requested to speak by phone. When it is your turn to speak, you will be unmuted and you will hear a recording that will tell you to begin your comments. We will start with our first caller.

Paul Bold, 6 Caldhran Street. Glad you mentioned safe crossings because the things I've seen ain't. A green sugarboard pattern like Sandag or San Diego uses, it won't stop a car. And with Zooks and Tesla rubber taxis being deployed without steering wheels or brake pedals, entire streets will be messed up. I'm hopeful that this grant of $700,000 improves things. One, security agreement. You want to contract mod with Liberty Health to provide security for nine months while they treat incompetent and trial persons ISTs. Liberty has good facilities, but should make an arrangement for over nine months and find out why your policies are driving so many people nuts from violent treatment of peaceful individuals like Andrew Epping, to harassing homeless arbitrarily, to DEI staff, to taxing people for wasteful spending on projects which are never completed, like the TJ River Valley cleanup. Three, emergency office plans. It would be nice if the report identified each of the operational areas that we could tell whether there are still current And I don't see what the CEO should direct an emergency response in one jurisdiction, but only coordinated all the fire, only coordinated if it's in several jurisdictions, council and countywide. And if you think it's not a good procedure, well, the fire spreads. And I say no plan in occurrence for Del Mar, Imperial Beach and La Mesa.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

Hi, my name is Madison and I support item five and the county's efforts to connect eligible children with health coverage, case management and therapy services. Children with complex medical needs deserve access to comprehensive care. I also encourage the county to recognize that comprehensive children's health care must include prevention. We often focus on providing treatment after a child becomes sick or develops a serious problem. But if we could prevent health problems in the first place, it's usually better for the child, the family, and the public resources required to provide care. Substance use prevention should be part of that conversation. Children and adolescents are in a particularly important stage of physical, emotional, and brain development. exposure to drugs and early substance use can contribute to serious consequences, including mental health problems, impaired academic performance, and substance use disorders. The county has an opportunity to think beyond simply connecting children with treatment services once a problem has happened. It can also invest a little bit in helping children avoid preventable health problems through education, early intervention, family support, and effective prevention programs, which actually cost less than all of these after-the-fact costs. The ultimate goal of Children's Health Services should not simply be to provide excellent care after a child has been harmed. It should be to give every child the best possible opportunity to remain healthy in the first place. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll go to the next caller.

Okay, so I'm speaking on, I believe five, I don't have my paper in front of me, which was regarding the child services.

Let's see.

Hold on, please, hold on. Okay, so I just wanted to get back to what I said earlier regarding the you know, the investment of tearing families apart instead of investing to keep them together. And, uh, yeah, I just find that another, I mean, it's just so huge and telling yet people continue to like, it's been sold the lie of government is here to help and it's not, it's just here to control. I truly wish people would stop bullying themselves regarding that fact. Um, yeah, regards regarding that, um, you know, the reality is you guys aren't doing the families any favor, uh, any favors or, you know, the future generations are already addicted to trauma because they've seen it so much within their young lives. And, um, And it's all due to government. And that's another thing. It's just, it's a major, it's just so funny how people don't realize that the most horrific things have been done to us by our good old governments throughout the world, honestly, government and religion. And yet those are the two institutions that have the most blind followers, um, Gosh, I feel like I'm speaking for five minutes now. But anyways, yep, that's about all I have to say. Thank you.

We'll hear from the next caller.

Good morning. My name is Becky Rapp, and I'd like to speak to items number one and number five. The California Children's Services Program is an important investment. It serves thousands of children with serious and complex medical conditions. In order to do this, the county focuses on utilization, outcomes, and identifying communities with greater health needs. But are we using that same commitment to data when it comes to identifying preventable threats to children? Are we tracking pediatric emergency visits involving marijuana intoxication, cannabis-associated vomiting, psychosis, suicidal behavior, and other substance-related incidences? Item number five, I support the county in investing in treatment for people found incompetent to stand trial because of serious mental illness. This is important. But again, where is the prevention and where is the data? Are we examining potential substance-related factors? Are we tracking cannabis involvement in psychosis, psychiatric emergencies, and other serious behavioral health events? These two items point out that the county is willing to invest millions of dollars in treating serious health and behavioral health consequences. But we should be equally committed to understanding what may be contributing to those problems in the first place. So I'm asking this board to make sure our public health and behavioral health data systems are capturing these risks so that prevention, not just treatment after the crisis, becomes the priority. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

Hey, it's True Tonics. Item 1, restoring competency means the county allowing criminals to avoid serving their time by tying them to chairs or beds and drugging them. Item 4, it's an admission by the county that gasoline is important and that EVs are junk in emergencies. Item 5, this county repeatedly spells children under its corrupt watch. $24 million won't make things better. And the equity impact saying racism is a public health crisis proves that this board is suffering a mental health crisis. Item 7, no 2, $5.6 million in the SEDS to bring even more alleged refugees from the United Nations into our country to receive taxpayer-funded housing, transportation, food, lawyers, and even entertainment. About 2,000 people serviced means each person cost us about $2,800. 58% of them are Haitians whose top concerns include how to use the computer. Very promising. Item 10, note of $40 million in bond debt so CRP Promenade LP can have 95 units of phenomenally expensive, ugly stacking packs that destroyed a historic Craftsman home in Hillcrest. Matt says these one-bedroom boxes would have to cost over $430,000 just to break even. Item 14, note of terrorist campaign donor pick of UCSD slash Rady's Benjamin Maxwell to the Child and Family Board. He's a DHS BSer looking to harm children. Noted Mexico Loyalist Manny's pick of Rachel Morino to the Community Action Board. She's a former corrupt Chula Vista Council cartel member and a member with human traffickers, SBCS, and Catholic Charities. Noted Ebony's pick of Brandon Duran to the Community Action Board. The Executive Director of Interfaith Shelter Network is a conflict of interest since Interfaith is county funded. Item 15, the Progressive Women have a big back door. Attachment Be Alone is 555 pages. Talk about burying information. And Ebony's still not signing documents for herself. What is she going to do without Andrew Strong? I don't know, but good riddance. I hope more of you leave. We're just getting started. Another one bites the dust, as always.

Yeah, we'll hear from the next caller.

Good morning. Excuse me. I came this morning to speak to consent item six regarding the acceptance of $700,000 in grant funds from the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, and reducing miles traveled to and from schools. My name is Terri Ann Scali, and I work with my county planning group on good public health and safety policy in land use decisions. I appreciate the Board of Supervisors and staff's concern for traffic and roadway in public safety regards. Item six is under consideration today. Where I live in the county, there are windy, sometimes rocky roads over grown foliage, and some roads are poorly lit at times and dangerous when it rains. Today, I came to remind the Board of Supervisors what a danger there is in the county, unincorporated communities from drug-impaired drivers. This is a situation, excuse me, We know well in our family-oriented neighborhoods with our perilous roadways, no more so than when the teens and young adults and others drive these back-county roads to and from schools and other locations. I would like to respectfully suggest you could do something about a situation that contributes to the dangerous use of cannabis and impaired driving it causes. Remove enticing and distracting marijuana billboards from our roadways and do not open marijuana lounges. This school year, 2026, should be the year to make those such changes. Thank you for hearing my concerns this morning.

Thank you.

We'll now hear from the next caller.

Good morning, Board of Supervisors. Ann Riddle here. I came to address Consent Items 5 and 6. I was particularly enthused about them because both these programs require cooperation with schools and of particular interest to the schools out here in our unincorporated area who need all the help that we can get, particularly 5 that has to do with a a commitment and funding to provide proper healthcare for what we're calling medically complex young people and children. We used to call them medically fragile, but the same sense is that their needs are great and their health is great. And one of the issues identified is available resources and the ability to get to those resources, which is a huge issue out here in the unincorporated area. Consent item six speaks about safe ride routes to school, a program I'm really well acquainted with because many of the TTAs out here in the unincorporated area had sponsored these programs up until recently. I'm concerned that both of these programs do emphasize relationships with schools, and yet we seem to pick, we seem to treat Our schools out here in the unincorporated area, with disrespect, I was particularly impressed with Orisa Anderson from Bonzo Planning Group, who's also the board president of the school board out there, pleading for you not to bring marijuana cultivation and other businesses to her area. How difficult it makes her job making it a safe place for her children and how she has not been able to build a school out there that they desperately need, but they're quickly going to build marijuana businesses. What the heck? I agree with her. Is that what we really want to advance? Good examples? The ambiguity between what you're trying to accomplish in five minutes?

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

Hector here. I'd like to emulate the last lady. Her 5 and 6 thing, that's so true, Matt. It's just so crazy how you guys are promoting drug use and they're not going to school. And then the proclamations. We've got to proclaim that the Arab bastard, that guy, the mayor of New York, that Muslim dude, we've got to proclaim him of the devil. That guy's smiling during 9-11. Him and AOC were smiling.

Can you please stop the speaker's time? This is the consent agenda. So you can speak on any item in the consent agenda. Please clarify which item you're speaking to and make sure your comments are on topic.

The marijuana scene. was that in the back country you're having those uh for the schools close buying stuff we should uh have the marijuana company bonded for like fifty thousand dollars is attacked go after their bond they're not paying taxes and they're letting them the city is doing the same thing they don't pay their taxes just clarify which item you're speaking to i'm looking at the consent agenda i think that's You know, I think that's five. I think I checked a lot of them, most of them. But I just don't have it in front of me. I'm talking on the phone. I didn't print it out. I'm kind of confused all the numbers. What's the title of the item? Whatever Truth said. I'll respond to what Truth said.

Sir, we're not responding to what Truth said. The speaker's time is forfeited.

Thank you. Thank you. We'll hear from the final caller.

Hi, Natalie Raschke. Number one, where are the state hospitals to put patients? I'm a little confused even reading through the consent agenda where these hospitals are at and where are they going to go or where are these people going to go and who says who is... mentally disabled to go in these hospitals that's a little concerning to me number five the children's program services i'm it's it's frustrating to me because i'm all about children and services for them i have a 12 year old son This summer, I had to explain to him, because he was getting these pop-ups on his feed of people talking about Jeffrey Epstein, and I had to explain to him in a certain sort of way of what that means, because he still was, you know, unclear of what, and I tried to keep it PG, and he was still a little confused, but this is what we're doing to our children. How do I explain that to him?

Please pause the speaker's time. Just a reminder that your remarks need to be relevant to the matter on the agenda. Those remarks were not relevant to the matter on the agenda. You can continue, but if you are speaking off topic, you will forfeit your time.

I feel like it is on topic when we're talking about services for children. We're mentally disturbing individuals topics that I have to talk about that are running in our administration. So we're having our children have to have these services because it makes sense to me because we're still operating in a system that there's no accountability or no repercussions or no, I mean, facts have been said. And so we're allowing to have our children have to have mental health services because we're operating in these systems that are weird so it's kind of like a mind twist even for adults it's traumatizing uh number six the word sustainable uh causes me great grief as well because these words are used thank you and chair loss and rumor that concludes requests for items in the consent agenda

Okay. Okay. Thank you very much. We have a motion by Vice Chairman. Can we step in a second by Chair Partemagiri? Item 13 has been pulled. Please vote.

Chair Lawson-Riemer, that motion passes unanimously with all supervisors being present and voting aye. Aye.

Okay, thank you very much. We now move on to item 13. This was the item that was pulled from consent. This is the second consideration adoption of the ordinance to amend the rules and duties for the Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board and approve updated rules and regulations. We can begin with public comment.

Thank you, Chair Lawson-Riemer. We have nine requests to speak on this item, one in person, and eight requesting to speak by phone. Also note for the record that we received one e-comment in opposition. For any individuals that requested to speak on item 13 by phone, please dial into the conference line using the instructions that were provided to you. I'd like to invite forward our in-person speaker, allegedly Audra. You'll have two minutes to address the board. Thank you.

I was lost for a second.

We're on 13? Okay. Oh, this is a good one. Citizen Law Enforcement Review Board, which is pointless. Doesn't matter what you do to, you know, approve updated rules and regulations, bring in different policies and stuff. There's no enforcement. And again, there's people on there that will tell somebody who was beat up by a sheriff that they should have known they were being arrested because they had a badge on. That seems a bit weird. So I don't know that these people can be trusted when there's clear video and medical evidence of injuries that have continued for years, which is so great. And to be told that because someone's wearing a badge, I should know they're arrested. So again, because they're wearing badges, does that mean every time I see somebody with a badge, I should get on the ground, put my hands behind my back, Monica, if I was black, would you say that was racist? Probably, right? But because I am Native American and a bunch of other things, it doesn't matter, you know? And it's just because my name's Audra and because I come in here and because I hold you guys accountable and I say things that you don't like. But it's very concerning when we have people that we're supposed to trust to be bringing in accountability when there's... business being done that is keeping people, certain people from getting any kind of justice, depending on who they are. And so it's very sad to see that that can continue. But that's why this is an inverted world. And we must show people that. That's why we need to turn to God and turn away from the spiritual wickedness that has enveloped this place and has turned everything upside down to where people do the things that you guys do. So hopefully you guys will course correct before you meet our maker, but if not, good luck.

We'll now hear from the individuals that requested to speak by phone. We'll start with our first caller.

More than three members should be ruling on these important legal items. Why do we have juries of 12 people? So that a tiny oligarchy, like yourselves, by the way, doesn't corrupt the process. Police also inspect all jails, not just adult jails. Section 340.7c sets the number of clerk members to pass a motion or proposal as a majority of a quorum or every one of the members. one quarter of them instead of half of them. The whole purpose of CLEARB is to get a good recommendation, not a half decision. Section 340.98 authorizes CLEARB to inspect adult jails annually, but not juvenile jails. Which, given what has gone on and does go on and still goes on there, sounds very suspicious. Like you're covering your asses like you always do. Especially since the AG is investigating the juvenile facilities, and because juvenile testimony is often disregarded, they need special attention. I don't know how these got by legal counsel. The amendment should be rejected. And by the way, speaking of address, since I basically helped start the process, I was absolutely shocked by the disregard for established law. I even went so far to research the police procedure manual, and they totally disregarded it. The guy wasn't even wearing a body-worn camera, you know, and he didn't get disciplined or anything. Talking. And, you know, there was definitely excessive force used Nothing happened. Shocking. I mean...

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

Okay, so 13. Yeah. Shocking is right, Paul the Bold. The oligarchy covering their asses. Okay, 13, adopt an ordinance to amend rules due to clear blah, blah, blah. Okay, so I will just reiterate what my amazing partner in life just mentioned. Okay, two nefarious changes, section 340.7c, which sets the number of clear members to pass a motion or proposal as a majority of a quorum rather than of the members. So that's one-fourth instead of a half. The whole purpose of CLRB is to get a good recommendation, not a half-assed decision. Section 34.9 authorizes CLRB to inspect all adult jails annually, but not juvenile jails, which given what has gone on and does go on there, it sounds suspicious. Well, no freaking shit. Our poor children. Holy fuck. I feel terrible. The system has got to go. Anyway, so especially since the AG is still investigating the juvenile facilities, and because juvenile testimony is often disregarded, they need special attention. Amen. I agree. What's also said is... Don't know how these got by legal counsel. Whoa. Oh, my God, for real. Yeah, everything goes by legal counsel, and they're not there for the people. They're there to cover the asses of the oligarchy. Okay, the amendment should be rejected. Reject, reject, reject. Reject this amendment. Reject it. Reject it. Reject it. Reject it.

Yeah, we'll hear from the next caller.

It's Truth Tonics. I guess the first question would be, who is the county council? Because you keep losing them every other week. Oh, okay. And also, for transparency's sake, which we know Tara is 100% against, we should have started with Joel explaining why this item was pulled, especially because we already heard its nonsense one time. It's like, why do we need to hear it again? That should bring some transparency to the lack of transparency of a board, and I don't mean you guys, I actually mean CLIRB itself, who are a bunch of unqualified activists, I repeat that again, that the progressives are counting on to do their bidding like good anti-cop minions with no obligation to show up to their own meetings. That's what I remember reading. And the quorum is apparently only three people. That was nice to learn, three people. Oh, that kind of sounds like the Board of Supervisors, doesn't it? form of only three people, only three votes required to ruin the county, destroy it. But magically, these guys are going to have alleged training to inspect adult detention facilities while the county's child detention facilities are allowed to be riddled with abuse, neglect, and horrific crimes. No irony there. How about section 16.3E? It says If CURB lacks jurisdiction, cooperation, protected evidence, or the allegation clearly lacks merit, the finding shall be summary dismissal. Isn't that an admission that CURB may go after cases that it doesn't have any jurisdiction over or couldn't get cooperation? It kind of brings it back to zero. It has no point. Just minions. So on that note, I welcome... Oh, well thought out responses to my comments. Forget what Tara says. Nothing she says is important. Thank you.

And we'll hear from the next caller.

I hope you read the letter because this isn't over. Yeah, I don't understand why you guys refuse to follow the NVRA regulations regarding our elections. It's probably so they can pass bullshit like this, huh? Right? As long as you can pretend that the problem does not exist, you could act like you've never known about it. But here's the problem with that. As I stated, like, years ago to you guys, there's an election law in the 18500 series that says basically you cannot prevent someone from exposing election fraud. And that is all that you've been trying to do with me. Now, I've been playing, like, just shooting from my hip from this entire time. You know that and I know that. I know where my laws are, and I know what I'm allowed to do. I'm allowed to go ahead and bring up these grievances in any fashion that I wish, as long as I stay within the measures. And I have every single step of the way, and that is a problem that you have with me, don't you? I haven't broken any law. I haven't threatened anyone. And that whole strong dude is a fucking chicken shit bastard. And thank God he no longer works for the county because he was the NGO operative in the very beginning. I've had many conversations with him. My fears of going to Civil War, World War, if we don't fix...

This is your first warning. You need to stay on topic for your comments to be relevant to the item to which you're speaking. If you are off topic again or speaking to board staff as opposed to the supervisors, you will be asked to leave the meeting. Thank you.

I apologize. I was speaking to you. I was telling you guys that, and I'm sorry if you didn't want the rest of the people to know that. I get you on that. What exactly topic are we on right now? Because all of it is remembering around elections, because our elected people are going to be making the choices on this.

And you guys take care left about our election. This is your first warning. If you're off topic again, you will be asked to leave the chamber for the remainder of the meeting.

Thank you. Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

Hello.

Next caller is Hector. Hello. Yes, please go ahead, Hector.

All right. I am 13. I'm watching TV now. I'm like four. Most of you guys ignore the laws anyway. And it's hard when you really start reading the laws. You're not following the law. You're kind of making your own laws up. You disregard the federal laws, immigration laws. You disregard that. So now you're making this other law or trying to consider some duty or something. It's no wonder it's so up in the air with people calling in. And even, you know, it's kind of sad, man. A lot of times it's just super funny. So adopt the ordinance. You've got all these things. You've got a lawyer up there. I don't know if he can interpret the law, though. because he's sitting there while you guys aren't obeying the federal law of immigration. So it's kind of a, which law should we obey? It's a toss-up. Should we have a dartboard up there and have a dartboard law enforcement kind of thing? Which one should we enforce or not enforce? Maybe have the Ordnance Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board meet down at the prison in Tijuana, and we can move some prisoners down there from our place and save money, and then they can review their stuff down there, whatever the rules they broke or their duties, it would save the county a lot of money. We'd really be getting out to jail. Give me a chance.

Pause the speaker. Sir, this is your first warning. Your comments need to be on topic. These comments are not relevant to the clerk item. Thank you.

On this item, I definitely agree with Truth again. You can almost just do whatever she said, but I agree with her. She does it better than I do. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll hear from the final caller.

Hi, Natalie Raschke. Item number 13, Clerbs Oversight Authority, twice. Narrows CLRB's oversight authority twice. First, it changes CLRB's detention facility inspection duty from standing mandate to annually inspect county's adult detention facilities to conditional one. CLRB may inspect only in the absence of the authority or jurisdiction of another agency. Second, it lowers the vote threshold from majority of all 11 appointed members to a majority of whoever shows up in a quorum. as few as four voters. The state board, community corrections, and the grand jury almost always hold some jurisdiction here. Conditioning Clerb's duty on their absence doesn't modernize the language. It removes Clerb's own trigger to act. From a body voter is created to an independently overseas sheriff in probation. So with that, I don't think we should adopt the written language and strike it and require Clerb to document another way. It seems that there's, an out given here, or there's word trickery. I don't know. It's just written in a way that seems to kind of bypass the whole point of clerks ordinance symbols. Thank you.

Thank you. And Chair Lustenramer, that concludes public comment on this item.

Okay. Supervisor Anderson.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't need a presentation. I'm happy to, if we move to the vote.

Okay, thank you very much. Vice Chairman, can we stop?

Thank you. I'm going to go ahead and move staff recommendation.

I'll second. Okay, we have a motion and a second on the floor. Please vote.

Chair Lawson-Riemer, that motion passes with Supervisor Anderson voting no, all other supervisors being present and voting aye.

Okay, thank you all very much. We're now moving on to item 16. And let me, before we do that, let me give a little bit of a preview of the remainder of the day. Our hope was to be breaking for lunch around noon at the conclusion of this item. And then after that, we will... We hope to get through the majority of this meeting or the remainder of this meeting by around five o'clock, 5.15, and then we'll go to closed session. So that's, I'll keep everyone posted as the day goes on, but we're looking to be pretty well on track this day. Okay, so we now move on to item 16. Unless has received the presentation on the draft economic impact study and recommendations on the Tijuana Sewage Crisis. We will begin with the staff presentation, then we'll go to board comments and discussion.

Good day, Chair Lawson-Riemer and members of the board. I am Steve Lockett, deputy director for EDGA. We are here today to present to you the preliminary findings and recommendations of the Tijuana River Crisis Economic Impact Study, which was directed by your board on September 9th, 2025. The county procured the expertise of Eco Northwest to conduct this work. Eco Northwest was chosen for their experience in economic studies, as well as their knowledge of air and water quality research, and their familiarity with the sewage crisis. Today's presentation will provide an overview of the outreach, research, and analysis conducted in the scope of this project, as well as economic findings and recommendations for how the county can use this information moving forward. The full impact study report will be finalized in mid-October, at which point we will share it with your offices. I will now turn over the presentation to Chris Blakeney from Eco Northwest.

Thank you, Steve, and good day, Chair Lawson-Riemann, members of the Board. My name is Chris Blakeney. I am a partner and principal with the consulting firm ECHO Northwest. It has been a pleasure of our firm to be working with the county and your regional community on this study. Today's presentation, I have an agenda up here. We will cover the background for the study, our process for stakeholder engagement and outreach, a sampling of preliminary findings, and a series of preliminary recommendations for the county. Next slide, please. So first I'm going to set some context for the background and purpose of the project. We started with the hypothesis that the sewage crisis had impacted residents, communities, businesses, and visitors. And then we looked for evidence that could be inferred or measured in terms of costs associated with those impacts. This research included economic research and analysis, a review of water and air quality studies, and stakeholder and community engagement. Next slide please. And so I'm going to start with an overview of our methodology. And this graphic represents a framework that we use for our cost pathway analysis. It starts with the initial effects of the crisis. And so this is the science. This is the physical aspect of the crisis. Downstream, we observe the intermediate effects of things like illness rates or impacts on population and migration or impacts on visitors and tourism. And then downstream from there, we draw a through line to the cost factors. And so the influence of those intermediate effects on things like tourism and recreation economy, public finance, property, public health and infrastructure costs. Next slide, please. And so when we started collecting data for this analysis, it became immediately clear that due to data availability, quality, and outcomes, many of the costs that I just referenced and identified we're not necessarily, we had the ability to monetize them. And so we created this framework to be able to speak to some of these costs, to be able to show which ones are monetized and which ones are remaining kind of in a theoretical implication perspective. Next slide, please. I want to talk briefly about our engagement process, which was strong. In our community outreach, we took a two-phased approach. We started with reaching out to 40 organizations. That was a curated list that was in coordination with staff and jurisdictions to set up guided focus groups where we could receive their input from their constituents, their experiences, and their insights. We also set up a website with four targeted surveys, one each for residents, businesses, visitors, and regional organizations. Our response rate for the focus groups was a 42% response rate of the folks that were invited to participate, and of the 850 unique viewers of the website, we had a response rate of 244 people that participated in one or more of the surveys. This here is just a representation of what the website looked like. And again, the four categories around businesses, residents, visitors, and organizations. And another thing to note is that all these materials were also translated into Spanish and made available in Spanish. So what did we hear? So this is just a sampling of a couple of the survey questions from both the business and the community survey. But through both of these processes, there were three themes that really stuck out. First, people are saying that they're getting sick. People are saying that they're changing their behaviors, both their consumer behaviors and their recreating behaviors. And businesses are saying that they are losing customers. So this is really the qualitative insights that we're getting from the engagement data collection process. Next slide, please. And these themes show up in the data. And so I'm gonna go into a sampling of findings from here and walk you through some of those outcomes. And so this is a really interesting chart that shows, firstly, the change in public perception. So we're showing the red bars, the change in flow, in sewage flow, and then the blue line is the Google Trends analysis that's of individuals that are searching the keywords for this crisis. And you can see the tightness there of showing public awareness increasing over time as the crisis has increased. Next, business starts. We observe a lot of this analysis is centered around these three kind of catalytic events, starting with the 2017 event increases in transband reflows observed beginning in 2020, and then the 2023 tropical storm Hillary impact. And so when we look at business starts, we see an immediate impact and lack of business or a reduction in business investment in our study area following each of these events.

Next slide, please.

So this line chart here represents, in Coronado and Imperial Beach, the number of visitors that are recreating at these beaches. And you can see, again, correlated to that timeframe, significant decreases of the number of people that are recreating at the beaches in impacted areas. Next slide, please. And this has a real cost. And so this was a big central component of our analysis. So we find that the reduction in visitor spending in these communities related to a reduction in visitors to the local businesses and local economy measures between $125.6 and $503.5 million annually. So when we extrapolate that number or those numbers that range across a 20-year horizon, if unmitigated, this crisis will cost the county economy between $1.9 and $7.9 billion over that time horizon. Next slide, please. We can also infer fiscal impacts. So what I'm showing here is a reduction in transit occupancy tax revenues in three areas, in Imperial Beach, Coronado, and then a weighted average across the region. We see a significant decrease in TOT tax revenues in Imperial Beach, and we're also observing Coronado growing, but growing at a far more measured rate than what we're seeing in the economy as a whole. Next slide, please. One interesting finding of our analysis was the disproportionate impact. So this is a crisis that's happening in a community that's already susceptible to economic vulnerability. In this impacted area, people are more likely to be younger, they're more likely to be unemployed, they're more likely to be living with a disability, to not have health insurance, and to have lower rates of education. Next slide, please. Another factor that we looked at was absenteeism. And so we observed the impacted areas measured by average daily attendance relative to benchmark school districts. And what we found was a four percentage point decrease. So this area averages four percentage points lower than the benchmark communities. And then another factor was assess property values. This was an interesting finding in that we theorized that there was going to be a marginal reduction or a slower growth rate in property tax revenues or even market values, and that wasn't the case. we actually found that property values were slightly higher than a control geography. And our hypothesis for that is that, especially in Imperial Beach, we're talking about a community that is far more affordable, so we're likely seeing some substitution effects based on relative affordability. Next slide, please. And so finally, some recommendations. So we put forward four key recommendations that were based on our findings. The first one is to improve community and public awareness around the crisis, both to help the public be more aware of the illness risks, but also to be more aware of the investments that the county and other government bodies are making to mitigate this crisis. Secondly, is to work with community members and with business organizations to help strengthen the South Bay's image and rebuild the visitor economy. So to help mitigate those numbers of loss that we are observing. We recommend also providing or designing some programs looking for funding, looking for partners like the Small Business Association or California Small Business Office to design programs for direct assistance for affected businesses within these areas. And finally, just continue to do all the things that you're doing for advocacy and projects and things to start to chip away at this to get to the ultimate goal

finding a permanent solution for this crisis.

So our report will be out, like Steve said, by mid to late October. It will include not just the findings I went over today, but a whole lot more analysis that will be available both in a technical appendix and in a executive summary style format. I'm happy to take any questions from you.

Thank you very much. I have some comments, certainly. But if my colleague has anything she'd like to say first. I have comments as well, but I'll save those until after public comment.

But I do have a quick question on your hypotheses regarding the property valuation in Imperial Beach. I thought that was very interesting. Obviously, Imperial Beach is... without the sewage, one of the last affordable coastal communities in the entire state. But what did you base that theory on or hypothesis?

So the hypothesis is twofold. Our initial hypothesis was due to Prop 13 that the real impacts would be Prop 13 mark to market resets. So it's transactional velocity which would be driving the outcome. So our theory was that an area with less investment would see a lower turnover rate of transactions, which then wouldn't be triggering as much mark-to-market resets in property tax valuations. But we didn't observe that either. We actually observed that transaction velocity rate holding steady as well. So we didn't find a measurable difference in property tax revenues on a on a per thousand basis, right? So, or not a per thousand basis, but overall in terms of growth, excuse me. So then we looked at market transactions, right? So we want to say, well, is it a property tax issue or is it just the market is growing faster or slower? And we also found stability there. So we're not, we're seeing the average annual growth rate of property values or sales transactions holding steady with the region.

Since you talked about taxes, have you seen, did you look at sales tax as well?

Yeah, we did take a look at sales tax and we found similar effects of changes in growth.

Okay, okay. Well, definitely look forward to the full report once it comes out. And I'll reserve my comments for after public comment. Thank you very much.

Okay, thank you. I just have a couple comments right now, and we'll be interested in what the public has. First of all, thank you. And also, just thank you for being responsive to come and bring us a preview. This is obviously really disturbing. I mean, it's, I think, something we've known intuitively for a long time, and certainly seems pretty obvious, kind of... you know, off the top of your head. But to put some hard numbers on this, I think really illustrates how detrimental the sewage crisis is for our region economically. And, you know, from my perspective, the public health impacts and the devastation that the Tijuana sewage crisis has wrought on clean water and public health throughout our region should be enough reason alone to act, but it is, I think, helpful as well to put an economic cost on that and to just look at these numbers and say, oh, wow, you know, when we're talking about, I think, a number that struck me was something like $500 million a year. That's extraordinary. And to me, it's unconscionable that this continues, but I think it's helpful to to just be able to put a hard number on what this is doing to our entire region and that we really cannot ignore this crisis anymore. So I know we'll have a fuller report coming soon. And I also know it's hard to expedite these kinds of research inquiries. So thank you for being here and sharing that. And from my perspective, when we're talking about 800 people you know, sorry, when we're talking about, I think you said it was $8 billion potentially over 20 years in lost economic activity, $8 billion. over 20 years in lost economic activity. That is shocking. That is just like really shocking. So hopefully we can move forward on the work that my colleague has been helping lead on, on capturing and cleaning up the sewage and saying no longer, like we cannot wait and we cannot stand by while this continues to devastate. our economy in addition to our clean water and our public health. Thank you. With that, we'll go to public comment.

Thank you, Chair Lawson-Riemer. We have 11 requests to speak on this item, two in person and nine requesting to speak by phone. Also know for the record that we received one e-comment in opposition. For any individuals that requested to speak on item 16 by phone, please dial into the conference line using the instructions that were provided to you. We'll begin with the in-person speakers. As your name is called, please come forward and stand on the arrows. Because there are 10 or more speakers on this item, you have one minute to address the board. I'd like to invite forward, allegedly, Audra and Robert Sanders. If I've called your name, please come forward.

What a shame for you guys to care more about the money than the people suffering because there's so many things that could be done with Mexico when we have going back and forth giving them water, they're giving us water, they're not even providing the water that needs to be provided to Texas. And we give them money, we give them federal funds. It's like there's so many things that could be done, but nobody's really willing to hold Mexico accountable when the federal government cut off the water. to Tijuana for a short period of time because they were cutting off the water going to Mexico, was not giving it to Texas, they started to mitigate pretty quickly. So nobody's willing to put the pressure on Mexico enough to make sure that our people aren't suffering. But you'll sit here and do a study about the economic impacts. Like, what a shame. You guys care more about money than the actual people that are continuing to suffer because you are unwilling. to do what it takes to make sure that Mexico doesn't continue to put their sewage in our land while we give them water. We're doing this intentionally.

Next speaker, please.

Yes, good morning, chair and members of the board. My name is Robert Sanders. I'm the political and community coordinator for SEIU Local 221, representing more than 14,000 public service employees across San Diego and Imperial counties. We are in support of item 16 in the county's continued examination of the full economic impact of the Tijuana River sewage crisis. For our members, this is not just a report or a set of numbers. Our members are on the front lines. Park rangers, environmental workers, maintenance crews, and other county and city employees work in and around areas affected by the sewage pollution. They have to respond to impacts on parks, beaches, trails, public facilities, and the communities they serve. This crisis has gone on for too long. South Bay residents and workers who serve them should not have to live and work with toxic sewage while waiting for someone else to solve this problem. This is a health, safety, environmental, and economic crisis. Our members' firsthand experience needs to be part of the county's response to solutions moving forward. We urge the board to vote yes on this. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll now hear from those that requested to speak by phone. We'll start with our first caller.

All aboard. Get out your hankies. Hope they're big enough for 40 years' worth of tears. And hold on to your wallets. Go order. Echo Northwest did a study on this crisis and came up with a plan which has a number of details, although the full plan isn't ready yet. So I have a presentation on incomplete reports. to justify Plymouth's plan, maybe. And then we find out there's a better, cheaper alternative. ECHO Northwest used AI and then reviewed the results, which suggests that an incomplete plan may mean research errors, which were not all counted. However, the board letter charged ahead and predicted discounted cumulative point of impact costs projected between 1.9 and $7.9 billion. Of course, terrified of the big figure.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

Follow here. Business investment. That's what the guy on the presentation said. Business investment. And after looking at the history of the TJ sewage river crisis, Those two words say a lot, because this has been going on for decades. The United States and Mexico formally recognized the T.J. sewage problem. And when? Listen up, scripted guy who wants this shit. 1934. Pay attention and know why you're here. Know why they called you here. And here we are almost a century later still talking about the same goddamn problem. So forgive me if I question the whole business investment narrative because that's all this has ever been. Lucrative and an investment. More studies, more programs, more contracts, more agencies, more consultants, more investing of our fucking money. More fraud, waste, and abuse. If the goal were to truly solve this problem, why are we still here? The people of the South Bay don't need another presentation. Thank you.

We'll hear from the next caller.

It's true. This childish, unneeded, multimillion-dollar study isn't even done yet. Manny waits at our time on it. Mexico loyalist Manuela Paloma doesn't care about Imperial Beach. She's just hoping for some more grist money from union cronies Padilla and Alvarez. She's interested in buying boats, not stopping the sewage. Manny even admitted this. Yeah, I agree. We need more action rather than study. The county study from last year said, quote, 50% of Imperial Beach businesses have lost more than $100,000. Imperial Beach has experienced $1 to $1.5 million in property tax damage, and loss for tourism is over $500,000 annually, end quote. We already have the study, and IB does not support Manny using them as guinea pigs. The other money Manny's worried about is Mexican money from the Otay Mesa East border crossing that she supports, knowing full well that it will increase development, traffic, and sewage. And just like the non-local she is, she has nothing positive ever to say about the great city that IB is. She's just full of sewage. Clean her up first.

Thank you. And we'll hear from the next caller.

Billions of dollars researching a problem. At what point are we going to put money towards, you know, concrete actual doing something? I mean, I thought we got the first board of supervisors, you know, the woman that's going to solve the fucking problem. She was all over the news over it. It's not going to be the same old, same old new study, new study. But actually it is. Why? Because she was selected by the ACLU to do exactly that. Monica and Tara both approved her. And then... people filled out registration cards in order to get her elected. I mean, how else can you explain the most unpopular Democratic candidate beating the Democrats and then following by beating...

Okay, this is not the speaker's time. This is the second time this meeting that your comments are off topic. You will be removed for the remainder of the meeting. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll now hear from the next caller.

Hector here. I'll try not to blow it so I get removed. I'm definitely, I would not pay the rest of the bill on this because everybody knows that if there's no sewage and properties, any cheap property is going to go up 200 grand Places on the beach are going to go up 600 grand easy. If Tijuana had a state-of-the-art sewage plant, and we had one too, and we went about having a sand mine with the Tijuana River, everything's clean, property values big-time increase. Hotel Del would get their money. You know, everyone can't go there for 1,000 days. So how are we going to do this? Stockton, Homeland Security, have them build three walls at the borders. These walls 10 feet or 20 feet apart and screed the trash that's coming from Tijuana. Next time, we don't need to study. We don't need to, when there's a huge flood, the studies are out the door. And then you might want to study when they get the...

Thank you.

And we'll hear from the next caller.

My name is Kathleen Rippert. I'd like to point out that this kind of study should have been done with the county's SECP program. And it is very disappointing that you would do it now, but there's absolutely no assurances that the money will be spent well. It simply sounds like more virtue signaling. And I certainly agree with truth that we already had the study. We knew it was there. You'd have to be blind and unable to hear and smell to be able to ignore that. So thank you. But please do this analysis where it counts for people who live here already, especially the unincorporated county communities.

Thank you. Thank you. And Chair Lawson-Raymond, that concludes public comment on the site.

Okay, thank you. I'll turn the floor to Chair Pertamagiri.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to thank again you guys for producing this report and for all the work that went into it. But I want to speak to what I've been seeing for years. Everybody knows that I've been working on this issue for a long time, but I personally have had to have these conversations with business owners who continue to tell me that every weekend, less and less, on a Saturday and a Sunday in front of their businesses, they have their parking spaces empty because nobody's coming to the beach. I've had conversations with Airbnb owners that have seen a significant decrease in the amount of rentals that they've had, especially during the summer months when it's high demand. season four visitors to Imperial Beach. All you need to do is walk down Seacoast Drive to see the number of empty commercial spaces that have been there vacant for over two years. So yes, this crisis has been going on for decades, but it is absolutely crucial that we present this data, that we have, that we collect this data, that we analyze it, and that we use it to present it to the state and federal partners, and Mexico as well, to hold them accountable to say that we cannot continue doing this. We cannot continue this crisis to go unaddressed. because close to $8 billion, that's disaster level numbers. And we have said this time and time again, and yes, you know, there's criticism out there that we shouldn't be doing another economic or any other type of study, but it's absolutely crucial that we do because this actually presents the real data that we can base governance and emergency-based decisions on. This is what we bring to the state to ask for more aid. This is what we bring to the federal government to ask for more aid. And this is why we doubled down into our efforts that we're spearheading here at the county to take the bull by the horns and actually fix this problem ourselves. Because we're gonna continue here for another 20, 30, 40 years waiting for somebody to come save us and nobody's going to. So I'm really thankful to the staff, to all of you for working on this, and I look forward to the full report once that's produced. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Supervisor Desmond.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you very much for the presentation. It's good to have these numbers at hand, and I guess the final presentations are going to be coming next month. So, you know, the Board, we commissioned the study for the cost study here, and for that cost, we've learned that, you know, the vague range of the economic losses annually are anywhere between $100 million and $500 million. It's quite a range, and I realize you're still doing a deeper dive on this, but that's huge for this region, and it's really hurting us not just not able to use the beaches, but our businesses in South County are suffering due to Mexico's actions. This just shows, I think, our continued need to apply pressure on Mexico and put an end to the flow of sewage into the United States. So thanks for the presentation. Look forward to hearing the rest of it. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. Do we need a motion or is this just a receiving file? Receiving file, okay. I just again want to reiterate how much of a call to action this report is. I don't think it tells us anything. We don't know intuitively, but it's helpful to put hard numbers on something when you're looking at a crisis at this magnitude and this scale. I think that there are some opportunities that we have to invest in a solution to fix this Tijuana sewage crisis permanently. I think we should seize those opportunities and to me this is Just one more piece of evidence of how important it will be to move forward with the capture and cleanup initiative that my colleague and I launched last meeting where we're going to be looking at permanent fixes to the Tijuana sewage crisis and we need to be prepared to invest in those permanent fixes because whatever that cost might be on the county side, it might be in the neighborhood of hundreds of millions, it is far dwarfed by the loss not only to public health and clean water and well-being but also economically that apparently numbers in the billions and billions for our region. So thank you again. We can now move on. About 20 minutes or so. I think item 17, how many speakers do we have? 11. 11, okay. Why don't we go ahead and move forward with item 17 from district one and district two. If either of you'd like to say any introductory comments or else we can just start with a public comment.

Yes, I'd like to, thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Supervisor Anderson and I led the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Fiscal Transparency and Accountability to help ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and in ways that benefit local residents. In support of this effort, our staff reviewed health and human services contracts and found two nursing service contracts that should be brought in-house. County staff will directly train and supervise the nurses at both these sites, which will improve both the quality and consistency of care being provided. The South Region Public Health Center is currently the only one of our six regional public health centers where immunization services are delivered by a contract instead of county nursing staff. This item ensures that every community gets the same level of care and services. At Polinski Children's Center, these children are already under the county's care. Bringing the service in-house means our medical staff, social workers, and case managers are all working from the same county system with increased coordination of services and fewer handoffs for some of the most vulnerable youth. These changes also save money, approximately $2 million per year, but that savings is a result of doing this the right way, not the reason for doing it. So I'm asking my colleagues for your support and I want to thank Supervisor Anderson for his partnership on this issue.

Okay, please go to public comment.

Thank you, Chair Loessner. We have 11 requests to speak on this item, two in person and nine requesting to speak by phone. Also note for the record that we received two e-comments, one in support and one in opposition. For any individuals that requested to speak on item 17 by phone, please dial into the conference line using the instructions that were provided to you. We'll begin with the in-person speakers. I'd like to invite forward allegedly Audra and Robert Sanders. You'll have one minute to address the board since there are 10 or more speakers on this item.

Please state your name for the record. Thank you.

Talk about pure evil. The Polinsky Center should be shut down. There's over, and all your juvenile detention centers that you don't want people going into have hundreds, like 300, over 300 cases of sexual abuse. You cannot be trusted to hire any employees because you hire pedophiles. You hire people that sexually assault children and physically abuse them. And now you want to inject them with genocide shots by somebody that you guys train. You shouldn't even be doing anything with health. Because what you guys don't... And Elizabeth here sits there and you guys traffic children. Those are the children that go into this Polenski Center. And if they were fucking illegal immigrants, you'd give a shit. But because they're not, you guys sit here and do this kind of stuff and gaslight the people when that place should be shut down and you talk about health and wanting to make kids healthy? How about you stop sexually abusing them? Huh? How about that?

Exactly. Next speaker, please.

Good morning, Chair and members of the Board. My name is Robert Sanders, Political and Community Coordinator with SEIU Local 221, representing more than 14,000 public service employees across San Diego and Imperial Counties. SEIU Local 221 strongly supports Item 17 in bringing these nursing services back in-house. Our members see every day how county nurses and frontline staff provide critical care, coordinate services, and support vulnerable children and families. They also see the challenges when services are fragmented or contracted out, often stepping in to fix communication gaps and ensuring the public receives the care they need. Bringing these services in-house strengthens continuity, accountability, and coordinating, especially at Polinski Children's Center, where consistency is critical for children who have experienced trauma. This is about investing in our public workforce and strengthening essential services. We urge the board to support this item. Thank you, Chair Pro Tem Aguirre and Supervisor Anderson for bringing this forward. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll now hear from the individuals that requested to speak by phone. We'll start with our first caller.

Paul Bold, are you sure you want to enforce just nurses? With all the shit going on at Edgemore and Polinsky, you want more police types. That's the way to strengthen accountability. South Bay, by the way, apparently gave COVID back to people without adequate tests for allergies and conditions. But the biggest problem is that the recommendations are to transition to a new contract by 2027, but there are no actual plans to do this yet. Another blank check. The board letter says both contracts are primarily for nursing services, providing county facilities for the South Region Center. Do you want to enforce a contract with UCSD? Yes. County nurses could provide the immunization and TB testing, but the contract is with UCSD and also provides education.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

Consuelo here. Yeah, it's just so unbelievable to listen to these scripted status slaves praising and loving on their masters. Lavery never ended, evidently. People better wake up quick. And you want to talk critical? What is critical is that we get these institutions out of, you know, they need to be gone. They have no business dealing with children these local government institutions our county is notorious for being abusive with our children and also in general with our money and with our you know they're abusive with the people who aren't paying attention they continue to gaslight and manipulate the masses and it's just unbelievable thank you and we'll hear from the next caller

It's true. Usually I'd be quick to support bringing services in-house to save tax dollars, but I'm appalled at how out of touch this board is. The priority should be ensuring that no children are neglected or abused. Instead, the priority has been money, money, money, and funneled in secret through one of the many untransparent ad hoc conspiracy meetings. Because were any of these three subcommittee meetings recorded on video, or wasn't Allison Snow pulled on transparency? The other agenda, Medi-Cal fraud, as the item admits, enabling the county to bill Medi-Cal and other payers. But this is a CYA move to cover the county from further lawsuits about the abuse going on at Polinsky because this item essentially admits that UCSD and Rady's have underserved and failed children because if they were doing great, you'd keep them. On August 25th, the county bragged about opening a $10 million children's crisis center adjacent to abuse-ridden Polinsky. Yet the day before, a county-funded children's center had a rapist break in. So until the abuse of children is addressed, I'm not interested in more money for this corrupt progressive board to waste. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

Hello. Hi, Heather. Hector, please go ahead. Oh, sorry.

I just got on the phone. So anytime you guys can...

I wouldn't say saving money on the nursing facilities. Just giving twice the money you're giving off. But the Polinsky Center is costing us a fortune. You might want to rename it so the lawyers won't know who to see. You know, they're hooked up to seeing who's got left and right. And that's what we're losing all the money to the lawyers. Plus, they're up to no good, too. So it's a tough job to have. Anyway, you guys can do it. If you let us.

Thank you. And we'll hear from the final caller.

Hi, Natalie Raschke. Speaking on I want to ask who actually benefits here? If we're not Moving forward through everything that we do that doesn't benefit the people as a whole and the safety of the children, safety of the elderly, I think it's very important that we examine each company, anybody that we're doing business with anymore. We don't see patterns happening and veils being lifted. Who is it benefiting? because the news is getting tighter and tighter around here. And that's the truth. Thank you.

Thank you. And Chair Lawson-Riemer, that concludes public comment on this item.

Okay, I'll turn the floor to Supervisor Anderson.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm very excited to bring this board letter forward with Chair Pro Tem Aguirre, as it highlighted the hard work that we accomplished in the Fiscal Transparency and Accountability ad hoc subcommittee. We have been working with staff to take a hard look at our contracts to find efficiencies, reduce redundancy, and realize cost savings. This board letter today is an exciting step towards that goal by saving the county an estimated $1.8 million by insourcing these two contracts. I appreciate the work of our HHSA and county nursing staff have done to ensure that the services at both locations being discussed today can be provided by reorganizing the existing nursing team with no gaps in care or risks to the health and safety of our residents. Of our six regional centers, the south region is the only one where immunizations and TB testings are provided by a contractor instead of county nurses. So it just makes sense to consider bringing the same county standards in care to everyone throughout the region, including the South. Rady's Children's Hospital, which has held this contract at Polinski Center since its inception in 1994, supports this decision and has stated that they will not be pursuing a renewal of this contract in the future. With that, I'd like to second my colleague's motion to pass this.

Okay. She didn't make a motion, but she can. You did. Okay. I heard her. Okay, me and Andrew missed it, but we have a motion on the floor from the Chair Pro Tem, a second from Supervisor Anderson. Any additional comments? Okay, seeing none, please vote.

Chair Lawson-Riemer, that motion passes unanimously with all supervisors being present and voting aye.

Okay, thank you all very much. We will aim to be back here in about an hour. It's 10 to 12 right now, so we'll be back here. We'll give ourselves an hour and five minutes. We'll be back here at 5 to 1. Thanks.

you possibly today with some same services.

Our department is striving to reach out to those folks who need assistance in doing the right thing whenever we are given the opportunity.

We have our next date appointment set up and we'll see you then.

Thank you.

We now have a night flying firehawk based here and ready to respond around the clock. And we have this air attack base ready and able to defend our communities.

CAL FIRE HAS BEEN AN ESSENTIAL PARTNER FOR THE COUNTY FIRE, PROVIDING JOINT FIRE PROTECTION AND EMERGENCY SERVICES FOR MORE THAN 1.7 MILLION ACRES. SINCE CAL FIRE'S CREATION IN 2008, THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HAVE INVESTED OVER $1 BILLION INTO FIRE PROTECTION AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES.

Today actually highlights the strong partnership that exists between CAL FIRE and the County of San Diego. This partnership has been going on for a number of years, but today is a celebration of that expanded air support for the region.

We funded a nearly $20 million capital improvement program, and it may not look impressive when you're standing here, But underneath the concrete here, all of the old infrastructure was torn up and removed. We have a brand new retardant mixing plant that is capable of having on hand 20,000 gallons of retardant. And so working with our partners at county airports, we expanded our lease. What you see behind me is three pull-through pits, so it's just like a gas station. The aircraft come in, they pull in, they get reloaded with retardant. and they pull right out.

For the fire hawk helicopter, it was probably about $36 to $37 million in total. And so huge county investments when it came to that. We also have the sheriff's firefighting helicopter that's also here today. So the county's investment in fire protection, aerial fire protection, has been going on since about 2005, 2006.

The fleet now has five aircraft to support the citizens of san diego county and our partners and the investment really reflects cal fire's commitment to health safety and welfare here in san diego and across the state of california

Okay, we'll now reconvene and begin with item number 18. This is strengthening wage theft enforcement to recover stolen wages and protect working families. And this is an item presented by District 1. Chair Pro Tem, would you like to present the item? Or we can... We could also start with public comments if you prefer. Okay, we'll begin with public comments and then we'll turn the floor over to Chair Pro Tem after public comment. Thanks.

Thank you, Chair Lawson-Riemer. We have 20 requests to speak on this item, 12 in person and eight requesting to speak by phone. Also note for the record that we received three e-comments, two in support and one neutral. For any individuals that requested to speak on item 18 by phone, please dial into the conference line. We'll begin with the in-person speakers. As your name is called, please come forward and stand on the arrows until it is your turn to speak at the podium. Because there are 10 or more speakers on this item, you'll have one minute to address the board. And if you could, please state your name for the audio record. I'll be calling you groups of three, so I'll ask you to please listen for your name. I'd like to invite forward the first three individuals, Esme Contero Cubayan, Manuel Enriquez, and Judy Vaz. If I've called your name, please come forward. I'll go ahead and call three additional speakers. Ledgley Audra, Jamie Estelar, And Gray Fairley, if I've called your name, please come forward.

You have to do something with this system. It's obviously not working. I just wanted to say thank you guys for working to get us our wages back. I know that you guys understand that you're stealing them from us and all of the people that you hire. And so it's fantastic to see that you're working very diligently to get us back our stolen wages and protecting working families. I mean, you guys have presented things before that would show that you're totally not for that. But this is proving that you guys care to get us back our wages. So I'm wondering how much money is going to become, are we going to get restitution checks? Is that how it's going to come back to the people? Are you guys going to be cutting your paychecks so that you can restore the people's ability to be fiscally you know responsible with their money so that we don't continue to give it to you guys because that's not fiscal responsibility uh to give the government money it's actually you know fraud but it's cool so i'm glad you guys are giving us back our money thank you it's so good next speaker please

Hello, my name is Joan Esteller and I'm an active member of the Pilipinos Workers' Center and a resident of San Diego County. The Board of Supervisors must stand with workers and support the proposal to strengthen wage theft enforcement. Workers should not have to wait years to fight a loan to get the money corporations have stolen from them. I urge you to strengthen the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement Ability. to proactively investigate wage theft, recover stolen wages, and hold employers accountable. Thank you.

Thank you. I'd like to invite forward three additional speakers. Ashley McCulloch, Vanessa Melendrez, and Narisa Gonzalez.

Good morning, my name is Ashley McCullough and I'm a San Diego City, I'm a San Diego County District 4 resident. I'm here today with the Center on Policy Initiatives and as a worker. I worked at Belmont Park as a teen. Oftentimes I'd be told to clock in or clock out and then to come back and help close. This would take at least two to three hours to finish and it would be not paid, unpaid. Over those two-year period I worked there, they stole at least over $6,400 worth of labor from me. Wage theft is the largest type of theft with businesses stealing at least $50 billion nationally from workers every year. Both my parents no longer could work, so I did so to help my family stay afloat. Wage theft could mean the difference between survival and failure. Standing with fellow workers and working class families would mean a yes vote on this board letter to strengthen wage theft enforcement and ensuring every worker in San Diego is paid what they deserve.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, board and supervisors. My name is Nerissa Gonzalez. I am a workplace justice organizer from Filipino Workers Center. That promotes the rights of domestic and care workers. We organize and empower the workers through education, training, and leadership skills development. We do advocacy work to improve the working conditions of domestic and care workers. We believe that domestic workers all work possible. Therefore, domestic workers deserve the dignity and respect. This is why it's important to support expanding OCIE to outreach to workers essential for workers to have a better understand of their rights. This is why it's important to vote yes on this motion because it will look into expanding the workplace justice fund so workers like myself don't have to wait years for the wage that they owe. Thank you so much.

Thank you. And I'd like to invite the remaining speakers in person. Jennifer Falarme, Brenda Katap, and Robert Sanders. If I've called your name, please come forward.

Good afternoon, Board of Supervisors. My name is Jennifer Ann Palarme, an active member from Filipino Workers' Center. The Board of Supervisors must stand with workers and support the proposal to strengthen wages theft enforcement. Workers should not have to wait years or fight alone to get money corporations have stolen from them. I urge you to strengthen office of labor standard enforcement ability to proactively investigate wage theft, recover stolen wages, and hold employers accountable.

Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, board and direction. My name is Brenda Katap. an active member of Filipino Worker Center, as a caregiver and resident of San Diego County. The Board of Supervisors must stand with workers and support the proposal to strengthen wage theft enforcers. Workers should not have to wait years or fight alone to get money corporations have stolen from them. I urge you to strengthen the Office of Labor Standards, enforce our ability to proactively investigate wage theft, record stolen wages, and hold employers accountable. has been a great help to working San Diegian. Please help them continue the good work they are doing.

God bless you all. Thank you. Thank you. Final call for the in-person speakers, Esme Quintero-Cubellon, Manuel Enriquez, Judy Vaz, Grace Fairley, Vanessa Melendrez, and Robert Sanders. Not seeing any movement in the chambers from those individuals. We'll now hear from those who requested to speak by phone. We'll begin with our first caller.

All the bold. This seems to be another redundancy. How about tax theft or garbage fee theft or parking meter theft? A lot of admin theft in the county, especially in the city. The board letter says in San Diego County, more than 29 million unpaid wage theft judgments have accumulated since 2017. So pay the thing. The board letter provides several approaches to this, which might work. North tries, especially since I heard of county employees being stressed over time. But speak of wage theft, What about increasing taxes for employers on the wages they pay or on the wages we have earned? Since these things impact all workers, these taxes should be reduced first before an individual action.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

It's truth amazing how after I knew first and myself called out Manny on her hypocrisy and broken campaign promises, she suddenly has to pretend that she cares about other human beings again. You're welcome, union, for my bringing attention to this matter, because leftists have failed you. Example, scandemic pushing Nazis at Public Square Cafe made a killing off their employees while refusing to pay them, yet the county was silent. All the times Manny has pretended to care about illegal aliens, she allowed a couple to take advantage of illegal Filipinos working in senior home care centers. Workers at Wealth Plus were unpaid and used as slave labor, and yet the county was silent. There's also Buena Forchetta getting caught using illegal alien slave labor, forcing them to work 13 hours with no break, yet the county was silent. Zachary J. Hansen alleged that County Chief Rodriguez failed to submit paperwork delaying an employee's compensation, yet the county is silent. See, there will be no worker justice under the county because the Office of Ethics, Compliance, and Labor Standards are useless puppets of the board itself. They don't need $450,000 when they're incompetent and unwilling to investigate anything.

And we'll hear from the next caller.

Hi, Natalie Raschke. I stand with CPI. And moving forward on this image, There are times where I've waited tables and had class action lawsuits because of things of this sort, and I still hadn't received, even after the winnings, still hadn't received my money. I think it's extremely, extremely important that this is moved forward. Still breaking the law. They are stealing from employees. How come the same statute doesn't happen to people who aren't paying their employees as in theft of somebody going to the store and trying to get their basic needs? Why is that? It's so confusing. It's confusing. This is what we're moving through when one thing is justified and the other isn't. This is what

Thank you. We'll hear from the final caller.

Good afternoon, Chair Lawson-Reimer and members of the board. My name is Paola Godinez, Communications Coordinator with IOT Local 122. As you all may be familiar already, our union represents skilled professionals who bring live entertainment, conventions, theater, film, television to life. And today we proudly represent more than 1,500 stagehands across San Diego and the Coachella Valley. We are here in strong support of expanding the resources and enforcement capacity of the Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement. We believe that the government should stand up with and alongside workers. This board had the vision to create the OLSE and under Director Brandon Butler's leadership. This office has built something incredibly important, which has been great. trust with working people. From worker education outreach to safety enforcement and wage theft recovery, OLSE has been instrumental. We know that when workers' wages are stolen, it's a cost to rent, groceries, childcare, and the family's ability to get by. There are currently more than 29... Thank you.

And Chair Lawson-Reamer, that concludes public comment on this item.

Okay, thank you very much. I turn it over to Chair Pro Tem.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have some short remarks. This item didn't start in a vacuum. It starts from a simple principle. If you work, you deserve to be paid every dollar you earned, period. Wage theft is a crime. It is a worker putting in the hours, doing the job, holding up their end of the bargain, and then having an employer decide that their labor is somehow free. And the people who are most often forced to absorb that loss are the people who can least afford it. Low-wage workers, immigrant workers, women, workers of color, and people working in restaurants, construction, janitorial services, hospitality, and home health care. In San Diego County, more than $29 million in unpaid wage theft judgments has accumulated since 2017. Think about what that means. These are wages workers have already been legally awarded, and they still have not been paid. So imagine doing everything we tell a worker to do. You speak up, you file the claim, and you win. A court says the money is yours. But then after all of that, you're still left waiting for the wages you earned. That's not justice. A court decision that never reaches a worker is justice on paper, not justice in their pocket. And we know the problem is even bigger than the cases that reach us. A regional survey found that 87% of hourly workers surveyed experienced some form of wage theft, while nearly 90% of community members surveyed did not know where to report it. That is why this item moves us toward proactive industry-targeted investigations, stronger compliant and referral pathways, multilingual and culturally competent outreach through trusted community organizations, and stronger coordination with county councils so that when violations occur, we have the ability to actually pursue them. This item calls for two positions dedicated to enforcement, two positions dedicated to enforcement investigation, case development, and judgment collection. We're also saying something very clearly to employers who play by the rules. You shouldn't have to compete against somebody whose business model depends on stealing from their workers. Strong labor enforcement protects honest businesses too. And to every worker who has been shorted a paycheck, denied overtime, misclassified, retaliated against, or told that pursuing what they're owed is simply too difficult, Your labor has value. Your rights matter, and your county is willing to stand behind you. I am incredibly proud to bring this item forward, proud to stand with workers across this region, and I ask for my colleagues' support on this item. Thank you. Thank you very much. Supervisor Montgomery-Stepp.

Thank you, and thank you, Chair Pro Tem, for bringing this item forward. We know that wage theft is not just a paperwork issue. This is about income that workers have earned but never received, and it can determine whether a family can pay rent, buy groceries, or obtain health care. More than $29 million in unpaid wage theft judgments has accumulated in San Diego County since 2017. A legal judgment means little to a working family if no one can successfully collect it. This proposal strengthens the county's ability to investigate violations, recover unpaid wages, and reach workers who may not know their rights or may fear retaliation for reporting abuse. Strong enforcement also protects responsible businesses, as Chair Pro Tem said. Employers that pay workers lawfully should not be placed at a competitive disadvantage by companies that cut costs through wage theft or misclassification. I also appreciate that this item includes measurable follow-through. The 120-day report will allow the board to review staffing, enforcement activity, wages recovered, judgments collected, and any additional resource or policy need. And with that, I will second the motion. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Supervisor Desmond.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Appreciate it. You know, this Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement is already a function that the state is supposed to be providing. So I disagree with the county duplicating the work of the state. This is a state and federal responsibility and not something that we should be directly involved with in enforcement. If anything, we should push the state to do better and better resource and enforcement within their own regulations. I've not heard from any of my constituents or from the Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement the need to expand the department and their scope of work or a need for more employees. I also disagree that the board action increases staff. Staffing levels and pay should be at the recommendation of our CAO and our individual departments, not the board. For those reasons, I can't be supportive today and be voting no. Thank you.

Thank you. Just a couple of comments. First of all, I appreciate the work of my colleague bringing this forward. It's really important to continue strengthening Olsay, and this is a really useful and valuable measure, and I appreciate the work of Brandon Butler and the team in leading Olsay. I remember back in 2021 when we established this office, it was just a vision, and it was a hope, and It was the outgrowth of a lot of community voices who had come together demanding that we needed local enforcement around wage theft and around fair labour standards and just fairness in the workplace generally. And there was a real need that the community perceived and came to us and said, we need all say. And I think we responded and we established Olsay and it's been really off to the races since then. And together, these efforts have already won more than $500,000 for working families here in San Diego County, which is a massive, massive improvement and is just incredibly meaningful and so impactful on the lives of the people whose wages have been stolen. And we have continued to strengthen Olsay through innovative programming and through expanding reach. And I think this is a good next step, builds on that work. And we have to keep pushing. We can't rest on our laurels. So very supportive of continuing to think, what else can we do? How else can we do this work better? And how can we learn from Olsay? what we've done to do better in the future. So thank you again to my colleague for your vision and thoughtfulness in bringing forward this item. And I will be happy to support this today. And my colleague beat me to the punch on a second. But I can't third it. I guess I can when I vote for it. Joe, Supervisor Anderson.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have just a couple questions. So when reading the board letter, How is this going to proceed? So staff's going to put together some new plans. And then will we be coming back to the board to let us know what those plans are? Or will we immediately move forward with those plans? In the past, we've always come back to the board with the plans.

It's your item, go ahead, Supervisor Geary.

Yeah, so there is a report back written into the board letter. And if Brandon, if you'd like to expand on that. The report back will be basically in the form of a memo where you'll have the opportunity to provide input and elaborate on potential concerns or questions you may have, Supervisor Anderson. But if you'd like to elaborate, Brandon.

Yeah, thank you for the question, Supervisor. And through the Chair, I would respond, Supervisor Anderson, that as the board letter puts forth, there'll be a 120-day report back to the board that'll explain how we are enhancing our programs to fulfill the mission of Allsame. Again, many of the programs that are talked about in the board letter are programs that we innovated. We were the first in the country to do. And what this actually does is it allows us to have the space to think about what those enhancements can be to make the programs work better, be more successful. So there will be that opportunity to be very clearly explained what are those enhancements and what are we putting forth. But again, it's built on a bedrock that we've established these innovative programs already having impact. Now we're looking at how can we make them more successful, bring back more money for workers, and also assist businesses that are playing by the rules, know that we are ensuring that there'll be accountability in San Diego County.

I actually voted for it the first go-around, so I'm not opposed to wages being paid to people who have lawfully earned them. And my only concern is I just want to make sure that we're not pursuing these new policies until the board is aware of what those policies are. I've worked in this area in the past, and the vast majority of people who have been shorted their wages deserve the justice that we're delivering, but there are some employees who weaponize it who don't deserve them because they never worked the hours, they simply claimed it. So I just want to make sure that as we're moving forward that we're not that we're providing the same level of quality that we have up to now and we're expanding on that. And I want to be part of the process on the front end, not after the fact. So would this be coming back to us before it's implemented or would it just be implemented and then when my phone starts ringing off the hook that there's an issue, then I have to go back and reinitiate this to address those problems. I'd rather not have my phone ring off the hook from employers who have done nothing wrong or from employees who still are not getting justice. So how is this going to work timeline-wise?

Well, thank you for the question.

And let me preface it by I want to get to yes. I'm not trying to get to no. I want to get to yes.

Certainly. Well, thank you for the question, Supervisor Anderson. And to the Chair, I would respond that You know, while the board letter does have the 120-day report back on what those enhancements are, and that's already coming up. That would be in January. You know, I think the way that I would explain it, Supervisor, is that we already have established programs. They're already going on right now. that are having impact. Well, I think what we're talking about is like, well, how could it be enhanced? Like, what are those things that we are going to be developing and thinking about? And so what I would say is this isn't going to be a radical change of new things, new laws, new this. I mean, I think what we're really talking about is having the resources and the bandwidth to actually make the enhancements that we've identified by running these innovative programs that will actually make the programs more successful. The 120-day timeline to me is a timeline where you would have the information to understand what is coming up, how are we going to do it, because there won't be a snap of our fingers that will cause a radical new program to be established. What will happen is it will give us the bandwidth and the opportunity to explain to the board what are those enhancements that we have discovered that will make the programs more successful to help workers and hold businesses accountable who aren't paying. And I would also say A lot of the work in the board letter that we're talking about is around folks who have already been adjudicated to have a wage theft judgment. They've already been told by the State Labor Commission that they have an unpaid wage theft judgment, which is unlawful in California to actually operate a business with a wage theft judgment unless you have a specified bond. So what I would say is our program is already there. This is really enhancing. So it's not like a radical change, but it's making the enhancements and having more bandwidth to actually fulfill the innovations and the programs we started. So there will be no surprises.

So you're only looking at enhancements for people that already have a judgment?

That is one portion of the Board Letter Supervisor Anderson, if I take that as a question. The other portion is going to be looking at how to enhance our ability to assist residents of San Diego County who are going through a current wage step situation where they haven't been paid and can we assist them in the resolution of that is one aspect of the program. And so we have those two aspects going, helping folks collect and also helping our residents in the community who are .

So over the last five years, we've never had an employee tried to do anything with malice. They've always tried to enhance and do a better job but sometimes the conclusions that staff has come up with have not been aligned with best practices and I get we're on the cutting edge. I want to be part of knowing what's going to go on before it goes on. And the other issue I have is, and what I'm concerned about is, someone goes to the labor board and the labor board says they lost the case. You shouldn't have double jeopardy where they get to come to us next and rejudicate their case when the labor board already made a decision. So we haven't addressed that issue, and that's just one issue that comes to mind. But You know, what is our practice if they've gone to the Labor Board to even check with the Labor Board on whether their case was heard and failed or was successful? I'm thinking 90% of what we're getting are successful Labor Board cases.

Thank you for the question, Supervisor Anderson. And to the Chair, I would respond by saying that you know, to your first part of the question of, you know, what's happening with the labor commissioner and our relationship there, we are partners with the labor commissioner. We work closely. So there's certainly, you know, no opportunity where we would be moving on a case that they've already successfully resolved or they turned it down. I would also remind that the, you know, state auditor issued a report just last year, you know, talking about how the labor commissioner has about 15,000 case backlog and it takes, you know, well over two and a half to three years for folks to actually go through that process. So, you know, it's unlikely we have that situation occurring due to the delays. But nonetheless, we work very closely. We are partners and there's, you know, we actually get information from the Labor Commissioner on a monthly basis of the cases that have been adjudicated. So we're always in line with there's no duplicity or doing, you know, the same thing on the same case. So there is that relationship.

That's reassuring to hear because so often in government, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand's doing. And I'm not saying that in a nefarious way. That's just big business. Is there a reason why the board shouldn't know what you're implementing before you implement it?

Well, thank you for the question, Supervisor Anderson. Through the chair, I would respond by saying the board does know because what Olsay is actually doing is enforcing existing law, which is that it is unlawful to have an unpaid wage shift judgment and to be operating in business, or it's unlawful to engage in violations of the labor code. So there's no new program. There's not like a new law that we're creating. This is existing law, but we're looking at innovative ways to actually enforce it and to help workers. And I would also add, you know, one big thing that we do at the Office of Labor Standards is we spend a lot of time educating and working with our business community. And so we also balance, like, the level of enforcement with doing, you know, we've reached over, you know, a couple thousand workers or businesses this last year providing free, you know, labor standards training. So we have this, you know, dual issue where we want to be a resource for businesses and educate them so they don't have to go through a wage-debt issue. And so we spent a lot of time doing that. But again, what we're doing is educating on the existing law and how to prevent that and how to prevent violations. So I think the implementation is really looking at innovative things kind of within the walls of how we can make the program more successful as opposed to, hey, this is something you've never heard of. It's out of the box. It's something new. No, this is really taking the existing law finding innovative ways to implement it and help workers and help the responsible businesses that are following the law.

I like everything you're saying, but my question was, is there any reason why we couldn't know about it before it's implemented? And what those policies are or those changes? I'm not, if the person has a wage, again, that they need to collect, I'm totally for it. But why wouldn't we want to tell our constituents we've taken these additional steps to protect employees inside our county? I don't understand why we can't know about it before it's implemented.

Well, thank you for the question, Supervisor Anderson. I would just retort that I think you do know, I think the information is available to the board of like what are we doing, which is we're taking an existing law, an existing program that's been voted upon by this board, the Workplace Justice Program, and we're going to continue to implement it. But we're talking about making some enhancements. And those enhancements are really, I think, very in the weeds, so to speak, of like how the program could function better. Some of it is with our partnership with the labor commissioner. Some of it's on how we get the judgments reported to us. Some of these are kind of very granular. So I would say that the public does know what we are doing, which is we're taking the Workplace Justice Fund, which has been voted upon by this board, We're taking the existing law of the labor code, and we are going to be looking at ways that we can try to educate our community and try to help our community recover unpaid wages. So there's no new thing that we could know. That's what I would say. I'm not being facetious here, President. It's just really that we are taking an existing program that everyone knows about, and we are looking at how with more staffing.

Can I just ask, as a matter of process? I'd like to know what the enhancements are. Yeah, so is there anything in this board item that would prevent you from sharing that information as it develops?

Well, thank you for the question, Chair. There is no anything that would prevent us. You know, this is all information that I'd be happy to share and happy to do a deep dive on how we've analyzed the state wage theft crisis and how we've made, like, we have ideas on how it could be more successful. Some of it's very, like, you know, in the weeds, but happy to share some of the things that we've uncovered that are making it harder for workers to recover their wages that we are thinking would be an enhancement to the program. But there's nothing that would be new or like a new law or a new thing. It's just very granular things within the wage theft paradigm on how we could be more successful in workers.

You know what? Let me help you with this because I still don't think you understand what I'm saying. It's on me. I haven't explained it well enough. When I first got elected... the county would send questionnaires into my Arabic-speaking community in Spanish. That was their go-to. That was their default. And then they said, well, we sent out 1,000, and only three people responded. Well, if I send out 1,000 questionnaires, I get a lot more than three people. But I also know who my target is, and I'm targeting them in their language. If I don't know what those enhancements are, you're not going to be as effective in my district because you don't know my district. You may, but I live in my district, and you may not. So you are losing out on the resource of my district office and our ability to help you get where you're trying to go, because I want to see people who have earned the money get paid. It's not right that somebody takes advantage of a worker. And I think that we all agree on that. So how can we do this? And maybe this is a better question to the author. How can we do this in a way that I get to know about the practices that we're enhancing so that I can give input on how best it impacts my district?

Well, I think written in the board letter, there's a report back within 120 days that will be distributed to each of the district offices. Now, in addition to that, Obviously, part of this is also ensuring that our communities, just like your district, my district, we want to make sure that our workers are getting paid and that we have culturally competent outreach information, that we work on methods to ensure that we are I don't want to use the word promoting, but educating the community, educating constituents that are experiencing wage theft or may be suspicious of wage theft, and also the businesses that are perhaps not well-educated on what the labor laws that are on the books and in existence are. So I think this is what Mr. Butler is talking about, the enhancement. But maybe something could be, Mr. Butler, if maybe we... If some, and we had this conversation, we had a tele-town hall for my district last week on this topic. There were some questions that came up. Who do I report this to? Where do I call? What website do I go to? So can you speak to that and maybe think about ways we can enhance that as well to address Supervisor Anderson's concern?

And my issue is if they move forward on this and they go out into my district, It may ignite a bunch of calls to my office that could have been avoided if we just knew what was happening before.

That's what I'm asking. Yes, of course. And that's why I'm asking Mr. Butler to address that specifically.

Well, thank you for the question, Supervisor. Yes, certainly our office does, you know, a lot of community engagement, which we are built upon. And so there would certainly be no issue with, you know, providing a town hall forum or doing specific outreaches with, you know, various stakeholders in the community to be very explicit about what we're doing. You know, I have absolutely no issue with that because I think what you'll find is what we're suggesting and really what the board letter speaks to is really of giving the Olson office more bandwidth to establish the programs that we're already doing. As you can understand, the demand has been high. We received about 600 inquiries from the public. Many are in District 2 of folks who are needing help. And the ability to handle all of that plus help folks collect wages with a very small staff is really what I talk about, one of the enhancements is actually having the folks to actually deliver the services to our community who are coming at a very high rate and needing assistance. But certainly doing town halls, doing community forums, I certainly want to let folks know that what we're doing is to try to bring relief to a problem that has been systemic in our community. And I think it's something that both workers and businesses understand because we're holding the line for both. So certainly I'm open to doing some initial things and some town halls and engagements right out of the bat so folks can understand, like, what are we talking about? And I think what folks will understand is we're taking an existing program and we're making some ideas. And I could go into that, like, what are some of those ideas? You know, for example, not to get too deep into it, but many folks in the state who get a wage theft judgment, remember, they've waited almost three years to get to that point. And then when they win their case, they often get a piece of paper and only one in seven workers actually recover. One of the ideas that requires more staffing coordination is that, you know, the labor commissioner may actually sit on a, after a hearing, may not file the judgment for well over a year or two. So when we get the worker, their case was heard years ago, and it's very hard to collect on someone who has had that amount of time. One of the enhancements that we've been developing is to actually get the decision, what they call the order decision and award from the labor commissioner, immediately after the appeal period is ran so we can start the process. That's an enhancement. Instead of waiting for years to get a judgment because the state didn't file it, now we can get in front of it and we can actually maybe help a worker recover while the business is still around and still has assets versus what happens to the vast majority of workers. They get a paper, the business is long gone, bankrupt, And they've kind of gone through what I've almost termed as a Kafka-esque situation where you've waited for years and then there's no recovery at the end of it. What was the whole thing for? Our program has actually changed that. We're the only place in the country that has developed this program. Many are following it because of how it's actually addressing a major issue. So that's what I mean by enhancements. It's like finding these things at the margins that we know are going to make a difference. And we're happy to explain to the community. So I'm more than happy to work with your office, Supervisor Anderson, to develop some town halls, some engagement forums in District 2 to explain everything that we're up to and how we're trying to help the community and businesses.

I'd just like to add that any employees in District 2 that were failed to be paid, those companies do not belong in District 2. They're from other districts. Just saying.

Okay, thank you very much. I'm going to turn the floor back to the chair pro tem. It's her item. No, you're good. Thank you. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Please vote.

Chair Lawson-Riemer, that motion passes with Supervisor Desmond voting no, all other supervisors being present and voting aye.

Okay, thank you all very much. Thank you so much, Brandon. And thank you to all our advocates who have been such incredible partners in putting Olsa together in the first place. So thank you guys for being here as we continue moving it forward. We are moving on to item number 19, taking deceptive retailers to court for marketing motorcycles to kids as e-bikes. This issue I think is a really, it's a really sad issue. And unfortunately, even just this past weekend, there was a death in my district from a kid, a 14 year old who was killed riding an e-bike. And I've been hosting e-bike trainings and workshops across the district for the past six months. And one of the things that's really struck me and surprised me at these trainings was how many parents, how many kids are showing up with e-bikes that are actually not bicycles. And this is the subset of parents, the subset of kids who really want to be safe. They are taking time out of their day to come to these trainings so that they can be safe riders and safely use e-bikes. And even among this group, there's a lot of e-bikes that are not bikes. And this is a huge problem, and it's not right. I think biking is great. Biking is wonderful. It gets us out. It's a great way to be in our communities, not just in our cars. It's a way for younger people, older people to get around. Definitely easier to park your bike than to park your car. I can get places quickly. I love biking. I love biking. I love being on my e-bike. I love being on my road bike. I just love biking. And I think it's such a wonderful way to get around our community. And the wonderful thing about e-bikes is it can really be an equalizer. If you're an older person and it's too hard to bike on a regular bike, e-bikes make biking accessible. If you live in a place with a lot of hills... than you otherwise couldn't bike. You know, e-bikes make biking accessible in really hilly areas, like near my house. So I think the e-bikes are really wonderful, but the fact that we have parents, kids, just regular people trying to bike, and they're going to buy a bike and they're getting sold motorcycles, this is not right. And it's leading to really terrible accidents including fatalities, serious injuries. The number of e-bike trauma incidences has increased significantly over the last five years from in the single digits in 2021 to over 500 annually just last year. And that's in one emergency room. That's statistics from one emergency room. So the purpose of this item is to look at what we can do as a community to keep our community safe from these deceptive marketers. And I think it is a pretty simple principle that when you go to buy something, someone shouldn't lie to you about what you're buying. That is a very simple principle. And it is one of the cornerstone protections that we have. One of the cornerstone consumer protections we have in this country is that you cannot lie to people when you sell something to them. And this is even more important and even more necessary in this online era, where all you're able to see sometimes is what the description is on the website before you buy something. So this deceptive advertising, this deceptive marketing violates really fundamental consumer protections. that are meant to ensure that if someone tells you that you're buying a bike, you're buying a bike. If someone tells you you're buying a watermelon, you're buying a watermelon. Like you cannot lie to people and sell them stuff and that's a very core principle. So the purpose of this item today and the purpose of my proposal is for us to do everything we can to hold accountable these deceptive marketeers who are endangering our communities with their frankly like very predacious and very unethical marketing practices. So this item would instruct and direct County Council to move forward with identifying whether there is a need to bring enforcement action and litigation. against deceptive retailers, marketers, distributors, and manufacturers of motorcycles who are trying to fool our community and sell these motorcycles as e-bikes. So with that, I'd love to open the floor for public comment. And first I'll make a motion for this item, and then we can hear public comment and then have board discussion. Thanks.

Thank you, Chair Lawson-Reamer. We have eight requests to speak on this item, one in person and seven requesting to speak by phone. We also received two e-comments, one in support and one in opposition. For any individuals that requested to speak on item 19 by phone, please dial into the conference line. I'd like to invite Board of Legislators. Audra, you'll have two minutes to address the board.

Lucky you guys. The words you guys use are so interesting. Endangering communities. Predacious activities. Cannot lie and sell them this. Deceptive marketing and advertising. Someone shouldn't lie to people when you buy something or sell it.

All you guys do up here is lie to people.

You lie to them, telling them that you're protecting children while you encourage the mutilation of children's bodies, the encouragement of sexual abuse because all of the people you hire for your child facilities, well, not all of them, but most of them would be pedophiles, which is interesting. I feel like that's a requirement. Like, if you're a pedophile, you can work for the county of San Diego. You know what I mean? But if we come in and we want to take care of these deceptive retailers, we've got to take them to court. We're going to spend this money to take them to court, and then what's going to happen? You know what I mean? Like if a kid wants a e-motorcycle or whatever, they're going to go get it anyway. You act like they're buying it and they don't know what they're buying. Like they didn't test it and they were like not stoked that it goes, what, maybe 60 to 100 miles an hour. That's intentional. You just want to come in and micromanage people's lives all under the guise of, you know, like pretending that you care about children. I'm just, like with the Polensky Center, you know, I mean, the fact that you guys have had multiple families come in time and again and tell you how their families are being ripped apart and their children are being sexually assaulted and It falls upon deaf ears. Unless you're undocumented, then you guys will go through hoops to make sure that that doesn't happen to those people. So it's just interesting when you guys are an inversion of the truth and you sell the lies to the people and act like you want to stop them from being lied to and deceived. Good job, Satan. You guys are very good. It smells like sulfur up here. It will continue to do so. Yes, hell is running rampant.

We'll now hear from the individuals that requested to speak by phone. We will start with our first caller.

Although it sounds good up front, but I think extra resources should be directed elsewhere for now. With all your resources, you don't need special board action. Board letter mentions multiple other legal entities who are already tackling this problem. Frankly, to me, it sounds like monkey see monkey do on a political bandwagon. In fact, the board order says on page three, parents have no meaningful way to tell a legal e-bike apart from an illegal e-bike or electric motorcycle, as you call them. So why not remind them by posting signs in sales outlets informing parents of the definition? Maybe retailers too would be more savvy to think like a speedometer going up to 60 miles per hour or excess engine weight. I don't know which is worse, speeding e-bikes or steering wheel-less robot taxis. The Robotex affects us all. E-bikes affect only a few people. So why do you want, do you want a big credit or a little one? Could be another expensive redundancy. You lied too. Sometimes it's by mistake. Retailers are no different. Maybe go after a few big ad agencies or corporates. Thanks for listening.

Thank you, we will hear from the next caller. The next caller is Consuelo, your device might be muted. And we'll come back to Consuelo.

Can you hear me? Yes, I'm here. I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm just, yeah, I'm here. No, I'm just saying it's unfortunate that somebody had to die in order for, you know, you guys to further take advantage of the situation in order to further micromanage, you know, honestly, you probably like look forward to these deaths to where You guys can come in and swoop like you are the heroes all under the guise of safety and security and all that crap. But it's just, that's what it is.

It's just more crap. Please make sure that your remarks specifically relate to the proposal that has been made in item 19. So far, your remarks have not been pertinent to item 19 and to the proposal made. This is your first warning.

And this is your first warning of the meeting. Yes, they were on topic and they were pertinent to the item. So stop interrupting because you don't like hearing that. You don't like hearing the fact that you were excited to hear that somebody got hurt and killed. You were. And that's all you guys look forward to. More control. Okay. More managing.

This speaker has forfeited their time and their ability to speak for the remainder of the meeting. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

Good afternoon. My name is Becky Rapp, and I appreciate this item and support protecting children from dangerous products and deceptive marketing. Today, the county is taking aggressive action because children are being seriously injured by powerful electric motorcycles being marketed as e-bikes. You're right. Children's safety should come first. And this is important. But what about the child who ends up in the emergency room after consuming high-potency THC marijuana products? with THC levels of 95% potency that are synthetically derived and marketed as harmless or natural.

Please pause the speaker's time. Your beginning remarks were relevant, but this item is not about cannabis, so please confine your remarks to the topic, which is item number 19. Thank you.

This item is about pressing charges against marketing companies and selling products to children that are not safe. If this board wants to be consistent and equitable, it needs to use the same tactics in all industries that are marketing products to children that are not safe, that are powerful, too powerful for a child to consume, too powerful for a child to use, ride, etc., look at the marketing, look at the emergency room visit, look at the mental health consequences, and most importantly, look at the families who are left to live the consequences. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

It's true. I agree with the last speaker, definitely. It is a correlation because it's a fair comparison that you can't be a hypocrite on what you enforce and what you care about, especially if you're going to give, like, 30-minute monologues that make people fall asleep. You better be on topic yourself. So on this, this is just more purposeful lawsuits by Tara, trying to fill budget deficits that her own mismanagement, recklessness, and crazy communist actions have caused. That term, affirmative litigation, rang a lemon-colored bell for me because I remember hearing that very recently. That term, very specific, affirmative litigation. You know who said it? Oh, Lemon Grove Mayor Abominable Snowball. Remember the one that just got the county kickback job? Is she going to be missing more city work in order to do this case, for example, a.k.a. terrorist bidding? Because she's already missed many FANDAG meetings. I think we should actually collectively take Tara to court for being a deceptive political theorist and tyrant. I want to give an example of misinformation she has given. This item refers to e-bike injuries, but e-motorcycles are not e-bikes. That is pure deception. How many of those injuries were due to a spoiled brat driving reckless off and on the fine green paint? Because that's the majority of the injuries. E-motorcycles are already illegal. Parents buying them for their children should be charged with child endangerment. We could solve this problem, not have any lawsuits. Because parents don't need to be vehicle code experts. The differences between e-bikes and e-motorcycles is obvious in looks and cost. Just ask a sheriff, Tara, they'll be happy to educate you. I've already heard plenty of presentations. As I admit, the county has a strong track record of suing companies, a.k.a. money, money, money. Tara, you cannot lie to people when you're just trying to sell us your perverse lawsuits. You cannot lie to people when you try to sell your political theater as genuine concern. How many more people are you going to sue?

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

Thanks for taking my call. Yeah, this is definitely a problem that everyone needs to be thoughtful of. Cat's out of the bag about the e-bikes and any kind of electric bike, if it's a motorcycle or just a bike. It can go like 5 or 10 miles an hour. That's enough to have a concussion. And a buddy of mine, when he was 20, I'm 70, he was going 5 miles an hour on his motorcycle and slipped and hit his head on the thing, and he was like brain dead. He was talking for 20 years, but he had a brain injury, man. It doesn't take much. And the kids are young kids now. They're having a blast. They're popping wheelies. They're going 40. I've seen them passing on the boardwalk going like 20. They're going so fast, you never see them. All of a sudden, bam. They're just being a kid, man. They're taking a big risk. Their parents know about it or don't know about it. They just desire to do it. They're just young kids having a blast. I can't blame them, but it's dangerous being a kid. No matter what you're doing, drugs or bikes or even just going to school is dangerous. So what can you do to help? I don't know if the kids need the help. Parents, if they're ignorant and give them a motorcycle, come on. It's just the world we're living in, man. I hope the best for them. I can't give them advice. I'd like to be 12 years old now riding one of those e-bikes. I'd be all over it, man. All my friends would growing up. So, I don't know. Just warn them. Warn them at the point of sale. Show them pictures of guys that are in the hospital. Make them show pictures in the bike shops of guys 8 by 10.

Thank you. And we'll hear from the final caller.

Hi, Natalie Raschke. I think this is kind of unnecessary. If a parent doesn't understand the difference of what is being sold, then there's a problem with these adults. You have to talk to your children. Like the guy said, kids are going to do what they're going to do. If you have to show them pictures, I don't think we need the county to step in and sue these companies. If they're unaware of these misleading sales, then there's a problem with the parent. Maybe, you know, they need to be schooled on something. Talking to your children and making them understand. They fast or just don't buy them the bikes that we're spending... any resources on this topic is kind of confusing. And like he said, raising children in this day and age is really, when we come with these topics, it's really confusing to me on what we think should be an item and what is not an item. I have four children and I'm raising these children in this world where now we're talking about suing companies and their e-bikes. I think that there could be more important items on the agenda. If these kids are going to, parents are going to buy them these e-bikes or these e-motorcycles, they are putting their chances of having an injured child. You have to raise responsible children and inform them. I don't think it's, you know, responsibility of the county to go and sue these companies. Thank you.

Thank you. Chair Lawson-Riemer, that concludes public comment on this item.

Okay, Supervisor Desmond.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate it, and I appreciate you bringing this forward. I do believe e-bikes and e-motorcycles have caused quite an uproar in our communities. I see these kids popping wheelies in the middle of the street and going really fast, and it's just kind of scary. And public safety is our first priority, and I do think we need to ensure... The safety is keeping up with these new technologies. However, I believe we would be jumping the gun by pursuing litigation as a first step. SB 1167, which you mentioned in the board letter, is a bipartisan bill that addresses many of the concerns we have about e-bikes and e-motorcycles. The bill would reclassify e-motorcycles under the state law and prevent them being marked or sold as e-bikes. With this pending state bill sitting on the governor's desk that is designed to tackle these issues head on, I believe would be premature for us to begin litigation. I would like to see the governor sign the bill, 1167, and see how it plays out first. And I could even support advocating for the bill if that is part of... was part of this motion. But in the meantime, I believe the focus should be on education for the kids and parents alike. You know, just like with fentanyl and all the other things we've had to deal with, education and getting to people first, I think, is of utmost importance. I know there's a lot of difficulty in navigating the different types of e-bikes, and parents might not know what they're buying their kids. But many of the cities and the counties have already adopted e-bike regulations, and maybe we should explore those first. Overall, I believe we all agree this is an issue. It's something we've got to deal with. But I think we should explore other avenues, such as education and advocating for a bill that's hopefully going to be signed here in Sacramento before jumping into a lawsuit. So I support the outcome. I support the reasoning for bringing this forward. I just can't support the means at this point in time going directly to a lawsuit. Thank you very much.

Chair Partem. Thank you, Madam Chair. I also want to thank you for bringing this item forward. It's very important and I also want to uplift some of the concerns that I have heard from my residents in Bonita, my constituents in Bonita, and people in communities all throughout District 1. They've raised concerns about e-bike safety. This is a fast-moving and evolving issue and I want you to know that it is top of mind for me. I believe parents should not have to become vehicle experts to keep their children safe. Marketing electric motorcycles as bicycles conceals a serious risk for families, and companies are profiting from the deception at the expense of children's safety, as we well heard, sadly, earlier from the chair, from the case up in North County. This isn't about banning e-bikes, it's about holding bad actors accountable to protect both families and responsible businesses so that e-bikes can be enjoyed by all. It's an important step towards broader safety efforts that should include both education for children and parents. We must continue listening to residents and working on education, safer infrastructure and appropriate enforcement. So all of the strategies I support to ensure that our kids are safe, and I'm proud to support this effort. I look forward to continuing this work all throughout District 1 as well. Thank you.

Thank you very much. We have a motion on the floor, but no second. Any further comments? Okay. We have a second from the Chair Pro Tem. Any additional comments? Okay. Seeing none, we'll take a vote. Thank you.

Chair Lawson-Riemer, that motion passes with Supervisor Desmond voting no, all other supervisors being present and voting aye.

Okay, thank you all very much. We now have item 20, which is receive a presentation on the County of San Diego's El Nino and severe weather preparedness and take action to strengthen community preparedness. We'll turn the floor over to the staff team. Thanks. I'll kick things off. Thank you.

The county team is here to share critical information about emergency preparedness and responses to make sure that our communities are safe during what's expected to be a very strong El Nino event in the coming weeks and months. Public health and safety are our priority. And we're using lessons from the past to make improvements and take important actions. Things like clearing storm channels, stocking sandbags, sharing resources with the public, and so much more that you'll hear about today. And we're taking these actions in coordination with our regional partners, other cities and response agencies, as well as with the community. We know that we're stronger and more prepared when we work together. With that, I'll turn the presentation over to the Public Safety Group Deputy CAO, Andrew Strong.

Thank you, Ebony. Good afternoon, Chair Lassen-Riemer and members of the board. Meteorologists and weather experts are forecasting San Diego will be impacted by the very strong El Nino building in the Pacific. County leadership wants to make sure all San Diegans are prepared for the impacts of El Nino. We also want to tell you county departments are working to keep communities safe. This work builds on lessons from the severe storms and flooding our region experienced in 2024, as our CAO just spoke to. The county monitors and shares weather data to support preparations for floods, fires, and other extreme weather conditions. County meteorologists and the National Weather Service forecast a 100% chance that El Nino conditions currently observed in the Pacific Ocean will continue at least until early next year. This graphic shows the typical impacts of El Nino-related weather patterns, shifts across North America. In Southern California, we tend to experience wetter than normal conditions due to increased storm activity during our rainy season, which spans from October to April. Forecasters say this El Nino will likely be categorized as very strong, occurring from fall into early next year. which greatly increases the likelihood of a wetter than normal season. It is important to emphasize that these are only common impacts associated with El Nino events and that El Nino is an oceanic signal and does not automatically guarantee a specific response like a big storm. The potential for El Nino to bring flooding and storm damage is not uniform across San Diego County. These are the areas where weather-related impacts are usually the greatest. Low-lying areas in mapped floodplains have the highest flooding risk, and stronger storms that could cause flooding outside of mapped floodplains are possible, though rare during El Nino. According to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, El Niño can raise sea levels by 6 to 13 inches and produce larger waves. When these conditions combine with storms and high tides, coastal areas become more vulnerable to erosion as well as coastal flooding. Landslide risk increases during El Nino, especially if we get back-to-back storms that saturate steep slopes, and this repeated soaking can make landslides more likely. The reflows are fast-moving slurries of mud, rocks, and vegetation, which are primarily caused by intense, short bursts of rainfall over recent burn scars. In these cases, the key drivers are burn severity and rainfall intensity in minutes, not El Nino itself. With the likelihood of more storm activity during El Nino, there's also a greater chance of storms causing strong winds. These winds could affect any portion of the county. And we all need to do what we can do to prepare for El Nino effects in our communities. And to talk about that, I'll turn it over to Darrell Arbuthnot, our director of the Office of Emergency Services, to discuss preparations that the county is making.

Thank you, Andrew. Thank you. The 2024 floods were significant for our region and prompted the county to look closer at how we prepare, respond to, and recover from disasters. Following the floods, recommendations were identified from the CAO's office, the board's direction, and also an independent after-action report. Rather than address them separately, OES combined them into a single coordinated improvement effort. We established a cross-departmental steering committee with nine work groups focused on key issues. This added OES prioritizing improvements, emphasizing immediate needs, and identifying areas where long-term work was needed. This work resulted in meaningful changes that include changes from 2024. OES has strengthened its emergency planning and readiness by updating key plans, procedures, expanded countywide training exercises, and establishing a three-deep staffing model for critical emergency operations center positions. We've pre-established resources like contacts with Uber Eats and Uber Transport so we can quickly support food delivery and transport when needed. We also established contracts with temporary hotel lodging and case management like TerraTech can help provide managed temporary housing for people whose homes are uninhabitable while also strive government services that can connect impaired people with other assistance. IN THE AREA OF COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS EFFORTS, OES INCREASED STAFFING FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, SUPPORTING A YEAR-ROUND OUTREACH AND CONTINUES TO STRENGTHEN RELATIONSHIPS IN COMMUNITY AND FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS, TRIBAL NATIONS AND OTHER TRUSTED PARTNERS. OES CONTINUES TO SEEK WAYS TO USE ENGAGE SAN DIEGO TO STRENGTHEN TWO-WAY COMMUNICATIONS WITH COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND TRUSTED MESSENGERS, GIVING US A WAY TO REGULARLY SHARE AND RECEIVE KEY INFORMATION DIRECTLY FROM OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS. We have also made Alert San Diego easier and more useful for residents. People can sign up for alerts specific to their address, get information in multiple languages and accessible formats, and use the map for finding resources like sandbag locations and other flood watch information. As we prepare for the winter, we're not just starting from where we were in January 24. We are strengthening our system and our partnerships and put new capabilities in place. With the winter season approaching, the Severe Weather Preparedness Task Force has brought 21 county departments and its partners together, partnerships together to ensure our preparedness. Together we are assessing what the current, currently in place, what we need to get accomplished, and how we can coordinate best together. This effort has two main focuses. The first is county readiness and ensures our workforce, infrastructure, essential services and emergency response systems are effectively prepared. The second is community readiness, which is to ensure our residents have an essential information resources that support their preparedness. I'll start by how the county is preparing its workforce to support emergency response.

Can I interrupt for a moment? Darrell, would you mind projecting your voice a little bit more?

I'm sorry?

Would you mind projecting your voice a little bit more?

Sure. Thank you. Preparedness depends on people. A key lesson learned from recent emergencies is that our workforce needs to know and understand the assignment roles to be trained in in advance. Additionally, for extended emergencies, OES requires staffing depths to ensure consistent, sustained multi-day operations. To address these issues, OES is working with county departments to ensure that there are redundant teams of adequately trained and ready to perform emergency operation roles. All county employees are identified as disaster service workers. Currently, more than 1,200 employees have volunteered for specific operational training roles and have received necessary refresher training. OES has also developed a quick, just-in-time training model for training additional employees that can step into critical roles and help during county shelters and local assistance centers. Just this year, OES has created a training plan for county leadership and emergency operations center responders that included an exercise in the spring and another one scheduled for this October. Having a well-trained workforce is only part of the being ready. County departments also need to keep essential services running and the emergency disruptions normal during normal disruptions. The department must plan ahead to ensure they keep themselves and the organization's essential operations during emergencies. Those plans are referred to as continuity of operations plans. These plans require county departments to identify backup staff, alternate work locations, backup systems, and other options for continuing vital services if normal operations are disrupted. This is especially important for services that cannot simply stop during an emergency, including those that support people who depend on county programs or are in county care, custody, or supervision. Through the Severe Weather Preparedness Task Force, departments are assessing their coup plans now. And when the emergency is too large for one department or jurisdiction to manage, our regional coordination gets activated. Emergencies often start at the local level with cities responding within their communities while county departments manage county services like roads and infrastructures throughout the unincorporated areas. However, severe weather often affects several communities at once. When this occurs, OES helps coordinate the regional response across the 18 cities, tribal nations, and the unincorporated areas. Fortunately, OES has continued to build relationships with its jurisdictional partners before an emergency. Additionally, through the Unified Disaster Council, OES regularly meets and participates in training and exercises opportunities with the city, tribal, and public safety agencies, health care providers, utilities, and other regional partners so that we know how we work together under emergency conditions. To ensure community input, OES has added a community liaison position within the EOC or the EOC structure that allows community partners to direct connect to the EOC, helping us quickly share information with communities and hear what they need. In those instances where the emergency exceeds our regional capacity, we then can request additional help from the state and federal government. As the threat of an emergency, as the threat of a significant storm activity increases, OES coordinates with the county departments and regional partners to ensure resource readiness and the potential need for activation of the EOC. If severe weather creates an immediate threat to life, our focus then shifts to protecting people and getting them out of harm's way. OES will issue emergency alerts, emergency warnings through tools like Alert San Diego, Alert San Diego Genesis Protect program so residents can alert to the conditions they're faced with. If an area requires evacuation, law enforcement will lead the evacuation efforts as they work closely with fire and other first responders based on current conditions. Fire and rescue agencies are prepared to respond with specialized resources including water rescue teams. When temporary shelters are necessary, the American Red Cross, county and community partners work together to open and support shelters. Shelters are established based on the incident's location. OES maintains a list of more than 250 potential shelter locations across the region, so we have options identified before an emergency occurs. We also identify facilities that can be used as local assistance centers after a disaster. where residents can connect with recovery services and resources. Animal services and partner organizations will help residents evacuate and shelter their pets and large animals. Ahead of the winter, County Animal Services is reviewing shelter services and evacuation equipment and adding resources for large animal evacuations, including new trailers with livestock sheltering supplies. We want to help the people prepare before a storm occurs. We are asking residents to prepare now before severe weather arrives and any disaster occurs. First, know your risk. Residents can use the County Know Your Hazard tool to enter their address and identify what potential hazards might affect their homes or neighborhoods. Second, know where to get reliable information. Sign up for Alert San Diego for emergency alerts and instructions and download the Genesis Protect app so you know your evacuation zone before the emergency occurs. During an emergency, use official tools and sources for road closures and other updates. Third, make a household plan. Know where to go if you're required to leave your community, how you will connect with your family, what medication supplies you might need, have a plan for your pets as well, and keep important documents somewhere in a safe place and ready to access. And finally, help others prepare. Check on family, friends, and neighbors who may need additional assistance to help before emergency occurs. To make these steps easier, we have launched a new El Nino resource page on Alert San Diego. It brings our severe weather preparedness information together in one place, including emergency alerts, sand and sandbag locations, current weather conditions, preparedness resources, and other tools residents may need before and during a storm. The page can also be translated into multiple languages. OES is also taking preparedness information directly into communities. For example, OES has identified areas with high flood risk and is working with county outreach teams and trusted community partners to focus preparedness information in those communities. These are simple steps, but the time to take them is before the storm is approaching. I'll now turn it over to Rich Whipple, the Deputy Director of Public Works, to cover how the county is preparing its infrastructure and the flood protection resources available to residents.

Thank you, Darrell. General Services is preparing county facilities, including clearing drains and gutters, staging pumps and sandbags at known problem areas, and maintaining backup generators that support critical facilities. Parks and Recreation is inspecting drainage systems, addressing erosion and runoff concerns, including coordination with Public Works and CAL FIRE in areas recently affected by wildfire. And county libraries are preparing as well. Libraries are not only county facilities, they are trusted community spaces that residents rely on every day. They serve an important role during an emergency, including as potential sites for local assistance centers where residents can connect with recovery resources and services. The Department of Public Works maintains nearly 2,000 miles of the county's roads in the unincorporated county. Road maintenance crews prepare all year long for the next storm season by performing various maintenance programs, including storm drain inspections and cleanings, street sweeping, tree trimming, pavement and pothole repairs, and more. Public Works has 13 road maintenance stations across the unincorporated county where our crews, equipment, and materials are staged so they are well situated to provide responsive service to all our communities. There are approximately 20,000 storm drains under our roadways and over 1,900 storm drains and 80 open channels outside of the road right away. All are inspected at least once per year, and then those that need it are cleaned before the storm season. This work has been prioritized and is well ahead of schedule. During storms, county road crews respond 24-7 to the impacts from the storm to keep the roadways safe. to close and reopen flooded roads, clear clogged inlets and channels, fallen trees and rock slides, and in colder months to clear snow at the higher elevations. After the storms, crews continue working 24-7 until all impacts have been addressed. Service requests can be submitted by the community and received real-time by the road crews for any issues that may arise on the roadways. The preferred method is to use the county's Tell Us Now mobile application or the 24-7 hotline at 877-684-7000. During or after a storm, the public is urged to never walk or drive through flood water and never drive around a closed road barricade. Residents can also take steps on their properties to reduce the potential for water damage. Before the rainy season, inspect private drains, gutters, and drainage areas and clear leaves, sediment, or debris that could block the flow of water. Property owners should also look for areas where soil may erode or where runoff is directed towards structures. Public Works provides information on private drainage, erosion and sediment control and other ways residents can prepare their property before heavy rain. Public Works also maintains four webcams at selected low water crossings throughout the county. Residents can use those cameras to view current conditions and the county emergency staff can use them during flooding to monitor roadway and stream conditions. Taking care of these issues before a storm and checking conditions before traveling can help residents make safer decisions when heavy rains arrive. Preparedness also includes thinking about how your household would recover financially if your home or belongings were lost. Because of actions taken by the county for floodplain administration, residents and businesses in the unincorporated county receive a 20% discount on flood insurance premiums. Sandbags are another tool residents can use to help divert water and debris away from their property. Cities provide sandbags for their residents, and the county and CAL FIRE currently stock nearly 40 distribution sites across unincorporated communities. Current locations and instructions are available on the county's Alert San Diego website at alertsandiego.org. Some locations provide bags only, while others provide both sand and bags. At locations with sand, residents may need to bring a shovel to fill their bags. We recommend checking the website and calling ahead to confirm supplies before making the trip, though we do consistently monitor supplies and work with partners to restock quickly. These are some of the steps residents can take now to prepare their homes and families before the winter season. I will now turn it over to Dr. Sayon Philopavin, the public health officer.

Thank you, Rich. As Rich mentioned, preparedness information is already being taken into communities. Just as important is how that information reaches people and who delivers it. County programs work with residents and community organizations every day. Through Live Well San Diego, community health workers, community leadership teams, and our Healthcare Disaster Coalition, We already have trusted networks throughout the region. We are using those networks now to prepare for this winter. OES and county departments are providing severe weather preparedness training through all five Live Well San Diego regional community leadership teams and working with trusted community partners to share that information with the people they serve. We are also using flood risk information to help focus outreach in communities where the risk may be greater. And importantly, communication goes both ways. Community partners can share preparedness information with residents, but they can also tell us when information is not reaching people or when communities are experiencing needs or barriers. We also know that reaching people effectively requires more than one approach. Some residents may have limited mobility, a disability, a language barrier, limited or no transportation, medical needs, unstable housing, or limited access to digital information. This is why preparedness has to use different approaches. For older adults and people with disabilities, Aging and Independence Services provides preparedness education. Since March, more than 400 older adults have received disaster preparedness training. AIS is also partnering with OES on Silver Stay Ready preparedness events. The first was held in Chula Vista in May, and additional events are being planned for rural unincorporated communities. During an emergency, county programs can also use existing client information to identify people who may need additional support in an affected area. For example, self-sufficiency services and in-home supportive services can reach vulnerable clients with information and resources. while Adult Protective Services and other case management programs can conduct wellness checks. For people experiencing homelessness in the unincorporated communities, the County's Office of Homeless Solutions can activate its inclement weather program using local hotels and motels for temporary shelter during qualifying weather conditions. We also use Partner Relay, a partnership between OES and Public Health's Office of Border Health to share vetted emergency information with trusted community organizations. that can translate and share time-sensitive information through their own networks. The goal is not just to send information out. It is to reach people through the organizations and relationships they already know and trust with information that they can understand, access, and use. Thank you. And I'll turn it back to Andrew to walk through today's recommendations.

Thank you, Dr. Tihalo. Today's recommendations are to receive this presentation and direct the Chief Administrative Officer to develop an enterprise-wide severe weather community preparedness resource hub and engagement strategy. As you heard today, county departments are already working through their existing networks, community partners, and outreach teams to help residents prepare. The resource hub will build on that work by bringing preparedness information together in one place and helping us reach communities through trusted partners. The goal is to make it easier for residents to find and use preparedness information while continuing to hear directly from communities about their needs and barriers. Chair Lawson-Riemer, this concludes our presentation and we're here for any questions.

Okay, thank you so much. Before we have board discussion, we'll go to a public comment. Thanks.

Thank you, Chair Lofton-Riemer. We have eight requests to speak on this item, one in person and seven requesting to speak by phone. We also did not receive any comments on this item. I'd like to invite forward our in-person speaker, allegedly Audra. You will have two minutes to address the board.

I have to say, you'd sue an abortion clinic for child endangerment if you could. This is interesting. We are going to severely be impacted by these storms, and you guys are going to be showing that you're not prepared ever, intentionally so, because you don't even want to acknowledge cloud seeding that happens, like the ones from Saupas and a watershed project that happened in the January storms. But who cares about that? It's not going to be something that's uncontrollable when we're intentionally putting metals into the clouds so that they get more precipitation. But it's cool. And we have a rainmaker, which is just above us in El Segundo, that is going to be potentially cloud seeding with drones this year. So it'll be interesting to see how much rain we can get because, I mean... All they got to do is just inject some things into those clouds and you get millions and billions of gallons of water. But it's cold. No reason to acknowledge that. That would be stupid because you guys make a lot of money off of people's suffering. So, I mean, we need to make sure that we continue to make sure that people are in detrimental situations. And like you talk about this whole... I love it. You guys do good work. This is good for children, right? We do good kids books. I'm surprised there's nobody having sex on there. But it's interesting because it's like you talk about providing something for the homeless. We can't do that just today. It's like we walk over them. But if there's a storm, listen. We can get some money, put you in a hotel. My friends can make some money. You know what I mean? It's good. It makes people think that you guys care. As long as you get prepared, right? All while you put people in danger from your negligence. So it's just interesting. A lot of people are probably going to die, lose their homes. their property and uh have to go into some socialist program but this is the plan that you guys have laid out for us so good job it's working very well look forward to hearing all of the uh tormenting stories of the people that are going to suffer at your hands and now we'll hear from those that requested to speak by phone we'll start with our first caller

Okay, this was a kind of interesting and amusing summary of all the crap you've planned for us. But anyway, think of El Nino in a few weeks. The heat and humidity are already here and part of the whole thing. So maybe you need to wake up. Maybe that's why you had the presentation today. Anyway, it looks like you want to create a weather hub. Aren't there enough already? Or do you actually mean hiring extra people to give advice and maybe scare people shitless like so many news services or your Find the Hazard website? And as several people hinted or pointed out, Who will leave you anyway, given the choice between you and the pros? Why don't you fix up county roofs, pools, and culverts first like you're supposed to, and four webcams in the county to monitor flooding? What a crock. And by the way, I don't know how, As you put it, today's presentation will equip the public with vital information on the County of San Diego's protocols and procedures designed to maintain safety during El Nino. Frankly, most of the public isn't here, and they probably don't care either. A perfect example of the single biggest problem in communication being the illusion that it has taken place. Hopefully, though, it will improve if we talk to our neighbors. And, of course, you can do something about the homeless, as Audra mentioned.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

Hey, it's true. That was a very fun comment. In fact, it was the opposite of your presentations. I don't know how many there were. I actually kind of just like tuned out all of you guys because it was so boring. I honestly, you know, I'm not trying to be mean, but I think that there was a better way to present the information because if there was anything even remotely useful, I didn't hear it. Even the times I was listening, I didn't hear anything that I could actually take with me and go, oh, this was great information. I'm going to survive the next emergency. No, not with you guys. A severe weather community preparedness resource hub just sounds like a big time risk. Like you just want to get more money, get some more state grants or something and just Pretend you're going to build something. It's kind of like your sewage infrastructure. This board can't even quit blowing the budget and reserves. Nobody in their right mind would trust this board to respond or communicate in a real emergency. In fact, we go back to 2024 under Chris Eisler.

He lied about there being a hurricane.

And he said, oh, you know, I'm glad everyone believed us and our messengers and the news was willing to go along with it. I mean, he literally admitted to lying about a real emergency. So we're never going to believe you. In fact, I remember, Jim, what year was that, 2023 or 2024, where you said, you know, the next time there's a real emergency, nobody's going to believe us. And he was talking about COVID, the lockdowns, the scandemic. You're right. We're not going to believe you on anything. And then you talk about an engagement strategy to provide a centralized space. Like, where's the actual plan? Why do progressives always bring half-baked money pit disasters? Of course, that's a rhetorical question. It's a grift continuation. And then I remember, like, how badly the county failed in maintaining storm infrastructure in January 2024. And then you hired Equus, gave them a sole source contract. They did horrifically, especially at the food delivery. We had survivors relying on Uber Eats gift cards that racked up a huge unnecessary bill for county residents. And this item was signed by Andrew. Bit the dust strong. Thank you.

We'll hear from the final caller.

Well, hi, this is Hector. I got some experience on the storm drains and stuff. In my neighborhood in Bay Park, Marina Boulevard by Teclady Road in Knoxville, the big rain we had a while ago, we figured this out about 15 years ago. One of my chiropractor neighbors got flooded out. But the infrastructure below the roads was good. But the actual storm drains were pretty old. And in front of her place, it was really old. So it clogged up. with leaves and stuff after the big rain, like about 15 years ago. So we figured out in the neighborhood, they like right now, go around, clean out the drains, they're clean. After when it starts raining the first time a little bit, go out and check the drains again and clear them off. But you got to be careful about the needles. Because in the alleyways down there, drug addicts shoot needles and they leave them. So the first rain kind of clears out needles in the neighborhood. like blood needles, so it's kind of dangerous. That happens probably all over the city now. The first water going down the drains could have needles in them, so be careful about doing that. And then go back in about a couple hours. If they get super deep, they could be flooded. The drains could flood again and just clear them out a little. You've got to help them out. We don't expect the city to do that, but they didn't do it one time. It did backflow and flood the lady's office. We just didn't know that it was happening in that particular area. Another thing, a big time you guys could take action on right now to make a big difference in this, call Homeland Security and have them build a wall right across the Tijuana River Channel. It won't cost the county nothing. There's five inches of space between the wall. That'll strain the dead bodies from Tijuana coming across, dead animals, trash, before the major thing happens. And I'll...

Thank you. And Chair Lawson-Riemer, that concludes public comment on this item.

Okay, I'll turn it over to the Vice Chair.

Andrew, I know the one thing that you will miss in retirement is these meetings. Thank you so much for the presentation. Thank you for everyone that is participating. Just, you know, I was about a month into this job when the January 2024 floods happened. And I just won't forget that experience. I won't forget the devastation. I will not forget seeing and being with people who had lost everything in a matter of hours. We have no idea, right, what this weather pattern will do. We don't know that. But I think that from my perspective, I've been through that, and so I'm going to have a real sense of urgency around how we're responding to people. and how we're proactively preparing so that there is not as much devastation, right? So that's just, you know, the lens that I'm looking at this in and I know that we are required to have plans and then this is sort of more of a voluntary plan. But I think my job and how I'm going to interpret all of this is that our plan meets the people and the streets, right? That what we're planning here in this chamber, we have enough detail in order to activate and mobilize if and when something happens. Because if something happens, there will not be the calm that there is in this room right now. And we know that in panic, like the only thing that we have to go back to is the plan that we made prior to the panic. So, So I'm going to have just a few questions from the presentation and then a few requests. So one question from the presentation, just on slide number four, Darrell, I think you talked about the three unique staffing models. I think I heard that right. Could you kind of just briefly go over what those are?

Yes, Supervisor, step through the chair. The 3D model, the technical name is Incident Management Team, and it's basically a triplicate of a team that are specially trained to operate within the EOC, and they sit in key positions, and they basically are there. There's reason why there's three or so operational periods, like during the floods before we had extended times where the employees were worn out. This allows for rotations, and it's consistently, they train together, they practice together, they kind of know each other's role And it just makes it more consistent. So that's the name of the team, Incident Management Team.

Okay. Okay. And that was something instituted from the after action, like looking at our lessons learned from 2024?

Yes. Yes.

Okay. On slide number eight, it has the Regional Emergency Coordination. What I recall about this last time is that the buck didn't stop anywhere. I just remember that we were kind of going round and round trying to make decisions about how we were going to mobilize resources on the ground. So my question with the operational area coordination with the county and 18 cities, the tribes and other partners, I remember sitting in a room also with Cal OES, where Who makes what decisions? Like, how do we decide who's in charge? Because that was a major issue, and we wasted, frankly, a lot of time that we could have been getting resources directly to people.

That's an excellent question. Unfortunately, I wasn't here, so I can't speak from a historical perspective. I did read the reports. However, what we have done since then is we've reinforced the NIMS training, the National Incident Management and CIMS standardized emergency management training. And specifically to answer your question, the person that's in charge of the EOC is actually making all the decisions. However, we work through the policy group, and the policy group is the leadership of the county. So there is a structure in place, a process in place to manage problems regardless of the problem type. As long as it's adhered to and respected, it works very well. I've used it multiple times in the Los Angeles area.

Okay. Thank you for that. Let me just make sure that I have no other questions through the slides really briefly. So this is the last one, I think. For getting information, I know that you all are working on a specific landing page for El Nino. I did see it this morning. I think some of the links still need some work. But what I... I'm thinking about here, is there any, would it be 211 that people call like in the event that there is no, you know, cell phones are down? Would we go to a landline at that point? Like what is the alternative to like internet being down, cell phones being down?

So I want to make sure I understand your question. You're talking for the public in general, having communications or interacting with whom?

Yes, because I know right now we have a lot of information on the Internet, and then we have the text alerts that people can sign up for to get the information. I think if there is a disaster that impacts people's ability to get that information, what is that next step? At least we can share that with people now.

Yes. Thank you, Supervisor. Step through the chair. OES has partnered with Live Well San Diego to train more of the CBOs. That's one of the vehicles for getting the information out. They can share information with their clients. And then also we're working with the Aging and Independence Services to ensure they're getting connected with our resources to ensure we can share information. The county's partner relay, which also includes the tribal groups, which allows translation or different language sharing. So that's when we were doing it. We created materials and we're doing outreach today with various groups, as Dr. T mentioned earlier, that we're working with various groups to do outreach today to make sure they're getting the information, reaching those folks that may not have internet access. We're doing every effort we can, but mostly I think working to live well in these different organizations that are spread throughout the county, unincorporated specifically, are getting attention today so that we don't wait until the last minute to respond to their... their needs.

Okay. All right. And we'll just discuss that a little bit more later because I do want to know, this is one of my questions, when we talk about partnership with CBOs, what does that mean when the disaster hits? That was one of the major issues we had last time because nonprofit organizations were filling in the gaps for at least two weeks before we can really step in. And so the partnership is, again, good right now because the agreement sounds like they're getting the information out to community members, right? That's cool. What will they, how will they be able to assist us in the disaster and what does that partnership look like? For example, do we, you know, this is something maybe we can explore having an emergency relief fund that has certain framework and certain parameters so that we're not scrambling as a board at the last minute to try to help and assist CBOs that are filling in that gap for us until we're able to do more here as a board. So anyway, that's one of the things. Just again, I'll go back to this. We have to continue to move with urgency. That's extremely important. Government has to know what's happening in our communities, and people need reliable information from sources they know and trust, which goes to those partnerships. I do think they need to be more clearly defined, but we're definitely in a better place than we were a couple years ago. Again, I think we have the responsibility to apply what we have learned. So yesterday, my community engagement team did go out to the communities of Spring Valley and Casa de Oro, both unincorporated areas of my district, and I share those areas too. But some of those areas that were previously impacted by the floods and so while they were out they submitted 18 tell us now reports after just one hour of canvassing the communities. Met with a constituent whose home is still being repaired after two years. And so, you know, part of the point of this is that a lot of the places they went to were places that we had identified in a previous board letter in 2024 that needed continual maintenance. And it looked as though those places were not getting that continual maintenance. And so we are, I know that staff went into action right away. Those 18 tell us now requests will be cleared up by the, the end of the week is what we've been told. But I think, you know, it's really hard for me to go out in front of this and my staff goes out and within an hour they find that. Right. So I know there's been a lot of maintenance of larger storm drain channels. Thank you for that. Those continued updates. to my office, but we still, this was concerning to me. And so I don't know, Davi, I don't know if you were going for the light there, if you had anything to say or, yeah.

Thank you, Vice Chair, through the Chair, I really appreciate that and thank you for the tell us now information. We're certainly encouraging the community to send information to us and we will act very quickly on all of those. I know it is concerning to see vegetation of any kind in the culverts and it can be concerning. I do want to assure you that we're tracking every single culvert and the team has actually looked at all 500. I think we've got 4% of the culverts in the area that needed maintenance from a storm impediment standpoint. So sometimes you get kind of the weeds that pop up in your backyard or in the sidewalk cracks very quickly. Suffice to say, we will double check all of those and make sure that that ongoing cycle is happening very rapidly because I do understand your concerns. We will absolutely continue that. Thank you.

Thank you. And again, just to reiterate, these were these. were areas that were on a list that we had already identified or close to. We had already identified those two years ago. So the last thing I'll say before I have a request, I know we are receiving the report, but there is a recommendation after that. So I will move that recommendation and ask my colleagues to support some additions that I have. The last thing that stood out to me is the 72 hours, 24 to 72 hours that we are kind of giving ourselves to mobilize resources, particularly to stand up a resource center. And I know we had a few of those last time. I really want to try our best to get that time down even quicker for us to be able to mobilize. I know we don't know where these disasters could happen, if they're going to happen at all, but it's very important that we be there for people, and I think it mitigates a lot of the concern, trust issues that we can have on the back end when a disaster happens. The shorter we can get that timeframe, the better. I would like to see nothing later than 48 hours for us to be able to mobilize. It seems like we have staff in place now, the expectation that we have a rotation of staff. So I would like to try to get that down a bit. So I will move this staff recommendation, receive the report and move the staff recommendation. But I do have a recommendation to add And I think hopefully Andrew has that. Nope. Okay. Well, it's long. I'll get my staff to get it to you because I don't think my colleagues can make a decision without seeing it all. So I will work on that and won't move. I won't move anything yet because I really think these recommendations are important. So I'll work on getting that to you. Thank you.

Okay, we can come back to you, Vice Chair, once those recommendations are there. Andrew, Andrew, will you let me know? Okay, thank you so much. I'll turn it over to Chair Pratamangiri.

Yes, thank you, Chair. And yeah, looking forward to seeing those, Madam Vice Chair. And I just, the comment, you know, that you made about having it be difficult to forecast. I just wanted to mention quickly that Imperial Beach has been a pilot study site for Scripps Institutional Oceanography as far as a predictive model for coastal flooding and coastal hazards that has proven to be extremely effective you know, productive and beneficial when we do coastal flooding management and proactive measures to prevent the flooding. And I was just thinking, and happy to talk to you about this offline, but maybe we could pursue or encourage Scripps to pursue a predictive model for Choyas Creek. We know Choyas Creek is a huge source of flooding for many of our communities and great concern. it's doable. Coastal systems and riverine systems, you can predict flooding. So I think that that could be something we could work on together. So separate from that, thank you director for the, thank you staff for the presentation. I do have a few questions. One actually was already asked by the vice chair regarding how we are doing proactive outreach. So that was answered already. But I did want to ask you in particular, our readiness and coordination specifically with the city of San Diego. Because for me, top of mind, the 2024 floods are still a concern. And I just wanted to see if you could walk me through the process of our role when an emergency happens in the city of San Diego and what are the gaps that we saw in the past lesson in the lessons of 2024 that we could address moving forward.

Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Geary and through the chair. OES has done a lot of active things to recalibrate how we work with the city, not just the city of San Diego, but all the cities. And to your point, early on, even with prior to this El Nino becoming a top priority, we throughout the year work with all of our regional partners. Fortunately, about four months ago, the city of San Diego placed their emergency management department under the fire department. And so that's made it even easier for us to access them on a regular basis, communicate. They stood up, they're an internal El Nino work group and we stood ours up and we've now kind of integrated some of our folks and their team and theirs with us. So we're on the planning side of it, we're prepared. On the response side, obviously, just like with the other jurisdictions, when they have emergency, they make a request. We usually monitor any type of large-scale emergency if it's not in our jurisdiction. And once they either make a request to us or we have a couple of emergency managers activating, we activate. We work with them and we start working from a support level and communication level. We work behind the scenes to support whatever their challenges are. That may be in mutual aid resources, whatever it is. And if the incident expands greater than that, We go through the state, Cal OES, and we have a representative embedded in our EOC. And then, obviously, it expands beyond that. We go through emergency declaration, and then we ask them to go a little higher, and that goes to the federal government. So that's kind of the progressive steps that happen behind the scenes for a large-scale emergency, including El Nino.

Yes, I appreciate hearing about the coordination with the teams and their response as well. My next question is, for residents who don't own a vehicle or that rely on public transit or need accessible transportation, what is the actual plan to get them to safety if flooding interrupts their usual routes? We saw that happen with the 2024 Orange Line and some other areas. Who coordinates that assistance across jurisdictions? How do residents request it? And how are we ensuring transportation is available before conditions become too dangerous?

So for the emergency piece of it, trapped or stranded residents, usually the first responders are the first key folks. And the fire service, CAL FIRE, and the cities of San Diego and some of the others have... or water rescue resources to go get them out from that area. Beyond that, obviously we can work with MTA and other agencies that we work closely with to help coordinate moving folks from problem areas outside. And then Red Cross plays another big key role in ensuring where we can take them to. So we set up a temporary area where they can, a safe refuge area. And this also includes the animals that we also don't want to leave them behind. So we have a plan with Animal Services. They have a new trailer, a couple of resources to help get the large animals out of areas. So we're equipped to do that. It's a process. It takes a little time, but we can get it going pretty quick, though.

Okay, I appreciate that response and your work, Director. Thank you. So I just want to add some remarks. Right now, a strong El Nino, as we know, is forecasted for this fall and winter. In my district, we don't need a forecast to know what that means. It's been mentioned before, January 2024, one storm put water into homes in National City, in Chula Vista, in San Isidro, in Tijuana River Valley, of course. But in Shelltown, families along the Chollas Creek watched their homes fill with water in a matter of minutes. In the Tijuana River Valley, that water carried sewage into yards and onto our beaches. And in Spring Valley, we saw mudslides and complete road closures. The people most affected are working families, seniors, and residents with disabilities in low-lying neighborhoods, many of whom speak Spanish at home and don't have a car to leave in. I believe preparedness only counts if it reaches the people who the storm affects the most. A sandbag site nobody knows about is not preparedness. A hub built with a community organization's people trust is. So I want to thank our regional partners for developing one central place where residents can learn about, find, and use severe weather resources. And I want to just reiterate, this matters because for a family in Shelltown or Otay Mesa, they should know before the storm where to get sandbags, how to get alerts, and who to call when the water rises. I do think that a website is a starting point, not a finish line. That is why I'm asking OES to work with my office to hold in-person community meetings in our most impacted areas in Spanish and English before the first storms arrive. I've been getting a lot of interest from my constituents around the El Nino and the potential floods that are coming our way. The people who flooded last time should hear this directly in their neighborhoods, from the people responsible for the preparation response, and in the most extreme cases, evacuation and recovery. So I look forward to working with regional partners, with your office, Director of OES, to ensure our communities are prepared and empowered and reassured that our region as a whole is here for them. Thank you. That concludes my remarks. And as soon as the Vice Chair presents her recs, I'll be happy to consider being second.

Are you ready, Andrew? Okay. Then we'll go to Supervisor Desmond.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Appreciate it. And thanks, county staff, for your presentation and all the hard work on this. I'm really happy to see the county getting ahead of this. And actually, you were ahead of it last time as well. I know now it's the Super El Nino. Last time it was the Atmospheric River. Most parts of the country call it weather. But with us, it's kind of extreme. So I'd like to applaud the efforts to strategize and proactively prepare. Our residents can be assured that we'll be there for them. with our emergency response team standing by in case of weather-related emergencies this winter. And I know you're already cleaning out culverts and things like that in the unincorporated areas and getting ready for potential major floods. But our last major flood, Supervisor Montgomery-Stepp had mentioned in her first month or two that she was here. We had the floods in 2024. And the county led a quick and professional response. to the flooding in the unincorporated areas due to the strong rain. So he did a great job there. And I'm confident our outstanding staff will rise to the occasion again this winter. But the area I'm concerned with is last time it was the city of San Diego. Due to their billion dollars in deferred maintenance, the city saw horrible flooding in January of 2024. They weren't prepared, and their residents suffered because of it. The county, we ended up bailing out the city of San Diego to the tune of $34 million to provide emergency housing and food to people whose houses just got flooded away. I think there was over 600 homes or something. People were left homeless. And primarily it was due to not cleaning out the drainage ditches that the city was well aware of and needed that work and effort and weren't able to do it. But I'm glad we did it. Glad we helped out our neighbors and provided relief to those residents. But I hope this time the city is making preparations on their own I understand that they have convened their own El Nino Task Force. I just hope they don't come knocking on our door again asking us to do the job for them. So we're responsible for the unincorporated areas, and our Department of Public Works has always done a fantastic job, thank you, in maintaining our infrastructure, getting our roads up to PCI 70, and keeping our residents safe. So extensive planning and preparations are always needed, and we're better off to have those plans ahead of time. So I just want to say thank you very much, and you've proven yourselves in the last rain experience, and I have confidence you're going to do it again. So I appreciate the preparation and the presentation. Thank you.

Okay, to Andrew and Vice Chair Montgomery-Stepp.

Okay, thank you so much. Appreciate that. Thank you everyone for your patience. I'm just going to go ahead and read it. Add this recommendation number three, direct the Chief Administrative Officer to return back to the Board of Supervisors on our next meeting, October 6th, with the County of San Diego's plan to prepare for El Nino in the unincorporated areas that were impacted by the catastrophic flood. on January 22nd, 2024. The plan should include the following information, a one-page summary of what the County of San Diego learned from the flooding in January 2024 and what changes were made at the County of San Diego operational area B, the current conditions of and the maintenance schedule for the existing drainage infrastructure at the following nine locations. I won't read all of those, but there they are. They are throughout the county in the unincorporated areas. Just a quick side note, these were nine locations that I noted earlier from the board meeting we had on June 26, 2024. The drainage infrastructure at these nine locations were impacted by the floods and required immediate emergency response. So I'd just like to make sure we're checking all of those. before the next meeting. C, how the County of San Diego will respond in the first 24 hours of an El Nino event, including when the AlertSanDiego.org website will be updated, when text alerts will go out, and when and how the County will reach out to community partners, when and how the first group of employees will be deployed to respond. And D, what the County of San Diego will do to help individuals and families who do not have the financial means to prepare for potential flooding from an El Nino event. That is what I want to add. And I would ask my colleagues to support. Thank you so much.

And I'll second that.

Vice Chair, through the Chair, if I could just clarify a little bit about the response times real quick. Sure. So just want to be clear to the county, we don't wait to respond and deploy our employees. We stand up shelters with resources in them as quickly as six to eight hours, right? And the local assistance centers, which are more of a recovery effort, Those are what take between 24 and 72 hours to stand up. We do ask community members to prepare for at least 72 hours for emergency response because during the emergency, you know, response times could just be delayed depending on what type of emergency it is, floods, earthquakes. So we want folks to be prepared. But I want to be clear that we don't wait to respond. And our team members are out there. We have 23 community emergency response teams that are trained throughout the region that automatically respond in partnership with us. So I just want to be clear that we don't wait to respond. We also don't wait to send our employees out there to support the community.

And I'll just say that was my experience last time, that there was not waiting. And I think some of what I've heard today shows that we're trying to mitigate for some of the issues we dealt with last time was just kind of Who's going to do this? There was a lot of burnout. I was there for all of it. I certainly don't believe that we were just kind of sitting on our hands doing nothing. What I just want to try to push for is that our plans are so well thought out that it won't take that long. Like, we can... push go and then we are ready, right? Because we're dependent upon that plan and we're not having to kind of work, you know, build that plane while we're flying it. And again, I think it was just based last time. It was based on the fact that it was a 100 year event, you know, in the, in the, in our region. And we did have the city of San Diego. We had, NATIONAL CITY, BUT MAINLY THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO THAT HAD NEGLECTED THAT CLEANUP, EVEN THOUGH, YOU KNOW, MEMO AFTER MEMO I WROTE WHILE I WAS THERE SAYING THAT WE NEED TO DO THIS, AND THIS IS WHY I'M LIKE HOW I AM NOW. because I have experienced that, what it takes to take our word for it and not really push that. So I'm just going to push it, but just know that I appreciate the hard work and I've seen it, but I am going to push it. And again, my staff went out to some of those locations yesterday and saw what they saw. And that is not where I want to be. But I do appreciate that and I agree. Thank you.

Okay, seeing no other requests for comments, we can go to a vote.

Chair Lawson-Riemer, that motion passes unanimously with all supervisors being present and voting aye.

Okay, thank you all very much. We'll now move on to items 21 and 25, which we'll take together. This is about enhancing emergency ambulance transportation services in the Grossmont Ambulance Operating Area. Again, we're going to take items 21 and 25 together. That's the Fire Protection District item and the PSG item. Do we have a staff presentation? Or we can just go straight to public comment. Okay, great. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Chair Larsen-Riemer, members of the board. Today, County Fire is before the Board of Supervisors and the Board of Directors to request transfer of a contract from the Grossmont Hospital Corporation to the San Diego County Fire Protection District to provide ambulance services within the Grossmont Ambulance Operating Area and authorize the competitive solicitation of a future contract for ambulance services. I am joined by Jeff Collins, our County Director of Fire, and I'll now turn the presentation over to Jeff. Thank you, Andrew.

In May 2023, the board authorized an agreement with the San Diego County Fire Protection District to provide or manage ambulance transportation services in areas where the county has responsibility. This action built upon the county's efforts to ensure reliable ambulance service in rural and outlying communities where maintaining consistent coverage had historically been challenging. The resulting San Diego County Fire Protection District Ambulance Service Area provides a coordinated system for emergency medical transportation across the district and the communities of Alpine, Deer Springs, Crest, and Valley Center. In addition to the responsibility of ambulance service in the ASA, the 2023 agreement included a requirement for the San Diego County Fire Protection District to manage ambulance service upon expiration of existing contracts or when contracts are transferred to the district. This agreement ensures that regardless of changes to providers or contracts, the county and County Fire will step in to ensure our communities are never left without access to critical emergency medical services. Through this agreement, County Fire is bringing forward an action for the Grossmont Ambulance Operating Area. We're here today because the Grossmont Ambulance Operating Area, which encompasses the cities La Mesa and Lemon Grove, and the unincorporated communities of Rancho San Diego, Mount Helix, Spring Valley, Casa de Oro, Granite Hills, and La Presa, has a contract that is set to expire, and at least one additional agency has indicated a desire to compete for the service. The county assigned management of the ambulance services in this area to the Grossmont Hospital District in 1979 and was subsequently reassigned to the Grossmont Hospital Corporation in 1991 to reflect the new partnership between the Grossmont Health Care District and Sharp for operating Grossmont Hospital. the Grossmont Hospital Corporation acts as an agent for the county and maintains the contract with the private amnest provider that has been in place since 1979. The Grossmont Hospital Corporation has indicated a desire to have the county manage the ambulance operating area, which annually has nearly 16,000 ambulance transports. The Grossmont Hospital Corporation's contract with their private ambulance provider is set to expire in 2027 and provides the opportunity to reevaluate ambulance service. A thorough review by the county of the ambulance service model in the Grossmont area hasn't been completed since the board's decision nearly five decades ago. The actions before the board would address the immediate and long-term needs for the Grossmont AOA. If approved by the board, the agreement with the hospital corporation would end and their contract with the private provider would transfer to the San Diego County Fire Protection District. With the incorporation of stakeholder feedback, that contract would be amended and bolstered to address oversight, quality improvement, training, and community engagement and shift ambulance dispatching to Heartland Communications. In order to address the long-term needs of the ambulance area, a competitive solicitation would be initiated for a new ambulance contract. A robust community and stakeholder engagement process would be carried out as part of the process. IN ADDITION, COUNTY FIRE HAS ALREADY INITIATED AN AMBULANCE DEPLOYMENT STUDY FOR COUNTY FIRE'S AMBULANCE SERVICE AREA AND COUNTY SERVICE AREA 17, AND THAT DEPLOYMENT STUDY WOULD BE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE A REVIEW OF THE GROSSMONT AREA. THIS WORK INCLUDES DETERMINING THE NUMBER AND TYPE OF AMBULANCES, SCHEDULING, LOCATIONS, RESPONSE TIMES, AND BILLING PRACTICES. THE RESULTS OF THE DEPLOYMENT STUDY FOR THE GROSSMONT AOA WOULD BE INCORPORATED INTO A COMPETITIVE SOLICITATION. TO MAINTAIN EXCLUSIVITY IN THE A.O.A. UNDER STATE LAW, THE COMPETITIVE SOLICITATION WOULD BE PREPARED BY THE EMS OFFICE, THE BOARD DESIGNATED LOCAL EMS AGENCY, AND WILL BE SUBMITTED TO THE STATE'S EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES AUTHORITY WHO WILL CERTIFY THE PROCESS MEETS STATE STANDARDS. the Department of Purchasing and Contracting will issue and complete a competitive procurement for the Grossmont AOA, as well as ensure impartiality in selecting a new ambulance operator. As part of the stakeholder outreach in advance of today's action, county fire staff engaged with representatives from Heartland Fire and Rescue, which serves the cities of La Mesa and Lemon Grove, San Miguel Fire and Rescue, Sharp Grossmont, the Grossmont Healthcare District, and UCSD East Hospital to seek their input on immediate changes for the private ambulance service in the Grossmont AOA. Multiple in-depth discussions have taken place with Heartland Fire and Rescue and San Miguel Fire and Rescue and ambulance provider American Medical Response. Stakeholders identified several priorities for consideration, which included maintain the current first responder agreements between AMR San Miguel and Heartland, transition dispatch to Heartland Communications, bolster quality improvement training and community engagement, funding from the AOA should only be used within the AOA, and San Miguel conveyed the need for greater consideration, study and public input and to stand up an agreed upon number of ambulances. The San Diego County Fire Protection District's role will only be managing the current and future contracts. County Fire wouldn't be competing for the service. For the interim period, our recommendation is to not change the ambulance rates that are in the current contract and to not have any fiscal impact on first responder agreements. We are in full support of transitioning dispatch to Heartland Communication and we plan to work on it immediately. We will continue to work with AMR, San Miguel Fire, and Heartland Fire for the best path forward for quality improvement, training, and community engagement, and that any funds from a revenue agreement would only be used within the Grossmont ambulance area.

I'll now turn the presentation back to Andrew. Thank you, Jeff. Should the board take action on today's recommendations, the next steps will include termination of the agreement with the Grossmont Hospital Corporation and transfer the contract for ambulance services to the San Diego County Fire Protection District. The contract would be amended to include feedback from Heartland and San Miguel Fire, and we would quickly work with those agencies, AMR, and Heartland Communications to transfer dispatch. Monthly meetings with the operations staff and quarterly meetings at the chief level would be implemented. And the ambulance deployment study and community and stakeholder feedback will be incorporated into the development of the competitive procurement for Grossmont AOA. The local EMS agency and the Department of Purchasing and Contracting will complete the competitive procurement for a new ambulance provider. And Chair Lasarima, that concludes our presentation. We're here for any questions.

Okay, thank you very much. We'll go to public comment.

Thank you, Chair Lawson-Riemer. We have seven requests to speak on this item, two in person and five requesting to speak by phone. Also note for the record that for these two items, we received four e-comments, two in opposition and two neutral. For any individuals that requested to speak on item 21 and Fire Protection District item 25 by phone, please dial into the conference line. We'll begin with the in-person speakers. I'd like to invite forward Andy Lawler and allegedly Audra. You'll have two minutes to address the board. I'll ask you to please state your name.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair and members of supervisors of the board. My name is Andy Lawler. I am the fire chief for San Miguel Fire and Rescue. I represent over 150,000 residents of East County in districts two, one, and four. I've been fortunate enough to have these conversations with three of the supervisors and the critical nature of what's happening here today. We were on the forefront actually with Grossmont Healthcare District three or four years ago as we began this conversation because we knew that the oversight was poor. I appreciate Director Collins and Chief Meacham for the collaboration that has gone on thus far for this past month. My concern has never been that we don't need better quality assurance or oversight. It's the nature by which we go about it. By what I've heard from Director Collins today, I appreciate those comments because there are protections that I need to seek for the residents of Spring Valley, Casa de Oro, Mount Helix, Rancho San Diego, and the various other areas that we serve. Those areas, like the first responder agreements, are critical for the annual recurring revenue for the fire district. Some of the other items that were mentioned is the transition from Heartland Communications for dispatch services. We need to have oversight of those ambulances. Right now, I can tell you right now where my fire engines are, but I couldn't tell you where those ambulances are or the response times. And those are very critical for a fire chief to report to my board and to the citizens that we serve. The oversight and the training is critical as well. I will say there was something that was noted in there at $500,000 that would go for, I'm assuming maybe a county fire employee. I would ask for an amendment that would state that that would be for the personnel that are currently doing the work within the district. We follow county and state policy. We provide that quality assurance. And I believe that that money should be directed towards the personnel that are actually conducting the work today. There's no reason for duplication in the system that is already doing it. And lastly, I appreciate it. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Madam Chair, I don't know if you all received this letter from the chief, but he made four points in it. He's gotten to almost all of them. Is there any, at some point, may I ask him questions about the other two points? Because I think they're germane in our decision process.

Yeah, right now we'll continue on with public comment as per protocol. And you're very welcome to invite him up when it's your turn to speak to ask additional questions. Thanks for your time. Thanks.

Next speaker, please.

It's interesting. I look forward to hearing what he has to say because there always seems to be something going on if you read between the lines of why this contract is going to be switched. Because if there is no oversight over this contracted entity, And, I mean, if I'm hearing him right, and, you know, they've been in business with the county for nearly 50 years. That's a little bit disturbing to think about. But I'm wondering who is AMR, who's going to be coming in? I mean, because you kept mentioning AMR, and it's not in your document that you were showing. Are they going to be doing ambulance services? Are they the ones that want the contract? You know, it's like you guys don't want to tell people who's coming in and potentially wants this competition. But the question is why? You know what I mean? And who is this contract going to go to? It's just interesting the way that you guys do business and, you know, how ambulances and all these services work. It's like we pay for you to bring them to our communities and then we have to pay if we want to use them. So people many times don't even call the ambulance or want to use it because they can't afford it. because it's extremely expensive to, especially in the unincorporated area, to go to some hospital in an ambulance. So it's like I think we should be maybe working towards making it cheaper for people so that like if you are in an unincorporated area, you don't have to pay an arm and a leg if you want to go get medical help. I mean, that will literally keep somebody from actually accessing that because they can't afford it. They don't want the bill. I mean, they're just trying to figure out how to survive. So for them to think about thousands of dollars in a ride to a hospital when they potentially might as well take the bus. So I don't know, but there's obviously something going on in here. It'll be interesting to listen to you guys continue to speak about it, which is where the transparency will come.

Thank you. We'll now hear from those that requested to speak by phone. We'll start with our first caller.

I think you know me. So to summarize, Grossmont Hospital wants to end its management of the contract for ambulance services with county fire and transferred the contract to the county fire management provide new services and charge new fees to reimburse it for all of it. But it does not reveal what new services it will provide or estimate the fee. I dislike it that there's no cap on the amount that SPD might raise fees, although they say they won't raise the fees. But I hope they aren't. But it sounds like the pressure's on already. Hard to believe new services without new fees. This is what the San Miguel Fire and Rescue that is in Spring Valley said. That county fire has not shared all the details and the details that shared represent a mix of potentially positive and negative development. In fact, it was unclear at that County Grossmont wanted to transfer the services to County Fire and to a new provider rather than continuing the contract until I saw item 25. So County Fire needs to be more forthcoming about this course before you accept it. And also, you should review the quantifier proposal in item 25 before you put it in item 21, as it was actually discontinued the contract and do a new one. That will be next time.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

It's true. So The Grossmont Hospital Corporation, I'm wondering when they were incorporated, actually. It had one provider since 1979. So under the county board watching grants and not just this board with several boards allowed a monopoly for all of these years. That's kind of interesting. Is that legal to do as long as it's a health care hospital, private profit? They can have a monopoly. Apparently that's OK in this country. Nice to know. And I think it's kind of obvious why they would support having county fire take over the AOA. I mean, it's one less thing for them to manage, right? They can maybe just focus on collecting more profit. I don't know how that would work if they're going to get a cut or they just get cut out of the deal altogether. Because you're not very clear on this item. But what I am sure about, especially because it's not clear, is that I have zero trust for county-led decisions, for this board to make any decision that's going to result in something positive, including from the last conversation. You still have a vote of no confidence. Because who's the consultant doing yet another county study? Who even is it? How much do they get paid? What's the response time comparison if you were to switch? And switch to who? We don't even know that. So I guess you can't give us comparison because we also would like to know what is the cost comparison? Because enhancing sounds like higher fees, taxes. And here's another one. Who got a campaign donation from any firefighter union? Because I think that would be a big conflict of interest. Here's another thing you haven't talked about. Lift assist fees for the call monster facilities with non-emergency calls to take away from resident responses. It's bad enough that people have to take deluxe Ubers instead of multi-thousand dollar ambulances. And make sure you know, Andrew, but the dust strong signed again for this item, not Ebony.

And we'll hear from the final caller.

Good afternoon, Board of Supervisors. My name is Christopher Pierce. I am Director of Division IV of the San Miguel Fire Protection District and a member of the Spring Valley Community Planning Group. But today I'm speaking as a Spring Valley resident. I do not support this item as is currently being presented to the Board of Supervisors. I hope that San Diego County Fire will work in good faith with the San Miguel Fire Protection District to address the district's concerns. with this board letter before the Board of Supervisors proceeds with voting on this item. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. And Chair Lawson, remember that concludes public comment on this item.

Okay, thank you very much. Do we have any questions or comments? Why don't we begin with Supervisor Anderson and feel free to call up our Fire Chief.

If the Fire Chief wouldn't mind coming back up. I just wanted to hear the rest of what you had to say. I wanted to make sure. that we understood your concerns.

The main concern, and I think Director Collins addressed a lot of those, is the form in which this comes forward. There's been some really good, safe discussions that have occurred with Chief Meacham and Director Collins, but I don't see it in recommendations, those items that we've requested. I don't see them in an amended contract. So if we're going off of what's being stated here today as actual what the action will be, that would satisfy, I think, the district. Otherwise, I would ask for an amendment, actually, to add those four items that were requested. If that provides the clarification for you, sir.

Thank you very much for that. Madam Chair, if I may, I'd like to ask Director Collins to address the four issues of if that would work out.

Sure. Sure, and Jeff, do you need them reiterated, the four issues?

No, through the Chair, I think I've got captured the four issues. The most recent ones that were provided by the San Miguel Fire Protection District yesterday. So the four issues are preserving the existing first responder system. Second issue is transitioning the dispatch to Hartman Communications. Third issue is directing the training and oversight funding to those agencies. Fourth issue is that county fire would not compete for the Zone 1 contract. And so I'm happy to kind of go through each one of these through the chair. In my presentation, I talked about the first responder agreements. And so what we proposed is that during the interim period that we would not change the ambulance rates or the first responder agreements. We would leave those intact so that we do not change the economics of this particular contract. and the support that is provided to those first responder agencies. I think during the, certainly we follow the direction of the board, but our plan is during the competitive solicitation, we would listen to all stakeholder feedback, whether it's from the public, from those agencies, and others is what is the best way to serve this area? How do we support those first responding agencies that are on the ground providing, you know, immediate service to those patients? So we would certainly like to cover everything as part of a comparative solicitation. That's the first point. The second point I covered in my presentation, which is to transfer the dispatch to Heartland Communications, fully support that and agree with that. Our first work group meeting is next Tuesday. So we've got subject matter experts that are involved in that. There's probably going to be some technology hurdles that we have to get over, but I think we're all committed to doing that and making sure that happened. And that would include both AMR. AMR is the current provider. They currently dispatch the ambulances, and so we've been looking to transition that from AMR to Heartland Communications. The third point in regards to the oversight, quality improvement training, and community outreach. So it's a revenue contract up to $500,000. It doesn't mean it's going to be $500,000. We've had a lot of ongoing discussions with both AMR, San Miguel, and Heartland as the best way to do quality improvement, quality assurance, training. And so those conversations would continue. But in the end, the county has the responsibility for this contract. So contract administration and making sure that we have compliance with that contract, that would fall on us. But we'll continue to talk to those agencies about the best path forward for doing quality improvement and training. Something that we built into the ambulance service area is part of what we have in County Service Area 17. We think those are critical to the patients that we serve. And then the last part, which I covered in my comments, was that County Fire has no intention to bid on this service. We're simply following the board direction, which is to manage ambulance areas upon termination of a contract or when a contract is transferred over to County Fire. And so we just fulfill that board-directed responsibility of managing the Zone 1 area.

Do you have follow-ups, Supervisor Anderson?

Yeah, I'm good now. Thank you very much.

Okay, you're good.

Thank you.

Thank you. Do my colleagues, this item obviously pertains to items Districts 1, 2, and 4. We've heard from Supervisor Anderson. Do my colleagues in Districts 1 or 4 have any questions? Please, Vice Chair.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Director Collins. Thank you, everyone, including Chief Lawler. Thank you for your involvement in this process thus far. So just for the number three, I just want to make sure that we are kind of saying the same thing. This is around... I'm sorry, number three on the letter, Chief Lawler's letter, about the... the... training and oversight funding, ensuring that that is, you know, working for our partners and not, I guess, bringing in, working with the existing local system. I think that's my, I would like to see that if that's possible.

through the chair. So I just want to make sure I understand that you want to see if it's possible that we could do it through those agencies?

I would like to see us work to strengthen the existing local system with this this possible funding, right? I think you went over it, but I just want to make sure, I think what I'm hearing from you is the, in principle, like we're on the same page. We just need a little bit of fluidity to, to make sure we're making the right decision as we do outreach, you know, as we gather more information through the process.

I think that's what I'm hearing from you. Absolutely. I mean, clearly we can follow, certainly follow the direction from the board on this. But, you know, we've committed to partnering with those agencies to make sure that we do this. And so, in the end, it is up to the county to make sure that we've got an adequate system for quality improvement. The training part is something that... Both Heartland Fire and San Miguel are clearly a priority. The best path forward to achieving that, we're certainly open to talking through that, but I think at this point we haven't made a definite determination. Like I said, in ASA, we do have a county position right now for a nurse that does quality improvement and quality assurance. It may be something different within the Grossmont AOA, but we'd be open to the model that works for all the agencies out there.

Okay. Okay. ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU.

ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY. DO WE HAVE ANY MOTION ON THIS ITEM? Do you want to move this forward? I'll move this forward. I will move staff recommendation. You'll move the staff recommendation? Okay.

I'll second.

Okay, we have a motion from the vice chair and a second from the chair pro tem. Any further comments? Okay, please vote.

Chair Lustenramer, that motion passes unanimously with all supervisors being present and voting aye.

Okay, thank you, and thank you so much for joining us today. Really appreciate it, and it's very helpful, and sticking around to answer all the questions that came your way. Thank you. Okay, we will move on now to item number 22, receive an update on the Aging Roadmap, San Diego County Regional Plan, fiscal year 2025-2026. We do have a staff report on this item.

Good afternoon, Chair Lust and Reimer and members of the board. Under your leadership, the county remains committed to ensuring older adults can age well in the region. Today, we're pleased to present our annual update of the Aging Roadmap. Launched in 2019, the Aging Roadmap is a comprehensive plan to ensure our communities are equipped with programs and resources to support the needs and leverage the contributions of the growing population of older adults. The Aging Roadmap ties together efforts across several county departments, and this coordination allows us to align services, share resources, and strengthen support for older adults. I will now turn it over to Ellison Boyer, Interim Director of Aging and Independent Services.

Thank you, Dr. Hernandez, and good afternoon, Chair Lassen-Rehmer and members of the board. San Diego County is home to a growing population of older adults. By 2029, we expect the older adult population to grow to nearly a quarter of the county's total population. Recognizing this demographic shift, the Aging Roadmap unites county programs for older adults and individuals with disabilities across 10 priority areas. The ultimate goal is to build inclusive communities where everyone can thrive. The aging roadmap was designed to be flexible, adaptable, and informed by ongoing community input. Aging and Independent Services, or AIS, regularly gathers community input from older adults, caregivers, persons with disabilities, and service providers throughout the county. The information collected is used to inform the aging roadmap priorities and activities. AIS also coordinates 10 community collaboratives that continuously guide aging roadmap implementation. The AIS Advisory Council, representing all board districts and the community, serves as a consumer voice for AIS services. The Aging Roadmap Annual Report is a comprehensive update that highlights achievements in each of the 10 priorities. This 18-page report documents accomplishments, partnerships, and efforts completed during fiscal year 25-26. I will now turn this presentation over to Wendy Garcia, Interim Assistant Director of AIS, to present a few highlights.

Thank you, Alison, and good afternoon, Chair Lawson-Riemer and members of the board. I'm excited to share fiscal year 25-26 highlights in each of the 10 priority areas, starting with health and community support. Our AIS health promotion program continues to be a place where older adults can maintain their physical health while staying socially engaged. We had nearly 4,000 participants in our health promotion programs. We're also excited to share that this past July, Feeling Fit Club reached the one-year milestone of evidence-based accreditation, recognizing the program as a proven way to promote health and prevent disease amongst older adults. To strengthen social participation, our Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, or RSVP, has been active in engaging our community to enrich the lives of our region's older adults. Together with our partners, the RSVP program has engaged over 400 older adult volunteers to provide companionship, fraud prevention education, and fresh produce delivery to socially isolated older adults in our county. The Alzheimer's Project, launched by the board in 2014, continues to lead dementia and brain health from multiple angles. We educated more than 400 community members about dementia awareness. Additionally, the Alzheimer's Project Clinical Roundtable advanced dementia screening by integrating new screening and clinical practice tools into the electronic health records of two additional health systems, resulting in increased screening rates. It's essential that caregivers have access to the support and resources they need to provide responsive and quality care, while also tending to their own well-being. While there was a shift of prevention funding to the state under the Behavioral Health Services Act, also referred to as Prop 1, we continue to fund caregiver support through the Older Americans Act Family Caregiver Support Program. Through the Family Caregiver Support Program, we've provided information and assistance to more than 31,000 family caregivers and over 18,000 hours of respite care to caregivers so that they can take time to rest, recharge, and attend to their own health. To ensure older adults are safe from abuse and scams, AIS partnered with AARP California to host the Scam Jam Tour, a series of fraud prevention presentations throughout the county featuring information on how to recognize, avoid, and report scams. Being prepared for disasters and knowing how to stay safe during emergencies is critical for all residents, especially those with unique needs. To help our own county residents prepare, the county partnered with the city of Chula Vista and several community organizations to host an emergency preparedness resource fair at the Norman Park Senior Center in Chula Vista. The event, called Silver Stay Ready, offered information, tools, and support to help older adults and people with disabilities plan for emergencies. In the Silver Economy area, we continue to build a skilled workforce and provide meaningful opportunities for older adults to work and volunteer. The County of San Diego was certified as an Age-Friendly Employer by the National Age-Friendly Institute. The certification recognizes the County's continued commitment to supporting workers ages 50 and older through workplace culture, professional development and benefits. In medical and social services, we focus on helping older adults and caregivers navigate complex systems. In-home supportive services remains one of the largest programs, serving nearly 51,000 recipients. The transportation area envisions a community in which older adults have access to safe and affordable transportation options. The no-cost transportation program for older adults provided nearly 67,000 one-way trips, totaling over 360 miles of rides to low-income older adults with the goal of promoting independence and combating social isolation. The housing area envisions a region where older adults live in safe and affordable housing that is located near goods, services, and activities, all of which allow them to age in their communities. Through the Home Safe program, case management, social services support, and housing navigation was provided to over 600 older adults and adults living with disabilities who were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Thank you for the opportunity to present. I will now hand back over to Allison.

Thank you, Wendy. For the past several years, the Aging Roadmap has provided a comprehensive framework guiding the county's aging-related initiatives. Looking ahead to fiscal year 26-27, we will continue to collaborate with the many community partners and county departments that impact older adults, seek innovative ways to be responsive to community needs, and leverage existing resources to advance Aging Roadmap goals. The board's ongoing interest and support of the county's age-friendly programs is greatly valued. Today's action requests your board receive the update on the aging roadmap. We appreciate the opportunity to present on this item. This concludes the staff presentation pending any questions you may have.

Okay, thank you. I do have a couple questions. Just really interested in the IHSS component. If you could just talk a little bit more about how that plays into our strategy and specifically what challenges, if any, that we're facing in the IHSS program.

So as it relates to potentially the impacts of HR1, we're actively monitoring. Older adults over the age of 64 and persons with disabilities are exempt from the work requirements. And we also have a safety net in place for AIF staff to collaborate with our self-sufficiency services teams to cover gaps.

Yeah, absolutely. The chair asked for IHSS, not HR1.

Oh, okay, as it relates to our IHSS recipients, though, they, oh, yeah, I'm sorry, to give a little background. With IHSS recipients, we, they do have to qualify for Medi-Cal to be recipients on the program, so I thought you were, I'm sorry, I just was making an assumption.

No, it's all related, so that's interesting and useful. I think I just, I know that this IHSS piece is a huge part of the Aging Roma, and I just was hoping you could elaborate, so this is helpful as well.

Yeah, it's one of our largest programs, and we do work closely with the In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority team. They have the provider registry. A lot of our family caregivers in the program, or a lot of folks in the program that provide the services are family caregivers, but folks that have challenges and do qualify for that program, we do have the public authority registry that can link them to a caregiver if they're in need of a provider. Yeah, I think in terms of challenges looking ahead, I think that's where we're kind of aiming towards potential impacts to hr1 and folks potentially falling off medical eligibility no longer qualifying for receiving the in-home supportive services program so we are putting safety nets in place where if someone loses their eligibility because they don't complete a redetermination we do not immediately close the case we have the social work with our self-sufficiency services team to get their eligibility back to do whatever it takes to complete that redetermination so Sort of a warm handoff, if you so speak, just to keep our folks on these services.

Do we have a sense of how many folks will or might lose eligibility due to the lower asset threshold for Medi-Cal eligibility? I know that previously I think there was no asset threshold and then it went down to like 130 and now it's I think going to 26.

That is not a number that I have, but it's definitely something we are actively looking at that. So I can, we can take it back to this board.

Yeah, that would be, I think it'd be really helpful to better understand, you know, how many folks are potentially going to lose eligibility either because of red tape with Medi-Cal, you know, needing to reapply every six months. Clearly they're not going to lose eligibility because of work requirements because they should theoretically be exempt because obviously that's why they qualify for IHSS is because they're on disability. So that's not an issue. But I'm actually interested also as well in this, in the kind of intersection with the state rule changes regarding Medi-Cal asset requirements. And I think I just know that there's a lot of IHSS recipients, you know, frankly in my district and I think it would be really helpful to better understand how many people might be vulnerable to losing their eligibility for IHSS.

No, that's a really good point, and we will definitely take that back.

Okay, thank you very much. And do we have any challenges at all with folks who are eligible, but we can't find caregivers for them?

That's where the provider registry comes into play. They do a really good job of retaining a list of potential providers. And so if one person doesn't work out for an individual who's a recipient, we give them a list of a few others. The provider registry does a lot of, again, a little bit of hand-holding working with the recipient who's looking for that right fit provider. So there's a lot of support in place around that partnership that we have with the public authority department.

Thank you. Are there questions for many of my colleagues? Okay. We'll go to public comments.

Thank you, Chair Lawson-Riemer. We have seven requests to speak on this item, one in person and six requesting to speak by phone. Also note that we received one neutral e-comment. For any individuals that requested to speak on item 22 by phone, please dial into the conference line. I'd like to invite forward, allegedly, Audra. You'll have two minutes to address the board.

Tara, who can we sue over aging? Who do you think? God, I don't know. Maybe we should try and look into that. That would be fun to see about. And I feel like you guys aren't doing what you could to mitigate aging. There's things that we can do. I don't know if you guys are aware of that, where there's many things. They do it in Hollywood. They do it, a lot of the elite do it. J.D. Vance actually had a entity that was engaged in called Ambrosia. And so they take young blood, and they inject it into older people. And because of these pluripotent cells that are in children that can be anything, how cool is that? That's why they love to rip them apart. Then they inject it into the human and it actually makes you younger. How cool is that? So we don't even need any of these programs. to use. Like, we could literally be giving people young blood, like, from the babies that you guys abort. We could do that. We could take the children from Polinsky or the foster care that you guys put them in, which is much of the time what they use it for, especially, like, in the Epstein files and stuff. You don't want to eat them because you could get Kuru. That's like Swiss cheese in your brain. It's prions. You But it's like being a vampire. I mean, Paloma would know about that. She surely looks like one. But she's definitely not taking that young blood because she's aging rather rapidly. But I feel like this would be a money-saving opportunity for us to go in and utilize all of the young blood in the county. Because then we don't need people to be getting into these. And we can deter from aging. And then we don't have to sue anybody. But we could. I mean, we could go ahead and try and sue, you know, God. I don't know. But the God of this world would probably be, you know, the one that you're under. So you're just following his orders. And it's great. So it's interesting. I mean, you guys obviously don't want to stop people from aging. Otherwise, you would make sure to do that. And Tara, you donate your daughter to do it.

We'll now hear from those that requested to speak by phone. We'll start with the first caller.

Hey, all of both. I think you know me. The roadmap begins that San Diego County's population of residents age 60 and older is projected to grow by to nearly 824,600 by 2029. Wow. In fact, there are currently about 730,000, then this would be about a 13% increase over three years, about 4.3% per year. Big, but not that dramatic. But look at the highlights. About 9,000 in health and fitness activities, About 1475 got housing or their house fixed. Social participation doesn't sound too big. Transportation did about 17,100 free rides averaging five miles. Over 34,000 caregivers and 58,000 in some supportive services or recipients, which is a bright spot. Not a great year on the whole, especially for a house. Sounds like you might want to build cheap and quick. There are nice cheap 3D printed houses, so-called tiny homes, shipping container homes, things like Adobe or Mudworld homes. You should do these instead of more expensive and far conventional buildings. It might also help the 35% of older adults age 60 or older in this county who live alone. Increasing risks is vital.

Thank you. And we'll hear from the next caller.

It's true. So I heard that there's two systems. They can have double or multi-screening, a.k.a. double multi-Medical fraud going on. And then, Tara, you got triggered. IHHS, you were hoping that the staffer would exhibit some TDS to get you going. But, you know, didn't happen. You tried really hard. Unfortunately, what we have are a bunch of Department of Justice arrests going on for IHHS fraud. And I'd like to know how much of the state cut in health care funding, because that just happened, but you're not talking about new scum cuts, huh? Mm-hmm. We know what's going on here. Then you got the transportation. Well, it's $6.5 million a year to the taxpayers for children, undeserving spoiled brats to ride the transit. Who knows how much for the drug addicts to ride? But you don't have nearly equal the program for senior citizens who actually can't drive most of the time. But you are giving a contract to human traffickers, Jewish family service, pretending that they're qualified to do house repairs, because apparently they can run shelters and traffic people in. They can do all kinds of things, huh? Amazing. Silver economy, I'm assuming that applies to the county board of supervisors specifically. Good for you guys. To be age-friendly, the county would need to start fixing the roads. Fix the roads. Fix them. People can't walk. They can't take a wheelchair on the roads. They're falling apart. What was learned on Monica and Joel's taxpayer-funded trip to Austria other than socialist government-run stacking packs? Was anything actually learned on Manny's taxpayer-funded trip to Japan? I don't think so, because she went to a hotel in Akasaka, got to explore Tokyo, went to Shiki City Hall, flew to Kumamoto, was at some hotels in Kumamoto, oh, went to the Kumamoto Castle Museum. Oh, wow. Tough life. Oh. You know, does the scam jam program talk about the border supervisors? Because the sheriff's volunteers are better than all these dumb county programs.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

Kathleen Lippett here. I'd like to comment on the aging roadmap. And it's supposed to ensure that the region has programs and commute and communities that equitably support the needs of older adults. What are the county's public health information campaigns that are addressing the gaps in their public health information? Because there are a lot of them and they are needed in order to inform their behaviors. Are they provided information on the unique and harmful impacts from high potency marijuana use and their conflicts with their prescription medicines? or their failures to let their physicians know that they are using these products. As with every population, preventing health problems is far easier than having to treat them later and far more economical.

Thank you for letting me speak.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

Good afternoon. My name is Becky Rapp, and I appreciate this agenda item and the report included. The aging roadmap says older adults should have access to the services and information they need to live healthy, safe, and thriving lives. It also says the county wants older adults to have the information necessary to make informed decisions and remain independent. The principle of consumer protection should also apply to all products and services offered to seniors. Older adults need accurate, truthful information about what they are purchasing. One, very misleading products such as cannabis should not be permitted to be marketed because it's an intoxicating product in a way that implies that it's safe, healthy, harmless, and without meaningful risks when those claims are not supported by scientific evidence. If the county is committed to making sure older adults have the information they need to make informed decisions, then the information needs to be accurate at the point of sale. Consumer protection means protecting people from being misled, whether the deception involves a scam or the marketing of a commercial product. So I ask the county to ensure truthful cannabis marketing, accurate product information, and meaningful consumer warnings as part of its commitment to keeping older adults safe. Thank you.

Thank you. And we'll hear from the final caller.

Hector here. I'm getting older, too. I'm like 72. What I found out, like all the older guys, once you do one thing or give money or this or that, you're on the list. They got your name on the list. You're going to get these calls from all sorts of different directions. It's better to communicate with elderly people by the mail. Send them a mailing thing. It's better to like information from the county. Somebody would call up, Oh, we have information from the county. It takes a while to figure out if it's an AI talking to you or if it's a scam or it's like, you just like, Oh, your social security guy's calling you. It's just on the phone. I don't even ask the phone. It's just give me a letter or email. You get tons of emails. but it's just like older you get and they're waiting for you to fade away a little bit. And I'm pretty sharp now, but I can be fooled. But older you get, the more I think it, it helps to have a letter and you can read it, show it to people. So you're not making a decision right off the bat. And they don't know all the techniques to do that. It's like buying a timeshare. Every answer, there's another answer. You know, they're young and they talk into buying a timeshare. No matter what your dispute was, they got the answer. So I think the more, I think it's easier to do to older people. That's why they're doing it to older people. So anyway, thanks a lot. Catch you later.

Thank you. And Chair Lawson-Raymond, that concludes public comment on this item.

Okay. Vice Chair Montgomery-Stepp.

Thank you so much. I don't think we need a motion just to receive the report. Thank you for the presentation. There's a lot of work that goes into serving all of our constituents, but particularly our Asian population. Just a couple observations that I would maybe like to see in the future. The report does indicate that our aging population is increasing, and by 2032, approximately 865,000 folks above... I believe it's 60 in the County. I would like to know based on the numbers of like the level of service and the people that we're serving, like how is that looking sort of year to year or over a three or five year period? Are we, is that, number of the people we serve going up with the population. I know that we've been contacted by a few organizations that have lost Prop 1 funding, or lost funding based on Prop 1. And how is that impacting the overall level of service that we can provide to the population? Just things like that that maybe we can look out for so that if we need to look ahead, to invest in the population in another way, maybe help some of these organizations build capacity to be in the Medi-Cal system. I don't know, just thinking about ways that we can look at our progress or decline, because the dedication is certainly there and the numbers are definitely there. But I would just like to see how we're looking over time. So that would be... the main thing that I would like to see. Just have to shout out, my office's older adult resource fairs. We're having another one September 30th at the Bay Terrace Community Senior Center. We'll be partnering with the City Council District 4 Councilmember Henry Foster. So we're looking forward to that. We've had two so far. They've been very, very successful. When people come, they say, I did not know this was available, right? And so we want to continue to get the information out and assist you all in doing that. Really do appreciate the report and I'm looking forward to our continued work together. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other comments? Okay. Thank you very, very much. This is very important, especially as our region ages. So glad we are looking at this. Next, we have item 23, authorization to apply for the Community Resilience Center's implementation grant with PANA. And I think this is a D4 item. Okay, please, Vice Chair.

Thank you so much, Chair. I really appreciate you accepting this late docket board letter. You know, we try not to do this, but certainly as my colleagues will read in the board letter, there is a time constraint here. So this item authorizes San Diego County to enter a co-applicant partnership with lead applicant PANA for the California Strategic Growth Council's Community Resilience Center's Round 2 implementation grant. The grant application period closes prior to the next Board of Supervisors meeting. The opportunity to partner with the community organization to potentially secure up to $10 million in emergency management funding from the state is too important to pass on, especially as our region is expected to experience severe weather and flooding. more frequently in the years to come. We've had a robust discussion about that today already. As we know, in 2024, we saw our emergency response infrastructure tested by historic flooding. In a matter of hours, lives were changed forever by the devastation. Many of our most vulnerable communities were disproportionately impacted. This proposed action will enable the county's emergency response infrastructure to better serve two of those disproportionately impacted communities, our refugee and immigrant neighbors. The CRC program prioritizes facilities that serve priority populations, including residents with limited English proficiency, older adults, people with disabilities, and low-income households. PANA's Global Village Project is uniquely positioned to optimize the use of these grant funds as its mission is to serve those same people. The Global Village is a planned mixed-use development integrating 144 units of deeply affordable housing with approximately 50,000 square feet of civic and community wellness space. A dedicated multilingual resilience information center will provide residents with year-round access to emergency preparedness materials in more than 30 languages. The county's co-applicant role will strengthen the grant application and facilitate Global Village's integration into the county's regional emergency management and planning. As we embrace what El Nino will bring this year, it seems prudent to pursue partnerships and investments that will fortify our region's resiliency over time. I thank my colleagues for your time and consideration and ask for your support. Thank you, Chair. We'll move the item, sorry. Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. We'll turn to public comment.

Thank you, Chair Lawson-Riemer. We have 19 requests to speak on this item, 11 in person, and eight requesting to speak by phone. Also note for the record that we received seven e-comments, six in support and one in opposition. For any individuals that requested to speak on item 23 by phone, please dial into the conference line. We'll begin with the in-person speakers. As your name is called, please come forward and stand on the arrows until it is your turn to speak at the podium. Because there are 10 or more speakers on this item, you'll have one minute to address the board, and I'll ask you to please begin by stating your name for the audio record. I'll be calling you groups of three, so I'll ask you to please listen for your name. I'd like to invite forward the first three individuals, Homaira Yousafi, Nao Kabashima, and Patricia Serrano. If I've called your name, please come forward.

Good afternoon, my name is Humaira Yousafi. First, I'd like to begin by thanking Vice Chair Montgomery-Stepp for your leadership and true partnership with the community for this project. The Global Village is designed to serve as a pre-identified trusted regional hub during emergencies, providing culturally and linguistically appropriate alerts, navigation, and family support. Funding this hub is a disaster as a disaster preparedness investment and builds regional resiliency to address emergencies in care. We've seen in past crises how our communities have not been prioritized and oftentimes are left looking for shelter, looking for information in real time. And this global village is an answer to that problem. It is important to note that this action today does not cost the county anything. If approved, you will be applying to bring state funds to our region to protect our residents against wildfires and other emergencies. I urge you to vote yes in this grant. Thank you. Thank you.

As the next speaker is coming forward, I'll invite three additional speakers. Fatia Farah, Judy Vaz, and allegedly Audra. If I've called your name, please come forward.

Good afternoon. My name is Patricia Serrano and I'm resident of District 5. Imagine for a moment being forced to leave your home because your natural disasters or leaving because work. Leaving behind everything you know and coming to a new country where you might feel unwelcome because your language, your color, or your culture. This is the reality of many immigrants and refugees experience. Global Village is more than a housing project. It's a long-term investment in community resilience, strength, and sense of the learning, and create economic opportunities for refugees and immigrants who have historically been underserved. When disaster strikes, families with limited English proficiency can face greater challenges receiving emergency information and accessing critical resources. This proposed action would strain the county's emergency response infrastructure and help ensure that our diverse communities are better prepared and better protected. Respectfully, I ask the Board of Supervisors to... Thank you.

Thank you. As the next speaker is coming forward, I'll invite three additional speakers. Nicole Lilly. Jermaine Rocacorba, and Mohammad Omar. If I've called your name, please come forward.

You guys love to segregate people. It's interesting because we're talking about a plan for the community and now there's another plan for immigrants and refugees that's different. And so will those be mirroring each other? Are they going to be, you know, you're going to be securing $10 million for this group of people. What about the rest of us? It's just interesting the way that you guys love to do that. And, you know, you incentivize these people to come in. It was interesting watching that happen and seeing the aftermath. of having millions of people flood across our border under the guise of seeking asylum, which they were not. And now it's, you know, going into saying that they were Mexicans when Mexicans were being sent back. So just to see the... nefariousness that has continued because panel was bringing them in and getting paid to do it. So it's just interesting that, you know, people are willing to do anything to make money off the backs of people. So it'll be interesting to see what they get and what the rest of our community doesn't and how much they suffer because of your guys' choices.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

Hello, my name is Nicole Lilly. I'm the executive director of Our Time to Act. We're a youth-led nonprofit here in the county of San Diego organizing powerful youth for an inclusive, equitable, and sustainable future. I'm here today to support PANAS Ask because the Global Village will be a transformative community investment with over 144 large and deeply affordable homes. 50,000 square feet of civic and cultural space, a community plaza that will serve as a regional asset supporting community resilience during times of crisis, and an all integrated with the future choice triangle park and transit infrastructure. Our region's resiliency and our family's well-being depend on investments we make today. And I ask you to please show up and support the global village. I also want to say I frequently do work every... every week at Dodo and I'm able to engage in the global village and the work that PANA does and I really urge this body to actually support our community members as we approach many more crises and continued hate as displayed right before me. Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Good afternoon. My name is Jermaine Rocacorba. I am a resident of District 1. I'm here to urge you to support Agenda Item 23. During this most severe heat wave over the last few weeks, many families, students, workers, and the elderly have suffered from severe heat exhaustion and health risk. Our libraries and community center cool zones are not enough, especially for our low-income communities who cannot afford ACs or may not have access to one after hours. We must invest in our emergency response infrastructures, like the Global Village, that's trusted by our communities, which provide extended services like appropriate shelter options, our culturally relevant and multilingual communications now more than ever. We are asking for your support for our communities as it continues to be attacked by this administration. I hope you continue to support PANA. Thank you.

Thank you. Before the next speaker begins, I'd like to invite the remaining speakers in person, Jessica Ripper, Trin Lee, and Anna Martinez. If I've caught your name, please come forward.

Good afternoon. My name is sir.

If you can you can pull the mic up Thank you.

Good afternoon. My name is Muhammad Omar. I'm a resident of district 4 I'm here to speak in favor of agenda item 23 the authorization to apply for the CRC implementation grant with Pana for global village The Global Village is designed to serve as a pre-identified trust regional hub during emergencies, providing culturally and linguistically appropriate alerts, navigation and family support. Finding this hub is a disaster preparedness investment and both regional resilience to address emergency and care. The Global Village Project directly advances the county commitment to equity in emergency preparedness and climate action resilience by creating the region's first cultural responsive resilience hub designed to serve residents who speak more than 30 languages. This action does not cost the county anything. You are applying to bring state funds to our region to protect our residents against wildfires and other emergencies. Please support.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

Hi, Jessica Ripper, District 4. I'm here today to speak in favor of the CRC implementation grant for PANA, with PANA for the Global Village. I have witnessed this project take shape through visioning sessions to a 3D model, to plans and pro formas that if you haven't seen, you really ought to. At every step, that planning takes into account public safety, resilience, and most important, belonging. And today's proposed action will allow the global village to obtain funding to serve as a trusted regional hub during emergencies, providing culturally and linguistically appropriate support that we all need in our own communities. We often lament how San Diego lags behind other jurisdictions in attracting the share of state funding to serve our communities. And so that means that your yes vote today creates an opportunity an important opportunity to bring state funds to build our region's resiliency to care for and protect our residents during emergencies. Please vote yes on item 23.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, Chair Lawson-Reimer and supervisors. My name is Chin Le and I'm a resident of District 4. I'm also PANA's new political director. I'm here to speak in favor of Agenda Item 23, the authorization to apply for the CRC implementation grant with PANA for Global Village. I'd like to thank the leadership of Vice Chair Montgomery Stepp, your vision and true partnership with the community for this project. located on 2.2 acres along the Troy's Creek Corridor, the Global Village will include over 144 large and deeply affordable homes, 50,000 square feet of civic and cultural space, a community plaza that will serve as a regional asset supporting community resilience during times of crisis. We urge you to support this board letter to apply for the CRC implementation grant with PANA for Global Village, our region's resiliency and our family's wellbeing depend on it, thank you.

Thank you. And as the next speaker is coming forward, I'd like to invite our final speaker in person, Ramo Abdi.

Good afternoon. My name is Rahma Abdi. I'm the Director of Organizing Campaign with PANA, the Partnership for Advancement of New Americans, and also a proud resident of District 4. I'm here today to speak about the global village and why it matters to our community. When an emergency happens, every minute matters. But for many immigrant and refugee families, an emergency alert in English is not enough. They may not get enough information. What happens when the family does not understand the warning? Where do they go? Who do they call? Global Village will be the trusted safe place where families can get emergency information, language they can understand, that find and stay connected. This is not just about the building. new space is about saving lives. Global Village will be serving communities more than 30 language who will be relying on this space. It's for the safety, equity, and resiliency. Please vote yes for this matter. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

Good afternoon, Chair Lawson-Reimer and Supervisors. My name is Ana Laura Martinez and I am from District 2. I'm here to speak in favor of Agenda Item 23, the authorization to apply for the CRC Implementation Grant with PANA for Global Village. This is more than a housing project. It is a long-term investment in resilience, strengthening belonging, and creating economic opportunity in historically underserved communities. This action does not cost the county anything. You are applying to bring state funds to our region to protect our residents against wildfires and other emergencies. Supervisors, we urge you to support this board letter to apply for the CRC implementation grant with PANA for Global Village. Our region's resiliency and our family's well-being depend on it. Thank you.

Thank you. And a final call for Nao Kabashima, Fathia Farah, and Judy Vaz. Seeing those individuals in the chamber, we'll now hear from those that requested to speak by phone. We'll begin with our first caller.

Paula Bold. This grant is for weather-related stuff, not DEI stuff, not Pena, not the Global Village. You cannot take and choose which houses the weather affects. I would say, no, the grant needs to do what it's given for. The board letter, no attachments that have details. The grant centers the county's emergency response infrastructure around San Diego's underserved refugee and immigrant communities, which pits immigrants against low-income and homeless Americans who are also underserved and deserve help. Hoping immigrants and refugees is the laudable goal if they're here illegally, but it's not right to pick and choose exactly whom to benefit. Yes, immigrants and refugees tend to move.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

It's true. Late docket for a non-emergency item. Monica's still working for the city of San Diego, not District 4, because this is San Diego ballot number 152. It's hard to ramp up a hub for non-citizens, but can't ramp up a hub for real emergencies like fires in the backcountry. You remember the area you're supposed to represent? In 2020, during the corrupt redistricting process, PANA was the paid group that was trying to carve up East County into their own personal political fight zone. They couldn't get alcohol. But now they get a county kickback in the form of stacks, in fact, thousands of illegals and maybe a few actual refugees. But you could save tax dollars and just use Balboa Park International Cottages. Panna Holding Corporation, created in 2022, is owned by Ahmad Bailoni with Corey Briggs as the registered agent, funded by Climate Cold Action Campaign, with $7.8 million in assets, getting $10 million of undeserved money. What about Panna Holding, CA Inc., and Cupertino under Gene Dew? How many supervisors got a campaign donation from PANA? Three, right? Union scams and hate of America abound. That's all I hear.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

This is Hector again. Well, on this particular thing, the New Americans for Global Village campaign, You got to change the name for new American citizens for global village. Only have people that are actually taking the pledge and became American citizens. And so they can assimilate into our land, obey our laws, know our history in this place. And then also the CARE organization in Florida has been deemed a terrorist organization. So in Florida, care donations are terrorist donations. The winds of change are sweeping in on this new American global stuff. So the winds of change, even in Texas, they're passing laws. They're trying to, you know, they're not going for it now. We're on to them. So it's a new, even a new homeless American citizen for global village studies.

Thank you, and we'll hear from the final caller.

Good afternoon, Board of Supervisors. My name is Noah Yiyik. I'm a resident of District 3 and a researcher with the Center on Policy Initiatives. I'm here to speak in favor of item 23, the authorization to apply for the CRC implementation grant with a partnership for the advancement of New Americans for the Global Village Community Hub. Our county should be a region where everyone feels safe and has what they need to thrive. During the heat wave these last few weeks, our refugee and immigrant households suffered. The county struggles to provide communications in multiple languages, culturally appropriate shelter options, and partner with trusted community institutions capable of navigating emergency response systems. The global village could provide this infrastructure that is currently non-existent. The Global Village is more than a housing project. It is a long-term investment in strengthening belonging, resilience, and creating economic opportunity in historically underserved communities. Funding this hub is a disaster preparedness investment and builds regional resiliency to address emergencies and provide care. We urge you to support this board letter to apply for the CRC implementation grant with PANA.

Thank you. And Chair Lawson-Riemer, that concludes public comment on this item.

Okay, thank you very much. I'll just make a quick comment. I'm happy to accept a late docket because I think this is just such an important project and I'm just so impressed with the work of the community coming together and the visioning process and the coalitions that have been built and frankly, the sort of long determination that everyone has shown in moving this project from conception, inch by inch, day by day, a little bit closer to something real. I think it's an incredibly cool, inspiring, amazing project. And I'm just really looking forward to it becoming a reality. for San Diego. And y'all should definitely be giving trainings to all the other community groups on how to do something like this and tours once it's built. So thank you very, very much for your work, and I'm just happy we can be a small partner in that endeavor. So we have a motion and a second. Seeing no further requests for comments, please vote.

Chair Lawson-Riemer, that motion passes unanimously with all supervisors being present and voting aye.

Okay, thank you all very much. We will now move on. I think we're at comments for closed session. Actually, this is a request. We had a request for board committee reports. Are there any board committee reports?

The Bayshore Bikeway Committee did not meet in District 5.

Okay. Thank you, sir. Any other board committee reports? Okay. Closed session public comment.

Thank you, Chair Lawson-Riemer. We have... Six requests to speak on matters on closed session. That is item 26 on today's general legislative agenda, which includes four items. Again, we have six requests to speak, one in person, and five requesting to speak by phone. For those that requested to speak by phone, please dial into the conference line using the instructions that were provided to you. Individuals that have requested to speak on closed session matters must provide comments related to the matters listed in the closed session item. Otherwise, your comments will be considered off topic. I'd like to invite forward our in-person speaker, allegedly Audra. You'll have two minutes to address the board.

Andrea, are you still calling people that have been kicked out of the meeting? Are they still part of your list? Do you take them off your list?

Once they've been removed, they're not counted anymore.

Okay, just thank you for answering me, Tara. I really feel special today, especially because you wore yellow. Looks nice.

Usually it's green.

Yeah, this is interesting. Existing litigation. You guys got a personal injury, property damage, wrongful death. I'm sure you're going to make sure that they don't get their money. And then also a car accident with a county employee. I'm sure this person will also be screwed over because that's what you guys love to do. And then anticipated litigation. Well, also labor negotiations. Let's not give anybody a raise. In fact, let's cut the pay. And Damon, we can start with you. We'll cut yours, I don't know, 50%. I feel like you could donate that to the pot. Maybe if you guys looked at it as you're donating to illegals, then it would be a beneficial thing. You feel like you're really doing a service to your nation or just county, whatever. But anticipated litigation, who knows? Could it be many of the sexual assaults that have happened at Polinsky where you guys are making sure to, you know, make sure to go and inject them with things and to give them healthcare. Is that part of that doing a sexual examination? I'm wondering, are those doctors gonna go in there and sexually examine these children? Is that part of the... Because you do hire pedophiles, so I'm wondering if the requirements when you're going and getting an exam as a child, if it's a sexual exam, to make sure that you're ready to go out into the world, to go out into elementary school to learn about those sexual things. They could teach them about anal beads and stuff, and they could teach them about incest and all of the cool things they can do with their parents if they want. That's exciting. I don't know. What else could it be? It could be, you know, all the people that you have tormented in the county that you guys try and wield your power with. It's interesting when you guys, that's how you wield your power. You use different mechanisms to do it, but it'll be interesting to see how many more people get screwed over. Good job.

We'll now hear from those that requested to speak by phone. We'll start with our first caller.

Hi. DiGiovanni versus Conte. Yet another highly believable juvenile sex abuse case. Three years ago, evidently, you kind of been sitting on your hands, but that wouldn't be new. Better press up and settle before interest and legal fees pile up. Bromley v. Padillo, Paulino, et al. A car collision. Grad Don was killed. The case was filed in June 2024. A long time. It took until November 2025 for the county to even issue a general denial. Sounds suspicious, but it's subtle. B, then a potential case... maybe another sex perversion, misapplied grant funds. I mean, there are all sorts of dumb things that the county does. And a labor conference, another, quote, resignation, unquote, of a guilty employee. I mean, there's so much going down. You know, let's do a thorough audit of this, see if WB, the child and well-being department, HHS, sheriff department, and other agencies would deal with the public. Was the name change from CPS and CWS to CWFWB worth it? Please settle the Polinsky Center abuse cases and close the center. the AJs investing the juvenile pension centers, then look at Edgemore. Continuing putting off discussion will cost us a lot of fees, interest, and reputation if not having worked.

Thank you. We'll hear from the next caller.

Hey there. It is still true, so I feel like the case about the county employee in a car crash. You know, just reading public records requests, I have found many, many, many county employees complaining about how the departments are being run by basically tyrants, kind of like mirrors of this board of supervisors. And so it doesn't surprise me to see a bunch of lawsuits about that. You guys are really causing a lot of problems.

Case B specifically, anticipated litigation.

Specific but not specific. My guess is this is related to Allison Snowball getting the county council job as a kickback. Because under what legal authority did that happen? How was she qualified for the job? She's a nothing lawyer. You know, I think there should be litigation after D.A. Summer revealed that Tara Yeltsin at her and then threatened her saying the duplicate services was going to pass no matter what, so she better get on board. How about for litigation, people getting kicked out of homes on Allison's watch. She doesn't have time for another job. You know, she has time for this job, but not for mayor. It's always time for more money, right? That's interesting too. Yes, child abuse is another possibility because we've seen about a billion cases on that. And here's another interesting one. Recently, the city of Santee was looking at buying county land. And my guess on that was probably where Edgemore is at because the county once wanted to put a thousand pack and packs in that area. The city bought it pretty well from what I understand. Not the housing isn't still coming. And then labor negotiations. Let's say we never did and never will. How about that? And fun fact for Monica, if you would just resign, you'd never have to see another picture of that man on the wall again. Something to consider. Thank you.

And we'll hear from the final caller. The final caller is Hector O. Please begin your comments. No comment. No comment. No comment.

Okay.

Thank you. And Chair Lawson-Riemann, that concludes public comment on the closed session matters.

Okay. Thank you very much. We will finish our non-agenda public comment.

Thank you, Chair Lawson-Riemer. We have eight remaining requests to speak on matters not listed on the agenda, all coming by phone. For those that requested to speak by phone, please dial into the conference line using the instructions that were provided to you. We'll begin with our first caller. You have two minutes to address the board, and please state your name for the record.