Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors meeting September 1st, 2026. Time is 9.06. Meeting is called to order. Please join me for a moment of silence. Thank you. Vice Chair Deng, would you lead the placer?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Michelle, roll call, please.

Supervisor Gardea.

Present.

Supervisor Canepa.

Here.

Supervisor Ding. Here. Supervisor Rickman.

Here.

And Chair Dhaliwal.

Here. We have two recognitions. Board members, please join me.

Our first recognition is brought forward by Supervisor Gurdia of the First Supervisorial District, and it's the recognition of the Friends of Barrio Fiesta Stockton. And I would like to invite those representatives here today to the podium as we read this recognition, which states, This is presented to the Friends of Barrio Fiesta Stockton in recognition of your commitment to honoring Filipino culture and preserving its rich history. You have created a meaningful celebration for many generations to enjoy through cultural performances, local entertainment, food vendors, small businesses, family activities, cultural showcases, and opportunities for community participation. You have provided a platform that celebrates talent, creativity, heritage, and pride of your community. Your vision and hard work has helped create new memories for the next generation while strengthening the bonds that unite us. Thank you for your time, passion, and unwavering commitment to celebrating Filipino culture. Presented this first day of September 2026. Chair Dhaliwal and Supervisor Gardea.

Thank you, Rochelle. Welcome. Thank you so much. I'm going to turn it over to my colleague, Supervisor Mario Gardea.

Thank you. I'd like to invite you to the podium and say some few words, and we'll follow with that.

Good morning, my name is Gerard Talampas, Festival Director of Barrio Fiesta-Stockton. On behalf of Friends of Barrio Fiesta-Stockton, thank you to the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors for this incredible recognition. I also want to recognize our Friends of Barrio Fiesta core team, Dr. Grace Barzaga, Elena Mangajas, Jeff Bayani, Bethany Ante, Rhonda Arreta-Vallios, Nora Antunora, Tracy Felix, and Nico Belasco for the countless hours that they dedicated to planning this year's festival. Barrio Fiesta is more than just a festival. It's a celebration of who we are, where we come from, and the Manang Zamanang's generation of Filipino Americans who helped build Stockton and the greater Central Valley. But what makes it truly special is the people, our volunteers, community partners, sponsors, vendors, performers, and the over 9,000 attendees who came out to celebrate with us the other weekend. This recognition belongs to all of them. We appreciate you for recognizing Barrio Fiesta Stockton and the Filipino American community in San Joaquin County. Thank you. And we look forward to working with this board as we plan next year's Barrio Fiesta.

I want to say thank you. 54 years, that's a long time. And the new location, I think, as a kid growing up here in this community and married to a Filipino American, I've gone to the old festivals at the Filipino Center. And there was a lot of challenges. It was great to be in that center, but parking wasn't always an issue. And the support of the community, It's kind of outgrown, and I think Weber is a great location, and 55 years next year, and so 9,000 people, that's awesome. So, you know, I've gone to fiestas in San Jose. My wife's uncle was a screaming instructor, and so we used to go there, and just the culture and the arts and everything that those fiestas bring, it's awesome to have that in our community. I want to say thank you for carrying the torch and making this fiesta grow, and looking forward to next year.

Yeah. Yeah.

Next, please.

Thank you, Chair. Next, we have the recognition of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce and the Carl Ross Post 16 for hosting the first San Joaquin County Armed Forces Ball. And I would like to invite Mr. Farrell from the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce to the podium. And do we have any representatives from Carl Ross Post here today?

The Gunny, the Marines, they're not here. But you've got the United States Air Force. How about that?

Well, this recognition is presented to both the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce and the Carl Ross Post 16 in recognition of the inaugural Armed Forces Ball hosted on July 11th, which brought our community together to honor and celebrate the brave men and women who have served and continue to serve our nation, the United States Armed Forces. Your dedication to recognizing our service members, veterans, and military families is deeply appreciated and reflects the gratitude and respect of our community. Thank you. Presented this first day of September, 2026. Chair Dhaliwal.

Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you for a beautiful event, and thank you for your services to our great nation. You got the floor.

Absolutely. On behalf of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce's Board of Directors, Tim Quinn, our CEO, and a proud United States Air Force Chief Policy Officer right here, I want to say thank you. It was an honor to participate with the Carl Ross Post to put this thing on. It was sold out. We had an 18-piece band. It was awesome. And a historical perspective on uniforms from 1776 to the current day. So it was something that we had to do. It's our big 250th birthday. And we just want to continue to support our veterans as the veteran advisory commissioner goes. for District 5. I'm going to be doing a lot more things like this to help our veterans out there and do everything we can to support them in their needs, their long-term needs as well. Jose is doing a great job over there as our VSO, and we're just glad to be part of it. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Frank. Please join us. Now is the time for public comment on matters that are on the closed session agenda. On the consent calendar or within the jurisdiction of the Board of Supervisors, but not listed on this agenda, members of the public attending in person who wish to speak are requested to complete a speaker card and provide it to the clerk. If you are participating remotely, Please press star five to raise your hand. Please address your comments to the board. No personal attacks, please. First speaker is Michelle Weeks.

or just go ahead and speak? Okay, sorry, it's my first time. My name is Michelle Weeks, and I am here today because I'm deeply concerned about the animal welfare crisis in San Joaquin County and the lack of resources and prevention that are allowing this problem to continue. I want to begin by saying that I understand what I've been told. If citizens find sick, injured, aggressive, or abandoned animals, they should contact animal control. I agree. But my question is, what happens when animal control responds and there's nowhere for the animals to go? This is a gap that concerns me. Earlier this year, Stockton Animal Services was dealing with more than 1,200 dogs in the shelter and more than 200 additional animals in foster care. While this is happening, animals continue to be abandoned and neglected and left to survive on their own. I recently saw a post about puppies that have been dumped in front of a Stockton home in an old wagon. The citizen who found them tried to take them to the shelter and was told there was no available appointments until mid-September. She found them in August. I've also been watching online about puppies that were abandoned in an orchard suffering from severe mange with extensive hair loss and clearly needing veterinary treatment. one actually died. These are just two examples, and I know there are many more happening every week that most of us never see. These animals don't become a crisis overnight. They become a crisis because intervention happens too late. When we finally enter the shelter system, the burden is transferred to the shelter staff, volunteers, foster families, rescue organizations, taxpayers, and ultimately the animals themselves. We cannot continue to rely on volunteers and rescue groups to scramble every week to keep animals from being euthanized and call that a solution. We need immediate action and long-term prevention. I'm asking the board to consider several things. First, emergency funding and additional resources and shelter capacity reaches a critical level so that overcrowding does not become a reason for euthanasia. Second, expand prevention programs, including affordable spay and neuter, vaccinations, veterinary assistance, pet retention, resources for families experiencing financial hardship. Third, early intervention for hoarding and neglect situations. We need to identify these situations before dozens of animals are discovered in crisis. That means coordinated outreach, connecting individuals with social services and mental health resources alongside animal welfare intervention. Fourth, a county supported foster and adoption campaign that gives the community tools. I'm asking whether as a county, we are giving them resources and infrastructure they need to succeed. I understand the county cannot solve the problem overnight, but I'm asking to develop a plan, a plan that addresses the immediate crisis while addressing the reasons animals are entering the system into the first place. Prevention costs money, but crisis costs money too. The animals are not disposable, they're our responsibility. Thank you for allowing me to speak.

Thank you. Desiree Medina? Desiree? Vanessa Sanchez?

Do I need to press anything or no?

No. No? Okay.

Ready? OK. Good morning. I'm here not just as a mother, but as a mother watching the consequences of a system. Sorry, I'm a little nervous. more than just a young person who may be incarcerated. It is affecting the entire family. I absolutely believe in the youth should have be accountable for their choices and their actions that they made. I believe in structure, discipline, education, rehabilitation, counseling, and programs that help them build for positive future. but I do not believe that family should be punished. My 11 year old daughter has had her older brother in her life, her whole entire life. And it was for the majority of part, just the two of them growing up side by side, sharing memories and being a part of a bumpy road, but together they had each other Since he has been incarcerated, she has experienced a sense of displacement, anxiety, depression, and isolation. She does not understand why she loves somebody so deeply is said and taken out of her life or she's only allowed to see him for two hours out of the month as an incentive visit. And just the other day, I watched the pain happen right in front of me. We went to a visit that was scheduled, and she was not a part of the Ascenta visit, but they allowed her in. And then when my son came out, they asked her to leave the visiting room. She was devastated. She was bawling, crying, and she didn't understand why she was being punished, and she couldn't see her brother. It's hard for me to explain to her that these are the rules and sometimes even though we don't agree with them, we have to follow them. I also have a five-year-old who is autistic and physical touch is sometimes his biggest way of him understanding love when He saw his big brother, he ran up to him, tried to hug him, and my son stood up, raised his hands as if he couldn't touch him or show him any physical, emotional touch. And to my five-year-old, he now says that his brother no longer loves him. As a mother, there are words that I can't explain to my children in a way that they'll understand. It's not the brother or sister's fault, but like I said, I do understand consequences and rehabilitation. I'm just asking that we keep family connectivity together, as I thought Desiree was going to speak first. We started a petition. As of now, there's 257 signed, and I'm just asking that they relook at the visitation policies for the juvenile that we have. Thank you.

Thank you. Jodi Graham.

Good morning. As you all know, I'm sure, the disgraced Lodi City Council candidate, Shakir Khan, was sentenced for election fraud. He utilized many different loopholes in California law to achieve his goal of being elected. Of interest today is the fraud that involved online voter registration. Shakir had fraudulently registered fictitious people, listing his home address on 23 of these registrations. He then received ballots for these fake people. How did this happen? To register to vote online in California, one only has to self-certify that they are, in fact, eligible to vote. Shakir received actual ballots for every one of his fraudulent registrations. It's been a few years since this case occurred, so you would think, certainly, something has changed so this can't happen again. Well, you'd be wrong. You can go online today, you can check the box that you don't have a social security number, mark your address as two cross streets, and then check a box to swear across your heart that you are a US citizen and a resident of California and are over 18 and not mentally incompetent. Congratulations, you are now a registered voter in California. If you happen to go vote in person, which is unlikely as you will automatically be mailed a ballot, your record should be flagged to show identification as this would be your first time voting. What constitutes identification in California? This long list is the acceptable documentation. Here are some highlights. You can present the following documents to prove your identity and legitimacy to vote. A gym membership card, a utility bill, a rental statement, an insurance card, a drug prescription, or a public housing identification. None of these documents verifies your citizenship status, nor do many of them even have a picture of the holder. This is the status today in California. Now you may ask, how many people in our county registered online? and could very easily be fraudulent voters. Here are the numbers for our county from the Secretary of State that registered online. In 2024, 271. In 2025, 137. And to date, in 2026, 42. 450 people have registered online in our county in the last two and a half years. Those may seem like low numbers, but they are certainly enough to change an election. Now keep in mind that it is near impossible to remove any voters from the California voter rolls once they're on. The only sure way to be removed is to do it yourself. Death, moving out of state, moving out of the county all require multiple levels of verification and even a self-certification for moving. In the last year, only 25 voters have been removed from our voter list for moving out of county. Certainly there was more of the 410,000 voters that moved than 25. I think we need to do better as a county. We need to acknowledge that our state has a flawed system. We need to fix the holes so that the will of the people is actually reflected in our county. Each one of the online registrations needs to be verified by the ROV. We can't do less than the state mandates, but we can certainly do more. Thank you.

Thank you, Judy.

Good morning, Chairman Dhaliwal, Board of Supervisors, my name is Melanie Knott and I'm a concerned patriot citizen of San Joaquin County. A nationwide news outlet reports any state, including California in our country, title an article, Voter Fraud Explodes, Citizens Take a Stand to Stop Fraud and Secure Elections. To set the scene, a state committee meeting regarding elections, a witness states, there are some errors that happen in the election system. Every system has errors. That doesn't mean safeguards aren't in place. In response, the committee chairwoman states, agree. Yet when I was a clerk, I saw lots of errors in the system. I even removed a dead voter in my town. The dead voter was put back on, not by me, but by the Secretary of State's office. For context, the committee chairwoman continued, this deceased person was a family member who at one point registered at my in-laws home and had died nearly 20 years prior, was put on the voter rolls in 2020, mailed a voter application ballot without authorization. It's the local clerk's job to remove a deceased person from the voter rolls. This deceased person was put back on the voter rolls and has a card of the early voting polling location that they actually have and can produce. That's a problem. Then July 16th of this year, President Trump addressed the nation regarding the catastrophic condition of our election systems. He expound on five main points. One, proof of foreign tampering with our election infrastructure. Two, how the intelligence community hid the breaches from President Trump's first administration and did not inform Congress. Three, proof electronic voting systems can be manipulated. Four, identification of registration fraud. And five, proof of non-citizens on our voter rolls. President Trump further shared, and I quote, these disclosures reveal an election system so broken and so vulnerable that no one can possibly defend it. We don't have a country without secure elections, end quote. This issue is nonpartisan. It's about we the people coming together to save our country. May I encourage us to tell our United States senators in Congress to vote to pass the Save America Act. It would simply require a valid ID, proof of citizenship, and no mail-in ballots except for illness, disability, military, and travel. Thank you. God bless you and have a good day.

Thank you, Melanie. Desiree Medina? Michelle, is she here? Mary Elizabeth, do you want to talk about discussion item one?

No.

Or just in general? Not in general. Yeah, please.

Is it on? Yes, thank you. Thank you very much. I appreciate this opportunity here. So some of you received some correspondence from me regarding the tobacco retail licensing program that specifically are in the area of Stockton and so I'd like to address that as well as ask that you bring back the ordinance to consider some important additions. So smoke shops are a blight on our community. They are an attractive nuisance. Currently, in the county, unincorporated areas, there's approximately 12. Many of those are in the area of Stockton. And in fact, I was speaking about that recently with another council member regarding some illegal substances that are being advertised and come to find out that that shop is in the county. So in our ordinance, there are some provisions for enforcement. But I have been informed that the Community Development Department in writing does not do enforcement. And so two of those 12 shops within the last five years has had illegal substances, including cannabis products, seized by the state. Yet they were able to get a permit in the county of San Joaquin. And so to me, that's a big gap because we're trying to protect our youth. We're trying to create wholesome neighborhoods. And when you allow illegal operations like that to continue, it's problematic. So in my last minute, I'd like to speak with you about Kratom. So I have a copy of this for the record. And this is a substance that is opioid-like, it is addictive, and it is very problematic. And it's being sold at... San Joaquin County smoke shops. And so I'd like you to consider, when you look at the ordinance, revoking and not allowing specifically this substance. So this is ABC enforcement because it's pervasive. And there's more ABC licenses than tobacco at this point in time here in San Joaquin County. So thank you very much. We want to have good neighborhoods, and your help and leadership is necessary for that. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Anybody else?

Chair, I believe that Desiree is back now.

Desiree Medina?

Good morning, my name is Desiree Medina and I'm here today as a mother asking San Joaquin County to reconsider its family visitation policies for youth and juvenile hall and secure track. I want to make one thing very clear. I believe young people should be held accountable for their actions. I believe consequences structure, education, counseling, rehabilitation, and helping them become better people. But I do not believe their families should be a part of the punishment. My son is currently in secure track while he has been incarcerated. I have watched the separation affect our entire family, not just him. My younger son was born while his older brother was incarcerated. He has grown up seeing his brother through visits. Now he recognizes him. He wants to run to him. He wants to hug him. And I have to stop a little boy from running into his brother's arms because physical contact is restricted. His siblings are growing up without him while he is growing up without them. These are years none of them will ever get back. If the purpose of the juvenile justice is truly rehabilitation, then family connection should be a part of that rehabilitation, not something a child has to earn. I am asking the board to look at the policies that limit sibling visitation, restrict which family members and important caregivers can visit, and prevent safe supervised physical affection such as a hug. I am asking San Joaquin County to consider regular sibling visitation, regardless of age, a reasonable approval process for extended family members and important caregivers, safe supervised physical contact between youth and their families, and greater access to family therapy and family reunification services while youth are still incarcerated, not just when they're preparing to come home. I have provided the board with information about this proposal and the petition supporting these charges. I am not asking you to remove accountability. I am asking you to recognize that accountability and family connection can exist at the same time. These young people will eventually return to our communities. We should want them returning with stronger relationships, healthier coping skills, and families prepared to support them. Please help us create a juvenile justice system where rehabilitation includes these young people we'll eventually come home to. Thank you for your time and listening to our families.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anybody else?

Hello, supervisors. My name is Denise Aguilar-Mendez. I want to talk a little bit about AI centers. I know the board is entertaining the thought of

Wait till we discuss the item. No, I have to leave, but I wanted to bring it to the floor.

Okay, we know that the city council and the board are having these discussions, so looks like this is actually going to move forward. I do understand that AI is not going to go away, that this technology is going to be the future, but the question is, how many data centers do we really want in San Joaquin County? And the bigger question is, does the infrastructure have the ability to support them while supporting the needs of the people who already live here? And just as importantly, where are these facilities going to be placed? Because where we put them today could affect the quality of life in the county for generations. Living in the Central Valley, families depend on wells, farmers depend on groundwater, our agricultural community depends on having a reliable water supply. So before approving these facilities, I'd like to know where will their water come from? What happens during a drought? What protections will be put in place for our farmers and residents? And then there's electricity. Families in this county are already struggling with the cost of electricity if these facilities require massive amounts of additional power, who is paying for the substations, transmission infrastructure, and generation necessary to support them? Will those costs be paid by the corporations or eventually passed down to working class families? We also need to understand the impact of noise, heat, emergency generators, air pollution, and the industrial footprint these facilities could create. And location matters. The data centers placed in an appropriate location with adequate infrastructure is a very different conversation than placing them near homes, farmland, livestock, or communities where the infrastructure is already strained. San Joaquin County is not empty land waiting for corporations to discover it. The Central Valley helps feed this nation. Our farmland has value, our water has value, and the quality of life for families have value. So I'm not asking the board to ignore this issue. I hope that the board brings a town hall meeting and brings experts to discuss this amongst the community. We're seeing this happen all over the country. And for San Joaquin County, I would hope that our agriculture community would be protected, and that means protecting our water. Thank you.

Thank you. Anybody else? Anybody waiting remotely?

No.

Thank you. Let's move on to meeting minutes, April 14th, 2026 and April 28 20 26 board members any questions making make a motion to approve the minutes Do we have a second? We have a motion and second call for work, please Motion passes 5-0 next is consent calendar any item needs to be pulled 18

Yes, six, 17, 20, 21. Sounds like good lottery numbers. You need two more.

Anybody else? Let's start with number six, Roy Shearer.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to make a brief recognition. Is Jeff right here? Jeff, there you are. God, I need new glasses. I just wanted to say thank you for bringing this to us. You know, in District 4, we have one city council in Lodi, and the other 80% of my district are unrepresented. You know, when you get into Thornton, Lockford, Clements, Murata, Linden, you know, it... They don't have as much voice. So we rely on our residents to tell us what they need. And he's one that for the community center brought it forward. So I just wanted to say thank you.

Number 17 by shooting.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Will the director come forward, please? Do I have someone here from Public Works as well? Well, I'll give them a minute to get here because I'm sure when I start this conversation, they're going to come. Um, this has to do with a fix that I believe is needed, appreciated, and should have been done, um, a long time ago. Um, I don't know about the rest of my, my colleagues here, but you know, constantly getting calls about it's been 12 months since I turned in my application. All I want to do is move a door jam on my barn and it's taken eight months. I mean, it's, um, It's gotten beyond ridiculous. I've been told we're the worst county in the nation as far as being able to move projects. And by the way, I've got a couple of the counties that I want to look at and see exactly what they're doing. the problem is it's really easy to say, well, it's the employees it's, you know, they, they don't care or they don't, um, there's not enough of them. And we, we have some hiring practices or retention things we, we need to worry about too, but that's not part of this agenda item. Um, It all, you know, it comes down to this stupid computer system. You know, we decided that we were going to make everybody's lives easier. And so we instituted a computer system that if I understand this correctly, Acela wasn't the problem. It was the company we used to implement it.

So through the Chair and the Board, County Council, and also CAO, Tristan Cormier, Director ISD. So your original question was the issue with the software called Acela. Since I've been here, my assessment is Acela seems to be a very stable application which is used by several counties, but the way that it was implemented here was problematic. And with that problem arise silos and frustrations with our team within supporting. So Acela for itself obviously is doing pretty good because if they weren't they would be in business. But I think the way that was onboarded through the county could have been done better. So my job here was to really do an assessment and do what they call a stabilization. So I stabilized this project and using the internal resources that we currently have to make the best out of it. and then also reaching across the counties, other counties to see, and we had several meetings with them and saying, hey, what was your paying point? And so through this discovery, we have now confidence that we're on the right track, we're moving with Acela, and ultimately we want the citizens of San Joaquin County to see these improvements in the near future as well. So these are something passionate to me. I spoke to several of you guys about this update, and so that's the little history we have, and that's been my assessment so far being here at the county.

Thank you. You know, my main concern is I don't know how, you know, I don't really care how we get from A to B, and neither does a resident or a contractor. You know, they have a job to do. They want the quickest route. And when a computer system becomes the obstacle to growing jobs in this community, you know, we have a problem. About two weeks ago, I had a gentleman walk into the restaurant. This isn't a joke. It sounds like a joke. This man walks into a bar, and he's sitting there. It's 2.30 in the afternoon. Is that him?

No, I believe we have somebody on our... We had somebody on our teams. I just muted them.

Okay, thank you. What was I saying? Oh, 2.30 in the afternoon. He's about my age, so he's ancient. And so what are you up to today? And he goes, well, I was trying to... apply for a permit for a panel, an electrical panel. He goes, but I've been on this computer for four and a half, he didn't know who I was. He said, I've been on this stupid computer for four and a half hours. He goes, I finally figured out how to get in. He goes, I can barely operate my phone. I just, I can't figure out how this thing works. He goes, it kept kicking me out and kicking me out. At this point, I realized it probably wasn't the system. It's He's old, like me, and he can't figure out how to get in the computer system. Nobody told these guys when they wanted to become electricians or plumbers, what have you, that they had to be computer science majors too. So we have to make that as clear as we can be. So I picked up the phone, and I called Jennifer, and I said, Jennifer, I got a problem here. And Jennifer tells me, well, I made an appointment tomorrow morning. Have them come down to the front desk, and we'll take care of the problem. I'm sitting here thinking Jennifer is doing this for him as a favor to me. Then I find out that this was always the case that any small project you could go to the front desk and get it taken care of. I'm a member of the Board of Supervisors and I didn't know that. So we have a communication problem. And so from Public Works, Community Development, IT, wherever, we gotta let these residents know that there is a front desk with three individuals there and they don't have to sit in line FOR THIS SYSTEM. SO I'M TAKING THAT OPPORTUNITY TO EXPRESS THAT AS WELL, TOO. THIS GOPATH, IS THAT THE NAME OF IT?

YES, GOVPATH.

LOOKING AT ONE OF MY KIDS SHOWED ME HOW TO LOOK UP REVIEWS ON A COMPUTER. ANYWAY, GREAT REPUTATION. And again, it has to do with the implementation. I want to congratulate you, the department heads, for getting your heads around this. Say, you know, we have a problem, and it needs to be fixed now. We can't continue to blame whatever, computer. Nobody cares. People want their permits. They want to get moving on their projects. So I wanted to say thank you. And I want to fix the overall communication problem, too. So hopefully everybody heard me.

Thank you for pulling this item. And I appreciate our conversation yesterday about the system, because this has been a frustration of the county for quite some time. And time is money in development. We need to push development. And the better that we can be more efficient, It's just across the board is better for business. And so I appreciate you doing the due diligence of putting the time in and actually looking for a solution. And, you know, we've had conversations with community development or our office has. And it really sounds like the momentum is heading in the right direction. And this is part of the path. So I just want to say thank you.

You're welcome. Just want to add to this was a very long and tedious process and the questions that we asked to ensure that we're fiscally responsible and to address the culture we have here at Samuel King has been shared. So again, this is something that's dear to my heart. And I think this is a this this is show that the investment that we have, we're moving in the right direction. And it's cheaper. And it is cheaper. That's correct.

Thank you, sir. Number 20, do I share? And 21.

Did we have to have? You don't have to do public. Oh, yeah.

Welcome to you.

What are we doing? We're doing 20? 20. Suicide prevention and awareness month. Definitely wanted to pull both of you down to take a few minutes on this important topic.

Good morning, Chair Dhaliwal, Supervisors, County Administrator, and the community. I'm Faye Vieira, your Behavioral Health Director. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak to you today in recognition of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. It is an honor to present this proclamation alongside our valued community-based organization, CAPSEA. The work we've done together represents a locally tailored effort to address unique community needs around suicide prevention. September is a time when millions of people around the world join their voices to raise suicide prevention, treatment, and recovery awareness. a time that is dedicated to bringing visibility to the role everyone in the community can play in preventing suicide and to encourage all community members to know the signs, find the words, and to reach out to someone they are concerned about. Unfortunately, the stigma associated with mental illness and suicidality continues to work against suicide prevention efforts by discouraging those at risk from seeking life-saving assistance. According to the CDC, 49,000 people died by suicide in 2023. 83 of those individuals were residents of San Joaquin County. Suicide prevention is everyone's business. We all need to understand how to help others and ourselves reach out for help in the face of hopelessness and despair so that we can all engage in the process of building lives we want to live. The board's backing of this proclamation is a demonstration of their support and compassion for those whose lives have been touched by this major public health concern. Accessibility and visibility of resources is crucial so those in need of support can find the care they need. Everyone deserves access to treatment, The board's continued support of San Joaquin County Behavioral Health Services has helped us save lives by allowing us the resources we need to provide that treatment. I would be remiss if I did not end with a reminder that behavioral health is here for you. If someone you know or you are struggling with hopelessness, pain, or despair, please call us, 209-468-8686. With me, I have Ashley from CAPC.

Thank you. To Chair Dhaliwal, to the Board of Supervisors, and to everyone here today, we are thankful for the opportunity to speak on this topic. Today we come together to recognize September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. We gather not only to raise awareness, but to honor those we have lost, support those left behind, and reach out to those who may be struggling in silence. This month is a reminder that suicide prevention begins with awareness, compassion, connection, and hope. Suicide does not simply take a life, it leaves an empty seat at the table, an unanswered phone call, a birthday never celebrated, and a family forever changed. Behind every statistic is a son, a daughter, a parent, a veteran, a friend, a classmate, a neighbor, and a loved one whose absence is felt every day. Here in San Joaquin County and across our nation, suicide continues to impact individuals, families, and entire communities. Yet even in the face of loss, we choose hope. The yellow ribbon is more than a symbol. It is a promise that no one should have to suffer alone. It reminds us that help is available, healing is possible, and that one conversation, one act of kindness, or a moment of connection can save a life. Today we call on parents, educators, faith leaders, mental health professionals, community organizations, and every resident of San Joaquin County to help create a community where people feel seen, heard, valued, and supported. A community where asking for help is met with compassion, not judgment. A community where we replace silence with conversation and stigma with understanding. And to anyone who may be struggling today, please hear this. You matter, you are loved, you are not alone, and your story is not over. As we close, I ask each of us to choose hope, to extend grace, and strengthen our commitment to suicide prevention. Let us honor those we have lost by fighting for those who are still here. Thank you.

Thank you.

And I'm 21, so I'm gonna stay down here.

I hope you're at least 21.

Just a little bit.

Number 21, sir. Number 21.

Number 21. Again, Favier, Behavioral Health Director. The mission of Recovery Month is to celebrate individuals who have achieved long-term recovery, honor the dedication of those working in prevention and treatment, and encourage anyone in need to seek help without fear or shame. People in recovery serve in every sector of our society as business leaders, public servants, community leaders, and more. During Recovery Month, we celebrate their contributions and honor those who have supported them on their recovery journeys. Let us also take this opportunity to celebrate the strength and resilience of the recovery communities, including our staff, our staff that support recovery from substance use disorders and make the journey of recovery possible. Over 100,000 people in the United States were lost to drug-related overdoses in 2023 alone. Let every loss be a painful call to action, a recommitment to helping our community members live long, successful, and healthy lives. Through Recovery Month, people become more aware and able to recognize the signs of mental health issues and substance use disorders, and it encourages people in need to seek services they need. Substance use disorders have a wide-ranging adverse effect on individuals, families, and communities. This observance reinforces the positive message that behavioral health is essential to overall health. Prevention works, treatment is effective, and people can and do recover. If you need help, the dedicated staff at Behavioral Health are only one phone call away, 209-468-9370. Recovery is possible and for everyone. With me today, I have our deputy director of substance use disorder services, Betsy Pettis, and she's going to share about an event we have happening for Recovery Awareness Month later in the month.

Thank you. Chair Dhaliwal, supervisors, we would like to invite you out to Behavioral Health Services at our 1212 campus on the back lawn on September 25th. This is a community event. It'll be from 10.30 to 2.30, and we invite you out to just share and support those in our community in recovery. We thank you. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. Supervisor Gurdia, number 18.

Good morning.

Good morning. You have the floor.

All right. I want to thank you all for inviting us here today and acknowledging National Preparedness Month. Chair Dollywall, Vice Chair Ding, Board of Supervisors, CAO, County Council, and Madam Clerk, Tiffany Caccio, the Director of Emergency Operations for San Joaquin County. Reducing risk, protecting lives, and strengthening communities through partnerships and preparedness. That's our motto at the Office of Emergency Services, and it reflects in the work that we do daily. As we mark the 25th anniversary of September 11th, we are reminded that preparedness is built before disaster strikes. Our responsibility is to protect life, property, and our environment, and we cannot do that alone. It takes strong partnerships, shared trust, and a commitment to prepare together. Today, I wanna recognize our partners with Little Manila Rising for the incredible work that they're doing to advance emergency and disaster preparedness throughout San Joaquin County. Because preparedness is ultimately about people, it's about making sure our neighbors, families, and our communities are ready when we need it. 25 years after 9-11, that responsibility remains ours. Together, we'll continue to be ready, stand together, and protect the communities that we serve. With that, I'd like to introduce Irene and Jasmine.

Good afternoon, or good morning, Chair Dhaliwal, Vice Chair Ding, and Board of Supervisors. My name is Jasmine Peterson. I have the pleasure of working at Little Manila Rising with my colleague Irene Kalimlim. And it's our privilege to partner with your San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services. in delivering emergency preparedness services to the residents of Southwest Stockton and the broader Stockton and San Joaquin County community. For the last year, we've had the opportunity to partner on a series of community climate and emergency preparedness activities, including meetings with the community to educate the community about the risks in their neighborhoods, train them with hands-on skills to prepare in their homes and in their neighborhoods and with their neighbors to be prepared for these emergencies and be ready to stand when and if an emergency were to happen. We also look forward to deepening our partnership. This work builds on years of work that we've done in collaboration with other county agencies like public health services and with the local city as well of city of Stockton. So just thank you for this opportunity to share more about our work and honor the reason why we're all here today, which is to celebrate Emergency Preparedness and Awareness Month.

Okay.

Good morning, Supervisors and Chair. I'm here on behalf of Assemblymember Radija Ransom, who is the Chair of the State's Emergency Management Committee and a proud partner of our local OES here as well. And since being appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly as Chair for this critical committee, she has strengthened California's approach to disaster preparedness by being more proactive and less reactive to our emergencies. She's ensuring that our local office of emergency services and our first responders have the tools, resources, and the funding that they need to keep all of us safe. So thank you again to the board and our local OES for bringing this proclamation forward. We fully support it and we look forward to future partnerships. Thanks.

So thank you, Tiffany, for the presentation and, you know, coming from public safety, you know, when an emergency happens, you know, the, the, your public safety officers and your fire police or whatever are gonna have to, on a big incident, they're gonna have to rely on the community to help step in and fill the gaps where the resources or the staffing's not there. So we have to have these conversations before the event happens. And so I just wanna say thank you for bringing this awareness and knowing that we have a team of people that are working out for the best interests of our community.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Board members, do we have a motion? Second. We have a motion and second call for board, please. Motion passes 5-0. Next, we have a public hearing to ratify Tracy Rural Fire Protection District's Fire Code amendments and delegate enforcement authority to its fire chief or their authorized representatives. Good morning, sir.

Mr. Malou, could you please turn on the microphone?

There we go. Is that better? Good morning, Ms. Regalo and Mr. Kiernan. So I'm presenting on behalf of the Tracy Rural Fire Protection District, asking the board to ratify their resolution adopting the Tracy's Tracy Rural Fire Protection District's 2025 California Fire Code. And the recommendation is to ratify their ordinance and then also to direct staff to, oh, sorry, I'm not moving this forward. And then to direct staff to transmit the board's determination to the Fire Protection District and then to file a copy of the adopted ordinance and the findings with the California Department of Housing and Community Development pursuant to health and safety code. And then this would delegate enforcement of the ordinance to the chief of the Tracy Rural Fire Protection District also pursuant to health and safety code. The background on this is the county ordinance code adopted and enacted the California Fire Code 25 edition with appendices, and the fire code establishes minimum standards for protection of life and property from fire, explosion, and hazardous materials. But fire districts are authorized pursuant to the Health and Safety Code to adopt building standards that are more stringent than those contained in the California Code as adopted by the city or county that the district is within. So that is what Tracy has done. And they, because of the complexity, there we go. So because of the complexity in Tracy Rural Fire Protection District, and you can see that they have a, They have a large geographical area with a lot of different issues going on with industrial development, and they have the freeways that bisect the district. They have a lot of special issues that they have identified in nexus studies that where they have adopted additional code items that were not adopted by our county fire code. And so that's the purpose. So they've gone through, over the past several code cycles, they have prepared and updated their nexus studies that justify the need for these additional, slightly more stringent issues, not terrible, but something. So that's why they brought this for us. And as I said, the Board of Supervisors needs to ratify their ordinance. There is no real physical impact because of the recommendation. The county's fire code ordinance sets operational and construction fees for fire prevention. And currently, all districts within the county except for the Tracy Rural Fire Protection District have the same operational and construction fees for fire protection. But Tracy Rural Protection District's current ordinance allows the district to set fees different from the county, which could deviate from the county, and so the ratification of the district's new ordinance will not change that. The county receives no fire prevention fees or fines from Tracy Rural Fire Protection District as it stands now with their currently adopted ordinance and this won't change that. So there is no actual reduction in our general fund. There's no impact on that. So action to be taken following the approval is basically direct the staff, that's community development, to transmit the board's determination to Tracy Rural Fire Protection District and to file a copy of the adopted ordinance with the California Department of Health and Community Development pursuant to the Health and Safety Code. So if there are any questions, I can answer them.

Any questions? On my right, on my left. Mr. Merlo, can you explain what more are they going to do if this is ratified during summer months and winter?

I'm sorry, I didn't hear the question exactly.

The question is, you said they're going to be added stringent guidelines to address these issues? So what more are they gonna be doing?

Oh, well, one of the basic things that they're doing is that they increase the requirements for fire flow and fire sprinkler systems in their district. And that's specifically due to their industrial uses and so forth. That's one very important thing. They make quite a few minor changes in terms of procedures regarding fire alarm systems, for example. But the largest impact, I think, and the biggest deviation is making more stringent requirements for fire protection, fire sprinklers, fire alarm systems, and also high-piled storage. So those seem to be the largest issues, that they would be more stringent than the county.

How about during the winter months?

Well, all of these would apply at any time. So these are related to construction, fire prevention and construction of the buildings. So the Community Development Department will still permit all the buildings. It's just that the Tracy Rural Fire Protection District and South County Fire What it also does is it brings South Tracy Rural into conformance with the codes that the City of Tracy Fire Department have. So under the umbrella of South County Fire. But there's really no particular difference in terms of seasonality. So we as Community Development will still provide all the building permits, but the fire prevention is delegated to Tracy Rural Fire Protection, and they would administer their own code, this code.

Thank you, sir. Supervisor Canepa?

Are the state standards more stringent, less stringent? These are more stringent than the state standards. Okay, and then we're seeing some issues, and I know it's different, but when these fire districts have the ability to negotiate their own fees, I mean, I know it's a different issue, but Does this come into, we're seeing some of those come forward now, that they're not signing off on any of these agreements because they have their own rights to negotiate the fees? Is this gonna get in the way of that?

No, no. This is the only fire district in the county that has gone through the process to pull away from the county fire warden's office jurisdiction. And this was done several code cycles ago, I would say maybe six years ago. And so that's the only county, the only fire district in the county that does anything different than the county's fee structure and fire code. Okay, thank you.

Thank you, sir. Anybody else? We're gonna open the public hearing. Anybody from public wanna speak for this item? Hearing none, I'm going to close it, bring it back to the board. Make a motion to approve.

Second.

Do we have anybody waiting remotely?

No, we do not, Chair. Thanks for checking.

Thank you. We have a motion and second. Call for a vote, please. Motion passes 5-0.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Next is our discussion item, discuss and direct staff regarding the potential regulations of artificial intelligence data centers, including consideration of a temporary moratorium in unincorporated San Joaquin County. Supervisor Rickman.

Thank you, Chairman. Before I get started, I want to give a shout out to Supervisor Gardea. I know he was planning on bringing something regarding this topic here also, and I just happened to have it in first, so I want to give you credit for that and where credit is due. And today's, the reason we have here today, discussing direct staff regarding the potential regulation of artificial intelligence data centers, including consideration of a temporary moratorium in unincorporated San Joaquin County. So today is about DISCUSSING POTENTIAL POLICY OPTIONS BECAUSE THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO LARGE SCALE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENT DATA CENTERS OPERATING IN UNINCORPORATED SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY. AND THE COUNTY HAS NO ACTIVE APPLICATIONS FOR SUCH FACILITIES. SO WHAT THAT DOES, THAT GIVES US AN IMPORTANT OPPORTUNITY TO BE PROACTIVE. important opportunity to establish appropriate policies before an application is submitted rather than trying to address these you know as I'll discuss these complex issues after the fact as we all know the rapid growth of AI has increased demand for large-scale data centers nationwide although these facilities may provide economic benefits their development raises important questions regarding potential impacts on local communities agricultural operations utility capacity natural resources and public infrastructure Large-scale data centers can require and may require substantial amounts of electricity and water well wastewater capacity public infrastructure and emergency services additional concerns include potential impacts on utility CAPACITY AND RATES, AG LAND, GRAND WATER SUPPLIES, NOISE, AIR QUALITY, BACKUP GENERATORS, FIRE PROTECTION, NEIGHBORING PROPERTIES, AND COMPATIBILITY WITH SURROUNDING LAND USES. THE COUNTY DOES NOT CURRENTLY HAVE LAND USE REGULATIONS SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSING THE UNIQUE SIZE, INTENSITY, AND RESOURCE DEMANDS OF LARGE SCALE AI AND SIMILAR HIGH INTENSITY DATA CENTERS. Because there are no existing facilities or active applications, as I just mentioned, we have an opportunity to be proactive. And what this item does is allows the board to hear public concerns, discuss available policy options, and provide direction before any large-scale data center application is submitted. Chair, I think that gives a good synopsis of why we're here. So I'm going to turn it back over to you. Thank you, sir.

So far as the guardian. Yeah, I want to thank my colleague for including me in this this hot topic. You know, and I think you made it clear that we were just trying to get ahead of this and get educated and get community input before any decisions would be made. Can I have Jennifer come up from community development?

Good morning, Jennifer Jolly, Community Development Director.

So currently we don't have any policies in place to identify data centers.

That is correct.

So if a moratorium was to be motioned on, what would be a timeline that would give you a proper amount of time to come back with like a report or recommendation to the board?

Uh, per the board letter, we've requested six months to do adequate community outreach and research to have adequate time to come back and actually present something to you so that we can get direction on whether an ordinance is warranted or not. Um, if we need additional time, I can come back and ask for additional time, but I think that six months will be adequate to do the community outreach.

All right.

Thank you. Thank you, sir.

Vice chair Dean. Thank you. Um, and thank both of you for bringing this forward. Don't go anywhere here, I have a question for you, or five, or 10, at the risk of never being invited to Christmas again with my children. In defense of, not in defense of data centers, and I know we're gonna come up with hopefully a new policy in this next six months, but my original question is what constitutes a data center? I mean, What effect, if you put a moratorium on data centers, if there's an element that requires AI in a new building or construction that's being presented in the six months, could it be classified as a data center? Just plain devil's advocate. trying to understand. I don't want to have another assault rifle ban discussion. What constitutes an assault rifle? What constitutes a data center? I want to see it black and white. It uses so many square feet. 90% of its business is this. This is their capacities on water. This is what have you. But that's the one thing that keeps sticking in my head. that could be problematic in the next six months is the definition of what is a data center.

Through the Chair, we don't have a definition for data center, you are correct. We do have many, many use types that different proposed projects have to be classified within to determine what level of application they are required and to determine which zone they are allowed in. So we always look at the main use of the proposal. having some accessory AI component to a business or something like that is not the intention of the data centers. The data center, my understanding is that it produces the ability to continue to provide electricity, water, and honestly, we don't know what a data center is right now. I'm just going to be honest. We need to define it. And so I'm not going to act like I know much about data centers right now. I just know they're incredibly controversial. We want to have... strong policies on where they can occur, but my staff and I need time to research this information. So that's why we're asking for six months.

One follow-up question. If I apply for a permit for a large facility in San Joaquin County, and I tell you it's gonna create a thousand jobs and it's gonna be a such and such facility, but it's the same zoning that a described data center, what would stop somebody just from moving forward and then just changing the use of the walls inside the building to make it a data center?

Well, right now it's not a permitted use. We've had some interest. People have called the department asking about putting in data centers. But like I said, when somebody comes in and proposes a project, we have to classify it under a certain use type, and then that use type determines which zone it's in. So if someone is changing an original project, say a logistics facility, and they want to convert it to a data center, that would require building permits and land use permits and environmental review. But right now we wouldn't even accept an application for that because it's not permitted.

Thank you.

Supervisor Cartier. So we do have safeguards in place. If it was going to be a change in any use or a use permit, that would have to go through our community development and also through planning commission. So it's not something that could be backdoored. We would have conversations any time before maybe a data center was proposed.

Yeah, again, it's not a permitted use, so we don't have any regulations that would allow it. We would not take in the application right now for a data center. the standard practice for a change of use is typically more of a ministerial application unless it's a more intensive use. We could go down that rabbit hole and I could explain all of that to you, but the short answer is if someone came in to propose a data center in an existing building, we would not accept that right now. And that's why we're being very transparent in our request to pause it so the public knows that we are going to be working on an ordinance. We want to make sure that we've included the public opinions, and then we need to work with experts to determine the impacts that these have. We've all read the articles that talk about the water usage, electricity impacts, but we can't claim to be experts on that yet in CDD, and we need some time to become more educated on it.

Thank you.

Supervisor Ackman. Thank you, Chairman. And this is exactly why we're here today, because there is so many unknowns. As Supervisor Ding mentioned before, you know, what is, you know, a big data center. And I think we're looking at utility intensive facilities. We're not talking about, you know, small server rooms or, you know, things of that nature in which we have, you know, businesses have here so you know defining what exactly those are how many megawatts or whatever it may be is you know the reason we're here and this is the reason that we need to have rules in place and pauses and you know at the end um get our ducks in a row i agree thank you super rose canapa

I don't know this is kind of more of a broad question to what I mean obviously folks also want them right and I mean some of them run off natural gas I mean and that's the thing for us is what do we do and how do we figure that out economically what the benefits are and that will be under your purview what it I mean to say hey this is what you know a city that went through bankruptcy and is trying to figure out sources of income and there's other alternatives so I mean is that what we do or we're just saying hey for the electrical part of it or do you look at what their plan is, I mean, because they're everywhere. And I mean, if you just go look online, there's reasons for not having them and reasons for having them. Obviously our demands is what we do and how we are changing as a society warrants it and the need is there, right? So you have the need, nobody wants them. So then in four years, where's the need? They say the window's four years. I mean, how do we check into things like that of landing these or not landing these? and if we do it in the unincorporated counties or all the eight cities in our counties gonna do the same thing or is somebody gonna have one and then we have the same issues of what it's gonna do to the outlying areas if somebody does take one of these and sees it as an economic benefit to them because there's only so many sources of revenue for counties and cities and if your labor contracts are getting high, that might be a way out. There's generating revenue, there's jobs, and there's high creation. So how do we, as a county, look at that side of it? Because I'm getting phone calls of people that want them too. And then, you know, probably 80, 20. But the people that can make money off it are probably the 20% that want it and are going to, you know what I mean, be hitting us up on that side of it. So I don't know how we get the information correctly from both sides of, you know, that to make an educated decision is my only concern.

And then I just had one more. Thank you, sir. Just to dovetail on Supervisor Canepa's comment, and it goes into a bigger conversation about updating the general plan that I know you're working and moving forward to. It's not just the usage of water and electricity, or none if we get educated and we're told they can self-contain But I don't want data centers to be the new truck parking. Everybody's proposing trucking and they're all over the county. I mean, zoning and where is gonna have to play into this as well. I mean, it's not like a data center has to be located anywhere in particular within the county. It can operate independently. But the zoning, to me, is essential.

Thank you, sir. Supervisor Aikman? Thank you, Chairman. And, you know, there's, you know, questions that, you know, we're talking about different questions that we need to have answers. Here are some of them. As I mentioned, where is it going to go, you know, if it's allowed? I mean, how much power will it consume? Can our grid support it? How much water will it consume? Who pays for the infrastructure? And is it going to be taxpayers or existing taxpayers? Are we going to subsidize the project? I mean, these are, you know, questions being answered. at the state level also, and they're asking the same questions. What does the community receive? We just talked about jobs, taxes, infrastructure, workforce, development, and other, what benefits that San Joaquin County will receive on its residents? And what happens if another facility falls? So we have one come in, how many do we allow? I mean, you know, so there's, can we accommodate you know, this type of development, many, many different types of developments. And, you know, there are laws, and that's another thing that we have to look at. I know the governor, there's a bunch of bills sitting on the governor's desk as we speak, and I know there's, what I understand, you know, we're between the three to five bills which dealing with this topic right now in which, you know, we don't have, you know, much information on that, and that's something that we need to gather, and your office needs to gather, and all of us up here need to wrap our heads around once the governor signs, and if he signs those things.

Through the chair.

Yes, sir. I was looking for a clarification regarding timing and what CDD would need. My understanding is this would be potentially, depending on what the board directs, a two-step process. The first step would be bringing a moratorium to the board, and then the second step would be bringing an ordinance which is more permanent in nature. And so with respect to what... what the timing would be for those two things. When would you anticipate we would bring a moratorium to the Board versus a permanent ordinance?

Through the Chair, based on my conversations with our County Council, it looked like we were going to be recommending the first meeting in October for the moratorium. and then from there we would be asking for six months to work on the ordinance. However, the plan was not to bring just a straight ordinance back to the Planning Commission and Board. Within the six month period we would bring back a report on our findings on what we've determined and maybe discuss some potential recommendations that would still need to be codified in the ordinance. I don't plan on taking an ordinance forward without vetting it through the Board of Supervisors as a discussion item first to determine the direction that the Board would like to go in. So the six-month period would be to come back and provide a report to the Board and get some direction on whether you want an ordinance or not.

Got it. And just through the Chair, and just... So everyone understands, under the statute that applies here, we would have to have the moratorium renewed after 45 days. So that would be an opportunity also to give some direction as to what you'd like to see in a permanent ordinance that would come back at the six-month mark or thereabouts.

Thank you, sir. Supervisor Rickman?

Thank you, Chair. I just want to let everybody know here, you're hearing us up here, and when we're talking about a temporary moratorium, it's a temporary pause if it's legally supportable, giving our staff time to study the issue. And it would be a six-month evidence-based policy process, being objective. And, you know, and this is something I was going to discuss with you, Jennifer, at a later time. But, you know, I know other cities who are going through this or have enacted moratoriums and stuff had an advisory committee. And it's advisory only and you bring in business leaders, energy folks, and, you know, a wide gambit of folks. And, I mean, I think that's something that we would have to do at a, later time and something I want to, you know, talk to you with about, and we can bring it back to the board. And those of you know, I can't speak, you know, each member up here, we can't, we can only speak to one other member, um, you know, not an open session. So it's, um, to think about that and, you know, I'll give you a call and something maybe we can bring back and, have an advisory community, get that community participation. I think community participation of all levels, you know, the business community, you know, residents, agriculture, utility, you know, running the gambit so everybody has a voice and so we can have an objective view of when we create these, you know, policies that are going to be permanent. So thank you. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, sir. Supervisor Canepa.

I agree with Supervisor to find out which other counties are doing it. I mean, is it really necessary for a moratorium if we don't even have a permit that allows it? So I mean, right, if they can't get a permit to have that, is there a moratorium needed? Or I mean, so, because if we don't have it, then it would have to come back to us to allow it anyway, right? So, I mean.

So through the chair, You're correct, we don't have any pending applications right this minute. However, the way that our codes are written, the public can propose text amendments. So I would like, it would give my staff some support to take the time they need to be educated without having to worry about the public proposing something for our county, which we would then be required to process.

I got it. So then if they do that, then somebody can come up and start the process anyway.

And they could request it.

Okay. All right. It's better to be cautious. So I agree. I mean, right to six months, figure it out.

But if we make them use a seller, it'd probably be two or three years, right? Sorry. Sorry. Just kidding.

Thank you, Chair. So that's just what I was trying to figure out, how they would do it. I mean, I guess if there's a roundabout, then everyone has the ability to do a roundabout, then they possibly could do that. Okay. So the moratorium is necessary then to give you the six months of time to figure it out.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Jennifer. Thank you. Anybody from public? Matthew? I don't want to... Amen. Amen.

Chair, supervisors, staff, and community, my name is Matthew Amon. Everyone knows me as Matty here. This is actually the first time I'm actually speaking publicly about the AI company that I started here in downtown Stockton right across the way at Huddle Co-Work. I love the fact that we're actually getting ahead of this. I'd like to share for the past cumulatively about five years, we kind of saw this as a problem. We did our research about all of the negative effects of these data centers, and when we saw them coming up in the past couple of years, we realized, okay, Stockton's actually ahead of the curve right now. What our company is standing on is solving the problem. You know, we talked today about all of the issues and the problems that these data centers are creating, but our company wants to make sure that we accepted the fact that AI is the future, but not at the detriment of humanity, right? And so these are how people are thinking in our own community right now. the water usage, the electricity, and the IP. These data centers are housing all of our intellectual property. What we've come up with was a way to support AI, but not the detriment of our water usage and our energy. I can get into the tech of it all, but I'm looking forward to meeting with all of you guys and maybe even CDDs with our team so we can let you guys know how this is actually working. We're in a beta state right now. It's mainly focused on small businesses and them being able to operate on our system. Eventually, we want to get into the nonprofit and enterprise sector. Some of the concerns that you had earlier about the system in which the county is running on, this is something that we'll be able to support as well with an AI component, but not at the expense of needing a data center to house all of our data. The conversation is new in our community right now. And like I said before, this is just... Everyone's talking about the problems that data-centered AI is creating and me and my team and everyone that's working on this that happens to be housed here in downtown Stockton are working towards the solution to that. So I'm up here today to talk about the potential investments that are coming across your desk to think about the folks that are in your own community that have been doing this work and that have actually come up with solutions to this problem. And not a lot of people are talking about that because it's not a lot of money in the solution. There's a lot of money in the development and the 20% of the folks who are wanting new data centers around. So happy to speak with all of you, happy to meet with CDD about and sharing our solutions and what we've come up with over the past five years. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Mary Elizabeth.

Hi, Mary Elizabeth, thank you so much for having this discussion. I am so thankful. One thing, as you're pondering on what you want to define a data center as, I would encourage you to also consider pondering what advanced manufacturing means. So in our county we don't really have, we have industrial, but we don't have what advanced manufacturing means. And there are lots of incentives and shortcuts for those businesses that are coming in as advanced manufacturing. Some of them are very hazardous and create a lot of problems and their siting should be carefully considered. In regard to the data centers, I appreciate the notion of having an advisory committee, but I would ask that that advisory committee be open to the public and that anyone that is having concerns or questions can come and be a part of that discussion. Oftentimes, I see these advisory ad hoc committees become what I call top secret. I don't think that that's the intent here. It would have to be a deliberate move when that advisory committee is established. Another topic that I really like to point on that you brought up is self-contained. And so when these data centers are self-contained, there's some renewable solar wind with battery storage. That's the best option, the least polluting, because we have serious air quality issues in our community. The second is natural gas or nuclear. and that's small nuclear plants and so I think that those energy sources need to be considered because we are in a non-attainment zone and our air pollution is harming our communities and so you know whatever we can do to reduce that air pollution is going to benefit public health and the environment. Thank you very much. Again, you have no idea how thankful I am and when I saw this on your agenda, my heart soared in hope. Thank you.

Thank you. Margo Cross.

Good morning, thank you for having this this morning. My name's Margo Prowse, longtime resident in San Joaquin County. Thank you for bringing the topic up. And I hear you voicing the concerns that people have. So it's good to always start with those concerns and realize that they're front and foremost. You talked about the water and the electricity and the land usage and the infrastructure needed. And very, very important to focus on that because the AI data centers run 24-7. They cannot be stopped. If they stop, they're harmed. And so the people, the powers that be that are making the money, they are not going to want to stop them. And I think that needs to be looked at seriously and how that imposes harm onto your residents. We face water shortages here. We're surrounded by Delta, but we face water shortages. And they have to have the clean water, and they have to have the cleanest water, and they have to have lots of water. There might be new technology coming that doesn't use it the same way. Things might still change, and things are evolving. So we'll have to see. With so many potential harms, You always have to think about the incremental harms. There's so many things that have happened in this county. The number of warehouses that has gone up is phenomenal. We rank fifth in this state. So there's Long Beach and LA and Imperial County and those places. We're number five. and by a huge factor. And our air quality, I mean, you know our air quality, and here we are. I appreciate that you're looking at a moratorium. I would have liked a longer moratorium, but it's good that you're asking the right questions. Don't let finances cloud your judgment going forward. It might make money for the community, but is it worth the harm it's going to cause to the residents who are under your jurisdiction, the residents who voted you in, who you're here to serve? Good luck going forward. We'll be seeing you. Thank you.

Thank you. Anybody else? Do we have anybody waiting remotely?

Through the chair, we do have one caller that would like to speak on this item. We have Carla Huny. Carla, if you want to go ahead and press star six now to unmute yourself, and then I'll start the clock for three minutes once you begin speaking. Go ahead.

Good morning, Supervisor. Sorry I couldn't be there today. I do appreciate this being brought forward. One thing that I ask, and I think all of you have said this, we need to be very thoughtful about what we're doing. I'm not against AI or data centers, but we need to, as other people have spoke, think about what it does to the community. Supervisor Rickman always, you know, talks about PG&E and raising rates and all that. What is that going to do if we have a data center? Also the water, the land, the noise, the lights. The lights never shut off, so all night long they're on. One thing that nobody said, so this is a statistic that came out a couple of weeks ago. China, and they have quite a bit larger population, we do, have 450 data centers in their whole country. We already have 4,500. So take that into consideration. And then the other thing I want you to think about, you're talking about unincorporated county land. What if Lodi approves a data center? Do you have the power to not let them do that because they need a permit or because it's in Lodi you don't need to do a permit?

So just different things.

There's lots of stuff that come into this. Again, I'm not against or for, you know, progress is always something that people push against. But I want to make sure that the ultimate goal is not to harm the community. Thank you.

Anybody else? Anybody else remotely?

No?

Supervisor Rickman?

Thank you, Chairman. Before I give a motion, I just want to let people know this is an example of our board and our staff being proactive to establish appropriate policies before an application is submitted, rather than trying to address the complex issues that we mentioned here today after the fact. I don't know if anybody else has anything. I'll pause for a motion.

Thank you. I think Carla brought up a good point. I don't know the answer. What if, and trust me, Lodi would never approve it, but we'll just use Lodi as an example. If we, is this just for county land? Is this the entire county? How does that work?

Yeah, through the chair, this would, whatever we do is affecting unincorporated San Joaquin County. So not the cities? Correct. The cities have jurisdiction over their own territory, and they would decide themselves what they want to do with respect to this issue.

Thank you.

Supervisor Kenpa?

That was just a reason to be more mindful, because then if we have unincorporated areas, you're forcing them into the cities, which is another thing that why we need a plan and something going forward, because it's important that we're not fighting one another if somebody does want it, right? And then the same thing, the quality of life issues closer. So that's important to find out. obviously back in the day we had the Google barge come in and we didn't allow that because I think it was going to change the water temperature wherever it was at 12 to 14 degrees in the port. So those are the things that I think before, you know, we make decisions and do it that we, give the six months, I think, and do the moratorium, obviously, because we don't want a roundabout way, and then we're going to have even more debate that's not controllable by us. So I'm for allowing this and figuring out what we can do and how we can do it so that, you know what I mean, we're not closing the door, but we're finding out the information so that we can make a mindful decision. So thank you.

Thank you, sir. Anybody else? I'm glad we are having this discussion. There are Like Supervisor Rickman said, there are some bills on the governor's desk. One of them is Senate Bill 1168. That's the Senator McNerney bill that prohibits shifting cost of any improvement to the consumers. So there are... It's evolving information... Things will get clearer as we proceed, but I'm glad we are discussing this and it's going to give community development an opportunity to analyze what we are really dealing with. I'm not in favor of closing the doors, but we need to make sure that these data centers are a benefit, not harm to the community. So I will support the moratorium.

Do we have a motion? Thank you, Chair. This is kind of long here. I move that the Board of Supervisors direct county staff to undertake a comprehensive six-month study of large-scale artificial intelligence and high-intensity data centers in unincorporated San Joaquin County, evaluate land use, agricultural, water, electrical infrastructure, environmental, public safety, emergency service, economic and fiscal impacts, identify appropriate locations and development standards, and return to the board with permanent regulatory options. I further move that county council evaluate whether the statutory requirement of government code section 65858 or other state law can be legally satisfied, and if council determines that legally sufficient findings can be supported by substantial evidence, direct staff to return with a narrowly tailored urgency interim ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON APPROVAL OF NEW LARGE-SCALE DATA CENTERS DURING THE POLICY STUDY.

DO WE HAVE A SECOND? BEFORE WE DO THAT, YEAH. NO, I WOULD JUST, YOU KNOW, I HATE TO TURN INTO THE POLICY GEEK HERE, BUT WORDS MATTER. YOU SAID LARGE-SCALE. I MEAN, DOES THAT AFFECT WHAT WE'RE DOING? COUNCIL?

And I, can you, what was the term large-scale in connection with? I'm sorry. I was, missed that detail.

Large-scale data centers. Can you scratch large-scale and just put data? On approval of, I don't want to say data centers. I mean, I think staff gets it if we just say data centers. I don't want to incorporate the small data centers. But what is a data center? Jennifer Jolly. I mean, this is exactly why we're here, to identify what these definitions are.

Through the chair, I mean, we've heard the discussion, and I think it's pretty clear we're not talking about some small business that incorporates AI into its business model. I think we have a sense of what the board means by data center. And obviously, it'll be brought back, and if we've misunderstood, you guys can set us straight. But I think we have enough information that we can move forward in the spirit of what the board is proposing.

Okay.

Just had a question. What was the code that you're...

It's just a government code. I'm like Supervisor Dean. I can barely see you here. 65858 What governs moratoriums and what's legally required for that? All right. Thank you.

I'll second If the board does approve Moratorium that be for 45 days, right?

Yes, and the government code is six five eight five eight I have a copy of it right here if anybody wants to know some details, but what it does require is by a four-fifths vote, this would be something brought back to the board. It's not being decided now. It's today's discussion. But if the motion is approved, we would bring back to the board, as CDD indicated, probably October, an urgency measure to implement an interim ordinance which would effectuate a moratorium. That moratorium would be good for 45 days, at which time we'd have to bring back a renewal of the moratorium which could then extend it for an additional year, I'm sorry, for a total of one year or a total of two years. It would be up to the board what to do. In as much as it sounds like CDD thinks we can come up with a permanent ordinance that addresses this issue in approximately six months, I suspect the board would want to have the moratorium for the one-year total period versus two. But obviously you can decide that at that time.

Thank you, sir. We have a motion and a second call for a vote, please. Motion passes 5-0. So do we break for closed session? Do you have any?

Yeah, breaking for closed session. We do not have outside counsel, so. So we are good? Yes, we are good. I anticipate we'll have reportable action coming out of it, though. Can you please read the items, sir? Going into closed session, the first item is under government code 54957.6, labor negotiations. There'll be direction given or discussion with the interim human resources director and the CAO. Second item is a employment evaluation of the Director of Human Resources, Chris Woods. And then finally, there are two cases. The first is called Investigative Reporting Program versus County of San Joaquin. And the second case is Abdullah Quesarda versus County of San Joaquin County. I misspoke. The evaluation will be the Human Services Agency, and Chris Woods is the director, obviously.

That's it. Thank you, sir. We will recess to closed session. Board will reconvene after the closed session. County Council, is there anything to report?

There is, yes. The case Abdullah Karzada versus County of San Joaquin was discussed, and the Board approved settling that matter, the terms and conditions of which will become available upon request once all parties have signed off on the settlement document. The motion was made by Supervisor Canepa. and seconded by the chairman. As I indicated, I believe, that approval was five to zero. The second case, investigative reporting programs, or I'm sorry, investigative reporting program versus County of San Joaquin. The motion was made by Supervisor Kennepa. I'm sorry, yes, that's right. And the seconded by Supervisor Rickman, and by a vote of five to zero, the board approved settling that matter. Again, the terms and conditions of which will become available upon request once all parties have signed off on the settlement documents. That's all the reportable action.

Thank you, sir. Board members, any comments, reports, anything?

Yes, sir. I think it's important that we share this. San Joaquin County Public Works Department receives three Projects of the Year awards. San Joaquin Department of Public Works was recently honored WITH THREE PROJECT OF THE YEAR AWARDS FROM SACRAMENTO CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC WORKS ASSOCIATION. THE PROJECTS INCLUDED POCK LANE IMPROVEMENTS, SEXTON ROAD BRIDGE REPLACEMENT, AND THORTON WATER MAIN LOOPING. SO CONGRATULATION TO PUBLIC WORKS. THERE WE GO, RIGHT? I SHOULD HAVE READ THAT. SO WE JUST GOT IT. AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE CELEBRATE. CELEBRATE. I THINK IT'S GREAT. SO GOOD JOB, PUBLIC WORKS, AND KUDOS.

BE CAREFUL. DISTRICT FOUR IS COMING. Long way to catch up. Anybody else?

They haven't even got cities over 100,000 people yet, so get bigger and then we'll talk. So thank you very much. Thank you, everyone.

Meeting is adjourned to Tuesday, September 15th at 9 a.m.

Thank you.