Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

opening every single meeting since I've been chair so if everyone could please stand and remain standing I'm gonna do the Pledge of Allegiance and then I'm gonna have supervisor Terry Withrow give us an invocation that's okay perfect

with liberty and justice for all.

Okay. So good morning, everybody. This is the last second prayer I'm going to have to come up with here. So I ask everybody to bow their heads. Dear God, today, this morning, I thank you for all of us that are here. I pray for the safety and health of everybody who are here today. And this morning, I pray for our warriors. I pray for those who are out doing your work, who are looking for justice in the world, who are looking to help other individuals. who need help, again, just doing your work. And so we pray that you give them strength and wisdom and guidance and courage to do your work to make this a better world. And then if I could, I'm gonna go Catholic on you. We're gonna say the Our Father here real quick. In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil. Amen. Thank you all.

Thank you very much, Supervisor. All right. Item number three is presentations. Always fun. These are employee service awards. We have three people who are receiving their 25-year service award. And Donna Linder will be presenting the first one. This is Jennifer Mercado. Hello.

Good morning, Chairman Piazza, Supervisors, CO Hayes, County Council, those. I'm here to celebrate Jennifer Mercado for 25 years of service to Stanislaus County. Jennifer started in the clerk quarter department in April of 2001 as a legal clerk one. During her professional career, Jennifer moved through the legal clerk band series in 2002 with some encouragement. she applied for the Legal Clerk IV position and was promoted, becoming a lead of one of our four units in the Clerk Quarter Division. Ms. Mercado was an excellent lead, and in February, she applied and was promoted to a Supervising Legal Clerk. Jennifer is kind and treats staff with respect. As a lead and now a supervisor, she sets high expectations regarding work ethic and performance, modeling both of these as well as exemplary customer service. She trains staff not only with her words but her actions. In her personal life, she married her husband Juan in 2005. Jennifer is also an animal lover and she's had many pets over the years. Currently, she has three dogs, three cats, and a lizard. She enjoys Disneyland and traveling, and some of her travels have been to England, Japan, Iceland, and she's preparing for a trip to France. So join me in congratulating Jennifer on her 25 years of service.

You like dogs or cats more?

I like them both equally, but my husband says that's not possible. He said you can't like the Raiders and the Niners, and that's the same thing.

Is your husband here? No, he's not. Because I agree with him.

I can't choose.

That's great.

Do you have a favorite child?

Touche. Nice. Jennifer. That's really good. Now she got me off my game.

I know.

So you travel a lot. Obviously, that's wonderful in France. And have you seen the United States?

West Coast. West Coast. And Disney World.

Okay. Disney World? Disneyland. Disney World, yeah. Which one's your favorite? Which one of your kids are your favorite?

I really like Tokyo, Japan's Disneyland.

Okay.

Because it was very old school. It was very nostalgic. I guess I should have done that.

I guess so.

It'll take you back to Disneyland when you were growing up, kind of before it had Marvel and Star Wars. It's just kind of the old classic stuff. I think that's what I like more.

Great. So 25 years probably went by really quickly. As I get older, time goes by. It seems to be clicking off pretty quickly. Congratulations on your 25 years. We're going to have three folks that are going to get this today, but not everyone comes in here. We have lots of employees that don't want to come in here, and we want to bring them in, and we want to celebrate the success and the promotions and the people who actually make this organization run because it's not us up here. It's responsible. It's the frontline worker. So we so much appreciate. Do you have some people you want to introduce? Of course.

I brought a whole crew with me. So we have Romeo. We have Matthew, Mitzi, Janine, Emily. And in the back, there's Lori, Jeremy, and Melita.

Your team?

Part of them. Not everybody could come. I know you guys won't let us close down, so... If we could, everyone would be here.

You just own me right now.

Yeah, I do have a little speech prepared, so... Okay. Good morning, everyone. When I first started 25 years ago, I never imagined that one day I would be standing here accepting my 25-year milestone award. Over the years, I've learned that our work is about so much more than the tasks we perform each day. We become a part of people's lives. I took some time and I did a little math. Over the past 25 years, I've helped around 17,000 couples get married and around 25,000 people take a vacation by assisting with their passports. In our line of work as public servants, we have the opportunity to make a difference. Every interaction matters. I've also been fortunate enough to work alongside so many talented and dedicated people. Some taught me skills, some challenged me to grow, and some simply showed me what kindness and professionalism look like in action. The truth is, none of us reaches a milestone like this alone. Looking back, I'm especially grateful to the leaders who believed in me before I fully believed in myself. They saw potential in me, gave me opportunities to learn, and encouraged me to take on new challenges. Without their support, I would not be where I am today. When my time here eventually comes to an end, That sounds kind of creepy. Well, meaning retirement. I don't want to be remembered for a title or a position. I hope to be remembered as someone who made a positive impact, someone who treated people with respect, helped each other grow, and believed in them when they needed it most. If years from now someone shares a story about a co-worker who encouraged, supported, or inspired them, and that story happens to be about me, I'll consider that one of my greatest accomplishments. So thank you to everyone who has been part of this 25-year journey.

It has been truly an honor. Thank you.

That is so sweet, and that is why we're successful. Thank you very much. And I know that we're on a first-name basis since she's had a part in marrying 17,000 people, and I'm on my fifth or sixth wife. That's why we're on a first-name basis. That's a running joke, okay, people? That's a lie. All right, we're going to take a picture really quick. Congratulations.

Thank you.

Next up, Christine Huber is going to be presenting to Laura Ortega.

Good morning, Chair Kiesa, Supervisors Hayes and Bowes. I'm here today to celebrate Laura Otega who is celebrating 25 years. Laura started with CSA as a part-time extra help in April of 2000 as an eligibility worker one and was hired full-time in March of 2001. Laura progressed through every level of the Family Service Specialist series, gaining experience across multiple StanWorks sections. Laura spent seven years in intake and one year in continuing as a Family Service Specialist 1 and 2. She worked in welfare to work as a Family Service Specialist 3, then became a trainer for staff for four years as a Family Service Specialist 4. Laura went on to supervise the intake unit and the hearings team for 10 years. She now serves as a staff services coordinator for our hearings team and acts as the American with Disabilities Act and civil rights investigator for CSA. As a trainer, Laura was a steady and caring guide for so many staff as they embarked on their training journeys. Laura's patience is more than a leadership style. It's a gift and she has shared generously with everyone who has had the privilege of learning from her, including myself. Her calming presence has offered reassurance during stressful moments and her willingness to step in and help in any way she could has created a sense of safety and trust that people never forget. Throughout her career, Laura has been recognized for her steady leadership, compassion, and unwavering support for staff. As a trainer, her patience and calming presence helped create a safe and reassuring learning environment. Colleagues consistently describe Laura as knowledgeable, caring, fair, and approachable. They highlight her willingness to help, her advocacy for her team, and the sense of confidence and stability she brings to the workplace. Her impact is reflected in heartfelt appreciation from team members who value her guidance, generosity, and genuine care for both staff and customers. I personally have gotten to work with her on hearings and civil rights needs and so happy to celebrate with her family, her CSA family, and all of you to celebrate 25 years of service to the Stanislaus community. Congratulations.

You brought quite the group of fans here. It's awesome. And CSA is a much bigger department, unlike the recorder's office and elections. So you can actually bring a bunch and still operate. Not close down. So I love hearing people promoting through the organization. And now you're the trainer. You're the one that's making a difference in CSA. You have an outsized, you can make an outsized difference in the organization itself when you're training people. And again, we so much appreciate, we talk about this all the time, but the organization is only the strength of its employees, and we feel very fortunate all the time when we present these certificates. So congratulations on behalf of the board. I'm going to give you this microphone.

Well, I do want to thank Christine, the board, and my family and my work family for being here. And I never thought, you know, 26 years ago, actually, you know, coming down to the office to fill out the interest card, waiting for an opening, and then getting that in the mail and then coming back to fill out the application. And that was extra help, so I never thought I would be here. It's actually 26 years later going through this. And so it's been a very good 26 years. I've never had a day where I said I didn't like my job. I've loved every part of it, some more than others. I loved taking applications for people coming in. in need, being able to help them out in their times of crisis. And I loved being a trainer. There's people that I train that are now above me. And so that's a really good feeling. And right now, my hearings portion of my career, I have a really, really great team. We work really well together. And just making sure that our customers are getting the accurate benefits and that the rules and regulations are being upheld. Yeah, so thank you everybody.

All right. Next up we have Monica Deeb Carr and Doris Foster will be presenting.

Good morning, Chairman Chiesa, members of the board, CEO Hayes, County Council Bowes, I'm Doris Foster with Workforce Development. Today it is my honor to recognize and celebrate an extraordinary milestone, Monica Core's 25th years of dedicated service to Stanislaus County. Monica began her journey with the county in May of 2001 as an employment and training specialist one with Workforce Development, then known as Alliance WorkNet. From her very first months on the job, it was clear that Monica had found a job that she excelled in. Six months into her new position, Monica was promoted to Family Service Specialist II in November of 2001 and then to Family Service Specialist III just a few months later in March of 2002. By March of 2003, she received her permanent appointment, solidifying what we all know now. Monica was here to make a lasting impression. Over the years, her personnel file has filled with heartfelt letters from former clients thanking her for her guidance, her support, and her dedication during some of the most challenging times in their lives. These letters are testament of the kind of person Monica is. caring, empathetic, and deeply committed to helping others. At the same time, Monica has raised two beautiful children who are here with us today, never wavering in her commitment to them or to her work. Her ability to balance both with grace, strength, and commitment to them or her work, her ability has never wavered. and it speaks to the kind of person she is. Monica is deeply family-oriented, grounded in her values, and always giving more of herself than everyone ever expects. Today, Monica continues to serve as a Family Service Specialist III, managing cases and excelling in her role as a vocational training specialist. If you've ever walked through our office, you've probably heard her say how much she loves her job and how much she loves helping our clients, and she means it. Her passion is genuine and is felt by everyone around her. Monica has an unwavering commitment to upholding workforce development standards. She is highly respected and well liked by her peers, not just for exceptional work she does, but for the positivity, professionalism, and heart brings every single day. Monica, on behalf of the county, workforce development, and everyone who's had the privilege of working with you, thank you. Thank you for your dedication, your compassion, and your 25 years of service to this community. We are truly grateful to you. Congratulations on this remarkable milestone.

Okay, Monica. I'm just talking about because the name is Monica Deep and she goes by Monica. Uh-huh. Yeah, I know, but... Yeah, what she goes by. Yeah, real nice. So... Hey, people, stop laughing at me. So... I said when I met you earlier, you look way too young to have 25 years, so I know you started young. I'll let you introduce your family, but a former employee here. Again, people promote so quickly in this organization, and they identify folks that can handle more work. And it's always been the county's motto to double your workload and pay you the same amount of money. But it's truly amazing. the difference you can make in different areas, right, from where you started. Again, on behalf of the Board of Supervisors, congratulations on 25 years. We look forward to seeing, not 25, I think that might be another few years, but just watching you succeed and helping constituents, helping our population.

Thank you so much. I want to thank Doris for those very kind words and the entire board and Jody. I'm so happy to be able to be here today. I did bring the two people in my life that are my world, my son Cameron and my daughter Amin. And I really feel very fortunate, very, very blessed to be able to work for Stansel's County. I've been here for 25 years. Right after college, this was my first job. I went and got my master's. A lot of my leadership wanted me to promote and do different things because they're like, you can do a lot of different things. They very much encouraged me. But I found my passion. I really, really love helping the community. And I feel like I have to be the front person to be able to do that. trained thousands and thousands of people in different vocational trainings and they actually are now homeowners and have cars and just thank me after that so that's my passion I love my job I would do it even if they didn't pay me but I mean it's good I do need the money to pay my bills so I love it and I really appreciate for me to be able to be here for another at least 10 more years before I retire thank you

And her daughter, Aman, worked for the CEO's office for a while. So we had a few of them. So congratulations to all three of you. And again, from the bottom of my heart, if you guys want to leave, this would be a great time. If you want to escape, if you don't, if you want to stick around and watch a long meeting, you're welcome to stick around. Thank you. Is anyone surprised that I have a missed call from my wife who was watching? Okay. So now we're gonna move on to the public comment period. It's an opportunity for those in attendance to comment on anything that is not on today's public agenda. We do ask that you keep your comments to five minutes so it's fair for every speaker and they have an opportunity. We do not have any written comments for public comment. And I have yellow speaker cards, so you don't have to fill one out. But I'm going to do them in order. And at the end, if you want to speak, you just come up after the last speaker card has been called. So the first speaker card is Carl Wheeler with the Byer Boys Volleyball Team. Yeah.

Good morning. Good morning. First, I want to thank Supervisor Mr. Manny Grewal and the rest of the board for inviting us here this morning. Recognizing our young athletes is an integral part to our community success, and this morning we're here highlighting their achievements. Achievements and contributions to their school, their community, their city, and the county will be significant memory that they hold close to them. These young men feel seen and appreciated for the countless hours of training, film sessions, and expectations of pursuing excellence. In the process, they have accomplished incredible achievements as individuals and a group of students who believed they could do something bigger than themselves. Not because some crazy coach told them that they could, but they actually believed that they could do so themselves. They learned many life skills in the process, more so the importance of brotherhood, commitment, discipline, and achievement. We are here today because this group of young athletes standing behind me accomplished a lot of historical achievements within the Beyer High School community and our county. This group accomplished taking second in a tough Western athletic conference league. They also achieved a 30 win season finishing 30 and seven overall, which is the most wins by any buyer high school athletic team. They also, amongst this group, have four all-Western Athletic Conference selections, meaning four all-league selections. We also have two all-section honorable honors in our group here, which is voted on of coaches across our section, which ranges from Merced all the way up to the greater Sacramento area. This group also accomplished something pretty incredible, which I've never been a part of. But they are 7 and 0 in deciding sets, meaning when life or death is on the line, they were victorious every time. This is also one of the biggest reasons why we're here today is because this is the first section championship in our boys volleyball program history. It's also the first Modesto public school program. to achieve a first section or to achieve a section championship. This group also won their first NorCal playoff game at home, which was very monumental. And not only that, but this group is a very courageous group for taking on a challenge that not many students or athletes have the courage of taking on and representing their community, their school. Without their parent support, without my assistant coach who could not be here today, I forgot to do this at our banquet. I want to thank Primo Estendarte for his hard work and achievements with us. Not only that, but I would like to thank these athletes for representing their community, our county, their school and more importantly representing themselves for something that they will remember for the rest of their lives. So thank you for this opportunity to be recognized and thank Mr. Gray Wall for the opportunity for inviting us here. Thank you.

Stay up there. Stay up here for a picture. Congratulations.

Congratulations, Coach.

Thank you, sir.

Well, it's such a privilege and honor to recognize these young men on an accomplishment that has not been done before in the city of Modesto, getting section champions in the first public school in Modesto. And I think Big Valley also got one, but they're a private school, so you guys stand above them. And I congratulate you for that. And so let me tell you a short story about how I was informed of them winning this section champion. I was walking precincts about a month ago, and I happened to go to my former PE teacher's home, Mr. D. And one of the gentlemen is their grandson, right here, Bird, Ryan and Lindsey Bird's son. And they were having the time of their lives in a pool party. And I was like, these kids look really happy, Mr. D, and nobody's happy when they're around you. So something special must have happened. And he informed them that they had just won the section champion. So I thought it was very appropriate to recognize all of them for their hard work representing the community, representing the sport. and just being overall good performers that brought a lot of notoriety to our region. So thank you, congratulations, and I wanted to make sure you got acknowledged, and this is to the entire team in recognition of their 2026 CIF SJS Division III Section Championship. Congratulations to all of you. So who's the spiker on the team? Who's the guy that spikes it really hard? Just wanted to make sure.

It's the shortest one, actually.

Well, I hope you guys the best. I know a lot of you guys have gotten other awards and maybe your career will go further into college or even professional, but come back and visit us and make Modesto proud and Stanislaus County. Thank you. Thank you all the parents. I know it takes a lot of time and dedication to take them to practice and take them to games, so thank you for everything you do to make success. Thank you, guys. Okay, next up, we have Ron McMurtry.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Ron McMurtry here. That's really, I've never seen a supervisor be put on his back foot before. That was interesting. It was good. Yeah. Anyway, okay, a couple things. This, I think this is like the next best venue. I went to the last policy board meeting and I saw something that concerned me and since The five supervisors here are on that board. I want to put a bug in your ear about something. There was an issue with the chairman of the Measure L oversight committee, and he was really upset, and the committee seems upset about noncompliance with the Measure L oversight. terms that the voters voted on. And you guys didn't know that, but when I left, Jose Luis Caceres, the director of project development, was out there, and they were having a terse conversation. And I'm a little concerned about... Director Caceres kind of being caught in the middle. He's trying to make this work. But given that we're losing our institutional knowledge, I learned that Gene Folletta left, and so he's kind of the senior one who has institutional knowledge of the last couple of years. I'd like to suggest something that maybe Stan Cogg have an additional assistant for whoever the senior whatever because I don't want him to not have enough support because of high turnover or whatever and him get discouraged and we lose him too he's a good guy he's got us a lot of money and I want him to continue to do that I really want to I'm just I have this bad vibe about it okay so I just want you to know yeah they were having a conversation that they didn't even notice me that I want you know they're blocking the hallway and I had to so they were Okay, so I just want to let you know that was going on in the hallway as I left that meeting. Okay, and the other one I would like an addendum to. I had done a list of intersections that are really bad that need the priority, so this is just a heads up for Director Lehman. The short-term... Short-range transit plan people had suggested some route things. It's no-go, but it did remind me of some intersections that I neglected, and one of them is Claus at Floyd. Really needs a light. Claus has been getting more and more traffic over the years, and it is treacherous trying to make that left turn onto Floyd or merging into traffic and getting off of Floyd. That's a no-go for coaches, of course, but I want to add that to the list. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Ron. Next step, we have Gunit Bella. Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning, supervisors. My name is Guni Bella, and I'm a student at Modesto High School. I lead a youth initiative in a nonprofit called The Remedy Project, where I help organize workshops and events focused on mental health awareness and everyday wellness for students within our community. Through this work, I've had the chance to work alongside various students and one thing I've consistently noticed is how many of them feel like they don't have a place to go with what they're dealing with. Some don't have access to clear or reliable health information and others don't feel comfortable opening up in the spaces that are available to them. Even when resources do exist, they can feel out of reach, whether that's because of cost, transportation, or stigma. The Remedy Project is my attempt to respond to that in a small, realistic way. We focus on simple preventative approaches to wellness, things like managing stress, building healthy habits, and creating spaces where students can talk openly without feeling judged. It's not meant to replace professional help, but to make conversations around health feel more normal and accessible. At the same time, I realize that there's only so much that a youth-led effort can do on its own. Reaching more students, especially those in underserved areas, is challenging without broader support. So I am here today to ask how the city might be able to support or collaborate with youth-led efforts like this. Even small forms of support like access to community spaces, help sharing information, or guidance on how to connect with more schools can make a real difference in expanding what we are able to do. I also believe that it's important to continue encouraging research and conversation centered around the communities that need the support the most. There are still many areas where health disparities and barriers are not fully understood or talked about enough. The more we invest in understanding these issues at the local level, the better equipped we are to create solutions that are effective, equitable, and truly reflective of what residents are experiencing. I also think that there's value in continuing to include youth voices in conversations like this. Students are directly experiencing these challenges and being a part of a solution helps make those efforts more relevant and effective. As someone already working directly with students through the remedy project, I would genuinely value the opportunity to represent these concerns on behalf of youth as a youth representative. I believe young people can offer perspectives that are honest, current, and important when shaping conversations about community wellness and health equity. My goal isn't to ask for something unrealistic, but to open up the door for collaboration and to see what might be possible if students in the city worked more closely together. Thank you for your time.

Before you move, I'm going to have our resident Behavioral Health and Recovery Services person.

Thank you very much. When I said the prayer this morning, you're one of the warriors we were praying for. People to step up and try to make a difference. So we want to get your contact information, and we're going to get you in contact with our mental health department. Ruben's not here today. I think Ruben is on vacation still.

This number that you have on the card, is it yours? It's yours? Yeah.

Perfect. Okay, we'll reach out, and we'll connect with you, and thank you for what you're doing, and we'll see what we can do to help you with that.

Thank you very much. Thank you for coming and taking the time. Next up, I have Matthew Cox. Good morning, everyone, ladies and gentlemen, county board.

Thanks for your time. I just came up here to raise a little bit of awareness. A lot of people are traveling west and east between 5 and 99, 132. They're looking for alternatives to travel, and they've chosen Grayson Road as really a kind of alley that people are running through a lot faster than normal. We've had some fatalities out there. As you guys know, I thank you. You guys put up a four-way stop at Shiloh Road. which really helped the traffic slow down. There's a hot spot right near my house at Cox and Grayson Road that you guys are putting some resources in. I really appreciate that you guys are doing the improvements there. And then also there's one more spot that is probably the most dangerous at 33 and Frank Cox and Howard Road. I've been talking to some of your engineers about it. They said that they might partially block that road. I gave them the suggestion. I would love to see that section of road just completely cut off because if you look at it, there's no residences, there's no buildings on that road. It's just agriculture. And you could easily reroute them through Wesley to the four-way stop that's much safer. One of the problems, I went there this morning to that stop sign, and the stop sign's gone. Regularly trucks will come down off the 5 and turn right to go towards all the warehouses over there and they have to jump out into traffic because that stop is so sharp and they'll usually cut that turn and hit the stop sign. Uh multiple times i've picked that stop sign up and tried to put it back up myself and made people aware about it um I I do appreciate too the work you're doing at grayson and cox. I am concerned a little bit Because we are putting in a turn lane that it might speed traffic up And one of the factors too in that area is a lot of semi trucks will park on the side of the road and so It kind of blocks vision for people crossing there. We have a lot of agricultural stuff going on there, taking tractors across that road. As you guys know, the town of Grayson is right there, and that's their major exit. There's a market there with a gas station. And I saw how well Shiloh did with the four-way stop. I just have that suggestion that you guys think about that a little bit more in that. And then also the suggestion of cutting off the Frank Cox 33 road.

It is your lucky day, Matthew, because David Lehman, our director of public works right there, is going to meet you in the back. I know we've talked about some of these issues, a few of them, and some of them are being addressed.

And Matthew, just to let you know, I...

Every time we go to dinner at my in-law's house, I hear about that intersection at 33. Yeah, and Frank Cox. And I know David has been working on that. And unfortunately, there's a lot involved there with Caltrans and the county and the railroad. And it's just all kinds of obstacles. But we're working hard on it. But David can help you with that.

Thank you, guys. Thanks for your time.

Thanks. All right. Next up, I have Kent. Be followed by Jan.

Good morning, gentlemen. Good morning. The County Board of Supervisors, the County Registrar of Voters, the County Sheriff have all been served a notice and a request to be heard petition for redress of grievances. Dear Supervisors, Registrar, and Sheriff, the purpose of this notice is to ask for an opportunity to address the entire board and or to present a claim contesting the certification of an election results in the next regular scheduled meeting of board of supervisors. I am also requesting the board direct the register of voters to respond to the request for information below. I invite the attention to the California election code section 16100D, which states in part, any elector of a county, city, or of any political subdivision of either may contest any election held within for any of the following causes. D, that illegal voters were cast. The fractal Basis of my request is that it is common knowledge that there has been a flood of illegal aliens into the state of California. It's counties, cities, and school districts. Those non-citizens have apparently been allowed to register with the Department of Motor Vehicles. With that registration, these non-citizens have been provided with voter registration and election ballots. It is also common knowledge that the investigative reporters have discovered that some illegal aliens, noncitizens, have in fact voted. Providing these noncitizens voter registration and election ballots gives you, the members of this Board of Supervisors, and you, the registrar of voters, the legal basis to set aside the election and deny its certification due to the number of illegal voters as set forth in the California election code 16100 specifically subsection D. These facts you facts give you, Sheriff, not only the right but the obligation to investigate voter fraud. If the Board of Registrars certifies the election, they will be committing a felony.

Thank you. Thank you. Next up is Jan, followed by Melinda.

Okay. Hi.

This is a a continuation of the letter by Robert Paul Preston, who is the governor pro temp for new California state. Um, this letter was addressed to the boundary, the County board of supervisors, the County registrar voters and the County sheriff. And they were served some papers yesterday. So to the board and the registrar, would you please provide me and the person who served this letter on you the process, the identity of all officers, employees, and volunteers engaged in the collection and counting of ballots, including the disqualification of ballots and voter verification. As a voter in this state, as is the server of this letter named below, we object to our votes being diluted by votes of those who are not legally eligible to vote. We also object to any compounding of a felony by certifying the election results. If you may remember, the election results of 2020 were never certified. Thank you for promptly responding to this letter and giving me an audience. I'd like to go back and just review a section that Kent talked about. The factual basis, basis is it's common knowledge that there were a flood of illegal aliens that came in and voted in all counties, cities, and school districts. And a lot of these citizens were apparently allowed to register with getting a driver's license through the DMV. So they're compliant also. I'd like you to know that the state of New California and Restored California where we are working on the same plan that Virginia and West Virginia did. We have our own new constitution for the state. And we had an elections last year. We did a paper ballot, same day paper ballot, same day counting elections in all of the counties of California. So we know we need to go back, get rid of these machines that can be controlled through the internet. Any machine that's plugged into a plug can be controlled. We need to get back to the, I'm sure a lot of you remember, paper ballots that we can put into a box when we're done voting, and those can be watched, that ballot box can be watched all day long. At the end of the day, we get them, we hand count them, and we know after we have voter ID, proof of citizenship and all the information that we need. We need to get back to those days so that we are not having our votes diluted. And I thank you for your time.

Thank you. Next up is Melinda, followed by Brian.

Thank you. I think you all know me. And Kent and Jan, thank you for getting that letter to a point. I'm going to go back to it and finish. The incontrovertible facts give our sheriff once again not only the right but the obligation to investigate voter fraud. If the board and the registrar certify the election, they will be committing a felony. As a voter in this state, And as the server of this letter, named below, we object to our votes being diluted by the votes of those who not legally are eligible to vote. We also object to any compounding of a felony by certifying the election results. Notice of reason to not verify any election June 20, 2026. Page 2 of two pages. And I'm going to finish this. This was written by Robert Paul Preston. Thank you for promptly responding to this letter and giving me an audience with you TO CONSTITUTIONALLY REDRESS THE GRIEVANCE PURSUANT TO THE BILL OF RIGHTS, ARTICLE ONE. YOURS TRULY, ROBERT PAUL PRESTON, NEW CALIFORNIA STATE GOVERNOR PRO TEMPOR. CITIZEN VOTER SERVING THIS NOTICE WAS MYSELF, MELINDA MASON OF STANISLAUS COUNTY. AND THOSE OF YOU who are aware of New California State, you know that we've been standing before you for now nearly 10 years. And we've been calling out the fact that we declared our independence back from California in January 15 of 2018. We read 190 grievances in the public square at that time in 48 counties over just under 200 weeks and established 57 new state of California county committees throughout California. We wrote a constitution that is Republican in its form. And that is the only type of Constitution that the United States of America can legitimately give its okey-dokey to. And so this corporate system that we're under is falling before our very eyes. And so what I'm here to do is to ask you, unless you're confident that your voter rolls are clean, We recommend that you don't certify the election. And we have all the information. Public hearings are coming very soon. And the public will be abreast of what is really happening in this nation, especially in California, as we are the tip of the spear. It comes down to you. It's your responsible, you're the responsible party, and once your vote is to certify this election, you are culpable of crimes against humanity. Those of us in the public square that gave you the position to represent us in this representative form of government. So thank you for your time.

Thank you very much. Next up, Brian Evatt. And Brian will be my last speaker card if someone wants to speak after him.

Good morning, Board. Good morning. Brian Evatt. We're a sovereignty state, so really you have no control. It's like you guys have a bunch of band-aids over your mouth. You can't do anything because the state turns around and directs you. Otherwise, you could be arrested. So I know this would be the fact. So it's really hard for these guys what they came up and said. because we can't beat that until we get the state to change things, and you can't change things because they'll arrest you for trying. But I'm not here for that. I'm here for the inheritance purposes. How do we keep our community together? Well, this Proposition 19 came into effect. It's destroyed a lot of our community and the people that are there. Those kids that were all here, They won't be able to inherit a thing. People say, well, we'll get a durable trust. That doesn't do it. It doesn't change it. You get one piece of property. You have four kids. They get to fight over it. This has got to stop or we're not going to keep our community together. We're not going to keep the families together that created this until we can get this resolved. And I know you guys can't say anything about it either because you have to uphold the state law. But in some way or another, we need to get this changed. so we can protect our communities and protect our families that are here. Because we've lost our small businesses, Ruledale, we've lost Cummings, we've lost all these small contractors that built this friggin' county. We've lost them to corporations, as they stated. We've lost our state to the corporations. And we've lost your ability to do anything to corporations because of the state ruling that they put in front of you. This needs to change. Like I say, there's a difference between me and you. I would take that job and get arrested and get the publicity. But you guys don't. So like I say, don't have the balls because you're afraid of getting arrested. Don't be afraid because you've got a whole community behind you. And it'll spread out. And this is what we need to do, kind of fight for our rights to freedom. You've heard it a million times. But you guys, don't be afraid to get arrested from the state. They won't arrest you anyway because the publicity would be so big, you'd be governor next. So let's try this. Let's work together and get this going. And Terry, the amen that you said, correct. aren't in heaven. We want it the same on earth. And unless we fight and put ourselves up on the cross and keep our mouth going even when we're there, that's what's going to make changes. So let's have the strength to do it. Don't be afraid. You've got a whole city behind you. You've got families and generational families behind you. You know, take the publicity, get arrested. Every camera will be on you, you know, and that's what we got to do. And our assessor, Don, you wonder why he's leaving us? Because what the position they put him in. I mean, it's a wonder that families aren't shooting him. You know? So there's a protection, too, that we have to look at. And it's a wonder that these families haven't even come and just round up and want to strangle all of you. But you're not the fault. I know that. Because you have to follow the state rules and laws. You know? But take a chance. There's nothing to lose there. Only gain. Anyway, that's all I've got to say. And enjoy those kids and that civic... voice, civil voice, that we need that, a center, you know, community voice center. I'm going to try to work with them because I have a brick and mortar. And if anybody wants to help me put the brick and mortar together, if you guys want to help me get it going, it's sitting out there. Otherwise, I'll turn it into a cemetery. Yeah. but we need a voice and we need our kids to know this too so they feel relaxed that young girl that came up she was feeling relaxed if we can get our all our schools to feel that way we'll have a strong voice here and we'll have generations to come so let's work on that you guys huh i'd like to see that thanks guys that's all right anyone else for public comment

I'm here to talk about two different things. One is the language access and ADA compliance that you guys discussed at the last board meeting and then our zero waste working group update. I'd like to say that yes, this is a step forward to equitable access, language access and civic engagement for those who are English language proficient or learning English, where English isn't their first language. I DO FEEL THAT THE TELECONFERENCE OPTION THAT YOU GUYS ARE CHOOSING TO USE IS NOT EQUITABLE OR ACCESSIBLE. AND JUST AS YOU MENTIONED, CHAIRMAN, THAT THE COUNTY'S MOTTO IS TO DOUBLE THE WORKLOAD FOR THE SAME PAY. it seems like it's the same kind of theory that we want more community engagement and commitment, but we're going to place more obstacles in front of you in order for you to do that. So it was a very condescending joke to me, but maybe not to your staff. I think that The teleconference option of calling in and not being able to see who you're talking or who's talking and who's saying what isn't equitable. The same thing the city of Modesto does for their wordly program. If you want translation, you have to be on the wordly app. You can't see who is doing the speaking, who said what. And so that's not fair. We haven't tested it out, but I think it's really important for the communities who are actually going to be using it to be the people to test it out. You're asking nonprofit organizations like Valley Improvement Projects and individuals to test it out. We're probably more capable than the people who need it. AND YOU NEED TO BE TESTING IT OUT WITH THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO BE USING IT AND SO I RECOMMEND THAT YOU ASK YOUR TEAM TO DO THAT. VALLEY IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS HAS OFFERED OPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT WITH THE DIRECT COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT ARE GOING TO BE USING THAT SERVICE. SO WHILE I'M EXCITED THAT IT'S GOING TO BE IMPROVING BECAUSE WE'LL HAVE THE AGENDAS TRANSLATED, THE ATTACHMENTS ARE ALSO NOT GOING TO BE TRANSLATED. YOU'RE NOT INCLUDING THEM IN THE AGENDA AS HYPER LINKS AND SO THEY ARE NOT BEING TRANSLATED STILL. The second thing is our zero waste working group. The county directed the department of environmental resources I believe. That's how the zero waste working group started. I can't get an answer about how the zero waste working group started but DER did approach valley improvement projects for the zero waste working group. And Gavin Bruce from Valley Improvement Projects has been leading the working group and has been doing a really great job with very little and almost no effort on DER's part. But Gavin has been getting over 20 people to our meeting every month. AND JUST LAST MONTH WE HAD A PLASTIC POLLUTION MITIGATION FUND ROUND TABLE MEETING AND STRATEGIC GROWTH COUNCIL AND VALLEY IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS WHERE WE HAD OVER 68 COMMUNITY MEMBERS COME TO THE TABLE TO TALK ABOUT diversion and waste control. Not just waste management but making sure we are reducing it and making sure the communities directly affected by waste pollution are part of the solution. THIS NEXT JULY IS PLASTIC FREE JULY. WE HAVE INVITED YOUR TEAM TO COLLABORATE WITH US TO HELPING RESTAURANTS BE IN COMPLIANCE FOR PLASTIC FREE JULY. WE HAVE YET TO RECEIVE A RESPONSE VIA E-MAIL AND THAT IS USUALLY OUR NORMAL EXPERIENCE WITH DER. IT TAKES FOREVER TO GET A RESPONSE IF WE EVER GET ONE. But we hope that the county is looking to assist restaurants to be in compliance, not necessarily enforce a law that you're already not enforcing, but to help restaurants to make sure that the skip the stuff bill is being implemented. So right now it is illegal to offer me single-use plastic without me asking for it, and we see a lot of restaurants across the county doing so, but your team isn't informing or educating the restaurants about that. We'd like to partner, and we hope that we get some kind of response soon. On June 29th and 30th we will be hosting a film screening called the plastic detox and this will be filmed at the state theater on June 29th and 30th. Doors open at 6 and the film will start at 7 and followed by a discussion to talk about how do we detox our homes and bodies from plastics. so that we can continue to be a productive and healthy society. I hope to see some of you all there. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Anyone else for a public comment? Come on up, Stephen. I do have a card for you.

Yeah, that's later. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Supervisors, Mr. Hayes and Mr. Bose. I'm glad that the folks from the New California State were able to come here today and express their opinions because I believe in the Constitution and I joined the military to protect people's right to say those things in a public forum and I very much believe in that. But the state of New California, while it's a wonderful exercise in political science, will not ever become a state in the United States, simply because of that same constitution I swore to uphold, Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1, states that a state cannot be split unless you have the consent of both the United States Congress and that state's legislature. Now, West Virginia and Virginia from the Civil War has been brought up about that. But the legislature of Virginia voted to secede from the United States, and the members of Congress representing Virginia walked out of the Congress. So unless those similar things happen with our representatives from California, it's a wonderful exercise, but it's just not ever going to happen. Do we have problems with elections? There are probably some problems with elections. Some, it happened back in Wisconsin where there were statements made about illegal people voting and they went ahead and verified the rolls and they did find illegal votes, one, in the entire state. So no system is perfect. But there's certainly not enough going on to justify not certifying the election. And as far as paper ballots go, I do not know what the folks throughout the entire representing this group of New California have stated. But I filled out a paper ballot when I voted for this June primary. Anyway, that's all I have to say for this one. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you. Stephen, anyone else for public comment? Okay. Seeing none, I'm going to close the public comment period and we're going to move on to the consent calendar. I do have someone that wants to comment on B21 and B32. Does any board member want to pull any items? Does anyone in the audience want to speak on any of the other items besides B21 and B32? If not, I'll entertain a motion. Everything excluding 21 and 32. Motion to approve all items except

32.

All right. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. Opposed? Motion carries. 5-0. You can't vote twice. All right. Ron, come on up. We're going to let you comment on both of them. B21, just so everyone knows, is the approval that authorized the Health Services Agency to accept congenital syphilis prevention grant in the amount of $80,000.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a technicality or else maybe a small amendment needs to be done. I know a lot of these discussion things are kind of boilerplate, so I'm a little concerned because one little thing that was said was that the prevalence of the disease has been increasing, but nowhere in the document in your packet is there a little table showing you the numbers. Oh, yeah, they are increasing. So I'd like to suggest that That kind of thing should be included and the director should say is it increasing or was that a mistake and maybe should have said for continued prevention and treatment or something. Maybe they should have reworded that. If it is increasing, where would a member of the public get that information? Okay. You ready for B32?

B32 is the approval to use up to $20,000 of community development funds to pay for expenses associated with community cleanups.

Okay, that's interesting. I noticed that each project allotted $5,000, and the various communities are not the same size, and so I want to ask, I guess it's, yeah, Ms. Hidalgo, well, maybe that's not, maybe it's a policy thing for you guys to answer. Why wouldn't these things be based on per capita? Because the community's all different size, so I feel like ones with bigger would have maybe more garbage and would probably... That way you wouldn't have to do something like this to amend the funding. Thank you.

So there's one-time action, and if the money is used, it could be used up to $5,000, but they just pay the actual bill on the garbage collected. But that's why it shows up as $5,000. But it doesn't mean it was actually spent. You'll see that we rectify that during budget, right? It's when we have the...

Yeah, previously we were, I think our efforts were a little more precise around what each one of these cleanups might cost. But we found that sometimes, regardless of the population of the community that you're working in, there may be a need to increase that amount on the spot. And we were putting ourselves in a situation where you'd almost have to come back and retroactively request support to take care of the community. And we actually really appreciate it when we have a strong showing in any of these communities. And oftentimes it can just be a numerous factors will dictate how large the cleanup is or is not. So this is our effort to just set us up for success. Make sure the board is approving of the total process, what the maximum cost might look like.

And on a duly noted on B21, I know we had the health services agency came in and gave us a report. It's been probably a month and a half where we went through statistics on different metrics within our community. So I'll try and, I'm going to make a note to get Ron the health report. Okay, with that, there's no other comments? Seeing none, to entertain a motion for B21 and B32.

Motion to approve. Second.

The motion, and we have a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries 5-0. All right. We're going to move on to public hearings. First, 6-1 is public hearing to consider the adoption of the recommended rollover proposed budget for the budget year 2027 and related actions. Jody Hayes and Team Stanislaus will be presenting.

Thank you very much. Just a couple of opening remarks here. This is going to actually be a very brief presentation on budget. I think you're used to us having very robust, lengthy presentations, conversations on budget. However, from time to time, we have exercised what we call a rollover option. Staff will discuss this in the presentation. That provides us baseline financial authority to begin a new fiscal year while we work to really bring together all of the robust conversations and issues that will need to occur with this upcoming fiscal year's budget. You can expect all of that to occur and get back to kind of what your more traditional budget approach looks like in September as we consider the adopted budget. I do want to thank, before the team starts here, although this is a very brief presentation, there's still a bunch of work that goes on here with the team as well as many of our departments and the auditor's office and everybody pitching in to make sure we get this right and that we meet all of the criteria. So I want to thank all the departments who have worked on this and, of course, our team and the chief executive office that serves as the backbone for this. And then presenting for you today will be our Chief Financial Officer, Angelica Ramos, and Patrick Cavanaugh, Senior Management Consultant from the Chief Executive Office. So it's all yours.

Thank you so much for that introduction. So good morning, all. As Jody mentioned, today we are here to present our recommended rollover budget. So Stanislaus County is recommending this rollover budget as the basis for the 2027 proposed budget. As mentioned, we did use this concept before, most recently in fiscal year 2021, as the onset of the COVID pandemic required that our attention be placed elsewhere for the time being. However, the organization still needs a budget in order to start operating from. So we used a rollover concept then. This rollover budget establishes temporary spending authority for the start of the fiscal year before it is replaced by the adopted budget, which will occur later this year in September. Given the need for spending authority on July 1st, we seek your board approval for this placeholder budget by June 30th. This approach gives the distinct advantage of shifting the detailed development of the budget from the proposed budget in June to the recommended budget, which we will bring before you in September. By waiting to establish base budgets within the adopted budget, this ensures fiscal policy and decisions driving those base budgets are based on a more complete fiscal data and analysis, including year-end results. from the preceding fiscal year and this year's most notably big results anticipated from the impacts of HR1. We also know that our California state budget is currently sitting on the governor's desk for final approval and signature. So we're able to consider all of that much more completely than we would have back in April when departments were turning in their proposed budget. So development of the rollover budget begins by taking the 2026 legal budget as of mid-year, which was December 31st of 2025. One-time appropriations and revenues along with capital outlays, which are fixed assets that require specific board approval, those are removed so that we land at just our ongoing budget. recommended need for the organization. Finally, we included, we did include only, in addition to that, time-limited sensitive adjustments necessary to make operational, due to operational needs. This arrived us at the recommended rollover proposed budget. So we do have some recommendations and Patrick, here sitting next to me, will take you through those time-sensitive recommended adjustments.

Hi, good morning. The limited recommended adjustments contained in the recommended rollover proposed budget addresses time-sensitive items that would have detrimental impacts to the organization and community if they were delayed until the adopted budget. These budgets are an increase in capital outlays of $4.3 million for the purchase of sheriff replacement vehicles with specific ordering and upfitting windows, using that kind of cost and $139,000 of revenue for two total lost vehicles. An increase in capital outlays of $500,000 in public works for the purchase of zero emission vehicles with specific ordering windows in alignment with the California Air Resource Board advanced clean fleets rule through the California state contract using department retained earnings. An increase in appropriations of $2.7 million for general liability insurance premiums due July 2026 funded with cost allocation plan revenue. And finally, authorizing transferability of appropriations between the professional and general liability legal budget units to ensure sufficient appropriations necessary prior to the scheduled consideration of the adopted budget in September. ALTOGETHER, WE ARRIVE AT OUR FINAL RECOMMENDED ROLLOVER PROPOSED BUDGET. THE RECOMMENDED PROPOSED BUDGET TOLLS $1.88 BILLION AND SUPPORTS 4771 ALLOCATED POSITIONS. ON THE SCREEN AND IN THE REPORT, YOU CAN SEE THE BREAKDOWN OF APPROPRIATIONS OF THE RECOMMENDED 2027 ROLLOVER PROPOSED BUDGET. by priority area with the general distribution of funding is in line with the past several budgets that have been presented.

Thank you, Patrick. So I will take us through the funding sources that we're pointing to to fund this rollover budget. This budget's funded with $1.34 billion in department revenue, $34.2 million in county match and contributions, $143.2 million in the use of department fund balance, and $364.3 million in general fund contributions to arrive at a total of the $1.88 billion. As a reminder, these funding sources along with the appropriations are placeholders until the development of the eventual 2027 adopted budget, which will replace this placeholder budget. This budget and the staff's recommended actions to the board merely establish this budget for the purpose of spending authority for the start of the fiscal year as permitted and required by the County Budget Act.

THERE ARE NO RECOMMENDED ADJUSTMENTS TO STAFFING IN THIS BUDGET. THE 2026 THIRD QUARTER FINANCIAL REPORT INCLUDED SUPPORT FOR 4768 ALLOCATED POSITIONS. A NET OF THREE ADDITIONAL POSITIONS HAVE BEEN IMPROVED AS OF JUNE 10, 2026. THIS LEAVES THE RECOMMENDED ROLLOVER 2027 PROPOSED BUDGET INCLUDING SUPPORT FOR 4771 POSITIONS IN TOTAL. Please note that this total doesn't include any changes that might result from separate actions since June 10th, 2026. And as of that date, the vacancy rate is 10.8%.

Right. So as we move into budget year 2027, staff will continue to monitor various external factors for potential local impacts. Concurrent with the proposed budget process, as mentioned earlier, the state is finalizing its budget and federal directives are continuing to evolve. Staff are tracking closely on those movements to determine local impacts. Staff will also continue to monitor discretionary revenue receipts. This is our revenue source, biggest contributor to our general fund. We will be updating projections accordingly and identifying any savings that are realized through the fiscal year 2026 year-end closed process. Combined, this information will help guide policy decisions for the recommended 2027 adopted budget, where base budgets for the year will be established and the placeholder rollover proposed budget will be replaced. The adopted budget is followed by quarterly updates that analyze and explain trend data and incorporate necessary budget adjustments to ensure continuous service to the community. Performance visioning is ongoing throughout each fiscal year operating under a two-year plan and serving as a natural complement to the annual budget process. For more details on the Rollover 2027 proposed budget and all of our county budgets, you can find the electronic document online at stancounty.com slash budget. Alternately, you can go to the Stanislaus County main page at stancounty.com, scroll toward the bottom of the screen, and click on the piggy bank, which you now see us circling there on the screen, to find the rollover 2027 proposed budget as well as budget documents from prior fiscal periods. And we have five staff recommendations before you this morning. The first is to accept the recommended rollover proposed budget for budget year 2027 to conduct the scheduled public hearing to receive public comment and input on the rollover proposed budget to direct and approve any changes the Board of Supervisors chooses to make and then approve the rollover 2027 proposed budget. Direct the Chief Executive Officer and Auditor-Controller to make any necessary technical adjustments required to implement the approved Rollover 2027 proposed budget. And finally, direct the Chief Executive Officer to prepare the recommended 2027 adopted budget for the budget period ending June 30, 2027 and set the public hearing for consideration of that budget on September 15, 2027. That concludes our presentation on this rollover budget, and staff are available to answer any questions you may have.

Any questions of staff?

Just a quick question, if I could.

Back to the recommended budget adjustments. If you could explain again just the general... I see general liability insurance, $2.7 million. That's right. So I'm just assuming that's just the increase in our liability insurance as a result of... Yes.

The largest component of that legal budget is the payment of our annual premium for general liability, which is due very early in the year, usually July. So we cannot wait for additional appropriations should that payment exceed what it was last year, Anticipate it well, we received our preliminary estimates which show that we will likely pay more than we did in our premium from last year. If we wait until September, we're subject to late fees of four to five percent. We're subject to penalties. That get us pretty close there to think tallied about nine hundred thousand dollars. So to avoid that we're requesting that that those appropriations be granted now Okay, perfect.

Thank you. And then the general liability professional liability LB use transferability. Sorry. I wasn't paying attention No problem.

No problem. That just gives us a little bit of additional leeway in case the What we used for the general liability were those preliminary projections from our insurance provider Should we exceed that by even a little more or the professional liability exceed what it was last year? This just gives us a little bit of additional flexibility to utilize more appropriations and get that payment out.

And what's the dollar amount for that? That's like a contingency that we're?

I don't want to rattle off the top of my head what the professional liability is. My memory is it's somewhere in the neighborhood of a million dollars across the two. But it is another one of our insurance programs. Okay.

Supervisor, was the question like, I think we're requesting transferability between the two. I'm just saying that we don't have a dollar. That just means we can transfer some funds from one unit to the next unit. So just permission to do that.

Permission to do that in case we need it, yes.

Thank you. All right. Supervisor Condit. Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I have in previous budget cycles, I'm going to oppose this just out of the principle that I do believe that our county government is way too top-heavy. I think we would be better suited for just a stronger foundation of our frontline employees. and prioritizing meaningful expansion of frontline service positions and also making those positions more competitive with our surrounding counties. I think our public would be better served by that. And I believe by doing it, we'll be able to combat the vacancy rates as well as dealing with the growing service demands within Stanislaus County. So for those reasons, I'm going to be opposing today's budget. Roll over.

Thank you. On the fund balance, use of fund balance, it's always concerning to me, and it's $143 million. Is that a rollover number, too?

That is a rollover number as well, similar to the one from the prior year.

Okay. All right. No more questions. I'm going to go ahead and open public comment period. There are no written comments. Does anyone in the audience wish to comment on this? Come forward. Ron?

For the sake of visually impaired people who just listened to the oral presentation, CFO Ramos made a small error in the approval date. It's September 16th, 2026. She said 2027.

Oh, thank you so much for that.

Thank you. Anyone else? Please, Stephen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the Board. I want to echo, Mr. Chairman, your concerns about the use of fund balances. Those fund balances have been dropping over the past several years, and I know it's been stated here that you're not supposed to be the people's bank and holding on to these monies and keep them in the bank. But I do know as economic times continue to be uncertain, we really need to take a hard look of how much deeper we want to go into that, realizing to balance the need between keeping our services going and making sure we can plan for a future in case anything unexpected economically happens. Thank you very much.

Thank you for those comments. Anyone else? And Stephen, yesterday we had a, I call it a retreat, but it's a board study workshop, and that was one of the topics that we were briefed on, and we're doing that exercise right now to find out where an appropriate reserve level might be or a range. We'll report back. All right. Seeing none, I'll bring it back to the board, and I would just say that this is not, a unique circumstance, but it's not normal circumstances where we do carry over budgets, but we're trying to get a better idea of where we stand. And so, you know, we haven't, normally we come in here and we don't ask a lot of questions because we've been briefed over and over and over on the issues and today's A little bit of the opposite where we're waiting to be briefed, right? We want to close the books and see where fund balance stands and create a budget. So I think, again, but it's not unique. We did this back in 2021 and it worked out just fine. All right. So if there are no more questions or comments, I'll entertain a motion.

Motion approved.

I will second that.

Motion is second, and this does require a four-fifths vote. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? No. Motion carries 4-1. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Going to move on to public hearing number two, the approval to conduct a public hearing to consider adjustments to the Stanislaus County maximum franchise rates for solid waste collection services. Fidelis and Tom will be presenting.

Consider adjustments to the Stanislaus County maximum franchise rates for solid waste collection services Presenting is Tom wolf our interim solid waste manager and our staff service coordinator at Fidelis guides Thank you, Rob Good morning chairman members of the board CEO Hayes and County Council Tom Bose

The Department of Environmental Resources is proposing adjustments to the franchise maximum refuse rates for waste and recycling collection services for the unincorporated areas of Stanislaus County. Stanislaus County's unincorporated areas are divided into four exclusive franchise areas, each served by a designated hauler. They are Bertolotti Disposal, Jilton Solid Waste Management, and Turlock Scavenger. And note that Turlock Scavenger has two areas. These areas are comprised of a mixture of residential, commercial, and drop box customers. In exchange for a franchise fee, the haulers receive exclusive rights to the residential and commercial accounts, while the county retains the ability to regulate the haulers and set the maximum rates they can charge. In November of 2008, the Board approved the current rate adjustment process. The adjustments are determined using one of two methods. The first is the cost-based adjustment, performing a detailed review of the hauler's actual costs. And number two, the index-based adjustment, which adjusts the base rate components by various consumer and price indices for the preceding four years. In June of 2023, the Board adopted a new set of base rates, the first one incorporating SB 1383 costs, which became effective on July 1st, 2023. The current rates reflect the second set of adjustments made to the base rates using the various price indices established by the rate adjustment methodology. The proposed rates are the third index based adjustments to the base rates. It is the second set of rates that shifts all disposal to the Fink Road landfill due to the closure of the waste energy facility in 2024. The following adjustments have been applied to the indicated rate components of the individual franchise haulers residential and commercial base rates. For drop box services, The labor, fuel, collections, and interest adjustment components were applied to the haul charges. Of the 25,642 residential customers, 11,689 will see a 2.30% increase. 5,495 will see a 2.21% increase. Approximately 7,000 will see a 2.27% increase, and approximately 1,391 will see a 2.17% increase. The rates shown are the most common residential rates for the SB 1383 exempt areas. These residents receive one 96-gallon cart for all waste material. The adjustments range from an increase of $0.53 in Area 4 to an increase of $0.75 in Area 1. The rates shown are the most common residential rates for the SB 1383 areas. These residents receive a combination of 96-gallon carts for garbage, recycling, and organic materials. The adjustments range from an increase of 91 cents in area two to an increase of $1.33 in area number three. Now we'll shift to the commercial customers. Of the approximately 4,100 commercial customers, about 1,500 will see a 2.59% increase. Nine hundred and twenty will see a two point four three percent increase and approximately sixteen hundred will see a two point seven five percent increase. The rates shown are for the most common commercial service of a two yard bin picked up once per week for the SB thirteen eighty three exempt areas. The adjustments range from an increase of two dollars and forty five cents in area four to an increase of $3.03 in area number one. The rates shown are for the most common commercial service in the SB 1383 areas. Commercial customers in these areas receive recycling services in addition to their two yard bins. And here the adjustments range from an increase of $3.09 in area four to an increase of $4.04 in area number one. The most common drop box haul service of 20 to 29 yard drop boxes are presented in this slide. And the adjustments range from $5.75 in area number four up to $7.07 in area number one. Staff recommends conducting a public hearing and considering the approval of the proposed franchise maximum rates for refuse collection services in franchise areas 1, 2, 3, and 4. If approved, these rates will be effective on July 1, 2026. Thank you. Questions?

Thank you very much, Tom. Any questions? THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. IF I UNDERSTAND THIS CORRECTLY, WE RAISED A SIMILAR RATE LAST YEAR, JUNE 10, 2025. ARE WE GOING TO KEEP RAISING RATES EVERY YEAR? CAN WE EXPECT ANOTHER SIMILAR RATE INCREASE IN 2027?

IT'S HARD TO PREDICT THE FUTURE. There's a lot depends on it. I don't really want to hazard a guess, but trending that way may be a good way to go.

And so what is driving this? Is this inflation? Is this world politics? I mean, what are the factors here?

It's a little bit of everything. Fuel, inflation. Anything else, Fidelis?

Labor, collection costs, fuel, disposal costs, interest rates are some of the factors. And each of those components are adjusted based on its individual index that's assigned to it. So collectively, if a rate, let's say, costs $100 with seven different components, each component is adjusted depending on that index. It can give us like $1.02 collectively.

And I know we have to live in this reality where we're dealing with all these factors, but it just seems to me that we're just going to keep pinching people and pinching people until there's no longer something to pinch. And it's just like a merry-go-round at this point. And with all due respect, I'm going to get off the merry-go-round. So I am going to be opposing this today.

Any other questions before I open the public hearing? All right, we'll go ahead and open the public hearing. We don't have any written comments.

Good morning, again, Bianca Lopez with Valley Improvement Projects. As I mentioned earlier today, the Zero Waste Working Group is working really hard to advance our zero waste plan that we proposed a few years ago and advancing to make sure that we keep things out of the landfill by refusing, reusing, repairing, and all the other R's, all the Re's possible. I don't see the county, it's a disservice to charge people AN INCREASE FOR WASTE PICKUP WHEN THE COUNTY ISN'T DOING ANYTHING TO ACTUALLY ADDRESS THE PROBLEM AND TO REDUCE THE WASTE THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY PRODUCING. AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, RESTAURANTS ARE STILL USING SINGLE USE PLASTICS. WHY AREN'T WE HELPING THEM DIVERT TO USE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS? WE'RE JUST LETTING THEM CREATE MORE TRASH. while we're charging residents who don't even have the choice to recycle their recyclable material and their organic waste. So the folks in those 23, 25,000 households that don't get a green bin or a gray bin, whatever color they are, THEY HAVE TO PAY MORE MONEY SO THEY CAN STILL NOT RECYCLE AND STILL NOT PAY INTO OR PARTICIPATE INTO KEEPING THINGS OUT OF THE LANDFILL. YET WE'RE GOING TO CHARGE THEM MORE MONEY. I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND. I UNDERSTAND THERE'S SOME EXPECTED INCREASE IN COSTS, BUT I DON'T SEE WHY THE PEOPLE SHOULD PAY FOR THOSE COSTS WHEN YOUR DEPARTMENT ISN'T DOING ANYTHING TO ASSIST TO KEEP THINGS OUT OF THE LANDFILL. SO TO SAY THAT WE'RE GOING TO INCREASE THE LANDFILL BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO KEEP DOING, WE HAVE MORE WASTE BECAUSE WE'RE NO LONGER BURNING IT WHILE YOU'RE STILL DOING NOTHING TO KEEP IT OUT OF THE LANDFILL IS A DISSERVICE. I RECOMMEND THAT YOU DON'T APPROVE THESE RATE INCREASES BUT THAT YOU ASK FOR MORE DETAILS OF THE COUNTY Still, your local task force meetings are getting canceled because there's no agenda items. There's nothing to talk about. The regional agency meetings are also getting canceled because there's nothing to talk about. So let's talk about it and let's create plans to keep things out of the landfill instead of just putting the burden on the residents to pay for the cost of our disservice. That's really important for you all to consider. You need to make sure that your Department of Environmental Resources is actually doing the work and not just charging people for that work. So I understand gas is expensive. We need to pay our tipping fees at the landfill that we own. So I'd like some more clarity on how these funds are actually being used and a breakdown of all of those funds to justify all of this, because it doesn't make any sense. It's making somebody dollars, but it's not making any sense down here. And as I mentioned, it is a very big disservice when the county isn't working hard or intentionally to work through these problems of keeping things out of the landfill. And I think I'd like some clarification. I recommend that you don't pass these rate increases until there is more clarity about how the money is being used. I'd like clarification. Is Jilton and the other waste haulers, are they charging us more money or is the county offering more money? Or please clarify a little bit more. The answer was not sufficient for me.

So the seven, yes, go ahead and explain again. Can I speak? Yeah.

Okay.

So the rates are actually based on financial statements that are submitted by the haulers for specific time frames. And we do a financial analysis with the help of a consultant who is the number one consultant for the state in rate adjustments. They look at these based on the actual expenses of the haulers. So each hauler's financial statements are provided, looked at, and then from there a base rate based on their expenses for those seven categories are set. What we do is four years, the next four years after the base year is set, we adjust it based on the CPI attached to that particular rate component. The County Board of Supervisors approve the maximum rates that we propose. The haulers charge what they can or up to that amount. We don't control what that is. Those rates are, just like what I said, are based on their actual expenses. There is a 10% profit margin that is attached to the overall calculation. And they pay for their gross receipts on every quarter to the county. That's how this whole rate process is.

So you have to serve the people, not businesses. I don't think you should approve this rate increase.

Fidelis, can you name the seven components again?

The seven components are labor component for each of the haulers, the fuel component, collections components, the disposal components, transfer fee, interest components, and then franchise fees. So each of these components were adjusted by these percentages to make up the proposed rate that we have right now.

Yeah.

Okay. Okay. Anyone else for public hearing? Come on up.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the Board, as well as Mr. Hayes and Mr. Bose. Again, for the record, my name is Steven Morrow. Anyone who sits on a governing board has to make some unpopular decisions. And when you're squeezed with a choice of either increasing rates or reducing service, it's never a pleasant decision that has to be made. And I've had to sit on that in my previous role as sitting on the Regional Transit Authority Board of Directors. So I know it's a hot seat. I'm grateful that the rate increases were kept at least as low as possible, and to address Supervisor Chance-Condon's question, last year in Area 1, our rate was actually lowered by 50 cents a month, which surprised the heck out of me. i know our contractors are being squeezed and they are they have to pay their people in order to be able to provide services and we're all getting hit with food costs in anything so there's no real good short-term solution at this point, unfortunately, to raise costs. But I fully agree with Ms. Lopez. We have to look for a longer-term solution to try to reduce the amount of waste and try to increase the amount of material we can recycle. Because long-term, we just can't keep burying the trash in the ground. That's just not going to work. So we'll just have to keep moving forward to try to come up with a better solution. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Anyone else? Seeing none, I'm going to close the public hearing, bring it back to the board.

A couple quick comments, if I could. First, Bianchi, I always appreciate your passion, and I think just as Stephen said, the ultimate goal here is to get to zero waste, and I agree 100% with that, so hopefully we can get there. But in the meantime... We've got to pick up the garbage, and there's still garbage out there. And if there's not a profit margin in it for our haulers, we won't have any haulers. They won't do this unless they can make a profit at it, which I don't penalize them or think that's a bad thing. That's what they have to do. I'm very confident in the process that we have. The financial statements that we talk about that we receive, those are audited financial statements that we get every year. And the formula that the board, not this board, maybe Vito was on it back in 2008, I don't know, when the process was put together, is a very fair process, and it goes through methodically what justifies our ability to be able to increase these rates. So I have no problem with the formula and the process that we go through every year. We don't want to increase the rates on anybody, but we want the garbage to get picked up, and we have to continue to... to do this in order to have haulers that will wanna serve in our community. So I get that, that part of it is, I just think there's nothing we can do about that. But we do need to continue to get to zero waste, and that would be the ultimate goal to do. I think there's a whole lot more that needs to happen at the state level as compared to at the county levels for us to make these changes. Was it 1383? That's what 1383 was the first step towards that. Unfortunately, that came with a rate increase, right, in order to accomplish that, so that everybody had to pay. But I think the day will come we will get there. And as far as the restaurants and stuff, for us to be able to enforce them to have the zero, you know, push for their zero waste and would require us to put in place ordinances on them, I would think, for them to be able to do that, which if that was the case, it would increase their cost. you can just work your way through this whole thing. It would increase in their cost, which they would then pass on to their customers. So it's not here. Maybe it's not on the garbage can, but now it's on the food you're buying. And so it's complicated. It's not easy for us to get there. But we definitely want to get there, and we will. I think the day will come that we will get there. But in the interim, we've got to pick up the garbage, and we've got to be able to have people that will pick up the garbage. And they won't do it if we don't make a profit. Anyway, I'll support this today. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other comments?

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Raising rates is on anything, whether it be picking up garbage, delivering water, putting out fires. It's just aggravating to raise rates. But some of the biggest pushback that I've received is when we don't raise rates and we go a few years without raising rates and it's much larger now. The public can handle a little bit of raises on the rates, but not the big ones. And I think, as aggravating as it is, that I'll be supporting this. But I'm starting to get to the point of where chance is. But with this particular one, I'll be supporting.

So I will just say that when this ordinance came up, I thought it was a good compromise. We have a goal, and Stephen, thank you for pointing out that the rates have gone down multiple times in multiple areas over the past 16 years, 17 years. So it does go both ways. You catch high fuel prices right now, you start seeing things. Some things come along that are transitory where it goes up, but then it comes down. So we see a little smoothing. I would agree that getting to zero waste is the goal and everything costs money until technology comes up. And you talk about sorting, being able to sort out refuse versus cardboard and other things. I think the technology is coming along much better because Gear Road Landfill, I don't even, I put my head down when I look at you, an unlined landfill next to the Tuolumne River, fairly close to my house, and to think that, you know, The amount of money that's going to cost us in the future, short of digging it back up, is going to be tremendous. And that comes through tipping fees. There's some post-closure costs that aren't going to go away in the near future. So there are expenses. I think that this has served us well, the way we do the rates. I'll support this today. But again, I think we keep the goal in mind and as you said, 1383 has set us on a path, but it allows time for people to acclimate and the technology really to catch up to the sorting technology to catch up. So with that, I'll entertain a motion. Oh yeah, I'm sorry.

No worries.

I was just going to ask, I know some of the reasons that were given for the cost, the raise in prices, fuel being one of them, and that is at an all-time high just based on the current climate and things as such. Is there an opportunity, if we get some relief on that, or once we're in, it just kind of locks it in, or is there opportunity to have conversations with them and seeing that some of the costs have come down based on fuel? I don't see labor coming down, but do we ever have opportunities to have those discussions?

Discussions with the haulers? Yes. Discussions with the haulers do happen. Usually it's initiated by them. With the diesel prices having gone up, I was actually asked... if we could talk about interim adjustments. And we're open to that. Unfortunately, the last two months, it's been going down. So we can't really look at adjusting something with just a few months' worth of information. These indices are the average of two full years. The difference of two full years is what we apply. So it very much could be that, you know, it goes up and then it goes down because we're looking at 12 different...

But we're taking it for a longer period of time, so we cover all the, you know, kind of the roller coaster on prices. Correct.

We can talk about it.

Yeah, no, any opportunity that we can save or look to save for our residents is, you know, obviously we want to be on top of that. Again, any type of raising of rates is concerning. And in future, do we have like an adjustment? You know, it seems like it's kind of a, two and a half, 3% adjustment across the board. Is there something that we can just put in the clause that if there is a reason and have discussions if need be to just put an escalator clause or is that something you guys don't entertain?

We're using an escalator.

That's the discussion that you were referring to. Is that what you were referring to when you guys made those discussions that you had back in... You had referenced a discussion you had a few years back prior to us being on the board?

No, I'm saying back in 2008 when they put this model in place to determine how the rates were adjusted.

And that's what this originates from? That's how we come up with the percentages?

We come up with the percentages as CPI is, you know, published, but these are established by that policy, correct?

All right. Well, again, as much as we don't like raising rates and try to keep them as low as possible, I feel that it's necessary to make sure that we get the services for our residents. So I'll be supporting this.

Okay. So now at this point, I'll entertain a motion.

Motion to approve.

Motion to approve. And we have a second. Second. This is... Only takes three votes. Okay. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Nay. Motion carries 4-1. Fidelis and Tom, thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you.

Okay. Going to move on to item number three, public hearing number three, approval to adopt the property tax administration cost recovery plan for use in fiscal 2025-2026. Mandeep and Nathan will be presenting.

Good morning, Chairman Chiesa, board members, CEO Jody Hayes, County Council Bows, taxing agencies, and members of the public. I'm Mandeep Dhillon, auditor controller, and with me here is Nathan Ambrandt, CPA and property tax manager. We've got more than two CPAs in the room today.

Three CPAs in the room. That's a good thing when that happens.

Also present in the audience are County Assessor Dawn Geicole and Treasurer Tax Collector Dawn Riley and staff to answer questions specific to their departments. So we're here today to discuss property tax administration cost recovery plan and we'll be referring to it throughout this presentation as PTAC. So I'll first provide some background on this. In the early 1990s, the state significantly reduced funding to the counties, which created major budget difficulties across governments. So in response to provide some relief the state authorized counties to recover the cost of administrating the property tax system and process from the local agencies that benefit from these services. Over the years, the state law was refined to clarify how these administrative costs should be shared, and it exempted schools and educational agencies from having to repay their share of these costs. So today, P-TECH is allocated based on each agency's proportionate share of total property tax revenues. However, as I said, because schools receive the largest portion of the property tax revenue and are exempt from the admin cost recovery, the county bears most of the unrecoverable cost of the PTAC. A little bit on our public hearing overview. Although California Revenue and Taxation Code section 95.3 grants the auto controller authority to prepare P-TECH allocation as well as recover cost, Stanislaus County Code 4.44.01 requires the matter to be placed before the Board and allows affected agencies to request a public hearing. All affected agencies were informed that they could request a public hearing if they wished to do so. On June 5th, 2026, the Burbank Paradise Fire Protection District submitted a formal request to the clerk of the board asking that the PTAC report be heard publicly. As a result of that request, this item has been placed on today's agenda as a public hearing. IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT P-TECH METHOD HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY APPLIED FOR MANY YEARS AND HAS PASSED BOTH STATE CONTROLS OFFICE FIELD AUDITS AS WELL AS PRIOR INTERNAL AUDITS. This slide provides a little bit of overview of the allocation process. The cost of distributors are distributed, as I mentioned earlier, based on each agency's share of the property tax revenue. The county general fund receives about 12% of all property tax allocations. School districts receive roughly 60% of these allocations, but are exempt from the P-TECH reimbursement. As a result, the county bears, again, the P-TECH cost for the school districts. So we take their share. This slide here goes into some of the cost information. The numbers for clarity are rounded here for presentation purposes. Total identified cost to run the whole administration process of property tax and revenues associated with it, $12 million of our cost for the county. And recoverable under the statute, as I mentioned, $2.6 million only. In other words, the $9.4 million is unrecoverable, and the county bears this cost, which makes about 79% of this cost, and 21% is recoverable, so that $2.6 million is then spread to the remaining taxing agencies except for schools and is reimbursed based on their property tax revenues. I will now pass the presentation over to Nathan who will begin to walk us through additional details and conclude the presentation.

Good morning, almost afternoon. This slide outlines the specific county activities that are eligible for reimbursement through PTAC. The assessor's office performs the core functions related to developing and maintaining the assessment role, including valuation and role administration, which form the foundation of the property tax system. The treasurer tax collector's office is responsible for administering the property tax collection process, ensuring timely billing and receipt of tax payments. The auditor controller's property tax division, that's us, carries out the apportionment and allocation work, which ensures that collected property tax revenues are accurately distributed to all taxing agencies in accordance with law. Finally, the Clerk of the Board provides support to the Assessment Appeals Board, which handles property tax appeals and related administrative functions. All of these activities are essential components of the property tax administrative process and are therefore eligible for reimbursement under PTAC. The recoverable 2.6 million includes approximately two million for the assessor, $350,000 for the Treasurer Tax Collector, $150,000 for the Auditor-Controller Property Tax Division, and approximately $60,000 or less than $100,000 for the Assessment Appeals Board. Respectively, the percentages are from left to right, 79%, 13%, 6%, and 2%. Because assessor costs dominate the recoverable pool, assessor staffing and workload changes tend to move the overall percentage increase. It's also important to emphasize that for all taxing entities, the amount recovered through PTAC represents less than 2% of their primary property tax revenue sources. That includes revenue from the current secured role, the current unsecured role, and state-assessed unitary property by the California Board of Equalization. Framing it this way helps illustrate that the cost is a very small fraction of overall property tax revenues and is not expected to materially impact an agency's operating budget. I want to highlight that the current PTAC cost increase of 12.02% is lower than the prior cycle, which saw an increase of close to 17%. The primary factor driving the current increase is the rise in assessor office costs, which account for the majority of the change. These increases are largely tied to staffing and operational adjustments following periods of significant staffing shortages in early earlier fiscal years. As the chart shows, the assessor's office makes up 9% of the overall increase. The treasurer tax collector is at about 1%. Auditor controller property tax division And then the assessment appeals board, 0.25%. Additionally, there is about 1.07% attributed to reduced supplemental administrative fee revenue, which otherwise would have helped to offset the cost, because it's all about net costs in accordance with OMB super circular cost plan logic. Although there is an increase in PTAC this year, it is lower than the previous cycle and majority of the growth is tied to necessary cost increases within the assessor's office. So we're here before you today with these staff recommendations. Number one, adopt the property tax administrative cost recovery plan for use in fiscal year 25-26. approve the calculation of the property tax administration costs from fiscal year 24-25 and the proportion of recoverable costs attributable to incorporated cities and other jurisdictions. And thirdly, authorize the collection of said costs pursuant to the provisions of the Revenue and Taxation Code Sections 95.3 and 97.75 and Stanislaus County Ordinance Code Section 4.44.010. And thank you, and that concludes our presentation on the property tax cost recovery plan, but staff are available to answer any questions you may have from this point forward.

Thank you very much. One question, the breakdown between the departments is based on workload? Is that?

Yeah, primarily the staffing costs mainly.

And assuming a correlation to revenues, property tax revenues. Okay. Yeah.

The direct correlation. Okay. Yeah. So I want to make sure. Any questions, staff, presentation? Seeing none, I'm going to open up the public hearing. Anyone want to speak on this item? I do. We'll then come forward, Brian.

We keep doing this. We should put a cap on this at 1.5%.

This is the problem that we're having at

You can't just turn around and keep on jacking everything up. It's just like we don't even sit there and have corporations. We've got corporations right here. Why don't you hit them up for 25%? That will solve everything. And then take away that frigging instant deduction. Make them stretch it out to 10 years. That'll solve even more. We could build this country, a strong country, if we do this across the country. Interstructure would go crazy. Kids would love to be learning. We could teach them robotics. We could teach them everything because we'd have the money to do so. But instead, we keep putting the backs on the families that have built this place. Just as I was saying, why do we do this? But now here we go. Let's jack up some more. We're getting more money. We're assessing things over assessed value. A piece of dirt for $200,000, we're gonna assess it for 2,000 bucks a year on that family. It's not even developed. That dirt ain't worth nothing. You can go and get a beautiful place overlooking the lake for 20,000, build your house on that and it's worth a million. At least the builder's making something out of the deal. But for us to do that to our citizens is just not right. Even he agrees you agree hold on just say it's statutory Nathan hold on let him finish We're all that way the generation we're starting to look at this way We can't let these corporations get away with it and then go hide their money. That's the whole thing We have to start right here. This is our community. This is what we need to do and if this Corporations don't like it? Well, I guess they shouldn't be here because we'll still build. We'll have the small builders out there. We'll still grow with our community because we kept our community together. But I mean, otherwise you're just pushing out the people that have built this community by doing this to them. It's just like a variance. Let's jack that 30% more because now we want a variance. And now our builders can't afford it, our local builders. So they're the corporations are the only ones that get to do it. And then they force up the value on the other houses that push out those families out of those houses. This has got to stop. It's a simple fix. But nobody seems to notice it. Even if you took out 2% from the high earners, that isn't even going to affect them because the average person is paying 30%, making low wages. So we're not doing anything. We're just like, let all the thieves get away with everything. And then we turn our own assessors into thieves of the community. I mean, and then they say, oh, well, you can just leave the house empty. No, because we'll let the burglars come in, steal everything, and we can't go and evict them because the cops won't do their jobs because they're too afraid of getting sued. They don't want to pick a side. So they get away with it. And then pretty soon we turn our own assessors into the burglars. That's what we're winding up doing. And then we can't do anything about it. I think this man understands it. And I get a smile out of his face. So I'll leave it to them. And I'll leave it to you guys. I mean, look at reality. Like I say, here, I like to put these up, the corporations, yeah, there you go. Save the families. Stick them in the dirt. All right, you guys. Thanks.

Thanks, Brian. I'm going to go ahead and ask the question in a different way. Did you raise property taxes in order to pay for the PTAC? No. It is a methodology that comes off the property tax bill. It's not additional to the property tax bill. No, correct. Okay. I just wanted to confirm because I think he was under the assumption that this is an additional charge.

No, this revenue comes from the inheritance money. This isn't what they're dragging around.

It doesn't matter. It's okay. All right. So you want to add?

No. I mean, what I'll say is that in order to collect around $800 million a year in property tax and distribute it to each respective taxing agency, it requires work. And so there's a cost for it. And we are only... you know, by law only recovering 2.6 million out of what we spend as accounting of $12 million. So, which is, like Nathan pointed out, it's less than 2% of each agency's Revenue property tax revenue that they get this small recoverable charge that we can pass to them Yeah, so it's not directly to the taxpayer. It's to these taxing agencies.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you Anyone else for public comment? All right Bring it back to the board closing public hearing comments or action Say it Motion is second. Requires a three-fifths vote. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carries 5-0. Thank you, Nathan. Thank you, Mandeep. Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Thank you. Okay, now we're going to move on to item seven, the discussion item, and this is the approval to establish Stanislaus County Interagency Task Force on Unpermitted Food Vending Operations.

Good morning, Honorable Board, Chairman Chiesa, CEO Hayes, County Council Bowes. Thank you for taking time to hear our discussion today on hopefully the approval of a countywide task force for unpermitted vendors. We do have a few action items that we would like to start the meeting off with, and that's to approve the creation of an interagency task force to address unpermitted food vending operations within the incorporated and unincorporated areas of the county. Authorize the Department of Environmental Resources to act as the lead agency of the interagency task force. Direct the department to develop an MOU with participating interagency task force and return to the Board of Supervisors September 15th, 2026 with a proposed agreement and implementation update. And lastly, identify and appoint no more than one member of the Board of Supervisors to participate in this task force. Some of us may not know what an unpermitted vendor is. And it's somebody that is selling goods or services in public spaces without the required permits. And in this case, we're talking about food permits. Now, I'm going to do something a little unorthodox this morning. And just bear with me as we go through this process. And just hopefully you can follow my words and visualize what I'm trying to describe. I'd like everyone in here to close your eyes. and listen to what I'm saying and follow along. Imagine it's a Friday night. You're driving down Clairville Road. It's about 7.30. You're headed down towards Rainbow Fields. You see a steady stream of cars. They're all parked along a narrow stretch of land right next to the white of the road, the white stripes of the road. You know what it is. And you can see a long line of people. You see a red tent. And it's too late to cook dinner. And you don't feel like going out to dinner. So you decide to pull over. So you pull over on that shoulder of that road. The driver's side door is adjacent to the white line of that road. The only thing that separates your car from the oncoming road and traffic is that white line. So as you want to get out of the car, you have to continually look around and ensure there's no traffic coming on. And as the coast is clear, you make your way out and you start making your way to replacing the line. You can smell the food. There's lively music playing. And there's kids running in and out between the crowd. And people are smiling as they have their food. And they're walking around. And as you wait your turn in line, a sense of well-being enters your mind. You begin to think that by making this purchase, you're doing something positive. You believe you're helping a hardworking entrepreneur get a hand up and get ahead in a difficult economy. But what if that image I just described to you, at least in part, is an illusion? What if some of these operations are not independent mom and pop businesses, but part of a larger coordinated network operating outside of the regulatory system? What if the food being sold has never been inspected, the employees have never received food safety training, and the preparation is occurring in locations unknown to public health officials? Many of these operations are located immediately adjacent to high-speed roadways where customers stand on narrow shoulders with nothing more than a painted line separating them from oncoming traffic. In some cases, families, children, and workers are gathering in areas never designed for pedestrian travel. The public believes they are doing the right thing. They believe they are supporting a local entrepreneur. They believe this operation is safe and they believe that someone has verified the risk and have been addressed. Today I'd like to discuss the challenge that extends beyond food safety alone. It involves consumer protection, pedestrian safety, fairness to legitimate businesses, the need for a modern collaborative approach that can keep pace with the rapidly evolving and increasing organized industry. Now, at the heart of any food establishment is the kitchen. And I'm going to use, for example, a brick and mortar store or a restaurant. Let's just take Surla's down the road from here. Surla's has a commercial kitchen. They prepare all their food. They wash all their dishes. That kitchen is supposed to be rodent and insect free. It's supposed to be protected from the elements outside. And it's supposed to be in a inspected facility. I'm going to start off with a short little video.

Bioman and ruminate. Most symptoms move in 17 After officials say they ate food sold illegally by a particular group of street vendors. Between 20 and 30, we're setting up every night, and we've been setting up since May. Andy Linton, the Maricopa County Environmental Services Department interim director, says they were first made aware of the problem months ago. Today, we've received about 126 complaints. The group of vendors in question is generally set up near sidewalks and in parking lots. Let me move around to different locations. The issue, Witten says, includes no hand washing or sanitation equipment. They've also found the food not properly refrigerated, specifically the tacos al pastor meat, which is usually found on a vertical rotisserie. We suspect that it's not being held in temperature control overnight and they're bringing it out the next day, adding more raw meat to the top of it, and then continuing to slice it off and serve it into the tacos. The Maricopa County Environmental Services Department is taking legal action. In this case, there's been actually no cooperation. Meanwhile, they're asking the public to be aware, especially when choosing your next meal.

So our staff has been going out and doing these inspections, and we want to give you a firsthand look at what we're seeing out there. So when you see this picture right here, I do have a laser pointer, but I don't want to blind anyone.

So I'll start at the top.

So I don't know if you guys can see that or not. I can see my hand shaking, but that right there is the El Paso store, and it's hanging inside a van, and it's bumping against the sides. As it travels across from one location to the other, those grease spots, all that touches and leaves residue. The next day, same thing occurs. So whatever was touching the day before has now been infected and now you're getting cross contamination. And we're seeing this time and time again. And when I opened up about having a commercial kitchen and properly preparing food, We're seeing something completely different than this. This is an unpermitted commissary. A commissary is a place where you would act as a kitchen for a mobile facility. You can see the trash can right there acting as a receptacle for some tomato product. Everything is held out. It was out of temperature. There's nothing sanitary about that picture. We came across the bucket. Don't know what was in the bucket. Staff has had a couple different ideas. We've seen these vendors put up in locations with no restrooms, no hand washing facilities. And they're there for several hours. And then they go back and prepare food. So What's in this bucket? We don't really know. When staff said they opened it, it was putrid, and they photographed it and shut it back up. Right here is another unpermitted commissary. You see the common theme. You see the al pastor meats on the spit. You have large containers. As you can see, that is not a commercial kitchen. That is some sort of warehouse. So right here is the drink station area where it's being made. You see where they're rinsing out the sweetened milk containers. Then right next to it, you see white buckets. What was in the white buckets, we don't know. We don't know if there's any cross-contamination going on. We don't know what type of water source is going on. But that is definitely an unpermitted commissary. Once again, Unpermitted commissary, you have produce on the ground, you have produce in the back next to other potentially contaminated substances. You could have hazardous materials that are getting cross-contaminated with ready-to-eat food. An outdoor unpermitted commissary, you can see in the right-hand side in the box, it looks like, I believe that was maggots. And we'll get more into this, what this really means when we're saying we're seeing a lot of this. Okay, right here you have a street vendor that has the roasting corn. But if you can look up here, right there you have a little hen sitting on top of the corn, adding a little extra to it. Once again, another unpermitted commissary, outdoor kitchen. You can see that it's not protected from the elements. It's not vermin proof. It's not rodent proof. It's just there. And I really want you to pay attention to that center trash can, because that's gonna come into play a little bit later on in the presentation.

after our DA gives a talk.

So our current approach right now, it's been pretty much the same as what California has been doing all along, you know, for several decades. And that's we will contact law enforcement and we'll find a target area. We conduct our inspections and we've been very generous on education first. We try to get these unpermitted vendors into the permitted category. And we would give them two inspections first. We would shut them down, but we would give them two inspections. Then on the third inspection, we will confiscate their equipment. And then once we confiscate it, we're going to hold it for 30 days. And what does 30 days look like? This is DER right here. This is a 30-day halt. This was taken May 20th. That is a lot of equipment. The building in the back with the two doors open, that's where we store it. So our process would be if we were working in Oakdale, we would do our inspection. If we had to impound anything, we would drive it all the way back to Oakdale, tag it with all the owner's information, and do the tag where it starts the clock. Once the clock starts, then we go back to Oakdale and complete our inspection. So not the most efficient, because we're going back and forth. And one thing that we've found throughout California and actually through the Western US is we've been going about things wrong, we've failed. This education first component just hasn't been working. And we're actually at the point now, even though we've been doing the education first, we've pretty much hit everyone. So now they're on their third strike. So it's impounding almost immediately anyway. And so we needed to find a new approach to doing this. And we've been working with Merced County. Merced County has gone quite a bit, leaps and bounds over where we were at and above where a lot of the state is. But before we get into what we're proposing to do, I'm going to invite our district attorney down to talk about the larger problem and the connection to what you just saw.

Thank you, Rob.

Good morning, Mr.

Chair, members of the board, CEO Hayes, County Council Bowes. I'm here in support of the interagency task force that Rob is proposing. And I wanted to talk a little bit about not just the health issue that he's seeing, but the public safety issue that we deal with because of labor trafficking. So human trafficking remains one of the most underreported and difficult crimes to detect. Victims can be adults or minors and often do not self-identify as victims due to fear, trauma, threats, immigration concerns, or financial dependence. Traffickers often operate in plain sight by exploiting legitimate looking businesses, temporary marketplaces, street vending operations, and informal labor arrangements. Trafficking frequently occurs in conjunction with other crimes, including document fraud, labor violations, and money laundering. Unregulated environments create opportunities for exploitation. These unlicensed operations can avoid labor protections and wage laws, conceal worker exploitation, create public health and consumer safety concerns, and they can generate unfair competition for compliant businesses. Enforcement efforts that include efforts to identify criminal exploitation means that every law enforcement contact, every interagency task force contact, is a potential opportunity to identify a victim and intervene. These vendor contacts provide opportunities to identify labor trafficking victims, child labor violations, wage theft, fraudulent business operations, organized criminal activity. And the task force model that Rob's proposing creates collaboration, bringing a variety of departments and organizations together to address the multifaceted health, consumer, and public safety issues surrounding unpermitted vendors. including NGOs and community organizations in this effort expands the reach and effectiveness of the task force. These community members often provide the first leads, they help build trust, and they encourage victims to report exploitation. So in closing, human trafficking thrives in the shadows. Every traffic stop, vendor inspection, code enforcement contact, or citizen complaint may be the moment that identifies a victim and stops exploitation. Our responsibility is to recognize the signs, work together, and protect those who cannot protect themselves. Thank you.

The legal talk of vendors continues in Monterey County.

Two more broken up Thursday night, including this one at the intersection of Highway 68 and Canyon Del Rey.

You know, the way the meat gets transported here is completely unsanitary. You know, they just throw it in the back of a van and drive it however many hours from Merced to here and then start setting up.

Health inspectors and investigators with the District Attorney's Office now confirming the pop-up taco tents are connected to at least two men out of Merced County who post up vendors throughout the Central Coast, not even paying them minimum wage.

These guys, these kingpins in Merced are making 180 grand, we think, a month. There's some overhead in there. The actual vendors are just making a flat rate, you know, a few hundred bucks a month.

The roadside taco vendors are being targeted because of their health and safety issues, exposed propane tanks, no washing stations, and the risk of pathogens from undercooked food.

We don't know how they're preparing it, where they're preparing it before it gets here. And it's quite obvious on the side of the road, they're not holding it at the proper temperatures. They're not washing their hands. And it's really a disservice to yourself to go eat there with all the potential risks involved.

Investigators now working with Merced County, building a case against the operators in hopes of bringing down their alleged operation. Until then, health inspectors will continue to confiscate their food and equipment, sending a clear message, don't do business in Monterey County.

So there is a connection. And what we're looking at is when you see the larger network going on, when I told you to pay attention to that trash can, what we're seeing is these organized individuals or groups They're bringing in the vans, they're ladling in the, out of that commissary, out of the trash can, out of all of their holdings and then they're packing up and then rinse and repeat. They just keep doing it over and over and over again. So we have come up with a new approach. It's modeled after several different counties, modeled after Merced County. In fact, we do have my counterpart from Merced County here today to field any questions that you might have. But as our DA mentioned, our task force is pretty comprehensive. It's going to have code enforcement, law enforcement, our district attorney. We'll have representatives from the CEO's office, the community organizations. And as our DA said, that's the first steps because when we come out as a task force doing these inspections, a lot of times they're not going to want to speak with us. But the non-government organizations such as Latino Chamber of Commerce or the Western Modesto Collaborative would be part of this group and can make those connections. And we can help those individuals when we encounter them right at the very start. Now, the unique thing that we're asking for on the creation of this task force is that the cities have some sort of buy-in. And as I mentioned before, and I'm going to use Oakdale again. So if we're out doing an inspection in Oakdale, we have to do all the coordination in Oakdale. And then if we impound any of the equipment, we have to transport it all the way to Ceres. And what we want with a buy-in is that when we do these coordinated inspections, that each city where the equipment comes from, that's going to be stored at their facility somewhere. And they take ownership of it. They still have to go through environmental resources to get the equipment out and whatever fees that they may have for holding that equipment there. But it's a coordinated effort where that collaboration goes a long way. Each city is gonna be required to invest their resources. So if it's a city of Oakdale, they're gonna need to have their law enforcement and their code enforcement available to help us do these type of inspections. So it's not just environmental health and law enforcement. And going a little further with that, in the past, environmental health has always been required to go out and do these inspections. And we are limited on staff of with the nine different cities of how can we spread out our wings to hit all these cities. And the goal is to come back in September and then probably a little bit later off in late fall or early winter with a process that's so dialed in that Environmental health may not be needed to be at every single one of these sites because we'll have an MOU, we'll have an approved checklist of what to look for on these. And so let's say if we are, our task force is in Oakdale, and now City of Patterson calls me up and says, hey, Rob, we want to go out and do some inspection this night. We have a special event here. Well, we don't have the resources, but they do. And as a collaborative group, they're able to do their own inspections in the future under this task force. And if for some reason there is some law that we're unaware of that would prohibit that, where we are required to have environmental health present, that is when we can utilize the technology of the smartphone and give myself or one of the inspectors a call that's on duty. And when you heard you can't be in two places at one time, well, you can now. I'm going to turn this over to Garrett Hill for the fiscal component of this.

Thank you, Rob. Good morning Chairman, members of the board, CEO Hayes, and County Council Bowes. I'd like to walk through the funding structure, allocation, budget impacts, and cost management approach for the year one pilot. Let me start with the funding source. This pilot is funded through the general fund and is made possible by net county cost savings generated by code enforcement in fiscal year 2026. Who will be receiving the funding under this? Funding will support four key areas, environmental health, the sheriff's office, code enforcement, and DER administration. For year one, the total funding allocation is $218,542. Environmental health will receive $133,250 of that, which will cover salaries and benefits plus all operating expenses. The Sheriff's Department will receive $51,396 for salaries and benefits plus vehicle maintenance and fuel. Code enforcement will receive $18,650 for salaries and benefits plus vehicle maintenance and fuel. And DR administration will receive $15,281. In terms of duration, this year one pilot program will run from July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2027. Let me also highlight the budget impacts. Environmental Health and DER administration together account for $148,496. The General Fund divisions receiving support are Sheriff's Office and Code Enforcement, totaling $70,046. Finally, on cost management and tracking, DER will manage and track all project-related costs, all funding will flow through DER's budget, and General Fund will not be providing funding directly to the Sheriff's Office for this task force. This ensures full transparency and complete budget traceability throughout the pilot, and this concludes the overview of funding allocation, budget impacts, and financial oversight for the year one pilot of this program.

And I apologize for this slide here. This was going to be one of the good closing slides. It was a video from Merced County on 16th Street where you had two white vans pull up at the same location, obviously different network organizations, and they start fist fighting and pushing out into the street on common traffic. And had that been somewhere similar to Clarabelle Road where there is no shoulder, that could have had some devastating impacts. So I just want to kind of, I wish I could show that to you. Now I've been doing this career for a long time, 26 years. And besides the major obvious health and safety components of it, I've used a litmus test. I use one thing always. when I'm looking at food safety. And it's that beautiful little child right there. That is my little princess. I have always looked at her and thought, you know, this piece of food, would I feed it to my daughter? And if that answer is no, I would never allow it to be fed to anyone else either. And it's not a, of, of origins of where it came from, it's about the health and safety component of it. Whether it came from a gas station, a restaurant, a food truck, it doesn't matter. If it is unsafe and unsanitary, I wouldn't feed it to my child. Now, one week ago today, that little princess had her own little baby. They happen to live out of state. And now I'm looking at it from a different lens. Now I have two of them. And when they come to visit, would I allow them to eat out of these pop-up tents that we showed here today? And that answer is an absolute no. I would never do that. With that said, staff has some recommendations. Approve the creation of the Interagency Task Force to address the unpermitted food vending operations and activities within the incorporated and unincorporated areas of the county. Authorize the Department of Environmental Resources to act as the lead agency of the Interagency Task Force. direct the Department of Environmental Resources to work collaboratively with the participating interagency task force entities to develop, negotiate an MOA that outlines the roles, responsibilities, coordination efforts, and enforcement framework among all participating parties. identify and appoint no more than one member of the Board of Supervisors to participate in this task force and direct the department to return to the Board of Supervisors September 15, 2026 for consideration of approval of the proposed MOU along with progress updates regarding the development and the implementation of the task force initiative. Now before we get to the questions, one thing that I would really like to find out is the businesses that are currently being affected by these unpermitted vendors. I know they've come to the board and complained about it and so that's the metrics that we're looking to look at is what they were making during the process of having an unpermitted vendor there. And then once the unpermitted vendor has been removed, what does their business model look like now? So that's something that we're hoping to bring back to your board at some point. Any questions for myself? Amanda from Merced or our district attorney or Garrett.

Thank you very much. Amanda, any chance you can come up here and just give us a thumbnail of what you've seen, the changes in Merced County since you've implemented your rules. And then like we had talked about the organized, the folks that are actually behind this, like what percentage of the folks do you think come out of Merced? an organized...

Organized crime.

Yeah, I guess that... Cartels.

I'll try to keep it short.

I could talk for hours about this.

I'm a little bit about two years into our investigation in Merced County, and I'll tell you it started with... We do a lot of enforcement with our sheriffs with illegal cannabis grow operations, and it started with a very large honey butane lab. From that, we served another search warrant to one of these commissaries similar to, like, the pictures that Rob's showing... At that commissary, we had 16 individuals and a baby living in one house. It was September, 115 degrees outside. The meat was being stored outside on dirt floors, in sheds. There was maggots. There was just, I mean, there were refrigerators, but food was not being stored in refrigerators. And going to the video that was showed with the Merced King pins, that's very much true. But year to date now we're looking and running FinCEN with RDA's office. We're looking they're making closer to about $6 million a year in profits from this organized crime operation. And I would say For every 100 food vendor we impound, maybe about three to four is a mom and pop and they tend to come in and I'll tell you with Merced County, if the mom and pops come in, we really work with them to make sure they get permitted and we'll reduce some fines, things like that. Now the larger criminal operations, they don't come in. They don't come get their equipment. We'll impound their stuff. They're like, we don't care. Take it. We'll come back bigger and better tomorrow. And so they really, I mean, we don't do education anymore. We do enforcement. We show up. You're not a permitted food vendor. We're taking everything. Now to the point where the vendors, they see us coming and they just step back and let us do our job. I take everything except a propane tank. But they don't come in. They don't get their equipment. Now we're at the point to where we have the employees who are more victims letting us know how much they're getting paid, how much they're working. So they are, it is like a labor issue, right? They don't have, you know, proper working conditions. So it's just, it goes way further than the health and safety. Health and safety is what we focus on, and I joke when I give presentations about, you know, a lot of this isn't my business. You know, I focus on the food, but because they talk to us and they tell us what's going on and they tell us this is so-and-so's turf, like the fight that he couldn't show in the video. This is a turf, so they're having turf wars, and that's how they're explaining to us. That's how the vendors are. We cook and prep in Merced, but we serve in Stanislaus because this is so-and-so's turf. And now so-and-so, I know their names. So what Merced has created, we have an enforcement unit. So we have our environmental health, and we created an enforcement unit and created more staffing. And so that enforcement unit focuses on unpermitted food vending, food complaints, our cannabis, and other environmental complaints. And I've found that to be very effective with the enforcement.

What kind of results have you seen, though? Have you seen a 50% reduction, do you think, or you probably don't track?

I would say visually we had like our downtown Merced area we had a Bank of America parking lot which just looked like a circus we would have 10 food vendors out there but working with our code enforcement law enforcement property owners businesses and collaborating on all that we've we have found a lot less vending going on we still have like three kind of hot spots that just keep keep popping up and we could take their equipment and they'll show up an hour later with new equipment, new people. And, um, yeah, so we've, we've, we've found some decrease, but we're, we might go out Thursday, Friday, Saturday, every week. And so, okay.

Any questions of any of these folks? Certainly.

Thank you so much for the presentation. Great job, Rob. I just had some questions about the MOAs. So what kind of commitments have we received from the nine cities? I mean, are they generally on board? Who have you interfaced with? And I guess what reassurance does this board have that you will come back in September and we'll have the cities on board with this agreement?

Sure. I gave a presentation to the city managers earlier this spring, and everyone that was in attendance was on board. Whether or not they've taken it to their appropriate city council, I'm not aware of that. But, you know, I'm positive that we should be able to make this forward. I know City of Ceres has been working with us continually, and we've been doing – actually, they've been reaching out to us anyway. And so we're excited about that. One of our best partners is Modesto. And they've been very good. We went out with them just, I think, last weekend.

And so beyond today, assuming that this is passed by the board, what are the next steps? Or will you be attending the city council meetings, interfacing with the councils, giving a presentation? How much input will they have as far as modifying this MOA? I mean, what are the next steps?

Next steps is to start getting the group together and who, you know, with the folks that can actually make those decisions from the city. And as we move forward, it would be expected to attend and participate on any city council meeting that we are requested to provide any of this information to.

Yeah, because obviously to get them on board in this MOA to be successful, each city council would need to approve this MOA. But will they have leeway as far as modifying it, or is it just kind of whatever's passed today they have to pass?

No, it's a collaborative group. It's not going to be written by Rob. It's going to be written by all of us.

Okay. So if, let's say, the city of Ceres does tweak or modify the MOA, will it have to come back to the board for future approval? How will that work, I guess? Or will that be handled by the task force?

It would first be handled by the task force and then depending on if this MOA was officially approved by our board. If it was officially approved and there's modifications, I would like to give your board opportunity to opine on that.

Wonderful. I like that approach. And so I'm just thinking of all scenarios here. What if, let's say, Waterford opts out? Or what if Patterson opts out? What then? I mean, I would like to obviously have all nine cities on board here, but worst case scenario, you got a city or two that doesn't want to participate. What do we do in that case?

If a city drops out, we're not going to drop them as a health agency. We're still going to do our partnership with them to collaborate as best as we can, but we're not going to have the same impact that the task force would have. We're going to be driving back and forth to our locations, so we're not going to be as efficient.

Okay. And I have appreciated our conversations up to this point and getting to this policy. And I appreciate you allowing me to have my input and my perspective on the matter. I mean, obviously, this affects all of our districts collectively throughout Stanislaus County. But I would dare to say that I might have a little bit more of an impact in my district. Maybe not by much, but I do think there's a little bit more in my district and District 5. You know, obviously, we need to have enforcement measures in place, but I do believe education and compliance should be the core of this. And me and you have always agreed upon that, Rob, that compliance is the ultimate goal here. YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW THAT SUCCESS WILL BE ONLY MEASURED BY ENFORCEMENT. I THINK SUCCESS WILL BE MEASURED OF HOW MANY VENDORS WE GET INTO COMPLIANCE. AND I THINK THAT METRICS AND THAT MECHANISM NEEDS TO BE JUST AS ENFORCED BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, I'M SAD TO SAY ENFORCEMENT'S EASY. YOU GET THERE, YOU TAKE THEIR STUFF. compliance is difficult, and that's where we have fallen short a bit. I believe we have fallen short in that aspect, and I know me and you have already had this conversation, is because these efforts and the compliance efforts, in my opinion, has not been led at the community grassroots level. And that's why I am encouraged that we're going to have a community-based, non-government organization PART OF THIS FACTOR, AND I DO THINK WE WILL SEE MORE SUCCESS IN THE COMPLIANCE MEASURES MOVING FORWARD WITH THOSE COMMUNITY LEADERS LEADING THE CHARGE. AND I DO THINK THERE NEEDS TO BE A WINDOW AND A LITTLE BIT OF GRACE FOR OUR VENDORS TO GET IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE HELP OF SOME OF THOSE NONPROFITS YOU MENTIONED. I KNOW YOU MENTIONED THE WEST MODESTO COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVE. organizations in Stanislaus County, South Modesto Businesses United, Latino Chamber, who you mentioned, Latino Community Roundtable, and I hope that we can work with those organizations. Is there going to be a limit on how many NGOs are a part of this task force?

Right now, there is no limit, but we do want to keep the overall a task force kind of dialed into a certain amount. What that amount is, we're going to determine that. But we don't want it so large that we can't get anything done either.

Yeah, you don't want to water down the conversation, and I'm sensitive to that. I would just recommend to my colleagues that we have a minimum of two community-based organizations if possible. Again, I mentioned some of them that could be of consideration and they could apply. But how will they be selected? Will they be selected by the task force? I mean, you kind of have to have them selected prior to forming the task force. We'll still work on that one. Okay. All right. But again, that would be part of, I guess that's a motion that there will be a minimum of two community-based organizations if this does move forward, I guess to get my support on this. But I really don't want to see this turn into an anti-street vendor policy. You know, they have the legal right to operate within the state of California, whether you agree with it or don't. They do have that legal right. But our goal, and this is our shared goal between me and Rob, and I believe our county, is to get them in compliance. And again, that's why I think those NGOs are so important. And obviously, if they fail compliance or if they're reluctant or resistant, That is when the enforcement mechanism is obviously used. But as a last resort, in my opinion, I believe that we should be protecting our consumers. As mentioned, as highlighted in the video, we want to have safe and healthy food for people to consume. We also want to protect and respect the rights of our brick and mortar businesses. They go through compliance. If they were out of compliance, DER or whoever would be down knocking on their door, to either get them in compliance or giving them a fine. And so we need to treat them the same. This should be a quality issue because, again, they have the legal right to operate within the state of California. And we also need to be sensitive of the national political YOU KNOW, NARRATIVE THAT IS OUT OF OUR CONTROL, THAT WE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH, BUT WE DO NEED TO BE REALISTIC IN THOSE FACTORS AND THE SENSITIVITY AND EMPATHY IN DEALING WITH THAT AND DEALING WITH THESE FOLKS. AND THAT'S WHY, AGAIN, I THINK THESE NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS will honestly be a huge part of our success and using them as a vanguard and trying to get out to the vendors within Stanislaus County and trying to make them successful. Because again, their success is our success. If we get them in compliance, they're paying taxes, they're contributing, they're feeding their family. That's what we want. We want them to operate just like any other business. We don't want to treat them any differently. And we also want to support our brick and mortars at the same time. and making sure that everybody's playing by the same and fair rules. So if I can have that commitment from my colleagues in having at least two NGOs a part of this task force, I think I could be fairly comfortable in supporting this, at least pursuing this today. And then based on the reactions from our city officials in September, after we kind of see where everybody is on this issue, hopefully we can support it then as well. So thank you, Rob.

And I would like to add something, too. Much like what Amanda mentioned, the mom and pop type of businesses, when we do encounter them, when they don't have a permit, they are the ones that are coming in and getting those permits. And we do whatever we can as well to get them operational. And I believe we're up to, I think... Six? Six. They have come in and got permits, so that's...

Okay. What is the enforcement mechanism because they have the state allowed street vendors, but it's based on food safety issues, the commissary, the hand washing stations, bathrooms, labor laws, right? Correct. Those are the things that are going to come into play, but if they get into compliance, there's not a mechanism to stop them.

Yeah, as long as they're in compliance, and there's different categories of street vendors, and typically the ones that have the right that Chance was mentioning was the ones that have prepackaged food, 25 square feet or less. Those are the type that are not part of this presentation. We're talking about the ones that are popping up, meat spinning, or whatever they're doing. Even if they're barbecuing ribs out there, if they're doing it and they don't have the permit, they can't be operating.

Okay.

Questions of staff before I go out to public?

Yeah. Okay. I'm going to go ahead and go out to public comment. Anyone have any public comment on this issue? Come on up, Ron.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the board. Thank you, Director for your presentation. Obviously your priority is health and that makes sense, but obviously this overlaps with tons of other issues and we don't want to hurt business and tax revenue and at the same time we definitely want compliance. So I'm just Some of this stuff has been expressed, but I kind of want to push some of these topics into little areas that I've thought of that we maybe didn't hear. Also, it sounds like Merced is maybe doing some things that's not really quite in the domain of this task force. You're not going to do it exactly the same as Merced. OK, let me get started. OK, the trafficking of the people. So it sounds like in Merced there maybe interviewing workers. So I'm hoping that part of this inspection is to attempt to see if you can talk to some of the workers and get a feel of the level of fear if they're willing to say anything to you. I have another thing about jurisdiction, area of influence. If there's vendors in, say, the south Modesto, that's not an incorporated area. So am I correct in assuming that any unincorporated areas will be in an area of influence of whatever particular city? Okay. I hope you're writing these all down so I can answer all these. Okay. And then I assume the cities also have to have some agreement when they agree and do a buy-in that, of course, they're saying, yes, we'll let the sheriff deal with these issues, not the municipal police. Yeah, it's clear that education is not going to make a difference. Yeah, you could tell from these operations that that wasn't going to do any good. These are criminal operations, clearly. And this equipment is not cheap, even if it's subpar. The fact that they can have that equipment and then, oh, they got busted and they got confiscated and replaced that, yeah, that's clearly criminal. They can't bring their stuff up to code, but they have all these extra sets of materials. Of course, as far as buy-in for the cities, your biggest argument, because, yeah, you remember the time all these people complained about some vendor down the street taking all their business. So, you know, those, yeah, the compliant ones, that's why we're doing this for those that are in compliance. And then you didn't say anything about, like, location, you know, just... showing up on there. Are there any property rights issues that you deal with trespassing? I didn't hear anything about trespassing. They're locating themselves somewhere. Thank you.

I want you to clarify if it's in the city of Oakdale, Oakdale Police will be responding? Correct. Agency, not the Sheriff's Department, only in the Sheriff's jurisdictions. Correct. The local police or law enforcement response would be from the local jurisdiction. And then as far as trespassing, right away...

Yeah, so one of my first pictures I had in my presentation today, I was driving in Oakdale and saw an unpermitted vendor and I stopped. And as I was walking to do my inspection with my clipboard, car pulls up. Guy rolls his window down and goes are you with a city or County? I'm just like yes He's like well, I'm the property owner these guys do not have a right to be here I just happen to show up with my contractor because I'm putting the fence up and You know he's gonna start his own different business and so we were able to get him out of there at that very moment But yeah, the property owner it would it would be responsible. So let's say if it's in the city of Modesto and Bank of America is allowing all these vendors going in there. At some point, and if it keeps happening, we could go after actually Bank of America and find them for allowing it and not taking care of their property.

Okay.

Thank you. All right. Other public comment? Veronica? Bianca?

Hello.

Thank you, Bianca Lopez again. Thank you.

I can't... I enjoy those tequizas. I pull over because I'm hungry or because it's just delicious. It is not... It doesn't make me feel comfortable seeing the pictures of violations and potential exposure to contamination. But I also have gotten diarrhea and vomiting out of restaurants. Never from a taco truck. I'm really concerned about the lack of over assumptions that are being made here today by the staff from Merced. and Stanislaus County and making assumptions without data. I didn't see any real numbers or data or facts about the organized crime. How many of those are actually organized crimes? Have we actually found that they are organized crimes or are we just assuming because they're not collaborating with you or they don't come back for a permit? And so we're assuming they're not a mom and pop, that they're organized crimes. There's no data about to show the process for compliance. What are the steps that have been taken? How many people or how many organizations or businesses have we walked through the process for compliance? There was no data about foodborne illnesses. Rob was quoted saying in the Modesto Bee that generally there have been an increase in reports to our office of illness dissatisfaction and unsanitary conditions related to unpermitted food vendors, yet no data about those increased phone calls, how many phone calls are we getting, where are they coming from, has been shown. So I'm a little weary about the assumptions that are being made just like earlier about how illegal immigrants vote. Just because it's common knowledge doesn't mean it's a fact, especially if it's not backed by data. And I'm really sorry to hear that education does not work from the perspective of the Department of Environmental Resources because if you ask the Ag Commissioner, education is her main thing, right? She's not going to put a fine on a farmer who is going to learn their lesson and then do better next time. At least that's the perspective that I've been given. So we have farmers who apply pesticides who don't have a registration for that pesticide, or the company who applies pesticides for a farmer, and they get a slap in the wrist. They say, well, you need to stop, and then you don't get fined, right? So does the county agree with education and compliance, or do we agree with just enforcement, right? And as mentioned, in the state of California, street vendors do have rights. There was another bill that was also passed to help decriminalize street vendors. There was a story in the Modesto Bee not too long ago about a person who was pulled over in series for, I'm not sure what he was selling, but he also, he was arrested for not saying his name, or he lied about his name. Well, we already know the political atmosphere that we're in right now. with immigration and the enforcement of immigration and the violation of our rights by immigration. People are afraid, so enforcing and coming in there is only gonna create more problems even for these mom and pops. Are the local cities going to, or the local police departments who are going to be stepping up to do enforcement in their communities, are they going to also agree to not arrest and detain first? Are they going to agree to these steps, the approach that Rob explained about See, the first thing is contact law enforcement. I'm concerned about criminalization when we have a right in California, there is a law that has been passed to decriminalize and enforcement will only continue to criminalize it. I didn't hear anything about the training for enforcement. You want to have the local jurisdictions enforce, but there was no training on there. Where is the funding going to come from for DER? We're getting this through public dollars. I'm trying to run through my notes here. The process for compliance must include education. It should not be calling the police department first. The county, I would also like to point out that the county has not opted to adopt a micro enterprise home kitchen operation ordinance. So there are things that we can do to make sure that people have the permit to have and cook in homes that are in compliance. So we're forcing people to do things without assistance I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE DATA AND TWO CBOs MIGHT BE A GOOD NUMBER. I WOULD RECOMMEND THREE AND I WOULD LIKE TO SAY WHEN THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY AND I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THIS MUCH COMMITMENT FOR OTHER ISSUES WHERE WE DO HAVE DATA THAT AFFECT PUBLIC HEALTH LIKE PESTICIDE EXPOSURE AND PLASTIC CONSUMPTION.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. So one question, Rob, I think it's very good. The six people that have made it through the system, what are the steps and who would they contact and how will we let people know that? I guess those are.

Sure.

They would contact our office.

They can either call or come into the office and show their inspection report that we did, and we'll walk them through the type of operation they want to do. There's multiple food operations that DER permits. You can have a hot dog cart. You could go a little more complex and get a bigger trailer. You can go even more complex and get with a food truck. There's many different things, so it depends on what their ultimate goal is and I want staff to spend as much time with our clients as possible so we can find the best solution for them and to get it right the first time so they're not in some sort of re-emerging pen where they're just constantly getting pushed through the system and not able to make money when we want them to be successful.

Can I just have maybe Jeff or Amanda, right? Amanda, thank you, address a little bit with regard to the data, with regard to human trafficking and what's going on?

The investigation Merced has been doing, we've been working really closely with Monterey County's DA's office without going into too much detail because it's still active. When we go to the food vendors, And it's not so much we're interviewing them. We're communicating with them. They're talking to us. They're letting know what's going on. We're not in charge. And sometimes they'll give us more information, right? A lot of what we do, we'll ask, who's in charge? Are you in charge? Because they have to sign for the equipment. And whoever signs for the equipment, that's who could get the equipment out. And they're like, well, I'm not in charge. Our environmental health, we have and so our law enforcement will run license plates and will say, well, this vehicle came back to this person, right? And constantly finding that the multiple vehicles, 30 plus vehicles are running back to the same people. Now, mind you, the addresses associated with these vehicles were tied back to our marijuana grow lab, our cannabis labs, right? And so two cannabis grow labs, one in Atwater, one in Merced. And then the owner of these properties had other properties and so some of those vehicles were also getting tied to those properties. And so we have names, we have addresses, we have victims who are cooking the food, telling us where they're coming out of, how they're getting here, talking about the smuggling. working with DA's offices. Like I said, you know, they have Zelle accounts and Venmo accounts posted up. Being able to run that bank information, tying it to, you know, vendors and DA's office has different access levels and they're able to run a fence in. So you see someone who's maybe lives in extreme poverty. We have their address, we know where they live, but they're moving $10,000 in, $10,000 out, Bitcoin, cashier's checks, constantly moving it out. And you could see that in their bank records, right? So we do have data, we do have information. We have the same people, names and addresses that were running in our county. We found that they're running in Monterey County, Kings County, Madera, you know, we're finding social media accounts where we're also seeing it in Stanislaus County. Most recently, we had a vendor tell us where they're cooking food out of, and it's in Modesto, off Coffee. I'm not going to give the exact address, but, you know, and so there is a lot of data. I'm about two years into, and I wouldn't even call it an investigation. It's you know, collecting data, collecting information, being told things, just tons and tons and tons of information. And, you know, when I say Merced doesn't do the education, we educate, we do. But it's at the same, at the point towards the same people. And so they already know us. We know their names. They know our names. And so when I say, you know, we show up and we just, we enforce. But new people, we, you know, here's the address, here's information, come get information. you know, how to get permitted. And a lot of, some people come in and they're like, no, we're not going to get permitted. We just, we're going to keep operating. And, you know, so there's a lot of data.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Anyone else want to speak? All right. Seeing none, close the public comment period, bring it back.

Yeah, I'll go first here. So first, Rob, Garrett, thank you guys, thank your whole team for doing this. For me, this is a long time coming, and I very much appreciate your efforts to get this going. As we've heard here, it's not the mom and pops. We're not going after the mom and pops. It's not the mom and pops is what is happening here. And what just turns my stomach over this, and I just can't understand how it doesn't turn everybody's stomach, is the human trafficking aspect to this. It just blows me away that we look the other way for this to happen. And that's what we've been doing. That's what everybody's been doing. And I would welcome the NGOs and nonprofits, as many as want, Because I can't understand how they've looked the other way through this whole time I mean, how could you not in you're out there an advocate for for certain individuals and sit there and watch and and and patronize these things as these individuals are slaves They are literally slaves And we're looking the other way while this happens. It just blows me away that this is continue We've been working on I've met with Jeff we've We've done our little videos. We've done all kinds of things about this to try to stop this from happening. I mean, what the cartels are doing with these individuals, it's more profitable than drugs, right? They're making more money off of this than drugs. I mean, this is a multimillion dollar business, and we're worried about the mom and pops and that we're going to shut them down. Well, we are worried about the mom and pops, and they'll get their permits if that's what it's all about. Just the fact that these guys will let their equipment go and come back again, you can just tell how many dollars are involved in doing this thing. And it's not only these, you know, the individuals we see on the corners out in the country selling the flowers or selling in the fruit stands, in the parking lots at Home Depot. I mean, this is just pathetic that this is going on and that we as human beings can sit and watch this and have an excuse for it, saying it's a mom and pops, we're taking away somebody's livelihood. No, somebody's livelihood is being, they are being trafficked, and they've been trafficked across the border, and now they're held as captives until they pay off their debt for getting across the border. That's what's going on here. And until we step up and start to do with what you're trying to do here, Rob, it's never gonna end, it's only gonna get worse. And so how can we as a population, and I've said it before 100 times, we celebrate Black History Month and we celebrate the end of slavery, we celebrate Juneteenth. But then we've got this going on in our state right now, and it's out of control. And we look the other way as this happens. It just blows me away. So I wish we could do more than what you're doing here. But this is a great start to go after it. And I'm worried about the food safety. Yeah, that's fine. But if somebody chooses to go there and they get sick, that's their problem. You know, what I'm worried about is the individuals that are working there that are being trafficked, that are slaves, and they're going to be slaves until they work off. And every time, I think, Rob, you've told me one time about when you guys shut one down, the guy started to cry who was there. And I think he said, you know, something about having to pay more. They're going to charge me for this now. I'm going to have to... How do you look the other way for that? It's great to be able to stand here and act like you're worried about the mom and pops and the people who are doing it legitimately. That's great. I get it. But boy, how do you look the other way when this stuff is going on? As a human being in today's world, look the other way when this is going on. Needless to say, I very much support this. And I appreciate all the work you're doing. And like I said, it's a long time coming. And anything that we can do to help with this, expand it, whatever we can do, Rob, Garrett, your whole team, I thank you guys, Jeff, for being here. Amanda, thank you for coming here to help support this.

Supervisor Chance got it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Terry, you made some good points, especially about the human trafficking component. But it would be helpful to know, what is that data? Is it 50% of the vendors? Are they being trafficked? Is it 90%? I don't know. Until I see those numbers, we're just speculating. But Terry's absolutely right. I mean, it's indentured servitude. We need to be aggressive and mindful of that and also referring over to the proper law enforcement agencies to go after the ones who are doing the trafficking and also be mindful of the folks who are in unfortunate circumstances. So the mom and pops and the folks that are trying to do the right thing, we do need to be considerate of them. They are trying to operate a legitimate business. That's where education compliance comes into a main factor. And I do believe the ones who want to be compliant will it just it comes down to a communication and also a barrier of a certain mistrust of authority or the government and that's where i think the ngos will be a vital component to this and and turning this task force into a fruitful and successful venture so again rob i applaud you i applaud the efforts on this but again if part of the motion here today is i would like to see at least a two minimum of the ngos a part of the task force moving forward

Thank you, Mr.

Chair. Rob, great presentation. Amanda, Jeff, thank you for being here and adding to it. This has been one of the biggest complaints I think probably to all the supervisors at some point that we've had to deal with. And it's been for a while now. Terry mentioned that it's been an issue for a while. And This is like a trifecta of issues that this task force is going to have to deal with. Not only the food safety, the roadway safety, fairness of business, labor exploitation, although we're not going to be enforcing those, it's like the linchpin to start the investigation for all those things, right? I've looked forward to supporting this. It's been one of my issues in District 1. A lot of verbal complaints from constituents, brick and mortar businesses that are trying to invest in their business and do all the right things, but yet somebody is setting up two parking lots down and taking all their business away. And they don't have to invest in that brick-and-mortar business as they do and follow those rules and regulations that they have to. So the fairness of business, it's been a huge... The danger area, I mean, we've talked about the same vendor setting up over and over again in the construction zone of North County Corridor. You visit them, you bust them. The next night they're setting up again. It is unbelievable. So I support this 100%. I'll be voting in favor of it. And I'll go as far as offer and volunteer to be assigned to the task force, depending on how the rest of my colleagues feel about it. Thank you. Supervisor Grewal.

I want to thank everybody for the presentation. Obviously, you've heard a lot from my colleagues totally supportive of this and adding the two NGOs and adding Supervisor Buck Condit as the board representative. And I'd be happy to make a motion when the time is appropriate.

Okay. Go ahead and make the motion. I'll comment. All right. Motion. We have a motion. Second. All right. Just a quick comment on I love seeing Alfonso's tacos. You think about the way that things are supposed to be done. They have to follow the same requirements as a restaurant and a taco truck. And now they're getting undercut by people who aren't doing. And that was something we did with taco trucks many years ago because many of them were unpermitted. And now I would say virtually all of them are permitted much safer conditions for food and have become very popular. So I do care about the food safety component. And I do care about human trafficking, all of the things that come along. And I don't want to put mom and pops out of business. I'm glad that six of them have already come in. I think that once the word gets out, because this is not going to happen tomorrow, we still have to bring this back. I will tell you that if you go to the cities, because I think cities have to be self-determining. If they choose not to be a part of this task force, that's okay. You're still going to do your job as environmental resource folks and respond, but it's going to be a different type of response, right, than what you're going to do proactively. I, again, support this wholeheartedly, and I know it's a long time coming, and you've worked very hard, you and your team back there in the back. Appreciate very much what you're doing. Okay, we have a motion and a second on the floor. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. Carries 5-0 with the addition of two NGOs and Buck kind of being our representative. All right. Correspondents, acknowledge receipt of correspondence and refer as recommended on the agenda. Any Board of Supervisor reports? Looking right.

Just a real quick report. We had a very successful community cleanup in series. It was our 28th community cleanup in District 5. We filled a total of 11 bins, which equates to 33,000 tons of trash and debris that was hauled off to the landfill. I do want to thank all of our volunteers that day for making the cleanup a very monumental success, as well as Council Member Serena Ortero and Council Member Rosalinda Vieira for helping out in those efforts. So, again, thank you, Ceres.

I just want to report out really quickly. Yesterday we had our study session at Samaritan Village in Houston. Great host. Good food, but it was a very good time. We went over three major issues, code enforcement, receiverships. We went over the Ag Commissioner and planning issues they have or issues they're dealing with currently, and then a lot of discussion otherwise. But thank you to Samaritan Village. Thank you to the City of Houston for hosting. We'll move on to let's say fiscal and management report.

Just a couple of quick items for you. I want to acknowledge that our Chairman Chiesa here did sign a board letter supporting Stanislaus County Public Works application. It's the ATP Cycle 8 application for sidewalk project on Rouse Avenue. So we're excited for that. Not much to report at the federal level. I do want to acknowledge that the state technically has passed the budget deadline Um, however, the real negotiations on the state budget continue, and we would expect further updates over the next few weeks on some of the major funding pieces that do affect local governments and also the residents of Stanislaus County. Also want to ensure everyone is tracking that I think as of right now we have July 14th set up for our chair to deliver the annual state of the county address. So that's the date I'm tracking. Are you tracking that date? I guess. Okay. July 14th.

Might be 25 seconds long.

Okay, we're working on something here pretty soon. Near or in and around July 14th, let's say that. And also, finally, just a traffic advisory. South Band of Crows Landing at Zeph Road will be closed through traffic tomorrow through July 3rd to accommodate City Modesto's planned construction activities so motorists should expect delays and follow posted detour routes you can access state highway state route 99 southbound off ramp from cross landing road that will remain available perfect if you're in that area be aware thank you all right any questions for staff no uh deputy estes thank you very much for keeping us safe and we do have a closed session

Yes, we have closed session this afternoon.

It's a conference with legal counsel, existing litigation pursuant to government code section 54956.9 subdivision D1. We have two cases to consider, Lopez et al. versus County of Stanislaus et al. that's in the Eastern District of California. The case number is 225CV01175. The second case is NRA Diablo Grande Community Facilities District number one. It's a bankruptcy case. The number is 2526635. It's in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of California. Is that appropriate for public comment?

Any public comment? Seeing none, we'll adjourn to closed session.