 And welcome to the December 12th meeting of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. Could we start with a roll call? Supervisor friend here Coonerty cap it here McPherson Chair Leopold here Well, could you please join us in a moment of silence in the Pledge of Allegiance? Good morning, Mr. Palacio, so there are any additions or deletions from today's agenda Yes, there are on the consent agenda item number 17 There's additional materials a revised board memo On item number 20 There's a correction the item should read approve the appointment of David Hammer CEO to the emergency medical care Commission On item 33. There's a correction the item should read adopt a resolution On item 44. There's a correction the item should read adopt resolutions accepting unanticipated revenue and take related actions on Item 46. There's additional material a replacement page 43 of attachment a On item 48. There's a correction the item should read adopt resolution accepting and appropriating unanticipated revenue in the in the amount of thirty thousand thirty two thousand two hundred seventeen dollars from FEMA and Cal OES for preliminary engineering and geotechnical services and in the amount of three thousand eight hundred eighty eight dollars for blue Ridge Blue Mountain Ridge zone residents for emergency repair work There's also on item 48 additional materials. There's a replacement board memo Deleted attachment a and revised attachment B On the closed session the item should read item 56 And there's a revised Agenda page eight along with that closed session of item and then finally on the regular agenda Item 63. There's a replacement board memo a clean and strikeout underlying copies a memorandum of the planning director dated December 11th and Includes United United fees schedule worksheets Thank you All right, thank you now I'll turn to members of the board to see if there's anything on the consent agenda that they'd like to comment on or pool Good morning supervisor Caput. Good morning. Yeah, nothing to pull. I'll make a welcome item 20 and 21 David Hermosillo to be appointed to the emergency medical care Commission and 21 appointment of Sam Cooley to the fish and wildlife advisory board and then on item 44 that would be the Approve the contract for the Behavioral health office building in Watsonville It's going to be really wonderful for the community down there and I appreciate all the work. You've done with that Jane and I also Appreciate the options that you offered on those Trees that are in the parking lot and I think you've received some emails on that they're rare Italian pines and they're the last ones in the area and we had an arborist look at it and There's about three to four options Maybe we can we can save them and use one of the options we received from your report Thank you very much Good morning supervisor McPherson. Yeah, I'd like to comment on a couple of items on the consent agenda not to pull any of them but items 9 and 47 just that To get this report on the excess revenue of our county library fund And we're going to be getting a cash flow report in February end of February The number for item 47 the request for qualification for construction of the Felton library This is a big deal in the Santa Rosa Valley. It's been Long Desired and it's finally going to happen. I think we'll begin. I hope construction in the spring sometime I want to just mention also on items number 11 the progress report on development of drive drop Day centers both for the north and south county for Santa Cruz and Watsonville Very much appreciated and I'm glad we're making a move in both sections of the county in the north and south On item number 12 on our vision Santa Cruz report. I want to thank Nicole Coburn from our CAO's office in particular for really getting this together and for everybody who has participated in that This is really important to the people of Santa Cruz County for our future. I appreciate the turnout We had the first meeting of this Division Santa Cruz County In Santa Rosa Valley was very well attended. I encourage people in the public to help us look at What we want to do in the future in Santa Cruz County and there will be more meetings and coming up on item 23 the public After in the aftermath of the bear fire up in Santa Rosa Valley There's a measure here or an item here to wave the landfill fees for victims of the Bear Creek fire so they can have Free access fee. I would like to see a sunset date maybe added to that so they could do that until the end of February so they have enough time to To do that to get the necessary materials to the landfill and There's also on the consent agenda on items 45 49 50 these are items all relate to the Repairing improving of our roads last winter's storm recovery report and hiring a consultant to update What with the county pay pavement management? plan and For our capital improvement plan for 19 for this for this fiscal year for 2017-18 This effort is going to take years, but we have a really good start I want to compliment the public works department for putting some things together. There are folks I've heard from that want their road fixed yesterday and we just have a process and Some limitations on funding of what we can do But we do have more funding than we have in the past because of measure D and Senate bill 1 by the state legislature So I just want to compliment the public works department for putting this package together We're getting there as quickly as we can and I think as efficiently as we can Thank you. Thank you Good morning and a happy Hanukkah to my colleague Supervisor Coonerty. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Chair. Happy Hanukkah to you Couple items to comment on no items to pull The first is Supervisor McPherson mentioned is item number 11, which is a date services center for homeless people I want to thank city and county staff for working on it We clearly are in a crisis and we need a An interim solution till we can find a more permanent solution again I want to emphasize so I've said previously I don't want the search for a perfect location to be the enemy of a good location And I'm hopeful that when we get a report back on homeless issues on January 9th We'll have a day services center open at that point on item number 12, which is our strategic plan I want to first of all commend the staff for doing really good outreach and Reaching out to many members of the community and I want to emphasize that we got to make sure we reach out to the underserved and Spanish speaking communities to make sure that their voices are heard and go to them and Make sure that they they have way in on the future and priorities of this county On item number 15. I want to thank Wasville mayor Oscar Rios for connecting And facilitating the don't the donation of the surplus fire truck to our new to Wasville's new sister city in El Salvador This is a great way to repurpose a truck and to deal with what would otherwise be surplus County property On item number 24, which is our FEMA policy I want to add additional direction that we notify our members of Congress of this so that we can Get their assistance when needed in getting Resources to deal with storm damage and then on item number 31 the whole person care initiative This is an exciting initiative I don't want to thank HSA and director win for their leadership in making this happen And I like to add the additional direction that in each future quarterly report that the numbers of enrolled climates is included And that also the geographic location where those clients reside at the time of enrollment is included This is this gives us the ability to see where clients are being rolled and how we can partner with other agencies To increase enrollment and then finally on item number 33. I want to thank first five commissioner director David Brody and Ellen Timberlake from hsd for their good work on thrive by three and it's As we've said before this is really exceeding all of our Expectations and it's a really tremendous opportunity. It's nice to see the money and resources being allocated to help moms and and their kids and Young families as they as they work on the first key years of life Thank you Good morning supervisor friend and happy Hanukkah to you as well. Thank you chair I have nothing to pull and I have nothing to comment on good morning All right. Well, uh I have a number of items to speak about there are many many things on this agenda I'm not going to talk about them all but I uh, but there are a number of them on item number 12 Which is the vision Santa Cruz county process I too want to commend the staff the meeting we had a live oak I thought was a very very good meeting And there was good conversation I see some of the people who were at the meeting are here today They could also speak to that and I also want to reiterate What my colleague mentioned about ensuring that we do this process that includes all the members of the community and Have specific outreach to the Spanish speaking members of our community and Our staff and others are willing to help on Item number 29, which is the releasing the request for proposals for dental health care services We know because we've seen the the the research and the report about The need for a great dental services in Santa Cruz county, especially for people who can least afford it We've received some great services from dientes who's celebrating 25 years And I hope they'll be seriously considered as part of this rfp process Um on item number 32. I want to thank the health services agency uh adding these new staff members for the mobile emergency response Uh team program is really critical to the success of all the programs We'll be talking about a number of them later on today, but the the the The commitment to ensuring that we have the staffing to be able to effectively run these programs Will mean that uh our entire county will experience a better quality of life And it will be better services for people most in need Uh on item number, uh 38, uh, which is, uh Accepting over one million dollars worth of funds For some park projects located In the first district. I want to thank the staff for all the hard work Um members of our commission who uh who have supported this and Doing all the work that we can to make sure that we get these parks built I really appreciate the outstanding effort that we've seen. So thank you very much for that On item number 39, I'm really glad to see that we're going to be going out for design services for the live oak library and annex I think this is an exciting Development and the conversations that have been held so far with the institutional members will be greatly Enhanced by seeing some designs and being able to talk to the community about it So i'm very excited On item number 41, I'm glad to see that we're moving forward with a pre-development loan To midpen housing for the 17th and capitol a road There's a lot of work that still needs to be done on that project, but The one of the things that people told us they wanted to see is they wanted to see affordable housing at that site And i'm glad that we've we're we're negotiating with a A partner who knows how to do that well. So thank you for your work On item number 49, which is the Agreement for the county pavement management Program This is going to be a really key document for us. It always is a key document for us But the landscape has changed With the introduction of the measure d funds the sp1 funds The commitment that this board made to add a million dollars to our road programs And I think when this report comes back and we have the presentation We need to take a look at the designations. We've already made for some of these funds, especially it relates to the storm damage And have some information about how these additional funds will help us with Changing the known backlog that we have a project. I think it's we we're in a new era with With our road funding and we have to treat it that way Um I think that's the last item So now I will look to see if there are members of the public who would like to comment on consent items Can please come forward. Tell us, uh, which item you're commenting on Gary Richard Arnold 22 and 24 um, we just gave a pledge of allegiance to A country indivisible And I believe that we should end race-based Commissions as you can see from sitting up there the audience We have people from every race here, and I believe it's detrimental To equality it's detrimental to the community integrating and we see each other as as individuals not as races So I wish you would end these race-based commissions on 24 There's prejudicial application of services for instance in the moran lagoon over there There are trees that are thinned and trimmed and taken down to about 60 percent to protect some residences there It happens that an attorney that works for an insurance company occupies that particular house yet 30 yards away We find the remains of a gauntlet of guillotines and huge eucalyptus trees Overshadowing other houses in that area there continues to be root balls that are high in the ground with three or four five feet deep Halfway covered with shrubs places where children dogs and other people can get hurt I believe it's The repetition of those trees falling on houses and even the own your own Construction of bathrooms there has been not misfeasants but malfeasants because anybody can look at those trees See the three-foot roots Planted in landfill from the harbor on a slanted cliff is dangerous and any arborists that approve those that you should fire Thank you Good morning Good morning. Becky steinbrunner resident of aptos hills I would like to pull item number 11 and put that on the regular agenda for discussion Because I read that your board is considering declaring a local state of emergency And I think that needs to be discussed more publicly I'll move along because my time is moving. Um, I also want to Point out that in number nine regarding the Library funding, um, I I'm confused that we now have a 4.5 million excess in our library fund and not long ago when Measure s was being campaigned. It seemed like we were in dire straits and Things were going to get shut down if it didn't get passed Related I want to point out item number 13 a lot changes code to allow Philanthropic naming of libraries and again, this is another fundraising tactic that I'm confused by if the libraries are in such poor state of in such excellent state of Financial health number 39 also related is the live oak Library annex, which I think is deceptive to use that term When in the description of the initial contract going out to mig It described this facility as having a very small collection of books I think it's disingenuous to use measure s funds for this Building there is really a community center and i'm not opposed to building that That facility next to the boys and girls club of live oak and the simkins swim center, but let's be honest here about what it is and proportionally use measure s funds if at all for its building I also protest the use of mig they pushed through the aptos village plan They were the ones that handled the recent live oak not live oak, but Pleasure point community meeting and that was nothing but a railroad job It was incredible Item number 15. I'm really glad that the rescue unit not the engine will be Given to Watsonville and repaired and sent to El Salvador And I want to make sure that the excess Engine 39 12 funds when that's auctioned off do indeed go to the county fire fund and not some other use Item number 41 I want to make sure that in the capitol a road 17th avenue affordable housing the merriman house is preserved It could be used for the health facility that is scheduled to be there Please don't demolish that number 17. I want you to deny the extension of the cafeteria license Related to number 11. Let's house the homeless people there for the not house, but for the day center there It makes sense and the county owns it and we could do it now. Thank you. Thank you Item number 11 will become 64.1 Good morning Good morning supervisor leopold board members. I'm Maggie ivy with visit santa cuse county Just here to thank the board for your continued support of the tourism marketing district Approval of our annual plan is um item number 10 on your consent agenda I want to thank supervisor McPherson for his continued service on our board Just a couple of pieces of good news about the tourism industry hotel occupancy is up 2 percent this year Which is actually quite higher than the state average, which is fairly flat in our neighboring communities And this last year we released new research about our international market So the long-term planning of the marketing district has allowed us to do a lot more Emphasis on longer-term market chair building of the international Visitation to california we partner with visit california And our international visitors make up 13 percent of our visitors now versus 8 percent just a few years ago We welcome a lot of uk visitors germany australia and canadiens as well, so thank you for your continued support and Happy holidays Thank you Good morning. Good morning. My name is trisha potts and i'm from watsonville And i'm here to talk about number 38 just to say thank you. We're on to the next phase Literally four years ago this week. Um, the parks department got an email from me Saying we needed to work on What became known as the shana clear park project leo's haven and you know It's just really rewarding to see that we're moving into the next step And i'm here to say thank you to jeff gaffney and will fort particularly will today because he's responsible for dealing with all the crazy details of this project as well as mariah robbers with the shana clear park neighbors and You know, this is a big project. We've done a lot and we have a lot to go forward with and so I just leave you with a story today Um, when I get overwhelmed when I think about how big this project is it's it's the kids and the families that I'm meeting um, and I just met A mom and a grandma from watsonville and uh, they slipped in a donation From a commission from their last real estate development and with them was their nine month old daughter and granddaughter abby Um, and she is down syndrome And as as we were talking they said this is where abby's going to get to go to play And you know abby wasn't even born when we started this and so it's really exciting to see this happening And thank you so much for uh being willing to move forward with this public private partnership. Thank you. Thank you Good morning Good morning. Good morning mariah roberts from shana clear park neighbors Um and really quick. I have some things I wanted to say about item 38 But I also just wanted to remark also about the annux the library annex one thing that I've been hearing just as a live oak citizen is The acknowledgement that libraries have really taken on many different forms in our current environment with technology And how they fit into the fabric of our lives and so looking at what a library can be versus Historically what they were which was more of a repository for books So it really excites me that there's some creative thinking about how to use a space and how to increase access to information Um, so as trisha mentioned in june of 2015 you all voted to adopt the mo u for The county and our private nonprofits to move forward with this private public partnership And that was the start of us really being able to move leo's haven at shana clear park forward So that partnership which was worked, you know, so much work that went to lead to that With former c. A. O. Susan more yellow Staff from parks department has really given us the blueprint that has allowed us to have the success that we've had We hope that that can be um an example for other private public partnerships and projects in your various Districts going forward. We welcome any questions about that Today in your consent agenda number 38 Item number 38 you are voting to move forward and to um go into the next phase from the county's side And so we feel really good on the private side about our fundraising and where we're at And we just want to acknowledge that partnership that it takes both of us and all of us to make this happen And that this is a significant next step For us in the process. So thank you for that Here's to the next little bit. We're gonna get there. Okay. Thank you. Happy hanukkah And thank you to both of you for the great, uh, uh, fundraising event you held just two weeks ago Um, we enjoyed johnny cash. We got the dress in black And uh, it was it was a great event, uh, and it raised a bunch of money. So congratulations Hello again supervisors tom dull county vision recycling. No worries. I'm not here to do any protest appeals or anything like that We had a nice conversation about the green waste yard waste program. You voted another direction. That's fine Um, as you know, I'm not real comfortable talking in front of the Public like this. I wouldn't be here, but the guys have asked me to come and talk the middle managers and the Not to appeal The middle manager is an item from a consent agenda because we'll have oral communications. No, I don't think so I don't think it's so you might want to just wait right now. We're just doing the consent agenda items tom I just want to uh, we'll just wait a moment. We'll finish that and then we'll come up for oral communications You don't want me to just finish Let's just finish the consent agenda might give me another shot to relax a little bit, right? Yeah These are items on the consent agenda And I'm leslie me in from the boom mountain ridge in the santa cruz mountains about consent item 48 I just wanted to say thank you for Um, bruce's staff people jenny. We just met with jenny and marcella from public works We're in the first steps of being able to form a sub csa in csa 23 to Repair our road from the storms and to be part of the county infrastructure of maintaining our road And it is such a relief to us to be able to do that and We have a an arrangement with the santa cruz county bank That they're working with the county to help us fund repairs So we don't have to spend $50,000 out of pocket right now and just the opportunity to do that We were just thanking jenny and marcella for Being here because this is the county serving its people. So thank you Thank you Is there anyone else about items on the consent agenda? number nine library funds The young woman who spoke recent just before me Um Is talking about libraries and traditionally what they've been and what they could be with technology I object to Making libraries wi-fi hot spots because it's a biological health hazard and also a problem for people who already have Disabilities functional impairment due to microwave exposure Especially damaged into children. Ms. Meredith. We're gonna get the same Excuse me. I am addressing the library nine is about funding. That's about funding of a library So funding of the libraries Funding should not go To more technology in the libraries. It should go to making libraries safe place to read That are not microwaved and I've given you this before wi-fi in the library Convenience or health hazard and all the libraries now are toxic places Where this detection meter Is just like in here You can't go to a place where you're not getting assaulted involuntarily And harmed by microwaves I've given you this before it shows brain cell damage from microwaves Libraries should be safe places this technology that is Documented to be dangerous really needs to be removed. I help pay for libraries with my taxes I rarely go in Because I don't feel good and it's hard for me to come here But I feel it's my public citizen responsibility To try to give you direction and alert the public to the facts of the harm of wireless microwave technology. Thank you Thank you Other items on the consent agenda. You don't get a second bite at the apple You'll have to wait till you have to wait till oral communications being recorded because there's no video of the meetings Proceedings on the screen. I just want to make sure it's being recorded. That's all. Thank you I'm assuming it's being recorded. Someone will tell me if it's it's not being recorded seeing no one else for the consent agenda I'll bring it back to our board for action. There were additional Directions on item number 23 and 31 Is that clear to the to the clerk 31 was about the though Having us sunset on the on the waiver fees at the end of february And an item number 23 I want 24 as well and 24 was just notifying our members of congress Oh, yeah, sorry. Thank you for that correction So I'll move the consent agenda as amended Motion by Coonerty seconded by McPherson all in favor signify by saying aye Any opposed motion carries unanimously now we've reached the oral communication portion of our meeting This is the chance to address the board of supervisors on issues under our purview But not on today's agenda You'll have three minutes to speak a green light will come on when it's when you start Yellow light when you have one minute left and a red light when you should end Good morning. Good morning chair leopold members of the board and happy holidays I'm read guys writer chair of your santa cruz county housing advisory commission affectionately known as the hack I want to make two points today to tell you a little bit about the hack and its recent activities First the hack formed the ad hoc committee some months ago to engage with the many great organizations working to tackle the current housing crisis in our county The goal was to flesh out common action items among these groups that could then be implemented over time by the county Under your leadership the county has a robust housing program already That said the ad hoc committee did generate several recommendations for your consideration The written report is included in today's agenda as correspondence The hack vice chair jam brown will speak after me and provide you more details on these recommendations And second this is my second year as the chair of the hack When supervisor coonerty appointed me several years ago the hack suffered from apathy and at times could not muster a quorum I'm pleased to report to you today that with the recent appointment of several commissioners by your board The hack never lacks for a quorum. We have an organized agenda We have Routinely have a healthy debate about housing issues in this county and i'm very proud of that We enjoy working with your housing staff and the commission. Thanks to you for the opportunity to serve in this very important role So with that now jam brown will talk to you a little bit about the hack and they report. Thank you very much. Thank you Good morning. Good morning. Thank you read chair leopold members of the board Um The hacks ad hoc committee spent the better part of a year gathering input from public agencies and private organizations seeking solutions to the housing crisis The goal of gathering that input from more than a dozen stakeholders was to collect information about their work and to hear suggestions about potential action by the county In addition to the four incorporated cities stakeholders included affordable housing now the housing advocacy network mid-pin housing New way home slash and vision housing and the Monterey Bay economic partnership What we learned essentially is that some of what is supported by these groups is already underway or in the pipeline for the county largely by way of the sustainable Santa Cruz county plan However, due to staff resources and other constraints, we found That the work to implement the sustain sustainable sustainable Santa Cruz county plan is not happening quickly enough To stimulate the creation of a substantial amount of affordable housing or additional housing in the market generally So on november 1st the hack unanimously passed the following recommendations for board consideration The first were the first two are priority recommendations that could be achieved in the short term While the others require additional coordination with the planning department They are to expedite implementation of the sustainable Santa Cruz county plan to include zoning ordinance changes density Recalculations and fee adjustments by providing adequate funding and other resources for the planning department to hire additional staff or consultants to complete the work Secondly to streamline the planning process to encourage housing development that better meets the needs outlined in the housing element of the general plan Thirdly to review underutilized commercial and industrial parcels throughout the county to determine whether they are suitable for housing And then allow for a process to rezone and establish by right development standards Fourth to proactively work with the owners of large private property to determine Sustainability of suitability for the encouragement of housing development Lastly to seek a local funding source for affordable housing creation Including possible support of a countywide housing bond proposal being considered for the november 2018 ballot by private advocacy groups So as you consider both the affordable housing program update on your agenda today and the ongoing vision Santa Cruz county planning process We would just ask that you consider the hacks recommendations Or possibly schedule a discussion about our recommendations on a future agenda And lastly, I just like to thank my fellow commissioners who served with me on that committee. They are commissioners. Nancy abbey Kent washburn and linda hains. Thank you very much Thank you and thank you for your work on the on the commission Good morning. Uh, good morning, chairman. Uh, gary richard Arnold and quickly trying to talk about uh Individual rights and the policies and influence on the board here uh, most people associate the aclu with the The uh First amendment and other rights Let me quote from the founder. Uh, the founder was roger bald one. He says i'm for socialism I seek for social ownership of property Communism is the goal And he added when power is achieved as it has been in the soviet union. I'm for maintaining it by any means necessary We know the aclu is given our supervisors our congressman the man that provided the protocols for the planning department Received awards from the local aclu Um, we know that he uh, leon panetta who received an award sent military information to heal delacia communist spy Uh, we know that the planning board and supervisors have accepted. Uh, both the united nations and world bank Operating protocols from dan heftley the 60 pages adopted by your planning department It was mike rockin ahead of the local aclu and his thesis at ucsd that uh Ported and is available online how to take over a town that has been done The influence of the newspapers here which is either endorsed or opposed most of the people up here, of course was Run by dow jones for a number one of the editors was mr. Bruce mcpherson who received money from katrina luenda a triple agent from communist china as editor from over 65 million seniors at the time He hired claud pepper to be the senior columnist news week and time called Him led pepper saturday evening posts called him pinco pepper us news and reports said pepper is a foremost advocate of russian policy Pepper wrote the forward to a brook a book that was created in the soviet office He also worked for a group specializing in pro-soviet propaganda Uh claud pepper the person bruce mcpherson chose Also hired charles kramer who was a member of the wear and perlose buy rings I want to mention that mr. McPherson and the rest of you continue to maintain Two plaques on the courthouse steps of hugh de lazey a communist enforcer In fact, uh, he belonged also to the wear and perlose buy rings and i think it's time for the uh lazy Grand jury and the sentinels who has recently been bought out. There's a good article by in bruce bratton's series, but This county does not represent the people and it shows just by we've got californians running and fleeing from fires Yet they're going to send a fire truck to central america while their fellow citizens burn. Thank you Thank you Tough act to follow but good morning. Good morning. Uh, my name is lauren and i'm from scott's valley Supervisor mcpherson i'm addressing you today About your persistent inflammatory and divisive statements regarding the select committees Of south bay arrivals super majority recommendation To return to the historic big sir flight path You have needlessly Been alarming the public by saying things like it would just be a disaster if it moved back or it will just be moving noise As a member of that committee You know full well that the f a a are congressional representatives Save our skies santa cruz quiet skies nor cow your fellow supervisor john leopold who put Fourth the proposal and all of us affected by the surfer flight path Are doing everything in our power to make sure That the big sur overlay is as quiet or quieter than it was before when it received only one noise complaint from our area In the year before it was moved It is in everybody's best interest to make this transition successful And the select committee process a model for communities across the nation But your failure to communicate that intent fosters fear and division among the people you were elected to represent Your efforts to keep the surfer path moved over people who had no warning or voice in that decision Basically endorses the idea that a flight path can be moved anytime and anywhere With no due process And under that way of thinking no community is safe from what we have endured Please Join us help make this work make it better than it was before Make this a proud accomplishment in your long and impressive career And not a sad footnote in the memory of a community that felt you let them down Thank you Good morning Good morning My name is tony crane. I'm representing a neighborhood in aptos I'm here to formally and publicly protest What we consider an egregious abuse of public trust In the implementation of the second story program In our neighborhood And the placement of a facility in that neighborhood I want to make it clear that i'm not here to protest the program itself It serves a needy community However, I am here to protest the unethical and incompetent process by which the facility was chosen We've provided irrefutable evidence of this Supervisor friend is in receipt of some of the information that we have And so i'm hoping that all of you are aware of what's gone on I mean, that was our way of trying to bring it to the board in advance But It's irrefutable evidence of a calculated plan To misrepresent the intent and scope of the facility Given absolute misrepresentations of the truth to the public in order to Circumvent the process that needed to be handled a public hearing Mitigated negative declarations all those things that are associated with putting a commercial facility In any area let alone a residential area So i'm hoping again that you guys have received that information And that you're taking it very seriously because there are we are alleging Serious violations of the public trust Certainly unethical possibly illegal That's to be determined But I just hope that you guys do understand that we're we're serious about this And that you will get the information from Mr. Friend or I can provide it to each of you so that you can make an informed decision on What is to happen with this facility in the future? They've recently just requested a change to the Description of the program to fit it in under the Misrepresentations that have been put forth to the public But it has allowed them to begin operations by misrepresenting things. They've actually misrepresented information to the county to county planning and So This is a pretty serious issue So again, I hope that you do take it seriously and thank you very much. Thank you Thank you for your patience. So that must have dealt company Happy back up. You're glad As I said, this is kind of the last place I want to be today But the workers and the middle managers have asked me to come and just say a word and try to get Some straightness on on their pride and what they do on the on the properties You may know that we have had filed an appeal. We have known they want me to go through with that I don't want to and I think that would be futile. So we're not going to go through with the appeal So that's something you may need to know But they did want me to come and express At some of the pictures that were thrown up or from years ago They realized that they're not a perfect bunch But the workers that work in this in this region and the people of this community that work on the landfill on behalf of the recycling facilities are extraordinary individuals. They're they're great people They have a a lot of pride. They were offended at some of the pictures They felt that you know over 12 years cherry picking pictures from long ago to put up Some of them were more recent and they recognize that they take responsibility They they wish or we wish that there would have been more than a minute to explain some of those items But nonetheless, they are what they are But I just want to speak on behalf of the the extraordinary people that are in production and middle management That you have working and we're forwarding those to keith day those individuals all of them We're making all those available But um, you know, they felt that uh, let me make sure I'm not missing anything from my notes They're a great group of conscientious people fortunate to have them here I've been fortunate enough to work with them. Um, I'll take credit for finding them selecting them But that's about it. Um, the um David, um, we have a david that works up at ben loman and another david that works out at, um, Buena Vista they're very they have a lot of pride in what they do. Um, and uh The safety record is buried out is born by the state of california That has to do with the workers comp Our their safety record our safety record is 29 percent better than the industry average And just they just wanted to point that out and I wanted to point some of that out as well But I wouldn't be here if it was just me they asked me to come. Um, so Please don't believe all the things that you saw Come and see them david and david have asked me to ask you Come see the facility before they close it down and no we'll close it down nicely But it is a good facility and something that you should be proud of. Thank you Good morning. Good morning members of the board. I'm here to comment on an item on the written correspondence list I believe I'm in the right place My name is david brody. I'm the executive director of first five santa cruz county I'm here this morning to thank the board and in particular chair leopold For issuing the proclamation declaring january 2018 positive parenting awareness month This proclamation as well as recent actions of this board taken as early as this morning Demonstrate that our county and each of you fully understands the incredibly important role of parenting and caregiving And what it plays and how it plays in supporting not just the well-being of our children But our entire community It's for that reason that we are incredibly proud at first five to serve as the backbone organization of the triple p positive parenting program An international evidence-based program that was funding from first five as well as the county through your health services agency Has helped literally thousands of parents improve their parenting practices Reduce their stress and anxiety and most importantly build positive healthy relationship with their kids Which I know each one of you can very much appreciate This board will remember that uh about a year ago first five issued a five-year report on the triple p program And just as a refresher i've brought executive summaries, uh for your perusal In your free time. We like to always remind folks of the important work that we're doing together Combined with other parenting programs And supports in this county Like the parent leadership committee in live oak an organic formation of parent leaders To the array of home visiting programs that we have brought to bear in no small part because of the work of this board Our county Has created in santa cruz an environment for parents that doesn't just talk the talk But literally walks the walk and we are greatly appreciative to all of you for that On behalf of the first five santa cruz county commission I ask that you of course maintain that appropriate focus on the importance of positive parenting And that you once again and thank you for once again recognizing january 2018 as positive parenting awareness month Thank you very much. Thank you and thank you for all your work and your partnership. Thanks Good morning Good morning becky steinbruner resident of aptos hills. I have a request i'll make again and it's a very simple one That your board have the binder of supporting materials for issues you're discussing here In the back of the room there's now a sign saying you can go to the the board's Clerk of the board's office and get them But then you have to leave the room and you don't hear what's being said at a time when you want to hear what's being said It's a simple thing. Just move the binder of materials That support what you're talking about and what the public needs to be informed about here So we can read last minute things Please i want to let you know that i attended the recent Scoping sequa scoping session at ucse Regarding their proposed student housing west project I was appalled to see that there were only four members of the public there. It was very difficult to find I always get lost at ucse. There were no signs and um I really would like to ask this board to reach out to ucse to do better outreach within the community Have community meetings for their scoping meetings for Whatever the next step in the sequel process is have them in Within the community not just up at ucse and there were no students there either My next issue is discussion about what I saw as a very odd parliamentary procedure during last week's hosted rental I have never seen that there are two motions allowed on the floor at the same time I have never seen that the second motion introduced Is voted on first and is allowed to kill the first motion I know your board uses a different set of rules not roberts rules And I couldn't remember what they were to look them up, but I would like some explanation of that I also want to point out that following mr. Del Conte's Discussion with you that vision recycling's bid was lowest It was the lowest bid by two hundred and eleven thousand dollars Public works director mr. Presley has told me when Contracts were taken for the aptos village project They had to take the san louis abispo Contractor because the county has to take the lowest bid But that isn't what happened with vision recycling in keith day And I think it was pretty interesting that the county public work staff delayed making a decision before your board until the 11th hour When you could no longer kick the can down the road And I also think it's interesting that after your august meeting And request for a second rfp county public works started visiting Intensely the thank you the facility and writing up the very smallest things. Thank you Good morning Good morning. Maryland Garrett part of wireless radiation alert network I am very appreciative for people who come and speak at this meeting And I would encourage people who are watching this to do the same Because I think all of you Need to see and hear from the public directly I especially And grateful to becky steinbruner and all the work she does to try to make the community a better place And you would do well to act on her suggestions Very well to do that on behalf of the public It's disappointing to me that I rarely see that I saw a new documentary Called just it's just out Generation zapped and it's about Exposure of children And many of you hear most of you sitting here have young children or young adult children It Enter in the film they interview people who are medical professionals And they show the harm to children And what happens to the fetus what happens to young people with microwave radiation exposure Damage to the DNA The thought processes There are a list of symptoms. I recommend the film I read Also a new book this year The invisible rainbow history of electricity and life And I was thinking of that book this morning and I've gone back to it. There's a chapter called the irritable heart One of the symptoms Also listed on this graph that you have received neuro behavior symptoms near cell towers Radiation from the radiation fatigue sleep disturbances, etc One of them is cardiovascular problems And what we're seeing is heart strokes and heart attacks In younger and younger people the signaling of the heart Is interfered with And the micro circulation I've showed you I'm not a medical professional retired elementary school teacher But I can understand the basics and read about them The blood cell abnormalities affect the circulation related to the Heart arrhythmia and strokes and I just heard on the news today that when You know, it's like so many heart attacks And don't know all the causes, but this is one. Thank you That ed lee the mayor of san francisco died unexpectedly about heart attack today Is there anyone else who'd like to address us? Good morning. Good morning board of supervisors and while uh Michael duffy from 26 13 monterey avenue in soquel And uh, we live there all my life basically and And now my neighbor up 26 11. Could you use the microphone so everybody could hear you? Oh, okay now with the the 26 11 which my neighbors, which was my grandparents home have decided that they want to build a fence You know that song don't fence me in Well, I've got land not much land just an acre and a half Don't fence me in but it's too late because my neighbor has been building a fence right along my driveway So I can uh, you can't go out my Front driveway without seeing a fence that surrounds my property Which ruins my my view and also an encroaches upon the creek which is a repairing corridor So I can't get to the repairing corridor now because there's a fence there You know when you're walking on your on your property That's been your property for a long time and all of a sudden there's a fence there because Some people who bought the property Think it's okay to just go ahead and build Willy nilly It's ridiculous also a couple other things in the area there's a a huge trailer which is on a The property at a kind of off of a Where the where the park is There's a couple parks around but there's one is a Is a huge trailer that just was dumped And it's a longer repairing corridor too when you go along that repairing corridor It's all around soquel and around especially around the area around that where the the parks are It's just getting ridiculous I don't know how to do you I'm supposed to spend millions of dollars to to get a bunch of lawyers to to come and and say No, this is his property and and and you you can't build there or And it is not only that not only is it is a private property, but It's a scenario of parks and everything. I'm really confused. I've been confused over the years And and and now it's a It's really confusing when it's they're right on the property line I don't know Whether you can get the sheriffs involved in it Or so and figure out whether it's whether there's a local issue or there's a State issue or I don't know exactly how how big the issues go or exactly how they all wander around But I would appreciate getting some feedback Instead of we'll be getting to it I'd like to get some feedback about actually it's happening So I'll give the exact address is 26 13 and 26 11 Monterey Avenue soquel Thank you. Okay. Thank you Is there anyone else who would like to address us in oral communications? Seeing none, we'll go to our regular agenda Our first item is item 57 Which is considered report and recommendations for a revenue agreement with the state department of health care services For provision of drug medical services expansion and take related actions as outlined in the memorandum of the health services agency director Included as an attachments in the implementation plan for drug medical Organized delivery system. There's a revenue contract 18 r 0 5 7 4 amendment 1 dhcs for dmc od s There's the adm 29 amendment for the 18 r 0 5 7 4 state dhcs And there's the a ud 60 resolution I see we have staff up here and maybe they'll explain to us what all those numbers and letters mean, but uh, good morning and Welcome Good morning, chairman and members of the board. I'm jane win director from the health services agency Thank you very much for taking the time To consider this very important item to our county With me this morning. We have our director of behavior health eric rara And our drug and alcohol epinastrator Miss shana zua They will join me to provide your board with a brief presentation Regarding this drug medical organized delivery services system Expansion for our county First I will start with acknowledgement and thinking your board for your leadership Throughout the year to support us with this very important item as you recall Last year you authorized for our agency to explore this option to work continue working with the state To review our implementation plan and to come up with a financial model To to ensure sustainability and to expand Medical drug medical services for our community. So our staff under the leadership of mr. Riera And miss shana zua who's a welcome addition to the team We work really hard with the state department of health care services to negotiate state general funds contribution and also other necessary items to ensure that we have a reasonable contract with the state and the feds for our sustainability To expand drug medical services for the residents of santa cruz county. So i want to thank Eric and his staff Shana i also would like to thank all the contractor providers that work very closely with us throughout the last few years To receive training necessary training to roll out this implementation Our alcohol and drug commissioners who are a big part of what we do for drug medical services here All of the stakeholders all the county departments being involved helping us with this project Especially the probation department and the department of human services who also contribute financially To the budget of this drug medical expansion and our partner in criminal justice systems as well So with that i'll hand it over to uh, mr. Riera and miss zua for the presentation And we'll try to make it quick our board letters rather lengthy because we want to make sure that you have enough information And we'll try not to repeat the information of the presentation today. Thank you so much. Thank you Good morning. I'd just like to provide a couple of introductory comments again I want to express my appreciation to the board to jane and her staff as well as to shana and her staff Who have been working tirelessly over the last couple years to move this project forward We've been engaged in in very long negotiations with the state and with the federal government around the implementation of this program And over the last couple years of experienced a number of delays One of which was due to negotiations around funding Particularly future funding for the program and then new requirements that the state and federal government put on the county in terms of Our implementation plan and new requirements that we had to meet So i'm i'm very happy that we're at this point It gives us a unique opportunity to expand these services in the community, which is a critical need that's been identified for a long time So again, my appreciation to everyone involved in this project I think I think we have a very positive opportunity here before us today And with that i'm going to turn it over to shana who's going to go over a brief presentation for the board Good morning supervisors. Thank you for the opportunity to deliver this information to you So i'm just going to walk you through it. I want to make sure that your microphone is on is the green light at the bottom pushed Yeah, is that better? Yeah, if you can get closer to the microphone people will definitely hear you. How's that great perfect Good morning. Um, so I wanted to just take a few minutes to walk you through the overview of our drug medical delivery system So dmc ods drug medical organized delivery system is defined as a pilot program to test a new paradigm for the organized delivery of healthcare services For medicaid eligible individuals with substance use disorder So what this does it opens up the opportunity for anybody who has medical and has a substance use disorder that meets medical criteria to get expanded service access The dmc ods is defined as a continuum of care model utilizing the asam criteria the american society of addiction medicine It provides increased administrative oversight to our system It also improves care and efficiency through additional utilization controls in partnership with the state It does require the use of evidence-based interventions with many of our providers are well versed in and already providing but it will expand that opportunity An increased coordination with other health systems. So we're assuring that we're providing holistic care to each and every individual with a substance use disorder in our community California is the first state to gain federal approval for sudden service expansion under the drug medical 2020 waiver And each county has been invited by the state to consider participation and opt into this program 40 counties have submitted programmatic and physical implementation plans as of december 1st only seven counties have signed an agreement with the state So we are in the beginning waves of this process The program does become an entitlement So we want to make sure the board is aware of that in terms of just potential risks in opting in Our budget which is currently having a deficit in year two of about one million dollars is based on approximately on a hundred percent Increase in client serves. We want to double the folks that we're serving And that deficit increase or decreases if that projection is higher or lower And is potentially impacted by changes on a federal level In front of you have a continuum of care model which sort of exemplifies how folks can move through the system We offer early intervention as well as two levels of outpatient services Outpatient and intensive outpatient services, which are similar in service delivery, but different in dosage So folks who need more intensive care would go into the intensive model And then we also have our residential services which in the drug medical model are really used as crisis stabilization for folks who are in imminent danger The understanding is that utilizing the asam assessment along the way We can stay continually in tune with where the person is and what their specific needs are And move them into either higher or lower care depending on their needs at that given time So the american society of addiction medicine criteria provides us guidance for both the beneficiary as well as the provider So the beneficiary in coming into the system has an initial assessment where we determine what their need is And we place them with a provider the providers have also gone through drug medical certification processes Which is quite rigorous and have been determined to be appropriate to provide Various levels of care so that we make sure that we're matching appropriately the individual with the provider that can best serve them So as I said the assessment culminates in a matching between the beneficiary's individual need and the level of care offered by that provider And the beneficiary is reassessed throughout the treatment episode So we're not necessarily just placing them and saying you're going to do x number of prescribed days of treatment But on a weekly basis the provider will be continually reassessing that person To assure that they're still meeting their level of care need and if they're not meeting that need to move them to higher or lower care appropriately It also provides us some specific array services including early intervention and prevention We will have outpatient and intensive outpatient treatment some expansion and residential treatment Narcotic treatment programs Withdrawal management, which is formerly known as detox services Physician consultation case management recovery services and 24-hour access to treatment resources. So it is a full spectrum We will be able to expand our service capacity significantly in Santa Cruz by opting into the waiver It will improve our quality of service through those administrative oversights We will provide expansion of medication assisted treatment for folks, particularly struggling with the opioid disorder that is currently an epidemic We will have more integrated care in which the providers are communicating with each other in new ways and making sure that they're working as a coordinated network And it also is in support of a strategic plan that has been adopted by the board It gives us the opportunity to renegotiate rates with our service providers to assure that they have the The necessary resources to meet this increased level of rigor in our system Again, it shares the best practice integration Stronger collaborations across our provider network really coming to the table and working together Regardless of what provider that person has initially accessed care through And it increases our accountability to the state through those oversights We have built the system so that there are three primary gates three ways that folks in our community can access Services one is through our hsa access team, which historically is primarily focused on mental health services But we'll be expanding with drug Medi-Cal to be the county primary gate to substance use disorder services Each of our providers will also serve as a gate so that anybody who's in need of services can come to the access team Or can go directly to the provider who can then assess them and either Provide them the level of care or if they don't offer that level of care Refer them somewhere else in the network to get that care And then we also have the hsa service coordinators who are Brokering those referral processes primarily through our partners with criminal justice and child welfare services So in phase one network expansion There's a chart in front of you are three providers that are currently DMC certified and ready to go january 1 with implementation are janice encompass and sobriety works And you can see here that janice has some residential expansion in the works um encompasses also looking at the potential for expanded residential services and All of the providers can expand greatly with their intensive outpatient and outpatient services To expand with the need without a prescribed cap And we have two providers pvpsa and new life who are working on drug medical applications Who would like to opt into the network with us which will expand our ability for services? And you can see in front of you that there are numbers for expansion as well All in all um our current capacity is 87 residential beds and 178 outpatient slots throughout the county in phase one We'll be able to increase to 103 residential beds And we do not have a cap on outpatient slots So the number of people that come in needing services is the number of folks that we can provide services for And in phase two with onboarding new life We will have 141 residential beds that are available to the community through drug medical services And no cap on outpatient slots. So we're looking at a significant expansion All in all, I think that there are some incredible benefits to our community and and hope that you have all of your questions answered Okay, thank you very much now. I'll see if members of the board have any questions. Supervisor Coonerty. Sure Well, first, thank you for your work. You've had to run a gauntlet of of federal and state Processing requirements, and I appreciate it and clearly this is a huge need in our community and Can be a real benefit One of my questions came from the fact that with only seven counties participating And people can transfer their Medi-Cal or You know come here and sign up for Medi-Cal. How do we How are we concerned about impact from out of county folks coming here and using up these these very precious slots in capacity Yes, um, that's a very valid question. Thank you for asking. So under the state's rule, um Counties who accepted a contract with the state Have would have options to serve out of out of county Medi-Cal beneficiary We could either serve those clients through our contract providers Or we would return those People back to their county of origin Due to the limited Size of our county and this is a A new initiative to expand services. We realize That our capacity is very limited We want us to be very successful. We want to focus our service for the residents of santa cruz county at this time only so our Approach would be con to contact those Counties where those people come from to return them back to the county and refer them back to the county of origin for services So if they wanted to transfer their Medi-Cal To this county We could we have an ability to say no and and if and if they arrive here and they're not signed up for Medi-Cal and want to sign up for Medi-Cal do we have an ability to To see how long they've been here or to To establish to figure out some sort of way to establish residency um HSA is not does not have the authority to sign up or not sign up people from Medi-Cal That would be hsd responsibility But I think um under the rules anyone who like to reside in our county They would have the ability to apply for it and it's it's the county's process to to go through to determine eligibility Okay, and is there is there a local preference that we can we can use in that process Because our department is not in charge of Medi-Cal eligibility So I cannot answer that question because I don't understand the rules very well We have to be careful with federal and state rules on Medi-Cal eligibility Okay, one thing that I can add is if a beneficiary has Medi-Cal services in another county and wishes to transfer them Then it's quite a complex and rigorous process and it takes a long time We're looking at a minimum of 60 to 90 days And so often the person will be better served if we were to get in touch with their county of origin and talk to them About potential resources that they would be matched with services quicker Going that route than to try to transfer their their Medi-Cal into Santa Cruz county. Okay great Other questions supervisor McPherson. Yeah, I just want to say congratulations This has been a missing link for substance abuse treatment that we've Needed to address for Medi-Cal patients for a long long time I know it's taken a lot of work as you've mentioned. I just want to say congratulations Congratulations, I think this has been the biggest missing piece For our services to the homeless and the frequent offenders that we hear about day in and day out weekend and week out And I think that They're chronic we need to address their chronic intoxication in public or other minor offenses that they might have But just as long as the treatment is readily available and that in essence county residents have priority I think this is it's going to be a very very positive program for Santa Cruz county I I just had a couple questions that I wanted to ask In the The cover letter to this Um It points out that if the courts ordered a person to a 90 day residential treatment and that person does not meet Asam Criteria then residential service providers would not be able to claim and receive federal funds Thus they might decline accepting that person HSA staff met with relevant county departments in the court to provide information regarding the state's requirement for the dmc ods Program What does that mean? So what that means is that anybody going into a residential service under drug medicallon needs to meet medical necessity And uh, that may or may not be true for someone who is looking at criminal justice issues So what that means is that we would sess that person and determine whether they would meet drug medicall eligibility for residential services And we've had a number of conversations just in the past few weeks with our criminal justice partners about how we're going to manage this Um, there are sort of two fold Concerns one is folks that are currently incarcerated that have a mandate And then there's folks that come down the pike and how we're going to work with our criminal justice partners around that In terms of the folks that are currently mandated are in custody We dug into those numbers. There's actually quite few. There's only three right now Folks that are in custody that are mandated to treatment And so what we're doing is we're working with our partners around other funding stream opportunities such as ab 109 for example To pay for those treatment stays for those folks that are kind of caught in the middle of our transition And then on an ongoing basis working collaboratively with the court systems with the district attorney and public defender's office To determine how we're going to meet both the needs of the community in regards to that As well as work within the confines of the drug medicall system Okay, thank you. I appreciate that. I mean, I think it's a really important piece I think that the the board member both The the one category in the letter that said excitement with precautions It's probably the way I feel I think this is very exciting um, and I think it's uh We know that the substance use disorder problem in our community is great. Um, we've uh, we've done a number of different things to Um, uh, to try to make it better. We hear from constituents About these concerns and they manifest themselves um in public and In ways that are really challenging for the community So i'm really glad that we have this new program and I also understand it costs a lot of money I I I note that when the president Uh, uh, commission on opioids said declare a national emergency that the president stopped short of declaring something that would actually provide more funding um, and that just shows you something about, um Uh, compassion, um is to acknowledge a problem but not provide resources Uh, is not, um Is not an effective way of declaring that that the nation has a problem You, uh, made sure to Make it clear to us that this is a new entitlement program um, and the document points out that Uh, this is federally approved until december 2020 So, um, you know the the health care land landscape at the federal level is Still changing after a year of uh, of a real attacks. We don't know what's going to happen with the tax bill Um, uh, their failure to pass children's health insurance program is not a great sign for thinking that there's a An even reasonable view of health care at the national level Let's say this federal support goes away What is what will be our responsibilities for entitlement? After december 2020 if the if the federal government has withdrawn support Thank you for that question Also, it is um the concern of counties that are have signed the contract with the state So, um, I actually asked this question at the most recent c-sac meeting to the director of the health state health care services agency Um, she recognized the unpredictability's issue going on at the federal level right now However, the state has a strong commitment to request the feds for a renewal of the waiver Beyond 2020 And speaking with her in private and her staff in private. They basically say they would ask for a one-year extension pending Who might be the next president or so so that it can negotiate a better deal? at this point We have a plan if we do not receive federal funding or state State general funds for this contract beyond 2020 We would work with our community providers and with all the stakeholders to decide how to bring recommendation to your board To ensure sustainability and not impacting the residents of this county. So it's it's still unpredictable But we do have a plan that we can get out of it That's why we need to launch this carefully And not Totally expanded to the point that if there's no additional funding or adequate funding We could have a way to um mitigate the impact So I don't have a definite answer for you supervisor But we do this with a lot of precautions and that's why as as you notice There are only seven county at this time is signed up for this contract But I was told recently at the last state meeting That there are other 22 counties already to sign up by the end of this new calendar year coming up So I think there's hope for additional counties coming on board. Yeah I just wanted to ask one last question about that. You said that we're part of this first wave There's gonna but you also talked about 40 other counties looking to do it And is the expectation that all 58 are gonna do it or Is uh, well most of the counties do it so to be clear this seven is inclusive in that 40 so it's 40 total The counties that have submitted plans They had a deadline with the state saying if you intend to opt into this You must submit and have approved both your implementation and fiscal plans and those counties all went through that process Those 40 yes, correct and have approved plans with the state So they have clearance to go forward with it And my understanding is that you know, many counties are sort of watching the counties that have already gone live to make Sure that they do their due diligence in creating a plan that's going to be successful But I anticipate that yes as jane said many of those counties are intending to opt in Great. Well, I think the the help and increasing capacity. I see some of our our partners here in the audience It's going to be really critical Because we know the need is great and we know the number of people who say that they're ready for treatment is great And our resources right now do not meet that need and so the closer we can come to having treatment on demand The more successful will be about um about helping people Overcome substance use disorder Um Supervisor McPherson. Yeah, this projected annual budget is over 22 million dollars. Um I have what's do you have any idea about what the total cost? We how much we spend on substance abuse Directing uh, you're in you're out and I know this would include the human Care services and so forth and uh probation department. Is there any estimate of how much we spend to the county on that? So currently our annual budget for substance use disorder In mr. Lara's budget is about 6.8 or 9 million dollars per year So we're going to go from 6.9 to 22.4 And most of it has to do with federal funding That we would be able to draw it out as reimbursement. So we have to provide services claim it In order to draw it out federal funding and it requires a match a local match And the way we come up with the local match is of course net county cost and um any non-federal funding including a b109 from the probation department and hsd cow works a dollars amount for substance use disorder and our 2011 help realignment funds that we receive from the state through sales tax and vehicle license fees So we're going from 7 million to 22 million dollars a year This is a huge expansion And most of it is federal funding and it requires a lot of leveraging and also require Cost reporting cost settlement up to five years after each fiscal year of services that will provide it So it's a lot of work Now i'll open it up for members of the public who might want to comment on this Please come forward Good morning supervisors. My name is fish williams. I represent pvpsa power of valley prevention and student assistance We do support the county's uh request to go forward with the drug medicow We see this as a viable way to continue funding and share services In the south county, especially for the communities that we serve This is especially true given the nature of the medical or marijuana becoming recreational Access coming in january. We're anticipating a greater influx of need for services so We support this And uh, we appreciate your support as well and together we can change lives. Thank you. Thank you Good morning. Good morning chair leopold for nano deraldo Chief probation officer santa cruz county. I just want to say a few words about the Possibilities of the drug medicow waiver and expansion When we first heard about this at the probation department, we were pretty excited about the prospects enthusiastic about How many more people we could serve we know that 65 percent or more Of our individuals on probation suffer from some form of substance use disorder And as we know Addiction does drive criminal behavior. So for us is really about public safety I think being able to enroll folks in the appropriate level of care And as we as was mentioned, this is an evidence-based response using a risk assessment Matching folks with the the appropriate level and dosage. It's precisely what I think will work. So We know there's going to be challenges. We've talked about a few but we've met A lot of challenges in the last decade of the changes that we've taken place in california. So I I think this was uh, this is very promising for not just the probation population, but our entire community. Thank you Thank you. Thank you for your work Good morning Good morning I had the same question that use supervisor leopolden supervisor mcpherson brought up about the large expense to the county approximately 22 million a year and the unsteady situation with federal funding as you Elaborated upon it's very pertinent here. So this to me seems quite risky In terms of county funding and also The amount of people served Often think if we had healthcare medicare for all We would have a lot better healthcare system without having to do what seems to me this Kind of band-aid approach to gushing wounds and healthcare I am aware that approximately 100,000 deaths a year are because of doctor prescribed drugs medications used as directed And this Previous gentleman who spoke talked about adjusting dosage and all sounds like the program and I have a question for you When I finish here is treating drugs with drugs And I also think a lot of the drug problems health problems are embedded in our Inequitable economic system where there's massive unemployment a lot of poverty That we shouldn't have and that's related to various problems. I was also Kind of dismayed that I think it said that Tobacco addiction is not part of this and that's that's a big problem. And then there's a An addiction that's not addressed You know what cell phone addiction people are constantly Going into entrainment on their phones all the time. There's a health I ailment called digital dementia And a lot of children are experiencing it. It seems to me one of the Largest areas of addiction Of to the cell phone Radiation is not a minute here And the last point and I want to ask you this it wasn't clear to me I'd like to see instead of a broad drug With drugs problem is that there be Use the word Homistic care But I'd like that elaborated upon because there's great benefit to Occupant your homeopathy natural pathway. Thank you. Could you respond to that, please? We will hear the testimony and then we will answer questions Good morning supervisors Rudy Escalante with Janice's Santa Cruz I just want to commend HSA staff for all the hard work that they've been putting in working with the stakeholders Holding several meetings working through the process to understand how this is all going to work out We're very supportive of the Medi-Cal expansion We received a grant to expand from 24 beds to 40 beds at our facility Thanks to the california alliance. So I think there's really strong partnerships in santa gers county There is a huge need as you saw the bed space if you think about the population that we have here and the amount of beds that we have The resources are extremely limited and we haven't even really talked about our youth Those under the age of 18. So there is a growing need for it I think there are going to be some challenges. We've all admitted that But I think we're committed to working together to try and get over these challenges and Some of the unknown Potholes that exist out there From this expansion, but I think it's a great opportunity for Our clients and for our community. So thank you. Thank you and thank you for your work Good morning. Good morning supervisors. Kate Welty chief programs officer encompass community services I also want to say congratulations to our partners for the herculean task that you have undergone In bringing this to our community and we want to express our full support It will allow us at encompass to Expand service provision. We are working on an expansion of our cesopoietic campus And this will allow the treatment funding To bring that from a 23 bed facility to a 40 bed facility Which will be fantastic as as chief Fernando said It is an incredible opportunity to be more strategic about how we're using our treatment dollars The assessments allow us to ensure that we are looking at acuity and we are placing people where they will be most successfully treated That means greater health for the community. It also allows us to Continue to do something that we strongly believe in which is operate In community and in partnership to have community impact This is an issue that we know affects our entire community as supervisor Leopold you were saying earlier Working together in a more strategic manner Is going to allow us to use these resources To their best impact And with evidence-based practices and in a collaborative effort And we just feel very very strongly that this is exactly what this community needs to address substance use disorder Thank you. Thank you Good morning. Good morning board ellen timberlake director of the human services department I just want to echo our whole hearted whole hearted support for this expansion Really want to thank a director win and her team for the efforts that you've Put forth to expand the service in our community on behalf of our department Similar to fernando many of our clients and participants in services Need these services desperately and we've always been very appreciative Of the service support that we've gotten from the health services agency and their partners So we are thrilled with this expansion and very happy to be a contributor To the process. Thank you. Thank you Good morning. Good morning. Nicole Cato on behalf of sobriety works I wanted to start by thanking hsa and all the effort you guys have put in It really means a lot to the service coordinators They've given us a great opportunity to work on collaboration amongst the service providers so that we can really provide a network of care For all the individuals in santa cruz county And I know that the number 22 million dollars seems like a huge amount But in 2014 when we looked into the statistics, it was 208 million dollars that the county spent on Medical beds and jail beds and er costs and so by expanding these services We can drop that 208 million dollars down Reinvest it into our community and neighborhoods and healing santa cruz county Which is really what we all want to do and we will be able to focus on these clients and be able to give them that medical Care that they need um through the criteria And it's really great to be able to expand these services and truly truly serve the clients who need it the most in this county And I know you all really want to benefit everyone who really needs it And it's really exciting to be able to live in a community who's opening their arms and their hearts to the people who really need it the most So thank you all. Thank you Good morning Good morning. My name's becky steinbruner I'm a resident of the aptos hills and I've read through not all of the documentation but as much as I could and um It does seem like a lot of money And and what worries me is the entitlement that the risk that the county's taking on With an unknown level of reimbursement for residential treatment I also um in talking with the resident that spoke before you about what's going on in the estate's neighborhood in aptos regarding Sort of a different treatment, but again a residential treatment facility nonetheless That process has been completely clouded to the public And I have concerns about these Maybe a proliferation of these residential treatment centers springing up in our residential areas About staff not being forthcoming about what's really going on and um the public is completely left in the dark about what is going on and Not fairly represented to any state or federal agencies that are providing funding So I want to make sure if this occurs regarding this Pathway of treatment that any residential areas affected are early on brought into the process Are given full factual factual information And um are are truly in support of what it could do with their neighborhood. I applaud This treatment process I also question the county's proliferation of permits for Wine bars and brew pubs on pretty much every corner. It's almost like starbucks was a little bit ago It's making alcohol consumption a trendy thing to do And I don't think it's healthy for our society even though it's a good tax base for our community Thank you very much. Thank you Is there anyone else Seeing none. I'll bring it back to our board for discussion or action Yes, I I will move approval Of the recommended action and then I'll have a comment assuming there's a second Okay Motion by Coonerty seconded by friend So I just want to say I I understand there's a risk But there's also a risk in not doing anything and you see the need every day And you see families and individuals struggling and you see the impacts in the community And I just want to take a moment to to recognize Director win and our age of 18 because for so long I think we've all felt like our healthcare system waited until The severity had reached a the highest possible point. This is the way our national system is set up So that we're paying enormous costs on the back end after people have Suffered after families have suffered and after there have been tremendous impacts of the community And through this program and a bunch of other programs. I actually feel like we're moving towards A health-based system where we're recognizing that if we can intervene with the appropriate treatment at the appropriate time We can serve people better, which seems common sense But unfortunately is takes an enormous amount of innovation and real leadership In order to make that happen and and so through your efforts today This is a major as a major step to move forward and to to improve the health of the community And so I want to thank you. Thank you for everything you've done All right other comments supervisor McPherson and just in response to the one of the last speakers about The amount of over 200 million dollars spent on medical beds and jail beds and so forth That are attributed to substance use disorder. Is there any way that we can We can track that putting this program in place had an impact on That those jail beds or medical facilities so we can see This costs us a lot, but it's saved us over here You know, is there some way that we can match that I'd like to have that Come back in a you know here after or whatever is is appropriate That we could have some kind of a measurement in that regard Mr. Chairman may I respond to that? Sure, certainly. Thank you. So, um counties are working with the state Utilizing UCLA to do an evaluation outcome study for this drug medical program So we certainly will work with them to provide input so they can look into comparison before and after in terms of impact on society on Cost and on utilization and quality of care for the individual in this program Thank you Others Uh, I will also want to thank you for the work that went into putting this together I know that you'll be going to the santa cruz city council in january to talk about our services on mental health and Addiction services and I hope you Provide them information about this program and also explain to them the risk that the county is taking in ensuring that this Um These services are available to people who need it here in our community. I think it's uh, it's we don't The the public doesn't understand the all the different ways in which the county is working To address critical health problems like mental health services and addiction services So I think it provides a good opportunity to explain and this is a great program All in favor signify by saying aye. All right any opposed motion carries unanimously. Thank you It is now 10 40 we have a 10 45 item I'm going to suggest that we take a brief five minute break. Uh, and we will start exactly at 10 45 To do the green business awards and then we'll uh, then we'll come back for the uh for the other program Which is item number 61 presentation of green business certification awards to exemplary new santa cruz county Green businesses as outlined in the memorandum of the director of public works Uh, there are a list of the green business award recipients um And I'd like to introduce marisol gulay department of public works pretreatment program specialist is here to present the item Good morning marisol. I hope I pronounced your last name correctly. Yes. They did On behalf of the public works department, we would like to present to the board the businesses in the county That have met the criteria to become a certified green business The county's green business certification program is an incentive-based program Designed to encourage businesses to meet and exceed environmental standards while conserving natural resources The businesses receiving the award today have voluntarily reduced water consumption Retrofitted lights and made other electrical modifications to reduce energy consumption They've also reduced solid waste through recycling and smarter purchasing And have gone above and beyond regulatory requirements by implementing pollution prevention practices in their businesses The county's certification process involves a series of rigorous audits by environmental and conservation experts To come up with the best available technology to prevent pollution And conserve natural resources These businesses are the industry front runners that meet and exceed exceptional environmental standards They have invested significant time effort and financial resources to ensure that they meet the criteria for certification The california green business network has been operating as a nonprofit for the past two years And was recently notified that the organization would receive a one-time appropriation of one million dollars from the state to To start several new programs as well as fund existing programs It's expected that once the funds are received existing programs like the county of santa Cruz will receive 20 000 dollars each in funding Additionally, pg&e has once again renewed its support by offering funding and training for another year As we gather to congratulate these newly certified businesses We would also like to thank the board for your support to keep this program successful. Thank you Thank you The name and of the businesses that have qualified for this year's green business award will now be read So that representatives of these businesses can stand together as a group to be recognized for their effort We'd like you to please remain standing until we have read the names of all the businesses and the members And members of the audience. Please hold your applause until the end of the reading I'm going to get to start with the businesses in the first district Which i'll announce The first business first district businesses receiving certification include the santa Cruz county sheriff's office a tracy herfendall home space Denise and michael bachey Salon santa Cruz karen horton and the so-called creek water district vi cambell And in the second district we have ad manor with sandy manor abc daycare with hilda fernandez airport automotive with ryan hart coast rehab with jerry van dyke capital so-called chamber of commerce with tony castrow capital of self-storage with joshua nathan ocean champions with chris lofflin And sotoa bar and grill with ashley renardy And in the third district i'd like to recognize santa Cruz wall dwarf school and pacific elementary school and carrion apollos In the fourth district i'd like to acknowledge goodwood products from summit views and jennifer young fruteria quetzal And maria penya Did i pronounce that one name correctly? For fruit fruteria Well, it's out. It's okay. I'm sorry Thank you In the fifth district i'd like to recognize benedict dds and associates Thank you Will you please join me in giving a round of applause to these businesses On behalf of the county of santa Cruz i want to thank each business recognized today for their continued support of the county's green business program We invite the business representatives to gather in the hallway where public work staff has arranged a reception We're not going to be joining you. I see supervisor capid already found the food But we're going to continue on with our with our uh No, no, he found it. He found food somewhere else. It sounds like Terry dorsley made chocolate chip cookies. Okay. All right Well, we won't be joining you today for the reception But I just want to acknowledge the hard work it takes to get the green business certification And the importance that plays in our community. You stand as true leaders in the communities. Thank you very much So we'll go back to our regularly scheduled agenda Which is item number 58 Which is considered recommendations for redesign of the sip and pack program submitted by the health services agency On behalf of the pack executive committee and take related actions as outlined in the memorandum Of the health services agency director Sorry to have you come and go Chairman's and members of the board i'm jane win from the health services agency Thank you very much for taking the time to consider the items in your board Regarding the recommendation for pack program redesign. I want to thank our pack executive team members And all the stakeholders who've been involved In the evaluation looking at the evaluation findings of from cs umb and also working on options for the program redesigned Eric rarer is with me this morning and He has been instrumental In looking at the redesigned and how the in the system of care Framework and working with stakeholders In order to move forward for to the recommendation in front of your board today So with that, I would like to hand it over To mr. Rarer for the presentation Good morning. Thank you. And thank you board for allowing us the opportunity to review these recommendations with you today I want to express a special thank you to the work groups that developed these recommendations the clinical work group The housing work group which was facilitated by reyne marre And the criminal justice work group which was facilitated by judge denine guy And district attorney rosell As you recall from prior meetings The packed program in its current form was evaluated by cs umb cs umb came up with a set of recommendations eight recommendations for How to improve the packed program? And I wanted to spend a few minutes walking through those recommendations as they give some context to The overall redesign process that we considered The first was looking at alternative sources of funding for the program and opportunities to leverage additional funding Such as the item listed in number two Specifically around drug medicow funds to support the provision of services to packed recipients Third recommendation was around looking at alternative sentencing models, which is something that the criminal justice group looked at clarifying the program terms and conditions for who graduates from the program or who gets dismissed from the program, which was recommendations four and five How we can enhance case management information systems with clear indications of progress and establish periodic assessments One of the areas that they specifically recommended was looking at the use of an electronic health record to record assessments and progress notes in Number seven looking at alternative types of treatments such as harm reduction approaches and pre adjudication options And all of these recommendations were considered by the three work groups within a larger framework Of assumptions that we use to develop the recommendations that you hear about this morning One of the initial observations by each of the groups was that the Participants in the prior packed program Were homeless and all of the individuals were homeless Many of whom were chronically homeless in the community and that presented a number of challenges to effectively working with them and providing services to them The current approach to working with individuals who are homeless court involved and not court involved Is not necessarily an integrated approach and it often supports a model based on siloed care We have a number of different homeless programs in our community that are each touching this population And often which door you enter into services dictates the types of services You're able to access as a homeless individual A broader approach To working with a homeless population could increase access to a larger array of services in the community and serve more people The fourth assumption that we worked on in terms of developing these recommendations was that the planned drug Medi-Cal expansion that we heard about earlier today Provides access to not only more services, but access to new services not previously reimbursable under Medi-Cal such as case management The fifth assumption that we worked under was that we Felt very strongly about the importance of maintaining the presence of our specialty courts And court processes to support the unique needs of individuals served by the court and the resources that those court programs offer And hence you'll hear a recommendation for the creation of a new packed court The sixth assumption was looking at how we could redeploy existing staff to the courts To create an efficient effective service delivery system And provide that oversight for management of services in the community So the importance of maintaining a linkage to the court programs To what this redesigned model would be Would ensure that we have effective outcomes for the people who are ultimately served by the new program So what came out of the redesign recommendations are several key principles First being how we can improve collaboration among service providers Through the creation of a new multidisciplinary team, which will meet two to three times weekly So very frequently to coordinate the different services and referrals from the community local businesses the court and law enforcement Number two is maintaining a focus on the homeless population So looking at a broader system of care for the homeless population With a special emphasis on individuals who live in hot spot areas throughout the county. For example in downtown santa Cruz And number three is maintaining and formalizing the bobbly packed court as a specialty court program similar to what we have with the behavioral health court Number four is supporting a broader more efficient focus on working with the homeless And designing a system that links homeless individuals with the right services at the right time Including court involved individuals who have had repeated Contacts with law enforcement in the community In terms of the proposed model We're proposing a new collection of of service providers that fall under one umbrella that we're currently calling santa Cruz hopes Or santa Cruz homeless outreach proactive engagement and services team This hopes teams brings the various Homeless providing agencies such as the downtown outreach program the downtown streets program the homeless services center Our different county programs The homeless persons health project under one umbrella to ensure that we have coordinated Services in response to the homeless population who are referred for services And there are three phases that I wanted to talk about this morning in terms of how we approach These referrals to the hopes team The first step is an initial triage and that's Probably one of the more important pieces to the model In terms of Determining through an initial assessment What our immediate response is going to be Is this a situation that requires an immediate visible response in the community? Or can it be referred back to the team for a response and a more coordinated effort amongst the different team members? In the second step, we're doing an outreach Engagement and assessment continued assessment process through the team Who receives a referral for a homeless individual? And we're determining the level of their mental health needs Substance abuse needs and whether or not they're involved with the court There's an outreach and engagement process for individuals to determine their treatment readiness based on an evidence-based motivational interviewing process As well as introducing a harm reduction process for individuals who may not be ready for treatment But nevertheless, we want to remain engaged and connected with them in the community particularly for those difficulty engaged individuals In step three, we see a referral based on four different tracks That are again based on the level of severity of their mental illness Substance use disorder and whether or not the individual has an involvement with the court For individuals who have a mild or moderate mental health issue Mild to severe substance use disorder They'll end court involvement those individuals will be directed to the bobby packed court and At that point there's further assessment by the packed court and the district attorney's office to determine Whether that individual is appropriate for services through the packed court or whether they might be referred to another more appropriate service venue For individuals with a severe mental illness mild or severe substance use disorder And court involvement. They will be directed towards the behavioral health court track For individuals with a mild to moderate mental health issue Mild to severe substance use disorder not currently involved with the court They will be connected with our homeless persons health project and our integrated behavioral health program for treatment services And finally for those individuals who are again not court involved But have a severe mental illness and any degree of substance use disorder They'll be connected with county mental health services and our partner community organizations for for continued provision of services So what we're trying to accomplish is folding the prior packed program into a broader system of care Leveraging additional resources for this population Increasing the numbers a client served and establishing a new packed specialty court We continue to have a focus on priority cases, particularly those who did not fit into the existing packed model that we have today We're currently working on Developing specific outcome measures for the new program Um, and we have outcomes defined for each of five different domain areas System outcomes health outcomes community outcomes criminal justice outcomes and individual outcomes And we're looking to finalize those different outcome measures And make a recommendation back to the executive committee on which ones to proceed with Right now we have about 28 different outcome measures And we're still working on determining which ones we can effectively measure And report on in the future Our next steps Include going back to the city council after today's meeting and providing a similar presentation to the council on these recommendations Finalizing our outcomes and reporting domains Um, beginning to launch our multidisciplinary team meetings beginning in late january early february And recruiting for new positions that are called for in the new model Um beginning later this month and during the month of january if We we do proceed with with these recommendations And that concludes my presentation this morning and i'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have Thank you for the presentation. I'll see if board members have questions supervisor community. No I had just uh, oh supervisor McPherson. Thank you. I um Congratulations again in the follow-up to the the item that we just discussed This is um really a A very good example of how a government establishing a program seeing how it's working staying on top of it And I think there's been some tremendous successes with the PAC program that began as the Bob Lee downtown accountability program in 2013 But I think the collaboration between law enforcement the public service agency the health care workers and the courts Is really a very Something to be recognized and it's a very positive move I think that Having this in place but then seeing some of the uh shortcomings of it But seeing how to address those in the best way we can And doing it pretty quickly too I mean we had to have some years to look at how well it worked and it's worked very well In a lot of instances But I think we can we are going to be doing a better job And I really want to thank the people who have gotten Who have collaborated to get this a new New vision of how we can address this problem because it's one that people talk about every day in our Community and it's something that I'm really glad to see you that we're going to update it and I think we're going to have more positive results because of it Thank you I just had two quick questions When you talked about the outcomes you said you hadn't completely worked them all out Do the individual outcomes include the housing piece or the shelter piece? Yes, they do great The other question I wanted to ask is We recently read in the paper That the that there were some city council members who were Questioning whether they were going to Fund this program if we don't have the participation of the the city of santa cruz What would what would happen? What will we do with this program? Yes, thank you for asking that question At this time the budget is built upon Very active participation financially with the city of santa cruz If the city of santa cruz city council decided to not fund this program Our staff would need to return to your board with Recommendation we would have to review and evaluate the impact And we're frankly speaking if we don't have funding from the city. It's really difficult for me as agency director to request your board To implement this program without the support from the city as well So but we need to work with our team come back and work with the pack executive team work with stakeholders And bring back the recommendation to your board, but it will be very difficult without the funding support from the cd2 Implement this program. Okay. Thank you. Thank you Now I'll open it up to see if members of the public have any comments Good morning. Nice to see our district attorney mr. Rose. Thank you. I didn't have much to say I just wanted to say that We appreciate the board's support that this program was started as supervisor McPherson Just alluded to by bob lee And I was the person that was assigned to this program when it started And I just want to say that through the vision there was a cooperative vision It was a vision that encompassed law enforcement mental health treatment providers the court the public defender and probation And that vision kind of continues and so what we have today is a cooperative effort once again And the the court portion is one portion This addresses a much larger and broader sort of population in a comprehensive way So I just want to say that it does continue the original vision. I'm pleased as the district attorney of this county to see that And we have had tremendous positive sort of results out of it And I think that what we're going to have here is a way to serve sort of a larger population some of those court involved and Some of those not court involved. So I want to thank your support And I want to thank all of the hard work that's gone into this. Thank you Good morning judge guy. Good morning. Thank you I just want to acknowledge the work of all the people that came together to really look at what was A collaboration outside of a bigger system of care and to look at that to figure out how we could more effectively Give services to the individuals that are going in and out of our courts The PAC program has been in place for three and a half years And it has been a collaboration between all different court partners and through the county and we have expanded that Program to the point where I think we've served between SIP and PAC approximately 300 people These are the folks that are going in and out of our court and justice systems Repeatedly costing the taxpayers and the county A lot of extra money and services and time So we have been really working to try to address that issue through the one of the breakout groups that was mentioned one of the Groups that really were tasked to assess where where we go from here. What do we do? I will report that a 16 page report was put together from our justice system group putting together recommendations addressing four of the eight recommendations from the CSUNB Research so the issues regarding Graduation the criteria acceptability Different types of phasing all those issues are addressed and in a redesign recommendation that was put forward from our justice system group Also, the court has expanded as well. We have added a collaborative court Coordinator Nicolette Lee is now working to work with the county agencies and all of you to address better communication between Our behavior health court our PAC court as well as our veterans court and our parole reentry court So we now have for what we call a collaborative court So I know the the word that's being used as specialty courts But it's collaborative courts because it really is a collaboration of everybody across all of our systems to work together With our folks that are in these four courts So I will be stepping down from the PAC court judge basket will continue the work She was already part of this Group and these protocol and outline recommendations But I will be stepping in the shoes of judge more So I'll be working with you all in the behavior health court and still one of the collaborative courts in the county so thank you for all of your consideration and we're very pleased with The communication and the idea that we're going to be working together collaboratively and putting together a system of communication As well as service, so thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your input Is there anyone else who would like to address us? Seeing none, I'll bring it back to our board for action supervisor friend Thank you, chairman. I appreciate the work that's gone on to this over the last few years I do think it's important to reflect a little bit on the history of this program And some of the concerns I have of the actions that the city council took recently in regards to continuing this program This program was created. It came out of a In essence the city task force along with bobby at the time to disproportionately benefit The city at that time I mean issues that were occurring Downtown I would argue that the program still disproportionately benefits the city benefits The police department benefits downtown businesses I agree with judge guy that it has ancillary benefits throughout the entire county But the reality is is this is also a significant ask The county from both the staffing and financial Asked on a program that really disproportionately benefits The city I'll say I was disappointed by the rhetoric that came from the majority of the city council at their last meeting For a program that in essence they asked for A program that they've had a seat at the table the entire time for And a redesign that they also asked for this was it's very reasonable To review a program To do programmatic review we do it on everything else we do through our departments And to see how we can make it better And I think exactly what you've created is a much better program than actually what we had before I think that moving forward with this is the right thing to do But I can't We can't as a county Just simply fund programs that have a disproportionate benefit to another entity When the other entity is a partner only part of the time Um, I believe that that what we should do is we should move these recommended actions But we should make the actions contingent upon full participation from the city And if the city elects to not do their funding I would like to direct that you come back at the first possible meeting after that city decision for this board to consider Whether or not we want to continue with the program I think that either the city is a partner or they're not if they don't want to be a partner Then let them let the city council make that statement at their next meeting So without a motion they do move the recommended actions with the addition of Of requirement that the city participate in funding and if not bring back to us And I'll second that and um, I appreciate Well, first let me start by appreciating the the importance of this program Specifically judge guy district attorney rosell And then the hsa team who's been a really Have been fantastic in bringing people together this population was the population That essentially nobody wanted to serve because they're so challenging And with a bunch of agencies that hadn't worked together traditionally to really collaborate and find Um Collaborative solutions and because of leadership and because of a commitment to doing right by the community We have a really I think we have a good program that is being made even better Uh by the work that's being done. I expect that the city, uh, the city should participate Uh, and in my conversations with council members, um, I would expect a unanimous vote when it comes before them Because they should they they they should see the benefit of uh, of this of this program that that is uh, that is Really being called for? by members of the The entire community but specifically in santa cruz as as vitally important to the public safety of of the city And the county and so um, so i'm hopeful that they'll come back and and continue to be the partners that they have been And I support this recommendation So there's a motion by uh, friend seconded by coonerty supervisor fears. I just wanted to Mention that from the outset. I I worked very closely with father neal coonerty About this and putting this in place who was just adamant to get this done As was stated with the, uh, urgence of the city of santa cruz. So I I do appreciate You know what we have done in the program that we've had But to take a look at it so quickly and say this is how we can even make it better And i'm convinced that we can if we get the funding for it with the city and the county Uh, we're going to have a bigger and better program to serve a lot of people who need it most um supervisor cappie Clarify exactly what the motion is I Actually am prepared to vote on the whole proposal right now, but it seems like it would be delayed Now it's it's to move the recommended actions To just simply make them contingent upon the city funding, which by the way the program's contingent upon anyway So if the city funds it then this moves forward the city doesn't fund it Then the additional direction is to have our health staff come back at the first possible meeting after that to talk to us about What to do at that point. Thank you Is it clear to the clerk of the board Then I will call the question all in favor signify by saying I Any opposed motion carries unanimously. Thank you for all the support and help From all of our partners in this process Thank you Next we will move on to item number 59 Which is a public hearing to consider amendments to the santa cruz county code chapter 17.10 regarding affordable housing ordinance certification of sequel exemption And related actions as outlined in the memorandum of the director of the planning department There are a number of attachments the ordinance chapter 17.10 the clean copy The ordinance chapter 17.10 the strikeout and underline copy the sequa notice of exemption and the summary of job housing linkage fee Good morning. Good morning Julie conway. I managed the county's housing program We are returning today to follow up on a report on the county's affordable housing program that your board heard on october 24 That included recommendations for which you provided guidance An approval and concept and directed staff to return with a draft ordinance language for further consideration As a reminder to listeners the county's affordable housing program began after passage of measure j in 1978 Which required the county to adopt policies to ensure that 15 percent of residential development is affordable to average income households The county has maintained an active housing program since that time Returning regularly for a review of the program and adopting policies that seek to address the county's changing housing need In 2015 the county retained the services of kaiser marston associates To conduct a nexus study and feasibility analysis That resulted in an updated affordable housing program Establishing an affordable housing impact fee or hif Which is a local source of housing funds Besides the impact fee approach the board also decided that for a two-year period Developers would have the option of meeting their affordable housing obligation By providing an affordable unit or paying hif With direction to staff to return in two years with a follow-up report, which we did in october In preparation for the two-year review kaiser marston was again retained to analyze the development economics of the housing program to ensure that we're not Constructing an obstacle to development On october 24th the board supervisors Received the scheduled update of the housing program and provided direction As i said to return with proposed amendments Um And we also included a request for further analysis of the affordable housing impact fee for non-residential development And to return to the housing advisory commission or the hack for a second time to further discuss On-site inclusionary requirements for rental housing In today's draft ordinance our provisions for the updated affordable housing impact fees for residential ownership projects and commercial projects Uh requiring on-site units at 15 percent for ownership projects of seven or more units Excuse me Including map subdivisions being used as rental housing And to incentivize rental housing by encouraging the use of the density bonus program and charging a fee Rather than requiring on-site units Staff is recommending that one of the recommendations from october be revised which i'll discuss later in today's report One of the key features in today's proposed ordinance is a change to the fees for residential ownership projects This chart reflects the hif the board discussed in october The fees continue to incentivize construction of smaller homes with a graduated fee scale And includes additions remodels and replacements at the same rate, but only for net new square footage over 500 square feet Adus will be charged hif as an addition and will also exempt the first 500 square feet So the rate of hif or ad use Of two dollars per square foot has not changed But the first 500 square feet will be exempt exempted and that's consistent with the overall approach to ad use that your board discussed last week Hif will be waived for any ad you that enters into a deed restriction for affordability The unified fee schedule which will be considered by the board later today reflects these changes The hif for commercial development Reflect the october direction of an increase to three dollars per square foot for commercial uses other than certain agricultural buildings As requested staff reviewed commercial development permit history to determine whether the hif would create a barrier to mom and pop commercial developments Of the of 182 permits only nine included net new square footage Over half were under 3000 square feet The majority of the permits are for tenant improvements that are not subject to hif Staff is recommending that hif continue to apply To new commercial square footage The board's october direction included a request for a further discussion of the affordable housing requirements for rental projects On november 1st the housing advisory commission discussed rental housing policies Acknowledging the need for rental housing and the fact that the market is not producing Rental market driven rental at this time The hack recognized that the inclusionary housing requirement is not a primary barrier to building rental apartments But that low density and other development standards are likely the greater hurdle um The density bonus provisions of county code section 1712 allow for up to 35 percent Additional density along with concessions on development standards It's been the county's policy for some time to Allow hud fair market rent And the density bonus program provides an opportunity to get some restricted units And also address a badly needed community housing need So as I mentioned in 2012 Your board adopted the policy Of allowing owners of county affordable rental units to charge hud fmr rather than the measure j restricted rent So i've illustrated up here the difference And we are finding that since we put this policy in pro in place More and more owners of rental units are are choosing to rent voucher holders We are also finding that Builders who are interested in market Rental projects Using a density bonus are very interested in this because it helps level it out and make it easier to actually build So it's worth Acknowledging that that we have that policy in place So the housing advisory commission recognized that the market is not producing rental housing at this time And recommended the continuation of the current policy of charging the nominal two dollars per square foot The hack also requested regular reports on rental projects that are submitted for approval with the intention of revisiting this program in the future Should the market and our density standards start to be producing In market rate rental projects The 15 inclusionary requirement Results in an onsite affordable unit with a seven unit project. This was recommended in the october report We also recommended that The developers no longer have the choice the onsite unit be required And the board would retain its ability to Let a project pay the fee when that makes sense So developers and property owners Need the county to maintain consistent policies when it comes to inclusionary housing Those elements become built into expectations for price And The two-year experiment in developers choice has not increased the rate of development And unlike rental housing It does it has not prevented subdivision projects from proceeding. We continue to see them Come in at all stages and they hasn't slowed them down Or increased them by changing this So upon reviewing the development economic staff believes that requiring Onsite affordable units for projects of seven or more Represents an overall balanced approach to encourage construction of homes And provide permanent affordability In 15 of them for this difficult market In october staff recommended that a change be made to the program to require hif when building permits are issued This was recommended because the current system of payment when homes are sold Was resulting in home home buyers Facing a non-expected fee and it wasn't part of their financing so Since the october recommendation we've met with a number of parties who said that payment when the permit is final Would actually facilitate development rather than when it is issued So to relieve carrying charges during the construction period So by doing that the fee would be included in the cost of development And it but it would redress the issue of an unexpected fee for the homeowner So we're actually recommending that this provision be incorporated into the ordinance Which is a change from what we discussed earlier after discussing it So it is recommended today That your board hold a public hearing to consider revisions to the sanikers county code chapter 1710 Determined the proposed project is exempt from sequa the california environmental quality act Approve the ordinance amending the sanikers county code chapter 1710 In concept and direct the clerk of the board to place the ordinance for second reading and final approval on the next available agenda Thank you Thank you. Are there questions? I just had two One was uh on the last change you suggested about the fees When the final burden building permit Yeah, that's also the certificate of occupancy would be at the same time or We order it we what we do is we final the building permit rather than issue a sievo So at the same time it's the same term. It's the same it's the same term. I just wanted to get clarity Second is since our meeting has the housing advisory commission look over Yes, um, yes, they met on november 1st um as described in the report and discussed this item um again And they had also discussed it at their september meeting. Okay. Thank you Supervisor friend. Thank you chair. Uh, thank you. Ms. Conway for your work as always. Uh, I do I have some questions, but I guess maybe Really where I'm at is I'm I'm just not Um, sure what the best process is here moving forward. I mean this is a very uh, I think that we can all agree we want to build more housing Um, the more the right type of housing I should say And we also want to build more affordable housing And so we need more housing even at the market rate the more affordable market rate as well as just uh deed restricted affordable and uh We've had a lot of conversations about this I don't I don't want to take an action that in any way shape or form would reduce any of those things from happening um and I've had planning over the last few years has come Before the board to talk about the difficulty of building but also given timelines So how long it takes from a land Acquisition standpoint a financing standpoint a permitting standpoint the natural construction standpoint One of the things i'm concerned about is i'm not totally convinced that two a two-year review is really Long enough, uh on this change. We we spent a year And a pretty significant discussion obviously there were court cases that impacted the need for that discussion but That led to the significant revision in 2015 um But if you were uh a developer The change between then and now uh to go through all those steps. I think is a very quick Decision to say that maybe it didn't quite work Do you feel that the two-year review is given enough data to the planning department to really Move down a road. I guess it's not really different roads going back to the road in many respects We used to be down And that you have enough data from the few projects that were cited in the october report to really Say that this is a necessary change at this point So um as as you know, we were directed to return in in two years So that's what we did and What we also did is we wanted to make sure that we updated and reviewed the development economics because As you know, we agree that we do not want to Present an obstacle to development So we reviewed that With our economists, we do believe That these are that the 15 percent on site at seven units Is is reasonable in a balanced approach We had that reviewed specifically for feasibility because we didn't want it to be an obstacle The other thing we looked at is and it and it's difficult. I mean it's it's it's a policy call Right, but um You know, we have not seen uh project speed up And we haven't seen it slow down. Um, we've had an inclusionary ordinance for 40 years It is a known um commodity. I do think that it that um consistency is important Because you're right. It does happen over a long horizon Negotiations for land are happening over a long horizon, which is why You know the the decision I think consistency is important So those were the factors we took into approach When we were when we were talking about this Kathy Maloy-Provich playing director. I mean two-year point though. I think it is uh fair to say that Pre-development, you know, someone identifying that they a piece of land that they want to put together a project Um putting their team together and going through that Two years is a short time To come up with a project to get it submitted To the county and so just wanted to confirm that that I appreciate so I appreciate that so miss Conway I guess my point is is that we had consistency for 40 years and then we broke that consistency and now we're trying to Go back to another thing. So if we were arguing consistency, we would probably maintain what we're Doing for a longer period of time to see whether it changes the trajectory from what we had for the last 40 years Uh, and it's not a it's not a value statement of the efficacy of measure j per se. It's just that we have had um I I consider the affordable housing component over here and there's a whole suite of other things of the boards looking to change in order to make development Uh easier through the code mod and the sustainable Santa Cruz component over here But I also view them as part and parcel if you have a developer that says Maybe item four or five of concern is the inclusionary requirement. It's not number one, which is consistency or uh costs or in that sense that insecurity of knowing whether or not the project will even go through uh So we obviously have to modify to the degree We can the codes that allow for the densities allow for the corridor locations to happen But if this is still one of the 20 percent of the decision-making process And it's I don't want to make that decision in a vacuum I feel like what we're doing is is pulling it out and making it in a vacuum and and I remember the discussion We had a robust discussion actually at that time two years ago as to whether we should Change it and we had a a difference of I mean respectful difference of opinions that time My colleague had recommended a one-year review and you know, I made the motion for a two-year review But I didn't anticipate a wholesale change back at two years I just I just considered this in essence a check-in and this is more than a check-in recommendation It's a it's a full-scale change. So I'm this is one of the few times that I'm really not convinced yet What's being presented to me is the right direction. I don't feel comfortable Necessary with the direction. There are certain things in here that I'm not as concerned about I think some of the few asks aren't aren't The end of the world. It really just comes down to the inclusionary component and whether or not that's going to If it's a word, I don't know disincentivize. I mean incentivize became a word since we've been adults, I guess But to discourage development Is something we just don't want and I recognize that that this is a this is a difficult conversation for people in Santa Cruz county to have and people don't like the term growth They don't like but I mean realistically what we're talking about is a new kind of development To both meet the needs that we haven't met for the last 40 years And to meet the future needs when these aren't single family homes in suburban areas That's part of the code mod But I just don't know whether the inclusionary is there and that's where I'm torn on this I appreciate you answering those two questions But I think that these should be more of a holistic discussion that we're having right now Which is my hesitancy on voting just on this element. Thank you Let's open it up for public discussion then Please come forward crowded room this this morning Casey Byer from the santa cruz county santa cruz area chamber of commerce chairman leopold and and supervisors. Thank you for Meeting with us over the last couple of weeks is your staff I brought this forward in october and now again for a hearing today And I want to compliment your staff for also meeting with us and giving us their insight of how they got How they arrived at their position today We disrespectfully disagree on a couple of items and we we believe as a supervisor friend has said That two years simply put is not it's not a lengthy enough time to make an evaluation whether program is working or not Ask any developer in santa cruz county how long it takes to get a construction permit Just ask that question And it's not two years It's more like seven years and in some cases more like 15 years depending on the location What we are recommending is that you continue this item and bring it into a more holistic conversation with the community and the stakeholders We're not against inclusionary zoning We just think if it's got to be done right and it's got to be done where there's land used opportunities where that type of development can be placed I call it right size right location you're going through a Zone modification program, but that's a year and a half away Now you want to put this particular item in front of it And then ask the developer to say okay build those seven units And by the way make make one or two of those units inclusionary And he's gonna he or she's gonna ask you the question. Where's the land? Where's the available land to do that? Where's the the land owner is willing to sell at a market rate so that you can build those units All of those questions are unanswered in this report I respectfully appreciate Julie and kathy's work on this and for meeting with this and I just respect having an opportunity to talk to the ceo But please take a look at where you're going. I think there's better judgment ahead. Thank you Good morning Good morning chair leopold board I just want to echo More of what supervisor friend said in terms of taking some time and having a more holistic approach to To this kind of policy spectrum of dealing with housing affordability generally I won't take up too much of your time when we sent you a letter. We've sat down and met with most of you As well as staff and the ceo So I'll tell you a little bit of time in terms of we would love for you to To continue this to a later date so when we can have a more holistic assessment of The impact these policies may have but to tell you what we're going to do in that time In that time we would compile proformers We will compile Statistics that would give you a local context around how these policies are being implemented currently We'd provide you with case study analysis of looking at other areas that have addressed this Dressed this issues and drafted their own inclusionary ordinances I would definitely point towards the city of santa cruz Which has brought in multiple consultants just on inclusionary ordinances and just on the kind of New nuances and different kinds of balancing approaches You can take whether it's incentive structures or whether it's tiering different fee structures But we're happy to provide this education to host some of these meetings And to just provide more local context around the impact that these policies might be having so We would encourage you to continue this ordinance to a later date At which time we'll use that time to provide more information more context Ultimately help you to inform you make a better decision. So thank you Thank you Good morning Yeah, good morning tim will be speaking for affordable housing now And today i'm here to speak for the approximately 13 000 people Who are on a housing authority wait list for affordable housing of which several thousand are section 8 applicants and for the 460 seniors who Did not get spaces in the st. Stephens project So that's our name affordable housing now Not several years from now now all those people need it now not later Um, I would like to point out that for years and years and years As miss conway pointed out all across the state of california There have been 15 inclusionary requirements and builders have built everywhere Including our own area with a 15 inclusionary requirement The only thing that has changed Is That now they want to wait and not have an inclusionary requirement when they get through with their study They'll say we can't have it. It's a disincentive Well, they made the same arguments before and they still built in this environment with the most expensive housing sales And the most expensive rents. That's a preposterous argument. I'm sorry. I don't buy it Anyway, we also have a disagreement with the hac on the rental requirement On the inclusionary part of the rentals If you do the math, it still doesn't make sense. Okay, if you build Say a 40 unit project with a thousand square feet in each unit That would give you with a 15 percent requirement Six affordable housing rentals if you pay two dollars per square foot. That's 80 thousand dollars That doesn't even buy half Of a unit You the average I think is around 130,000. So it makes no sense at all If I could just make one more final statement. You have a minute left. Okay So as was brought out there is this There is a substitute of doing section eight And it would seem to me that a developer would like that Because they lose no money at all to get the same rent That they would otherwise however if you're building 12 1500 Square foot units That doesn't make sense So it was smaller units. It would be better. Otherwise what we end up with are Units that are affordable only to the most Prosperous people. So please take action. Don't wait. Thank you. Thank you Good morning. Good morning Kent Washburn former chairman of your housing advisory commission I understand two of my colleagues were here this morning when I had a court hearing and couldn't be with you Um, I think the item before you represents good staff work I support it and uh, and its recommendations not because I think it's a final step or a solution But I think I'm just looking at the same elephant from a different side as a zack and some of the rest of you are Seeing it as only a partial, uh, you know one step and a long journey that needs to be taken Uh concerning the needs of uh of our community for low and moderate, uh affordable housing We're not getting the job done. That's um, and and we we file farther and farther behind Every year we rank in the least affordable housing market statistics every year nationwide not just in california in terms of the difference between our Our median income and our median real estate prices I think to some extent today's uh directive which staff Our today's proposal which fulfills a directive made two years ago Reflects the time two years ago when we didn't see as much of an emergency today from the uh from the standpoint of Of the widening gap. I think it represents Rearranging deck chairs on the titanic after it has hit the iceberg The iceberg meaning the tremendous need for affordable housing Your staff didn't have a directive to to steer around the iceberg or the power to steer around it All they had all they had was a directive to to take care of deck chairs And it's a good idea to keep them out of the way when when people are headed to the lifeboats But uh, we have people in our community the elderly and retired people with health problems people Who who can't get good work? On With with needs that are not being met. I have four recommendations for you First of all turn the hack loose the housing advisory commission It's a mandate says to conduct a continuous study of housing issues and report to the board of supervisors on its work And I think you should uh should give us more work Your staff will tell you that it needs more staff time. So give them a little more funding. Please Uh julie conway since I met her about four years ago Always is trying to get more than 24 hours a day to to take care of housing needs and she keeps failing And and she's not getting any younger So give give her more staff Bite the bullet of the political debate that we all know needs has to happen here in order to think outside the boxes of the past I helped to write measure j when I was a law student clerking for County council and gary patin was uh was moving that forward. So I've I've been part of this for a long time And uh help us to think outside the box. Thank you Interns do go on to great things Good morning. Good morning board members. My name is tom burns and uh while i'm affiliated with affordable housing Now i'm here speaking for myself this morning and hadn't planned to speak but I just think this is a really important item We all agree that we have a housing crisis in santa cruz county Well, all people can respectfully disagree about what to do about that And I really am pleased to see the board Making a number of initiatives. I wish they could go faster To address this problem sustainable santa cruz the funding measure that will hopefully be on the ballot next year and others But I don't think the inclusionary housing program needs to be thrown in the basket with all those other things and in fact Stand strongly on its own two feet. It's the one program that provides dispersed affordable housing units And it's the one program that provides affordable housing for moderate income people Which you know is a huge Need in this community and not to say the measure j has come close to meeting that need but it's something Those other efforts are going to take years And so if this is put off today, we're talking about leaving this as it is for many years to come In the decades of working in land use in santa cruz I can't think of one situation where I heard a developer say if it weren't for those inclusionary housing programs The requirements we would be able to do x y or z. They complain about a lot of things But that was not the main thing that people complained about Um In fact I'm sure the economics have all changed But one of the previous speakers referred to development performance I went through a number of those at the time and it was really clean and really simple The land value was based on the number of market rate units that could be built on the site It was not based on the inclusionary requirements. So the developers paid for land based on that They were able to recover most of their construction costs on the sale of the house And again, that's not why they complained Rental housing is more complex And I understand the need for trying to create inducements for more rental housing But to have the opportunity which I didn't realize till last week already on the code to allow section eight Renters in those units seems like a win-win for section eight voucher holders Who can't find units and developers who are seeking better cash flow for their projects So in conclusion Again, it's great to see the county taking seriously this issue affordable housing But don't hang this one up it stands on its own and it provides some really good small, but everything's going to be small Outcomes for the community. Thank you. Thank you Is there anyone else who would like to address us? Seeing none, I'll bring it back to the board. Uh, supervisor McPherson Yeah, I'd like to make some comments before I ask for Continuance of this item and that planning department saying oh my gosh, we've spent a lot of time on this already. I know But I think if we want to solve our housing crisis, um We're going to need to change our ways In some ways that haven't been done before For nearly 40 years now since the passage of measure j and a short two-year term of The amendment to increase the fee structure Affordable housing really hasn't put a dent in what's available out there for us And we have a never-growing number of residents to be clear The county has slowed population growth as was desired with measure j Even as it as we continue to grow in this county ever so slowly, but we've seen as Um permits for marketplace housing crept along at a the 50 level year in and year out people kept adding up here and 15 percent of very little doesn't mean very much We now have what we have all identified as a housing crisis here And I'm not for accepting a bill that any costs mentality, but I'm and I'm not pointing our fingers at our planning department Who has followed the constant continuous string of ordinance that has been approved by the county board of supervisors over the year and implemented by county administrators And and really some of those decisions on housing are out of our hands when it gets to the coastal commission possibly site limitations for housing taken place the up and down marketplace And additionally we always have to address some very limited infrastructure Opportunities here we have or should we say realities that we have in Issues such as water and transportation But I think if we don't If we don't change our housing or planning processes So people have a better understanding of what we want for them We're going to have the same conversation in 40 years or two years for down the road So I believe some of the we've we've heard from the housing advisory committee earlier today and right now And I do believe some of the ideas from the consortium of the housing advocates as they're called I guess And others that has merit and we should continue this I don't know how long we want to continue it. I think three or four I don't want to have this thing go on for another two years I think we ought to address some of the issues that have been brought up here And by those interests that have been mentioned But if we could come back in three or four months or a short period of time It and air some of those proposals openly And consider including them in our housing and I do believe our planning department has been listening to what others have to say But some that really particularly make sense to me Is establishing a new mixed use policy for instance That more housing units are needed to make a commercial venture go if they're Mixed together I I think that that has been discussed Possibly adding ad use as partially offsetting our affordable housing inclusion of 15 percent Establishing a bonus Which has been been made Been mentioned by the planning department for including inclusionary affording affordable housing And maybe even establishing by right zones We have limited properties here for housing to take place, but we have a tremendous need for that to take place And so I would I'm just not comfortable And I do appreciate again what the planning department has brought forward to us since our October meeting, but I think there still needs more there's more that needs to be done and that We should take Into consideration more seriously. I've mentioned a few I'm sure some of the of our other board members have some ideas as well, but I think we really should Be different as was stated think outside the box and really say If we're going to address this housing issue and in particular affordable housing Let's include some of these suggestions that have been mentioned And discuss them more thoroughly and come back in three or four months five months and really Be in a position. I think to make a better decision Supervisor cap it With the What's the current fee that we have for a unit that's uh 500 square feet or less Is there a fee right now? $2 per square foot of we're actually Suggesting that we I want to be sure I'm clear about what type of unit you're talking about if there was a new Single-family home of 500 square feet proposed, which would be unlikely They tend to be more in the neighborhood of a thousand square feet when they're small That Unit would be charged two dollars per foot An addition Or an ad you would deduct the first 500 square feet and then after that be charged two dollars a foot All right, and then uh, I was looking at it Uh, it is rent, you know, control controlling the rent. It's part of the agreement Uh, and it did say like for um One bedroom would be about 1044 But if they if they were put on section eight, they're getting about double Yeah, uh, what you're referring to is the rents that can be charged on affordable units That are controlled by the county So for for many years the measure j program has had a provision. They're called investor owner units They're allowed to be rented the rent is set and required to be affordable calculated at 60 percent of median income The board changed the policy In 2012 to allow for the higher rents And the reason for that was really, um, we were having a crisis which has continued To find for find units that people with section eight vouchers Other tenant based subsidy can use We have found that that provision of allowing fair market rents to be charged is actually Proving to be very interesting To developers looking at building rental housing Because they can have deed restricted units And remember under the density bonus program That is currently in place chapter 1712, which is consistent with state law Um, 35 percent of those units are deed restricted as affordable in perpetuity. So forever So the landlord is agreeing to do that that that agreeing that they will always rent to Low-income households and charge them an affordable rent So the fact that your board has that policy Actually is we believe an incentive to density bonus projects and we believe that Not by the number of projects that have come in for approval But by the number of developers that are coming to talk to us About density bonus Projects which would get us additional units. They do tend to be small So Because they're rental units and they tend to be smaller units which we want more of Thank you I had a couple comments that I wanted to make Um When um, when we made this change a couple years ago Um, I didn't support it. Um, I thought it was it wasn't a good policy strategy Um, it was there was no clear information Um, uh from developers Uh, that said that it was a real effect on them um And the board decided to try something Um in those two years which people have said is not a very Long amount of time I I think in my district alone. There was five units that were not built So we got to ask ourselves how many years do we want to do this? Do we want 10 units to go away? 15 20 units One of the speakers says that it takes 15 years to get a uh a permit So should we wait 15 years to try to figure this out? No We didn't the I appreciate the staff work on it because it didn't just you know Look at themselves and try to come up with something that they thought would work out They actually talked to economists And they looked at at at financial numbers and they had performs Um So this isn't a casual recommendation Um, and I appreciate the um testimony from our former planning director He has spent a few years looking at development projects in santa cruz county um And so I take his uh testimony seriously um Meanwhile, there's another side that says Well, give us time to put together something. You know try to figure it out um When I met with the the representatives here they didn't provide me with uh any proformas or economic information. It was just What they thought and they had clear ideas of other things we should do I respect that and I I saw a draft just uh yesterday of the monoray bay economic partnership paper On housing and there's some things that we're doing and some things that they um that they'd like us to do But uh We we're not making we're not this change is not being suggested casually um it uh And the other thing that I would and and not only has it been studied, but it's been reviewed by our volunteers Um as part of the housing advisory commission not once but twice Um, they have stated pretty clearly where they stand on it And just to be clear This doesn't take away the ability for a developer To pay an illu fee It requires them to come to this board That's that's far different than than than a mandate um So I support these changes and I think we should make them now and I think that that uh That uh, it it will make a difference to those who say those 500 units that were created by measure j since the time Uh that the that that measure passed Is not enough. I would argue Show me a better strategy to build 500 units of dispersed housing in santa cruz county at no cost to the county um and We could argue that it should have been more And that that that uh that if that if we had some different policy We wouldn't be in the housing crisis we're in I would argue that's just not Accurate it's there are communities across Uh, california some who have inclusionary zoning some who don't some that have changed it and we have a housing crisis in california um this board has uh Let an effort and been unanimously supportive of it efforts around sustainable santa cruz We should be talking about how we get that environmental work done on the sustainable santa cruz done quicker um because If we had that done that we could make those mixed use changes that we talked about we would have those new Zoning pieces in place We wouldn't need to wait So I say this is these are good recommendation based on real facts Reviewed by economists supported by our housing advisory commission Um And even approved in concept unanimously by this board just a couple weeks ago So I think we should move forward with it and it doesn't mean we stop the discussion It means we continue to discussions and we work hard and maybe we need to to think about strategically Do we need to to provide extra money to planning to get the sustainable santa cruz county plan done quicker? But I would I don't think we should miss this opportunity to provide the community sure so, uh Somewhere in between the comments of the my fellow board members today I support returning to an inclusionary option at the board's discretion Um, but I also appreciate supervisor McPherson's ideas around looking at other changes we can make um in order to create incentives For not only more market rate housing and more affordable housing But also smaller housing in both those categories And I'm not sure our fee structure is doing quite enough when I look at some other jurisdictions To to really look at how we can use these fees to create incentives in both the market and um and the affordable category and so, uh, I think Wait a couple months. I'll bring maybe a few. I don't want to wait for the code modernization and have the the two Um, although I agree with supervisor friend that the two are intricately uh Intertwined, but I do think are there there may be some interim things we can do To add a little nuance and to add some other incentives in order to get the kinds of housing Um that we so desperately need so I support You know a short delay that allows for some, uh, some more conversations Uh within the context of assuming If there are the the votes that we move towards, uh reinstating the inclusionary piece, but what what else can we do to make sure that uh that we maintain market interest in smaller units More units, uh, and more and obviously more affordable units So, uh, um I'm not sure Do you want to do you want to attempt a motion? Sure. Uh, so I'll move to continue this item until Uh The second meeting in march whenever whenever that is Oh second Let me ask a question. Are we not going to change the the the fee structure or anything else? I mean I I'm just I I still I still have some questions around the fee structure and because because of the size my interest in In creating some incentives, so I wasn't uh quite Ready to go there yet today All right, so there's a motion by community seconded by cap it to uh continue this item to when second meeting in march second meeting in march March 20th I'll just say uh I don't support the motion. Um, I think we could make these changes and still continue the discussion and come back on march 20th and and Make things even better. Um, I I think this is a missed opportunity this would will be a missed opportunity and You could use the same reasoning to put this decision off Uh forever and always and uh as as sometime you have to just sort of Um, you know make a clear decision and and move forward and continue To to use all the tools that we have to accomplish our policy goals Would uh What is the staff recommendation uh to actually vote on it or continue it? No, I couldn't uh to vote on it You have in your packet, uh red line of changes to Chapter 1710 of the county code Um, so there's a number of provisions that have been discussed from the last meeting in this meeting That includes some changes so The recommendation was to hold a public hearing And discuss the changes to the code And um make make a decision one way or another. Okay, so to make a final vote on it I mean right now rather than continuing. Yeah, it's it's on the screen right in front of you I don't know. Do we have any other comment on this on the motion or anything? I'm going to be supporting the motion Okay All right. I just don't want to you know throw I hear your point there and I just don't want to Make it a lot harder on your staff. So Okay, all right, but I'll support the motion Um, if there's no other comment, uh a call for the vote all in favor signify by saying aye. Hi Opposed no So on a four one vote, uh, we vote to continue this matter till March 20th Uh, that brings us to the end of our morning session of the No, we have one we got one more Sorry We'll move on to item 60, which is consider reappointments of julia hill and alan smith the law library board of trustees Returned to expire december 31st 2018 I'll take a motion Motion by McPherson seconded by cappett all in favor signify by saying aye And the opposed motion carries unanimously That ends our morning portion and we will be coming back at 1 30 Uh to hear the remaining items on our agenda. We'll be taking closed session at the end of that