There were about 35 to 40 people who had filled out a card to make public comments and the time was limited to 3 minutes for each speaker.
Found out quickly that there was a large crowd for two reasons:
1. They had on the agenda an item to approve a new company to run the OC Airport.
2. There were many in attendance to talk about the Homeless Situation – thought about filling out a card but passed – there were about 25 that did.
The first speaker was a lawyer on the phone from Washington with one of the Board Members, Shawn Nelson. The lawyer announced that her firm was filing suit against the county due to flaws in the way that they had handled the hiring of a new group to run the airport. Someone in Santa Ana had the paperwork as well and turned it into a Board clerk. The first 20 or so speakers talked about the airport situation. Several were from the company (Signature) that had lost the contract, telling the Board that they did not properly handle the awarding of the new contract. Several were from the company that was to be awarded the contract (ACI Jet). Still others were Businesses or individuals who had private planes that used OC airport who wondered why a change was being made.
The result was that the Board did not approve the new contract (an item later on the agenda) mainly due to the threat of a lawsuit.
The second group of speakers talked about the problem of the homeless and how badly the Board and the County were handling the problem.
Recently there have been issues about the homeless living in the Santa Ana River Bed and being hassled and intimidated by authorities. The has apparently included the building of fences around the encampments to limit access, the storage of large rocks to disrupt the tented areas and the collection of belongings when the homeless leave for periods of time. The speakers about the homeless situation included several lawyers who were looking out for the homeless, normal folks who just wanted to protect the homeless, and several of the homeless or used to be homeless, one was Paul from Anaheim that I sat next to in the hall. They all battered the Board about how they were not using funds at their disposal to properly take care of the homeless and how they were not treating the homeless with the dignity they deserved.l Several suggested that the Board members ought to go down to the River Bed so that they could better understand the plight of the homeless – it did not appear that any Board member accepted their invitation. Dwight Smith, the husband part of the Husband-Wife team that run a homeless shelter in Santa Ana called the Isaiah House, was the final speaker during the public comments that lasted about an hour and 40 minutes.
As with other Meetings I have attended (School Board, City Council) the Board Members did not reply to the issues brought up by the speakers. Several of the speakers about the homeless elicited a round of cheers and clapping that the Chair, Michelle Steel, tried to tamp down and kept saying there was to be not public reaction. Somewhere in that segment a guy dressed in a clown outfit (really) told the Chair that Free Speech included clapping and cheering and that it was OK – he received a cheer and clapping for that comment.
Watch the Meeting
Times & topics are listed below
Comments in italics below may be paraphrased (i.e., not verbatim).
0 – 8:00
Chairwoman Steel will be presenting resolutions to Dr. Phuong Nguyen, Tracy Pham, Dr. Timothy Bui and Serena Nguyen for their leadership in both their chosen professions as well as their charitable dedication to the Vietnamese American community of Orange County in Commemorating the 42nd Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon
9:00 – 12:00
Supervisor Todd Spitzer’s remarks on the Vietnamese community (he mentions their contributions and recognizes the importance of free speech, including dissident speech).
12:27 – 15:00
Photo op for honorees & their families.
15:00
break
19:00
Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance
Housekeeping
23:00
Public Comments
81 requests to speak, each speaker limited to one minute; Svsr. Spitzer suggested 2 min., Svsr. Steel agreed but also said don’t repeat what someone else said
26:00
airport comments
1:14
Homeless advocates’ comments
1:18
airport comments
1:43
comments on county social workers’ pay
eligibility workers understaffed by 45% in 2015; county no longer publishes these statistics
last month over 1/3 of 75,000 calls to the call center were unanswered
we are required to know many constantly-changing, complex programs
stressful situations with heavy workloads
we are responsible for vast amounts of money
we live in a wealthy county but we are paid less than workers in surrounding counties
2:02
complaint about aircraft noise; county lawsuit against FAA
2:03
comments on county social workers’ pay
2:05
airport comments
2:09
homeless comments
2:13
airplane noise
2:15
homeless comments
2:19
airplane noise
2:21
allegation of corruption
2:25
airplane noise
2:28
airport contract
2:30
homeless
2:32
airport contract
2:37
Consent Calendar
Airport contract discussions among the supervisors
http://ocgov.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=4
Special Meeting 3/9/17
Was a closed session meeting; from agenda:
County Counsel – CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL – INITIATION OF
LITIGATION – Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(4):
Number of Cases: One Case
3/14/17 Morning Meeting
0:00 – 11:00
Month of March designated as Social Work Month
12:00 – 13:00
break
13:00 – 22:00
Jackie Hare & Tom Grable commendations
23:00 – 25:00
break
25:00 – 28:00
Jackie Hare commendation
29:00 – 30:00
break
30:00 – 31:00
Prayer; Pledge of Allegiance
32:00 – 34:00
housekeeping
34:00 – 1:13:00
Public comments
one complaint about John Wayne process lack of transparency
poem about homelessness (after Dr. Seuss)
multiple complaints about board’s homeless policy (among other things, board prevented volunteers from providing water and porta-potties; locked people inside the encampment)
Homeless count: 4500
Consent Calendar
1:13:00 – 2:04:00
ITEM 6
Sheriff-Coroner:
6. Approve amendment 4 to agreement MA-060-12011698 with TouchPay Holdings, LLC for jail kiosk services, 3/20/17 – 3/19/18; and authorize Purchasing Agent or authorized Deputy to execute amendment – All Districts
This is about unreasonable charges for processing credit cards, payments (e.g., $4 for a $20 commissary purchase, $8 for $50; $500 for $10,000 cash bail); for commissary, bail.
Supervisor Nelson was displeased that there has been no action on reducing these fees after 3 yrs. Supervisor Do agreed.
Contract not approved
2:04:00 – 2:25:00
ITEM 35.
35. Approve agreement MA-080-17011324 with Macro-Z-Technology Company for Construction Manager-At-Risk services for Year-Round Emergency Shelter project, 1000 N. Kraemer Place, Anaheim, 3/14/17 – 3/13/20 ($95,000); approve expenditure of funds to fund a negotiated agreement with Macro-Z-Technology Company for construction phase services, commencing date of execution ($8,000,000); and authorize Director or designee to execute agreements – District 3
This is about housing for the homeless. Svsrs. Spitzer and Nelson appear to have been taking the lead. Phase 1 is for 100 beds, dining hall/meals, restrooms, showers, recreation, transportation, security plan. “No walkup, all referral” because this is important to the surrounding community.
Phase 2 for 100 more beds, multi-service center, health clinic, substance abuse & mental health treatment, computer/email, separate dining & living areas.
Supervisor Bartlett: “This is not just a shelter where you are going to house people. This is different. ”
Supervisors emphasized that homelesness is a state-wide & national problem. Bartlett expressed concern that more homeless may come to California from other states if we create good solutions.
Svsr. Andrew Do (2:23): “I would like those people [those who say the board is not doing enough] to present proposals to us. Do the legwork, contact cities, find some location, some potential projects.”
Motion passed (2:25:20)
2:26:00
For more on these amendments see the agenda.
ITEM 16.
Sheriff-Coroner:
16. Ratify retroactive amendment 2 to renew subordinate agreement MA-060-15010977 to master agreement MA-017-13010881 with Ray Carmody dba Carmody Construction for general construction and maintenance services, 1/14/17 – 1/13/18 ($500,000; cumulative total $1,535,000); and authorize Purchasing Agent or authorized Deputy to execute amendment – All Districts
Motion Passed
ITEM 17.
17. Ratify retroactive amendment 2 to renew subordinate agreement MA-060-15010976 to master agreement MA-017-13010879 with Dain Hormell dba DH General Contractor for general construction and maintenance services, 1/9/17 – 1/8/18 ($125,000; new total $400,000; cumulative total $1,250,000); and authorize Purchasing Agent or authorized Deputy to execute amendment – All Districts
Motion passed
ITEM 18.
18. Ratify retroactive amendment 2 to renew subordinate agreement MA-060-15010973 to master agreement MA-017-13010880 with Action Contractors, Inc. for general construction and maintenance services, 1/9/17 – 1/8/18 ($70,000; new total $500,000; cumulative total $1,955,000); and authorize Purchasing Agent or authorized Deputy to execute amendment – All Districts
Motion passed
ITEM 19 Motion passed
ITEM 20 Motion passed
ITEM 21 Motion passed
ITEM 22 Motion passed
ITEM 23 Motion passed
ITEM 24 Motion passed
ITEM 25 Motion passed
ITEM 26 Motion passed
ITEM 27 Motion passed
ITEM 28 Motion passed
ITEM 29 Motion passed
ITEM 30 Motion passed
ITEM 31 Motion passed
ITEM 32 Motion passed
ITEM 33 Motion passed
ITEM 34 Motion passed
ITEM 36 Motion passed
ITEM 34 Motion passed
2:33:00
ITEM 36
To increase the penalty for voting fraud
Motion passed
ITEM 37 Motion passed
ITEM 38 Motion passed
ITEM 39 Motion passed
ITEM 41 Motion passed
2:42:00 – 3:01:26
ITEM 42a
Whole Person Care Pilot (homeless & indigent healthcare)
Discussion about publicizing the County’s work on homelessness
Discussion about new system being planned to help locate open beds/
Motion passed
ITEM 42b Motion passed
3:01:26 – 3:08:43
ITEM 42c
Salary & benefits for Exec. Dir. of Campaign Finance & Ethics Commission
S42C. Human Resource Services – Approve Employment Agreement with Denah Hoard as Executive Director of Campaign Finance and Ethics Commission 4/10/17 – 4/9/21 (annual base salary $185,000 ($88.94 x 2080 hours) with total compensation (including benefits) $291,234)
Motion passed
3:08:43 – 4:03:14
ITEM 42d
S42D. OC Public Works – Approve agreement MA-080-17011352 with Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. for Edinger Avenue Bridge Replacement Project over Bolsa Chica Channel ($14,430,599); approve agreement MA-080-17011060 with PreScience Corporation for
Construction Management and Inspection Services, 3/14/17 – 3/13/20 ($1,660,000); and authorize Director or designee to execute agreements – District 2
Motion passed
ITEM 43
43. Supervisor Bartlett – Public Hearing to consider adopting resolution establishing an Urban Agricultural Incentive Zone within city limits, San Juan Capistrano; and make California Environmental Quality Act and other findings (Continued from 2/28/17, Item 27)
3/14/17 Afternoon Meeting
0
Board approved settlements