URBAN COUNTIES CAUCUS

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1 URBAN COUNTIES CAUCUS 1100 K Street, Suite 101/Sacramento, CA 95814/ (916) FA (916) /UCC@urbancounties.com UCC Board of Directors Meeting Summary March 12, 2014 Federal Glover Executive Director Jolena L. Voorhis Alameda: Contra Costa: Los Angeles: Orange: Riverside: Sacramento: San Bernardino: San Diego: San Francisco: San Mateo: Santa Clara: Ventura: UCC: CHEAC: CSAC: Myrna Lopez, Amy Shrago, Nicole Wordelman Federal Glover Don Knabe, Steve Kawamura, Donna Seitz John Moorlach, Cymantha Atkinson, Holly Fraumeni John Benoit Susan Peters, Natasha Carl, Leslie McFadden Josie, Josh Candelaria Dave Roberts, Geoff Patnoe, Andy Pease Steve Cruz, Connie Juarez-Diroll Ken Yeager, Michael Rattigan Kathy Long, Sue Hughes, Nicole Wordelman Jolena Voorhis, Lennette Childs Judith Riegel London Biggs I. Call to Order UCC Federal Glover convened the meeting and called the members to order. II. Roll Call of Counties There were 9 s present and 11 counties represented at this meeting. III. Approval of Minutes from February 5, 2014 UCC Board Meeting APPROVED with amendment 8-0 Member County Yes No Absent Not Glover, Contra Costa Orange Carson Alameda Knabe Los Angeles Board of Directors: : Federal Glover, Contra Costa County Vice : John Moorlach, Orange County Treasurer: Vacant

2 Benoit Riverside Peters Sacramento San Bernardino Roberts San Diego Mar San Francisco Carole Groom San Mateo Yeager Santa Clara Long Ventura Vote Total IV. Items for Consideration 1) State Budget a) Update on State Budget Activities Staff reported, the Governor s Budget was released on January 9, A handout was provided of the letters that UCC has sent so far on various budget issues including Cap and Trade and Public Safety Reforms. The Legislature is just beginning to hold hearings on the various proposals in the Governor s Budget. Staff informed the board about a groundwater briefing taking place on Thursday, March 13, 2014, which is an informational hearing on groundwater that could have an impact on local government. Split Sentencing Discussion Possible Action Item- No Action Taken Staff reported, as part of 2011 Public Safety Realignment, judges are allowed to sentence felons to split sentences. Offenders that receive a split sentence spend the initial portion in jail and the remaining portion in the community under mandatory supervision of county probation departments. Many public policy experts believe that split sentences reduce jail populations because it could reduce the amount of time offenders spend in jail and allow access to services. The Governors Budget proposes two changes to split sentencing: 1. Presumptive Split Sentencing. The Governor proposes to make split sentences the presumptive sentence for eligible felons. The legislation would also restrict how judges can divide split sentences between jail and mandatory supervision as follows: o 3 years or less. Judges would have complete discretion in determining what portion of the sentence is served in jail or under mandatory supervision. o 3 to 8 year sentence. Judges would be required to order at least one year of mandatory supervision. o 8 or more years. Judges would not be allowed to order mandatory supervision terms that exceed one-third of the total sentence length. 2. One-Year Enhancement for Mandatory Supervision Felonies. The Governor s Budget also adds an additional one-year enhancement to all felony sentences in cases where the offender committed the felony while under mandatory supervision. Board of Directors: : Federal Glover, Contra Costa County Vice : John Moorlach, Orange County Treasurer: Vacant

3 The LAO analysis notes that the presumptive split sentencing proposal may increase the use of mandatory supervision which could increase the number of offenders subject to programs delivered in the community and improve offender outcomes. However, the LAO notes concerns about the proposal s restriction on the ability of judges to determine the appropriate amount of time for offenders to spend on mandatory supervision. The LAO raises concerns about the one-year enhancement proposal and recommends that the Legislature reject the proposal due to the impact it would have on overcrowding. While UCC staff has sent a letter in support of other Governor s proposals including jail funding and fire camps, we did not comment on the split sentencing proposal because we do not have any policy on this issue. The Board may want to consider whether we should support the presumptive split sentencing proposal by the Governor. Staff also noted that CSAC is in support of the split sentencing proposal. During the discussion on split sentences Knabe stated that LA County opposes CSAC s support position. He said the proposal was too prescriptive on judges. Roberts from San Diego County agreed. Riverside County said they use the split sentencing but whether or not it should be mandatory was in question. Moorlach from Orange county said they support the use of split sentencing, but prefer that judges had discretion and feels the proposal should be re-worded, and said he would be open to taking an oppose unless amended position. Long from Ventura County said they want to do more research on the matter before weighing in, and Yeager from Santa Clara County agreed but feels that there are some advantages to the split sentences. Staff said they would reach out to the Judicial Council and stakeholders and gather some more information and report back to the board. This issue was held open. CWDA Budget Proposals Possible ACTION Item- APPROVED UCC has been asked to support three budget proposals by the County Welfare Director s Association, which was provided in a handout: Human Trafficking. CWDA proposes to increase funding support to enable county child welfare agencies to serve child victims of commercial sexual exploitation by providing $40.6 million in the first year and $28.4 million thereafter. This funding would support child welfare worker training and staffing in the urban counties most affected by human trafficking, partnership with survivors, and systems coordination. Adult Protective Services. CWDA proposes to increase state funding support for statewide APS training at a cost of $1.25 million in General Funds. This proposal would increase training days from 5 days to 12 days for a new worker and would also support curriculum development and training for supervisors. Foster Parent Recruitment, Retention and Support. CWDA proposes to increase support for kinship and foster parent recruitment, retention and support by $13.5 million. These funds would provide direct support to foster children placed with kin caregivers and foster parents. In a recent budget hearing, there was testimony regarding the limited support provided to kin and foster parents. Board of Directors: : Federal Glover, Contra Costa County Vice : John Moorlach, Orange County Treasurer: Vacant

4 Roberts from San Diego County asked staff where the money is going to come out of, and staff replied that it is to come from the General Fund. Roberts said, we agree that these are key programs, however the devil is in the details. Knabe from Los Angeles said he s not sure they will get the dollars, and if something changes with the funding source, we can always change our position. Glover from Contra Costa said he supports the proposals. CSAC is in support of all three proposals. A motion was made to approve the proposal and below is the vote on the measure: Member County Yes No Absent Not Glover, Contra Costa Orange Carson Alameda Knabe Los Angeles Benoit Riverside Peters Sacramento San Bernardino Roberts San Diego Mar San Francisco Groom San Mateo Yeager Santa Clara Long Ventura Vote Total ) Other Emerging or Continuing Legislative Issues a) 3-Judge Panel and Prison Population On February 10, 2014, the 3-Judge Panel issued a final order and granted the state a twoyear extension to meet the required prison population benchmark making the new deadline February 28, However, the State must meet several interim benchmarks with the first being on June 30, In addition, the extension comes with strict guidelines from the federal judges on compliance, including limits on the number of inmates that can be moved to out-of-state prisons. The 3-Judge Panel has instructed the state to immediately carry out a series of measures to either release or move inmates from state prisons, which include: Increase credits prospectively for non-violent second-strike offenders and minimum custody inmates. Create and implement a new parole determination process which would allow nonviolent second-strikers to be eligible for parole consideration by the Board of Parole Hearings once they have served 50% of their sentence. Board of Directors: : Federal Glover, Contra Costa County Vice : John Moorlach, Orange County Treasurer: Vacant

5 Implement an expanded medical parole process and create an elderly parole program for specified inmates. Activate new reentry hubs at 13 designated prisons to be operational within one year. Pursue expansion of pilot reentry programs with additional counties. Expand alternative custody programs for female inmates. The 3-Judge Panel also appointed a compliance officer to ensure that California is on track with the population cap and also barred prison officials from exceeding the current 8,900 inmates in out-of-state prisons. b) Legislative Update Staff provided a handout of a list of the bills that UCC has taken an official position on and have sent letters to the Legislature and Governor. SB 1226 (Correa) Campaign reform: Request for Co-Sponsor ACTION APPROVED SUPPORT AND CO-SPONSOR POSITION This bill would allow Orange County to contract with the Fair Political Practices Commission for the oversight of campaign ethics ordinance. This bill would extend existing law provisions to Orange County. Currently, the County of San Bernardino is allowed to contract with the FPPC to have primary responsibility for the impartial, effective, administration, implementation and enforcement of a local campaign finance reform ordinance of the county. This bill would extend these provisions to the County of Orange. UCC was in support of the original San Bernardino bill (AB 2129, Cook, 2012) and we have been asked by Orange County and the author s staff to be a co-sponsor on the bill. There is also discussion about making this bill apply statewide and the FPPC has a few other amendments to the bill. Staff Recommendation: Support and be a co-sponsor. Moorlach from Orange county said he had been given a directive from the grand jury to put an ethics commission together, and was given good feedback from the FPPC. Staff said that there are proposed amendments to make this a statewide bill. Holly Fraumeni from Orange County met with the FPPC and talked about including cities as well. A motion was made to approve the support and co-sponsor position and below is the vote on the measure: Member County Yes No Absent Not Glover, Contra Costa Orange Carson Alameda Knabe Los Angeles Board of Directors: : Federal Glover, Contra Costa County Vice : John Moorlach, Orange County Treasurer: Vacant

6 Benoit Riverside Peters Sacramento San Bernardino Roberts San Diego Mar San Francisco Groom San Mateo Yeager Santa Clara Long Ventura Vote Total SCA 16 (Steinberg) Elections: Vacancy ACTION APPROVED OPPOSE POSITION SCA 16 would provide that if a vacancy occurs in the Legislature, the Governor shall file the vacancy by appointment within 21 days of the date of the vacancy. This measure also provides that a person appointed by the Governor shall have the same political party preference as the vacating Member had at the time he or she was last elected to the Legislature. This measure also provides that within 21 days of any appointment made by the Governor, the house to which the appointment is made may reject the appointment by a roll call vote, a majority of the membership of the house concurring. If the house rejects the appointment within 21 days of the date of the rejection, the Governor shall make another appointment. If an appointment is not rejected, the appointee is eligible to take office on the day following the 21-day period and shall serve until the end of the term of that office. However, in the case of a seat in the Senate, for vacancies whose term does not end in the same year as the end of the biennium of the regular session of the Legislature during which the vacancy occurred, the appointee shall not serve the remainder of the expired term. Instead, a special election shall be held on the date of the statewide general election immediately preceding the end of the biennium of the regular session to fill the remainder of the unexpired term. Pro: Could save counties significant funding because we would not have to hold so many special elections. Con: Would eliminate the opportunity for voters to elect a direct representative for a minimum of two years. Staff recommendation: Support. It is worth noting that there are several bills on special election reimbursement and mail ballot elections which UCC will be supporting. During a healthy discussion on the pros and cons of the bill, a couple options were given; oppose, and no position (taking a closer look at the bill). Knabe from Los Angeles said that although the bill could save significant money, the people may not want to be force fed a candidate. There was a motion made to oppose the bill and below is the vote on the measure: Board of Directors: : Federal Glover, Contra Costa County Vice : John Moorlach, Orange County Treasurer: Vacant

7 Member County Yes No Absent Not Glover, Contra Costa Orange Carson Alameda Knabe Los Angeles Benoit Riverside Peters Sacramento San Bernardino Roberts San Diego Mar San Francisco Groom San Mateo Yeager Santa Clara Long Ventura Vote Total Other bills of interest: AB 2311 (Bradford) General Assistance: Employable Veterans This bill would expand eligibility under county general assistance programs to include employable veterans who were honorably discharged from the armed forces. This bill would expand general assistance to veterans and eliminate the current 3 month limit on aid. Status: Pending in the Assembly for assignment. This bill is sponsored by the California Welfare Rights Organization. AB 2471 (Frazier) Public Contracts: Change Orders This bill would require a public entity when authorized to order changes or additions in the work in a public works contract to issue a change order promptly and in no event later than 30 days after the changes are required. This bill would also require that if this is not met, the public entity is liable to the original contractor for payment of the contractor s invoice for the change order and would require prejudgment interest to accrue at 10% per annum if the public entity fails to issue a change order promptly or make a payment due under this bill. Status: Pending in the Assembly for assignment. This bill could affect the UCC sponsored bill AB 748 (Eggman) by changing the amount of interest charged. SB 1262 (Correa) Medical Marijuana Urgency Action Item APPROVED OPPOSE UNLESS AMENDED This bill would preclude an operator from obtaining a state license unless the operator has first secured all necessary local permits from a particular jurisdiction, allow local governments to ban dispensaries and all related facilities, impose tighter restrictions on doctors who issue medical marijuana prescriptions, impose uniform qualify assurance standards and health and safety standards to be administered by counties with oversight by the Department of Public Board of Directors: : Federal Glover, Contra Costa County Vice : John Moorlach, Orange County Treasurer: Vacant

8 Health, and require detailed security measures to prevent diversion and recreational use at all medical cannabis facilities. Status: Pending in Senate for assignment. Sponsored by the California Police Chiefs Association and co-sponsored by the League of California Cities. Judith Riegel from CHEAC (Health Officers) was on the call to speak to the concerns on the bill, saying that overall this bill is outside of their mission, and that it could have an impact on the trusted role they play in communities. They do not have expertise on infrastructure or security backing for going into the dispensaries to do the work. She noted that amendments will be coming out next Monday asking that county health departments be taken out of the bill completely. Peters agreed and said that the public health departments are not equipped for this. Knabe moved this as an urgency item for an Oppose Unless Amend vote to remove the county public health departments. Below is the vote on the measure: Member County Yes No Absent Not Glover, Contra Costa Orange Carson Alameda Knabe Los Angeles Benoit Riverside Peters Sacramento San Bernardino Roberts San Diego Mar San Francisco Groom San Mateo Yeager Santa Clara Long Ventura Vote Total SB 1451 (Hill) - CEQA Reform: Data Dumps This bill will be the vehicle for a proposal by the Chamber of Commerce to address issues related to data dumps under CEQA. The proposal would establish designated timeframes during which a person or group may present comments in order to raise those comments in a subsequent CEQA lawsuit. c) ACA Implementation AB 85 creates the County Health Care Funding Resolution Committee and counties may petition the Committee for three specific reasons: To hear and determine historical amounts and percentages related to realignment. To hear and determine petitions to change from the 60/40 to the County Savings Determination Formula. To hear and determine petitions for an alternative cost calculation. Board of Directors: : Federal Glover, Contra Costa County Vice : John Moorlach, Orange County Treasurer: Vacant

9 The County Health Care Funding Resolution Committee is comprised of three individuals: CSAC Representative: Rene Santiago, Deputy CEO and Director, Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System. (Alternate: Kelly Brooks-Lindsey, CSAC Senior Legislative Representative). Department of Finance Representative: Matt Paulin, Program Budget Manager DHCS Representative: Marianne Cantwell, Chief Deputy Director. The deadline for submitting a petition on the historical realignment percentage or other historical amounts and percentages was February 28, The Committee has 45 days to issue a decision from the time the petition is submitted which makes the deadline April 14. It is our understanding that 8 counties have submitted petitions to the Committee: Alameda Contra Costa Riverside San Bernardino San Joaquin San Mateo Santa Clara Ventura Roberts suggested Andy Pease to be the alternative on the committee in Kelly Brooks place. V. Proposals for Next Month s Meeting Agenda 1) State Budget 2) Legislative Update 3) Metal Theft 4) Other VI. Public Comment There were no public comments made. VII. The next meeting will be held on April 2, 2014 at 4:00pm. The April meeting will be held via conference call. Board of Directors: : Federal Glover, Contra Costa County Vice : John Moorlach, Orange County Treasurer: Vacant