Okay.

I'd like to call our 12 o'clock meeting to order at 12 30 6.

And I'll ask the clerk to please call the roll to establish our quorum.

Supervisor Marquez, excused, supervisor Tam, excused.

Supervisor Miley.

Yes.

Supervisor Fortunatabas.

Present.

Present Halbert.

Present.

We have a quorum.

Thank you much.

I note that uh our other colleagues are here.

They're just out of the room right now.

They will join us any minute.

We now have an open session item, a county administrator's office presentation of the fiscal year recommended proposed budget.

I'm going to turn it over to our county administrator.

I will also announce in advance.

I apologize, but I will have to leave promptly at one o'clock.

I am the chairman of the Alameda County Transportation Commission as well.

The meeting will continue without me, and I trust my colleagues to make wise decisions.

With that said, County Administrator, the floor is yours.

I guess we do have to wait.

Do we have the somebody from the county administrator's office?

I guess we'll wait for the county administrator.

We have to take public comment on this.

You should wait until after the presentation.

That is your decision.

We don't have public comment on non-agendized items.

And so why don't we go over the protocols for speakers?

If you want to speak, you can give a speaker slip to the clerk.

If the clerk would perhaps go over instructions for how remote participants can participate.

Detailed instructions are provided on the teleconferencing guidelines.

A link to the document is included in today's agenda to view an automated translated transcript or listen to the automated translated audio of the meeting from English into multiple other languages.

Please utilize the wordly link in today's agenda or the QR codes posted throughout the room and select your preferred language from the doc drop-down menu.

If you're joining the meeting using a computer, use a button at the bottom of your screen to raise your hand to request to speak.

When called to speak, please unmute your microphone and state your name.

If you are calling in, dial star nine to raise your hand to speak.

When you are called to speak, the host will enable you to speak.

If you decide not to speak, notify the clerk when your call is unmuted, or you may simply hang up and dial back into the meeting.

When called, you'll have two minutes to speak.

Please limit your remarks to the time allocated.

Public comment will generally alternate between in-person and online speakers as determined by the president of the board and subject to overall time limits.

Thank you.

How many speaker slips do we have?

And how many hands raised online?

We have uh nine in person and one online, okay.

I'm gonna ask um.

We're in a holding pattern until the county administrators uh ready to present.

So if we take a recess, then it might take a long time.

How much time do we need?

We'll take a five-minute recess.

All right, everyone.

We're now going to start our 12 o'clock meeting at 12 51.

Will the clerk please call the roll to establish our quorum?

Supervisor Marquez.

Present.

Supervisor Tam, excused, Supervisor Miley.

Supervisor Fortunately Boss, excused, President Halbert?

Present.

We have a quorum.

Thank you.

Uh County Administrator, the floor is yours.

Thank you, President Halbert, members of the board.

I'm before you this afternoon to present a balanced recommended budget for fiscal year 2026-27.

After the proposed budget is read into the record, it will be available for review by your board and the public in advance of your board's scheduled public hearings and deliberations starting on June 22nd, 2026.

Before I read the proposed budget letter into the record, I'd first like to express my appreciation to the board for your leadership, guidance, and partnership throughout the budget process.

Supervisors Halbert and TAM convened three budget workgroup meetings since March to inform and educate the public and stakeholders, including receiving presentations from state association representatives and our legislative advocates regarding the federal and state budget impacts on county finances and programs.

Your board's commitment to balancing fiscal responsibility with the needs of our residents continues to guide this work.

I also want to thank our department heads and their staff across every agency and department.

Developing this budget is an enormous collaborative effort that requires months of planning, coordination, analysis, and thoughtful decision making.

We're grateful for the professionalism, dedication, and hard work of everyone involved.

And a special thank you and much appreciation to my staff and the entire CAO team for their hard work, due diligence, and commitment to developing a responsible, balanced financial plan and blueprint to guide this county through the next fiscal year and beyond.

I also want to highlight that this is the second year we are using ClearGov Digital Budget Book Platform.

As you know, this tool helps make our budget documents more accessible, transparent, and interactive for both the board and the public.

Users can more easily navigate information, explore departmental budgets, and interact with charts, tables and supporting materials in ways that are not possible with traditional printed documents.

At your board's request, you have in front of you printed copies of the budget documents for your convenience.

There are also two copies in the back of the chambers for the public to view.

We strongly encourage everyone to access the budget online at budget.alameda countyca.gov in order to take full advantage of the platform's functionality and accessibility features.

With that, I'm going to read the proposed budget letter into the record, is included in the binders that were just handed to you and is literally hot off of the copy machine.

The fiscal year 2627 proposed budget before you serves as a work plan to advance your board's strategic vision, vision 2036, which is centered on advancing a healthy environment, a prosperous and vibrant economy, safe and livable communities, and a thriving and resilient population.

The fiscal year 2627 proposed budget recommends a balanced $6.7 billion spending plan for county programs and services and supports a workforce of nearly 10,500 employees.

The all funds budget increased by 570 million or 9%, driven largely by the inclusion of Measure W.

The general fund totals $4.3 billion, which is an increase of $11.4 million, and the proposed budget closes a $91.4 million funding gap and also reflects input provided by your board, agency and department heads, and other county stakeholders.

With regard to the economic outlook, the global economy remains uncertain as trade tensions, inflationary pressures, and shifting federal policies continue to affect financial markets, business investment, and consumer competence.

National economic growth is expected to moderate as higher costs and market volatility continue to affect businesses and households.

California's unemployment rate remains among the highest in the nation at approximately 5.3%, compared to roughly 4.3%, both nationally and in Alameda County.

The Bay Area labor market continues to experience weakness in the technology sector as companies adjust staffing levels following a rapid expansion during and after the pandemic.

Elevated interest rates continue to affect housing affordability, real estate activity, and business investment, while rising construction and material costs increase housing development expenses.

The assessor projects declining assessment role growth of approximately 2.2% for fiscal year 26-27, reflecting moderating property value growth compared to prior years.

Property taxes remain the county's largest source of discretionary revenue, accounting for approximately 60% 2% of our general purpose revenues.

As a result, changes in assessed property values continue to significantly affect the county's overall fiscal outlook.

With regard to state and federal funding, you are aware how heavily reliant the county is on state and federal funding to provide essential services, including Medi-Cal and Medicare related programs.

These revenues support nearly two-thirds of the county's general fund budget.

Because many county programs are subject to state and federal mandates, the county must continue to closely monitor policy and budget actions at both levels of government.

Your board's commitment to prudent fiscal planning and strategic resource allocation, including the designation of Measure W revenues to help mitigate impacts associated with HR1 and Proposition 1 implementation, positions the county to better manage future funding and certainty while maintaining critical services.

In recent years, the county has relied significantly on one-time state and federal funding to support critical programs and address operational pressures related to homelessness, behavioral health, economic instability, and pandemic recovery.

As these temporary funding sources expire, the county faces an emerging fiscal cliff in which service demands and operating costs continue to rise while temporary revenues decline.

This dynamic increases pressure on limited discretionary resources and underscores the importance of maintaining long-term structural budget balance.

At the federal level, uncertainty surrounding immigration, trade, and fiscal policy continues to create economic and budgetary risks for local governments.

Proposed federal budget actions could significantly affect support for health care, housing, infrastructure, and social services, while reductions to Medicaid and other safety net programs may increase pressure on counties serving vulnerable populations like ours.

Rising federal debt levels and borrowing costs also contribute to uncertainty regarding future federal support to state and local governments.

Although inflation is moderated from peak levels, labor, construction, insurance, utility, and contracted service costs remain elevated, increasing operating costs across county departments.

At the same time, weakening consumer confidence and slower economic growth continue to affect economically sensitive revenues, such as sales taxes, property transfer taxes, and other local revenues.

At the state level, the Governor's May revision proposes a total budget of approximately $350 billion, including $247 billion from the general fund.

Although recent state revenues have modestly exceeded projections, both the Department of Finance and the Legislative Analysts Office continue to project structural deficits in future years as expenditure growth continues to outpace ongoing revenues.

The May revision proposes balancing solutions that include approximately $3.6 billion in new revenues, $411 million in spending reductions, and over $390 million in fund shifts while avoiding major new ongoing spending commitments, including any additional support for counties responding to HR1 implementation impacts.

Given these economic and fiscal challenges, the county must continue prioritizing careful financial planning, maintaining adequate reserves, and strategically aligning limited resources to preserve core services and respond to community needs.

With regard to the proposed budget before you, it was developed in accordance with your board's maintenance of effort policies and provides approximately $6.7 billion to support mandated and essential services, meet debt obligations, and maintain critical infrastructure and capital projects.

The general fund, which finances most county operations, totals $4.3 billion, an increase of just 0.3% over the prior year.

The proposed budget also includes funding for cost of living adjustments for most employees consistent with negotiated and pending labor agreements, as well as a 4% cost of living adjustment for eligible community-based organizations.

A total of 984 million is recommended for community-based services, including 139 million for the Alameda Health System.

Additional funding supports nonprofit service providers, cities, school districts, and local hospitals, and details are included in your proposed budget document.

With regard to the unincorporated services budget, it outlines revenues and expenditures associated with the county's provision of municipal services to residents in the unincorporated areas of the county, in addition to selected additional investments for capital projects and community programs supported by both the general fund and Measure W.

Additional data enhancements include monthly average enrollment figures for benefit programs administered by the Social Services Agency.

The Children's Services Budget and Human Impact Budgets are currently undergoing a redesign, intending to modernize these documents and better align them with the county's strategic priorities and vision 2036 framework.

I'd like to now focus on the $6.7 billion proposed budget and the investments in our core services and strategic priority initiatives across all program areas in support of the county's Vision 2036 goals.

First, Measure W.

The proposed budget continues implementation of Measure W, the county's voter approved half cent sales tax measure supporting housing, homelessness, and essential county services.

To date, your board has approved approximately $980 million in investments across both the Home Together Fund and Essential County Services Fund.

Over the life of the measure, the county anticipates investing more than $1.4 billion in housing and homelessness services and nearly $260 million in Essential County Services that support vulnerable residents and strengthen county operations.

The proposed budget includes investments of approximately 288 million in the Home Together Fund and almost $39 million in the Essential County Services Fund to continue advancing your board's priorities related to homelessness prevention, housing stability, behavioral health, and critical county services.

The proposed budget also includes more than $800 million in funding to strengthen and expand mental health services throughout the county, reflecting your board's continued commitment to behavioral health care, treatment access, and support for vulnerable residents.

For 206-27, investments include more than 200, 380 million for mental health community-based provider contracts to provide critical treatment, outreach housing and supportive services, $36 million to implement key elements of the county's forensic plan focused on diversion treatment and coordinated care for justice involved individuals, and almost $46 million to support Proposition 1 Behavioral Health Services Act transition and mitigation efforts, including planning, program redesign, and operational changes necessary to address shifting state funding requirements and preserve continuity of care.

With regard to housing and homelessness, the proposed budget continues to advance your board's commitment to preventing and ending homelessness through sustained investments in housing infrastructure, supportive services, and coordinated systems of care.

These investments support the county's ongoing efforts to expand housing opportunities, improve service delivery, and provide critical assistance to individuals and families experiencing homelessness, including over $413 million for housing and homelessness services, which includes $288 million in Measure W funds, supporting $124 full-time equivalent physicians and CBO contracts of more than $137 million.

The budget also continues your board's commitment to protecting and improving the health and well-being of all county residents through sustained investments in indigent health, public health infrastructure, prevention programs, and access to essential medical and behavioral health services, including $73 million to support the health program of Alameda County or Health PAC providers, nearly $139 million for contracts with Alameda Health System, over $4.3 million for public health foundational capabilities, and over $17 million to invest in the Epic Electronic Health Record implementation.

The budget expands your commitment to support the county's most vulnerable children's families and older adults through continued investments through the Social Services Agency in Safety Net programs, protective services, housing and nutrition assistance, and programs to support stability, independence, and overall well-being, including almost $250 million to fund the in-home supportive services program supporting over 24,000 clients receiving services from almost 35,000 active providers, almost 50 million in children and family services, community contracts, and $9 million dollars for emergency food and shelter contractual services.

The proposed budget also continues funding to advance your commitment to public safety through investments in prevention, intervention, emergency response, rehabilitation, and re-entry services to help keep residents and communities safe, strengthen neighborhood stability, and support successful outcomes for justice-involved individuals, including over $23 million in AB 109 community-based organization contracts administered by the probation department, leveraging grant funding for the district attorney's CARES Navigation Center, Family Justice Center, and Trauma Recovery Center, funding to support expert witness fees and staff for the district attorney's office and public defender's office, and augmented funding to meet constitutional obligations in indigent defense due to an increase in case volume.

County departments and agencies, as you know, provide a wide range of municipal programs and services to the county's unincorporated communities.

Five departments have primary responsibility for these services, the community development agency, county fire department, county library, public works agency, and sheriff's office.

For 26-27, key investments supporting municipal services in the unincorporated areas include over $70 million in road capital improvement projects, $7 million for staffing and operational support for our libraries, $65 million for fire protection and prevention services in the unincorporated areas, almost $37 million in patrol services in the unincorporated area, and an additional $30 million funded through the police protection county service area and over $10 million for development review, code enforcement and general plan maintenance activities in the Castro Valley Business District Specific Plan updates and San Lorenzo specific plan updates.

With regard to infrastructure consistent with your board's long-standing financial management policies and commitment to fiscal sustainability, the proposed budget includes strategic investments in county infrastructure and capital assets to preserve essential public facilities, maintain critical systems, and strengthen the county's long-term financial stability, including maintaining your board's annual investment in long-term capital and life safety projects and augmenting funding for major maintenance, designating 15 million or the equivalent of 1.5% of discretionary revenue for the General Reserve, and including contingency funding for pending labor negotiations, benefit cost increases, and other contractual obligations.

The proposed budget also includes the following multi-year residual tax proceed funding commitments originally established by your board with adoption of the fiscal 2018-19 budget.

Those two items include the seventh year allocation of $5 million or a million dollars for each supervisorial district for the enhancing vision 2036 fund to support programs and services benefiting children, youth, and families.

This annual commitment continues through Fiscal 27-28, and also included is the eighth and final allocation of $5 million for the East County Economic Development and Infrastructure Improvement Fund to support economic growth, infrastructure investments, and regional development priorities in East County.

Shifting to the revenue side of the ledger, the budget reflects continued economic uncertainty and moderating revenue growth as inflationary pressures, elevated interest rates, and slowing consumer activity continue to affect the local, state, and national economy.

While inflation has declined from peak levels experienced in recent years, the cost of labor, construction, utilities, insurance, health care, and contracted services remains elevated, increasing operational costs across county programs and services.

The Federal Reserve has maintained a cautious approach to monetary policy as it continues to monitor inflation, labor market conditions, and broader economic performance.

Although interest rates may gradually decline over time, borrowing costs remain relatively high, contributing to reduced real estate activity, slower business investment, and ongoing affordability challenges for residents and businesses.

Program revenue growth continues to lag behind an annual operational cost increases, placing additional pressure on the county's limited discretionary revenue and reducing budget flexibility.

At the same time, economic uncertainty and weakened consumer confidence continue to impact economically sensitive revenues that support county operations.

Property tax revenues, the county's largest source of discretionary funding, continue to grow, but at a much slower pace than in prior years due to moderating assessed value growth and softer housing markets.

Property transfer tax revenues have declined significantly from historic highs as elevated interest rates and affordability constraints continue to suppress real estate sales activity.

Recording free revenues have similarly moderated as lower levels of property transactions and refinancing activities reduce the demand for related services.

Sales tax-related revenues are also expected to experience slower growth as consumer spending softens and economic conditions remain uncertain.

State revenues tied to sales tax activity, including realignment and proposition 172 public safety sales tax revenues have shown limited growth and remain vulnerable to changes in consumer spending and broader economic conditions.

Locally generated revenues, including unincorporated area utility users taxes, business license taxes, hotel and lodging taxes, and departmental fees and charges for services are projected to show modest growth.

However, many county fees remain constrained by statutory limitations, affordability concerns, and the increasing cost of providing services.

Behavioral health and health care related revenues also remain subject to economic volatility.

Behavioral Health Services Act revenues, formerly Mental Health Services Act revenues, are heavily dependent on personal income tax collections from high income earners and financial market performance, making these revenues particularly sensitive to economic fluctuations and stock market conditions.

The proposed budget also reflects continued implementation of voter-approved, time-limited local revenue measures that support critical county services.

Measure A sales tax revenues continue to support essential health care services and operations.

And following final court validation decisions for measures C and W, the county continues implementation planning for these voter-approved revenue measures, which will support children's services, homelessness programs, and other essential county services.

While the proposed budget includes targeted investments to support critical programs, infrastructure, and community priorities, the county's growing reliance on economically sensitive revenue sources, including sales taxes, capital gains related taxes, and personal income tax-dependent funding streams, increases our exposure to future economic slowdowns, and market volatility.

As a result, maintaining prudent fiscal policies, preserving reserves, and continuing long-term financial planning remain critical to protecting county services and maintaining fiscal stability.

The proposed budget, as you know, closes a projected net funding gap of 91.4 million dollars identified through the maintenance of effort budgeting process.

All program areas benefit from net retirement savings of over 93 million dollars resulting from the county's prepayment of pension liabilities.

Absent the net retirement savings, the funding cap would have been 185 million dollars.

The remaining gap of 91 million reflects the difference between the cost of maintaining existing programs and service levels and projected available revenues.

In developing the budget, your board's vision 2036 priorities guided balancing strategies against all program areas in collaboration with our elected and appointed department heads.

Budget solutions were designed to preserve core services, minimize impact to residents, and align limited resources with the county's highest operational and strategic priorities.

You can see in the table below that all program areas contributed to balancing strategies, both ongoing and one-time to close the remaining $91.4 million dollar gap, including a combination of one-time and ongoing strategies consisting of close to $44 million or $48% in ongoing reductions and $48 million or 52% in one-time solutions.

Balancing strategies included targeted revenue enhancements and expenditure reductions based upon updated projections, and in addition, a countywide review of long-term funded vacancies drove the recommended elimination of 45 full-time equivalent positions and savings associated with liquidated encumbrances also contributed one-time savings across the largest program areas.

These net cost reduction strategies are designed to minimize impact on county services and are not expected to result in layoffs or major program reductions during the coming fiscal year.

Despite these efforts, a structural imbalance between ongoing revenues and expenditures continues to exist.

County agencies and departments will continue working to reduce reliance on one-time budget balancing strategies and strengthen the county's long-term structural financial position through ongoing fiscal planning, operational efficiencies, and sustainable budgeting practices.

The general government departments contributed net savings of almost $6 million through expense reductions, additional revenue, including one time trust revenue, and retained earnings in our information technology department.

While the budget restructuring of the Office of County Council drives the net increase in general government, the adjustment streamlines the billing process and results in associated expense reductions at the client department level.

In the area of health care, net savings of $15.3 million were contributed, including ongoing strategies of almost $5 million that included right sizing of professional service contracts and additional revenue.

One-time net cost reductions of almost 11 million dollars, include expense reductions based upon updated projections, and one-time revenues, including offsets for Alameda Health System and Health Backed, see Health Pack CBO COLAS.

Social services contributed net savings of almost $9 million through a combination of ongoing additional revenue anticipated from time study claims to the federal government, and one-time savings from liquidated encumbrances.

Public protection departments contributed net savings of almost $30 million.

Ongoing strategies of over $16 million include salary savings from vacant funded physicians, revenue adjustments in the Sheriff's Office, and incremental increases in public safety revenue and Prop 172 based upon updated projections.

One-time reductions in public safety include the use of one-time criminal feedback bill revenue and trust funds.

And with regard to countywide strategies, they reduce the gap by $31.5 million with ongoing increased estimates for property tax-based revenue and interest, reduced workers' compensation reserves, and a shift to general liability based upon additional data and updated cost and liability projections.

While the proposed budget before you is balanced, the county continues to face significant fiscal challenges as the cost of providing services continues to outpace revenue growth.

Key challenges include in health care the significant challenges associated with the new Medi-Cal eligibility and administrative requirements under HR1, as well as related state policy changes that may reduce coverage, increase uncompensated care, decreased federal Medicaid revenue, and increased reliance on county indigent health services.

AHS is particularly vulnerable to reductions in federal Medicaid funding and increased administrative barriers that may lead to coverage disruptions and higher demand for uncompensated care.

Because a substantial portion of Alameda Health System revenues are tied to Medi-Cal and other federal health care funding sources.

These changes could significantly impact hospital operations, reimbursement levels, and patient volumes.

These pressures are compounded by rising health care costs, workforce shortages, and the growing demand for behavioral health, emergency, and specialty care services.

At the same time, implementation of the Behavioral Health Services Act will reshape behavioral health services and impose expanded state reporting requirements without corresponding funding.

In addition, potential reductions to federal grants and ongoing unfunded mandates, including retirements under the Latterman Petra Short Act, continue to increase county responsibilities and fiscal pressures.

HTR1 and related federal policy changes are expected to have significant impacts on our safety net programs.

Inflationary pressures continue to increase the cost of living and may drive additional demand for county services.

Reductions in the federal administrative cost share will increase county costs, while changes to immigrant eligibility requirements may shift more individuals from full scope coverage to restricted services, increasing unmet needs and the demand for local programs.

New work requirements and six-month eligibility redeterminations will also create substantial administrative burdens.

These federal actions combined with economic uncertainty have contributed to state actions, including the reinstatement of Medi-Cal asset testing and enrollee premium requirements.

At the same time, slower growth in realignment revenues limits the state's ability to offset increasing caseloads and operating costs.

The governor's May revision also proposes shifting over 200 million dollars in in-home supportive services cost growth from the state to counties beginning in 2027, increasing to more than 800 million annually by 2029-30.

Under the proposals, county would be responsible for the full non-federal share of hours exceeding the state's baseline authorized average hours per IHSS case.

Public protection departments also face complex fiscal pressures, inflation and geopolitical instability of increased travel and operational costs while negatively affecting statewide public safety sales tax revenues and airport police service contract revenues due to decreased ridership at the Port of Oakland.

Departments also continue implementing state mandates without sufficient state reimbursement.

The public defender and district attorney's offices are experiencing increasing caseloads and workload pressures resulting from recent state policy changes.

These changes are increasing demands for prosecution, defense, case management, and related support services without corresponding ongoing state funding, creating additional fiscal pressures on our public safety system.

And in addition, the May revision does not include new funding to support county implementation of Prop 36 in the coming year or future years.

Board priorities, including reimagining adult justice and care first jails last, may also create fiscal pressures amid limited discretionary revenue growth.

Economic uncertainty and volatility in the real estate market continue to create risk for the county's primary discretionary revenue sources, including property tax, property transfer tax, and recording fee revenue, declining assessed valuation growth, increasing assessment appeals, and ongoing legal challenges may further affect revenues in future years.

In addition, state and federal budget actions may affect funding for community development block grants, home investment partnerships, housing and urban development led abatement and sustainability initiatives.

Pending litigation, expanding regulatory requirements, inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions, and volatility in fuel and energy markets continue to increase operational costs across all departments.

Rising environmental permitting requirements and labor compliance obligations are also increasing costs related to procurement, fleet operations, maintenance, and service delivery without corresponding revenue increases.

In addition, unanticipated special elections will significantly increase election-related costs without full reimbursement.

With regard to housing and homelessness, according to the county's housing plan, the 10-year housing strategy, more than 90,000 households across Alameda County are severely cost burdened and at risk of homelessness.

Under state housing element requirements, the county and its regional partners must create and preserve sufficient housing to meet state-assigned goals.

Rising construction and repair costs combined with uncertainty surrounding key funding sources increase the risk of noncompliance with state housing requirements.

The number of unsheltered residents decreased by 18% from prior levels in the county, with overall homelessness dropping by 13%, according to the recent 2026 point-in-time count, marking the first time the county has seen a reduction of this magnitude.

Results from the PIT count will be used to update the Home Together 2030 plan and inform implementation of the Home Together Fund.

Continued investments in prevention, expanding housing options, and system coordination will be critical to sustain reductions in homelessness, but shifts in federal homelessness policy and declining state investments will impact local funding and service delivery and potentially undermine progress.

Infrastructure and capital projects, including facility maintenance remain ongoing funding challenges.

The county's five-year capital improvement plan identifies nearly $2.6 billion in projected costs, with only $2 billion identified in current funding, resulting in a funding gap of over $500 million.

Current estimates also exclude any seismic retrofit needs and projects that do not yet have finalized cost projections.

While funding is available through the board approved long-term capital construction fund, there may be fluctuations based on market conditions and broader economic uncertainty.

Continued investments in cybersecurity, infrastructure modernization, remote work technology, and system resiliency remain essential to maintaining county operations, protecting public data, and improving service delivery.

The county continues to maintain the highest possible AAA credit ratings from the three major credit rating agencies.

These ratings reflect your board's long-standing commitment to prudent fiscal management, strong reserve policies, stable financial operations, and disciplined long-term planning.

The county's strong financial position and consistent adherence to sound financial management practices continue to support investor competence and preserve access to low-cost financing for critical public infrastructure and capital investments.

At the same time, the county must continue to manage significant long-term debt and unfunded liabilities.

Major debt service obligations reflected in the budget primarily support essential capital projects and infrastructure investments, including the county's approximately $680 million investment in the acute care tower at Highland Hospital for AHS.

Consistent with your board's long-standing financial management policies, the budget maintains annual funding for the special capital construction fund and augments funding for deferred major maintenance.

These investments support the county strategy to address aging infrastructure, preserve county-owned facilities, and reduce future capital and maintenance costs.

An updated five-year capital improvement plan will be presented to your board in the near future and will identify the estimated value of unfunded capital projects and deferred maintenance needs across county facilities and infrastructure systems.

Continued investment in infrastructure and asset preservation remains critical as deferred maintenance costs increase significantly over time.

Maintaining the county's strong credit ratings remains especially important as economic uncertainty, higher interest rates, and inflationary construction costs continue to affect public infrastructure financing and capital project delivery.

The county's strong financial position enables greater flexibility to finance essential projects at more favorable borrowing costs when necessary.

The Alameda County Employees Retirement Association continues to carry significant unfunded pension liabilities, with future costs dependent on economic and demographic infection assumptions such as investment returns, inflation, payroll growth, and retirement trends.

Your board remains committed to fully funding the county's annual pension obligations and reducing long-term liabilities through the pension liability reduction accounts.

As you are aware, in 2025, the county made a $400 million supplemental payment using funds set aside in the PLRA, reducing the county's unfunded pension, lowering future employer contributions, and helping reduce our structural funding gap.

This long-term strategy has strengthened ASERA's funding status, supported long-term fiscal sustainability, and helped maintain the county's credit ratings while mitigating future financial risks.

With regard to pending factors as providers of essential safety net services, the county's ability to maintain balanced budgets, address structural financial challenges, and preserve prudent reserves remains critical to sustaining long-term funding for county programs and services.

Although revenues continue to grow modestly, expenditures driven by inflation, labor and health care costs, infrastructure needs, and increasing service demands continued to outpace revenue growth.

At the same time, the county's limited ability to generate new discretionary revenue places additional pressure on existing funding sources and reduces long-term budget flexibility.

As we prepare for the potential impacts of a future economic slowdown, continued focus on long-term fiscal sustainability remains essential.

The county must continue reducing reliance on one-time budget balancing strategies and aligning ongoing expenditures with sustainable recurring revenues.

The county also continues to closely monitor federal policy changes, state budget conditions, and economic trends that could result in funding disruptions for increased program responsibility with significant fiscal impact.

The county, as you know, also faces significant litigation and liability exposures that may directly affect the budget through settlement costs, legal expenses, and rising insurance premiums.

These pressures are compounded by a challenging insurance market environment, driven in part by catastrophic wildfire risks and broader industry-wide cost escalation.

Based on current claims activity and market conditions, the proposed budget includes increased funding for risk management and additional provisions to address liabilities associated with open claims, which continue to increase in both frequency and severity.

In addition, the county continues to manage financial risks associated with disaster recovery and emergency response activities.

While portions of eligible federal reimbursements have been received for recent disaster-related costs, significant claims remain outstanding.

Delays in reimbursement processing as well as the possibility of future claim disallowances or recoupements continue to create financial uncertainty and cash flow pressures.

The county also continues to experience workforce recruitment and retention challenges across many program areas.

Staffing shortages continue to increase operational pressures and may affect service delivery, overtime costs, and employee workloads.

Despite these challenges, your board's leadership and long-standing commitment to prudent financial management, provide the stability and flexibility necessary to navigate economic uncertainty and respond to emergencies and natural disasters, leverage state and federal resources, and maintain essential services for Alameda County residents while advancing Vision 2036 priorities and long-term community investments.

The budget before you is balanced and reflects your continued commitment to providing vital services to residents while advancing your Vision 2036 strategic framework, guided by your core operating principles, including equity, access, accountability, and fiscal stewardship, the proposed budget supports the county's 10x goals and shared visions, focused on building a thriving and resilient population, healthy environment, safe and lovable communities, and a prosperous and vibrant economy.

Although the proposed budget reflects significant investments in critical services and community priorities, ongoing economic uncertainty, rising operational costs, and continued reliance on one-time budget balancing strategies will require careful fiscal monitoring throughout the year.

Future adjustments may be necessary based on changes at the federal and state level, evolving economic conditions, and actual revenue performance to ensure expenditures remain within available resources.

Despite these challenges, the county remains focused on advancing its 10X goals, which align with the county's core mission and long-term priorities of eliminating homelessness, expanding access to health care, supporting employment and economic opportunity, reducing poverty and hunger, promoting safe communities, and investing in accessible, integrated, and sustainable infrastructure.

Through these continued investments and strategic initiatives, the proposed budget supports your board's vision for a stronger, healthier, and more equitable Alameda County.

As your board conducts public hearings and deliberates on the proposed fiscal year 2026-27 proposed budget, your continued leadership, fiscal stewardship, and commitment to long-term financial stability will remain essential to navigating ongoing economic uncertainty and emerging fiscal challenges.

Through prudent financial management and strategic priority prioritization of limited resources, the county will continue working to preserve critical services, support vulnerable populations, and advance rewards Vision 2036 priority.

With that, the recommendations before you are that you accept the fiscal year 2026-27 recommended budget for review pending public hearings, and that you schedule public hearings on the proposed budget to commence on June 18th to be continued to June 22nd through June 25th.

Thank you very much.

So I think the balanced budget reflects the values and the mission that we all collectively have to preserve the safety net programs.

The balanced budget clearly reflects sacrifices that the departments are making.

So I know that this budget includes the bridge funding that we talked about with proposition one.

It looks at positioning us in addressing the looming shortfalls with HR1 on our residents.

I know we did get some comments about potential staffing changes that could occur in the sheriff's department, for example, to provide some funding because of a consent decree that is currently in place.

And I understand that the sheriff is open to looking at that staffing study, particularly in the jails, and to see whether or not that need is still there.

And those are still pending issues that are tied up in some of the legal challenges that we have.

So having said that, I'll open up to comments to my colleagues and then open up to public comments before going through a motion because I understand my colleagues have a hard stop at two o'clock to go to the Alameda County Transportation Commission meeting.

Supervisor Miley.

So real quickly, let me just thank the county.

Well, let me thank you and Supervisor Howard for your service on the budget committee.

Yes.

Yes, I'm thinking both of you.

Yes, thanking you and Supervisor Halbert for service on the budget committee.

And then we'll thank the county administrator and her team.

Some of her team, I know some of her team are new.

I don't know them all, but I know some of them.

Good job, team, team um uh county administrator's office.

I know the school work and uh county agency and department heads for working the candidate bring the list.

Um the county administrator was reading the budget letter, it seemed like a um a state of the uh state of the county.

Um it was a very, very thorough.

I haven't I haven't seen a budget letter quite that lately in quite a long time.

Um, so it's like like I said, state of the Alameda County, but it really laid out everything very very uh succinctly.

The I just want to make a notation that but for the electorate and prior boards actions, we would be up that creek without a paddle uh today.

We'd probably be facing layoffs, uh we'd probably be facing the need for concessions from our broken units.

We'd probably be facing reduction in services.

But because of the electorate and because of prior boards decisions, we're in a pretty good shape, and also but for the grace of God too, because we have measure A, which was authorized and then reauthorized, which provides funding for central health care services.

The voters approved that by two-thirds.

We have measure a one, the voters approved for housing, the voters approved that by two thirds.

We have measure C, uh, of which board voters approved and measure W and Measure C for early childhood development and measure W, which the voters approved, uh, which provides funding, which is a general tax, but we've designated that for homelessness and uh central services.

Those measures really help us significantly because if we didn't have that money, we would be hurting.

A lot of counties don't have that, a lot of counties don't have that, and a lot of counties are doing uh layoffs and reduction in services, safety net services, and then because the the boards and prior boards have put funding into uh retirement savings of 93 million dollars over the past few years, that's reduced our deficit down to 91 million this year as opposed to 184 million, uh, which is I mean extremely, extremely extremely helpful.

So I just wanted to point that out as we move forward, um, because I'm very very thankful.

Um and the reason I say um thank the Lord is because had we not been sued on measure C and Measure W, we would have spent that money a long time ago, and we wouldn't have it to spend now.

We approved measure C funding last year, and we're approving Measure W funding.

We approved some of that last year, but we're spending uh a lot of it uh presently and into the near future, and that's really provided us uh with uh resources.

The um so with the budget um hearings, the hearings will take place on the 18th, the 22nd, and the 25th, those are the three dates.

Supervisor, we're gonna open the hearings on the 18th to meet a statutory requirement and ask that your board continue them until June 22nd, which is Monday.

So the plan would be to open the actual hearings for the public on Monday, have your board deliberate on Tuesday and hopefully be ready to adopt on that Thursday.

Okay, so finalizing the schedule, but the 18th will be a formal board action to open the hearings and then continue them to Monday, June 22nd.

So we'd have hearings on the 22nd, the 23rd and adopt on the 25th.

Okay.

I just wanted to kind of get that out there and in my own mind.

All right, well, once again, thanks, team CAO, great job.

I know you guys have done a lot of work on this.

Thank you.

Um Supervisor Fortunately password, Marquez.

Uh thank you.

I also want to uh give my gratitude.

I know this is a very difficult and unprecedented year.

Um, I I do want to say process the very lengthy um letter.

I do appreciate all of the touch points and the presentation, but just want to um reiterate to the public if just in case you weren't watching on um May 19th during our work session where we're talking about the measure W Essential Services.

Just want to share just to be very upfront with everybody what's top of mind for me, and this isn't everything on my mind and list, but it's high level, pretty much what I've been hearing from the community in the last year.

And some of this stuff is addressed in the budget.

So I'm really pleased to see that, but just want to be consistent.

For me, it's really important that we increase funding for the public defender.

I heard that we're doing that.

I want to see more work around care first and jails last.

We've made significant progress in the area, but there's definitely more room and alignment with Measure W specifically around housing for the re-entry population.

And then on June 30th, we're going to have a presentation from the Reparations Commission.

So it's also important that we keep an eye on that work.

We've already identified two positions for the interim office of immigrant and refugee services.

And for me, it's going to be really important that we identify the director for that position.

We've talked a lot about food insecurity.

I really appreciate the hard work and everything that went into the bridge funding for Prop One, which I understand we will be voting on next Tuesday.

And then just want to acknowledge the work from the Senior Services Coalition as we know seniors are the fastest growing population, and we have to be more proactive in that space to make sure we keep our seniors healthy and housed, and uh definitely support the work about around uh CDA recommending an unincorporated services manager also through the Measure W Essential Services Fund.

So again, I just you know, appreciative to the CAO and our team to doing their best to tackle these issues despite the deficit and closing the gap, and just really thank you to the voters for being so generous.

We are in a far better position because this county understands that this is a shared responsibility.

We can't do this work alone.

So we also have a responsibility to meet objectives and metrics to show, like we are doing with the point-in-time count that our investments are paying off.

So it's unfortunate that the federal administration is gutting our safety net, and we're doing everything possible to preserve it to the best of our ability.

So thank you.

Surprise reported that about us.

Thank you, Chair Tam.

Um, I also want to thank our county administrator and the staff team for pulling all of this together, our department heads as well.

It's no small feat to close a 91 million dollar budget gap and also to present a balanced budget two weeks earlier than usual.

So I know it was a Herculean effort, and I appreciate that.

Um, I also want to continue to make sure that as stewards of our public resources, uh, that we continue to increase transparency and public participation.

And so if you haven't already, please make sure that uh we inform the public of where they can access the documents that the board has here.

I know some of uh most of it will be on the administrators' budget website.

And perhaps uh before we wrap up, we can share that um website address so that people know exactly where to find these documents.

Like my colleagues, um, I also believe that we have to protect our safety net, especially with all of the federal and state changes and the attacks on our communities.

I want to make sure that our most vulnerable community members are protected and that we maintain our safety net.

There's no way we can backfill the safety net, so we're going to have to make strategic decisions, leverage as much as we can of our dedicated funds and continue to advocate at the state level and more possible at the federal level.

Um, for many of us, we've we continuously work on the budget because we're constantly listening to our community members and advocating.

And so I do want to lift up again some of the work that we've done because I think it's really significant that we've gotten to this point of hearing a proposed budget, but we've already made a lot of progress, especially given what's happening at the federal and the state level.

So I do certainly prioritize health care.

Um we have secured funds, uh, increased funds for health Cat for health PAC, so that we can support our FQHCs and our Alameda Health System.

Uh there is much more we need to continue to do, as well as looking at the timing of those resources, particularly for our health clinics because of uh the state moving forward with eliminating the reimbursement rates.

As some of you know, myself and Supervisor Miley are convening an ad hoc group with our county as well as with labor and AHS.

We are working incredibly hard to help identify how they can close the 100 million dollar budget gap that they are facing, minimizing impacts to patients.

And in particular, I'll call out again, which I did at our last work session, that I do want to make sure that we preserve the patient-facing programs.

And so that includes the IOP program for people experiencing mental illness, the health advocates and the complex care program.

Secondly, I'm very supportive of our mental health work.

I do want to thank our health director and our health and behavioral health staff for collaborating with our community service providers and identifying how we can bridge the impacts to Prop 1.

That will be coming back to us at our next meeting on June 2nd.

And then in terms of food, I think many of us know that food is one of the main determinants of health and well-being, and we are going to see incredible hunger happening in our communities.

So I'm grateful that in this fiscal year we were able to allocate 16 and a half million towards food.

And as we discussed in our last work session, there's an allocation of 17 million dollars that the board has affirmed, and again, that we'll vote on on Tuesday.

So I think that's really positive.

Grateful for the work that we are doing, including with Supervisor Marquez leadership around immigration.

So glad that the contracts are in this budget for the service providers who have been working to ensure rapid response, deportation defense, and community organizing.

I share my colleagues' interests in ensuring that we have a director for a future office of immigrant and refugee affairs so that we can proactively work with our immigrant and refugee community.

I'm also supportive of the public defenders' requests for staffing to decrease workloads and work towards equity in staffing for public defense and uh and uh that was presented at the last public protection committee.

And then finally, I am concerned about uh really understanding what the impacts of the federal and state budget will be on members of our community who are involved in the criminal legal system who are experiencing severe mental illness.

I think there are a lot of recommendations in the care first jails last recommendations that the board has approved that would really benefit us if we're able to move forward, especially given how vulnerable our communities are at this time, especially the ones I mentioned.

So I'm particularly interested in those recommendations.

And then finally, as was said, we can't do this alone.

So I am all for continuing to advocate for the for the state to support us as they move towards balancing and approving their budget, as well as measures that would reform our state tax structure and make sure that everyone pays their fair share.

Um, I want to also state that we know that at the end of the day, uh a lot of what we are working on in terms of our safety net needs to be addressed systemically.

And so while it may be challenging in this political environment, we have to stay focused on health care for all and maintaining food benefits.

I think those among other things would really help our communities.

And lastly, I do note that while we have the budget book, there is budget detail and community contracts on the city or the county administrators' website.

So I'll take a closer look at that and email any questions I may have.

I do want additional information on vacancy savings.

And I do think it would be helpful to understand the number of vacant positions for each agency and how much budget savings that represents for this current fiscal year.

Certainly appreciative that uh 40 some positions were already identified that are long standing vacancies, but I think it's incumbent upon us to do our due diligence and understand more about those two those positions.

In particular, I think it would be helpful to know what vacancies exist at Santa Rita jail, as well as what the overtime has, what overtime has been incurred year to date as well as over the past two years.

How much of that overtime is attributed to staffing requirements from the Baboo settlement would be helpful?

And additional information on how the jail population has been changing over the past several years.

Given that we've been spending a lot of time looking at the department of children and family services, I think it would be helpful to know the number of funded vacant positions in that department and others in SSA, such as adult protective services and the benefits administration, especially for Medical and CalFresh enrollment and redetermination because of the impacts of HR1.

And then lastly, and I'm happy to email this as well.

County council, we've lost quorum.

So I have to recess the meeting until we have to pause.

We gain quorum.

Reconvening from a slight recess.

Um may I have roll call, please.

Supervisor Marquez.

Present.

Present.

Supervisor Miley, Supervisor Fortunato Bass.

Present.

President Halbert is excused.

We have a quorum.

Thank you.

So Super Advisor Fortunato Bass was in the middle of asking her last question.

But I need to take a quick poll at the moment, if I may.

Are there accommodations that my colleagues can make so that we can hear public comment on this item before adjourning to ACTC?

Should we text Chair Halbert to see if they have quorum?

I already let ACTC know that I'm no longer available.

You're no longer available.

I told them that already, but I don't know if they have quorum.

Okay.

I think we need to find out if he needs myself and Supervisor Miley for quorum.

Okay.

I will text uh David Howard and Tony Cavars right now.

In the meantime, let's uh have Supervisor Fortunately continue.

Yes, just one more thing.

Um, as I requested at our April budget session and last year, I do think it would be uh incredibly helpful for the board to receive a presentation from our auditor of the annual consolidated financial report as well as an accounting of our trusts and reserve funds, similar to what was done last year, reviewing those trusts and reserve accounts with detail about which ones are restricted and for what purpose and which ones are not.

So I will also be happily email my requests to our county administrators so that it's uh clear and in writing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So at this time, uh let me open it up for a public comment.

And how many speakers do we have in-house and online?

We have 10 in person and one online.

Okay.

Um we will allow two minutes each.

The first five in person are John, Lindsay, Poland, Anya, Hannah Joy, Hannah Dowerty, and Kathy Reeves.

Or what?

Wow.

Um, so uh good afternoon.

I'm John Lindsay Poland of American Friends Service Committee and the Care First Ad hoc committee.

Thank you, Supervisors Tam and uh uh Fortunato Bass for flagging vacant positions for being ordered to span up to all the needs are being affected by data control events.

And we're glad to hear that 45 vacant positions were cut the budget.

But in September, according to the CAO, there were 290 vacant positions in Santa Rita jail, funded vacant positions.

We understand that departments were asked to cut 10% of net county costs.

In the case of the Sheriff's Office, this would have meant $52 million.

And in what was presented today, uh less than $8 million was cut.

There's lots of room there.

A budget strategy could either remove the funding tied to these positions or apply a general salary savings factor to the jail to bring down the overall salary and benefits budget without actually defunding or deleting the specific positions.

That would not require any renegotiation of the Babu Consent Decree, as it doesn't stop the sheriff from hiring into them, but would reflect assumed savings of tens of million dollars in the budget.

There are also areas in reserves and in the Behavioral Health Services Act funds that need to be investigated.

We understand that the CAO has been working with behavioral health in order to identify some of the actual uh carryover and BHSA funds, and we think that should be further investigated because we believe that expanding the pie is really the way in which more of these needs can be served and uh with complete transparency and also.

We look forward also to seeing the bridge funding on uh proposal on Tuesday and hope that that will fully restore funding for the supportive housing community land alliance, which has been zeroed out in this proposed budget, and yet it is something that would meet an immediate need that is uh dire.

Thank you.

If the other speakers can just please line up, Anya Kushwa Kushwa, Hannah Joy, Hannah Dowerty, and Kathy Reese.

Hi, good afternoon.

My name is Anya Kushwaha, and I'm an Alameda County resident and healing justice organizer with Restore Oakland, a restorative justice organization based in Lena Tams District 3.

Today I'm delivering to you our budget demands to critically expand affordable housing and mental health services, signed by over 150 Alameda County residents and 37 local organizations and faith-based institutions, including St.

Columba Catholic Church, ACLU NORCAL, Filipino Advocates for Justice, Tribe, and Oakland Rising.

In particular, the very first budget demand we are asking for is the prioritization of investment in the support of housing community land alliance, SHCLA, to develop high-quality, affordable and licensed boarding care housing for residents with high acuity mental health needs.

Looking at this budget proposal, SHCLA is receiving zero dollars in the fiscal year 26 to 27 contract.

This was a community land trust model conceived by the county itself by this board, and currently SHCLA is at risk of losing all of its funding, despite having fully prepared beautiful housing units with wraparound services, direly needed in our community to address the homelessness crisis, that just required this county funding to begin operation.

We know that the county has not done enough to support one of its most marginalized populations, those who are criminalized, justice involved, and live with serious mental illness.

This investment that we are asking for of at least two million dollars to fund SHCLA, $5 million to expand mental health diversion, and 125 million dollars for deep rental subsidies for justice-involved individuals with serious behavioral health needs, creates the vibrant, safe, care-centered communities we all want in Alameda County.

Thank you.

Hi everyone, my name is Hannah Joy Worshing, and I've been a child welfare worker with Alameda County for the past six years.

I'm also a shop steward and a proud member of SCIU 10 to 1.

In my job, in my job, I work with children who have been removed from the care of their parents due to abuse or neglect.

I work to ensure they are safe and their needs are met in foster care, and I also work with their parents to support them in safely reunifying with their children.

As child welfare workers, we work with people who are struggling with substance use, mental health challenges, and domestic violence, who have experienced high amounts of trauma and who have been failed by our society.

Child welfare is the last social safety net for children and families in our community.

And when we don't have adequate staffing or resources, it has huge consequences.

When an emergency response worker receives multiple immediate referrals and doesn't have time to investigate them right away, that could mean a child remaining in a home where they are being sexually abused every night.

It could mean a child sustaining severe injuries or even dying, which has happened.

On the other end, after a child has been removed, when a family goes through multiple reunification workers in the six-month period and isn't getting the support they need, that can make the difference in whether a child is able to go back to their parents or is raised in foster care.

Child welfare in Alameda County is in crisis because we cannot retain workers.

Workers are quitting faster than they can be hired.

And when I talk to my coworkers about why they're leaving, it isn't the difficulty of the work itself.

People are leaving because they are burnt out by high caseloads and feel they can't make a meaningful impact when the workload is so untenable.

If Alameda County cares about the welfare of children, it needs to address its staffing crisis immediately.

Alameda County won't be able to retain workers without raises that keep up with the cost of living and maintaining the low health care costs and strong retirement benefits that allow people to stay at this job.

At the end, I'm here fighting not just for myself and my co-workers, but for all the people we serve.

Our community members deserve to have workers who have the time to support them, who can really provide the help they need.

Hello, my name is Hannah Doherty, and I'm a child welfare worker with Alameda County and a proud member of SCIU Local 1021.

I have worked for the county since my graduate school internship in 2017.

I am born and raised in Alameda County, and this community is very important to me.

My job is vital to the community because we ensure the safety of children and provide critical care for people and support families in need.

I am passionate about this work and have a deep care for this community.

I became a shop steward to support workers that do this work and to advocate for them as much as I advocate for our clients.

Which is why I'm here to say I'm willing to stand in unity with my other members to ensure I'm paid an equitable wage that allows us to afford to live in the community we work in and remain healthy to continue serving Alameda County.

Alameda County's social services has a dangerously high vacancy rate that directly affects employee retention, satisfaction, and community safety.

Due to the inequity of benefits, salary, and other workplace benefits, we are losing employees and potential applicants to surrounding counties.

I know this because I still support my alma mater with interview preparation for future graduates, and many are told not to apply to Alameda County.

And if they were not told this directly, they have heard it that it is an undesirable place to work in comparison to other counties.

This leads to higher caseloads, less capacity to complete the work, and risk for the most vulnerable.

A huge reason people applied to government jobs is to do meaningful work and also to be fairly compensated.

I grew up the daughter of a warehouseman that instilled the value of hard work and the importance of good benefits.

My father is a part of the Teamsters Union, and their advocacy resulted in excellent health care coverage for their employees and their families with the livable wage.

As one of five children, I can remember how hard finances got at times, but I never worried if I could go to the doctor, get medicine, or if my parents could afford our coverage.

This is the value I carry, a major reason why I work for the county and what I plan to provide for my children.

Access to affordable health care is a sense of security that cannot be described.

Therefore, trying to increase our health care costs directly affects our finances and cost of living is already unmanageable and it places the our health at risk.

Please consider our requests and support the workers that support our community.

My name is Kathy Reeves.

I'm a legal secretary in the public defender's office, and I'm also a shop steward for SEIU 1021.

I came to Alameda County 26 years ago, spending nearly two decades in San Francisco.

I took a $30,000 pay cut to come here.

When I first arrived here, county employees were treated well.

But in recent years, things have gone backwards.

Our last negotiations, the county gave us a decent cola.

Now the county wants to offer us pennies compared to the past.

The cost of living here is high.

Gas, six to seven dollars a gallon.

Food, utilities, and everything else are more expensive.

We are being treated like indentured servants, scraping by from paycheck to paycheck.

Many employees travel for up to two hours to come to work.

Leadership is well compensated.

While the front line workers who keep this county functioning are given crumbs.

Is it a surprise we have a turnover?

Many departments are overwhelmed, understaffed and undertrained.

Employees are reaching breaking point.

This September marks three years since I had a stroke.

I worked every day, often staying until eight of the nine and night, excuse me.

I even came in on the weekends.

I never asked for overtime.

On the morning of my stroke, I was getting ready to come to work.

Once at the hospital, they said you have to stay.

I said no, I have to go to work.

I'm not speaking for myself, but for all, for the over 4,000 members of SCIU, 10 to 1 who are employed by Alameda County.

The bottom line is we deserve respect and fair wages.

Without us, Alameda County cannot function.

Stop treating us as though we should simply be grateful to have a job.

We are the backbone of this county, and we deserve to be treated respectfully.

Thank you.

You have two minutes.

Go ahead, please.

Caller, Sharissa, you have two minutes.

Go ahead, please.

The next in-person speakers are C.

Landry.

Will Wells.

Keith Brown, Mimi, and Alison Munro.

Hello, my name is Will Wells.

I've been an Alameda County employee for 28 years.

I'm here representing people such as these public health nurses who do inoculations and vaccination to help keep disease.

I'm also representing vector control, who also keep rodents and pests away and out of our houses and out of our public facilities.

I'm also representing child welfare.

Take care of children.

They take care of children.

The safety of children is to these people right here.

I'm also represented by sheriff's department that helps keep law enforcement and uh the stability of our community intact.

We have legal secretaries who assist your county council in preparation of documents and stuff.

We've done equity presentations for several of these classifications in Alameda County, and we've done a total of how much that we are below the median, not the top, the median.

We are 14% below the median of sustainability in this agency.

We used to be a leader in this agency in terms of surrounding counties.

Now our staff is looking at surrounding counties to see what benefit packages and what is gonna be better for them and their families.

Our management makes has three times the medical coverage we do.

We can barely support one of our dependents while management can do five of their dependents.

Do we have to be managers to have our kids considered nobody's kids or less important than anybody else's?

So we need medical coverage.

We need financial stability, and we're not asking for top pay.

We just need to be competitive with the other agencies, competitive.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Supervisors, Keith Brown, Alameda Labor Council representing over a hundred and thirty thousand workers in Alameda County.

And we as a council, we stand in strong solidarity with the frontline workers of Alameda County.

We are here today because you must hear from the working people that are on the front lines serving the community of this county.

These essential workers know what they need, they know what's at stake, health care, a fair cola and compensation, and for critical vacancy rate rates to be filled.

You must remember that every dollar you spend is a choice.

The biggest priority must be our frontline workers and the community that they serve that rely on their services.

Frontline workers are the community.

The brother that spoke before me, he said it best.

He outlined the crucial services that our community cannot do without.

And the Alameda Labor Council, we demand that you prioritize and respect their work.

These workers need a fair contract now, and we will not go away until they get what they need.

Thank you so much.

Good afternoon, members of the board of supervisors.

And anything that walks through our public services office, including uh potentially adult protective services issues, referrals to CPS, assisting clients with um uh form completion, um, domestic violence, um, etc.

And I'm proud of the work that I do, but we are really um short staffed, not only in social services, but throughout um the county.

And um, for instance, in eligibility, you know, they have two thousand cases on average.

Uh, it's very hard to provide services, critical services that are public needs uh with that uh with the with those large caseloads, not only in eligibility, but in child protective services, in employment services, and now we are gonna have the administrative burden of um HR one, and we can't tax our uh workers out.

Um, what I wanna say is that uh as a member of the bargaining team, I want you really to evaluate our proposals, our uh various labor proposals.

Um, I know there's a chief negotiator.

Can you hear me?

Huh, apparently.

Alison Monroe with Families Advocating for the Seriously Mentally Ill.

I'd like to put in a word for one of the carefirst recommendations, which is to get us more board and cares.

Board and cares are a neglected form of housing that is the very most supportive housing for the seriously mentally ill.

It provides meals, medication, transportation, and they take responsibility for the people in their care.

Some people are too sick to live in apartments.

Despite the ups and downs of the economy, we need to expand the footprint of the system for the most seriously mentally ill.

Um people are in jail and are homeless because there is no place it's appropriate for them to go.

The county's done good things by getting money for hospital beds and crisis residential beds, but board and cares just always seem to be left out.

They fall between jurisdictional stools, bureaucratic stools, people don't remember to fund them.

Apparently, funding for the land trust that wants to open a board and care was cut.

We can't even tell what funding is in the behavioral health proposal anymore.

People keep asking me if the land trust was cut, if FERC was cut, if the NAMI's were cut, and I can't tell them because I cannot tell from the behavioral health presentations I've heard about the budget.

Maybe it will be be resolved in this bridge.

Um vote on Tuesday on the use of measure W money for Prop One, but I'm I don't know.

There's nothing in Prop one that means board and cares need to be cut.

I want to support some other speakers and suggest if you're looking for staff reductions, we might look at the jail because the population there is shrinking.

And I'd like the budget to be released.

Mimi.

Sharisa, you have two minutes.

Go ahead, please.

Can you hear me?

Caller, you have two minutes.

Go ahead, please.

Yeah, um, I hit unmute.

Um, I'm not sure.

Are you able to hear me?

She's not coming.

Yes, we can hear you.

Caller, please unmute your phone.

You have two minutes.

Go ahead, please.

My name is Wendy Alfons, and I'm speaking on behalf of the Berkeley Friends meeting to support the care first.

Next in person is Princess.

My name is my name is Princess, and I work with the Alameda County Assessor's office.

I wanted to share a little bit of background.

I originally started working with the county with the register of voters, moved on to behavioral health, working with the vocational program, moving on to the probation department as part of the training unit.

And eventually I also worked as a 9-1-1 dispatcher for the sheriff's office prior to finally landing in a home at the assessor's office.

Currently, our department is critically understaffed.

We have one senior technician assigned for eight areas across the entire county.

I am one of eight technicians that is splitting to process every single sale deed and um uh transfers of ownership of property.

These deeds generate money for the county.

If we do not process deeds, the tax collectors doesn't get taxable values, and the county loses revenue.

Not only do we generate funds, we also process tax exemptions for churches, nonprofits, schools, universities, hospitals, and it allows them to focus on the communities they're serving.

We are holding this county together.

We are underpaid, and for the weight of that responsibility, a 5% increase doesn't even cover the Bay Area cost of living.

We see that every day as we process the sale deeds of properties of people leaving because they can no longer afford to stay.

Health care costs keep rising over time is eating into our rest days, and many of us are burnt out on our leaves from working hard.

If I take one day off, that's hundreds of deeds not being processed and hundreds of people losing taxable values that go back into the community.

Here's the reality.

Some of us are full-time county employees, and we qualify for the very same public assistance we're fighting for.

Thank you everyone for your comments.

Uh there will, as some of the um board members mentioned, uh, be a meeting on June 2nd, in which we will talk about proposition one.

There will also be a joint meeting coming up with between healthcare and social service to get an update on the impacts of the May revise at the state level on the county with respect to how we deal with the offsets on eligibility under HR 1, among other issues that will be coming up.

So we also will be having a public hearing that will be opening up on June 18th.

So there will be a number of opportunities going forward to provide comments before we adopt.

So at this time, um, may I have a motion to accept the proposed budget as presented by the CAO for review pending the public hearings and to schedule the public hearing on the proposed budget to start on June 18th and continue to June 22nd through the 25th.

So move.

Second.

I have a motion from Supervisor Miley and a second from Supervisor Portonado Bass.

May I roll call vault, please?

Supervisor Marquez.

Hi.

Supervisor Tam.

Aye.

Supervisor Miley, Supervisor Portonata Bass.

Aye.

President Halbert is excused.

Thank you.

Um, hearing no other items on the agenda, this meeting is adjourned.