Good afternoon. Welcome to the May 15, 2025 meeting of the Sacramea Flood Control Agency Board of Directors.

Would the clerk please call the roll?

Thank you. Director Desmond?

Here.

Director Hume?

Director Kennedy?

Here.

Chairman Rodriguez?

Here.

I'm sorry, Director Rodriguez?

Director Cerna?

Here.

Director Jennings?

Director Kaplan?

Here.

Director Pluckybaum?

Here.

Director Holloway?

Here.

Director Johns?

Here.

Director Avedis?

Here.

Director Perez?

Present.

We have a 10-member quorum.

Thank you.

Will you please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

This meeting of SAFCA is being recorded live and will be re-aired on Metro Cable 14 on May 18th at 1130 a.m.

And will also be available on SAFCA's website within 48 hours after the meeting.

Members of the audience who would like to address the board should fill out a speaker form and bring it to me.

When addressing the board, please identify yourself for the record and limit your comments to three minutes.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

First item.

And our first item is a resolution of appreciation number 2025-050, recognizing Colonel Chad W. Caldwell for his contribution to improving flood protection in the Sacramento region on the occasion of a change of command for the Sacramento District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Good afternoon, members of the board.

Happy for you, for your approval, a resolution to thank Colonel Caldwell for all of his work.

He's going to be actually not only change of command in July, but he's going to be staying in the community, retiring here.

So he'll be a member of our community going forward.

I do want to, I won't read the whole resolution.

I do want to say a few things.

And the first thing that to me was probably the most important was Colonel Caldwell treated us more like partners than I think any other commander that we've had.

He's always, he always reached out to us.

When issues came up, he'd come by, he'd come up to our office or go down there, talk them through, strategize, figuring out how to move forward, and really appreciated the partnership that was treated there.

He dealt with a number of very difficult issues.

We had a bunch up at Folsom that were very hard.

We had a lot in the community that was difficult.

He took the same approach with our federal contractors, with utilities, with the sponsors, where he'd partner, get the executive leaders together and work through issues.

And as a result, he was able to keep all of our projects moving.

We've had over a half billion dollars worth of new construction projects awarded during his time,

including the raise of the main dam, the right-left wing dams up there, dykes one through six, and Mormon Island up at Folsom,

which are all going right now, and also the Sacramento Weir and bypass, in addition to a number of the levee projects.

So I just really appreciated all the work he's done to keep this going and wanted to take this opportunity to have you pass this resolution to thank him for that.

So I'll turn it back to you.

Thank you very much.

First, we're going to adopt the resolution, and then we'll proceed with it.

Is there a motion from the board?

Second.

Second.

We have a motion, and take your pick of seconds.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed?

Abstained?

Okay.

I can officially.

Yes.

Thank you.

Can I say a few words?

Yes, Colonel, please do.

If I just said aye, that would have been awkward if you'd said nay with me standing here.

So we don't get to choose our assignments in the Army.

We get told where to go.

We do in the command process, you get selected for command, and then you get to put in preferences on where you would like to go command.

And Sacramento District was my number one preference.

But it had nothing to do with the district or the mission, because I knew nothing about it.

It had everything to do with Tahoe being an hour and a half that way, Napa being about 45 minutes that way, and just the great area that Northern California is in the community.

And I had no clue what I was getting myself into when I showed up.

And so I want to thank Rick.

I want you all to know, which I know you do, and you're going to recognize him at the end of the meeting as well for all the contributions that he's done.

But our successes were largely based on his educating me on what flood risk really was here in the greater Sacramento area, what that meant, how the system really operates as a system,

and then helping to just have open, transparent communications about those challenges.

Because it's easy to sit in a federal chair and say, well, we can't do that because of X, because of this policy or this procedure or this legality.

But really being able to take it from the local level at SAFCA, great state partners at Central Valley Flood Protection Board and at DWR, and then federal, and figure out how to get things done.

And then really bring that to our contract partners and then the utilities as well.

It's been a great education.

I obviously fell in love with the area because my wife and I have decided that after 27 years, we're going to retire and we're going to stay here.

We bought a house in Folsom.

I'll go check on the dam for you, Rick.

I'm not sure they'll let me on premises anymore once I'm done.

But he's going to be a big miss, but he's got a great team in SAFCA.

You've got a great team at the Army Corps of Engineers in the Sacramento District.

They are all more resilient than any individual who runs them.

My only hope is that our legacy of partnership just continues on.

So thank you very much.

I really do appreciate this.

I'll take it home and show it to my 9-year-old son and see if he's as impressed as I am.

But really do thank you for all of the great partnership.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Colonel.

Colonel, for all of the reasons that Rick said, we were lucky to have you here while we did.

That's the unfortunate part of the cycling through is that when you get a good one, they're gone in two years.

But we really appreciate your dedication, your efforts.

And don't think we're not going to use the fact that the colonel from the Army Corps that builds flood protection projects decided to live in Sacramento.

Yep.

There you go.

I will tell you, when I first moved here, I was alone for a little while.

My family was in Rhode Island.

Our son was finishing high school.

And I rented an apartment that was right on the levee on the American River.

I might not have done that if I had known exactly.

Because that first year was the 22 into 23 winter.

And I was standing up on top of the levee.

And I was watching about 45,000 CFS-ish go through.

And I was like, oh, man, what would 160 really look like?

I mean, that's pretty amazing, right?

It's hard to imagine.

But that's why we exist, right?

That's why they exist.

That's why we exist.

So thank you so much.

And I do look forward to being a community member for a long, long time.

Thanks.

Thank you, Colonel.

All right.

That brings us to public comment.

I currently have one speaker slip.

Is there another coming?

Yes, I believe there is.

So we'll start with Joseph O'Connor.

Thank you.

Yes, I'm Joseph O'Connor.

I'm here to talk about Contract 3B on the American River.

I'm a member of the Bank Protection Working Group,

representing the Parkway Coalition.

I was here two months ago.

Same subject.

I want you to recall I talked about my personal experience

about the flood following Katrina in New Orleans, where I'm from.

So I know about floods.

I have no particular reason to criticize the Army Corps of Engineers flood protection plan,

but I do recognize the extensive environmental damage it'll do to the parkway.

So my thing is, let's make sure before proceeding.

And it's good to understand a couple of things.

During Contracts 1 and 2, the Bank Protection Working Group had in-person meetings with full discussions.

The subcommittee, the Technical Resource Advisory Committee, reported back to the Bank Protection Working Group.

Everything was vetted.

Contract 3B, however, was developed during the COVID period, which occurred after 2020.

The Bank Protection Working Group had only occasional meetings,

and these were done over the Internet, Zoom-type meetings.

They worked very well, good enough for presentations, but they're very bad for discussions.

So the question is, could more be done to the parkway to limit damage?

And we don't know.

So I've been proposing a pause.

Let's have a modified peer review.

This is nothing unusual for complicated projects.

Let's reconstitute the Technical Resource Advisory Committee, a subcommittee, Bank Protection Working Group.

These are our experts.

Let's add other related experts.

Let's add some more soil borings to be sure where the erodible soils are,

and have in-person meetings with full discussions.

Let's be sure before proceeding.

It's important, and it's a major public concern.

Thank you, Mr. O'Connor.

Nancy Nicekern.

Thank you, Chairman Kennedy and board members.

I am here also to talk about Contract 3B.

I thank you for the opportunity to make these comments,

and to Colonel Caldwell, we all wish you a very good retirement

and a happy home here among us.

Thank you.

Both the Corps and the local community recognize the importance

of providing stakeholder meetings, and I want to talk a little bit about the dynamics of those.

The Corps is careful to state when and where these virtual meetings took place,

but the local community, after each meeting, is left asking,

when will the Corps respond to our questions?

I observed that there were so many questions posed at the LARTF meeting of December 12, 2023,

at the January 10th and January 16th meetings, all virtual.

All of these questions were deferred to be answered later and are now contained in the recently released May 12th final SEIS SEIR.

Many people were concerned with details of the project and felt that they should have known more before the public comment period ended.

The result is public comments may not be sufficient, as they may be based on misunderstanding of the information.

Communications in the best of situations can be difficult,

but this controlled one-way design misses the point of working with stakeholders.

Here are the opportunities we all missed.

To clarify misunderstandings and to obtain public support.

To educate the public.

To learn from the public.

Locals provide valuable insights into local challenges and opportunities,

helping shape projects that can improve resilience.

They bring knowledge of today's river and environs.

To increase collaboration.

Through understanding, there is team building.

To increase knowledge and awareness, the community raises awareness of the ecosystem and desire for preservation of nature.

They have knowledge of history and use of the river.

To give and get accurate feedback is so important.

The community, excuse me, the community can help ensure projects meet their intended goals.

The core ensures knowledge of safety alternatives.

It is not enough to present the project multiple times.

If you are looking for acceptance, agreement, and satisfaction with all the information,

then this process needs improvement.

We remain interested in meeting with the core to ensure that our voices and knowledge of the river matters.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Nancy.

Do we have any more cards?

I do not.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

With that, we will adjourn to closed session.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Call back to order this meeting of the SAFCA Board of Directors.

Would the clerk please call the roll and reestablish the quorum?

Thank you.

As in the clerk are mounting a coup.

Changed my roll sheet and it keeps popping up wrong.

Okay.

Counsel, is there anything to report out of closed session?

Nothing to report at this time.

All right.

Next item, please.

Our next item is the public hearing resolution number 2025051, adopting the recommended fiscal year 2526 budget.

Okay.

Director Aptis.

I was premature in my buzzing in to speak.

Okay.

It happens to all of us.

So we have items three through 16.

Is there any questions or comments from the board?

I'll go ahead and move consent three through 16 for approval.

Is there a second?

I will second it as long as we go back to item number two.

Okay.

Chairman Kennedy, I called the public hearing.

I was lost there for a minute.

I threw you off there.

I mean, it was the whole Rodriguez thing.

Yeah.

Well, it was the whole Desmond thing.

We will go to, we will, is there a second for, we do have a second and a motion.

Is there any board member that would like to make comments?

No.

Is there any member of the public that would like to make a comment on an item that's on the consent calendar?

Hearing and seeing none.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed?

Abstain?

Item two, please.

Public hearing resolution number 2025051, adopting the recommended fiscal year 2526 budget.

Mr. Campbell.

Before we start, I just want to say we did not budget for a coup, so we're ready to go.

So again, last month we presented the preliminary budget.

Today is the final budget for your consideration.

As we move forward with this coming fiscal year, we realized that the June meeting landed on a federal holiday, Juneteenth.

So that's why you're seeing this in May.

So for the fiscal year 2526 budget, the process has been fairly typical.

What we present is public hearing notices as well as preliminary review of the budget in a prior month before this action that we have today.

So today's public hearing is going to be the final budget for the next fiscal year.

So again, we often try to make sure that we understand that there are assumptions that go into these budgets.

Again, these are the same assumptions that we presented last month, and they're basically identical to the prior years.

Just a quick reminder, we have four primary operating funds.

The operations and maintenance assessment district number one is the essentially our general fund.

The other funds are related to project expenses and O&M, but they are very specific to the projects that they have budgeted in them.

So for this coming fiscal year, the recommended budget includes sources of $134.1 million.

And you can see that that's incorporating fund balance of about $30 million, total revenues, and reserve releases to make sure that we have the resources for that $134 million budget.

And of course, there is a bunch of information that is available to you in the packet on pages five and six.

This is the combined budget of all four funds, 325A through 325H.

As you can see on the appropriation side, we identify the different series of expenses and other transfers and all of our appropriations for the coming fiscal year.

And on the bottom, you can see the financing or the sources for that funding.

If there are any questions, I'm happy to answer those currently.

So with our recommended appropriations, this graph identifies where our expenditures are basically co-located.

So for the most part, our budget is about projects and acquisitions, and I think this board knows that very clearly.

So in this project, we're anticipating 84% of the budget or $112.8 million will go towards projects and project-related activities.

Our salaries and benefits are fairly still fairly insignificant in the grand scheme, but significant to the team here.

$4.2 million in our O&M assessment district.

We have services and supplies inching up to about $13.9 million.

We carry contingencies because in our world, we have many partners and projects that are active,

and we need to be able to have some flexibility in case there are some changes in the project funding expenses.

So we carry that $5.4 million in contingency.

And then we do have some transfers between funds for staff time being reimbursed in the O&M fund from the project funds.

This is the basic breakdown of each fund's project activities.

So as you can see, O&M is covering about $20,000 for a number of activities related to groundwater recharge

and some other efforts that we have endeavored to assist with.

In addition, we have a number of $20.6 million and a number of activities under the development impact fee

that were presented to you last month, but also these projects are moving forward this year.

And we'll roll into the next fiscal year.

And then, of course, we have $70.3 million.

There's a small change in this.

Well, I say small, but it's relatively small.

But for the most part, the $37 million that you see in the Natomas under the CCAD2,

that did creep up a bit, but that is actually transitioning from current fiscal year expenses

that were not recognized into next fiscal year,

along with a couple of other utility relocations and other things that are coming forward.

So that $70 million, as you can see, is broken down into multiple projects,

but the lion's share is once again under Common Features 2016 and Natomas Basin.

So with that, if there are any questions, we can dive into details if you would like,

or we can go ahead and go forward with a public hearing

and hear staff's recommendation to adopt the budget.

Any questions from the board?

All right.

We will open the public hearing.

Is there any member of the public that would like to address the board on this item at this time?

Hearing and seeing none, we will close the public hearing.

Is there a motion?

I'll move.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed?

Abstain?

Thank you.

Well then, thank you.

Mr. Campbell, thank you.

And our next item is the Executive Director's Report.

Well, good afternoon, members of the board.

Before we get started, I do want to introduce Jose Gomez, if he'd stand up.

He is our new Director of Engineering, replacing Pete Yelfie's position.

He used to work some with the Corps of Engineers and most recently came from the city of Elk Grove.

I just wanted to introduce him to you because you'll be seen standing in front of you a few times here in the future.

Welcome.

All right.

So you see the big 184 up there.

Is that the number of slides you've got this time?

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know me well.

So if I counted right, that's the number of board meetings that we've had since I started in July of 2010.

And so I would like just to take a few moments to talk about a few things that's happened over the last 15 years,

as today will be my last board meeting.

I've got to work with and know 37 board of directors and had nine different chairs over those years.

If I counted right, I've been to D.C. 47 times for SAFCA during those 15 years.

I do want to just talk about a few of the more important things that occurred on the D.C. actions.

One was the Natomas authorization in 2014.

At the time, the basin had been in a building moratorium.

And we had done most of the work that needed to be done to get to A99 designation.

All that was left was needed was an authorization of the remaining work.

So this authorization was a big deal to the city and counties in particular.

On the other one, Common Features 2016, that was a big deal to us because we had had five other authorizations that fixed part of the system.

This particular one did the rest of the system, anything that wasn't already included.

So this made us so we were whole.

So the next one was the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

When Common Features 2016 got authorized, I was really worried because we'd been getting about $100 million a year between Natomas and the joint federal project up at Folsom.

At that rate, it was going to take more than 40 years to finish constructing our projects.

And I was worried that Natomas and Common Features 2016 would be competing against each other for those dollars.

This came through.

It was a result of a bunch of hurricanes that had hit the country.

Congress put $10 billion towards fixing them.

They also added $4.6 billion for the rest of the country for projects that were ready to go.

We got about 40% of that because we had two projects ready to go and fully funded.

So this was a huge, huge win for moving things forward for us.

Another important item was as we SAFCA advanced in 2007 to work around the Natomas Basin getting ahead of the Corps.

We got to the point where we could then get to A99 designation.

But we knew we had a lot of funding left to go and that we were going to far exceed our cost share.

And at the federal level, it's very difficult to get reimbursement.

So we started the process.

It took 12 years.

But we finally got approval that really no one else.

Congress terminated approval after we went through.

So really it was kind of a one-off for us to be able to transfer these credits.

But that was huge, huge for us so that we can count what we spend in Natomas against our cost share for Common Features 2016.

And then the last one I wanted to mention from D.C.

was a comprehensive study of Yolo bypass.

Corps had looked at widening the bypass.

It's critical to us to improve it.

They'd looked at it under their traditional methods and couldn't get there.

So we went in and basically put legislation in there to tell them to look at it more broadly, more comprehensively.

And so we got the authority.

We did get the funding started.

And actually today, the Corps released their FY25 work plan and fully funded the federal contribution for the study through the end of the study in 2029.

So we're fully funded on the study now.

So changing gears a little bit, probably the most difficult thing that we took on while I've been here was when I first started,

our employees partly worked, part of them worked for the county in the county system and part worked in the city system.

And in 2012, the city was having some funding issues.

So they were putting their employees on furloughs and wanted to put ours on furloughs.

We didn't have the funding issue and we needed our folks working.

But not furloughing them became an issue with the city's unions.

And so at that point, decided, okay, it's time to move on.

About the same time IRS came out with a rule that more than one agency couldn't share a retirement system.

So we went ahead and set up an independent.

That was the most difficult thing we had to do.

You know I work with the Corps day in and day out.

CalPERS was much more difficult bureaucracy than that.

It took over a year to prove to them we were an agency.

So anyway, so that was probably the hardest thing I've had to do.

In the category of the right thing, in July of 2015, we were going forward with an EIR to start work on the levees in the pocket area.

United Auburn Indian community came, asked us to pause because they didn't feel we had adequately thought through how we were going to address the burials as we knew that they were there.

And so we paused and worked through three agreements with them.

I took a lot of flack for executive directors from other area flood control agencies called me in and they didn't like the precedent we were setting that we were working with them.

But we persevered.

It was the right thing to do.

And in the long run, the Corps took, we got the authorization, the Corps took over the work.

They adopted a lot of the things that were in those agreements and the rest of them SAFCA fulfilled.

But as it worked out, as we hit the burials, United Auburn was very good about quickly recovering everything so that we could keep moving forward.

So it worked out well and it was just the right thing to do.

Most innovative, you hear a lot about forecast and form reservoir operation, Furo now.

We were the first ones through at Folsom.

We were, it was very difficult to get the Corps to agree to this.

They're very conservative.

But it's turned out to be huge benefits for flood control water supply.

And now you hear about they're looking at it all over the West.

So I thought, I think that was very good.

We were most innovative.

Tim, way back on the original authorization, got flood operations forecast base, put in the authorization back in the 90s.

And we were the first one through.

So tried really hard over the last 15 years to elevate our stature within at the federal level.

Recently, we hosted in 2023 the National Waterways Conference.

They're a group of stakeholders nationally, ports, regulatory agencies, flood control agencies, navigation, that they meet annually in a different city.

But the conference works with the Corps.

The Corps is their only focus there.

So we hosted it in 2023.

And two things happened there that I felt good about.

Jason told me he was sitting at the table with one of the Centrofrogly Flood Protection Board members.

And they were amazed that SAFCA was able to put this on.

And then the other was I was up on the podium with Assistant Secretary of the Army Michael Connor.

And during one of the breaks, he was asking me, well, you guys have such a huge program out here.

How big of an organization are you?

And when I explained, well, we got 18 and a half full-time equivalents, he questioned me.

He couldn't believe.

So I think we've done a fairly decent job of making ourselves relevant at the national level.

And I like to use this example of demonstrating our ability.

On the Sac Weir, there was the Sierra Northern Railway bridge that crosses the Weir there that went from basically over the port of West Sacramento over to Woodland.

And it was in the way of the Weir widening.

Railroad bridges are a federal.

They're run by the Federal Surface Transportation Board.

And so it's about the only relocation that's a responsibility of the Corps of Engineers.

They couldn't do it.

And so we took it on, and we were able to get it approved.

And the thing that I really enjoyed was a couple years in 2022, a couple years after, a whole group of Corps leadership was out at the Weir.

And we had one of our contractors actually taking the railroad down.

And when they found out that Safeka had been the one that acquired the railroad, not the Corps, and that that was our contractor taking it down, they just couldn't believe it.

So I like to share that as our ability to get things done.

This is one that I think is a footprint for the future.

When we were doing the American River Common Features GRR, which led to the Common Features 2016 project, Corps headquarters wanted us to include Auburn Dam because they were worried about the fact we have cold water.

We can't get people wet because they can't stay in the water for very long.

After Hurricane Katrina, people in the water for days.

But the temperatures were in the 70s and 80s.

So they were really worried about that.

So they wanted to focus on 500-year.

We were worried if they included Auburn Dam, we needed to get all the other parts of our system authorized.

And we were afraid that would kill the report.

So we reached an agreement.

They called it an interim GRR and took Auburn out.

And in exchange, we also agreed to put together a 500-year plan, which we did in 2017.

Part of it's already under construction, the part to protect the American River and widen the Sacramento Weir.

And widening the Fremont Weir and the Yolo bypass is understudy.

And then we're working upstream with SMUD and Placer County Water Agency is looking at some of the reservoirs up there to maybe do some type of re-operation.

So that was an important path forward for the future.

Probably the time I was as satisfied as I've ever been was watching when the January 2023 storms hit, the new spillway at Folsom, first time we used it.

California was getting flooded all over the place and we were driving just watching it work.

The system work.

That was very satisfying to me.

Probably the most rewarding for me is the people, the citizens of Sacramento aren't protected until the projects are in the ground.

And seeing the construction going in, everything that gets done, every step we take, it's a little safer.

That's the most rewarding to me.

Probably the most fun board meeting I've had was in August 2019 when we did our 30th anniversary and the congresswoman came there.

And this is actually Phil had recommended back at the board meeting when we heard about the 2018 funding that we have with the congresswoman come to our board meeting.

It took over a year to get her there.

And unfortunately, you weren't able to make it.

I always felt bad about that.

It was your idea and then you couldn't be there.

But that was probably the most fun board meeting.

And then finally, my last slide, best public agency, I think.

Very, very well respected.

And best board.

Thank you, guys.

Best staff.

And I've been very proud to have represented SAFKA.

So I'm going to hold any other comments until a little later, but I'll take any questions.

So board members are welcome, but we also do have item 20.

It might be more appropriate to save our comments then.

Mr. Cerna, do you want to go now?

I can.

I can.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Thanks.

Our next item is the public hearing resolution of necessity number 2025-073 regarding portions

of Sacramento County APN 226-0010-002, property at 5625 East Levy Road.

Property owners, Spiridon and Georgia AVDUS as trustees of the AVDUS Family Trust dated 9-21-06.

Okay.

Okay.

Director Kaplan.

I will just step out.

I will just step out at an abundance of caution of a perception of a conflict under 84-308.

Thank you.

Director AVDUS.

Yes.

For the record, I will be recusing myself from both items 18 and 19th, and I'll be leaving

the room.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

No doubt.

Chair.

Well, seconded me.

Thank you.

Good afternoon directors staff request that this item be removed for consideration.

Okay. Any questions?

Is there any public comment on this?

I have not received any.

Is there a motion?

I will move approval for the item.

Second.

Okay. We're moving to drop the item from the agenda. All those in favor?

Aye. Opposed? Abstain?

Next item please.

Next item is a public hearing resolution of necessity number 2025074 regarding portions of Sacramento County APN 226-001003 property located at 5311 East Levy Road.

Property owner Nick Aldist.

Mr. Group.

Staff also request this item be dropped.

Any questions from the board?

Do we have any public comment?

I have not received any.

Motion?

I will move approval to have this item removed.

Dropped.

Yes.

We have a motion and a second.

Second.

Okay. We have a motion and a second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Abstain?

Thank you.

Next item please.

Do we want to wait until we get the rest of the people back?

Yeah.

Not today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So we have made it very legitimate to come to us.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next item is a resolution of appreciation number

2025 075 recognizing Richard M. Johnson for his service

to the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency upon the occasion of his

retirement. Mr. Campbell.

Chair Kennedy, members of the board, Jason Campbell, Deputy Executive Director.

This is a very interesting moment emotionally as well as professionally for me,

but I would imagine many of the folks on staff are very pleased to have been

as part of the SAFCA team in this past 15 years.

And I have to say that when I first got to SAFCA in November of 2015, I was elated.

I was like, wow, this is a great mission.

This is an incredible idea of how an agency should run.

And then I got there and I'm like, what did I get myself into?

And Mr. Johnson was the consummate professional about everything.

And I didn't think that that necessarily existed in the public sector,

in the world where we are trying to move fast and get things done.

And Rick has the utmost respect of his colleagues, his staff, his friends,

everybody that wants to talk to Rick.

It's always the same story.

It's he brings something to the game.

He definitely brings forward the mission of public service.

I could read the resolution, but again, I still won't do justice for what Rick Johnson has brought to this community.

And if I may, I just would like to go ahead and turn it over to the chair and say,

Rick, thank you from all of us, from me and my family, your friend and a colleague,

and we are going to miss you.

I can't believe I'm getting ready to cry.

This is crazy.

Thank you.

Mr. Johnson, will you please join me?

So I don't have to read a lot of the where as's because you pretty well covered them in your report.

But I will say that, you know, since Rick joined SAFKA,

you know, he's led the most successful comprehensive flood management improvement effort

ever undertaken in the Sacramento region and addresses flood risks in an integrated manner

while concurrently improving ecosystem functions, operations, and maintenance practices,

and the institutional support for flood management.

During his tenure, SAFKA has served as the non-federal sponsor

for the American River Watershed Folsom Dam Modification Project,

the joint federal project, the South Sacramento Streams Group Project,

the River Watershed WERDA 9699 Project,

American River Watershed Common Features Natomas Project,

American River Watershed Common Features 2016 Project,

American River Watershed Folsom Dam Raise Project.

During his tenure, SAFKA-sponsored projects have received over $3.2 billion in appropriations

through the Army Corps of Engineers,

and when combined with the efforts and the federal efforts

on the joint federal project, Mr. Johnson has contributed

to the direct implementation of over $4.4 billion in flood infrastructure projects

directly benefiting the Sacramento region.

That's probably a record of any leader of any agency

in the history of Sacramento County.

The work that Mr. Johnson has done from a personal level,

working with him has been nothing but a joy.

We all don't question Rick's knowledge,

his respect that he has both here and in Washington, D.C.,

throughout the nation when it comes to flood issues.

It's very difficult to question Mr. Johnson when he says something on flood

because I guarantee you will look foolish if you do.

But what I will always remember is not only the expertise, the tenacity,

the passion that he has for this subject,

but he's a darn nice guy.

And for someone to be as successful as you are

in some of the cesspools you've dealt with in your career,

that's pretty remarkable.

And to be, I mean, you know, you deal with people honestly,

and I think that's where a lot of the respect comes from.

So with that, I will present you with this,

and then we will open up to the board.

Is there anything else you'd like to say?

Thank you.

By the way, so that the board knows,

and we are going to take a photo, a group photo,

but so the board knows,

I tried desperately to celebrate his fantastic tenure

and have, you know, some kind of a going-away party.

He refused, wouldn't have anything to do with it,

so we negotiated it down that if I didn't do it,

he would agree to answer Mr. Campbell's phone calls

if he did any.

Well, thank you.

I just wanted to share a couple thoughts.

Probably share something that I don't share,

haven't shared very often.

When I was a 15-year-old teenager

going into my junior year in high school,

football season had just started,

and we had to leave and go look,

do, go for a search for my uncle and aunt

and their three little kids

who were missing after a flood event.

I was the unfortunate one that everyone had passed by,

but I spotted my five-year-old niece's toll

sticking up from a pile of debris,

and so that made an impression on me,

and then during the 97 flood event,

I was actually out in the field for weeks

trying to help get the water off the people,

and then here in Northern California,

and then a couple years after that,

working to try to get it back.

So those things motivate me to do everything we can

to make sure that the citizens in Sacramento

don't ever have to do that and experience that.

So I don't share that very often,

but I don't think people want to have that experience,

and so that's what drives me.

That's what's driven me,

and I thank my Heavenly Father for the opportunity

I have had to be in this position,

and because it gave me an opportunity

to maybe try to do some good for the community.

I hesitate to thank anyone individually,

but there's a few people I do have to.

For 15 years,

our government relations team has been constant.

Mike Strawn, Boris Steinberg, Naomi Steinberg,

Doug Lamont in D.C.,

Jack Walco here at the state level,

and Barb here at the local level have,

they've worked tirelessly with us

to help keep safe going to get our appropriations,

to get our funding to deal with issues,

so I need to thank them.

I want to thank Patrick.

Patrick's been the chair or vice chair

for much of my time here,

and so I've gotten to know him better than the others.

I don't think anyone really appreciates

the amount of time he has spent for Safe Good

dealing with issues behind the scenes,

supporting us.

He's probably taken more phone calls from Barb

than any other board member has had to.

I can pick on her since she's there.

So that deserves some recognition there.

That deserves a resolution.

So anyway, and then I've got to thank Lindy

for taking care of me for 15 years,

and then I do want to thank Jason for the last decade.

He got emotional, which is making it harder for me,

but he's spent hours listening to me,

my gripes, moderating my wild ideas,

but just helping us get to the best solutions there.

And then I've got to recognize Congresswoman Matsui.

I mean, she has spent hours and hours and hours

trying to understand how the Corps works,

trying to understand our system, our projects.

She knows how the Corps works better than most of the Corps people know how they work.

And she'll sit down, we'll work through a collaborative process,

how we're going to move forward on an issue.

She follows through.

She's done so much that we wouldn't have had any of that if not for her,

and I'll miss working with her on that one.

And then I've got to also thank my family, especially my wife.

I should have probably, I could have and probably should have spent more time,

a lot of the hours that I spent here, there,

but I appreciate them doing that.

Great staff.

I mean, they're very dedicated.

And so as we see the country kind of taking a negative attitude towards civil servants,

they're a bunch of civil servants.

And when I use the word servants, I mean they're serving the public.

So I appreciate the opportunity that I've had to do this.

Great board.

Thank you for your support.

And I can't thank you enough for this opportunity.

So thank you.

Director Cerna.

Thank you, Chair.

So first of all, Rick, thank you for starting your remarks

with the very personal reflection on what you experienced as an adolescent.

And I'm sure that is something that weighs heavy on you still.

And the fact that you chose today to share that with your board,

I think, makes us all understand the passion that you've had for as long as you've had it

for this particular angle of public service.

So I just wanted to start by expressing my gratitude for sharing that.

Thank you.

I'm not sure, but I think maybe with the exception of Brian,

I think I've had the longest tenure with you.

Yeah, I think so.

So almost 15 years.

So, and in fact, I think I started with understained.

So I've had the, I've gotten to see you fulfill your responsibilities as the lead administrator,

the lead executive for this agency throughout that entire time.

And I had the good fortune of working very closely with you.

And it was my rotation in as chair.

I think it was either 13 or 14.

But it was the year that we finally achieved the congressional authorization for Natomas.

And that was a huge moment.

And I remember being back in Washington with you and with Mike Straughan and others

and going to the Pentagon and trying to impress upon the decision makers in the federal government

just how important it was to this part of our community

that we have the resources necessary to protect over 100,000 people,

two interstate highway systems, a regional airport,

thousands and thousands of acres of cropland.

And I will tell you personally, as an Natomas resident, my wife and I have, you know,

had the good fortune of living in that community, that part of our community for almost a quarter century now.

And so I took all of that back with me and to have you prepare your chair at the time, me,

to make that case but do it in partnership with staff and with our consultants.

And then at the back end of all of that work,

be able to celebrate the achievement of finally having what we needed to kind of green light

what we had waited so long to acquire and, you know, work so diligently to do so

was honestly one of the most fulfilling parts of my tenure in public service.

And so, and I know that that's just one feather in the cap here,

but it's a really, really important one.

And again, I'll just kind of maybe close out my remarks with it.

It comes full circle to the fact that you took to heart.

It really is about protecting people's lives, protecting people's property,

and that's why you also reminded me and others right away, it's not SAFCA, it's SAFCA.

So thank you, Rick.

Thank you, Director.

Director Rodriguez.

Rick, I just want to thank you for the past several months

where you have provided me a lot of information about understanding

the importance of floods and the risks involved.

And I like to share this story that I ended up living and purchasing a home in the city of Bolsom

because my late husband was a civil engineer for Caltrans.

And when we were buying a home, he gave me a map,

and he laid out the areas that I could not get a home in.

And those areas were anywhere that was blood-prone.

But when I took this job, it really showed me the importance of ensuring that we do what we can

as those in elected positions to ensure that we protect the public.

And so, but anyways, I just want to thank you for the knowledge and the education

that you and Jason have both given me the past several months,

and I wish you all the best in your retirement.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Director Desmond.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

And Rick, thank you.

I want to pile on with some of the comments.

You know, it's, my father was a condemnation attorney in Sacramento for about 55 years

representing a lot of victims of floods in Sacramento.

I remember as a teenager going with him to meet with some property owners in Alberta

and Strawberry Manor after the 86 floods who lost everything.

And then so many years later, now I'll be sitting on this board to serve with,

of course, my colleagues up here.

But with you and to hear your stories about everything that you have done over the decades

to make Sacramento a safer place.

It is truly an honor to know you and to have served for at least a short period of time with you.

So I thank you for that.

You're leaving an amazing legacy of preserving lives and property and livelihoods in Sacramento.

And that's really profound.

And I think it's quite an indication of what a guy you are if, number one, you can get Patrick Kennedy to serve as chair year after year after year.

And you can move a bunch of stoic engineers to tears at your departure.

I mean, that says a lot about you in and of itself.

And my one request is maybe you and Colonel Caldwell, could you join me at some of my community meetings regarding contract 3B?

You can answer that later.

Thank you.

I'll check with him.

Vice Chair Holloway.

As long as we're confessing, I might as well tell you that my father was his father's trial attorney.

Trial appraiser.

So we go way, way, way back.

I just want to say, as Supervisor Director Cerna said, I've been here a while, one manner or another.

And served, you know, originally involved with their, served Bill Edgar and then Butch Hyskins and then Steyn.

And then, fortunately, with you, Rick.

You've just done a great job running this organization.

And we've had great staff.

We've had great successes.

And I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you for your hard work and your dedication and your, you know, being away from family to make Sacramento flood safe.

It's very important.

And really, we all really appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Director Kaplan.

I, too, want to pile on but let you know what you've done has saved lives.

And I think what you don't know, and you're hearing just snippets here, of the work that you've done that has actually impacted people that you don't even know about.

So I want you to know as you retire, like, how much you have done.

My husband used to run Department of Water Resources flood department.

And so he lived appropriately in Rancho Cordova.

And when he realized I was elected in Natomas, kind of pulled out the same thing, pulled out a map and found an area of Natomas that was slightly higher than everywhere else.

And knowing what you've done in the last 15 years of he doesn't even think twice because he didn't tell people he moved out to Natomas from his old position.

Because they all said in DWR, you don't move to Natomas if you are controlling the floods.

And so everything you have done has made it safer.

That Sacramentans, you know, in the area, especially in Natomas, they don't think twice about it anymore.

And that is huge.

For as much that you have partnered with the Congresswoman to make our area safer, make houses, make life safer, you have truly made a difference.

And I, too, want to just say thank you for honoring us with your family story of what really fueled you all these years to make a difference because you have.

So enjoy your retirement.

Thank you.

Director Talamontis.

Thank you, Chair.

Well, I had heard a lot about you as the Chief of Staff to our now Senator Angelique Ashby.

And she said incredible things about you.

And I was like, okay, got it.

And then I got elected and I got assigned to this committee and I had my first briefing with you all.

And I sat there for like two, three hours and I was just impressed with you, with your intelligence.

And I just left that meeting thinking, this man is wicked smart.

How does he store all this information in his head?

And I think it's just your passion for what you do.

And thank you so much for blessing us with all these years and making Sacramento like a safe place to be.

So thank you so much for all your work.

Thank you.

Thank you, Director.

You're hating every minute of this, aren't you?

All right.

I will move for adoption of the resolution, item 20.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed?

Abstain?

All right.

Let's go down the well and take a photo.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh, thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone in the audience?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone on the audience?

Yeah, let's get people in the background.

I can do that.

Jim.

We all got to squeeze like we like each other.

I'll tell people in the background.

Everybody needs to go that way.

Do they like the shuffle?

Like the shuffle?

I can't wait for the camera either way.

There we go.

Maybe I got another phone.

Oh, somebody get it for me?

Okay.

Is that Z?

Okay.

Okay.

Is that your phone?

That's one's mine.

Okay.

Okay.

One more.

One more.

All right.

All right.

All right.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Your phone's better than I have.

It does take good votes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Madam clerk I believe that is the last item of the day.

That is.

Okay.

Thank you board members.

We're adjourned.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Madam clerk I believe that is the last item of the day.

That is.

Okay.

Thank you board members we're adjourned.

Thank you.