Fri, Jan 23, 2026·Sacramento County, California·Boards and Commissions

Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency Board of Directors Meeting - January 15, 2026

0:00

Good afternoon and welcome to the January 15, 2026 meeting of the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency Board of Directors.

0:07

Would the clerk please call the roll?

0:09

Certainly.

0:09

Rich Desmond.

0:11

Here.

0:11

Patrick Hume.

0:13

Director Kennedy.

0:15

Here.

0:15

Director Rodriguez.

0:17

Director Cerna.

0:18

Here.

0:18

Director Jennings.

0:19

Here.

0:20

Director Kaplan.

0:21

Here.

0:21

Director Pluckybaum.

0:23

Director Holloway.

0:26

Director Johns.

0:27

Here.

0:27

Director Avedis.

0:29

Here.

0:29

Director Baines.

0:30

Here.

0:31

Director Stevens.

0:32

Here.

0:33

We do have a quorum.

0:34

Thank you.

0:34

Will you please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?

0:39

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America

0:43

and to the republic for which it stands,

0:46

one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

0:53

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

0:55

this meeting of SAFCA is being live streamed at MetroCable14SACCounty.gov

1:01

and will be recorded and re-aired on MetroCable Channel 14 on Sunday, January 18th at 12 p.m.

1:08

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

1:13

Thank you.

1:14

Thank you very much, Madam Clerk.

1:16

At this time, is there any member of the public that would like to address the board on an item that's not on the agenda?

1:20

Could somebody from the City of Sacramento explain what all these noises are?

1:29

Okay.

1:33

Okay, we have no public speakers.

1:36

That takes us to the next item, Madam Clerk.

1:38

And the next item is the election of officers for the Safeco Board for 2026.

1:44

Let me start by saying I should have at the beginning.

1:46

Is Vice Chair Holloway here?

1:50

I'll call them and ask them.

1:53

I don't see them on here.

1:56

There he is.

1:58

Vice Chair Holloway, are you there?

2:08

Oh, they didn't load it on there.

2:12

There he is.

2:14

Can you hear us, Brian?

2:16

Okay, we can't hear you.

2:18

But it's probably better that way.

2:20

All right. Thank you very much. I'm sorry. First item again, please.

2:25

The first item is the election of officers for the SAFCA board for 2026.

2:30

Thank you. At this time, we will take nominations for chair and vice chair of SAFCA for 2026.

2:38

Is there any nominations from the dais?

2:45

Yes, sir. It's districts. It doesn't say names.

2:49

I know. Okay. I've got to get used to this.

2:52

The new District 4, Councilmember.

2:56

It would be my pleasure to, I'm going to speak to the chair position,

3:01

it would be my pleasure to, as long as the presiding chair is willing to reelect the chair to another term as the president of the board, or chair of the board.

3:19

Thank you, sir.

3:20

Second.

3:21

All right.

3:22

Any other nominations?

3:24

All right.

3:25

We have a nomination.

3:26

Is there all those in favor?

3:29

Aye.

3:29

I'm sorry.

3:30

We have to take roll call vote because we have a remote.

3:32

Please take roll call vote.

3:35

Director Desmond.

3:36

Aye.

3:37

Director Hume.

3:38

Director Kennedy.

3:39

Aye.

3:40

Director Rodriguez.

3:42

Director Serna.

3:43

Aye.

3:43

Director Jennings.

3:45

Aye.

3:45

Director Kaplan.

3:46

Aye.

3:47

Director Holloway.

3:49

I don't see him.

3:54

IG?

3:57

I think he's gone.

4:00

Is he losing?

4:04

There he is.

4:05

Yes.

4:07

Yeah, let the record reflect that there is a thumbs up by Director Holloway for that vote.

4:14

Thank you.

4:15

Thank you.

4:16

Director Johns?

4:17

Aye.

4:18

Director Abedus?

4:19

Aye.

4:19

Director Baines?

4:20

Aye.

4:20

Director Stephens?

4:22

Aye.

4:23

All right.

4:23

Thank you very much, board members.

4:24

I appreciate it.

4:25

Passes with the 10-member quorum.

4:28

Mr. Stephens, or Director Stephens, your name is up.

4:32

I just pressed the draw, aye.

4:34

Oh, okay.

4:37

New environs we're all getting used to.

4:40

Okay.

4:41

Now that takes us to vice chair.

4:42

Is there nominations for vice chair?

4:45

If there are none, I would dominate.

4:46

He's been a great sounding board for me over the last couple of years and his many decades of experience have been very valuable.

4:55

And so I would nominate Brian Holloway.

4:59

Second.

5:00

Any other nominations for vice chair at this time?

5:06

Okay.

5:07

Director Desmond.

5:08

Aye.

5:08

Director Hume.

5:09

Director Kennedy.

5:10

Aye.

5:11

Director Cerna.

5:12

Aye.

5:13

Director Jennings.

5:14

Yes.

5:14

Director Kaplan.

5:15

Aye.

5:15

Director Holloway?

5:19

Director Johns?

5:20

Director Avadas?

5:22

Aye.

5:22

Director Baines?

5:23

Aye.

5:23

Director Stevens?

5:25

Aye.

5:25

And we have a 10-member approval.

5:28

Thank you very much.

5:29

And again, board members, I sincerely appreciate it.

5:31

We have a lot more to accomplish, so I sincerely am humbled by the fact that you have nominated me

5:39

and supported me to become your chair next year.

5:42

Thank you.

5:43

Closed session is next.

5:44

Where are we meeting?

5:45

CLOSED SESSION OUTSIDE AND THE STAFF WILL HAVE TO COME AND OPEN THE DOOR FOR YOU.

5:50

OKAY.

5:51

WE WILL RECONVENE AFTER.

5:53

BEFORE WE LEAVE, I THINK WE HAVE SOME RECUSALS.

5:56

YES.

5:57

I'M RECUSING MYSELF FROM CLOSED SESSION.

6:00

ALL RIGHT.

6:01

DIRECTOR ABDUS IS RECUSING HIMSELF FROM CLOSED SESSION.

6:04

AND PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO CALL DIRECTOR HALLOWAY ON YOUR CELL PHONE.

6:08

OKAY.

6:15

Secretary of the Flag and Criminal Agency Board of Directors, would the clerk please

6:30

call the roll, re-establish a form.

6:32

Thank you.

6:33

Director Desmond?

6:34

No.

6:35

Director Hume?

6:36

Here.

6:37

Director Kennedy?

6:38

Here.

6:39

Director Rodriguez?

6:40

Director Cerna?

6:41

Here.

6:42

Director Jennings?

6:43

Here.

6:44

Director Kaplan?

6:45

Holloway. Present. Thank you. Good to hear you.

6:50

Director Johns. Here. Director Avadis. Here.

6:54

Director Baines. Here. Director Stephens. Here.

6:57

We have an 11 member quorum. Thank you very much.

7:01

Counsel, is there anything to report out in closed session? I'd like to report that

7:05

Director Avadis was not present in the closed session and did not receive any of the materials

7:09

associated with it. Thank you. Next item, please.

7:13

Our next item are consent matters and items 2 through 6 are in order.

7:19

All right.

7:19

Is there any member of the board that has any questions of anything on consent?

7:23

Move consent.

7:24

Second.

7:25

I have a motion and a second.

7:26

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

7:31

All right.

7:32

Roll call vote, please.

7:33

Director Desmond.

7:34

Aye.

7:34

Director Hume.

7:35

Aye.

7:36

Director Kennedy.

7:37

Aye.

7:37

Director Cerna.

7:39

Aye.

7:39

Director Jennings.

7:40

Yes.

7:41

Director Kaplan.

7:42

Yes.

7:42

Director Holloway?

7:45

Director Holloway?

7:47

Aye.

7:49

Thank you.

7:50

Director Johns?

7:51

Yes.

7:52

Director Abadiz?

7:53

Aye.

7:54

Director Baines?

7:54

Aye.

7:55

Director Stevens?

7:56

Aye.

7:56

Motion passes with 11 member approval.

7:59

Thank you.

8:00

Next item is our Executive Director's Report.

8:02

Mr. Campbell.

8:04

Thank you, Chair Kennedy, and congratulations again.

8:06

Jason Campbell, Executive Director.

8:08

Quick executive director's report today.

8:13

Got a couple of small changes, but good things.

8:17

We had a continuing resolution expire that we were, been a bit worried about for January of this month.

8:25

And fortunately, HR 6938 was actually passed by the Senate today.

8:30

So hopefully we will see that the federal government for our lines of work will have a budget at the end of the month.

8:37

So that's great news for all of us to kind of be able to keep moving forward with our programs

8:42

and working with our partners at the federal level, both the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation.

8:49

In addition to that, we have our Natomas project that we are still seeking money for a couple of different reaches.

8:57

So we continue to work with our partners to advocate for those dollars to land in one of these budgets.

9:02

back in December. I went to D.C. to meet with folks on the Hill as well as with various portions of the administration.

9:14

So again, met with Senator Padilla to talk about funding for Natomas as well as other programmatic issues and items

9:22

as well as meeting with Congressman Matsui, Congressman Barra.

9:27

I met with the Assistant Secretary's Office in the Pentagon for Civil Works, Senate Appropriations

9:34

and House Appropriations staff that are relevant to our lines of work, as well as headquarters

9:39

at USACE, and met with the Bureau of Reclamation regarding all of our wonderful projects.

9:45

So again, things were a little bit out of sequence for those types of discussions, primarily

9:49

talking about program and money.

9:53

So we were out of sequence simply because the government was shut down.

9:57

So now that it seems that things are going to be moving forward,

9:59

we might want to consider another trip in the early portion of this year,

10:04

so possibly March, and may extend into cap-to-cap or other time during April.

10:09

So we're going to continue to move forward and try and seek those dollars

10:13

so that we can continue to finish Natomas.

10:16

So that annual finance stuff is something that we're working on right now as well.

10:21

So, again, our financial statements are in the next item for receiving file.

10:27

We have finished our audit and we're closing out the fiscal year 25.

10:32

And we're moving forward on a number of different analyses of our current budget and our financing.

10:38

So as we move forward, we want to understand some of our five-year cash flows and needs going forward for these projects,

10:45

particularly if our funding comes through so we can keep moving the program as expeditiously as possible.

10:53

We are also evaluating some potential good things in regards to the bond market.

10:58

The bond market seems to be making changes where it may make sense for us to possibly do some refunding and refinancing

11:05

to either save some money or create a little additional cash for any of the needs that we might have going forward.

11:11

and in addition to

11:13

budget preparation is getting kicked off now

11:16

so that's really all I had for today

11:18

unless there are any questions

11:19

Any questions Mr. Campbell?

11:24

Thank you sir

11:25

Alright everything else

11:28

is received in file

11:29

our next meeting is February 19th

11:32

2026 we're adjourned

Discussion Breakdown

Procedural67%

Engineering And Infrastructure33%

Summary

Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency Board of Directors Meeting - January 15, 2026

The Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (SAFCA) Board of Directors convened on January 15, 2026, to conduct their annual organizational meeting, including the election of officers for 2026 and receive updates on critical flood control projects and federal funding initiatives.

Opening and Roll Call

The meeting commenced in the afternoon with roll call establishing an initial 10-member quorum, later expanded to 11 members. Director Holloway participated remotely via video conference. The meeting was live-streamed at MetroCable14SACCounty.gov and scheduled for re-airing on MetroCable Channel 14 on Sunday, January 18th at 12 p.m., with availability on SAFCA's website within 48 hours.

Election of Officers for 2026

Chair Election: The board unanimously re-elected the current chair (Director Kennedy) to continue serving as Board Chair for 2026. The motion passed with a 10-member approval via roll call vote.
Vice Chair Election: Brian Holloway was nominated and unanimously elected as Vice Chair for 2026, passing with 10-member approval. The chair praised Director Holloway's decades of experience and valuable contributions as a sounding board.

Closed Session

The board recessed into closed session with Director Abadis recusing himself from participation. Upon reconvening with an 11-member quorum, counsel reported that Director Abadis was not present in closed session and did not receive any associated materials.

Consent Calendar

Items 2 through 6 were approved unanimously on consent with an 11-member approval via roll call vote
No public comment was received on consent items

Executive Director's Report

Executive Director Jason Campbell provided updates on several critical matters:

Federal Budget and Funding:

The concerning continuing resolution that expired in January was resolved when HR 6938 passed the Senate on the meeting date
This ensures the federal government will have a budget by the end of January, allowing continued progress on programs with the Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation

Natomas Project Advocacy:

SAFCA continues seeking funding for several reaches of the Natomas project
In December, Campbell traveled to Washington D.C. for extensive advocacy meetings including:
- Senator Padilla regarding Natomas funding and programmatic issues
- Congressman Matsui and Congressman Barra
- Assistant Secretary's Office in the Pentagon for Civil Works
- Senate and House Appropriations staff
- USACE headquarters
- Bureau of Reclamation
Due to the previous government shutdown, discussions were out of normal sequence
Another advocacy trip is being considered for early 2026, possibly in March or during cap-to-cap in April

Financial Management:

The FY25 audit has been completed and financial statements were included for receiving and filing
Staff is conducting five-year cash flow analyses to support expeditious project completion if federal funding is secured
The bond market is being evaluated for potential refunding and refinancing opportunities to either save money or create additional cash for project needs
Budget preparation for the upcoming fiscal year has commenced

Key Outcomes

Chair Kennedy and Vice Chair Holloway re-elected/elected for 2026 term
Federal budget concerns resolved with passage of HR 6938
Continued federal advocacy efforts for Natomas project funding
Financial planning underway including potential bond refinancing opportunities
Next meeting scheduled for February 19, 2026