Sacramento Regional Transit District Board Meeting – December 9, 2016
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Sacramento Regional Transit District Board Meeting – December 9, 2016
The Sacramento Regional Transit District (RT) Board of Directors convened on December 9, 2016, with a quorum of 90 votes (Directors Budge, Hansen, Harris, Hume, McGlashon, Moran, Miller, Natoli, Cerna, and Chair Shane present; Director Jennings absent). The meeting included public comments, a consent calendar, discussion of an advertising policy amendment, the General Manager's report with financial and ridership updates, and a new ordinance for juvenile fare evasion.
Consent Calendar
- Items 1 through 8 (excluding item 5) were approved unanimously on a motion by Director Moore and second by Director Hansen.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Mike Bernbaum reported on the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority meeting, noting farewell to Chair John Pedrozo and approval of the 2017 meeting calendar (fourth Friday of odd-numbered months, except November on third Friday).
- Adeeb Alziman opposed hiring G4S for the upcoming security RFP, citing fines for falsifying psychological tests and involvement in the Orlando nightclub shooting. He urged RT to include social responsibility criteria, prioritize local companies, and not limit applicants to those with prior transit experience.
- Brigitte Jensch (local taxpayer) called for bringing security in-house or hiring a locally headquartered company rather than a multinational.
- Fran Eldridge echoed the call for in-house security or a truly local company and urged adding social responsibility criteria to all RT selections.
- Jeff Tardigia suggested forming an ad hoc committee for a future transportation tax, proposed a one-two-three fare structure ($1/one-way, $2/disabled senior, $3/round trip), and raised concerns about Connect Card delays and the need for better public input if board meetings are reduced to monthly.
- David Mandel (human rights attorney) argued that federal law permits considering contractor integrity and public policy in procurement. He urged RT to include social responsibility criteria in the security RFP, disagreeing with staff's legal opinion that it is not required.
- Thomas Quinn (new RT rider, Kings season ticket holder) questioned the closure of St. Rose of Lima Station, suggesting better police training for traffic control, and proposed event-specific tickets for games.
Discussion Items
- Item 5: Advertising Policy Amendment (Alcohol Advertising)
- Staff (Deborah Salinas and Amy Manim from Lamar Transit Advertising) proposed allowing alcohol advertising on RT vehicles and facilities, noting 15% of Denver’s ad revenue came from alcohol clients and citing agencies like San Francisco, New York, Chicago that allow it. Revenue estimate was not provided.
- Public comments: Barbara Stanton reported an informal poll (9 of 10 opposed) and expressed concerns about messaging to youth and where revenue would go. David Mandel warned against restricting public service announcements and First Amendment protections.
- Board discussion: Directors Natoli, Morgan, and Cerna opposed, citing mixed messages, health concerns, and conflict with county wellness efforts. Director Hansen supported exploring revenue options given financial pressures. Director Harris wanted clearer revenue numbers and distinctions between alcohol ads and bar/restaurant ads. Director McGlashon favored allowing bar/restaurant ads.
- Chair Shane proposed forming a subcommittee (Directors Natoli, Harris, Hansen) to refine the policy; staff will bring back a revised version.
- Item 9: General Manager's Report
- Henry Li presented updates:
- Government Affairs: State election maintained Democratic supermajority; Senator Jim Bell re-elected; nationwide transit referenda successful (e.g., LA Metro’s Measure M, $12 billion over 40 years).
- Rider Lines: Conducted rides with media and community members; observed bus route 30 fully packed from 3–7 p.m.
- Measure B: Thanks to supporters; over two dozen individuals/organizations approached to form a coalition for a future measure. RT needs to address $150 million in aging infrastructure within two years.
- Recognition: Light Rail management team (Mike Comic, Freddie Deringer [retired], Lola Espinoza, Rodney Hunt, Sharon Hurley, and Director John Darrow) recognized for Golden 1 Center service and cost savings.
- 9C: Marketing & Ridership Update (Deborah Salinas)
- Golden 1 Center service: Over 10,000 trips on opening day (Oct 1); 2,200 round trips on Kings home opener. Average 10% of event attendees used RT (exceeding EIR predictions by 3–5%).
- Campaign results: Over 2 million digital ad impressions, 20,000 website sessions, 14,787 unique visitors; radio (1M+ impressions), TV (2M+ impressions), movie theater ads.
- System ridership: Down 2.6% year-to-date; October down 3.5% from target. Light rail morning commute up slightly (<1%); bus average weekday boardings up 1.4% from target.
- Station Link Program (Laura): Partnership with Uber, Lyft, Yellow Cab providing $5 discount for trips to/from six selected stations; Uber trips tripled since launch.
- Engineering Updates (Neil): Summers River College pedestrian bridge opened (322 ft, $1.9M); Citrus Heights station improvements (painting, new benches, info panels); graffiti abatement considered using alternative sentencing (suggested by Director Natoli).
- Financial Update (Brent): October positive variance of $480,000 (revenues exceeded expenses); year-to-date surplus over $500,000. Fare revenue up 14% from last October; farebox recovery ratio at 22.3% (budget 22.4%).
- Henry Li presented updates:
- Item 10: Ordinance for Juvenile Fare Evasion Penalty
- Norm Leong presented a draft ordinance establishing an administrative $35 fine for juveniles (effective Jan 1, 2017, per state law). Current average of 5 citations/week. Goal is compliance, not revenue; staff will work with parents and explore community service alternatives.
- Public comment: Barbara Stanton questioned enforcement if citation ignored; staff confirmed internal follow-up with parents. Jeff Tardigia asked if board understood legislative context.
- Board discussion: Chair Shane requested staff to consider community service alternative (e.g., graffiti cleanup). Motion to waive first reading passed unanimously (motion by Director Hume, second by Director Harris).
- Item 11: Written report provided (no discussion).
Key Outcomes
- Advertising Policy: Referred to subcommittee (Directors Natoli, Harris, Hansen) to refine options and bring back to full board.
- Juvenile Fare Evasion: First reading waived; ordinance will return for final approval at a future meeting; staff to explore community service alternative.
- Financial & Ridership: Staff to continue monitoring trends and report back; positive October results noted.
- General Manager's Report: Acknowledged and filed; board thanked Light Rail team.
- Closed Session: Board recessed to closed session for real estate negotiation at 8000 Detroit Boulevard (no report out required).
Meeting Transcript
Absolutely. Director Budge. Director Hansen. Director Harris. Director Hume. Director Jennings is marked as being absent. Director McGlashon. Director Moran. Director Miller. Present. Director Natoli. Director Cerna. Chair Shane. With that, we have a quorum at 90 votes. This meeting of the Sacramento Regional Transit District will be cable cast without interruption on Metro Cable 14, the local government affairs channel, and will be streamed live on RT's website. Tonight's meeting will air on Wednesday, November 16th at 6 p.m. and replayed on Thursday, November 17th at 9 a.m. on Channel 14 and webcast at WWW.sacmetroCable.tv. It is also closed caption. Members of the audience wishing to address the board should fill out a speaker card located at the rear in the room and provide it to me or Adam. Please speak into the microphone and state your name for the record. We would appreciate everyone turning off their cell phones. Thank you. Thank you, Cindy. Wendy Hoyt, would you like to lead us in the pledge? And to the Republic for which it stands. Thank you. All right. Public addressing board on matters not on the agenda. I believe we have three of those. Four of those? I forgot. Too late. Mike Bernbaum, go ahead. Go ahead. Don't let Cindy see that. Good evening. Thank you, Chair Schneer and members of the board. On November 3rd, the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority held its meeting in MERSED. Just to highlight some things from the meeting. Folks in the room said their final farewells to uh Chair John Pedrozo who served on the San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee prior to serving on the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority. As you'll recall, this San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee can be made up of citizens, including but not limited to former elected officials, but the San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee cannot have an elected official on the committee unlike its old format, where it was one elected official and one private citizen. Everyone on this committee now is not an elected official. And last but not least, the JPA did approve its 2017 meeting calendar, uh including but not limited to setting the January 27th board meeting uh for Stockton in the San Joaquin Council of Government's boardroom, and the meeting pattern that they have selected uh because we helped them in consultation with the meeting calendar was that it will be the fourth Friday of every odd numbered month, except in November, the meeting is on the third Friday so as to avoid meeting during the four-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The meeting is on the third Friday so as to avoid meeting during the four-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Any questions? I think we're good. Thank you. Adeeb Alziman and then B. Janish.
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