Sacramento Regional Transit District Board Meeting - October 24, 2022
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Sacramento Regional Transit District Board Meeting - October 24, 2022
The Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) Board of Directors met on October 24, 2022, at 5:32 PM. The meeting included a consent calendar, public comments, discussion on capital budget and lease amendments, a general manager’s report highlighting ridership gains and new initiatives, and concluded with a closed session for potential litigation.
Consent Calendar
- Items 2.1 to 2.16 were considered. Director Budge pulled items 2.9 (Second Amendment to FY2023 Capital Budget) and 2.14 (First Amendment to Lease with 27th and R LLP, authorizing tenant improvement changes). The remaining consent calendar items were approved unanimously with 10 votes (Director Harris absent, Director Hume replaced by Director Wynne).
- After discussion and clarification from staff (Jamie Adleman, General Manager Henry Li, and Deputy General Manager Olga), items 2.9 and 2.14 were moved and approved with 10 votes. Director Budge expressed concern about approving tenant improvements before a consolidated real estate strategy was developed. Staff explained the moves were approved by the real estate subcommittee the prior year and the current actions were necessary to effectuate those moves.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Jeffrey Tardigia (written comment read into record): Urged the board to set direction for where RT should be by 2025 and 2030, emphasized the need for more train service, low-floor light rail, and new buses. He also questioned the public’s ability to track closed-session decisions and requested clearer reporting.
- Nick Bryant (spoken): Reported a homeless individual sleeping at the Luisenda (likely a transit center) and requested increased security. Noted a non-functioning Connect Card machine at 9th and K Street, broken elevators at Watt Avenue station, and trash on tracks at Watt. Requested better maintenance and security.
- Glenn Mandelkern (spoken): Observed changes in SacRT’s organizational chart between July and September 2022, noting new titles and a new Deputy General Manager (Shelly Valentine) and a new CFO (Lawrence Chu). Asked about who initiated the restructuring, the reasons, and anticipated impacts on employees and customers. General Manager Li indicated he would provide a written report at the next board meeting.
- Jeffrey Tardigia (spoken on GM report): Thanked the GM for initiatives, suggested better signage for shuttle pickup points at Aftershock festival, recommended improved communication for free ride weeks, and noted cancellations tracked by RT Tracker. He also mentioned homeless encampments under Broadway and bus stop cleanliness issues.
Discussion Items
- Items 2.9 and 2.14 (Capital Budget and Lease Amendment): Staff clarified the moves to 2710 R Street and 1102 Q Street were approved by the real estate subcommittee last year and the current request was for necessary tenant improvement authorizations. The board approved both items.
- General Manager's Report (Item 8.1):
- Announced ratification of the new ATU contract with over 90% member approval.
- Highlighted the fourth year of the Youth Ride Free program, with 265,000 eligible students; students represent about 20% of total ridership.
- Provided shuttle service for Aftershock Festival (moved over 6,000 passengers) and Golden Sky Festival (moved over 2,000 riders), contributing to significant economic impact.
- Celebrated Clean Air Day (Oct 5) with free rides the first week of October, resulting in a 21% overall ridership increase (fixed route up 26%, light rail up nearly 27%). October 6 was the highest ridership day since pandemic, carrying nearly 1,000 passengers. September 2022 was the highest month with 1.3 million passengers.
- Shared a sneak peek of new Siemens trains during a manufacturing day event; new trains must undergo 1,000 miles of burn-in testing before revenue service.
- Presented the Rolling Library Train, a partnership with the Sacramento Public Library, allowing riders to access free ebooks, audiobooks, movies, and even items like park passes via QR codes.
- Directors' Comments: Director Serna thanked GM Li and staff for support of music festivals. Director Natoli praised the APTA conference presentation and the board’s participation. Director Valenzuela and Director Serna invited participants to a November 2nd meeting on addressing unsheltered challenges along the Broadway corridor, requesting SacRT attendance.
Key Outcomes
- Consent calendar (except 2.9 and 2.14) passed with 10 votes.
- Items 2.9 and 2.14 passed with 10 votes.
- GM’s report was received for information.
- Items 9.1 (Capitol Corridor JPA summary) and 9.2 (San Joaquin JPA summary) were noted; no board action required.
- The board voted to go into closed session (Item 13.1) to discuss potential litigation: Tracy Speranza vs. SacRT (application for leave to file late claim). No public comments for this item.
- General Manager committed to providing a written report on the organizational restructuring at the next board meeting.
- The open session adjourned at approximately 6:45 PM to proceed with closed session.
Meeting Transcript
58782 and the webinar access code is 848 3082 1351. If you are participating by phone, please push star nine to indicate a desire to comment on an item. And if you're joining us online through Zoom, please push the raise hand button. Be sure to unmute yourself when it's your turn to speak, and then mute yourself when you're done and voluntarily state your name for the record when you begin speaking. Tabitha, will you now call the roll, please? Of course. Director Budge. Carrie's here. I see her too. Director Hal. I'm here, guys. Director Wynne. Here. And for the record, Director Wynne is attending on behalf of Director Hume this evening. Director Jennings. I'm here. Director Kennedy. Director Kennedy. Director Natoli. Here. Director Shanir. Here. Director Cerna. Here. A little bit of time when you've missed games like Matt Jones has. That's Rick. Question the highlights from yesterday. Director Alanzuela. I'm here. Thank you. Okay. I'm going to try try Director Kennedy one more time. And Chair Miller. Here and uh welcome to uh Stephanie for our meeting tonight. All right. And then with that, we have a quorum at nine votes. And this meeting of the Sacramento Regional Transit District will be cable cast on Metro Cable 14, the local government affairs channel on Comcast Consolidated Communications and ATT Uverse. Today's meeting will air on Thursday, October 27th at 12 p.m. and Saturday, October 29th at 2 p.m. on channel 14 and webcast at Metro 14 Live.sackCounty.net and is closed captioned. This meeting can also be viewed at YouTube.com forward slash Metro Cable 14 Thank you. And if we could uh post the flag. Will everybody join me in the Pledge of Allegiance, please? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States. And to the Republic for which it stands. Thank you. And with that, uh, would you call the first item, please? First item. Consent calendar items 2.1 to 2.16. I'm aware uh director budge would like to pull 2.9 and 2.14.
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