Yo.

Hi, everyone.

We're just waiting on a quorum, so thank you for your patience.

It is I think this is the first time since I've been chair that this has been an issue.

Excellent.

I'm gonna clap when we got our quarrel.

Oh, excellent.

In case.

Got it.

All right.

Well, thank you.

We are good.

All right.

Well, welcome to the May 11th, 2026 meeting of the Sacramento Regional Transit Board of Directors.

Tabitha, will you please take roll?

Director Burr.

Yeah.

Director Dickinson is absent.

Director Kennedy.

And Chair Sing Allen.

Here.

With that, we have a quorum of eight votes, and this meeting of the Sacramento Regional Transit District is recorded with closed captioning.

The recording will be cable cast on Metro Cable Channel 14, the local government affairs channel on the Comcast and Direct TV Uverse Cable Systems.gov.

Today's meeting replays Saturday, May 16th at 2 p.m.

and Sunday, May 17th at 1130 AM on Metro Cable Channel 14.

Once posted, the recording of this meeting can be viewed on demand at youtube.com forward slash Metro Cable 14.

Members of the audience wishing to address the board should fill out a speaker card located at the rear of the room and provide it to myself or Adam.

Once the item has been called, additional speaker cards will not be accepted.

The time allowed for public comment is at the chair's discretion.

The timer will chime when you have 20 seconds and then again when your time is up.

Written public comment was received from Rick Hodgkins in supported consent items 2.8 2.6 2.10 2.12 with a question that staff will address on 2.10 two comments from Lisa Coley on the budget and 4.1 item 4.1 and Rick Hodgkins in support of 6.1 and a comment from an unknown writer on five all comments have been provided to the board.

Alright thank you next up is our Pledge of Allegiance with director Jennings please lead us this evening you're able please then absolutely under the liberty all right thank you for that next up are our consent calendar items at this time um are there any questions on consent calendars from directors looking to the left looking to the right seeing none any public comments we do have public comment Helen O'Connell item 2.3 um to the best of my understanding 2.3 is about um the media discount purchase prepaid fares um and I wanted to make sure that the two media prepaid fare um companies are compatible so that we don't have it coming in you know and and some of them work and some of them don't some people get theirs and some of them don't that's it thank you thank you any other public comments yes and then we have Helen on 2.4 okay this one is about the um transference of funds um to get it to go to um ride free RT I'm not exactly sure how that um is because it's been restated so are we going to move money from one part to the other and I thought most of the time those things were um allocated to certain things and you can't move them around just a question.

Any other public comments yes Helen again on 2.7 2.8 and 2.9 um the uh capital projects closeout list so we did a really good job apparently because we have lots of money left over from um projects that we've done um some of them I believe there was one or two that um they can't uh use the money because it it was wasn't used in a timely manner or something but um you know the it it it exceeded its time limit but I'm glad that RT is being very frugal with the finances that they've been given they've done a good job and then um the sole procurement for the fifth thing of you serve I just had a question um I'm not sure if if if we've got an I think it's called an RFP out to get a new company to do that type of service and we're just extending you serve so that we can have a um smooth transition or if the uh you serve is the only one that's applied for the RFP.

Um that's just another question that I have.

Um, because the original contract, to the best of my knowledge for you serve was up on December 31st, and then it was extended to the end of April, and now I believe it's extended to something else.

So thank you.

Any other public comments?

Helen, did you comment on 2.9?

How often do we have to do an environmental update?

And I believe it's for um the light rail.

Is that oh no, it was for um the streetcar.

So did the did the environmental uh paperwork, was it like too long that we have to redo it, or what's the rule change on that?

Um, I don't know how often they have to do that.

So let's see.

I think that's it for the two.

Yeah, that's it.

Thank you.

That's all the comment on consent.

Staff want to answer any of the what they've heard.

Okay, any other director comments questions?

All right, we have a motion to approve.

Second and a second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

All right, thank you.

All right, next item, please.

Next item resolution 2026 05063 approving the Sacramento Regional Transit District Community Workforce and Training Agreement for Major Projects with the Sacramento Sierra's Building and Construction Trades Council.

Shelley Valentin and Olga Sanchez Achoa will present this item.

Thank you.

Good evening, Chair Singh Allen, board members.

Um, Shelley Valentin, Deputy General Manager, and I'm here with Olga to present on this item.

Next slide, please.

At our last month's board meeting, the board authorized the general manager to negotiate the terms of a project labor agreement or PLA with the Sacramento Sierra's Building and Trades Council.

The Trades Council approached SACRT's board leadership and proposed a PLA citing its benefits in project delivery and providing highly skilled trade union workers for SACRT's capital projects.

And after a series of negotiations, the parties agreed to a project-specific PLA that covers a list of 16 major capital projects.

This PLA excludes critical maintenance and repair work, which affords SACRT the flexibility to ensure continuity of operations.

A project specific PLA is consistent with what SACRT found among its peers in transit and the Sacramento region, such as VTA in Santa Clara, AC Transit, and Sacramento County.

In negotiating the terms, SACRT was very mindful of ensuring that our internal union groups are protected and that none of the work being performed by our uh employees will be negatively impacted by the PLA.

Next slide.

Some of the specific benefits of a PLA are listed here.

First, it ensures that SACRT's contractors for the projects included have steady access to a well-trained and skilled union workforce.

Second, it helps with on-time and on budget project delivery because wages and benefits are set.

Any possible labor disputes are governed by a pre-negotiated dispute resolution process, avoiding potential for work stoppage.

It also includes provisions for a fair and equitable bidding process.

Third, it benefits the region by providing a large pool of local, highly trained and skilled workforce who will earn good wages and benefits and contribute to the local economy.

The proposed agreement sets local higher goals, community career fairs, participation in the helmets to hard hats program for veterans, and provides increased apprenticeship programs for Sacramento area residents, among many other benefits.

The staff report before you includes a support letter from the Trades Council, which outlines in greater detail the benefits of a PLA.

We want to thank the Trades Council for a highly collaborative and productive negotiation process.

And I believe Thomas Enslow, the counsel for the Trades Council, is in the audience today, and we also have online SACARTE's outside council bill mostly who help uh SACRT with negotiations.

We are pleased to present to the board for consideration the key terms of this PLA.

I will turn it over to Olga who will discuss some of the highlights and our next steps.

Good afternoon.

Thank you, Shelley.

So during negotiations with the Trades Council, there were several issues that SACRT identified early as key to coming to agreement on the PLA, as did the Trades Council.

The following is a summary of important terms that were agreed upon.

The first is the term.

Generally, contracts have a established term that's maybe three years, four years, five years.

Because this is a project-specific PLA.

So because of that, the term of this agreement is concurrent with the time it will take to complete all of the projects that are included on the project list that's attached as an exhibit to the PLA.

Second, it was critical for SACRT to maintain maximum flexibility when it came to awarding contracts for maintenance and repair of public works projects because many such projects are emergent in nature.

Any delay can result in SACRT having to shut down service.

So SECRT wanted to ensure maximum flexibility and wanted to exclude maintenance and repair projects after some back and forth the Trades Council agreed to that modification.

Third, we asked regarding the downtown Riverfront Streetcar Project, that project, we asked that that project be expressly excluded from coverage under the PLA because the project is already underway.

It has a very tight budget and has a very tight schedule.

And so it is expressly excluded from coverage under the PLA.

Fourth, in the PLA, we discussed how projects would be added or deleted from the project list that's attached to the PLA.

And so we came up with an agreed upon process whereby every five years, when the board adopts the capital improvement plan, the parties agree to meet in good faith and go through the CIP and make determinations on which projects should be removed, if any, and which should be added if any, and that is all subject, of course, to our board's approval.

And then finally, anybody can bid.

So consistent with the public contract code, the agreement ensures that any contractor is allowed to bid, whether they are a signatory to any master labor agreement or agree to be subject to the PLA or have signed on to the PLA.

So long as they agree to be to comply with all of the terms in the PLA and in the relevant master labor agreements, they can bid.

And if they are the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, they can be awarded the contract even though they're not a signatory.

Next slide, please.

So here is a list of the projects that are currently included.

It's a list of 16 projects that are currently included in the PLA.

They're primarily projects that are in our pipeline that are in some phase of planning or you know, we're out there trying to get funding for.

Yeah.

So next slide, please.

So what's next?

So if the board approves the PLA this evening, we will uh finalize the agreement with the Trades Council.

We've largely agreed to everything.

I think there's just a couple of little minor things that we have wording that we have to get in there to make sure everything is all the T's are dotted and all the I's.

I mean, all the T's are crossed and the I's are dotted.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Um, and so once that's done, then we will circulate it for a signature.

And then the PLA, once, you know, once it's signed, the PLA becomes effective 30 days from today, right if the board approves it today.

Um and with that, I think that that is um that's it.

And so if we if you have any questions, um there's a bunch of us here will uh ready to answer whatever you may want to ask.

All right, well, thank you.

Very thorough presentation.

Um, with that, I will open it up for director questions.

I'll start to the right.

Any questions?

Um raise your hand.

No questions.

Okay, looking to the left.

Questions?

Yeah, okay, all right.

So we will now go to public comment.

Helen O'Connell.

Hello.

I am glad to hear that RT is putting it all out there, what we need, what we expect for people to do, and an estimated time that they'll be done.

I'm glad is it's going ahead before we wind up against a hard wall.

So pre-planning is a good thing.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next public comment.

Rob Fong.

Thank you, Helen.

You're welcome.

Thank you.

My name's Rob Fong.

I'm a member of Local 447, little known secret.

Also do their political consulting.

Wanted to um first of all just recognize all the folks who are here from the various building trades uh to support this.

We don't all need to speak, but I wanted you to stand and be recognized.

Wanted to um really on behalf of the trades, I you could sit down now.

Um, you know, um it I just wanted to thank your your political leadership um and your staff leadership and and our friend from Florida.

Um you know what?

I I've been a part of a lot of negotiations um uh on these labor agreements, and I can sincerely tell you that this was this was not a layup.

There were a lot of things that were we had to kind of figure out together and we've all taken steps that we've never taken before, but can also tell you that we're very comfortable with um your leadership and I am shocked and impressed that we got this done so quickly because it's a really good agreement for everyone.

It is a win-win.

And so really wanted to thank you guys and your staff and especially my good friend Henry.

Uh it's you know, leadership is important, and it it shows up in a lot of different ways.

And um, I I think for us to be able to come together like this in a meaningful way uh was really really important.

So thank you very much.

We're looking forward to your to your US vote on this.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Fong.

Next public comments, Tom Enslow.

Good afternoon, Tom Enslow, attorney for the Sacramento Sierra Building and Construction Trades Council.

Um I'd like to thank uh staff, particularly, you know, Henry and Ogre and Shelley and all the rest of the staff for um, you know, negotiating this stuff in good faith, as Rob said, it was a vigorous negotiation.

Um, you know, there are projects we didn't include that we would have liked to.

There was um a lot of back and forth, um, but it was all productive and all and and at the end of the day, I think we have an agreement that's equitable, it's good for the district, good for the community.

Um and uh we're you know, we're happy to become partners moving forward and getting projects done on time under budget while creating jobs for the community.

You know, just one thing I want to underscore is that uh one of the great benefits of PLAs like this is it provides certainty for the apprenticeship programs.

Apprentices are the best way to provide just advanced members of our community a pathways to good paying jobs, but they can only take as many apprentices as they know that there's going to be a demand for this.

Helps ensure we know there's gonna be demand and it's gonna create good jobs for the community.

And um, you know, that's a real important underlying part of this.

So thank you.

Thank you, sir.

That's all the that's all the public comment.

All right.

Wow.

Okay.

All right.

Now I'm gonna open it up to director comments, and I'll start to the left.

Director Maple.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Um, and I just want to say, uh, first of all, thank you to everyone who's here today because I know while I appreciate that we didn't have 20 people say the same thing, so thank you.

Um, but seeing you all stand up and know the force that's behind this is really important.

So thank you for being here.

Um, and also really want to appreciate uh the partnership that's being created.

Um, and uh really want to appreciate our staff work, particularly Henry and Shelley and Olga and the entire team.

Uh, I know this was done with a lot of intention, a lot of heart, and also uh quickly, which is great.

Um, because we want to we want to be able to realize the benefits of this as quickly as we can.

And I think this has already been stated by some of the folks here, but this really truly is beneficial on both sides, right?

We know we have big things that we want to do as a district.

We need things that we need to build, we have expectations from the public, and when we know we have a partnership with the right labor partners, we know that we have the people who are trained who are gonna do it well, who are gonna do it as was mentioned, right, and on time and under budget.

I'm gonna hold you to that.

Um, and so that that benefits us greatly, and of course, it also benefits the workers and the communities for these projects.

So it's a win-win-win-win-win in my in my book.

And lastly, my last thank you goes to you, Chair.

Uh, I know you've been really involved in this um from day one, and just really appreciate your leadership on this.

Thank you.

And uh I'm happy to move the item.

Second.

Okay, we'll continue comments.

Anyone else from the left comments?

Seeing none, I'll look to the right.

Any more comments?

Yes, Director Dickinson.

Thanks, Chair.

Just uh uh the benefits of of this agreement uh have been articulated, so I I won't recount them, but I do want to add my thanks especially uh to our staff for uh all the reasons that uh director maple uh outlined and to you, Chair, for being involved in this uh as well very personally.

Uh having had the opportunity to work with PLAs in the past.

Uh I can attest to their value in terms of delivering uh projects, just as mentioned.

Uh, and it takes a lot of the heartache and the headache away because you know you have uh an arrangement uh standing in place.

So um a hearty thanks to to all, and I look forward not just to having this agreement but to getting some projects built.

Thanks.

Thank you, Director Dickinson.

Anybody else from the right?

Director Brewer.

I just want to thank staff, and I also want to thank uh the building trades for working together, having a solid agreement put in place.

It's a lot of hard work, and it looks like there'll be a good fruits of the labor that'll be that we'll be seeing from it in the near future.

So, congratulations.

Thank you, Director Brewer.

Anybody else?

Director Jennings.

Well, only because um I haven't said very much today.

Um, but I think it's been said.

Um, this is us working together, creating a team where together everyone achieves more, and when we continue to do that, public benefits in this great region that we live in benefits, and so I'm really really happy to see what we're doing today.

Um, I had to go in my own mind to see the term and and the fact that we didn't put a set date on it, which means to me we're not rushing to get it done.

And when we get it done, we want it to be done right, and so yeah, I could I in my own mind, like I came up with the reason that I think that's why we say it's gonna be concurrent with um what needs to be done and how it needs to be done and do it in excellence.

So I'm very supportive of this.

Thank you, and thank you to my colleagues.

Um, this is a historic moment.

I know that um, you know, historically, this concept was presented to SACRT a number of years ago, but here we are today, and I was proud to help lead these efforts.

I want to really thank staff and the building trades.

This is what collaboration looks like.

Truest collaboration.

Everybody gives up a little something to get to that win-win um situation.

So, congratulations to all of the parties.

This is today sends a true statement that SACRT cares about our workers and creating this community workforce training agreement.

It's a tremendous opportunity for the region.

It says it states all of the right messaging that we want to see out in our region.

And let this be a testament to others that are looking to do this.

It is not political, it is just simply doing the right thing.

It truly is.

Again, going towards ensuring labor stability, preventing delays, delivering projects on time and on budget, prioritizing skilled and a trained workforce, which is so so important.

But of course, I one of the components that I'm also very passionate about is strengthening safety standards.

That is something that you know we should be taking a look at, and this agreement provides that.

Creating local jobs and workforce opportunities, as has been stated, supporting apprenticeship and workforce development.

As a former school board member, this is so important for me.

Seeing the focus on workforce development and of course apprenticeship programs.

Not all students are meant to go to college.

Having wonderful careers in the trades is important and viable option.

And promoting accountability on public investments.

And of course, something that's also very important is it encourages economic equity.

So many wonderful components here for our project labor agreement.

Again, congratulations to the staff and to the building trades, but most importantly to the community.

This is a just a great opportunity.

I'm so proud of being board chair right now in this historic moment with regional transit.

So with that, um I will go ahead and open up.

We did have a motion, and I did I hear a second.

There was a second.

So all those in favor, please say I.

And one abstention.

Thank you, Director Schaefer.

And welcome back, sir.

All right.

Well, congratulations.

Excellent, excellent work.

All right.

With that, we're just gonna go right along in our agenda and go on to our next item.

Um with Tabitha, would you please announce our public hearing?

Yes, at this time we will open the public hearing.

We have item 4.1 public hearing preliminary fiscal year 2026-2027 operating in capital budgets.

We will first accept public comment on the Sacramento Regional Transit District preliminary fiscal year 2026-2027 operating in capital budget, and then ask for a motion to continue the public hearing to June 8th, 2026.

And Jason Johnson is here to present this item.

Welcome, Mr.

Johnson.

Good afternoon, Chair Sing Allen, members of the board.

Jason Johnson, CFO, VP of Finance RT.

Today's staff was presenting a balanced budget for the fiscal year 2027 for your consideration.

The complete draft budget is included along with the staff report, but I'll be going over.

Use your microphone on.

Try to get a little closer.

The uh complete uh staff, excuse me, the complete draft budget is included along with the staff report, but I'm gonna be going over some key C components of the budget at this time.

Next slide, please.

Some of the budget goals and strategies that were followed during the budget process this year.

Services are budgeted without reductions.

This despite half the transit agencies nationwide cutting service.

That'd be better.

Hello.

Is it on?

Okay.

Um the budget will support strategic planning or strategic priorities of customers first and business optimization.

Um state SB 125 and Federal 5307 funding, flexible funding will be used to close budget gaps, no reductions to staffing levels for fiscal year 27, and no fair rate adjustments.

The term fiscal CLIF is used a lot in discussions about transit agencies these days.

References looming budget deficits that many transit agencies are facing currently or in the near future.

An APTA survey from last year show that half of all transit agencies in the US are facing fiscal CLIFs.

For most agencies, this means reductions in service levels as exemplified by the sampling of headlines in both California and across the US.

However, as I noted on the previous on the previous slide, SACRT has no service reductions planned for fiscal year 27.

Next slide.

This table provides a comparison of FY26 and 27 budgets, with an increase of 11.4 million for a total operating budget of 278.7 million in fiscal year 27.

Local transportation fund revenues are projected to increase by 3.4% to about $83 million.

SB 125 is essentially flat at $51 million, along with our projections for local measure A revenues of $63 million.

We also see a significant increase in federal funds as we continue to shift dollars from flexible funding to operations to close budgetary gaps.

Regarding SACRT's future funding gaps, SACOG is in the process of completing a long-term financial plan for the transit agencies in the Sacramento region.

Preliminary results of that financial plan show SACRT experiencing operating deficits beginning in fiscal year 28.

However, several known or potential operating revenue sources were not included in the base plan.

These include the Potential Citizens Initiative on the ballot this November, SACRT's operating reserve of already over 40 million dollars, further shifting of flexible funds to operations, and staff's continuing efforts to secure any additional available revenue sources.

While a new measure would balance the budget well into the future, even without this revenue source, staff projects our fiscal cliff to still be three to five years out.

On the expenditure side, salaries and benefits increase by approximately 4.3%.

Noting that on average, payroll increases each year by about 5%, which I'll discuss in more detail in later slide.

Additionally, we are spending more on security services to keep our riders and employees safe, with an increase of 1.2 million.

I also want to note that the 19% increase in other expenditures is primarily related to increased lease costs and additional contingency funds to address unplanned expenditures.

As I mentioned, every year, insurance continues to be a significant expense for SAC RT, increasing by a little over 1 million from fiscal year 26 to 27.

Each year, staff provides a summary view of our service delivery breakdown, primarily to show that the majority of the operating budget goes directly to operations and falls within industry standards.

Historically, we've been between 75 and 80%, with this year being at 77%.

Of note, about 40% or 26 million of the administrative cost this year is in insurance.

This slide shows a slightly different breakdown of the expenditures.

On the left, we see that salaries and benefits make up about 70% of the total operating budget.

This again is in line with historical averages.

As I mentioned earlier, salaries expense typically increases by about 5% each year, primarily due to collective bargaining agreement commitments.

With an overall budget of $278 million, that's an annual increase of about $9 million, even if other operating costs are kept flat.

This exemplifies the significant challenges management faces each year to control costs.

However, management is diligent in reviewing all vacant positions, holding non-critical positions open for extended periods of time, restructuring to reduce positions and total cost, and even eliminating positions where fee feasible and eliminating positions where feasible even at the VP level.

Staff also works closely with the unions to negotiate fair bargaining agreements with fiscal sustainability in mind.

The chart on the right considers the remaining 30% of expenditures that are not salaries and benefits, and then extracts the top five individual cost areas.

Once again, we see insurance expense being one of the most significant costs SACRT incurs.

This is not just a SAC RT issue, but an industry wide issue, especially in California.

I will, however, say that our risk team and the SACR and all SACRT employees work very hard to mitigate our exposure and minimize minimize the overall cost.

For the April and May drafts, staff typically presents only the capital budget additions.

A full listing of all currently approved capital projects will be included in the final draft final budget for June.

This year's additions total 106 million with a fairly even split between bus and light rail projects.

Major additions include 49 new buses and up to nine additional light rail vehicles.

These additions will bring the total budgeted cost of all approved capital projects to approximately 1.9 billion staff continues to work on the budget throughout the year to ensure SACRT not only has sufficient funding for operations but is also maximized maximizing the outcomes of all expenditures today is the first of two public hearings with staff bringing the final proposed budget to the board for adoption at the June 8th meeting.

Henry and the executive management team for their innovation and support staff throughout the organization for their collaboration during an off challenging budget process and the public for their engagement and feedback.

I also want to recognize the exceptional efforts of our budget team and all of grants and finance that concludes my presentation I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Great thank you for um your presentation Mr Johnson at this time I will open up for director questions.

Thanks Chair I just had I just had a couple um one would be a request that uh if uh you can do this for uh June uh include your projected actuals for FY26 not just budget by by then hopefully you you'll have the May figure so um I would think you could come pretty close to what your you're gonna act your actuals are gonna be do that uh and then more specifically related to fair revenue which um is down to 6.7 percent of of of uh revenues I see but in your description of this in the description of this in the in the um budget document it it says that FY2026 fair revenue year end is forecasted to be below budget so you you were suggesting a 1.2 increase from budget year to budget year uh 26 to 27 but how far below the 26 budgeted is do you think fair revenue is going to come in?

I don't have the final numbers we're gonna get a closer number for June the reason for it coming in lower than expected this year is because we didn't have the return to workforce from the the state level uh we did build that back in but we also saw increases in ridership year over year and that's why it mitigated that that loss or that decrease overall so there is still increase and that's why we're also building on what we had projected for the current year.

So it will be less than what we originally budgeted but we are projecting still that increase a minimal increase from year over year to next year.

Well so I I'm trying to get a sense of what your increase uh is if you go actual to to budget for for twenty seven you're going budget to budget at 1.2 percent but actual to budget is going to be two percent three percent probably be closer to three percent I will have I know it was for June though I can I can present that in the yeah all right and I thank you for that and then I I mean I see you're also making the assumption about return to work July 1st uh of this year which may not be a realistic assumption so I don't know if you need some further uh calculation of uh for the 27 budget and and what if any consequences that that might have so that one just uh popped out at at me in particular uh thanks thank you director dickinson anybody else to the right how about to the left all right thank you we'll open up to public comments Ellen O'Connell hello I just barely understood what he said but um I'm glad he's not projecting any losses um or reduction of service we are always looking for SACOG to hold this up and they do a good job.

Um, I'm glad to hear that 70% of the budget is salary and benefits.

That is uh very important that we keep our worker bees happy.

Um I was wondering it did you say 39 buses are coming in?

Was that 39 buses?

And if if it is 39 buses, are they all big bus or are there some uh RT go buses?

And the state the same was that we had the purchase of there's an approved plan to purchase up to 49 buses.

I don't know the breakdown of those, yes.

I don't have I don't have the breakdown of those.

There are 49 big buses.

We'll get it back to you.

Uh um if if they're all big bus, why does RT not get any buses?

Um, we do need more buses and we need more drivers that will stay because we have a lot of um old old school drivers that know their jobs, and they're all opting to go to big bus because of the differences in benefits, primarily.

Um just thought I'd put that out there, but I'm glad that things are looking up.

Have a great day.

Any other public comments?

No more public comments.

Thank you.

Um director comments.

Looking to the right, comments to the left.

All right.

Then uh I need a motion to continue the hearing till June 8th.

So we moved.

A few of them.

Oh, I'll go all second.

Okay, so director Jennings, the motion and second.

Director Brewer.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

All right, item five.

Item five, public addresses the board on matters not on the agenda.

And we have Michael Bevins and then Helen O'Connell, Daniel Smith Baringer, and Cindy Rich.

Hello board, hi, Michael Bevins, uh member of the city district two.

Um, I attended you the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission Del Paso action plan the other day where they're gonna attempt to put a station or a stop along uh near an RT stop.

And I was really fascinated about how they were asking about what kind of station would you like here?

What what would fit inside this community?

That was kind of their questions.

Maybe think about our own SAC RT stations, all of them.

How many are not being used and what could we put in there?

Is there a plan for each and every station?

There might not be.

I know the good plans of many view and the proposal for Franklin, but I want to talk today about the lonely lonely Swanston station.

Um you could there's there's value there if you decide to put in something that will make a Swanson station.

People actually want to get off and stop there.

Um housing is most often what comes to mind, and around this area, the community, it is motor home row and motor home repair places everywhere.

And there's also a tiny community right across the street.

What if we took the Swanston station and made it a transit hotel motel?

It could be a hotel on the side and long-term housing for those maybe a step up above a home and shelter, those traveling to here, or better yet, those new employees that you hire that are just starting out, maybe don't have housing.

You can put them up here temporarily.

It's close to the RT maintenance place, and then later on, like it's temporary, it's not long term, or uh travelers coming into town Sacramento, they want a low budget.

Maybe they can't afford to stop at an RV park, but hey, free parking or paid for parking here at this place, temporarily, like you can get much use, and then maybe a bonus is you come park here, you'll get a free transit trip.

So something to think about.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Helen O'Connell.

One more time.

I know you're getting tired of me, but you know, somebody has to do it.

Um, I am very glad that we had the SAC RT Go open house.

It was highly productive.

We had somewhere around 75 people in this room.

So it was pretty crowded.

Um it was uh very interesting to hear from all the people that had issues.

Um I'm not sure if we had 33 comments and questions, or if we had 33 pages of cause comments and questions.

Um I'm hoping to hear a report about the open house soon.

Um, and another comment was about the surveys.

The last three or four of them were not ADA compliant.

Um, somebody was supposed to draw a line around the area that they wanted service.

Obviously, someone that is visually impaired cannot do so.

Um, there were other issues with the um shelters.

They had two possible um shelters that you should pick from.

They did not give you size, dimension, height, materials, any kind of details.

How are we supposed to make informed decisions if the information we need to make informed decisions are not on the survey?

I'll stop there.

Thank you.

Any more?

Next is Daniel Smith Baringer.

Hello, my name is Danny Smith.

So I've been riding regional transit since 2018.

It's 2026.

There's a lot of different changes, has to change safety concerns, employees, security guards.

I have noticed you guys took a lot of SAC PD off the track, the uh trains.

I think we should bring them back.

Stations are unsafe.

You got people camping there.

You got people uh urinating, doing drugs, sleeping at the stations, smoking at the stations, you got bus um drivers canceling out routes.

For example, Saturday I was at Northgate in San Juan, the 86.

Cancel all the routes out until like three o'clock in the afternoon.

You also have more drivers, hire more drivers, or have other drivers pick up routes.

My concern is the new light rail state, the new light rails, it's not enough spaces for people who are in wheelchairs or for bikes.

It's too crowded on the new light rail.

How you guys got them formatted.

It's not enough space.

You got people smoking on a light rail, you got people playing music on the light rail.

Y'all got people graffiti on the light rail.

If you guys want to make Sac Mariso Transit a safe and better environment, I suggest that safety needs to be the first concern.

Because coming from work, I don't work for you guys.

I work for a private company, and I see a lot of dangerous stuff on light rails and at stations.

Safety is the priority for everybody.

Thank you.

Next public comment.

Cindy Rich.

Hello, my name is Linda Rich.

Um, I've been called Cindy and other things before, but that's okay.

Um, my concern is I've recently I am a daily RT transit writer, and I've been recently made aware of the change of policy, or maybe it's always been policy regarding shopping carts.

I gave up driving several years ago and used public transit.

Well, I saw a woman about my age um with a shopping cart.

She had been grocery shopping good on and was immediately told if you can't fold that cart up, you can't ride.

You have to take the groceries out.

Now, this woman had bottled water, she had four or five bags, and she said, What am I supposed to do with this?

She said, put it on your lap.

Well, if any of you have ridden transit, you got 30 seconds when that train stops to gather yourself up and get off before the doors close and move on to the next stop.

And it's like, well, I'm not gonna take uh RT out to say Rancho Cordova to uh Walmart and shop and get told when I get back, oh, you can't ride, you're gonna have to take the bus, you're gonna have to get somebody to pick you up.

You can't get on here.

It's like then why are you calling yourself public transportation?

Because you're semi-public.

You're okay to get on with a folded up cart, but when you go and do what you need to get done, you can't get back on and can't get home.

So, you know, and it's like, okay, what's what's the solution?

Well, you've got one side of the train that the doors don't open because they don't face the platform.

You've got single seats, four single seats on those doors.

Why not let people sit in that single seat, put the cart next to them?

It's not in the way, but yet you're letting four people with bicycles get on.

And those are far bigger than the shopping carts.

And there's a lot of people that are my age that aren't in very good physical condition and they count on the light rail to get to and from the stores where they need to go, but then to get told you need to get off.

You can't fold that cart up.

You know, and people with strollers, the same thing.

What happens if you have twins?

You're supposed to hand one of those babies to your person sitting next to Amazon.

Well, I mean, it might be something to consider to change the rules a little bit.

Thank you.

Make it a little easier for the public.

Next, there's no more public comment.

Out there.

There are no more public comments.

No more public.

All right.

Um, all right, next item, new business.

Uh, next item, new business.

Uh, there's gonna be one presentation for items 6.1 and 6.2 that Olga will provide.

And I'll go ahead and read the items into the record.

Resolution 2026 05064 approved policy requiring the implementation of hybrid meetings and addressing disruption of telephonic or internet services during meetings in accordance with SB 707 and 6.2 resolution 2026 05065 approved policy for allowing board members to participate remotely as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act in accordance with SB 707.

Okay.

Good afternoon.

Um this afternoon staff brings you two policies for adoption, one under 6.1 and one under 6.2.

Um, the two policies are required.

Oh, next slide, sorry.

The two policies are required under revisions made to the Ralph M.

Brown Act under SB 707, which you have likely already addressed at your city council or county board of supervisor meetings.

The provisions to the government code that were modified by SB 707 require that California legislative boards adopt policies addressing remote participation by members of the public and members of the legislative body who have a qualifying disability.

Next slide.

The first policy before you tonight is titled Policy of Implementation of Hybrid Meetings and Disruption of Telephonic or Internet Services.

As required by revisions to the Brown Act, the proposed policy codifies the requirement that open board meetings provide the public with the opportunity to participate by two-way telephonic and virtual platforms in real time.

The policy codifies the requirement that the remote access provided to the public be equal to the level of access a member of the public who attends in person will enjoy.

Additionally, the policy makes clear that SAC RT's board agenda must include clear instructions on how to participate in meetings remotely.

The second part of that policy covers what the board's obligations are if two-way telephonic or virtual platform goes down in the middle of the board meeting.

And pursuant to the policy and consistent with SB 707.

If the telephonic or audiovisual platforms are disrupted during the meeting, the board must pause the meeting and direct staff and or SACRT's relevant contractors to immediately begin working on attempting to restore service.

If service is not restored within that hour, then the board has two options.

The board may adjourn the meeting and defer all uncompleted business to a future board meeting.

Or alternatively, if the board wants to continue the meeting, it may do so after it adopts a motion by roll call vote, finding that staff made good faith efforts to restore the disrupted service and that the public interest in continuing the meeting outweighs the public interest in remote public access.

And pursuant to the statute, the policy must be adopted by July 1st.

If it is adopted this evening, it would take effect July 1st.

Next slide, please.

The second policy before you tonight is the policy for reasonable accommodation, remote participation for SAC RT board members.

Pursuant to government code section 54953.8, a legislative body subject to the Brown Act must adopt a policy setting forth the procedures by which board members can request reasonable accommodation to participate in a board meeting remotely under the ADA due to having a physical or mental impairment that substantially impacts or limits one or more life activities.

The policy before you requires a board member who needs an accommodate an accommodation under the ADA to submit a written request to the board chair and a copy to the board clerk.

The board chair is primarily responsible for making the determination to grant or deny the request for a reasonable accommodation and consistent with the requirements of 707, the policy before you requires that if there is doubt as to the eligibility for a reasonable accommodation is present, the chair must err on the side of granting the accommodation rather than denying the accommodation request.

If this policy is adopted this evening, it would become effective July 1, 2026.

And as with the previous policy, it has to be adopted by July 21st.

All of these, both of these policies require that we make some changes to Title III of the SACRT administrative code, and that so if they're adopted this evening, we will be bringing Title III for the board to adopt next board meeting.

Looking to the left, not seeing any public comments.

Any others?

Glenn Mandelkern on six point one.

Hi, board.

Uh so initially I was going to uh just uh express my um support for this because um when you changed the amount of meetings we were going to have uh for this year, I had brought up a uh similar item um proposal to have virtual meetings and then uh Tabas uh Smith actually called me and explained to me what was necessary to implement that and so it seems like it's come to life, so this is a really good sign.

Um so I was initially gonna uh just leave it at that, but then a funny thing happened on my way uh to the meeting here because when I entered right there at that point, I noticed that to participate in this physical in-person meeting.

Uh there's a kind of timing and a set of logistics that are different than if I if we were to do it virtually and um and so by that I mean to participate here, uh it's necessary to fill out a card before the meeting starts.

Whereas as I remember, the way we used to do it uh when we did it virtually was we needed to wait until the meeting item uh was called and then we would raise our hands.

So um this may be covered already in the part of six point one where it says you will provide uh clear instructions on how to participate.

I just felt the need to explicitly stay uh state that um maybe some of you should um should document the differences of between in-person versus virtual.

So thanks.

Thank you.

Any more public comments?

No more public comment.

Thank you.

Any uh director comments?

Right, none, left, none.

All right.

Uh we need two separate motions.

The first one is to pass six point one.

So may I get a motion?

Second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

All right.

Next um resolution is for the six point two one.

Second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

All right.

All right.

Um, we are on our next item.

Item seven point one, the general manager's report.

Hey, good evening.

Uh Madam Chair, I'm gonna skip uh the GM report today.

All right, thank you.

There there was one public comment on the general manager report.

There can't be a good report hasn't been given.

So, perfect.

Yeah, nice try.

All right, uh next item then.

Uh next item eight point one, the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority meeting summary of April 15th, 2026.

Directors Brewer or Dickinson, you want to provide anything other than what's provided in the written communication?

Okay.

Um then we will any questions, any uh public comments on these?

No public comment.

All right.

Any questions from directors on these items?

Hearing none.

All right.

Next up is our closed session.

And I we also had eight point two, the mobility advisory council meeting summary.

And there's no public comment on that item.

All right, no questions, no public comments.

Now we will go on to our okay.

Madam Chair, I just have a I just have a an editorial comment.

Yes, please.

Um I appreciated what um Michael Peffins had to say about um station planning.

The irony of the situation is that decades ago, Mike Wiley and I were a committee that looked at all of the initial train stations, you know, out to Butterfield, and thought about what could be uses for the area around those stations.

And of course, that's one of those receive and file things.

It gets written and it gets stuck on a shelf somewhere.

And I probably have a copy of it in storage somewhere, but I don't think anybody here's ever seen it.

But I I just wanted to express the the fact that I appreciate him thinking about um how to better use some of the areas that we have around our train stations.

Thank you.

Director Dickinson.

Well thank you.

I was gonna save this for just a conversation, Michael, but uh we're actively looking at both the Swanson and Marconi stations uh and uh convening uh Sacramento City staff, uh RT staff, uh my uh my staff and potential interested parties in uh constructing housing or uh potentially other uses.

We recognize those are those are uh in a sense unused assets.

They were thought originally to be good locations for park and ride um associated with the starter line that haven't really turned out that way, but but uh given the the land that RT has at those locations that could be um very useful for for housing in particular other purposes.

So that's that's a very active uh active topic.

Thank you.

Thank you, directors.

There's no public comment.

Announcement of closed session items.

So closed session item 12.1, public employee performance evaluation pursuant to government code section 54957 for the general manager CEO.

And then just for the record, there will be no report out from closed session.

The closed session will be held in this room.

If all attendees could please exit the room after the meeting is adjourned.

The next Sacramento Regional Transit Board meeting is scheduled for June 8th, 2026 at 4 p.m.

That's it.

Anyone need to comfort break real quick?