So with that, I'm gonna go ahead and call the meeting
to order for July 2nd, 2025.
It is now 9.59.
So I'm gonna call the order to,
calling orders to the board of directors meeting
for July 2nd, 2025 for the San Bernardino County
Transportation Authority
and San Bernardino County Council of Governments.
So today the board will be acting in the capacity
of both entities, therefore each board member
will be entitled to receive $100 stipend
for doing business as the authority
and $100 stipend for doing business as the cog.
So we're going to be adjourning to closed session first.
So today in closed session, we have conference
with legal counsel regarding anticipated litigation.
And this is the opportunity for any members of the public
that would like to speak on the closed session item agenda
before we adjourn to closed session.
Do we have anyone from the public wishing to speak?
Seeing none, at this time,
we're going to recess for closed session.
Well, hello everyone.
Once again, thank you for joining us today.
We have a full house,
probably the most people I've ever seen here before.
So we're gonna get through some of our normal
regular business first.
Nothing to report out of closed session.
And so we'll once again reconvene our normal meeting.
So first off, we're gonna start off
with the Pledge of Allegiance,
and I would like to ask Dr. Ray Wolf to please lead us.
If you can put your right hand over your heart
and follow me, 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.
Thank you, you may be seated.
Thank you, sir.
Moving on, so now we'll have the clerk take attendance.
When I call your jurisdiction, please state your name.
Adelanto?
Ramos, present.
Apple Valley?
Not present.
Barstow?
Silver, present.
Big Bear Lake?
Rick Herrick?
Chino?
Chino Hills?
Two more votes?
Colton?
Colton?
David Toro?
Thank you.
Fontana?
Grand Harris. Bill Hussey. Hisparia. Josh Pullen. Highland. Mary McAllen. Loma Linda.
Daly Aye. Montclair. Needles. Janet Jernigan. Ontario. Rancho Cucamonga. Redlands.
Zocito here. Rialto. Joe Baca present. Samberdino. Helen Tran. 29 Palms.
29 Palms is not here except for Jim Harrison, Joe Klink. Upland. Rudy Zuniga.
Victor Bill. Deborah Jones. Yukaipa. Judy Woolsey. Yaka Valley. Dennison here.
County supervisors first district not present. Second district. Armandair is
present. Third district. Don Rao. Fourth district. Fifth district. Baca junior
present. And our Caltrans ex officio representative. Catalina Pinning. Thank
you. We have a quorum. Thank you. So I've never seen this many people here for the
Hawaiian Shirt Contest before. This is becoming quite an event. So I want to ask
everyone to take a look around the room, your four fellow board members, and kind
of cast your vote for the winner of this year's Jim Harris. Jim Harris, could you
stand up for a second? There he is. So there's a gentleman that started it, and
so every year this occurs, and it's a very fun event. And so we're gonna announce
results in the winter at the conclusion of the meeting. So look around and pick
your favorite. Thank you. So first I want to start off with something very
important. I want to recognize our president, past president, Ray Marquez.
And he's somewhere in the room. There he is, straight across from me. He moved his
seat. So we have quite a few recognitions this morning, but first I'd like
to take a moment to start off with with the outgoing president, Ray Marquez. So
So first off I want to talk about a few things that being Vice Chair last year working side
by side with Ray, he's quite a mentor in some of the projects that he's done and continues
to do.
He's always a champion of what we do for our residents in San Bernardino County.
During his presidency we began the construction of the I-15 freight and express lanes project,
the I-215 Parkway interchange, and the 210 Waterman Avenue interchange.
As well, we saw the completion of the North First Avenue Bridge, BNSF, a railroad, Barstow,
the bridge in Barstow, and the opening of SBCTA's first express lanes on I-10.
Ray, I want to, we appreciate you and your dedication and service to SBCTA over the last
year.
I want to thank you for your service.
It's been remarkable the things that we've accomplished in one year under your leadership
and certainly your networking with all the other agencies.
like to present Ray with a plaque of appreciation of his year of leadership
and service to the board so let's get together Ray and we have a plaque and we
are going to take a photo.
Come on. That's the reason he's getting it. Ray, thank you for your leadership, your
partnership, and allowing me to shout at you during the last year. Thank you. It's been
remarkable some of the projects and the work that you do behind the scenes. Very
few people know that Ray is always on the phone. It was not uncommon for him to
call me a couple times a day to discuss matters. He's connected. Anyone that's
worked with him knows that. He's out there. He's networking. He's making sure
that these relationships help this county and improve the lives of
everybody that comes here or travels here. So thank you very much for your
work. It's been great. Rick, thank you so much. I just want to say this board of
directors, we're the best. Mark County honestly, if you look at Orange County,
LA County, we do so much more and it's because of you guys so thank you. Thank
you so much, we're going to miss you Ray. Thank you. So thanks again Ray, that was
that was great. I mean it's been a great year and I know we have another great
year ahead of us. So we also want to recognize the Mayor Pro Tem of 29
Paul's Joel Clink who retired after 10 years on our board. I've already waved
at him in the back him sitting there with the rest of our 29 representatives
of the past. So Joel we just want to thank you for your thoughtful leadership
and a decade of service on this board. You know every time I would come into
the boardroom we kind of Mountain Desert took the back row and the desert
people stuck together and we worked a lot out in the Morongo Basin to bring
the projects from SBCTA and COG out there and it's really making a difference.
You made your mark on your community and it actually affects all of us and
certainly Yucca Valley in the Morongo Basin too. So thank you for all of that.
What I'd like to do is present Joel with the coveted sandbagger plaque. Can you
come on up?
This is the best one. This is what I started with sandbag.
Thanks, Joel.
Glad you guys made it out.
Oh, yeah.
Nice, sure.
You've carried on a tradition role.
Oh, yeah.
Thanks.
So now we kind of have a long list here
of employee recognitions.
This is a transformational year for this agency.
And there's a lot of people that are moving up and taking
on more responsibility to better serve this county,
serve this board.
And I'm telling you, it's really going
to make a difference as we continue to move in the future
and build new things.
So I'm going to go through a list here.
And I think there's quite a few on here, so what I'd like to do is kind of get towards the end,
and then we'll go ahead and congratulate all of them at one time. So I want to recognize
employees that are beginning a new role within the agency, and first is James Mejia. He's been
promoted to management analyst three. We have Adam Stead has been promoted to project controls
analyst three. Philip Chu has been promoted to deputy director of express lanes. Christy
Harris has been promoted to director of project delivery and express lanes,
Daniela Almeida is has been promoted to assistant to the clerk of the board,
Jeffrey Hill has been promoted to assistant project delivery manager and
Monique Reza Aleron has been promoted to director of council of governments,
Otis Greer has been promoted to deputy executive director and Andrea Zurich has
been promoted to deputy executive director. So if all of you could please
stand up while we as the board recognize them and give them congratulations thank
you when I see that it makes me think that the future looks bright with all
the challenges that we may have in the state and the federal government and
working with our partners at times this is the kind of leadership that's really
going to help us move forward so I'm very proud of everybody thank you for
stepping up to your new positions so but here comes a tough one here we have
unfortunately this month we'll be saying goodbye to some team members. So one of
the longest serving members of the SBCTA family and assistant to the clerk of the
board, Anna Aldana, is retiring. Anna, where are you at in the room? Oh, so I
just want to say one thing real quick, I'm sorry, oh yeah, for the picture. Hold on to
this, I'm trying to stay by the microphone too at the same time, although can all of
you hear me? Okay. So Anna started Sandbag in 1992. It's been worked with various
administrative roles until becoming the assistant to the clerk of the board. Her
tenure also gives her the unique distinction of having worked with every
executive director the agency has known. So talk about institutional knowledge
that we're going to lose right now. But hopefully she has shared it all with the
new people that we've talked about today that are coming on board. So
So congratulations, so much.
Let's give, thank you very much, wonderful.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, wonderful.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I didn't want to look at it like that, but yes.
All right, so we're going to move on to some work here,
so meeting calendar reminders, a reminder of all committees
are dark for the month of July.
And the August board of directors meeting is also dark.
So our committees will resume on August 13th
with the General Policy Committee.
Hold on, sorry about that.
So now we're gonna move on to caucus results.
So I'm pleased to announce I was given the updates
for the sub-area caucuses and selected members
to the General Policy Committee meeting for 2025 and 2026.
I already have this in my hand.
So members selected to represent the East Valley
are Larry McCollum and Frank Navarro, congratulations.
Also members to represent the valley are Alan Wapner and Kirk Hagman. Thank you
And members selected to the mountain desert is art bishop and Don Rao
Agenda notifications or notices are there any changes to the clue?
There are none. All right. Thank you. And at this time. We're going to go ahead and open it up for public comment
We have two speakers. We'll start off with
Steven Rogers and
Steven will will have you up two times. I see you on a few items dirty public comment
You'll have your three minutes to cover those items and then also again. We'll have you back at item number 40
LPC ta bird Steve Rogers Redlands. I
I sort of forgot about the whole situation with the consent calendar item
So I'm just gonna be speaking essentially with the general public comment. I guess
Anyway last night was the redland City Council meeting and we had a presentation by
SPC ta to
sort of
re
reconnect is sort of
my understanding of what was going on
with the community and
Basically there were some things that
I heard or didn't hear that I felt I needed to
let the council know as well as coming to this meeting because I mean, I I think that
you all have probably the most important job in this county as far as
Because there's so much money involved in getting our
infrastructure to the level that we need and specifically our roads.
And so anyway, during this presentation I heard the statement and the gentleman that
gave the presentation, Tim, he said something that just rattled me and got me thinking.
He said he can't imagine a world without SPCTA.
And then the presentation was sort of like the highlights of the things that SPCTA has
done.
And I didn't hear the two major projects that I'm concerned about, and I've spoken with
this board, the I-10 toll lanes, which was originally supposed to be an HOV project,
and then also the Redlands Rail Arrow.
I didn't hear really anything about that.
And instead, he touted that the greatest thing about SPTIA and how we had voted to get the
measure I was that they are independent from all other agencies and don't have to get directives
from other agencies.
This gets back to my original question to SPTIA when I started coming here way back
When and I I was working in the industry when it was organized differently and we worked as locals
We worked directly with Caltrans and you know every local agency had the staff to be able to do that
Now it's not that way. And so I'm really concerned about this and that's why I decided I wanted to come
Because I really thank you very much for the time. I appreciate it. We'll see you back on item 40. Thank you
So our second speaker today on public comment is Paula boot champ. Oh
Hello, I'm Paula bow champ and I did see your face ray and no I will not say anything that is inappropriate
Now that I'm retired
But I just really wanted to thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve SBCTA as a director
I never imagined being able to do that or even had the desire to do that and and so
It worked out really well. I feel that this board has accomplished so much in the time that I
Was able to be part of it and watch, you know all the other departments, you know, just accomplishing so much
You know that was at the forefront of actually our country
And so I'm really proud ray that you have led us and the board through that and I just really want to share with everyone
one that it was really important that I work for somebody who I respected and I
knew right from before but what I would have to say to you is part of the reason
that we were able to oh hello that we were able to accomplish so much is
because he allows his staff to move forward you know progressively and
innovatively and using old resources but most importantly it was his integrity
and honesty that allowed us to freely flow because I knew I could just move
forward as long as I was under those two guys and following the law. But Ray,
really, it was a privilege to work for you. Thank you for all the support, your
fearless, tireless support that you've given to staff and the board, you know,
to help us achieve so much here in San Bernardino County. So thank you.
Thank you. That was our last speaker card for today. So at this time I just want to
mention our conflict of interest if if any of the members have conflicts of
interest that they'd like to disclose now or if they come up please report
them to the clerk chair just want to disclose the conflict of interest on
item number ten received a contribution political contribution from royal
coaches copy that clerk get that for Baca all right thank you okay thank you
for that and we'll move on now for our informational items these are items
is number two through five on our agenda.
Informational items do not require a vote.
These are receiving file items
that are routine and non-controversial.
So we'll move on from that to the consent calendar.
Consent calendar is items six through 36.
These receive and file motions
or discussions from the board.
So second, we have, Kirk has moved it
and second was from Larry, thank you.
All in favor?
Opposed?
Abstentions?
Seeing none, thank you very much.
The consent calendar passes unanimously
with exception of item 10,
abstention being Supervisor Baca, Jr.
Thank you. Thank you.
And so now we'll move on to our discussion calendar,
and this is item number 37.
So 37, presentation of resolutions and proclamations.
So this, I'm gonna present myself,
and certainly I won't be the biggest speaker here, I'm sure.
But so I've mentioned before, we're
saying goodbye to some team members.
And here's another one, our executive director, Dr. Ray
Wolf, who is retiring.
So there's a few organizations that
would like to make special presentations to Dr. Wolf.
So I want to give them an opportunity to say a few words.
So we'll hold off on photos until the end of the item.
So I ask presenters for their patients
as we recognize presenters and then take photographs.
So first, I'm going to call on Supervisor Don Rao.
Would you like to kick things off for us
on behalf of the San Antonio County?
Certainly, on behalf of the entire Board of Supervisors,
we thank you, Ray, for everything that you have done
for the county, our cities, all of our jurisdictions.
You have brought attention and a lot of love
to the Inland Empire in advocating for our causes.
We appreciate you, we are certainly going to miss you
in all that you have done, and it has been a pleasure
for all of us to have worked with you.
So we have a resolution that tells me is the time
we will present it, so thank you.
All right, thank you very much for that.
Next, I want to call up Komi Asaif,
the Executive Director for the Southern California
Association of Governments to come to the podium.
Is Komi here?
Oh, there he is.
He's looking casual in the Hawaiian shirt.
I didn't see him.
All right, turn it over to you, Komi.
Microphone there.
I was just saying, I wear Hawaiian shirts once a year
because of Ray.
I have a board meeting today,
so I have to put a jacket over it, Ray.
This is what you do to me.
Well, it is a privilege to be here before you all.
And I appreciate the opportunity to come talk
about my friend, Dr. Ray Wolf.
We have a resolution from SCAG.
There are a lot of whereas is on there.
And if you get a chance to look at it,
you could see what a remarkable career
I think Ray has had in Southern California.
I have known Ray before his SBCTA days.
And I think of Ray as a friend, but sometimes it's
hard to wonder.
We wonder sometimes if he's a friend
when he comes from the opposite direction
and questions your bases.
Like many in the room, Ray answered the call
to public service, and he has been a public servant
from the get-go.
Ray is, you know, you don't, he's so down to earth,
you don't know, you don't know the extent of his,
the variety of talents that he has.
He's a bridge engineer, he's a structural engineer,
he's got his doctorate in engineering,
which just blows the mind that somebody would
spend that much time in school.
And yet, when you see him, you think, you know,
he's just this down to earth farmer kind of guy,
But that's Ray. Ray, he's got so many personalities sometimes, we think he needs help.
Well, throughout the three decades of his service, Ray has done incredible work in the region.
From working as Caltrans as the director of District 8, coming to the SBCT,
and changing the dynamic of this organization to where it's almost like a billion dollar plus organization.
That's a level of transformation that Ray has brought to this part of Southern California.
He's worked on some remarkable projects that are, I think, groundbreaking from the freeway
expansion to managed lanes on 10 and 15, but also very groundbreaking projects like the
Zemo, which is a unique project in entire North America.
And so, Ray, congratulations on your service to the region.
I will miss you.
And I really mean that.
It may not sound honest, but I really will miss you.
And I say that because there are times
when I'm on the phone with Ray, and I wonder,
is he really a friend?
And that's because Ray is not afraid to speak the truth.
And so when he really has a point of view that is different,
he brings it up and he's not afraid.
So I really trust Ray when I consult with him.
So I know time is up.
I just wanna again wish you well.
We got some goodies for you here.
Is this the time to give him his stuff?
Absolutely, you know what?
Co-may sense you've made the journey
and you're gonna have to cover up your Hawaiian shirt soon
with your jacket.
How about you and Ray get a photograph?
I think that'd be more inappropriate
since I know you're heading out.
Because we're planners,
the resolution is really, really crowded with words
and so we put a lot of stuff on there.
You don't have to read.
Highlight it.
I think you would love this, it's a pink Hawaiian shirt, you wear it, congratulations.
Mr. Chair, I know Kome mentioned that his engineering background but he forgot to say
that his degree is in aeronautical engineering and he's worked on roads and things like bridges
and things like that, and not on airplanes.
Pretty talk about well-rounded, huh?
Yeah, well-rounded.
Planes, trains, and automobiles.
I'd like to ask the mayor of Ranch Cucamonga, Dennis Michaels,
say a few words.
That concludes my comments.
Ray, we've got 15 whereas's.
I'd like to read them all if you wouldn't mind.
Actually, I'll dispense with that
and just say, Ray, without getting
into all the levels of education.
♪♪
What's your dance?
Are you doing dance?
Yeah!
One of the reason I'm wearing this is because of you.
Mm-hmm!
In fact, I...
Okay, ladies, please.
Ray, I'll just tell you what you mean
to Rancho Cucamonga, and that is,
we have two of our elected officials here.
I'm Air Pro Tem Lynn Kennedy
and Councilwoman Christine Scott,
as well as our city manager John Gillison and our assistant city manager Alyssa Cox in the back of the room.
And I say that because you've met so much, your leadership to this organization has done an incredible change from where we were 13 years ago.
And it's a result of your strong leadership, but your down to earth management style that truly we consider you, I know all of us,
consider you not only just as a leader of the organization, but as a friend.
And I know you're headed off to Indiana, to your farm.
And I notice that you have a, I think, stand up.
What is that?
Tractors?
Ladies and gentlemen, he is now pursuing his master's
in tractoring so he can get back to Indiana.
So Ray, I'm going to leave this skirt with you.
And I want you to wear that on the tractor.
People will know you came from San Bernardino County, OK?
God bless you, Ray.
Thank you for everything.
Thank you, Dennis.
I definitely stole the show.
And I think that Hula Skirt on Ray Tractor in his field
will make the neighbors think.
Well choreographed.
So now, we have a representative on behalf of Congressman Pete
Aguilar here with us.
And that's Brydiana Aguilar.
There she is.
Would you like to come forward and say a few words, please?
And then our grants director also showed up.
Kurt Lewis?
Just as Congresswoman would have it,
you actually won, and you get two.
So he's been a friend of SBCTA for years.
From the time he's a member of the board,
I've sent back to now.
And as a congressman, he's always
been very quick to respond to requests from SBCTA,
primarily for two reasons.
You guys get things done.
We like that.
And secondly, for the last decade,
you've been driven, well now I won't say driven,
you've been led by Ray Wolf
and his incredible leadership skills
and his background and his skill sets
has been helpful in making this
a very successful organization.
And Mr. Wolf, I want you to know
that your very last request for CPF funding
has made the congressman's list of 15
and this is for the Highland Redlands Connector
And it's being received favorably, as I understand,
at the Appropriations Committee.
So we will appreciate all you've done for us.
And we do have a presentation to make off of you.
Okay, on behalf of the Congressman,
in honor and recognition of your distinguished career
with the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority
for nearly 13 years, we thank you for your commitment
to enhancing transportation infrastructure.
Your achievements in our community will have
a lasting impact, and we wish you continued success
in your next chapter, thank you.
Thank you, thank you.
Well, we got some great recognition for Ray there
and also some good news for our county.
So that's another step.
So today we also have with us chapter president Kelsey Moore
and special events committee chair Tina Day
from the Inland Empire chapter of the Women
in Transportation Symposium
to make a special recognition also.
Good morning. Mr. President, I'm sorry.
I have a presentation, you forgot about me.
Oh, well, I'm gonna come back to you then.
I didn't know.
Okay, I'm ready.
You want me to do it now?
Yeah.
Thank you, I apologize, but this is important.
You know, I would never be able to beat Dennis.
I wouldn't want to.
And he swore he wasn't gonna dance, so just for you.
You know Ray, I can tell you how great you are,
but you'd be the first to admit that you're great.
And I understand that.
You have made an incredible impact,
not only in the agency, but in the region as well.
There's no way I can thank you enough
for all the leadership that you've provided.
I didn't really want you to take all the staff with you.
Anna, I never thought that you would be retiring,
and Ray, you're taking her.
But anyway, thank you so much.
Congratulations on your retirement,
and we appreciate everything that you've done.
Thank you, Alan.
I'm sorry if you got bypassed.
Okay, so now back to you, thank you.
All right, good morning.
My name's Kelsey.
president of WTSIE and this is Tina Day, our special events chair. I would like to
take this time to honor Dr. Wolf and celebrate his retirement. He has been a
leading presidential advisor for many years. He speaks at all of our events,
volunteers as a mentor, and countless other activities. Dr. Wolf has shown an
unwavering commitment to WTSIE and all of our members, many of who are in this
room. So on behalf of WTSIE we would like to present this plaque to Dr. Wolf. It
has a slice of the rail from when we built the aero train and we would like
to thank him for all of his support towards advancing women in
transportation. So I like the slice of rail there that's a nice little look
yeah a bit of history. So right now do we have any other representatives from
organizations that would like to make a presentation. Seeing none and we're going to go ahead and
move on. So Ray this is a pretty amazing showing. I thought maybe it was partly to do with the
shirt but it's obviously you. You've done a lot of excellent things. So you've contributed so much
of transportation here in the region certainly and beyond. You know we're in the area the urban area
but it's very reflective in the areas all the way out in the desert and all the way to the
Colorado River. There's been things that have changed and made it better for all of us to
be safer travelers and better communities. So when I just think about it, did you
have any idea that you were articulating your way through the degrees that you
would have ultimately a career you've had? No, I never expected that I would be
working in a role like this. It's been fantastic having the opportunity to work
with 29 board members. A lot of my colleagues say, how in the hell do you do
So I'm gonna do it.
But honestly, everybody around this table
and all of your predecessors over the years,
nearly 13 and a half years have really been supportive
of the things that we're trying to accomplish
because I think as you heard earlier,
it's about integrity.
We have been really focused since I've been here
on just getting things done to improve the quality of life
of the residents of this county
and improve the bottom line
businesses in this county.
So I want to thank the board for everything that you have done in supporting myself and
the team here.
I want to thank my staff.
One person doesn't accomplish anything by themselves.
It really does take a team, it takes a village to do the things that we're trying to do.
And so a lot of my staff are in the audience today.
I want to thank our partner cities and our partner in the county, the staff in all of
those organizations.
And I want to thank all of the consultants that really help us to accomplish the goals
that this board sets forth.
It's truly been an honor.
When I was an undergrad in aerospace engineering, I never expected that I would be doing this,
but it has been fantastic.
And so, thank you.
Well, a good example of the team that you built.
Oh, yes, sir.
Oh, oh, yes.
the city. I'm sorry. Please.
wearing Hawaiian shirts.
His dream is a tractor.
Their shirts all have pictures of Ray
at different points in his life, which is great.
There's some young ones, his starter beard kit,
the full beard, everything is there.
It just shows the relationship and the team
that he's built here.
They're all on board, and we're making things happen
for this county, so thank you Ray for that.
You know, you've crafted a great team,
and the programs have come to fruition.
I just wanna talk about a couple of them
that we've picked out and highlighted.
Development of the express lanes,
introducing America to the first of its kind,
ZEMU, or Zero Mission Train,
which is out back most of the time.
Responding to a horrific bridge fire
and leading amazing recovery.
Responding, or supporting funding and legislation
for the remote areas of our county,
I can vouch for that.
And advocating for every community
when the moment calls for fairness.
And that's another thing that's been a cornerstone
of everything we do here is equity and ensuring
that everybody is treated fairly throughout the county.
And that's a big piece.
It's tough to do when it's the largest geographic area
in the country.
So it's been a privilege working with you
over the last few years.
In 16, I never thought that I would be sitting here.
But the team, this board is a pleasure to work with
because everybody stays focused
and we treat each other fairly.
And that's all your leadership that's built this kind
of area where we come into the meetings.
And generally, we do have a movement
and we make things happen.
So one thing I've heard a couple times too
is a lot of people have said about you
doing the right thing rather than being right.
So thank you for that too.
That is not always easy to do and you do work with us.
And witnessing the immense respect
that you've shown to your staff
and the equal immense respect they have for you.
The staff does a lot of the hard work behind the scenes
and it's very much appreciated
that they still love coming here
and want to progress up through the team
and become more and more contributors
of this fine organization.
So I now have the honor of presenting Ray
with the well-deserved, of course,
you've seen him tonight, the sandbagger.
Back when I started it was sandbag.
So we still do that for some of the most treasured people
that we have out here and certainly you are the one today.
So the plaque and we're gonna dedicate this plaque to you.
And we also have a piece of art that you may have seen before
of the train station.
But this one has a different train on it.
Oh, yeah.
This one does not have the train station with a locomotive.
It has it with the ZeeMoo.
So here's your sandbag.
So thank you, sir.
Appreciate everything.
I don't know how I got in this chair, but thank you.
Yeah, that's the jumbo sandbag there.
Might even be able to use it out on the farm
if you start to get a little too much rain.
So I think right now is a great time.
We had a few people.
I think Comey's the only one that took off.
But we want to get a photograph of everybody
that made presentations today.
So if we can all come forward, and we'll
take one photograph of everybody, I believe.
Yeah, we'll probably have to bridge the middle.
There's an entrance back here in the corner.
So these will be all the presenters today
up here now with Ray.
I think I did that right.
Definitely need.
Well, I think they want to do one as one group of people
that had made a presentation.
Is that correct on the?
Yeah, because they were individually, we can skip it.
We'll do the whole report at the end.
We're going to have a rest up.
Yeah, we're going to have a rest up.
Afterward end.
So, Ray, we'll go ahead and roll it back.
going to just do the whole board once we shut this part down, yeah. Not without Dennis.
Yeah, so that came up. There was one down here. I just want to make sure I didn't know, but I think
we're good. All right, let's go. So we're going to bypass that. So well, here we go. Immediately,
are we on this one? Oh, I see. So if we want to have cake and celebrate, we have to do a group
photo immediately following and all right so somehow we'll squeeze together
and we'll do the the entire board and that'll include all the speakers it's
showing that right now okay all right new plan that's the thing we're flexible
we're gonna make this work yes kind of a formality now now that we moved up all
All the way through 37, it's opportunity for public comment.
And seeing none, thank you.
Then we'll move on on the agenda.
We're gonna move to item number 38.
So Interstate 15, Corridor Freight and Express Lanes Project,
Contract 1, Riverside County Toll System,
Modification, Soul Source Contract,
and Amendment Number 1 to COOP Agreement.
And Phillip Chiu will present the item.
Thank you, Phillip.
Good morning.
Item 38 is to request board approval
for a Soul Source Contract with COPS Traffic Com,
along with an amendment for the cooperative agreement
with Riverside County Transportation Commission
on the I-15 express lane project.
So a brief refresher on the reason
for sole sourcing with COPS.
As staff had previously reported back in March, 2023,
COPS is RCTC's toll service provider,
which they designed, installed,
and maintained the RCTC toll collection system.
And because of that, only COPS can actually relocate
or modified their tow infrastructure
without disrupting RCTC's tow operations.
So we've worked with COPSCH on the cost
and the scope of work,
which include relocating fiber optic systems,
cameras, tow cabinets, and signage.
RCTC is responsible for 81% of the cost,
since most of the cost is needed
due to the improvement that RCTC is requesting
near Cantu Galliano Ranch Road.
I wanna highlight two proposed changes
to our standard contract from COPSCH
during our negotiation.
The first is the indemnity clause,
which SBCTA standard contracts
includes a passive negligent languages in there.
COPS proposed to narrow that definition
to their own negligence.
Our risk manager and our legal have reviewed
this modification and agreed that this is
a reasonable risk allocation,
considering the type of work that COPS is performing for us.
The second change is under the limitation of liability,
where COPS proposed language that reduced their liability
and focused on core damages
related to negligence and misconduct.
SBCTA standard language addressed
a wider range of potential liability.
So staff had some concern initially,
but this basically limits SBCTA's ability
to recover losses from them.
However, since COPS is already under contract
with RCTC's toll collection operations
maintenance contract. The proposed language basically helps prevent double
liabilities, so we won't be charging them liability if anything would have happened
because they are already under that with the RCTC contract that they have. And
also the chances of damage exceeding 50% of the contract amount is highly
unlikely on the type of work that they're performing for us. So staff
actually are okay with the proposed changes that CAPTCH is proposing. So with
With that, we're seeking board approval
for this sole source contract with a not to exceed amount
of approximately 3.03 million
and authorize the executive director
to execute the final contract.
Now the second item on the agenda is to seek board approval
to amend the cooperative agreement with RCTC
between SBCTA and RCTC for the I-15 express lane project.
Now this amendment basically updates the cost sharing
between SBCTA and RCTC based on the final bid amount
and the cop show source contract that we have here
with that cost included.
The amendment also includes an additional 4.5 million dollars
of CMAC federal funds to be transferred from RCTC to SPCTA
to cover RCTC share of additional cost.
With that, I'll be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you for the presentation.
I'll go ahead and move it now to public comment on the item.
Item number 38, seeing none, back to the board.
Move approval.
McCallum moved Hagman second all in favor
opposed
abstentions
The item passes unanimously. Thank you
Moving on to item number 39 amendment 5 to disposition and development agreement with desert X Express
enterprises and Ryan Aschenberger
Good morning board president and directors
amendment number 5 is
Is needed as we're approaching anticipated close of escrow on the disposition and development agreement for the Rancher-Kukamunga
Station. I'd like to highlight the three major items that amendment number five will touch upon
the first is a
reconfiguration of the station site for a shared pickup drop-off facility and the second one is
due to site constraints
adjusting the parking minimums
And establishing a process by which that can be approved and finally
Establishing a process for the cost allocation
for credits and debits related to
Potentially moving the Ontario connector station site from the west end of the parking lot to the ground level of the Brightline parking structure
I'm happy to answer any questions
Thank you, Ryan. So first off we'll open it for public comment on item number 39 as presented
Seeing none back to the board
questions
Marquez moves and
Okay, and we awkwarded a warrant please for second all in favor
opposed
Abstentions let the record reflect that Loma Linda has stepped away the item passes unanimously. Alright. Thank you. Thank you, Ryan
All right moving on to agenda item number 40 a gold line Montclair project update Victor. Oh
Nice shirt very good Victor
Thank you
Good morning board president and directors this item is to receive an update on the goal line to Montclair project
The goal line face to be project is a 12.3 mile long library of project that is planned to extend the goal line from us
Zusa to Moncler.
The segment from Pomona reached substantial completion
earlier this year and revenue service for the segment
for this segment is anticipated for this summer.
The remaining segment from Pomona to Moncler
is approximately three-point miles
with approximately just over half a mile
within San Bernardino County.
This board received an update in May
which directed staff to seek further clarification
from the Gold Line Construction Authority
and to return to the transit committee in June
to consider reallocating the $37 million of SBCTA funds
previously committed to the Gold Line project
to other SBCTA funded operations or project needs.
Last month, the transit committee
received the project update,
which included reallocating the project funding.
However, the recommendation from the transit committee
was to approve the SBCTA board precedent
to appoint two members of the transit committee
to participate in a joint ad hoc committee
with two members
of the Metric Online Foothill Extension
Construction Authority Board
and to return to the transit committee in August
to consider reallocating $37 million of SBCTA funds
to other SBCTA-funded operations and projects,
as noted under recommendation B.
Since the recommendation of the transit committee
was not unanimously approved,
this item is now being presented
to the full board for discussion.
The prior direction from this board
was to seek detailed clarification
from the construction authority
on how delaying the project,
and using a new project delivery method known as CMAR,
would result in a reduced project cost
to reiterate the need for transparent sharing information
and also defer the discussion
related to reallocating the funds.
Shortly after the April transit committee,
a letter was sent to the Coldline Construction Authority
seeking further clarification and requesting a meeting
which took place on May 12th.
A copy of the SBCTA letter,
a response from the construction authority
and a presentation provided by the construction authority
at the May 12th meeting are attached to the staff report.
One of the clarifications needed
was that the latest program cost estimate
as well as the cost to complete the procurement phase
using the new project delivery method.
As it relates to the cost estimate,
the total allocation approved by the SBCTA board
was 39 million and with 41 million
from TIRCP grant funding, the current funding is 80 million.
However, based on the latest estimate,
that cost has now increased to a minimum of 110 million.
And if you consider the actual bids received,
the range goes up to 188 million.
So what that means is that SBCTA will need to allocate
at least 30 more million dollars towards a project
and potentially up to 108 million dollars
to cover the current funding gap
for the San Bernardino segment.
Closing the funding gap will need to come
from other projects that already have a funding gap
as identified in the 10-year delivery plan,
such as the Ontario International Airport Connector Project,
the procurement of additional sewer emission multiple units,
or potentially from funding that would otherwise be used
for future transit capital and operation needs,
including Metrolink, Aeroservice, or Army Trans.
We also received the cost to SBCTA
to complete the procurement phase
using this new project delivery method,
and that estimate is 15.4 million.
All that means is, is moving forward with this project
at this point in time requires committing $15.4 million
for the procurement phase of the project
in coming up with at least 30 more million dollars
to close the current funding gap.
Another topic that required further clarification
is the use of the CMR delivery method.
There was a question on the authority
to use the CMR delivery method
and we did reach out to the state
to get further clarification.
We verbally heard that the TRCP program
does allow various alternative delivery methods,
meaning that it should not be an issue
but we are waiting for a wind response.
Other concerns that were brought up
The last update was the need to increase collaboration
and to memorialize that by a memorandum of understanding
as well as to update the representation
on the Construction Authority Board.
To include voting members that actually represent
the communities for the project segment.
The Construction Authority did provide a draft MOU
late last month and the proposed MOU
has been returned to the Construction Authority
with various revisions and comments,
meaning that it would require some effort
to finalize an agreement since the current version
of the MOU does not reflect
out of our proposed requirements.
Similar to the construction bid increase,
the latest operating cost estimate has increased
to approximately 5 million per year,
and the actual cost to operate is likely
to continue to increase due to inflation,
future capital costs, state of good repair needs,
and other expenses which will further impact
the already limited funding
to operate existing transit services
here in San Bernardino County.
The LA Metro, LA Metro will be responsible
for the ongoing operations and maintenance,
but per legislation, SBCTA is actually responsible
for all the capital operations and maintenance costs
for the segment in San Bernardino County.
So what that means is that the Metro board
will be making the decisions related to operations,
and it is important that certain terms
of the operations and maintenance agreements
are agreed to before the project move forward.
Specifically, that the SBCTA board reserves the right
to adjust service levels in San Bernardino County
based on the funding approved by the SBCTA Board.
We have started discussions with LA Metro staff
and operations and maintenance agreements
as it relates to the operations and maintenance agreement.
And we have specifically reached out to them
on this and other key terms,
but we have not reached an agreement at this point in time.
With that, that concludes my presentation
and I'd be happy to answer any questions.
All right, thank you, Victor, for that update.
First off, I'll open it up to public comment.
have a card from Steve Rogers. Oh and I'd also just briefly recognize that
Supervisor Rao has left the meeting.
SPCTA board Steve Rogers, Redlands. I'm very interested in the gold line and
you probably wonder why am I interested in the gold line because I live all the
way out in Redlands. Well this is one of the projects that was included when we
voted on Measure I and apparently this phase you know at some point in time he
was decided that the train isn't it's just gonna stop at Montclair and you're
gonna have other other forms of transportation like your Connector to
Ontario, that kind of thing. I don't so much want to talk about that. I think
that that never should have changed, that the train still should be planned to go
to Ontario, but what I'm interested in now, and it's real light rail. I mean
the gold line is really light rail, not like the arrow line that we got. It's
much more efficient and it's used. Our land, our airline isn't even used. But
what I would like to suggest is if we are reallocating 37 million and
change, that some of that needs to be devoted to the condition that I've
raised a number of times here and also at City of Redlands, which is that the
the university station doesn't have appropriate access.
And basically, it doesn't meet any ADA requirements.
I mean, I don't know how the PCUP approved that design
and everything because basically if you get off the train
there at Redlands, at the University of Redlands,
and you want to go anywhere,
you really have to go across the street.
There are no crosswalks, there's no signal,
there are no sidewalks.
And so I really, and I know I've suggested this in the past
that this needs to be taken care of,
but now that there are some funds that are being identified,
please consider this as your number one priority
to fix the Redlands Rail station there
at the U of R and anything else in Redlands will help
because I mean, we're in a situation where there's
a lot of potential for accidents.
I guess already one has already happened, so thank you.
Thank you, Steve, appreciate your comments.
Okay, we'll move it back to the board now and hold on.
Get back to my spot.
So, any questions from board members on this item?
Open it up, I see Ray Marquez.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Regarding CMO, our procurements,
I just heard that there's a possibility that we can use it,
but I'm understanding that our legal team or attorneys
basically feel that there could be some sort of liability
that if we did use funding today
that we might have to repay it at a later date.
Is that a true statement or not?
So, I raised the question of the legislation
authorizing the CMAR procurement method is very specific to the application and that's how the
legislature uh we over the years we've evolved to having the authority to use design build for
example but it took the legislature a long time to walk to a point where that became allowed with
CMAR there they've been very specific on carving out how it can be used so when the construction
authority said, hey, we're going to abandon design build and we're going to use this approach
because we think that it will result in lower construction costs, we raised the question,
are you sure that you have the authority to do this?
Because we have $41 million in TIRCP grant funding that was awarded to us back in 2018,
And that $41 million is for this project.
We don't want to be in a position where we move forward and then five, 10 years after
the project is done, the state comes back and audits us.
Now, if you remember when I first started here, we had $10.6 million in claims from
the state doing an audit on us that we were supposed to repay.
It took a lot to get that number down to around $600,000.
So the state could come in and they could audit and they could say, you know what, that
was not an allowable procurement method.
So all we're doing is we're asking the state, in case they audit us in the future, to give
us something in writing that says that we will not, if they at some future date audit
us, we will not be required to pay that $41 million back.
They've said verbally that it's an allowable procurement method under the TIRCP grant,
But that doesn't answer the question, is it allowable for the construction authority
to use it?
The basis of our concern is it has to be, the project has to be constructed on property
that is leased or owned by the county.
We are not a county.
The project in our county is going to be built on property that we own, but we're not the
county.
So it's clear that it doesn't apply.
I just want to make sure that we don't have to pay back money at some future date
Thank you, right?
Alan Wagner. Thank you mr. President Victor. Thank you for your report. I'm put a lot of time into this and frankly
Ray, I think we've spent too much staff time on this project don't need to go through the history of the project
Let's just say we're not any further along today as we were ten years ago
In fact, I think we're further behind than we were ten years ago
you know Montclair has done probably the best jobs I've ever seen with Tod development and that was based on folks making millions and millions of
dollars in investment
Based on the premise that there was gonna be a gold line coming into Montclair the city has invested their own money in as well
I've had an opportunity to review the draft MOU and there's no way I could ever recommend
Where could I support the MOU as it is and frankly Ray we've had this discussion
I think we're gonna come to an impasse at some point. Anyway, there's just no way
And when you guys see it, you'll understand that the Gold Line Authority is going to remain completely in control of all of our finances.
That they can ask us to build whatever they want us to build, operate at whatever cost they see, and we're on the hook for every penny of it.
And from a policy standpoint, I couldn't support it, but what I'd like to talk about is the potential, I want to call it a compromise, I think it's the right thing to do.
Just because the Gold Line Authority failed the city of Montclair doesn't mean that we need to fail the city of Montclair.
I think they really deserve increased rail service, so what I'm going to suggest
I don't know if you want to hear it today or some other time is that the the money that's allocated to the gold line
Be taken off the gold line
But still committed to the city of Montclair for some kind of enhanced rail service
Whether that be increased Metro link and bringing in some other light rail or something like that
I think we have to show as a board our commitment to the city of Montclair in
Reliance of everything they've done in the folk that made money on all kinds of investments in the city
So I'd like to throw that out for discussion
I think that that's a compromise between just taking it and throwing the general fund and certainly I don't think it makes sense to commit
It to the goal line any more
Thank you John Detroit. I appreciate the comments. I want to suggest that there's some
Discussions going on. I've had discussions with staff. I know it's some of the board members and staff. We had a discussion yesterday
Let's just move this to the transit committee on in August
We'll get a better idea where the MOU is responses
I know staff is doing an analysis on some options, which I have asked for, and I think
that would be a good time for us to have that dialogue, if you don't mind, Alan, at the
August Transit Committee.
We go to the August—you're warning a suggestion you brought up.
Let's just do that at the August Transit Committee for a dialogue.
You okay with that?
So, I'm going to move for approval.
I'm trying to help you, gentlemen, if you want to—
Oh, I understand.
I appreciate that.
appreciate that. So John your motion is to move the item to the August Transit
Committee meeting for further discussion. Yes. Okay and we have a second by Dennis
Michaels. And then the Adahoc Committee, two members from the from the Transit
Committee to be on the Adahoc Committee. Can you repeat that? Sorry, two members from the
Transit Committee be part of the ad hoc? The staff's recommendation and staff
report I move for that which includes the ad hoc committee discussion in there.
So just just so yes I'm sorry I didn't see your light please go ahead actually
I just have a question regarding when it goes to committee comes back to us we
can fully discuss that it's a fairly complicated issue I think the whole
board needs to understand so I'm presuming it's going to get a committee
to come back yeah okay thank you okay so John your motion is to move it to the
transit committee for further discussion then we'll bring back to the board
correct we have a second by dance Michaels all in favor aye opposed
abstentions thank you the item passes unanimously I would like to record my
opposition I wasn't given the chance to speak I have no problem I have no
problem at coming back to the transit committee I just wanted to reiterate why
I oppose this is because we have competing transit right now. If Gold Line comes in it's
competing against MetroLink. MetroLink is going to be providing 30-minute service to Montclair.
I don't think it's good for us to pay operation and maintenance costs for Gold Line in San
San Bernardino County, at the same time paying for operation maintenance costs for, for Metrolink.
It's a duplication of, of service and I just think we have other needs for the money that's
been set aside for our goal line and in the county that our, we have a lot of needs and
keeping that money for goal line when we really don't know that it's ever going to come to
I think it's not a good idea, so I continue to oppose the item and we'll do so with the transit committee.
So continue the vote as we did on today, and then we'll pick it up in the transit committee for with your comments. Is that correct?
Yes, I didn't vote on the item. Okay. Thank you, sir.
So let the record reflect that Hyland abstained on that item, so it's 24-0-1.
All right. Thank you for the update.
We're going to move on to our last item.
SB COG programs and project updates.
Monique, the floor is yours.
Thank you.
OK.
So this is a status update for the Council of Governments.
As you all are very aware, we have
been increasing the function of the Council of Governments
as well as the budget over the last two years.
And so I'm going to provide a really quick overview of
everything that we've been doing and what
the outlook is moving forward.
So, as you remember, we started to increase the budget.
It was a two-year increase.
It started last fiscal year,
and the full increase begins this fiscal year
for our member agencies.
And in October of 2024, with that increase,
we were able to actually put a work plan together,
which I'm gonna go over with you today.
Oops.
So, just a quick reminder of the functions of SB COG,
when we approved JPA amendment number four,
which is what increased the budget and the function.
We identified these main functions
of the council government, so strategic planning,
regional outreach grant writing, project development,
city-county conference planning,
and then liaison to our stakeholders
and to all of our member agencies.
And so we identified a $1.5 million budget
to accomplish the priorities that the board had set.
That is that little pie there is how we broke up
that cost allocation and the increase again was over the two years we
increased staff from 1.3 to full three full-time equivalent positions and then
we also have consultants that are going to be working on the projects that we're
implementing. The staff increases we hired a COG manager back in September
we are working on a half staff grant administrator who's kind of straddles
both SBCTA, SB Cog, and then an analyst too,
which also does the same.
So we, again, approved the work plan,
the board approved the work plan back in October
after a process that we went through with our ad hoc
and our city county manager's tax.
So we researched our sister agency programs,
WR Cog, Coachella Valley, and San Gabriel,
and then we identified the objectives that we had as a Cog
as we were working on our Smart County Master Plan.
We had done some studies for small businesses,
and so we identified some objectives
that we wanted to put on the list,
and we had a series of subregional meetings
with our city county managers' TAP groups,
and we were able to tally up all of the answers
and brought it back to our board for approval.
And so this was the prioritized projects and programs list
that we identified that are in our work plan right now.
I'm gonna run through a few of them.
I know there's a lot here,
but essentially the ones that kind of stand out
that are working on right now are the Homeless Strategic Plan,
the Street Vendor Toolkit, Small Business Initiatives.
We're working on the REAP programs,
including the Housing Trust.
We are working on putting together a grant writing program,
and IRON is currently being implemented.
So just to kind of go through IRON really quick,
we are currently partnering with our workforce development
department through the county.
We are currently matching energy fellows
with our member agencies.
So if you need capacity building within your agency
and need an energy fellow,
we will be placing those in the next month or so.
We are working on updating our energy,
building an energy codes,
and then we are also interested
in sponsoring your state of events.
So your cities all have,
and the county has a state of your particular city,
we are sponsoring those if you're interested.
In addition, we are working
on grant administration implementation.
This is a list of all the grants
we were able to apply for over the last fiscal year.
And in addition, we have rolled out a framework
for how we're going to be working with the member agencies
to write grants on behalf of regional projects
moving forward.
So we're in the process of working on that right now.
REAP, all of our MOUs are executed
and we have started implementation of HIP and SRP,
which are technical support to our member agencies
for implementation of your housing elements.
We are also working again on the housing trusts
currently underway and there are a few other REAP programs
under SBCTA which include our VMT mitigation bank
and complete streets programs.
As far as the five year work plan,
just a really quick status rundown.
Homeless Strategic Plan, it's currently out for bid.
The RFP was released after the board meeting last month.
We have the Smart County Master Plan which we have completed
and we are working on implementation
of a few of those initiatives as well.
The Street Vendor Toolkit is also underway.
We're working with your planning directors
and your code enforcement folks
to really kind of help us tie that together.
Our small business initiatives are actually going to be
a part of the RFP that's currently out as well
for implementation of the full five year work plan.
Our engagement framework is currently underway.
We will be completed with that in August
and we'll have some information for you
in those committee meetings in August.
And then smart corridors, we're actually implementing.
There are four that have been identified
that we're working with some member agencies on.
And I know that was a really quick,
but we're between you and Kate, so I want it to be quick.
So if there's any questions, I'm happy to take them.
I'm running, thank you.
So we'll open it up for the public.
Any comments on this item?
Item 41, back to the board.
I see no one lit up.
So thank you very much for the presentation.
So that was our last item for the day.
We're gonna go ahead and move it on now
to board member comments.
Seeing none.
Oh, I'm sorry. I just saw Debra's and I see okay. I'm sorry. I'll get it
It took me at least five months to train Ray. I'm gonna work on you. Thank you. I'll I need the help
Cuz I'm not going anywhere. Okay, I got my
Alright, okay, I was I wasn't being rude early when I said what about the rest of us?
But we all love and so we all want to be included and so that's why I screamed out
So those of you that text me and told me to shut up, I will be dealing with you after the meeting.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Governor.
Governor, please.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Ray, Dr. Ray Wolf, you have been a delight to work with.
I speak on behalf of Victorville.
You have done great things in and for our city.
have taken a regional approach which I support wholeheartedly and I said this
at our last meeting but I want to say it again for everyone's benefit. You were
when I first came on board to SPCTA and as a council member I served as the
alternate but I effectively served as the delegate from day one. You of all of
the boards that I've served on you were the one person that met with me told me
all about your policies and the background of the SBCTA and really
walked through all of that and it was it was so impressive to me because I could
sense that you wanted me and Victorville to get the most it could out of SBCTA I
appreciate and have always appreciated your professionalism and your sober
remindedness about every endeavor here at SBCTA. I think it is a testament to
who you are that everyone look at how many people have shown up for you and I
hope that you take that with you in retirement that you have good memories
of how well you have been supported and loved by this board and many people
throughout our great state and again I'm going to say this I am NOT for the beard
down to the second button. We love you." Well said, Debra, thank you. Yeah, Natalie, please.
Yeah, first of all, Ray, congratulations on behalf of the department. I just want to say
congratulations. Just an FYI, at the district office, there's, you know, we have photos of
all previous district directors and you will see Ray's picture there. And every time I pass by his
picture he asked a smile on his face so it's just kind of like going okay the
smile looks like it's telling me what did you get yourself into but basically
I just wanted to say congratulations on behalf of the department and also on a
serious note I just kind of want to give an update on the ongoing fires in the
region as far as the lake fire currently it's 70% contained so we do have a
a closure on section of 138,
and right now we do have an emergency contract
getting ready to fix the damages along the highway.
On another fire, the Wolfire on state route 243,
not related to, so that section of the highway
that's closed right now,
it's anticipated to be open tomorrow.
So I just wanted to give that update.
And as far as for fiscal year 2425 and 2526,
currently we have $400 million invested
in the region on projects.
So we will be providing a list
of all those projects to everybody.
So with that, again, congratulations, Ray.
Thank you for your comments.
Daniel Ramos.
Oh, I'm sorry, John DeTrey.
Well, if I had to describe one color with Ray, it would be gold.
I don't mean a line,
but goal in terms of the professionalism
and what you brought to this agency,
I've met a lot of the executive directors
and you're one of the top matches
of the directors that I've come across.
So one of the things I want to say,
I know it's not you,
but your wife was born in Montclair,
so there are some Montclers in there too.
So I think Montclair has some to do with your leadership.
Thanks.
Thank you for your comments.
Now, Daniel.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Well, the color I would choose would be,
would be baby blue, right?
Because in case you don't know,
that's Ray's favorite color.
Ray, thank you, thank you so much.
Congratulations, you will be missed.
Please don't change your cell phone number,
because I promise I will be calling you
in the future with more questions.
Thank you for your mentorship.
Yeah, your mentorship, your guidance,
everything from your cool, calm, collective demeanor
down to the God-given beard.
It's been a pleasure, man, and the city of Adelanto,
I know that the County of San Bernardino will miss you.
I'll never forget the first time you pulled me to the side
and you said, hey Daniel, I need to be honest with you.
You know, the city of Adelanto is by far
my favorite city to work with and I love you guys.
Thank you, I'll forever remember those comments, Ray.
Good luck with whatever you do, my friend.
Well said.
Any other, oh, here we go.
Yes, please, comment, try.
Ray, congratulations on behalf of the City of San Bernardino.
Thank you so much for all that you've done
for our city, especially the Mount Vernon Bridge.
So thank you so, so much.
And I'm trying to see light through some of the palm trees
and decorations, anyone else?
Oh, yes, Ray Marquez, please.
Just one last thing.
I'm involved in a lot of different organizations.
And one of the things I hear from executive directors
that Ray Wolf is such a great communicator.
And I always just sort of wondered about that.
But this past year, I got to work with him.
So he's not a man of a lot of words,
but when he looks at me, I sort of know what he means.
So now I get it.
So thank you, Ray.
All right, thank you.
anyone else any comments? Oh Jim Harris please you're certainly part of today.
All right I'm gonna I'm gonna keep it brief it's been a long meeting and I you
know I'm not one who likes to have accolades and all of that but I really
do appreciate the comments from and the dance today yeah I hope somebody got
that on video, but maybe not actually. But it has been an honor to work here. I
do before I forget, I do want to introduce, most of my family is here
today so if I could ask my wife Laura, stand up. Nicholas and Anya. So Nicholas
and Anya, Bo was not able to join us because he's got to make a living and
And that's important, but I could not be the man I am today
without the support of my wife.
She's been a fantastic partner for 35-plus years now.
And unfortunately, she's going to see a whole new side of me
because she's going to see me 24-7.
So she's trying to reconcile that at this moment.
But thank you.
I love you very much.
Thank you, Anya and Nick.
I love you too very much.
I know it's been a long meeting for both of you,
but anyway, thanks.
I do really quickly, I know I've already said this,
but I wanna thank the board for its leadership.
We have come a long way in the last 13,
nearly 13 and a half years.
I will tell you that the leadership
that is in place moving forward
will keep this body moving in a positive direction.
There's gonna be more great things to come for this county,
and it's really important.
You heard Comey say sometimes he's not sure
if I was his friend, and Comey and I go way back, right?
But I fought hard for this county.
And when the politics in the region suggested
that maybe San Bernardino needs to sit down and shut up
because somebody else needs something,
I wouldn't shut up, right?
And it was important, and I think it really helped
to build this agency into a force to be reckoned with.
But I couldn't have done that
without the support of this board.
And so thank you guys.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity
to lead this organization.
I want to give a huge shout out to my staff,
some of whom are here, some many are upstairs.
But again, as I said earlier,
one person can accomplish the things
that this organization has accomplished.
It definitely takes a village to do everything.
And so every one of my staff,
no matter at what level of product they work on,
has done a fantastic job and I just,
I love this team and it's been an honor
to have worked side by side with the great staff here.
I did not force them to wear those shirts.
In fact, I was shocked this morning when I saw them.
I don't, I've seen three or four of them.
I guess there's five different versions,
But it's fantastic.
It's really heartwarming.
I will share one story, and then we'll
get to the winner of the Hawaiian shirt contest.
When Jim, and Larry, and Alan, when you guys were on the board,
when you guys hired me, I don't know if you remember,
but I said I was going to change the name.
And a number of board members at the time
pushed back and said, we've been sandbags since 1973.
How dare you, you can't do this, right?
I said, no, I don't want to retire a sandbagger.
And so lo and behold, we have a different name.
It doesn't really resonate the same way.
SBCTA doesn't roll off your tongue, but it's not sandbags.
So I'm not retiring a sandbagger.
I think that's really important.
So on that note, I want to let you know,
this was a, every year it's close until this year.
Every year it's been close until this year.
the winner of the Hawaiian shirt contest this year.
I'm not even going to go through the others
because Dennis Michael, you knocked it out of the park.
Very clear.
So on that note, I'll turn it back to the president
because I think there might be cake or something.
I'll turn it back to you.
Thank you, guys, and I wish you all of the best.
That was well said, and I'm very proud
the board, Dennis, absolutely. That was a show for everyone to remember. With
that, this meeting is adjourned.