California Special District by California Special Districts Association

CA SPECIAL

DISTRICT Publication of the California Special Districts Association

Volume 11, Issue 6, Nov - Dec 2016

FEATURE West Valley Water District: Living Proof of Our Vision for Excellence in Water Quality, Reliability, and Innovation

SOLUTIONS & INNOVATIONS

Improving quality of life through park policing

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Volume 11, Issue 6 • November - December 2016

Contents

Ask the Experts What are some ways for on the go, busy techsavvy professionals to save battery life on mobile devices?

West Valley Water District Living Proof of Our Vision for Excellence in Water Quality, Reliability, and Innovation

4 President’s Message CSDA’s year in review 5 Professional Development 2017 Special District Leadership Academy Conferences; Professional Development calendar; New Professional Development catalog 6 CSDA News Special district formation guide now available; 2017 Membership dues now payable online; Order your 2017 labor law posters now

Community Connections Special districts and summer: Building community connections and supporting healthy youth

8 Grassroots Action Update September signaled the end of the 2015-2016 legislative session 12 In Brief District helps to grow local economy; Hundreds of pelicans make water district home; Invasive mosquito breed found; Bay area districts recognized; Water conservation district partners with high school 24 Solutions & Innovations Improving quality of life through park policing

What’s So Special Nothing fishy about new roads for campers Napa County Resources Conservation District

26 Legal Brief How to fill vacant board seats 28 Managing Risk SDRMA Safety/Claims Education Day at the CSDA Annual Conference 32 Money Matters New law provides audit cost relief to small districts

14 Printed on recycled paper.

California Special District – November-December 2016

CA SPECIAL

Officers William Nelson, President Orange County Cemetery District

president’s message

Vincent Ferrante, Vice President Moss Landing Harbor District Arlene Schafer, Secretary Costa Mesa Sanitary District Greg Orsini, Treasurer McKinleyville Community Services District Noelle Mattock, Past President El Dorado Hills Community Services District

Members of the Board Joel Bauer, SDA, West Side Cemetery District Stanley Caldwell, Mt. View Sanitary District Ralph Emerson, Garberville Sanitary District Peter Kampa, SDA, Saddle Creek Community Services District Jo MacKenzie, Vista Irrigation District Elaine Magner, Pleasant Valley Recreation & Park District Shane McAffee, SDA, Greater Vallejo Recreation District Sandi Miller, SDA, Selma Cemetery District Ginger Root, Country Club Sanitary District Timothy Ruiz, P.E., East Niles Community Services District Fred Ryness, Burney Water District Sherry Sterrett, Pleasant Hill Recreation and Park District Kathy Tiegs, Cucamonga Valley Water District

CSDA Staff Neil McCormick, Chief Executive Officer Megan Hemming, Professional Development Director Cathrine Lemaire, Member Services Director Kyle Packham, Advocacy & Public Affairs Director Todd Winslow, Publications Director Rick Wood, Finance & Administration Director Emily Cha, Staff Assistant Bernice Creager, Public Affairs Specialist Marcus Detwiler, Legislative Assistant Dillon Gibbons, Legislative Representative Mustafa Hessabi, Legislative Analyst Christina Lokke, Senior Legislative Representative Charlotte Lowe, Editor, Communications Specialist Anna Palmer, Member Services Specialist Chris Palmer, Public Affairs Field Coordinator Lindsey Spaletta, Professional Development Assistant Cassandra Strawn, Member Services Specialist Dane Wadlé, Public Affairs Field Coordinator James Wilfong, Senior Designer For editorial inquiries, contact Charlotte Lowe at 877.924.2732 or charlottel@csda.net. For advertising inquiries, contact Diana Granger, Granger Marketing Works, at (530) 642-0111 or granger@cwo.com.

1112 I Street, Suite 200 Sacramento, CA 95814 t: 916.442.7887 f: 916.442.7889 toll-free: 877.924.2732 www.csda.net

CSDA’s year in review

my year of serving as CSDA Board President comes to a close, I have been reflecting on all of the good work that has been done in 2016 by CSDA and its members. This past year has shown a growth in CSDA as an organization and in the resources we are able to provide members. The 2016 membership year ended on October 31st with CSDA membership reaching an all-time high of 1,127 members, with 76 new members joining the association.

This year brought the addition of more online publications and resources, including the 201516 CSDA Administrative Salary and Benefits Survey, California Public Records Act Compliance Manual, and Special District Formation Guide. CSDA also collaborated with the Institute for Local Government (ILG) in the development of two co-branded publications: Understanding the Basics of Municipal Revenues in California and Sustainability in Special Districts. The beginning of the year marked the launch of CSDA’s public outreach campaign called “Districts Make the Difference.” This campaign built a robust website platform providing members, media, and the public with a toolkit that includes fact sheets, talking points, and other information on special districts including a dozen professionally produced videos. In addition, CSDA has continued to strengthen the District NetWorks program throughout the state and to grow grassroots action efforts. This year CSDA staff visited over 300 special districts and attended 61 CSDA affiliated chapter meetings. These in-person opportunities allow CSDA staff to listen to

A proud California Special Districts Alliance partner

William Nelson

concerns and needs of our membership and share the latest legislative information coming out of Sacramento. I am proud of CSDA’s Advocacy staff for delivering the lead oral testimony at the Little Hoover Commission’s August 2016 hearing on special districts in follow-up to its 2000 report, Special Districts: Relics of the Past or Resources for the Future and for issuing a 19page written testimony as well. The work done by CSDA’s Advocacy staff in relation to the Little Hoover Commission this year was organized, effective, and produced desirable outcomes. CSDA’s professional development opportunities continued to exceed expectations in 2016 with five specialized conferences, record setting Annual Conference & Exhibitor Showcase, the launch of 40 various on-demand webinars, 36 live webinars, and 37 workshops. With the growth of CSDA’s District NetWorks program, this year CSDA hosted a workshop in each of the six Networks and also added two new specialized workshops to the curriculum: Human Resources Boot Camp for Special Districts and Financial Management for Special Districts. I would like to congratulate CSDA and its membership for a great year filled with a high level of advocacy services, information sharing, professional development opportunities, and all of the other benefits we have to offer.

Highlight

CSDA’s Special District Leadership Academy

ies t i n u t oppor raining for t he state! hout t g rou th

Special District Leadership Academy Conferences CSDA’s core governance training for elected/appointed officials, the Special District Leadership Academy Conference, will be offered three times next year: • February 26 – March 1, 2017 in San Diego • April 23 – 26, 2017 in San Luis Obispo • July 9 – 12, 2017 in Napa

Attendees will learn: • How to work as a team; • The roles of board and staff; • Attributes and characteristics of highly effective boards; • How culture, norms, values, and operating style influence the district; • Specific jobs the board must perform; • How individual values, skills, and knowledge help to shape how effective boards operate; • The importance of moving from “I” to “we” as the governance team; • The board’s role in setting direction for the district; the board’s role in finance and fiscal accountability; • And more! Scholarships are available through the Special District Leadership Foundation (SDLF) for directors and trustees from districts with budgets of under $10 million, who have not previously completed the Special District Leadership Academy. Visit www.sdlf.org for scholarship details. To register for one of the SDLA conferences please visit sdla.csda.net.

January Jan. 19

WORKSHOP

Board Member Best Practices Claremont

Jan. 26

WORKSHOP

Board Member Best Practices Santa Ynez

February Feb. 1

WORKSHOP

Proposition 26, Proposition 218 & Rate Setting, Vista

Feb. 3

WORKSHOP

Board Member Best Practices Sacramento

Feb. 9

WORKSHOP

Board Member Best Practices Clovis

Feb. 16

WORKSHOP

Board Member Best Practices San Jose

Feb. 21

WORKSHOP

HR Boot Camp for Special Districts, Rancho Cucamonga

Feb. 23

WORKSHOP

Board Member Best Practices Anderson

Feb. 26

CONFERENCE

2017 Special District Leadership Acacemy Conference La Jolla

2017 Professional Development Catalog The catalog is headed your way! Make your list of workshops, webinars, and conferences that you plan on attending in 2017. New workshops/webinars include: • Board Member Best Practices • Hammering Out a Legal Framework for Construction & Business Matters • The Art of the Message • Public Engagement and Budgeting • Governments Engaging Youth • Sustainability Best Practices • And more! Visit www.csda.net to register now!

California Special District – November-December 2016

CSDA NEWS Special District Formation Guide Now Available California Special Districts Association Districts Stronger Together

SPECIAL DISTRICT FORMATION GUIDE

In an effort to demystify how special districts are formed, the California Special Districts Association (CSDA) partnered with the California Local Agency Formation Commission (CALAFCO) to produce the Special District Formation Guide.

The Special Districts Formation Guide is an easy-to-follow publication intended as a resource to help interested members of the public determine whether a special district can best meet their community’s needs, and if so, help them in navigating the formation process. Understanding the cost of the formation process, assessing grassroots support, garnering support from stakeholders, and mapping a proposed district’s boundaries are just some of the concepts that this guide covers and provides additional information and resources. This guide is available to the public and can be accessed by visiting www.csda.net/special-districts.

2017 Membership Dues Now Payable Online You now have the option to renew your CSDA membership online as well as update other important data such as roster, contact information, operating revenue, and more. If you are the main contact for CSDA, just log on at www.csda.net to manage your agency’s account. And don’t forget - as a thank you to our members, CSDA is again offering online access to required Ethics Training at no cost. Submit your membership dues by January 3, 2017 and your district will receive access to on-demand AB 1234 Ethics Compliance Training through March 15, 2017. For more information, contact member services at 877.924.2732.

Order Your 2017 Labor Law Posters Now

“I think there’s no higher calling in terms of a career than public service, which is a chance to make a difference in people’s lives and improve the world. - Jack Lew

You serve others and LCW is honored to serve you. At LCW we are not solely lawyers. We are your trusted partners, helping you avoid legal problems and navigate issues. Special Districts serve others, and we are honored to serve them in all areas, including:

Employment Law, Labor Relations, Litigation, Retirement, Wage & Hour, Business, Construction, and Preventive Training.

To learn how we can help your district visit: www.lcwlegal.com 6

Your agency could be fined for not posting the most current state and federal employment notices in an area that is frequented by employees. To make it easy to comply, the CSDA Bookstore is now selling 2017 California & Federal Employment Notices posters at a very affordable price. Enjoy special member pricing of $25 (plus shipping and tax) for each laminated poster. In addition, if any other mandatory updates become effective during the year, CSDA will email you the updated section. Place your order online at www.csda.net. Note: Members of Special District Risk Management Authority will receive a complimentary poster from SDRMA.

California Special District â&#x20AC;&#x201C; November-December 2016

update

September signaled the end of the 2015-2016 legislative session. During this time, 5,103 legislative measures were introduced and CSDA was hard at work analyzing and monitoring many of these bills. Among the pieces of legislation worked on in 2016, CSDA actively tracked 619 bills and directly lobbied on 81 of those measures. Of the 31 bills CSDA opposed, only five became law. Conversely, 27 of the 50 bills CSDA supported became law.

Of the 31 bills CSDA opposed in 2016, only five became law.

Some of CSDA’s Major Legislative Highlights include: BILL

DESCRIPTION

STATUS

POSITION

AB 2613 (Achadjian)

Offers more affordable alternatives for small special districts’ annual audit requirements

Signed into law

Sponsor Bill

AB 779 (Garcia)

Would have required duplicative compensation report for board members

Vetoed

Oppose

SB 2835 (Cooper)

Would have required mandatory employee orientation

Held on Senate Floor

SB 885 (Wolk)

Would have required public Died in agencies to provide for the Committee legal defense of engineers and architects of public works projects

Oppose

Would have prohibited special districts from contracting out the design work for mandatory storm water pollution prevention plans

Oppose

SB 1170 (Wieckowski)

Take Action SEASONS OF ADVOCACY With the end of the legislative session, now is the perfect time for districts to plan for the year ahead.

Died in Committee

Oppose Below are some ways to keep your legislative relationships warm during the winter months. • Set up a “meet and greet” with each newlyelected local legislator. • Subscribe to your local legislators’ e-Newsletters and social media. Don’t forget to add them to yours! • Attend your local legislators’ holiday parties, open houses, and other community events, and invite them to yours.

In addition to the major legislative highlights, CSDA has put together the 2016 Year-End Legislative Report which provides a more in-depth look at the status of all the legislative measures the CSDA worked on this year. This document can be accessed by visiting the Toolbox section of the Advocacy tab at www.csda.net.

• Save the date for the 2017 Special Districts Legislative Days in Sacramento held May 16 – 17, 2017.

Your Community. Your Services. Your District! We are happy to announce the launch of our new public outreach campaign, Districts Make the Difference.

This campaign is centered on the concept that special districts go beyond providing important services to their communities. They make a difference in the lives of their residents and help our state thrive. The goal is to bridge the gap between special districts and the essential services that millions of Californians value. The first step is to visit DistrictsMaketheDifference.org. This new website features a simple-to-use toolkit filled with public awareness videos, web banners, posters, factsheets, and other materials that can be easily downloaded.

Follow, like, subscribe, share!

MAKE THE

DistrictsMaketheDifference.org DistrictsMaketheDifference.org

Ask theExperts What are some ways for on the go, busy tech-savvy professionals to save battery life on mobile devices? 4. Use do not disturb/sleep modes Ever get a text clink in the middle of the night? Of course you do. But if your phone’s sitting on the kitchen table, you’re not going to hear it (and even if you do hear it, chances are the news can wait). You can set your device to sleep while you’re sleeping and save battery life. 5. Turn off location features When your device is tracking your location, it’s working hard. You may not need for Google to know where you are at all times, so turn the master switch off when you’re concerned about your battery and manage the apps that have access to your location.

Many modern devices have low-power modes, but sometimes that’s not enough. Here are nine tips to save your battery life. 1. Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Your Wi-Fi is constantly searching for signals. You probably have no intention of connecting to the grocery store’s wireless connection when you stop in for milk, but your device is spending energy making sure you have that opportunity. The phone has good intentions – to save data – but it can really drain a battery. Do you have a question for any of our CSDA experts? If so, send your question to Charlotte Lowe, editor, at charlottel@csda.net.

When you leave home, turn off your Wi-Fi not only to avoid the battery drain but also to speed up your connection since your device may connect to known networks without permission and slow your overall speed. 2. Don’t auto-update apps Do you need the latest update to Angry Birds (especially since that game is so 2014)? Probably not. But your device is probably automatically updating your apps behind the scenes, sucking up your energy. 3. Turn off auto-brightness Your phone can adjust itself to the brightness in your environment, but it’ll cost you some juice. 10

6. Watch your push technology Not only are you more easily distracted when your phone is constantly dinging and pinging and notifying you of new baby pictures from Facebook friends, you’re also using more battery. Turn off the notifications for email and manage the other pop-up distractions through your settings. 7. Cut down on the special effects Isn’t it cool when your background looks animated, or when you can wave a hand to make things happen? Sure, if you’re willing to give up some of your battery for a whiz bang experience. 8. Auto lock in less time Sometimes it’s annoying when your phone locks up in 2 minutes, but if you set the auto lock to put your phone to sleep in shorter intervals, the battery lasts longer. 9. Use airplane mode Airplane mode is not just for airplanes. The setting stops your automatic battery drainers, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, app refresh and more. If you switch your device to airplane mode while it’s charging, it juices up much faster. Beth Ziesenis is Your Nerdy Best Friend. She is the author of several books on technology including “Nerd Know-How:The 27+ Best Apps for Work...& How to Use ‘Em!” Beth travels the country talking to organizations about free and bargain technology. To learn more, visit www.yournerdybestfriend.com.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

The Monterey Regional Waste Management District received the Zero Waste Achievement Award from the California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) on August 9th during their 40th annual conference in Sacramento. The Zero Waste Achievement Award is awarded to a progressive business, government agency, community-based organization or school that has made the commitment to zero waste, implemented outreach programs and excelled toward the achievement of their zero waste goal. Montecito Sanitary District welcomes Carrie Poytress as engineering manager. Carrie brings over 14 years of both civil and environmental engineering experience to the position. Mt. View Sanitary District was recently honored by the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) in the Outstanding Capital Project category for the District’s Influent Pump Station Improvement Project. The Visalia Public Cemetery District welcomes Cindy Summers as Manager. Cindy previously worked for Tucoemas Federal Credit Union for 29 years in several management capacities, the last 12 years as the Vice President of Human Resources. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Parenting Network. Cindy is a current member of SHRM Tulare/Kings County and previously served on their Board as Treasurer; she is also a member of Visalia Employer Advisory Council.

California Special District – November-December 2016

movers and shakers Does your district have an individual recently appointed as general manager or a top staff position? Have you recently elected a new board president? Have any district personnel been appointed to other community boards or positions? Email your district’s movers and shakers to Charlotte Lowe, editor, at charlottel@csda.net and we will include them in our next issue!

Costa Mesa Sanitary District (CMSD) recently received two awards. The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) awarded CMSD the Silver Excellence Award for Integrated Solid Waste Management Systems. SWANA recognized two significant enhancements CMSD made to its solid waste management system that necessitated the excellence award: the implementation of a curbside Organics Recycling Program and the Alkaline Battery Recycling Program, which replaced CMSD’s popular Telephone Book Recycling Program. The Government Finance Officers Association awarded CMSD an Outstanding Achievement award for completing a Popular Annual Financial Report, which extracts information to produce high quality financial reports specifically designed to be easily understandable to the public. The Camarillo Health Care District is honored to announce it has been named Allied Health Professional of the Year by the Ventura County Medical Resource Foundation at the David Fainer, MD & Leo Tauber, MD Award ceremony. The Fainer and Tauber award is given for outstanding contributions by those involved in delivery of health care in Ventura County. The Modesto Irrigation District (MID) Board of Directors announced today that they appointed Greg Salyer as the District’s General Manager. Salyer has served as Interim General Manager since September 2015. Prior to serving as Interim General Manager, Salyer was MID’s Assistant General Manager of Electrical Resources. The El Toro Water District (ETWD) is the recipient of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) Public Communications Achievement Award for its outreach and communications campaign related to a major multi-phase Recycled Water Expansion Project that impacted the City of Laguna Woods and the City of Laguna Hills.

In Brief Southern California District Helps to Grow Local Economy

Invasive Mosquito Breed Found in Southern California

For over two years the Cucamonga Valley Water District (CVWD/ District) has successfully partnered with San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC) on an innovative and unique student intern program. The program was developed specifically as an applied field training course to enhance SBVC’s Water Supply Technology Certificate Program, where interns rotate through CVWD divisions including Water Maintenance, Wastewater Maintenance, Field Service, Engineering, Production, and Treatment. Through the 18week program participants gain valuable, hands-on experience that can later be used to apply for and successfully achieve essential careers in the water industry. Students come from a wide variety of backgrounds and age groups, most working fulltime jobs, trying to transition to a career in the water industry. CVWD and SBVC work hard to accommodate all students, often providing opportunities for the mandated 240 hours through flexible scheduling in a combination of weekday, weekend, and evening hours. If you are interested in participating in this internship opportunity, contact San Bernardino Valley College at (909) 384-4400 or visit www.valleycollege.edu.

The Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District has detected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Cathedral City. The Aedes aegypti mosquito is not native to California and has the potential to transmit deadly viruses including dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and yellow fever, viruses not currently transmitted in California by mosquitoes. This mosquito was first discovered in the Coachella Valley in May 2016 in the City of Coachella. District staff continue an intensive surveillance and control campaign in the City of Coachella. Prevent Aedes aegypti development in your yard: • Inspect yards for standing water sources and drain water that may have collected under potted plants, in bird baths, discarded tires, and any other items that could collect water. • Check your rain gutters and lawn drains to make sure they aren’t holding water and debris. • Clean and scrub bird baths and pet watering dishes weekly. • Check and clean any new potted plant containers that you may bring home from areas that may have Aedes aegypti. Their eggs travel and are desiccant resistant.

Hundreds of Pelicans Make Water District Home Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD), headquartered in Perris, recently had some unexpected visitors, in the form of several hundred American White Pelicans that have recently taken up residence at its Winchester Recycled Water Storage Ponds. The facility has three storage ponds totaling 5,200 acre feet and the pelicans have nested in the pond with the lowest water level, spending much of their time on a small berm in the middle of the facility. EMWD staff are on site each day and have proactively worked to not disturb the pelicans, which are a rare sight in western Riverside County. Several other pelicans have been spotted at EMWD’s San Jacinto Wetlands, which hosts monthly birding tours from October through April. EMWD currently uses 100 percent of its recycled water supply for non-potable uses, including irrigation of crops, parks, schools, streetscapes and environmental facilities. Recycled water makes up 36 percent of EMWD’s water supply portfolio.

Travelers returning to the Coachella Valley from areas where dengue, chikungunya, or Zika viruses are transmitted should limit their exposure to mosquitoes and apply insect repellant for at least three weeks to avoid mosquito bites and reduce the potential of infecting local invasive Aedes mosquitoes.

Got news? California Special District wants to hear about newsworthy people, projects, events and accomplishments in your district. To submit a news item for In Brief, contact Charlotte Lowe, editor at charlottel@csda.net or (877) 924-2732.

Bay Area Districts Recognized by White House Office of Science & Technology Policy In September, officials from the Sonoma County Climate Resilience Team (SCCRT) participated in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s event to launch the Partnership for Resilience and Preparedness (PREP). PREP is a public-private collaboration that combines government data and design capacity with the local expertise of private and philanthropic sectors to help communities develop data-driven planning and resilience. The SCCRT is a Sonoma County public-private coalition that includes the Sonoma County Water Agency, Sonoma County Regional Climate Protection Authority, Pepperwood Foundation, Sonoma Ecology Center, Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, United States Geological Survey and Earth Knowledge. Sonoma County was featured at the event as a national leader in climate adaptation through the SCCRT, which assisted with the early development of the PREP beta platform.

community now have the ability to plan for the future with this critical PREP climate resiliency platform.” Also highlighted at the PREP event was the developing collaboration between the Sonoma County Water Agency and natural resource management officials from Caldas, Colombia as a part of a sister watershed program to integrate and share climate risk data and watershed best management practices. The two regions share similarities in climate risk concerns and have begun collaborating on resource best management practices, such as community engagement, water supply planning, and flood protection.

Sonoma County Water Agency Chairman Efren Carrillo stated, “The Partnership for Resilience and Preparedness has helped our community work together and integrate climate risk data into one central online platform that is available to our whole community. Before PREP, this data had no single home; instead it was fragmented amongst our government agencies and community organizations. Our urban planners, farmers and

California Special District – November-December 2016

Water Conservation District Partners with High School Chino Basin Water Conservation District (CBWCD) is proud to announce a new partnership with Chaffey Joint Union High School District (CJUHSD) to provide the first Qualified Water Efficient Landscaper (QWEL) training for high school students in the state. The QWEL program provides an EPA WaterSense labeled certification in water wise landscaping practices for landscape professionals throughout the West. Under the direction of CBWCD staff and Elliot Joyner, a Landscape Design and Turf Management instructor at CJHUSD’s Valley View High School Regional Occupational Program, the high school trainees will undertake 20 hours of instruction on principles of landscape water management, proper plant selection for the local climate, irrigation system design and maintenance, and irrigation system programming and operation. The curriculum is specifically tailored to the Inland Empire area to help reduce the demand of limited water resources. To see a list of local QWEL professionals, visit www.cbwcd.org/QWELgrads.

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2016 CSDA Annual Conference and Exhibitor Showcase Record attendance. Excellent content. Great event.

The conference in San Diego hosted a record 808 attendees and included a full range of breakout session topics, keynotes from leading speakers, and 74 exhibitors in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s showcase.

The first full day of conference began with an opening keynote featuring author and Emmy-winner Ross Shafer, who spoke on how to stay relevant in this changing world as it relates to special districts.

Acknowleding achievements in areas including exceptional public outreach, leadership and innovations.

Greg Cox, San Diego Supervisor

award 2016 CSDA

William Hollingsworth Award of Excellence Sherry Sterrett

award 2016 CSDA

Innovative Program of the Year - SMALL DISTRICT Fulton-El Camino Recreation & Park District “Park Police Service Program”

award 2016 CSDA

Ralph Heim Exceptional Outreach & Advocacy - Individual Scott Carroll, SDA, Costa Mesa Sanitary District

California Special District – November-December 2016

Wednesday’s activities started with the SDRMA Safety Awards and keynote presentation by Kai Kight, a classically trained violinist, on “composing one’s own world” through innovation and creation.

award 2016 CSDA

Exceptional Public Outreach & Advocacy - SMALL DISTRICT Fulton-El Camino Recreation & Park District “Park Advisory Committees Program”

award 2016 CSDA

Innovative Program of the Year - LARGE DISTRICT East Valley Water District “Succession Planning Program”

award 2016 CSDA

General Manager of the Year Cindy Gustafson, Tahoe City Public Utility District

Board Member of the Year Doug Siden, East Bay Regional Park District

The last day provided attendees with the most up-to-date information on legislative issues impacting special districts including RDA oversight board consolidation, website mandates, and other open data issues.

award 2016 CSDA

Annual Conference a n d E x h i b i t o r S h o w cas e 09.25–28.17 Monterey

award 2016 CSDA

champion sponsors

Staff Member of the Year Kim Booth, Big Bear Area Regional Wastewater Authority

advocate sponsors

friend sponsors

award 2016 CSDA

Exceptional Public Outreach & Advocacy - LARGE DISTRICT Central Contra Costa Sanitary District “Citizens Academy Program”

California Special District – November-December 2016

West Valley Water District Living Proof of Our Vision for Excellence in water Quality, Reliability, and Innovation Dr. Clifford O. Young Sr., President of the West Valley Water District Board of Directors and Matthew H. Litchfield, P.E., Interim General Manager of the West Valley Water District

Thrilling. Exhilarating. Inspiring. This is how it feels to witness a $23-million-dollar revolutionary environmental clean-up project, almost twenty years in the making, come to fruition. When our customers turn on their tap, they need not worry about their water quality. Why? Because their drinking water has been treated by the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first Fluidized Bed Reactor (FBR) designed to remove perchlorate using bioremediation and deliver that water to potable use at the West Valley Water District. 18

We provide water to approximately 70,000 people, spanning two counties in Southern California in a 29.5 square-mile area including portions of the communities of Bloomington, Colton, Fontana, Rialto, San Bernardino, and Jurupa Valley. For the past 54 years, our mission at the West Valley Water District has been to provide a reliable, safe drinking water supply to meet our customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; present and future needs at a reasonable cost and to promote water-use efficiency and conservation. To continue to do so, we have invested in innovative technologies to make current groundwater sources safer and more productive. To date, we have six water treatment plants, including four perchlorate treatment systems, one of which is the FBR. Perchlorate, the culprit of water contamination discovered in the Rialto-Colton groundwater basin in 1997, was a remnant of prior agricultural, industrial, and military activity in the area. This oxygen-rich chemical is used in rocket fuel, fireworks, and other similar explosive materials1 and has been found to be toxic to the thyroid gland at high exposures.2 Shortly after discovering perchlorate in the basin in 1998, the District chose to shut down several wells to avoid exposure to the drinking water supply. In 2005, ion exchange systems were installed to begin treatment on wells with low levels of perchlorate; however, these systems are expensive to operate. Thus, the District investigated in new ways

to more effectively remove perchlorate at a greater concentration. Our unique desire to remain focused on developing a strategy to treat the contaminated water to register non-detectable levels of perchlorate, rather than attempt to clean-up the chemical source area allowed us to develop this innovative solution in partnership with Envirogen Technologies, Inc. based in Texas. FBRs have been employed in other parts of the country to remove perchlorate for discharge to surface water or to recharge Continued on page 20

California Special District â&#x20AC;&#x201C; November-December 2016

West Valley Water District [continued] groundwater, however FBRs had previously never been utilized to directly produce potable water until now. In 2002, the California Department of Health Services issued conditional acceptance to West Valley Water District for “biological treatment as a means of removing perchlorate from source waters for distribution as a part of the public water supply.” This type of treatment does not use harmful chemicals and instead uses naturallyoccurring microbes in water to withdraw oxygen from perchlorate, which destroys it. After a pilot study and rigorous testing to inform development of a full-scale project, construction of the Groundwater Wellhead Treatment System began in May 2011. Envirogen Technologies Inc. designed and built the treatment system. The majority of funding for the project was provided by Proposition 84, the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality

and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006 ($10 million); State Water Resources Control Board ($3 million); and Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board Cleanup and Abatement Account Fund ($2.6 million). Five years after construction began, the final permit for the plant was granted by the State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water in May 2016. Making environmental history, on September 22, 2016, Chief Treatment Plant Operator, Sergio Granda, opened the valve to the Groundwater Wellhead Treatment System to release water to our water distribution system for the first time. Since, the system has been successfully providing water to approximately 16,000 of our customers on a daily basis.

It also serves to showcase the importance of special districts. Because we can provide a single, specialized service, we are able to focus on excelling in our area of expertise: water.

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References 1 United Stated Environmental Protection Agency (2014). Technical Fact Sheet – Perchlorate. 3 Ibid.

Photos Lauren Albrecht, Research Analyst, West Valley Water District

BUSINESS AFFILIATE special acknowledgements

Accela Cloud-Based Technology www.accela.com

Kaiser Permanente Health Coverages www.thrive.kp.org

Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo Legal www.aalrr.com

Meyers Nave Legal www.meyersnave.com

Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP Legal www.bwslaw.com

Pacific Gas & Electric Company Energy Solutions www.pge.com

California CAD Solutions, Inc. GIS Implementations www.calcad.com

PARS Retirement Benefits www.pars.org

CPS HR Consulting Consulting, HR, Recruiting, Training www.cpshr.us

Regional Government Services Authority Staffing Services www.rgs.ca.gov

CSDA Finance Corporation Tax-exempt financing www.csdafinance.net

Special District Risk Management Authority Risk Management Coverages www.sdrma.org

Five Star Bank Banking www.fivestarbank.com

SunPower Solar Energy Solutions www.sunpowercorp.com

Hanson Bridgett LLP Legal www.hansonbridgett.com

Streamline Website Design www.getstreamline.com

Liebert Cassidy Whitmore Legal www.lcwlegal.com

Tyler Technologies Software Technology Services www.tylertech.com

Thank you to our diamond, Platinum and gold level business affiliates for their generous support.

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California Special District – November-December 2016

[Community Connections]

Special districts and summer: Building community connections and supporting healthy youth By Patrice Chamberlain, Director of the Summer Meal Coalition, Institute for Local Government

For

many low-income families in California, summertime is far from a vacation. Schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s summer closure means discontinued access to school services and meal programs for youth and limited access to learning opportunities. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) summer meal programs present special districts with a unique opportunity to contribute to the health and development of local youth, stimulate community partnerships and boost public engagement efforts. Special districts across California are getting involved in summer meal programs to help strengthen their communities and support healthy youth. 22

The Summer Landscape for Low-Income Youth In California, an estimated 2.5 million students received free or reduced-price lunch each day during the school year. When school lets out for the summer break, many of these youth lose access to the nutrition provided by school lunch and breakfast programs, creating greater food hardship for families as they struggle to absorb the additional summer time food costs. According to a national survey, 54 percent of families that relied on federal subsidized meal programs found it harder to make ends meet during the summer months, and 43 percent sometimes did not have enough

Share your community connections Is your district interacting with the community in a new and original way? California Special District wants to know about it! Contact Charlotte Lowe, editor at charlottel@csda.net or (877) 924-2732.

food to make it through the summer months. Summer’s added food costs often force low-income parents and caregivers to make difficult choices between rent, utilities, medications and food. In some neighborhoods a lack of access to healthy food also means limited access to safe places to play, increasing risk of obesity and the potential for chronic disease. Economically disadvantaged youth are also less likely to have access to summer learning opportunities, putting them at greater risk of losing as much as 2-3 months in reading skills. Cumulative summers like this risk leaving lowincome youth further behind their more affluent peers, less likely to graduate and unprepared for the workforce. Together, these disconnects impact the health and wellbeing of families and the overall vitality of our communities. The silver lining is that summer also presents a blank canvas for collaboration to ensure that youth continue on a positive trajectory, by way of summer meal programs.

USDA Summer Meal Programs Build Community Connections USDA summer meal programs are designed to ensure that low-income

“In some neighborhoods a lack of access to healthy food also means limited access to safe places to play, increasing risk of obesity and the potential for chronic disease.“

California Special District – November-December 2016

children and youth who rely on school year breakfast and lunch programs continue to have access to healthy food when school is out. Administered in California by the California Department of Education, USDA summer meal programs (Summer Food Service Program / National School Lunch Program Seamless Summer Feeding Option) enable local government agencies, schools, tribal governments, and nonprofit organizations to serve free, healthy meals to youth ages 18 and under at sites in low-income neighborhoods or through programs serving low-income youth. Agencies are reimbursed for providing healthy breakfast, lunch, snack, or supper that meet the program’s nutrition guidelines. One of the most significant benefits of the program to families is that there is no identification or paperwork required for families. Meals are served to all youth free of charge. In addition, summer meal programs often help connect kids with activities, and families with community resources. Summer meal programs are built on community partnership, often bringing together city, county, special district, school and community-based organizations to effectively leverage existing resources of each agency. A focus on summer meals provides a tangible— and measurable—point for successful community collaboration to build upon. In California, however, summer meal programs are vastly underutilized. According to a 2016 report from

Washington D.C.-based Food Research and Action Center, less than 20 percent of youth who received a subsidized lunch during the 2014-2015 school year participated in a summer meal program the following summer. Underutilization is often a result of a lack of summer meal sites, lack of community awareness of the program or lack of activities.

Opportunities for Special Districts Special districts are well poised to help more youth access summer meal programs and strengthen connections within the community in three key ways: Become a summer meal provider. A summer meal provider, or “sponsor,” acts as the financial and administrative agent for the program. This is ideally suited for community services, park and recreation or healthcare districts. Meals can be prepared by the provider or through a vendor to sites in the community or to youth programs operated by the district. Longtime sponsor Marin City Community Services District (MCSD) provides meals to youth at the Manzanita Continued on page 42

[Solutions & Innovations]

Improving quality of life through park policing By Michael Grace, General Manager, Fulton-El Camino Recreation & Park District

Fulton- El Camino Recreation and Park District first created a park ranger program in the 1960s as an interpretive and park ambassador effort to create a liaison presence in parks to interact with park patrons. By the mid-1980s, the program had evolved into one of monitoring compliance with park regulations.

park, Howe Park, and started making it their home turf. It took several years of concerted effort but persistent patrols and encounters with and arrests of the gang members resulted in the elimination of their presence in Howe Park. The Park Police’s success is demonstrated by a reduction in crime seen by the District. Since 2011 the District has not experienced an incident of violent crime in the parks and property crimes, such as auto burglary, have dropped from a weekly occurrence to less than a handful of incidents a year. The current focus of Fulton- El Camino’s Park Police is now one of maintaining the crime suppression efforts and focusing The increase in crime seen in the United States in the 1980s on quality of life/nuisance issues that may negatively and 90s was also felt by Fulton-El Camino. In 1999 the park impact a park patron’s visit to our facilities. ranger program was granted peace officer authority to issue citations and make arrests in an effort to combat drug, gang, In 2005 the Park Police were approached by two and other criminal activity in the parks. neighboring park districts to offer occasional patrols to address issues they were experiencing. These patrols Originally established as unarmed peace officers, in 2002 were performed in addition to providing the coverage the rangers were armed, and in 2012 the District Board of Fulton-El Camino was receiving. The contract patrols Directors transitioned the Park Ranger Program into the were designed to augment municipal law enforcement Park Police Division employing both fully sworn police patrols provided by the Sheriff and to focus on specific officers and park rangers. This change was needed to address issues the contract districts needed to address. Many the increasing presence of gang activity in our parks. The of the park specific issues, while important for the Howe Park Sureños had adopted the name of our largest peaceful enjoyment of our parks, often fall low on 24

This program significantly improves the ability of all our Contract Districts to save resources through priority directed patrols that replace random patrol efforts.

the Sheriff’s priority list when they have calls of a higher priority that need addressing. Since 2005 additional districts have approached Fulton-El Camino to provide contract park policing. It’s important to note that Fulton-El Camino does not solicit contract work or market their program. To the contrary, Fulton-El Camino examines each contract request closely to ensure that it is both appropriate for the District to take on as well as a request that can be satisfied without detracting from the Park Police’s primary mission of protecting patrons and facilities within Fulton-El Camino RPD. Today the Fulton-El Camino Park Police employs 15 part-time staff and volunteers to patrol the District’s parks as an augment to the regular law enforcement service provided by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. Currently, Fulton-El Camino RPD provides about 100 hours a week (during peak warm weather months) of contract park policing services to seven other park districts. These districts are able to contract for the number of hours of service they deem appropriate and can tailor the service specific to their needs. Patrols and/or response to calls can be structured to use the contracting districts resources specifically to address the high priority problems they are experiencing and not exhaust their resources on lower priority needs. This model allows the contracting districts significant flexibility in how they spend their security dollars while getting the most return on their investment. Additionally, contracting with other districts helps Fulton-El Camino RPD spread the administrative overhead for the cost of training the officers proportionately with the Contract Districts reducing the program operating cost. Fulton- El Camino RPD has received very positive feedback, both anecdotally from contract district staff as well as through citizen surveys, which show both the flexibility in scheduling and the results contract districts have experienced are well received. The goal of Fulton-El Camino’s Park Police Contracting Program may seem counterintuitive, but our primary desire is that the sharing of this resource with other districts will be effective enough to cause the Contracting District to no longer need the service. We would like to see all of the park districts in Sacramento County be able to enter a “maintenance mode” with regard to their crime and be able to end or significantly scale back the contracts they have with us. California Special District – November-December 2016

Though not a typical park district effort, this program significantly improves the ability of all our Contract Districts to save resources through priority directed patrols that replace random patrol efforts. Additionally, this program allows their recreation programs and parks to be enjoyed in a safe, healthy, and attractive manner. Providing this patrol program is not an altruistic endeavor, Fulton-El Camino RPD community benefits also by sharing a portion of the administrative operating costs of the Park Police Division with the Contract Districts through the patrol fees collected from them thereby reducing the cost of providing police services to our community and improving the quality of those service through enhanced officer training. This is truly a win-win program.

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Legal Brief how to fill vacant board seats By Sean De Burgh, Partner, Cota Cole LLP

Filling Vacancies by Appointment When the board elects to fill the vacancy by appointment the remaining members of the board may appoint the new member within 60 days after the district was notified of the vacancy or when the vacancy is effective, whichever is later. (Cal. Gov. Code § 1780(d)(1).) Before making the appointment, the special district is required to post notice of the vacancy in three or more conspicuous places in the district at least 15 days before the board makes the appointment. The district is then required to notify the county elections official of the appointment no later than 15 days after the appointment. (Cal. Gov. Code § 1780(d)(1).)

Special districts may periodically encounter board vacancies arising from death, resignation, removal from office, or other events. These vacancies often occur unexpectedly, but nevertheless require prompt action to ensure compliance with applicable law. Under California Government Code section 1780, when a vacancy arises on the board of a special district, the district is required to notify the county elections officials within 15 days of the date the board is notified of a vacancy or the effective date of the vacancy, whichever is later. The remaining members of the board then have the option of filling the vacancy by either appointment or by election. (Cal. Gov. Code § 1780(a)-(c).)

It should be noted that the district should not conduct interviews or discussion of potential board members in closed session. The California Attorney General has advised that local office holders, whether elected or appointed, are excluded from the “personnel exception” (Government Code § 54957) to the Brown Act’s open meeting requirements. (See also 59 Ops. Cal. Atty. Gen 266 (1976).) It is fairly standard practice to invite candidates to excuse themselves from open session while another candidate is interviewed so as to ensure that later interviewed candidates are not given undue advantage over earlier interviewed candidates. However, boards should be careful not to require that candidates leave the room as this would violate open meeting laws. Filling Vacancies by Election The board may decide to hold an election rather than appoint a replacement. To elect a new board member, the board must call an election within 60 days of the date the district board is notified of the vacancy or the effective date of the vacancy, whichever is later. Cal. (Gov. Code § 1780(e)(1).) The election must take place on the next established election date, and at least 130 days after the election is called. (Cal. Gov. Code § 1780(e)(2).)

Districts should work closely with their legal counsel when vacancies occur to ensure that appropriate statutes and applicable deadlines are adhered to. If the vacancy occurs in the first half of a term of office and at least 130 days prior to the next general district election, the person appointed to fill the vacancy will hold office until the next general district election that is scheduled 130 or more days after the date the district board is notified of the vacancy, and thereafter until the person who is elected at that election to fill the vacancy has been qualified. The person elected to fill the vacancy will hold office for the unexpired balance of the term of office. Cal. Gov. Code § 1780(d)(2). Conversely, if the vacancy occurs in the first half of a term of office, but less than 130 days prior to the next general district election, or if the vacancy occurs in the second half of a term of office, the person appointed to fill the vacancy must fill the balance of the unexpired term of the office. (Cal. Gov. Code § 1780(d)(3).) Board Inaction If the board does not make an appointment and does not call an election within 60 days, the city council or the board of supervisors of the county, as may be applicable, may appoint a person to fill the vacancy within 90 days of the date the district is notified of the vacancy, or the date the vacancy is effective, or call for an election to fill the vacancy. (Cal. Gov. Code § 1780(f)(1).) If within 90 days, no governing body has taken action to fill the vacancy, the district must call an election to fill the vacancy. (Cal. Gov. Code § 1780(g)(1).) If the vacancy causes the number of remaining members of the district board to fall below a quorum, then at the request of the district secretary or a remaining member of the district board, the appropriate board of supervisors or city council must proceed promptly to fill the vacancy, by either appointment or election. (Cal. Gov. Code § 1780(h)(1).) If the vacancy occurs in the first half of a term of office and at least 130 days prior to the next general district election, the person appointed to fill the vacancy must hold the office until the next general district election that is scheduled 130 or more days after the date the district board is notified of the vacancy, and thereafter until the person who is elected at that election to fill the vacancy has been qualified. The person elected to fill the vacancy must hold office for the unexpired balance of the term of office. (Cal. Gov. Code § 1780(h)(3).) If the vacancy occurs in the first half of a term of office, but less than 130 days prior to the next general district election, or

California Special District – November-December 2016

if the vacancy occurs in the second half of a term of office, the person appointed to fill the vacancy must fill the balance of the unexpired term of office. Cal. Gov. Code § 1780(h)(4) The above discussion is generally applicable to most special districts, but does not apply to all. Districts should work closely with their legal counsel when vacancies occur to ensure that appropriate statutes and applicable deadlines are adhered to. Because many districts only meet once per month, it is imperative that districts act quickly when vacancies occur. Sean De Burgh is a Partner with the law firm Cota Cole LLP. Mr. De Burgh specializes in providing general counsel and litigation services for public agencies throughout California. His public sector areas of expertise include all aspects of employment law, contracts, elections, and civil rights. Mr. De Burgh also provides estate planning and probate services to clients throughout the state.

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anaging Risk

SDRMA Safety/Claims Education Day at the CSDA Annual Conference

Wednesday, October 12, 2016, the SDRMA Board of Directors were pleased to welcome CSDA Annual Conference attendees to their annual breakfast and the awarding of the SDRMA Safety Awards. The recipients were presented the Safety Awards by SDRMA Board President David Aranda. The 2016 Safety Award recipients were: Earl F. Sayre Excellence in Safety Award Recipients – Property/Liability Program

McMurchie Excellence in Safety Award Recipients – Workers’ Compensation Program

Big Bear Area Regional Wastewater Authority Small Member Category

Bear Valley Community Services District Large Member Category (not pictured)

After the awards were presented the attendees enjoyed SDRMA’s Guest presenter Kai Kight.

Cayucos Sanitary District Small Member Category

Kai is an innovative violinist, composer, and speaker who has inspired thousands to reach their own creative potential. He brings his message to conferences, companies, and organizations across the world. With a diverse background, Kai holds an engineering degree from Stanford University’s design school and as a violinist has performed in venues including the White House and the Great Wall of China. Get Ready for 2017! Several new laws expand employee protections for 2017.

Northstar Community Services District Large Member Category

A proud California Special Districts Alliance partner.

Officers

Special District Risk Management Authority 1112 I Street, Suite 300 Sacramento, CA 95814 tel: 800.537.7790 www.sdrma.org

David Aranda, President, Mountain Meadows Community Services District Jean Bracy, Vice President, Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District Ed Gray, Secretary, Chino Valley Independent Fire District

Members of the Board

Muril Clift Sandy Raffleson, Herlong Public Utility District Mike Scheafer, Costa Mesa Sanitary District Robert Swan, Groveland Community Services District

Fair Pay

Last year, significant amendments were made to California’s equal pay laws to address gender wage inequality. This year, two new bills expand California’s fair pay laws. SB 1063 expands the Fair Pay Act beyond gender wage inequality to address racial/ ethnic wage disparity. The legislation prohibits an employer from paying any of its employee’s wage rates that are less than the rates paid to employees of another race or ethnicity for substantially similar work. In addition, AB 1676 specifies that, under the Fair Pay Act, prior salary cannot, by itself, justify any disparity in compensation. The law is intended to “help ensure that both employers and workers are able to negotiate and set salaries based on the requirements, expectations, and qualifications of the person and the job in question, rather than on an individual’s prior earnings, which may reflect widespread, long-standing, gender-based wage disparities in the labor market.”

Harassment Prevention Training AB 1661 requires local agency officials, including local elected officials, to receive sexual harassment prevention training and education whenever those officials receive any type of compensation, salary or stipend. By creating a specific training requirement for these officials, this law resolves any ambiguity over whether local elected officials are considered supervisory employees subject to California’s mandatory sexual harassment prevention training requirements. Under AB 1661, local officials must undergo two hours of training within six months of taking office or starting employment and every two years thereafter. Local agencies must consult with the city attorney or the county counsel when developing the training. The requirements for this training differ from requirements under AB 1825 training. California Special District – November-December 2016

Consultants

Lauren Brant, Public Financial Management Ann Siprelle, Best Best & Krieger, LLP David McMurchie, McMurchie Law Derek Burkhalter, Bickmore Risk Services & Consulting Charice Huntley, River City Bank David Becker, CPA, James Marta & Company, LLP Karl Snearer, Apex Insurance Agency Doug Wozniak, Alliant Insurance Services, Inc.

All-Gender Restrooms Beginning March 1, 2017, all single-user toilet facilities in any business establishment, place of public accommodation or government agency must be identified as “all-gender” toilet facilities. The new law, AB 1732 also authorizes inspectors or other building or local officials responsible for code enforcement to inspect for compliance.

Paid Family Leave Benefits Beginning January 1, 2018, AB 908 increases the amount of paid family leave benefits an employee can receive to either 60 percent or 70 percent of earnings, depending on the employee’s income. Currently, employees may receive 55 percent of earnings. Under the new law, there still will be a maximum weekly benefit limit on the amount received. Effective January 1, 2018, the new law will also remove the current seven-day waiting period that exists before an employee is eligible to receive PFL benefits.

Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking Protections AB 2337 requires employers with 25 or more employees to provide employees with written notice about the rights of victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking to take protected time off for medical treatment or legal proceedings. A required form must be given to all new employees when hired and to current employees upon request. The Labor Commissioner is required to develop the form on or before July 1, 2017. Employers are not required to comply with this notice requirement until the Labor Commissioner posts the new form on its website.

Indoor Heat Illness SB 1167 requires Cal/OSHA, to propose a heat-illness and injury prevention standard for indoor workers by January 1, 2019. SB 1167 does not specify what provisions will be included in the new rule or what types of

SDRMA Staff

Gregory S. Hall, ARM, Chief Executive Officer C. Paul Frydendal, CPA, Chief Operating Officer Dennis Timoney, ARM, Chief Risk Officer Ellen Doughty, ARM, Chief Member Services Officer Heather Thomson, CPA, Chief Financial Officer Debbie Yokota, AIC, Claims Manager Wendy Tucker, Member Services Manager Susan Swanson, CPA, Finance Manager Danny Pena, Senior Claims Examiner Alana Little, Senior HR/Health Benefits Specialist Sarah Dronberger, HR/Health Benefits Specialist Heidi Singer, Claims Examiner Michelle Halverson, Accountant Alexandra Santos, Member Services Specialist Rajnish Raj, Accounting Technician Rachel Saldana, Administrative Assistant

workplaces will be covered — potentially the new rule could include all indoor workplaces, including air conditioned offices. Employers will be able to offer comments during a rulemaking process.

Driving AB 1785 clarifies rules relating to the use of wireless electronic devices while driving. The legislation reaffirms the general ban on using such devices, but amends existing law to authorize drivers to use their hand to activate or deactivate a feature or function of the device with a single swipe or tap, as long as the device is mounted so as not to hinder the driver’s view of the road.

Workers’ Compensation Several bills relating to workers’ compensation were signed into law in 2017: • SB 1160 and AB 2503: • Make changes to the utilization review process with respect to injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2018. • Require regulations to be adopted to provide employees with notice that they may access medical treatment outside the workers’ compensation system following the denial of their claim. • Make changes regarding liens filed after January 1, 2017. • Amend the reporting and request for authorization requirements for physicians who attend to ill or injured employees. • AB 1244 requires prompt suspensions of physicians, practitioners or providers from participating in the workers’ compensation system if the individual meets certain criteria; for instance, if the individual was convicted of any felony or misdemeanor involving abuse of the Medi-Cal or Medicare programs or the workers’ compensation systems. Continued on page 30

Managing Risk [continued] • AB 2883 clarifies when owners or officers of businesses may be excluded from workers’ compensation laws. • SB 914 deletes the authorization to use the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine as a standard for independent medical reviews. • SB 1175 requires providers to submit bills for medical services to the employer within one year of the date of service.

Public Works and Prevailing Wages A number of new laws relate to public works and prevailing wages. Employers who provide services or construction work on public works projects for the government or publicsector entities must pay the prevailing wage, which is usually significantly higher than the minimum wage. The bills include: • AB 326: Requires the Department of Industrial Relations to release funds held pending a prevailing wage determination back to the contractors who deposited them within 30 days after the conclusion of the proceeding or receiving written notice from

the Labor Commissioner of final disposition. Interest must be included. • AB 1926: Requires employers to pay apprentices who are dispatched to perform work on public works projects and required to undergo pre-employment activities, such as testing or training, the prevailing wage for the time spent on the pre-employment activity, including travel time. • SB 954: Limits the ability for a non-union contractor to receive a credit for certain payments made against the prevailing wage. Specified prevailing wage benefit payments are allowed only if made by an employer “obligated under a collective bargaining agreement.” On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff of SDRMA we would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Holiday Season. For more information or to submit questions, please contact SDRMA Chief Risk Officer Dennis Timoney at 800.537.7790 or dtimoney@sdrma.org.

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California Special District â&#x20AC;&#x201C; November-December 2016

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Money Matters New law provides audit cost relief to small districts By Dillon Gibbons, Legislative Representative, California Special Districts Association

Last September, Assembly Bill 2613 by Assembly Member Katcho Achadjian was signed into law by Governor Brown. This measure, which CSDA sponsored, will provide small districts with new options to reduce the costs of meeting their statutory financial audit obligations. Every year, CSDA solicits ideas for potential legislation from our membership, and last year was no different. A proposal was submitted by a group of small special districts from Northern California that were requesting cost relief related to annual audit requirements. After further investigation, CSDA found that some small districts were spending upwards of 30 percent of their annual revenues to have an audit performed every year. While CSDA, and these small districts, see the value in assuring public funds are being managed appropriately, it didn’t make sense to have districts spend 30 percent of their revenues to ensure they’re spending their money in a responsible fashion. As a result, CSDA decided to pursue legislation to assist these small districts. Existing law requires every special district to have an annual audit, a biennial audit, an audit performed every five years, or for districts with annual revenues of $150,000 or less, they may have a financial review

performed instead of an audit (if approved by the local county board of supervisors). While these existing options can provide some financial relief, our districts were reporting that a biennial audit is twice as expensive as an annual audit and an audit performed every five years would be almost five times as expensive. This is because the bulk of audit costs are related to the hourly rate of the CPA performing the audit and a biennial audit takes roughly twice as long to perform. With this information in hand, CSDA met with the California State Association of County Auditors (SACA) to discuss the issue and review some potential solutions. The county auditors were aware of the cost burdens on our smaller special districts and agreed to assist CSDA in developing a solution. The final language in AB 2613 is a result of the collaboration between SACA and CSDA. With the auditors’ support, we were able to create two new options, to take effect January 1, 2017, for special districts that will potentially lower the costs related to audit requirements, while maintaining proper financial oversight and accountability. Consistent with existing law governing financial reviews, the new options apply to districts that meet both of the following requirements: 1) all of the special district’s revenues and expenditures

Rising Interest Rates Coming Soon Many economists expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at their December meeting. That means your best opportunity to refinance prior debt, is right now! Many special districts are restructuring debt obligations to take advantage of current low interest rates. If your agency is paying more than 4% or higher for a 20-year loan, you may be able to save costs by refinancing. The CSDA Finance Corporation offers strategies to help reduce your agency’s budget pressures and free up cash for your mission critical operations. Visit www.csdafinance.net or call 877.924.2732 today.

CSDA F C

A proud California Special Districts Alliance partner.

Officers

Jo MacKenzie, President, Vista Irrigation District Leslie Keane, Vice President, Orange County Cemetery District Paul Hughes, Treasurer, South Tahoe Public Utilities District

CSDA F C

CSDA Finance Corporation 1112 I Street, Suite 200 Sacramento, CA 95814 tel: 877.924.CSDA www.csdafinance.net

Members of the Board

Alex Brandon, Phelan Pinon Hills Community Services District Glenn Lazof, Regional Government Services Authority Vince Ferrante, Moss Landing Harbor District Matthew McCue, Mission Springs Water District

Consultants

Rick Brandis, Brandis Tallman, LLC David McMurchie, McMurchie Law Josephine Libunao, BNY Mellon Trust Co., NA William Morton, Municipal Finance Corporation Albert Reyes, Nossaman, LLP Saul Rosenbaum, Prager & Co., LLC Nicole Tallman, Brandis Tallman, LLC

are transacted through the county’s financial system, and 2) the special district’s annual revenues do not exceed $150,000.

five consecutive financial compilations performed without having conducting at least one full one-year audit.

The first new option will allow districts, with the unanimous request of the governing board of the special district and with unanimous approval of their county board of supervisors, to have an agreed-upon procedures engagement performed in lieu of a full audit. The second new option allows districts, with unanimous request of the governing board of the special district and with unanimous approval of the board of supervisors, to have an annual financial compilation performed in lieu of an audit. However, a district may not have more than

On the spectrum of the level of oversight provided by the various financial statements, which directly corresponds to the costs of having them performed, an audit provides the highest level of financial assurances, followed by a financial review, followed then by a financial compilation, with the agreed-upon procedures engagement falling somewhere between a financial compilation and a full audit, depending on what financial documents a county auditor determines they need to review

CSDAFC Staff

Neil McCormick, CEO Cathrine Lemaire, Program Manager Charlotte Lowe, Executive Assistant Rick Wood, Finance & Administrative Director

as part of the agreed-upon procedures. The new options provided in AB 2613 for smaller districts should result in lowered costs to the districts by reducing the billable hours required to produce the various financial statements, while maintaining proper financial oversight through the required approval by the governing boards and the county boards of supervisors who will be seeking input from county auditors, prior to approving their usage. Questions about the new audit options provided by AB 2613? Please contact CSDA Legislative Representative Dillon Gibbons at 877.924.2732 or dillong@csda.net.

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California Special District – November-December 2016

[Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so special]

Nothing fishy about new roads for campers Napa County Resource Conservation District

In an effort to protect federally listed steelhead trout and provide visually impaired campers with safe access to the outdoors, the Napa County Resource Conservation District (RCD) partnered with Enchanted Hills Camp and Retreat to convert crumbling and eroding roads into accessible hiking trails. California Special District met with Leigh Sharp, Executive Director for Napa County RCD and visited the Enchanted Hills facilities to learn more about this project and the impact to the environment and the community. Tell us about the work NCRCD is doing in the community? Like other resource conservation districts across California, Napa County RCD was formed for the primary purpose of working in partnership with landowners to help them manage the natural resources on their land in a way that meets economic and environmental goals. We work with all types of partners interested in voluntary conservation: farmers and ranchers, homeowners, businesses, rural residents, cities and counties. These partnerships are key to Napa County RCDs success and are critical for environmental protection because so much of Napa County is managed by private landowners. Napa County RCD is committed to working on a variety of projects related to wildlife, water quality, endangered species, greenhouse gas reduction, carbon sequestration, and fire risk reduction to name a few. Our projects are based upon the individual concerns of our residents and the community we serve. Our project with Enchanted Hills Camp is focused on the restoration of a very important creek for Steelhead Trout. The project is a road to trail conversion where weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re converting legacy and eroding roads that have been on this property since the early 1800s into stormproof and stable trails that will be used by the Enchanted Hills Camp and Retreat. The benefit to fish is improved water quality and spawning habitat. The benefit to the camp is improved access to outdoor experiences for the visually impaired campers that are served at Enchanted Hills Camp. For our community, the project is a win-win.

Napa County Resource Conservation District Location: Website: Budget:

Established: 1945 District Size: 790 square miles Population: 136,000

How did this project come about?

recreational opportunities for visually impaired and deaf-blind children, teens, adults, and seniors in a fun, challenging, and accessible way. The camp was formed in 1950, and it was the first camp of its kind on the West Coast. With over 60 years in operation, the antiquated roads at Enchanted Hills were in need of some restoration in order to better serve campers, improve water quality, and reduce fire risk.

The district has been working with the community of Mt. Veeder, where the camp is located, for several years. We started with an assessment of all the major unpaved roads in the area and we found that this property had a number of roads that were contributing sediment to the local creeks. Excessive sediment smothers steelhead eggs, effectively starving them of oxygen and resulting in reduced survival.

What is the focus of this project?

Having participated in the initial road assessment, Enchanted Hills Camp understood the importance of reducing erosion from their roads. Together we mapped out a plan and applied for grants from Federal and State agencies to help cover the cost of the project. Ultimately, funds from Enchanted Hills Camp, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife were combined to cover the cost of the project.

What was the district’s involvement with the project?

Tell us more about Enchanted Hills Camp and Retreat.

Enchanted Hills Camp and Retreat is located just ten miles west of Napa. This local non-profit provides valuable

California Special District – November-December 2016

From Napa County RCDs perspective, the roads to trails project is primarily focused on preventing excessive erosion and sediment from entering Napa’s streams and degrading fish habitat. The residents of Napa County and the broader Bay Area benefit because the Napa River watershed is considered an “anchor” watershed that is critical to sustaining a regional population of steelhead in the larger Bay Area.

The Resource Conservation District provided the technical assistance to make the project possible, from planning through construction. We worked with Enchanted Hills Camp in assessing the site, prioritizing the roads, acquiring grant funds to help offset the cost of implementation, obtaining permits, selecting a contractor, overseeing construction, and monitoring project effectiveness.

Napa and Solano Counties www.naparcd.org $1.4 Million

What does the project entail? The project entailed reducing erosion from critical sites and road surfaces along four miles of unpaved road in the Dry Creek watershed in Napa County. Several stream crossings (old culvert pipes) were improved or replaced to allow for natural stream flow while also providing hiking access across the streams at low flows. Other stream crossing sites were improved by replacing and upgrading culverts to allow for stormflows and to reduce the likelihood of culvert plugging and failure, which would contribute significant amounts of sediment to the stream. Road surfaces were treated to reduce erosion from concentrated flow over the road surface. These types of treatments are a standard way of addressing erosion from unpaved roads, which have been found to contribute approximately ½ of the human-associated fine sediment delivery to waterways in the North Coast. Once the project sites were treated, straw mulch and seed were spread on top of the bare soil. Straw mulch provides immediate cover for the site and seed germinates and reduces the amount of sediment delivered to the stream channel by binding loose soil and preventing future erosion.

Why is sediment flowing into the streams threatening to the Steelhead population? Steelhead are anadromous fish, meaning they are born in freshwater, migrate to the ocean, and then return to freshwater to spawn (reproduce). Freshwater habitat requirements change as steelhead go through different life phases. Adult steelhead, coming from the ocean, need access to their natal streams. Streams Continued on page 36

What’s so special [continued]

must be free of barriers to migration, as the majority of spawning occurs in the upper reaches of tributaries. They also need access to spawning gravel in areas free of heavy sedimentation with adequate flow, and cool, clear water. Once they have spawned, adult steelhead may return to the ocean.

Steelhead eggs and pre-emergent fry (alevins) are nestled within the stream gravel and need adequate dissolved oxygen and cool water temperatures. Excessive fine sediment, such as silt or sand, threatens the species by smothering the developing eggs. Once the fish emerge from the gravel they are called fry, they reside in shallow, protected areas of the stream, and they are able to catch their own food. Excessive suspended sediment causes turbidity and can make it difficult for the fry to find food, resulting in an undersized fish that is less likely to survive. Water clarity and temperature remain important as fry turn to juveniles and move to riffles, pools and deep runs to grow for a period of one to three years before heading out to the ocean.

Why is protecting the Steelhead trout’s habitat important? Like most areas of the west coast, the local steelhead population has been greatly reduced from historic times. The National Marine Fisheries Service (now called NOAA Fisheries) listed steelhead as a threatened species in Napa County in August 1997. However, even with reduced numbers, the Napa River watershed is still considered one of the most significant anadromous fish streams within San Francisco Bay Area. Like steelhead populations throughout California, the steelhead population of the Napa River has declined significantly since the late 1940’s from approximately 6,000 – 8,000 adults to a few hundred.

The major factors causing steelhead population decline in the Napa River is thought to be excessive sedimentation, habitat simplification, inadequate stream flows, and blocked access to historic spawning and rearing areas. Several efforts are underway to address many of these factors. In addition to the steelhead being a protected species, they are an important component of California´s diverse wildlife heritage. They are also a good indicator of the health of aquatic systems because they use all portions of a river system, and require cool, clean water.

What is the most rewarding part of this project? The environmental benefits of this project are no doubt rewarding, however as a Resource Conservation District, we also don’t underestimate the importance of people having access to the environment in a way that will build a sense of wonder, enjoyment, and recognition of the importance of good stewardship. This project is particularly rewarding because it will provide visually impaired campers with improved access to nature

Environmental Law Meyers Nave attorneys handle transactional and litigation matters for all state and federal environmental and natural resources laws. We have advised on hundreds of EIRs under CEQA and EISs under NEPA, and successfully litigated environmental law cases at every level, including the California Supreme Court. • • • • • • • • • •

California Special District – November-December 2016

so that they may travel the trails independently and learn about their environment.

How can individuals get involved in conservation efforts? Whether you are in your backyard, or you manage a large camp like Enchanted Hills, there are always ways to help protect the environment in our communities. Conservation is for everyone. If you are willing to learn more, local resource conservation districts are there to help.

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California Special District – November-December 2016

Community Connections [continued] Recreation Center alongside a wide range of enrichment activities. Summer meals ensured continued access to healthy food in this small Northern California community where 85 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. As administrator of the Marin City Communities of Excellence in Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Prevention, a state-funded project through the County of Marin Health and Human Services, MCSD’s summer meal program offered a perfect complement to its nutrition education and gardening programs to provide youth with the skills and knowledge to develop healthy habits. Become a summer meal site. Special districts operating programs or facilities that serve low-income youth or families can offer summer meals under the sponsorship of another agency. Park and recreation, community services, library or healthcare districts are ideally suited for this role. In many counties, school districts or other agencies already operate summer meal programs and need locations where kids congregate to operate as meal sites. The addition of the meal service offers an added draw for families to participate in programs. Feather River Parks and Recreation District, located in Oroville, partnered with Butte County Office of Education’s CalKidz program to offer summer meals for the first time this past summer. A partnership with Thermolito Union School District enabled Feather River to expand enrollment in its fullsummer enrichment program by providing space at Thermolito’s Nelson Avenue middle school campus. Participants enjoyed weekly pool visits, activities and trips to learn about Oroville’s rich history, alongside Calkidz’ nutritious lunch. The lunch service was also open to kids in the community that were not enrolled in the program. Program organizers regularly received feedback from parents about how much they appreciated the lunch program. Become a supporting partner. Special districts can also play a supporting role by spreading the word about local summer meal sites or by collaborating with local providers to offer supplementary activities or volunteers. Adding a simple message to utility or water bills can help families find nearby sites. Providing educational or enrichment activities increases participation at summer meal sites. Yet, tight budgets often prevent many summer meal providers from offering activities alongside the lunch service, leaving this valuable service underutilized. Special districts can partner with local

school districts or other local meal providers to offer informal activities that need not take more than a lunch hour. There are countless opportunities to engage curious young minds, whether it’s teaching youth about water conservation or fire safety, exploring mosquitos under a microscope or simply bringing district staff to assist with lunch hour arts and crafts. Summer meal partnerships also provide valuable opportunities to engage parents and caregivers and provide resources and information. This proved valuable for water, utility and other districts to build relationships with community members and to help kids see real-life STEM applications where they live.

In June, Fresno Mosquito and Vector Control District joined the Fresno County Public Library summer meal kick-off event with the California Summer Meal Coalition, Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission, Fresno Police, Fresno County Sheriff, WIC and other partners. The event provided an opportunity to educate the more than 200 parents and caregivers about a new invasive mosquito species while engaging kids in fun educational activities. In addition to meeting a critical need, summer meal programs create opportunities for effective interagency collaboration — supporting each agency’s goals while creating a shared vision for a connected, vibrant community. Summer 2017 presents a timely opportunity to enhance special districts’ efforts to create meaningful partnerships and strengthen relationships in the community, while working to ensure a future generation of customers and employees that is healthy, civically engaged and workforce-ready.

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HELPING A CONSERVATION PLAN HOLD WATER. A special district sought to ensure a drought year water supply solution. Capturing excess storm water flow

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regulations, however, proved to be the true hurdle. Attorneys at Churchwell White LLP worked with the

special district and its consultants to break through compliance obstacles and fully entitle the project. Not only did this allow a depleted aquifer to become the special districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s much needed reservoir, but the project also conserved many acres of land.

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