Tulare County Board of Supervisors (8/1/23)

Aug. 1, 2023 — Tulare County Board of Supervisors

Documented by Dani Huerta

Here’s what you need to know

• The Human Resources and Development Department recognized 44 of the 196 employees who have served over 10 years with the county as part of the County Service Awards Program. The 44 present employees received a certificate.
• The Senate Bill 552 Drought and Water Shortage Risk Analysis and Response Plan was approved. This item received many comments from the public concerned about drought efforts, especially in disadvantaged communities.
• An agreement with Proteus, Inc. for the provision of Welfare-to-Work job services to TulareWORKs clients, in an amount not to exceed $980,084, was approved. Supervisor Valero recused himself from this item because he serves on Proteus’ board. TulareWORKs has partnered with Proteus since 2010 to help families with job readiness and job opportunities.

Followup Questions

• How will the county use the $125,000 provided by the Department of Water Resources to help with drought efforts?

Board of Supervisors

• Larry Micari – vice chair, District One
• Pete Vander Poel III, District Two
• Amy Shuklian, District Three
• Eddie Valero, District Four
• Dennis Townsend – chair, District Five
• Jason T. Britt, county administrative officer
• Jennifer M. Flores, county counsel
• Melinda Benton, chief clerk

The Scene

The Tulare County Board of Supervisors meeting was held simultaneously both in-person and streamed via YouTube at 9 a.m. on Aug. 1, 2023. The meeting began with the Pledge of 

Allegiance and a moment of silence.

Actions

• Board of Supervisors matters
  • Valero
    • Last week was a Tulare County Association of Governments subcommittee meeting and a ribbon-cutting for a food truck at the Three Rivers Historical Museum site.
    • Upcoming is an Eleanor Roosevelt School meeting, Latino Caucus of California Counties meeting, Sequoia Kings National Park update, Farmer Bob’s World meeting and the SoCal gas event.
  • Shuklian
    • Last week was a San Joaquin Valley Insurance Authority meeting.
    • Upcoming is a Mental Health Board meeting, a meeting with the lieutenant governor’s staff, a web meeting and a meeting with the California State Transportation director.
  • Vander Poel
    • Upcoming is a ribbon-cutting for Protein Spot, a meeting regarding Sigma coverage, the Tulare County Employees Retirement Association, a meeting with the Health and Human Services Association (HHSA) director, a meeting with the California State Transportation Director, a press conference announcing a grant for the Tulare County fairgrounds, a First5 Technical Advisory Committee meeting, the Tulare Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs Committee meeting and a Greater Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency meeting.
  • Micari
    • Last week were meetings and ribbon-cuttings with the Exeter Chamber, a Visalia Chamber meeting, a San Joaquin Valley Insurance Authority, farewell to Andrew Lockman, a Caltrans meeting and a celebration of Gil Jaramillo’s retirement.
  • Townsend
    • Last week was the National Association of Counties meeting, an HHSA meeting, a meeting with Springville residents and a CalTrans meeting.
    • Upcoming is National Night Out in Porterville, Eastern Tule Groundwater Sustainability Agency, First Friday coffee, a meeting with the Porterville Exchange Club and the Porterville Unified School District. He will be speaking at the Southeastern Tulare County Republican Women meeting, and a ribbon-cutting for the Mark Sidley Auto Group in Porterville.
• Present a proclamation recognizing August 2023 as Child Support Awareness Month in Tulare County
  • Roger Dixon, director of Child Support Services, gave a presentation on Child Support Awareness Month. This year’s theme is “different wants, different needs, one shared goal.” A video was shown provided by the state depicting the importance that all kinds of families deserve support. Chair Townsend presented the proclamation.
• Presentation by the Human Resources and Development Department regarding the County Service Awards Program and recognizing employees with 15 years of service.
  • Lupe Garza, Human Resources and Development Department director, introduced the 44 of 196 employees who have served over 10 years with the county. The 44 present employees received a certificate.
• (Approved) Consent Calendar (Items 5-22)
  • Items 5 and 15 were pulled for separate consideration.
    • (Approved) Item 15: Adopt Senate Bill 552 Drought and Water Shortage Risk Analysis and Response Plan.
      • Denise England, Resource Management Agency (RMA), explained the item. SB 552 required the formation of a drought task force, an assessment of drought risk and creation of a plan. The Department of Water Resources has allocated $125,000 for every county to do this work.
      • Public Comment
        • Brian Osorio with Community Water Center thanked the RMA for their work. He voiced his concerns about drought and said there are currently 228 dry wells in the county. He requested the county amend the plan to identify communities that would benefit from consolidations.
        • Dewey, a resident of Visalia, said many people do not know about this plan and he does not know about the outreach in disadvantaged communities.
        • Rebecca Quintana, a resident of Seville, said they need to do more than just meet standards. She said she thinks the county should educate other boards about water.
        • Daisy Gonzalez, Community Water Center, said they will respond to people in need and believes the drought will only get worse.
        • An email from Community Water Center was sent to the Board.
      • Approved
    • (Approved) Item 5: Ratify Actions by the County Administrative Officer during the months of April, May and June 2023.
      • Shuklian recused herself from this item because she received campaign contributions from a party related to the item within the last year.
      • Approved, Shuklain absent
  • The remainder of the consent calendar was approved.
  • Some of the approved items included the reaffirmation of the existence of an emergency due to the failure of the well at Bartlett Park (item 9), reaffirmation of the existence of an emergency due to the failure of the irrigation well at Ledbetter Park (item 11) and the reaffirmation of the existence of an emergency due to the damage to roads, bridges and related infrastructure from the March 2023 storm (item 20).
• (Approved) Request from the Health and Human Services Agency to approve an agreement with Proteus, Inc. for the provision of Welfare-to-Work job services to TulareWORKs clients, in an amount not to exceed $980,084, effective from Oct. 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024.
  • Valero recused himself from this item because he serves as an unpaid board member of Proteus.
  • TulareWORKs has partnered with Proteus since 2010 to help families with job readiness and job opportunities.
  • Approved, Valero absent
• There were no board matter requests
• Record of Threat of Litigation
  • Closed session Item A. Memo documenting threat of litigation made to county staff by an attorney representing property owner Hesse Farms.

Public Comment

There was no public comment.

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If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at fresnodocs@fresnoland.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.

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