1 BEFORE THE CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION 2 450 N STREET 3 SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 4 5 6 7 8 REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT 9 SEPTEMBER 16, 2015 10 11 12 13 14 ITEM P 15 OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS 16 ITEM P1 17 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT 18 2. CROS PROJECT UPDATE AND ACTIONS 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 REPORTED BY: Kathleen Skidgel 28 CSR NO. 9039 1 1 P R E S E N T 2 3 For the Board Jerome E. Horton of Equalization: Chairman 4 5 Sen. George Runner (Ret.) Vice Chair 6 7 Fiona Ma, CPA Member 8 9 Diane L. Harkey Member 10 11 Yvette Stowers Appearing for Betty T. 12 Yee, State Controller (per Government Code 13 Section 7.9) 14 Joann Richmond 15 Chief, Board Proceedings Division 16 Cynthia Bridges 17 Executive Director 18 19 ---oOo--- 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 1 450 N STREET 2 SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 3 SEPTEMBER 16, 2015 4 ---oOo--- 5 MS. RICHMOND: Our next matter is item P1.2 6 CROS Project Update and Actions. 7 MS. BRIDGES: Members, I'm pleased to 8 report to the Board, progress on the CROS 9 procurement, and that the project will be allowed to 10 proceed to receive -- the receival of final 11 proposals. 12 The due date for vendors to submit final 13 proposals is October 15th, 2015. And a vendor is 14 expected to be selected in the spring of 2016. 15 On August 31st, 2015, the CROS Project team 16 submitted an updated Integrated Master Schedule to 17 the California Department of Technology, hereinafter 18 referred to as CDT. 19 On September 1, the CROS team and BOE 20 executives conducted a walk-through of the project 21 with the CDT oversight team. 22 On September 9th, 2015 we received 23 notification from the CDT that the latest draft of 24 the IMS was approved. 25 I want to thank all of the members of the 26 CROS team who worked so diligently to update the 27 IMS. 28 Also, as you are aware, our CROS Project 3 1 Director, Mr. Eric Steen, who has served CROS with 2 distinction for three years, will be departing the 3 BOE on September 23rd. I want to thank him for his 4 guidance and direct project ownership during the 5 procurement and critical pre-implementation phases 6 of CROS. Together, these efforts and the team he 7 assembled have built a foundation that has prepared 8 us for the next phase of the project. 9 I'm sure that you will join me in wishing 10 Eric all the best in his new endeavors. 11 And that concludes my report. 12 MR. HORTON: Thank you. 13 Discussion, Members? 14 MS. HARKEY: Thank you for that. 15 MR. HORTON: Member Ma. 16 MS. MA: Yes. So now that Mr. Steen is 17 going to depart, what is the transition plan? Like, 18 who is going to be the lead person on this project? 19 MS. BRIDGES: Currently we're utilizing the 20 Project Manager Kim Brain, also the project -- the 21 Technical Project Manager Mr. Chris Kahue, and our 22 Program Project Manager Ms. Trista Gonzalez, to help 23 lead us in the project as we embark upon the 24 recruitment process for a new Project Director. 25 MS. MA: So are these all individuals 26 within the BOE or with the Department of Technology? 27 MS. BRIDGES: Two of them are individuals 28 within the BOE, and one is a contractor. And I do 4 1 look forward to, at least, introducing them to each 2 of the Members. And I do have a timeline with 3 respect to the recruitment process for the Project 4 Director that I will be sharing with the Members 5 after today. 6 MS. MA: That'd be great. 7 MS. BRIDGES: Okay. 8 MS. MA: And perhaps at the next Board 9 Meeting, if you could also include how much we've 10 spent to date on the project and how much we spend 11 each month. 12 I read the email or the -- I guess 13 it's a -- let me see. It's a letter from Rebecca 14 Stilling saying that "some staff augmentation is 15 expected but requires more planning." Under 16 resources, "ongoing resource planning and management 17 is critical." 18 So, I'm just wondering if you can also, you 19 know, anticipate how much more staff and how much 20 more funding is going to be needed, and perhaps try 21 to predict a final cost and -- along with your 22 timeline. Just so we can get kind of updated 23 numbers now that -- 24 MS. BRIDGES: Sure. 25 MS. MA: -- now that the California 26 Department of Technology has weighed in. 27 MS. BRIDGES: Certainly. We have some of 28 that information currently; that can be provided to 5 1 you. Some of it we will not be able to provide 2 until, of course, a vendor is selected. But to the 3 extent that we have the capability of doing so to 4 date, we will do so. 5 MS. MA: Okay. 6 MR. HORTON: Member Harkey. 7 MS. HARKEY: I -- I want to thank you very 8 much, Ms. Bridges, for bringing this back together 9 again. I think your -- the meetings and the working 10 with all the parties was very, very helpful. 11 I also would encourage all the Board 12 Members to pull down the website for CROS that is on 13 our -- our internal website, and it will list the 14 people that are involved. And I think you can see 15 the depth is really there. There's a lot of BOE 16 people and some outside. 17 And Ms. Brain is -- is listed at the top of 18 the ranks there. I've called to see who would 19 possibly take the place. I've asked Eric who might 20 possibly step in. And it seems like we're all in 21 good hands on every level, including the procurement 22 phase. 23 So I want to thank you very much for 24 pulling this all together. 25 MS. BRIDGES: Thank you. 26 MR. HORTON: Further discussion? 27 Let me echo that. Thank you so very much. 28 I mean, it was a bit of a challenge there, but I 6 1 think we got there. And part of this is just part 2 of the natural evolution that requires an adjustment 3 in the passing of the baton, and I think we're 4 successful. 5 The relatively small delay that we had, if 6 you look at a construction contract and so forth, 7 and all those delays that occurs, I think it was 8 managed well. And look forward to the success and 9 ongoing management of this effort. 10 Thank you to your team and to your entire 11 crew. Appreciate it. 12 Board will receive and file. 13 Further -- 14 MS. BRIDGES: I do want to stress that it 15 was a team effort. 16 MS. HARKEY: Thank you. 17 MR. HORTON: Thank you. 18 Further discussion? 19 None. Board will receive and file. 20 ---oOo--- 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 7 1 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE 2 3 State of California ) 4 ) ss 5 County of Sacramento ) 6 7 I, KATHLEEN SKIDGEL, Hearing Reporter for 8 the California State Board of Equalization certify 9 that on September 16, 2015 I recorded verbatim, in 10 shorthand, to the best of my ability, the 11 proceedings in the above-entitled hearing; that I 12 transcribed the shorthand writing into typewriting; 13 and that the preceding pages 1 through 7 constitute 14 a complete and accurate transcription of the 15 shorthand writing. 16 17 Dated: October 2, 2015 18 19 20 ____________________________ 21 KATHLEEN SKIDGEL, CSR #9039 22 Hearing Reporter 23 24 25 26 27 28 8