1 BEFORE THE CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION 2 1 CIVIC CENTER PLAZA 3 IRVINE, CALIFORNIA 4 5 6 7 8 REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT 9 JULY 28, 2017 10 11 12 13 14 ITEM P 15 OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS 16 ITEM P1 17 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT 18 1. ORGANIZATIONAL UPDATE 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 of Equalization: Diane L. Harkey 4 Chairwoman 5 Sen. George Runner (Ret.) Vice Chair 6 Fiona Ma, CPA 7 Member 8 Jerome E. Horton Member 9 Yvette Stowers 10 Appearing for Betty T. Yee, State Controller 11 (per Government Code Section 7.9) 12 Joann Richmond 13 Chief Board Proceedings 14 Division 15 For Board of 16 Equalization Staff: David Gau Executive Director 17 18 19 ---oOo--- 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 1 1 CIVIC CENTER PLAZA 2 IRVINE, CALIFORNIA 3 JULY 28, 2017 4 ---oOo--- 5 MS. RICHMOND: Would the Members like to 6 take up Item P1, the Executive Director's Report? 7 Or would you like to take up the Final Actions from 8 yesterday? 9 MS. HARKEY: Which one? What do you want 10 to do? 11 MS. RICHMOND: Item P1, the Executive 12 Director's Report? 13 MS. HARKEY: Executive Report? I think -- 14 I think we're ready to do that. We'll do that, and 15 then we'll go back and -- then the last thing is 16 then to take up the items, allow Mr. Horton to 17 change his vote, and then to take up the items for a 18 vote. 19 MS. RICHMOND: Okay. So our next item is 20 Item P, Other Administrative Matters. Item P1 is 21 the Executive Director's Report. Item P1.1, the 22 Organizational Update. 23 MS. HARKEY: Thank you, Mr. Gau. 24 MR. GAU: Good afternoon, Chairwoman Harkey 25 and Members. David Gau, Executive Director. 26 I'd just like to highlight some of the 27 transition efforts that we are -- going on right now 28 as far -- related to the enactment of AB 102. 3 1 As you're aware and have experienced, it's 2 been a little bit hectic as we sort through the 3 details to implement the legislation, which went 4 into effect July 1st. 5 I've been meeting regularly with Secretary 6 Batjer, GovOps, and her transition team, the new 7 executive leadership of the California Department of 8 Tax and Fee Administration, Mr. Nick Maduros, and 9 all really in the spirit of trying to make this 10 transition as smooth as possible, from one 11 department into two, and then ultimately into three 12 when the Office of Tax Appeals comes online in 13 January. 14 But great concern really has been to 15 identify and meet with those staff who are still 16 part of the BOE, which I did this past week, I was 17 able to do that. I reassured them about their jobs, 18 and tried to address their concerns that would allow 19 them to continue to provide their public service. 20 And then another of the biggest concerns, 21 as I think was evidenced the last couple days, has 22 been the lack of legal staff support for the Board. 23 I do want to, however, thank the Department of 24 Consumer Affairs, and specifically Ms. Norine Marks 25 for assisting us here in Irvine in the Board 26 meetings. Thank you. 27 Obviously ex parte has been the issue in 28 the last couple days, to say the least, and I will 4 1 be submitting a request for an opinion from the 2 Attorney General's office regarding ex parte 3 communications, particularly prior to July 1st on 4 cases pending hearing before the Board. And I have 5 been given a contact name and assured that they will 6 be responsive as quickly as possible on that. 7 As you're also aware, I've been attempting 8 to bring on an acting or a lead attorney to provide 9 general legal guidance for the Board and assist with 10 the onboarding of the two new to state service 11 attorneys that were assigned to the Board, one of 12 which starts next week. I have a meeting on Monday 13 that hopefully leads to addressing this concern as 14 far as bringing on a lead attorney on a short-term 15 basis until we can hire a Chief Counsel for the 16 Board. 17 If you recall the organizational charts, 18 there are a number of executive and management 19 positions that also need to be filled. Besides the 20 Chief Counsel, other positions that need to be 21 filled include the Chief Deputy Director, CDAs for 22 Communications, Legislative and Research, and 23 Taxpayers' Rights, and administrative position for 24 the Alcoholic Beverage and Tax on Insurance Programs 25 and an Equal Employment Officer. 26 So this will be my primary focus, and I 27 hope to move forward filling these positions as 28 expeditiously as possible. In the meantime, I'm the 5 1 frontline supervisor for a number of staff in each 2 of these program areas. 3 I have to say, I felt a little shorthanded 4 lately, and I want to thank my staff in particular 5 for all their extra efforts this last month. 6 I did receive an e-mail, actually this 7 morning, that -- indicating I can immediately begin 8 recruiting and advertising for the Chief Counsel, as 9 well as the Chief Deputy Director. So that was good 10 news this morning. 11 As you're aware, I've also been working on 12 obtaining Memorandums of Understanding that are yet 13 to be signed, but that will provide the BOE with the 14 necessary administrative services that are required 15 by AB 102 for the Board to be provided 16 administrative and personnel services. 17 These MOUs include one for fiscal and 18 business services, which includes accounting and 19 budgets; business services area including contracts, 20 deliveries and transportation; facility operations, 21 mail, purchasing goods, reproduction and travel; 22 human resources as well, including labor relations; 23 and then also information technology services. 24 I've also asked that GovOps and CDTA -- 25 CDTFA work with me to move myself and my personal 26 staff outside of the 450 N Street headquarters 27 facility. And that will likely be to the Natomas 28 office where the majority of the BOE staff are 6 1 located. And they have been responsive to that 2 request. So I'll keep you apprised as to that, how 3 that move along. 4 Again, I'll pledge to continue working 5 cooperatively with Secretary Batjer and her team, 6 especially Mr. Maduros. And we've been meeting and 7 it's been very cordial and things are progressing. 8 So I appreciate his cooperation as well. I think 9 it's really in the interests of the employees and 10 the Board and the stakeholders of both agencies at 11 the center of this effort. 12 I'd also like to thank you for your 13 patience, and I look -- as I look out for your 14 interests and the interests of our staff. I will 15 continue to send you e-mails on the transition 16 progress and provide monthly Board meeting reports. 17 That concludes my report. And if you have 18 any questions or comments, I'm pleased to take them 19 at this time. Thank you. 20 MS. HARKEY: Thank you. 21 Yes, Member Ma. 22 MS. MA: Yeah. Just a couple questions. 23 You know, I appreciate, you know, asking the 24 Attorney General for some guidance. I know it 25 hasn't been easy. But because of Bagley-Keene, we 26 are not able to really talk about a lot behind the 27 scenes and so this is the forum that we have. 28 I think, although painful, I thank Chairman 7 1 Harkey for taking the majority of the brunt, that it 2 was healthy and that we got it out. I think we all 3 kind of know where we all stand on this and I am 4 hopeful that we will -- it will be much smoother for 5 our next meeting. 6 Secondly, regarding Natomas, I don't think 7 we ever talked about Natomas specifically. So is 8 that a state building? 9 MR. GAU: Yes. 10 MS. MA: Or do we lease it? And how many 11 people are out there? 12 MR. GAU: Okay. Yeah, so the Board now, 13 BOE, the side of us, there are 153 employees; 205 14 with the Members and their staff, but 153 BOE 15 employees. Ninety-five of those are in the Natomas 16 facility currently, so that is where our Property 17 Tax Department is. There's also a few units of the 18 CDTFA there as well. But it seems to be the most 19 logical fit for the handful of my employees. So 20 that's -- that's the focus at this point. 21 MS. MA: And is that a DGS building or -- 22 MR. GAU: It's a private -- it's a private 23 building that the Board has leased for a number of 24 years now. So we -- we have been a tenant in that 25 building. 26 MS. MA: And can it accommodate the rest of 27 the 60 members? 28 MR. GAU: That's -- that's what we've got 8 1 to, I think, continue to look at. And I've been -- 2 I just had an inquiry from DGS that I just haven't 3 been able to get back to because we have Board 4 meetings. So I'm going to be following up with 5 their real estate officer next week. 6 MS. MA: Thank you. 7 MR. HORTON: Madam Chair. 8 Thank you, Mr. Gau, for your report. Much 9 appreciate your services during this time. 10 I have not necessarily looked at the 11 staffing configuration from a needs base assessment, 12 but would certainly like to have the input of your 13 staff on the needs of the new BOE, and particularly 14 with the legal staffing. What I did observe, three 15 attorneys in the staffing configuration, does not 16 appear to be sufficient considering the litigation 17 issues that the Board of Equalization is dealing 18 with from the previous BOE and any anticipated 19 litigation issues going forward. 20 Some of the other staffing issues where we 21 had -- there was one individual communication, for 22 example, without indication of an administrative 23 staff, support staff, in order for them to 24 accomplish their objective. So it appeared to be 25 operating in -- without the appropriate support. 26 There was some other concerns that I have, 27 I'd be more than happy to share with you. The, 28 um -- the exemption, property tax exemption waiver 9 1 was not assigned to the new BOE, but yet still it's 2 a property-tax-related item. 3 So, um, I appreciate that this is a 4 process, and I appreciate that everyone is working 5 to try to make it as seamless as possible. But at 6 some point I believe the Department, BOE itself, has 7 to do its own need-based assessment and own 8 evaluation. And then I'd like to see what that 9 professional assessment is. And to the extent that 10 we can provide input, I'd be more than happy to do 11 that. 12 MR. GAU: Thank you. 13 Just to comment. You did mention a couple 14 things that I've been -- both the property tax 15 attorneys and the administrative support are, I 16 think, things that need some further conversation as 17 well. So we'll -- I will continue to work on 18 that. 19 MR. HORTON: Yeah. The welfare exemption 20 just seems to be a natural fit to the new Board, 21 BOE. 22 MR. GAU: They, uh -- the distinction or 23 the division that was made of property tax were -- 24 were four units: Our Legal Entity Ownership 25 Program, the Timber Tax Program, the Tax Area 26 Services Section, which does mapping and taxing 27 jurisdictions, and the Exemptions area. 28 So those four, by statute, move to CDTFA. 10 1 But it did kind of create a bifurcation, I guess, of 2 what were judicially property tax questions as they 3 try to balance, you know, the constitutional versus 4 statutory framework. But I -- we will continue to 5 analyze that and present something. 6 MR. HORTON: Yeah. In the need-based 7 assessment I'm pretty confident that all the parties 8 involved also want to take in consideration the 9 impact on the taxpayers. And so to the extent that 10 some things are so integrated into each other, 11 separating them actually may in effect be less 12 efficient than allowing them to continue to coexist. 13 But as I said, I really haven't spent a 14 whole lot of time with this. But I would like to 15 have your professional advice on -- our own 16 assessment as to what works best for the 17 organization. 18 MR. GAU: Thank you. We will do that. 19 MS. HARKEY: Member Runner. 20 MR. RUNNER: Yeah, I appreciate, yeah, 21 some -- some -- being expeditious in regards to the 22 Chief Counsel. My only suggestion would be -- I'm 23 hoping that that works out for you to be able to 24 identify an individual who will come on a temporary 25 basis until we're able to fill the position -- until 26 you're able to fill the position. 27 My only thought would be if indeed it does 28 not work out -- 11 1 MR. GAU: Mm-hmm. 2 MR. RUNNER: -- that I believe it to be in 3 the Board's best interest for you to go out and find 4 a private contract, potentially, in order to bridge 5 the gap. Because I -- I would hate for us to be in 6 the same position we are currently in at our next 7 meeting. 8 MR. GAU: Yeah. Yes. 9 MR. RUNNER: And so, again, I appreciate -- 10 hope it works out. But if it doesn't, I hope you -- 11 you look at other alternatives in order to -- to get 12 the support that -- that I believe we need in terms 13 of a full representation for the Board, the 14 taxpayers for the State of California, when it comes 15 to the issue of Chief Counsel. 16 The other issue I would ask, and that is 17 that clearly I think we still have some -- and, 18 again, this may or may not be tied -- or can or 19 cannot be tied to the -- to the issue of Chief 20 Counsel. But regardless, I think it's important for 21 us between the -- in the next month for there to 22 be -- and it can be office by office, as far as I'm 23 concerned -- workshops with staff in regards to ex 24 parte. Bringing in somebody who will do 25 presentations for our staff, train our staff, so we 26 all understand what the rules are in regards to this 27 process. 28 And so I think that would be something that 12 1 can -- or doesn't have to be done by a new Chief 2 Counsel. It can be done by somebody else coming in. 3 But just so that we can question and ask the unique 4 situations and -- and, uh, processes that we may go 5 through to clarify what would be done. 6 I think it would be good, whoever's doing 7 that, to have some experience in regards to the kind 8 of communication that needs to take place between 9 the offices and -- and the departments, though. So 10 I think having somebody who's not familiar with that 11 is at least hard because then it becomes more 12 theoretical for them as opposed to somebody who 13 understands and is experienced in regards to that 14 relationship. 15 So, again, I don't know if we can -- if we 16 can -- we ought to be able to call in GovOps or -- 17 or -- or somebody within -- within the new 18 departments to come and bring somebody, bring 19 somebody to go to do these workshops. 20 Again, I had a specific conversation with 21 the Secretary, GovOps, who assured me that that 22 could be done. Unfortunately, as we've seen here, 23 it hadn't been done. And so I hope we don't have 24 another meeting to where again we don't have that 25 ability to have that kind of workshop and 26 questioning time on that basis. 27 The other -- the other issue is -- that was 28 a bit disturbing to me and surprised then as I 13 1 talked to the Secretary of GovOps, and that is there 2 are a number of programs that you were a part of, 3 that other executive staff were a part of, that were 4 pilot programs, programs that were being in place 5 and being evaluated to find efficiencies and 6 protection for both the State of California and also 7 for taxpayers. 8 My understanding is that those programs 9 have all stopped. When I brought that up to the 10 Secretary, she was unaware of that. Her words to me 11 is, "None of those programs should have stopped. 12 Those should be operating." But they're not. 13 And so my concern is that -- and -- and is 14 that, as the new ED comes in, I hope there's an 15 interest in talking to us about those programs that 16 were put in -- that were being looked at that would 17 be more efficient for both the State of California 18 and protected for taxpayers and efficiency for 19 taxpayers. 20 I think it's a shame that somewhere along 21 the line somebody's decided to stop 'em. The 22 Secretary's assured me it wasn't her. So somewhere 23 along somebody made a decision, and I think that's 24 unfortunate. And she was surprised about that. 25 So I -- I hope that we can continue. 26 Because every one of those, as you well know, were 27 focused on trying to create efficiency for 28 California, along with -- along with being fair and 14 1 expediting taxpayer's concerns. So it would be 2 unfortunate if we indeed were not able to, uh -- to 3 be doing that. 4 MR. GAU: Thank you. 5 MS. HARKEY: I have just one issue that I 6 was hoping Member Runner -- we're working with his 7 office trying to establish some way to do the 8 education outreach piece, MOU, or whatever we have 9 to do to get some cooperation. 10 We have a budget to do so, but to date we 11 really don't know how to handle it. And there's 12 been, as I understand it -- my staff member's not 13 here that's been trying to do this -- but there's -- 14 we just -- we need some participation or some 15 ability, I guess. 16 I'm -- you know, can we -- can we contract 17 for the print shop? Can we -- how do we do these 18 things? Can we partner on some issues? You know, 19 there's a lot of issues where, you know, we just 20 might be a portion of something. But, you know, 21 it's -- it's all, right now, up in the air. 22 And so I think mainly the issue is, you 23 know, if we can't use the Department, we have to go 24 through -- we have to contract -- DGA has to -- or 25 DGS has to approve the contract, so we need some 26 ability. 27 I mean I have no objection to going out and 28 trying to find an outside printer and an outside 15 1 this, but -- you know, if we can't use the 2 Department. But if we can, then we need kind of an 3 MOU going in that area. Because everything's kind 4 of stopped and we can't figure out how to get it 5 rolling again and we can't contract. 6 MR. GAU: Thank you. And we are working 7 through the MOUs, and I'll look at that specifically 8 when I -- when I review it again. 9 MS. HARKEY: Okay. Do you have anything 10 more? 11 MR. RUNNER: Yeah, let me add onto that. 12 I'm sorry I forgot to bring that up. 13 I think it's important because, again, as 14 we -- as I talk with individuals, there's a constant 15 understanding that this Board is to continue to do 16 taxpayer education. It was brought up as recently 17 in the Controller's article that was in this week's 18 San Diego Tribune. 19 Is that right -- is that the right paper? 20 MS. HARKEY: Right. 21 MR. RUNNER: Right. That identified the 22 fact, as she said and quoted in that particular 23 column, that this Board would be responsible and 24 have the ability to do taxpayer education. The 25 problem is that -- that -- that's one thing to 26 say -- and, again, I've heard it from the 27 legislators, I've heard it from everybody. I've 28 heard it from the Secretary. 16 1 But, again, it's one thing to say it, it's 2 another thing to provide for us then the tools and 3 the abilities to do that. 4 Clearly, I think it stops -- I mean, the 5 conversations are like, "Well, you've got a budget 6 to do it." Well, we may have a budget, but if we 7 don't have the ability to implement and spend that 8 budget or implement those contacts, then we don't 9 have the ability to do it. And it's just a -- it's 10 a sham at that point. And I don't think that's -- 11 that's the intent. 12 So, I do believe that's -- that's 13 important. I know we specifically, for our 14 traditional taxpayer education events, continue to 15 keep those on the calendar. We did have a 16 conversation with the Secretary over those items. 17 And fortunately only one of them had to be 18 cancelled. The rest of them I think are indeed 19 going forward. 20 But, again, now it's clearly a 21 responsibility of -- of -- of the new department to 22 do those, which is fine, and we will be able to -- 23 we are being invited as co-sponsors and we can 24 participate in those, too, just as we allowed and 25 invited legislators to participate in them when we 26 were sponsoring them. 27 But I think there needs to be an overall 28 plan for that. Because I'm not sure what's 17 1 happening in the other districts. But at least I 2 know in ours, those ones that were on the calendar 3 now are being continued and are being worked. And 4 we will go ahead and decide how to show up for those 5 in those areas. 6 So, I think that's important because I 7 don't think that's even been communicated to the 8 Members in regards to saying, "Hey, go ahead and 9 here's what's happening in -- in -- in -- within 10 your district these days." 11 So, anyhow, I think those are important 12 issues. Again, there's -- there's an issue 13 between -- of being able to actually educate 14 taxpayers versus saying, "Hey, you've got this 15 money, now go ahead and educate taxpayers. But 16 we're not giving you any tools to be able to do it 17 with." 18 MS. HARKEY: Yeah, I -- I agree. It's a 19 tough deal. 20 MS. STOWERS: Yeah, thank you. 21 To Mr. Gau, I know you've been quite busy 22 with all the changes. But I note that at the 23 last -- at the meeting in May, before AB 102 was 24 enacted, there was a discussion about Board 25 governance. And your then team was going to work on 26 a project, or work on a report. And I recognize 27 that you've been quite busy. 28 I was wondering, have you had a chance to 18 1 do it? Is that still on your radar to complete? 2 MS. HARKEY: Board Governance? I think 3 not. 4 MR. GAU: That was the Board -- the Board 5 Member governance project that was discussed, I 6 think, at the May meeting. 7 So, to be honest, it has -- it hasn't been. 8 Part of it is, I have -- we have no -- I have no 9 support on the BOE side, right, to work through 10 that. 11 We had started, before AB 102, we had a 12 couple planning meetings when we were all one BOE. 13 And, to be honest, since that divide, I have not 14 gotten back it to. 15 So -- but that was the Board's direction, 16 so I will -- 17 MS. HARKEY: I think -- I think I'd rather 18 not see you go forward with anything that's 19 fruitless at this point. I would much rather wait 20 until January and let's see where we are as a Board, 21 what we feel we need. We can do a whole lot of 22 things. 23 We really, right now, what I have asked for 24 is that we have a contact at the agencies, either 25 one -- you know, both of the agencies, that is -- 26 that we can -- that we can touch base with if we 27 have constituent issues. Because right now we don't 28 have anybody. We got -- we were assigned an 800 19 1 number, which, when I get a constituent call, I need 2 to be able to respond to that and I need a point 3 person in an agency that will actually respond to 4 me. 5 Now, if that is through the Taxpayer 6 Advocates Office, we need a name. Who is it that is 7 going to be responsible and keep track of our 8 constituent issues so that we can get back to our 9 constituents and tell them they've been resolved or 10 not? 11 MS. STOWERS: With all due respect, Madam 12 Chair, the Controller would still like for you to 13 move forward on Board governance. And I do believe 14 it was a vote in May where the majority of the 15 Members agreed on it. 16 MS. HARKEY: Okay. With all due respect, 17 the Controller is saying things in the newspaper 18 that I don't know anything about. 19 So, with all due respect, I would like to 20 see Betty, maybe at the next meeting, and we can 21 discuss what sort of governance she would like to 22 see since we only have one department and a couple 23 issues. 24 And our biggest problem right now is not a 25 governance model, it's figuring out who to contact, 26 how we keep the processes in place, and how we 27 function. We don't have a Chief Counsel. There's 28 just a lot of things we need to work on. 20 1 And I think that once we get all of the 2 pieces in place and know who we're contacting, then 3 we can proceed on whatever governance policy we 4 need. 5 I don't think we have any impact over -- 6 well, we don't have any impact over departments. 7 They don't respond to us. They don't talk to us. 8 And so it's not been seamless. It is very much 9 traumatic. And I think the fact that we don't have 10 a Chief Counsel, that we are still looking for 11 positions for Mr. Gau, I would rather fill those 12 immediate needs and get our lines of communication 13 as to how we communicate, what we do. 14 When we took that -- when we took that 15 vote, it was in conjunction with coming back, that 16 we would -- we would be implementing a whole 17 governance policy. We got shut down in the 18 meantime. The world changed. 19 So I think right now we have real immediate 20 needs. I don't want to send the staff bouncing back 21 and forth for things that are not productive at this 22 time. 23 And I would be very -- I'd be very happy to 24 talk to the Controller if she'd choose to call me. 25 MS. STOWERS: I was not asking Mr. Gau to 26 move on the policy today. I was just asking him was 27 it still on his radar. But I do note that it was 28 something that the Board agreed to. 21 1 That's all I have to say. 2 MR. RUNNER: Madam Chair. 3 MS. HARKEY: Yes. 4 MR. RUNNER: Yeah, I -- I -- I would -- I 5 would not to -- again, there's a whole bunch of 6 stuff on the plate -- 7 MS. STOWERS: Right. 8 MR. RUNNER: -- and I get that. And I 9 would -- I would -- I would certainly leave it to 10 the ED to prioritize -- 11 MS. STOWERS: Exactly. 12 MR. RUNNER: -- what needs to be done in 13 order for the Board to be able to function and fill 14 its needs. 15 And so I -- I would -- my position would 16 be, on the governance plan, I think it is still 17 necessary and in this part. But at that point I 18 think it's a part of everything that we have before 19 us. And so I don't want to necessarily say let's 20 wait until January. I just think it's on our plate 21 and I'd leave it up to the ED to determine when it 22 is in the process of all the things that he has 23 before him to, uh -- to put that in his schedule. 24 MS. STOWERS: I think that's the smart 25 approach. 26 MS. HARKEY: Prioritize -- 27 MR. GAU: And I will. Thank you. 28 MS. HARKEY: -- what we govern. 22 1 Okay. So I think you've heard the laundry 2 list. And I do so want to thank you very much for 3 stepping into this -- this new formed entity -- or 4 actually old part entity. 5 And, anyway, with that, prioritize, just 6 keep -- keep in touch with us. I think, you know, 7 the first thing, of course, is Chief Counsel. 8 MR. GAU: It is. 9 MS. HARKEY: And let's get that mem -- that 10 memo from the AG, to have some guidance here as to 11 how we operate, so that all the departments are on 12 the same page. 13 MR. GAU: Thank you. 14 MS. HARKEY: And I do appreciate our -- OUR 15 Acting Counsel, because this was very, very 16 difficult. And I want to thank you very much for 17 stepping into this. 18 I also want to thank you for the support 19 that, you know, we -- in essence, we don't -- we 20 don't deal with the other departments. We listen to 21 you. So thank you very, very much. 22 ---oOo--- 23 24 25 26 27 28 23 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 July 28, 2017 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 23 constitute 14 a complete and accurate transcription of the 15 shorthand writing. 16 17 Dated: August 7, 2017 18 19 20 ____________________________ 21 KATHLEEN SKIDGEL, CSR #9039 22 Hearing Reporter 23 24 25 26 27 28 24