1 BEFORE THE CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION 2 450 N STREET 3 SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 4 5 6 REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT 7 NOVEMBER 19, 2019 8 9 10 11 ITEM K 12 OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS; 13 ITEM K1 14 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 REPORTED BY: Jillian M. Sumner 28 CSR NO. 13619 1 1 P R E S E N T 2 3 For the Board of Equalization: Honorable Antonio Vazquez 4 Vice Chair (Acting Chair) 5 Honorable Ted Gaines 6 First District 7 Honorable Mike Schaefer Fourth District 8 Yvette Stowers 9 Appearing for Betty T. Yee, State Controller 10 (per Government Code Section 7.9) 11 12 For the Board of Equalization Staff: Henry Nanjo 13 Chief Counsel Legal Department 14 Brenda Fleming 15 Executive Director 16 Toya Davis Clerk 17 Board Proceedings 18 ---oOo--- 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 1 450 N STREET 2 SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 3 NOVEMBER 19, 2019 4 ---oOo--- 5 MS. DAVIS: Our next items are K1 through 6 K4, Other Administrative Matters. 7 First is K1, the Executive Director's 8 Report. Executive Director Ms. Fleming will come 9 forward to present each of the six sub topics, items 10 K1(a) through items K1(f). 11 Ms. Fleming. 12 MS. FLEMING: Thank you. 13 MR. VAZQUEZ: Welcome. 14 MS. FLEMING: Good morning. 15 MR. VAZQUEZ: Good morning. 16 MS. FLEMING: Vice Chair Vazquez and 17 Honorable Members, I'm Brenda Fleming, the Executive 18 Director. 19 Today's report, Members, will include 20 updates to the operational priorities dashboard, 21 focusing on those items with substantive updates or 22 activity since last month's report; I'll discuss or 23 present discussion and possible action on the 24 schedule and location of the remaining informational 25 hearings; we'll provide an overview of the BOE 26 strategic plan for 2020-2025, a brief overview of our 27 budget needs and plans for fiscal year 2020/2021 -- 28 sorry for those dates -- discussion on Board Meeting 3 1 locations possibly; and an update on our Taxpayer 2 Rights Advocate's Offices activities. 3 I would like to note on that item, however, 4 that Ms. Thompson, our Taxpayer Rights Advocate, is 5 not here today. So today's updates will be brief. 6 If you'll allow me to begin with the 7 operational updates. The dashboard this month, 8 Members, contains 18 priority items. This month's 9 report will focus on 9 of the 18 items. 10 I believe you have referenced in my "talking 11 points" there just to make it a little easier to 12 track. 13 So starting with Item No. 4, which is the 14 County-Assessed Assessment Surveys. As requested on 15 October 30th, Mr. Yeung provided your offices with a 16 schedule that lists the survey and samples that are 17 currently in process. 18 As you are aware, the completed surveys are 19 regularly sent to your offices before publishing. 20 The completed reports are also posted on the BOE Web 21 site. The most recent being the Marine County 22 Assessment Survey that was sent on September 12th, 23 2019. 24 Proceeding to Item No. 5, County-Assessed 25 Community Land Trust on Senate Bill 196. As you 26 know, this legislation will become effective on 27 January 1, 2020 using the interested parties process. 28 Language for guidance is being developed. Staff 4 1 anticipated being done by second quarter of 2020. 2 Once the interested parties process is 3 complete, guidance on the appraisal and assessment of 4 properties built on CLT land will be issued in the 5 form of a letter to the assessors. 6 Proceeding with Item No. 6, County-Assessed 7 Certificated Aircraft. There's comment here, but I 8 think we've just discussed those items. So I think 9 you're current on those topics. 10 But, again, the legislation did become 11 effective, and staff, as you've just heard, are 12 working through that process to ensure its 13 implementation. 14 Proceeding to Item No. 7, which is the BOE 15 strategic plan. To keep you informed and to support 16 tomorrow's Board Members Strategic Planning Session, 17 you have received a draft of the agency's strategic 18 plan for 2020 through 2025. 19 The agency's strategic plan focuses on 20 rebuilding, revitalizing and modernizing our agency 21 to position us for the ongoing and future property 22 tax needs. 23 We anticipate the BOE strategic plan being 24 published by January 1, 2020. 25 Proceeding to Item No. 8, Board Member 26 Training. The training material, Members, for the 27 Alcoholic Beverage Tax and tax on insurers programs 28 is being finalized and will be scheduled for you 5 1 soon. 2 This training will provide detail on those 3 programs, and the BOE's constitutional duties, 4 thereof. 5 Mandatory administrative training continues, 6 and you are making good process. This is online 7 training that you access via the learning management 8 system. The training material for HR and personnel 9 processes and rules is being finalized and will be 10 also scheduled for your offices soon. This training 11 will be provided by the CDTFA's HR staff. 12 You will soon be scheduled for additional 13 equal employment opportunity, and you'll hear us 14 refer to it as EEO. That training will be provided 15 by an outside law firm. EEO training, like many of 16 the other administrative training courses, is state 17 mandated. 18 This training is to be provided by a law 19 firm, but it will also supplement the EEO training 20 that's also available to you online. 21 My staff are updating the training progress 22 reports, and you'll receive a copy for your 23 reference. But kudos to you all, because you're 24 definitely making good progress, for you and your 25 staff. 26 Proceeding with Item No. 10, which is the HR 27 Delegation. A request for delegated authority was 28 sent to the State Personnel Board last week. This 6 1 action is another step in the process to move us 2 forward. 3 I'll keep you informed of those discussions 4 with SPB, and we'll provide an updated action plan 5 for your reference within the next few weeks. 6 Proceeding to No. Item 11, which is 7 Recruitments. Approximately 54 percent of the 8 agency's 45 vacancies are in active recruitment. 9 Since last month there are 13 positions that 10 are being -- that are currently in advertisement 11 status, 9 with applications being reviewed or 12 interviews are in process, 2 recruitments were 13 identified with start dates, and then 1 has a 14 tentative offer. The remaining 21 are in review or 15 being prepared for advertising. 16 There are 10 Board Member vacancies, and two 17 are actively in recruitment. 18 Proceeding to Item 15, the Non-English 19 Language Translations of BOE Forms and Publications. 20 Staff are collecting and analyzing data to evaluate 21 which forms and/or publications have a need to be 22 translated. 23 Their analysis includes information from 24 county assessors. Once the data is compiled, we can 25 identify the level of need and how best to 26 cost-effectively provide our information in other 27 languages. I will keep you updated also on that 28 progress. 7 1 Proceeding to Item 16, the Taxpayer Bill of 2 Rights Hearing. Ms. Thompson, as I mentioned, is not 3 here today, so I'll give you in just a bit just a 4 couple of her comments. 5 Just one final point is on our Web site, I 6 think as a part of your package on the PAN, we also 7 have a list of upcoming meetings and conferences. 8 And it's really not meant to be comprehensive for 9 those that are on our radar, we just provide that for 10 your easy reference. Purely informational, no 11 necessary action on your part. 12 That concludes this month's update on the 13 operational priorities. 14 With your permission, I'll proceed to the 15 statewide informational hearings. 16 MS. STOWERS: I have some questions. 17 MR. VAZQUEZ: There is some questions from 18 Ms. Stowers. 19 MS. STOWERS: Thank you. 20 On Item No. 5, the County-Assessed Community 21 Land Trust, SB 196, you indicated that the guidance 22 will come in the form of an LTA. 23 MS. FLEMING: Yeah, after the interested 24 parties process and final guidance. 25 MS. STOWERS: Is there a particular reason 26 why we're not doing a rule change? 27 MS. FLEMING: Let me have Dave or Henry 28 and -- if you could comment. And it may, in fact, be 8 1 a part of the interested parties process. 2 MR. VAZQUEZ: Welcome back. 3 MR. YEUNG: Thank you very much. 4 Good morning, Ms. Stowers. 5 We have not contemplated a rule change. We 6 did not see where there would be a need for a rule 7 change. It's going to basically amend a section of 8 the Revenue and Taxation Code 402.1. So we believe 9 that guidance on how to treat the land and the 10 improvements should be sufficient. 11 But if we do identify a need for a rule 12 change, we don't preclude that. 13 MS. STOWERS: Okay. I appreciate that. I'm 14 not advocating for a rule change. Just curious. 15 MR. YEUNG: Yes. 16 MS. STOWERS: And since this is dealing with 17 a change in law, this LTA is slightly different than 18 some of our other LTAs that you pass by us. So will 19 we be approving this LTA? I will anticipate an 20 approval of the LTA. 21 MS. FLEMING: Duly noted. 22 MR. NANJO: And Legal concurs with the 23 description that property tax just gave you. 24 MS. STOWERS: And my other question is on 25 Item No. 8, Board Member Training. You went through 26 the various trainings that the Members are 27 participating in. 28 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 9 1 MS. STOWERS: I'm just curious, are the 2 Members and your staff also doing security awareness 3 training? 4 MS. FLEMING: Yes, all those are mandated 5 trainings. There's a range of training programs that 6 are available on the Learning Management System. We 7 refer to it as LMS. And so there's a series of 8 trainings that are provided. And they provide log-in 9 information. So you log in, defensive driver 10 training, etc., etc., sexual harassment. 11 MS. STOWERS: All that training. 12 You know, I don't see your guys' training. 13 I'm on the SEO training format. So I just wanted to 14 make sure we are getting the same training. We 15 are. 16 MS. FLEMING: State-mandated. Yes, ma'am. 17 MR. VAZQUEZ: I think we are. 18 MS. FLEMING: State-mandated. Yes, ma'am. 19 MS. STOWERS: Those were my questions. 20 MS. FLEMING: Thank you. Thank you for your 21 questions. 22 Thank you, gentlemen. 23 MR. VAZQUEZ: Any -- oh, Mr. Schaefer. 24 MR. SCHAEFER: Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. 25 Ms. Fleming, as to Item 17, Statewide 26 Informational Hearings, I would just like to 27 emphasize that I'd like to have at least 20 days 28 notice as to when there is going to be one, because 10 1 we have to do advance planning to get favorable 2 airplane fares to travel and whatnot. And if 3 something is general, once it's decided to be 4 specific, I would hope we would have 20 days in 5 advance to make our arrangements. 6 That doesn't apply to the people who are in 7 the area of where you're going to have a meeting. 8 Like if it's Los Angeles, Mr. Vazquez is there. But 9 if it's in Sacramento, I'm 500 miles away, you know, 10 and would like to know ahead of time. 11 MS. FLEMING: Thank you, sir, for those 12 comments. Actually, that's a good segue to the 13 Statewide Informational Update. 14 If I may. 15 So to your point, sir, there is preliminary 16 planning that is occurring right now for a December 17 6, 2019 informational hearing in the Santa Clara 18 Valley area, and specifically the location is the 19 Santa Clara Valley Water District located in San 20 Jose. 21 So at this point it's scheduled. We are 22 working with the Chair's office to nail down the 23 details relative to speakers, etc. 24 But we are working with the Honorable Larry 25 Stone's office in Santa Clara, and Santa Clara County 26 assessor, and the Santa Clara Valley Water District 27 to coordinate the details. 28 MR. SCHAEFER: Would we be occupied all day 11 1 on the 6th? 2 MS. FLEMING: At this point we're 3 tentatively looking at a 10:00 to probably a 3:00 4 informational hearing. 5 MR. SCHAEFER: All right. 6 MS. FLEMING: So we'll confirm the details. 7 Just a couple points to note there that the PAN for 8 this meeting, consistent with the public agenda 9 notice, is ten days in advance of the actual hearing. 10 So the PAN for that December 6th informational 11 hearing will be this Friday, November 22nd. 12 MR. SCHAEFER: I don't understand PAN. 13 MS. FLEMING: So the public agenda notice. 14 MR. SCHAEFER: Oh. 15 MS. FLEMING: So for public meetings, we're 16 required by the Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act to 17 make sure that the public is notified ten days in 18 advance of the event. So that would be a Friday, 19 November 22nd deadline. 20 So that's said to assist -- and I appreciate 21 your comments, Mr. Schaefer -- to assist Board 22 Proceedings and the Executive Office to prepare for 23 the remaining meetings. 24 We do appreciate having the opportunity -- 25 and I know sometimes these arrangements do occur 26 quickly. Our San Diego one did because we're also 27 trying to leverage other opportunities. 28 But in this case, I think we've got -- now 12 1 that the December 6th one is forecast to occur on the 2 6th, as we proceed with the remaining informational 3 hearings in both of your districts, I'm told there 4 might be another one, could be the December timeframe 5 perhaps, in addition to the December 6th one. 6 So I wanted to just confirm with you -- with 7 both Vice Chair Vazquez and Mr. Gaines, what your 8 targets were for the informational hearings in your 9 districts. 10 MR. VAZQUEZ: I'm looking to do mine in 11 Santa Monica in March. So I'll put that out there. 12 Hopefully give you plenty of time, so we can make 13 sure it's very successful. 14 MS. FLEMING: Okay. 15 MR. VAZQUEZ: I think the earliest might be 16 the first week of March, but it could be the second. 17 MS. FLEMING: Okay. 18 MR. VAZQUEZ: I'm waiting for -- actually, 19 the facility I'm looking to use is the Santa Monica 20 City Council Chambers. 21 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 22 MR. VAZQUEZ: Which is under reconstruction. 23 I guess they're rehabbing it. It's mostly tech work 24 they're doing. They're upgrading their system so 25 it's going to have the latest and the greatest 26 technology, which hopefully will help us, and 27 hopefully make it as easy as possible for you to just 28 come in, or staff to come in and actually just be 13 1 able to access. And hopefully with minimal cost 2 moving forward. 3 But we're looking at the earliest might be 4 the first week of March for mine. 5 MS. FLEMING: Okay. 6 MR. VAZQUEZ: I don't know about 7 Mr. Gaines. 8 MR. GAINES: Yeah, mine will be January. 9 MS. FLEMING: Oh, January? Not December? 10 MR. GAINES: Not December. January. We 11 discussed that earlier in a Board Meeting. 12 So it would be January. But if February is 13 available, we might look at either January or 14 February. But it would be 2020, beginning of 2020. 15 MS. FLEMING: Okay. 16 Tentative location? And I can circle back 17 with you on the details. 18 MR. GAINES: I think we're talking about 19 right here. 20 MS. FLEMING: Okay. 21 MR. GAINES: Yeah. 22 MS. FLEMING: So, Members, that said, just 23 as a reminder, you know, as we kicked off this 24 initial -- the concept of the informational hearings, 25 our goal is to contain cost. Clearly providing 26 information to the public, and then give us an 27 opportunity to collect information. So it is an 28 informational hearing for us to collect information 14 1 that we can use to really start to modernize and 2 address our property tax issues. 3 But, again, taking advantage of locations 4 where we're working with a government facility, it 5 helps us to contain cost. So I appreciate your 6 support in that area. 7 MR. VAZQUEZ: Along those lines, I've 8 already reached out to our chamber and some of the 9 business community, and even the hotels in Santa 10 Monica, and they're willing to work with you to give 11 you a cut rate on several of those things. 12 So for the staff that, for example, needs to 13 stay there, they won't -- because our rates are 14 pretty high in Santa Monica -- but they're willing to 15 give a government rate, and maybe go beyond that. 16 MS. FLEMING: Okay. 17 MR. VAZQUEZ: So I see the cost for those 18 that have to stay there being minimal at this point. 19 And then I've already reached out, and they're 20 willing to sponsor like receptions and stuff as well 21 to make sure we have time to socialize, too, with not 22 only those that come in and interact with us from the 23 public, but also with staff. 24 MS. FLEMING: Okay. 25 MR. VAZQUEZ: But if I could back up a 26 minute to the December 6th, I'm a little concerned 27 about that if it's moving forward. Because I know 28 from our staff it's going to be difficult. I know my 15 1 staff put out a lot. Some of our members actually 2 went down to San Diego and participated in some of 3 the, I guess you could say, preliminary staging. 4 MS. FLEMING: Logistics. 5 MR. VAZQUEZ: The logistics. And I don't 6 think we're going to have that same opportunity to 7 assist in December 6th. And I'm just a little 8 concerned if there's no other participation from the 9 other Member offices, and, specifically, I guess your 10 staff. 11 Because I know we really have a dead week 12 coming up here with Thanksgiving, and I was wondering 13 what type of staffing are you going to have that week 14 of Thanksgiving. 15 MS. FLEMING: Thank you for that. Clearly, 16 I encourage all of the BOE employees to take 17 Thursday, Thanksgiving Day and Thanksgiving Friday 18 off, and I'll be gracious and extend Saturday and 19 Sunday off to you guys also. So they'll enjoy at 20 least four days. 21 MR. VAZQUEZ: So what happens Monday and 22 Tuesday and Wednesday? 23 MS. FLEMING: Yeah, Monday, Tuesday and 24 Wednesday -- I knew you were going to go there. So 25 there are going to -- there are some of my staff, and 26 we'll go and confirm the specific details. But there 27 are some of my staff that clearly will be on 28 vacation. Those requests were submitted to us, you 16 1 know, the first of the year. Many people do that 2 well in advance. Family plans, traveling, etc. 3 So, you know, what we're anticipating, 4 ideally, is that we are having conversations with the 5 Santa Clara -- I'm just going to refer to them 6 briefly as the water district. So we're working with 7 the water district and Mr. Stone's office now to try 8 to work through the logistics of the facility of the 9 venue. 10 So to the degree that we can get all of that 11 arranged, because it's not just going to be our 12 office. Clearly it's going to be, you know -- 13 everyone is going to participate in Thanksgiving 14 activities. So we'll also need to confirm the 15 availability of the Water District's availability of 16 their staff along with Mr. Stone's staff. 17 We'll try to get as many of those logistics 18 worked out between now and Friday as we possibly can, 19 to the extent that there are a few people available 20 the first of next week. Hopefully we can try to 21 achieve something. I would imagine Monday and 22 Tuesday are going to be the primary dates that people 23 might be around. Usually on Wednesday it's dead 24 quiet. So I would expect that that timeframe will 25 be, you know, not much happening. 26 So it looks like at this point just doing a 27 video -- watching a video stream of the Water 28 District's meetings, it looks like they do have most 17 1 of what we need. We're confirming that, working 2 through our checklist. And so that work is going on 3 today. 4 To the extent -- similar to what you were 5 saying about San Diego -- if all of that's in place, 6 then we really are -- for us, we would just be there 7 just to verify who is going to, you know, hit the 8 switches, etc. 9 So hopefully it will be streamlined. 10 Because, again, we won't have time to even do 11 contracts, etc. So we're really, really going to 12 have to rely on their resources to provide all of 13 these services. 14 As we did in the San Diego meeting, what 15 will be important to us is the security measure. So 16 to the degree that they don't have security there, 17 we'll bring our own security. 18 But, again, we will have to work out all of 19 those details for those -- that specific set of tasks 20 between now and maybe Monday of next week. So that's 21 our idea. 22 MR. VAZQUEZ: I want to let you know that 23 I'm in support of whatever you come up with in terms 24 of your restrictions. Because on December 6th, 25 physically, I'm open that day. But to say I'm going 26 to be available or have my staff available prior to 27 that to weigh in, is going to be very limited. 28 So I really would like to know from you, 18 1 hopefully before, I guess it's Friday, the cut off, 2 that, in fact, we can pull this thing off. Because I 3 would hate to schedule something, and then it's a 4 flop. Because then it looks -- it reflects bad on 5 all of us. 6 MS. FLEMING: Correct. I understand that. 7 And so just to confirm, all Members will be 8 planning to attend December 6th? 9 MR. GAINES: I've got a conflict. I won't 10 be there. 11 MR. VAZQUEZ: The 6th? 12 MR. GAINES: The 6th. 13 MR. VAZQUEZ: How about Ms. -- 14 MS. STOWERS: I actually have a couple 15 questions. 16 MR. VAZQUEZ: Sure. Go ahead. 17 Ms. Stowers. 18 MS. STOWERS: First clarification, do we 19 have to vote for these informational hearings, or 20 we've already approved having these hearings, so it's 21 just a question of the date? 22 MS. FLEMING: So, yeah, we've talked to 23 Legal about that, and Legal's opinion is that since 24 we voted on the concept of informational hearings in 25 general, we don't need to take a vote on it. 26 At this point it would just be to 27 identify -- to publicly inform that there will be a 28 meeting. 19 1 To schedule these specific meetings -- 2 unless Chief Counsel has changed his position on 3 this -- for me, it's an issue of also just confirming 4 that we've got a quorum. 5 So do we now need a vote? 6 MR. SCHAEFER: I have a comment on this. 7 MR. NANJO: So if I can respond real 8 quickly, Member Schaefer. 9 MR. VAZQUEZ: Ms. Stowers. Let's finish -- 10 MR. NANJO: To answer her question. 11 MR. VAZQUEZ: Let's finish, and then we'll 12 go to you. 13 MR. NANJO: So from a historical standpoint 14 what the Board did was it approved a workload plan. 15 Same one that you approved earlier part of -- or a 16 few months ago. The workload plan has the dates for 17 the Board Meetings. So technically, if you're adding 18 a day to the workload plan, that should be voted on. 19 The question is, is this outside the 20 workload plan or inside the workload plan? 21 If it's outside the workload plan, then we 22 haven't voted on them. Historically -- San Diego 23 was -- I'm having staff check into that whether we 24 specifically voted on San Diego. 25 MS. FLEMING: You did. There was discussion 26 at the August meeting. 27 MR. NANJO: Right. I know there was 28 discussion about it. And I think the Board generally 20 1 showed a consensus that they were in support of that 2 date. 3 So you should do -- at a minimum you should 4 do something similar if you want to take a formal 5 vote to amend your workload plan to add this date, 6 you can do that as well. So it's kind of the Board's 7 preference at this point. 8 MS. STOWERS: Okay. I appreciate that. I 9 do recall us taking a vote for the San Diego meeting. 10 Because I know that I hem and hawed on it. 11 MR. NANJO: I think you had some conditions 12 if I remember correctly. 13 MS. STOWERS: But as far as the dates that 14 have been discussed -- and I'm going to work 15 backwards. Member Vazquez indicated some time in 16 March, the first or second week of March. I checked 17 my calendar, so far those weeks are open. 18 I do believe you're going to be the Chair of 19 the Board of Equalization come March. So just to let 20 you know, we generally have the Franchise Tax Board 21 meeting in March. 22 MR. VAZQUEZ: Do we have a date of that? 23 MS. STOWERS: We don't have a date yet. 24 That's on me. So the sooner you can give me your 25 date, the sooner I can start picking the Franchise 26 Tax Board meeting date in March. 27 MR. VAZQUEZ: Oh, great. So you have -- 28 MS. STOWERS: I haven't picked a date yet, 21 1 so coordination is the key. 2 MR. VAZQUEZ: So you have the power to -- 3 MS. STOWERS: Kind of. 4 MR. VAZQUEZ: Okay. 5 MS. STOWERS: I'm not going to say that. I 6 make recommendations -- 7 MS. FLEMING: Wow. 8 MS. STOWERS: -- and the Controller will 9 approve them. 10 MR. VAZQUEZ: I appreciate that. That was 11 going to be one of my questions. Because I know the 12 first one is in March, and I obviously don't want to 13 conflict with that. So I will get that out to you as 14 soon as possible. 15 MS. STOWERS: And then Member Gaines 16 indicated January. January seems to be open for me. 17 I'll be back from all of my holiday vacations. 18 MR. GAINES: Okay. So what I'll do is I'll 19 talk to my staff. 20 Looks like January works from Member 21 Stowers' perspective, and also in coordination with 22 Franchise Tax. 23 MS. STOWERS: Yeah. We won't meet in 24 January. 25 MR. GAINES: Okay. All right. 26 MS. STOWERS: Now, as far as the -- 27 MR. VAZQUEZ: Along those lines, you said 28 February could be an option. 22 1 MR. GAINES: It would be. Yeah. 2 MR. VAZQUEZ: Because for me, February would 3 be better if you can do February. 4 MR. GAINES: Oh, okay. 5 MS. STOWERS: February works for me as well. 6 Again, I'm going to be back from all of my holiday 7 vacations. 8 MR. VAZQUEZ: That would be good. 9 MS. STOWERS: Come January 3rd, I'm on the 10 ground working -- 11 MR. GAINES: We're okay -- 12 MS. STOWERS: -- like a little beaver. 13 MR. VAZQUEZ: Because January, I have a lot 14 of activity going on in my district. 15 MR. GAINES: Okay. 16 MR. VAZQUEZ: And just to avoid any 17 conflicts, that would be great. 18 MR. GAINES: That's fine. 19 MS. STOWERS: Now as far as the December 6th 20 information hearing, I am concerned with that date. 21 One, I do have a conflict. I do have a 22 stakeholder meeting that I had indicated was 23 tentative. But that meeting was confirmed the first 24 part of November. 25 And although that meeting is only scheduled 26 to be two hours, because of the issues dealing with 27 the advance payments of the California Earned Income 28 Tax Credit, and the governor's direction for the 23 1 Franchise Tax Board to work with legislative and the 2 Department of Finance to determine a visibility way 3 to do this structure, I must attend that stakeholder 4 meeting as opposed to the informational hearing 5 meeting that I'm not even clear on what the topics 6 are. 7 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 8 MS. STOWERS: So I guess what I'm saying is 9 I'm unfortunately not available on December 6th. 10 And then, as I kind of hinted, like many of 11 your staff, Ms. Fleming, I do tend to take 12 Thanksgiving week off. That's a family week for me, 13 and it's extremely important. 14 And then I do attend -- I know I always say 15 work first. But I put it on the record, that week 16 is -- I'm really not available to do anything. 17 And then I kind of have a very flexible 18 schedule the last two weeks in December, again, for 19 the very same reason. That's family time, and I 20 really like to take that time to unwind and recharge 21 my battery. So if we can avoid scheduling meetings 22 at that time. 23 MS. FLEMING: So thank you for that comment. 24 So as it relates to the December timeframe, 25 I had received information that you were perhaps 26 having yours, Mr. Gaines, your informational hearing 27 meeting in December on the second day of the Board 28 Meeting. So you've just clarified that that now -- 24 1 MR. GAINES: Yeah. 2 MS. FLEMING: -- will be the first part 3 of -- 4 MR. GAINES: Maybe there was a 5 misunderstanding, but I've always talked about 6 January and February. 7 I know that you were looking at February, 8 now you're looking at March. 9 MS. FLEMING: Okay. 10 MR. GAINES: So if I can move to that 11 February slot, no problem. 12 MS. FLEMING: Okay. So I just want to 13 make -- just for the record, when we're looking at 14 the December Board Meeting calendar, we do have, I 15 believe it's the 17th and 18th. So we do have two 16 days scheduled for that. But we're trying to reserve 17 that time for some property tax, some state-assessed 18 business in the appeals process in those timeframes. 19 So staff are really asking that just based upon the 20 workload associated with that, that we do keep those 21 two days light. 22 So I'm appreciative of your saying that 23 that's not -- your informational hearing is not going 24 to be on day two of the December Board Meeting. 25 Because we actually have workload planned for that. 26 MR. VAZQUEZ: If we can just get back -- I'm 27 a little concerned now about December 6th, because 28 I'm hearing there's two conflicts. 25 1 Mr. Schaefer, what's your schedule on 2 December 6th? 3 MR. SCHAEFER: I -- I'm not sure right now. 4 But I'm appalled that we would go ahead and have 5 something when Ms. Yee's representative and 6 Mr. Gaines are both unable to be with us. 7 Could I ask why Chair Cohen is not here? Is 8 she ill this morning, or does she have something 9 that's outranking this meeting? 10 MR. VAZQUEZ: It's my understanding that 11 she's actually at a funeral of a close friend. 12 MR. SCHAEFER: Well, this is a rather 13 important subject, and I wish she would have been 14 here. 15 MR. VAZQUEZ: And I understand that she may 16 be here before we finish the meeting today. I'm 17 hoping that happens. 18 MS. FLEMING: We're anticipating that she -- 19 anticipating her arriving about 2:00 this 20 afternoon. 21 MR. SCHAEFER: Well, I want to ask her if 22 maybe her pushing to have this in Santa Clara on 23 December 6th is so she can do it on her chairmanship, 24 which expires that month. 25 If so, she should have been working on this 26 several months ago instead of getting down to the 27 deadline here. I mean, that's barely enough time for 28 me to get the air fare, and I want to get great 26 1 rates. 2 And we are the king or the authority for our 3 district, and I don't think I was notified or 4 consulted on setting the matter in San Diego. It 5 happened, and it turned out to be as good as can be, 6 and we were able to get good attendance. 7 But here, we're faced with a meeting 8 December 6th that we can't get the only republican 9 Member on the whole Board to be with us. One of the 10 most experienced people in government on our Board, 11 and he can't be with us. And our Controller's 12 representative cannot be with us. You know, if I say 13 I can't be there, that kills it. But I shouldn't 14 have to, you know, speak softly and carry a big 15 stick. 16 I would just hope we would use rationale and 17 decide that we'll have a much better meeting if 18 Chair Cohen will cooperate with us in finding a date 19 and doing the Vazquez administration, you know. 20 MR. VAZQUEZ: You know, I'm hoping that when 21 she does arrive, if she does arrive a little bit 22 later today, we can take that up. 23 Because I'm sure she wants it to be as 24 successful as possible. And I'm sure she would have 25 some grave concerns knowing that at least two, 26 possibly three Members, wouldn't be in attendance. 27 So -- well, if three, it's not going to go 28 forward. But even if two, I guess, legally, we still 27 1 could move forward. But I can't see her pushing it 2 if there -- 3 MS. FLEMING: If three Members are available 4 to attend, we would have a quorum. So we could 5 proceed with the meeting. But just note it's an 6 informational hearing. So it's not the same as, you 7 know, taking up appeals and the regular Board 8 business. It's informational only. So -- 9 MR. SCHAEFER: I think the status and 10 quality -- 11 MS. FLEMING: We're always trying to get 12 everybody there. But it's something that we can 13 defer at Vice Chair's pleasure. If we want to defer 14 to her arrival later today, that's an option. 15 MR. VAZQUEZ: Yeah, I -- 16 MR. GAINES: I think that makes sense to get 17 her input. She can listen to the other Members in 18 terms of what the issues are. Maybe she would 19 entertain a different date. Maybe the January date. 20 MR. VAZQUEZ: Sure. 21 MS. STOWERS: I actually agree to -- 22 MR. VAZQUEZ: Ms. Stowers. 23 MS. STOWERS: Thank you. 24 I think it's unfortunate she's not here 25 right now, but I don't think she will want to move 26 forward knowing that -- I really do believe she wants 27 all five of us to actually participate. 28 MR. VAZQUEZ: I think you're right. 28 1 MS. STOWERS: And unfortunately I can't. I 2 really tried. But -- so I think that when she's 3 here, if we can talk about it when she comes here 4 today. And perhaps if -- can we -- if we're not 5 going to adjourn today if she doesn't make it here at 6 2:00 o'clock, can we carry this over to tomorrow? 7 MR. NANJO: Yeah. 8 Henry Nanjo. I'm going to put my Board 9 Proceedings Chief hat on. 10 Couple things. One is my staff, I had them 11 check, and we did vote on San Diego and the July 12 meeting. So it would be appropriate if you want to 13 be consistent to vote on December, and obviously 14 February or March as well. 15 You don't have to do, obviously, February or 16 March today. But December 6th, I would recommend a 17 vote this meeting. 18 That being said, you are correct, Deputy 19 Controller Stowers, the meeting is scheduled to 20 continue tomorrow. So we actually have two 21 opportunities. If you finish early today, we can 22 still continue the -- the Board Meeting continues. 23 And -- although the strategic planning 24 session, I understand we have a contracted 25 facilitator arriving, and some assessors have 26 requested a time certain for that event. 27 Clearly after the strategic planning 28 session, we don't have to adjourn the meeting. We 29 1 can continue the meeting and have that discussion at 2 that point. 3 MS. STOWERS: So then I would imagine that 4 Chair Cohen has the flexibility -- I mean, I'm sure 5 she's going to be brief on this. Her staff is here. 6 So she might decide by herself not to move forward 7 with the December 6th date. 8 MR. NANJO: Correct. 9 MS. STOWERS: That would be within her 10 power. So we don't have to have this -- 11 MR. NANJO: Yeah. That would be her option 12 whether she wants to propose the December 6th date or 13 consider something else. 14 MS. STOWERS: Okay. I appreciate that. 15 Because I just know -- I do think she wants it to be 16 successful. 17 I don't know why she -- I'm sure there's a 18 valid reason for December 6th. It could just be that 19 the facility is being made -- 20 MR. VAZQUEZ: Is available. 21 MS. STOWERS: -- is available, and it's at a 22 very low cost. I don't think it has anything to do 23 with her chairmanship. Maybe it does. I have -- let 24 me not speculate. It's just the date that the 25 facility is available. Let's go with that. 26 MS. FLEMING: The facility is available on 27 the December 6th. The valley -- the water valley -- 28 valley district -- 30 1 MR. NANJO: Santa Clara Valley Water 2 District. 3 MS. FLEMING: The Santa Clara Valley Water 4 District is available on the 6th. We got to get a 5 shorter name for that one. 6 And also, in talking to, you know, 7 Mr. Stone's office, the assessor for Santa Clara, 8 they will be -- he's hosting an event on December 9 5th. And so, in talking with that office, there's an 10 opportunity that some of the assessors, and about a 11 dozen or so that are attending that event, would also 12 be available to join us on Friday the 6th. So 13 there's some efficiencies there, obviously. So do 14 consider that. 15 Noted, because it's going to be in the Santa 16 Clara area, we absolutely will have staff -- our 17 staff or anyone who is participating will probably 18 travel down on the 5th. We, of course, my staff will 19 be there earlier on the 5th just to confirm the 20 facility and everything that's in order. So it does 21 mean overnight stay and cost. So respecting your 22 concern there. 23 But I do -- I know the Chair wants it to be 24 successful, wants to have as many of the Board 25 Members available as possible. But acknowledges as 26 an informational hearing, she appreciates that others 27 may not be available. 28 MR. SCHAEFER: I think our public image 31 1 suffers if you have a meeting that's attended only by 2 three of the five. It's like going to a city council 3 meeting if San Diego has nine, and there's only five 4 of them here today. 5 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 6 MR. SCHAEFER: You know, it becomes a 7 snoozer. Not a real interesting hearing. I'm 8 concerned about our public perception. 9 MS. FLEMING: I appreciate that. 10 MR. SCHAEFER: I'd like to have a rule that 11 we never appear out in public unless we're in full 12 strength. 13 MS. FLEMING: I appreciate that. 14 MR. VAZQUEZ: Well, I appreciate -- I know 15 we cut you off on your report. 16 MS. FLEMING: That's okay. 17 MR. VAZQUEZ: Is there anything else you 18 need on -- 19 MS. FLEMING: No. I think at this point, my 20 objective was to get the information to you that 21 there's a December 6th meeting. 22 Chief Counsel and attorneys are saying, 23 yeah, we should take a vote. But if we're going to 24 take a vote and have further discussion, I would 25 defer that to either later today -- 26 MR. VAZQUEZ: Yes. 27 MS. FLEMING: -- when the Chair is 28 available, or tomorrow. 32 1 Because for us, fundamentally, once we 2 determine it's going to be a public meeting, then we 3 need to at least establish quorum and follow all the 4 protocols logistically that we need to ensure the 5 success of that meeting. 6 So it would be to the Board's pleasure if 7 you wanted to defer that -- 8 MR. VAZQUEZ: I would defer -- 9 MS. FLEMING: -- to allow the Chair to have 10 some participation in the conversation. 11 And then also just to elude to the fact that 12 we are going to continue to do everything we can to 13 contain cost by doing a government-to-government 14 partnership and trying to leverage facilities there. 15 So that helps us tremendously. 16 So duly noted. 17 MR. VAZQUEZ: Any other -- 18 Oh, Mr. Gaines. 19 MR. GAINES: Question, if I could, on 20 another subject on the dashboard. 21 MR. VAZQUEZ: Sure. 22 MR. GAINES: Are we done with this 23 discussion? 24 MR. VAZQUEZ: As far as I'm concerned, we 25 are. Unless -- 26 MR. GAINES: Yes, if I could just go back to 27 recruitments in terms of the update. It sounds like 28 we have more prospects for interviews. I heard the 33 1 number 11. So I'm just wondering if, in terms of our 2 outreach, we discussed a little bit about trying to 3 reach out to community colleges and other ways to 4 find folks that might be interested in that 5 position. 6 MS. FLEMING: Yes, taking advantage of those 7 opportunities. 8 MR. GAINES: Yeah. Okay. Good. Thank 9 you. 10 MR. VAZQUEZ: Thank you. 11 Anything else? 12 Ms. Fleming? 13 MS. FLEMING: I'm just warming up. 14 MR. VAZQUEZ: Oh, take it away. 15 MS. FLEMING: Okay. 16 So, Members, and I will be brief on this for 17 the sake of timing today. 18 So on our -- the next item, just an update 19 for you on the BOE strategic plan. A little 20 commentary on the BOE strategic plan. It does cover 21 the 2020 to 2025 timeframe. The goals, again, as I 22 stated earlier, are focused on rebuilding, 23 revitalizing, and modernizing the BOE to continue the 24 successful administration of our tax programs. 25 The goals are a continuation of the 26 priorities that we've been addressing this calendar 27 year. And I just want to give you like a highlight 28 of what those goals are. 34 1 Goal one is to revitalize our work force and 2 rebuild our state agency infrastructure. 3 Goal two is to modernize our core, tax 4 administration functions, and business processes by 5 leveraging technology systems and process improvement 6 opportunities. 7 And goal three is to establish our standards 8 for subject matter expertise and training programs. 9 These things, for goal one, is really to try 10 to separate work force. And, again, I won't go into 11 all the detail, because we've had quite a bit of 12 discussion about our workforce and the need to 13 address all aspects of it, compensation, you know, 14 career development, succession planning, etc. 15 As it relates to what we're doing in terms 16 of rebuilding our infrastructure, again, as we've 17 talked about before, we've got gaps in the current 18 version of BOE 2.0 as a result of unintended outcomes 19 of what happened with AB 102. So we're going to 20 continue to address those issues. 21 Goal two we haven't talked as much about. 22 But in relating to goal two it's modernizing our core 23 tax administrative functions and business processes 24 by leveraging technology systems and process 25 improvement opportunities. 26 This one includes three objectives that will 27 focus on modernizing some of our property tax 28 information collection processes. We want to address 35 1 our Web site in examining approaches to enhance the 2 value of assessment of value -- value of assessment 3 surveys. 4 So we'll come back to you with a little bit 5 more. But we really need to start to look at the 6 technology, and clearly either modernizing or 7 replacing it, etc., just to make sure we're more 8 contemporary perhaps in some of our approaches. 9 Goal three, which is to establish our 10 standards for subject matter expertise and training 11 programs. And that goal includes two objectives, to 12 revitalize our standards for knowledge, subject 13 matter expertise and training. And this set of 14 objectives is designed to strengthen these areas 15 working with a coalition of assessors and other 16 property tax professionals. 17 If you recall, when we were at the October 18 meeting, the annual meeting with the assessors, we 19 had a lot of conversations about the opportunity to 20 partner with the assessors and others. We really 21 want to take advantage of that to make sure that our 22 staff really -- we have a lot of strength and a lot 23 of knowledge. But we also want to take advantage of 24 getting a little bit more of the intelligence for 25 really what happens inside an assessor's office, and 26 taking advantage of a little bit more pragmatic, 27 boots-on-the-ground level of detail. So we'll be 28 working with the assessors and others to try to 36 1 strengthen ourselves in that area. 2 If I can just real quickly focus on the 2020 3 to 2021 budget-related actions. We're working with 4 the Department of Finance. We're proposing to submit 5 a spring finance letter for a budget and staff 6 augmentation for the fiscal year 2020, 2021. 7 The spring finance letter is intended to ask 8 for a budget augmentation to address the deficiencies 9 that are unanticipated outcomes from the July 2017 10 AB 102 legislation. 11 The scope of our needs, especially, again, 12 when measured against our strategic plan, the scope 13 of our needs is broader than the items that identify 14 for this discussion. But I just wanted to provide 15 some insight into some of the things that we're going 16 to address in that spring finance letter. 17 Technology procurements and maintenance 18 contracts. We've got a lot of systems that are aging 19 or absolutely obsolete, and so as a result of the 20 legislation, we've got those systems, but we didn't 21 necessarily get funding to go through and do kind of 22 a wholesale management of the technology systems and 23 their maintenance contracts. 24 Things like application software, a number 25 of systems that are there, that are aged. We, just 26 this past couple of weeks, had a number of challenges 27 with some systems that Board Proceedings uses to do a 28 lot of their core work in terms of disclosures, 37 1 regulations, etc. The systems and tools were in the 2 older systems that are now being replaced. So we 3 need to look at how we're going to fund those 4 activities. 5 Our Legal Department has litigation costs, 6 AG opinions, etc. So that's just a high level. 7 Forms need to be updated and replaced. All those are 8 cost as a part of the state operation. So that's 9 just a hint as to some of the funding needs that 10 we'll have going forward. 11 We'll work with the Department of Finance on 12 how to approach the additional staffing needs for the 13 increased workload that's resulting from new 14 legislation. 15 We respect the fact that we do have 16 vacancies. We're working with Finance on redirecting 17 some of the vacancies so that we can redistribute 18 some of the work. But even beyond that, we 19 anticipate needing some additional staff resources. 20 We'll keep you informed as we continue to have more 21 conversations there. 22 As it relates to Board Meeting locations, 23 I'm going to hold that one. I would like to have -- 24 I think Chair Cohen has some input on that 25 conversation as to just ongoing for the 2020 calendar 26 year where we might have some additional locations. 27 Law does allow for us to have some meetings in 28 Sacramento and does provide for us to have meetings 38 1 in other locations. Certainly we would have to look 2 at the budget related to that. 3 And Taxpayer Rights Advocate. I'll be 4 brief. Ms. Thompson, working with Gaine's office, is 5 following up on the Mountain Ranch taxpayer scenario. 6 We've asked for some additional data working with 7 Calaveras County Assessor's Office. 8 Lisa will need a little bit more time to 9 examine that information. And she anticipates 10 providing a report on that soon. 11 Just a few nuggets. What I've asked Lisa to 12 do is to begin -- Ms. Thompson to do is to begin 13 coming to the Board to provide more matrix, so you 14 get insight into the number of cases that she 15 handles, you know, what the process is around how she 16 handles it, and how she resolves it. So she'll come 17 back to you with some more detail on that when she 18 returns for the December meeting. 19 And finally, Members, before I conclude this 20 month's report, I would like to take this opportunity 21 to say happy birthday to Vice Chair Vazquez. 22 It's my understanding you're having your 23 birthday. I think it's your 19th birthday, I 24 believe, is my understanding. 25 MR. VAZQUEZ: I can almost drink. 26 MR. SCHAEFER: We're celebrating age, you 27 know. 28 MS. FLEMING: So with that, happy birthday, 39 1 sir. 2 And, Members, that concludes this month's 3 report. 4 MR. VAZQUEZ: Thank you. 5 MS. FLEMING: Questions? 6 MS. STOWERS: I just -- 7 MR. VAZQUEZ: Ms. Stowers has a question. 8 MS. STOWERS: Thank you. 9 I know you said as far as the Board Member 10 location you want to defer when Member Cohen comes. 11 MS. FLEMING: Yes. I believe she has some 12 concepts -- 13 MR. VAZQUEZ: For the discussion. 14 MS. STOWERS: For the discussion only. 15 MS. FLEMING: -- and some comments for Board 16 discussion. 17 MS. STOWERS: So you don't know anything as 18 far as the locations or dates. 19 MS. FLEMING: I think the intent is to 20 examine, you know, as we've got Board Members that 21 are distributed up and down the state. And just to 22 really consider some of the things we talked about 23 before, we used to have meetings both in Sacramento 24 and Culver City. And so we're looking for ways to 25 maybe just sort of redistribute workload -- 26 MS. STOWERS: Okay. 27 MS. FLEMING: -- for the Members to have 28 some more local representation, local meetings. 40 1 MS. STOWERS: Okay. 2 MR. VAZQUEZ: Other questions? 3 MS. STOWERS: Well, yeah. I'm just taking a 4 breath. I'm just thinking. 5 I understand we don't have the locations 6 yet. I'm just thinking if this is an action item 7 that we're going to have to vote on. 8 MS. FLEMING: Possible action. 9 MS. STOWERS: Possible action. 10 MS. FLEMING: Discussion and possible 11 action. 12 MS. STOWERS: If between now and when 13 Ms. Cohen is available, if you can provide me with 14 some locations so that I can speak with my member. 15 I'm going to have a hard time taking a vote without 16 conferring with Controller Yee, because I don't know 17 the locations, I don't know the costs, I don't have 18 any details on this item to be comfortable with 19 voting on it. 20 MS. FLEMING: Right. And I appreciate that. 21 And I don't anticipate that we'll necessarily be 22 taking a vote today on a specific location. I think 23 it just may be in concept. 24 But, again, I'd like to table that at this 25 point until I have more information. 26 MS. STOWERS: Okay. Fine. 27 And then also, my understanding is when it 28 comes to meeting locations, the statute only requires 41 1 four within Sacramento. But the Chair of the Board 2 of Equalization has the discretion to identify other 3 locations. 4 MS. FLEMING: That is correct. 5 MS. STOWERS: And does not necessarily 6 require -- I mean, it's nice, but does not 7 necessarily require a Board vote. 8 MS. FLEMING: That's correct. 9 MS. STOWERS: Okay. That's it. 10 MR. VAZQUEZ: Good to know. 11 MS. FLEMING: Good to know. 12 MR. VAZQUEZ: Any other questions? 13 MS. FLEMING: Of course we're always 14 concerned about budget. 15 MR. VAZQUEZ: Yes. 16 MR. GAINES: I do, if I could. A couple. 17 MR. VAZQUEZ: Yes, Mr. Gaines. 18 MR. GAINES: I know you've given us a little 19 overview in terms of budget-related action. And I'm 20 just curious, would it be possible to take a look at 21 the classification process? I mean, if we're talking 22 about budget, it would be nice if we can accelerate 23 the classification process so that we can not only 24 hire the people we need, but hang onto them. Because 25 we're losing them to competition with local county 26 assessors. 27 And so -- and I know you've explained this 28 to me, that it's a two-year process. But is there 42 1 any way that we can do that through the budget and 2 try to accelerate it, or through statute, or -- 3 MS. FLEMING: Etc. 4 So if I may, I can circle back with you on 5 the details on that. We are starting -- we're doing, 6 in working with specifically in David's area now, 7 Mr. Yeung's area, we're doing a review of the 8 classifications now to look at some of those 9 challenges. 10 This specific budget action that we're 11 referring to now for the spring finance letter 12 doesn't really specifically address specifically the 13 classifications in this specific area. We're really 14 examining, really sort of operational, equipment, 15 etc., just to sort of fill some of those holes. 16 You are absolutely correct, however, when we 17 look at the classifications and the necessary 18 adjustments that once we achieve, you know, what 19 those salaries look like, it definitely will be an 20 augmentation to our budget to handle the personal 21 services portion of our budget. 22 In this case, the specific window that we're 23 focusing on doesn't -- we're not quite there yet. 24 And I'm more than happy to circle back with you to 25 give you a little bit more of that detail. 26 MR. GAINES: Okay. Yeah, let's keep talking 27 about that. 28 MS. FLEMING: Absolutely. So there will be 43 1 a need for a budget augmentation to the extent that 2 there's a salary adjustment, there's a slightly 3 different process than the spring finance letter for 4 that. 5 MR. GAINES: Okay. My concern is how do we 6 get fully ramped up from a staffing perspective, and 7 not only that, how do we hang onto those folks? And 8 this is related to the discussion that Tony will be 9 bringing forward also in terms of training. It's a 10 much bigger issue. But if we're making an ask, maybe 11 that could be included. 12 MS. FLEMING: Correct. And that will be 13 part of our discussion with State Personnel Board and 14 CalHR. We have been quite active in meetings -- 15 MR. GAINES: Okay. 16 MS. FLEMING: -- with those agencies over 17 the last few months. So we need to get all the 18 information out. 19 MR. GAINES: Okay. 20 MS. FLEMING: And I'm more than happy to 21 come back and provide you more detail there. 22 MR. GAINES: I've got some questions on the 23 draft, too, if I could through the Chair. 24 MR. VAZQUEZ: Sure. Go ahead. 25 MR. GAINES: Yeah, rebuilding, revitalizing 26 and modernizing the BOE. 27 MS. FLEMING: On the strategic plan? 28 MR. GAINES: Yes. And I'm just looking at 44 1 goal No. 2, and it -- you know, you've got three 2 bullet points. And it seems that No. 1 and No. 3 3 maybe are achieving the same goal, or they're 4 certainly related, prove data collection and 5 management capabilities. And I would clarify that 6 that be done for audits. And that we would then 7 enhance the survey relevance. 8 And a lot of the assessors that I've been 9 meeting with have said that we need to be more robust 10 in some ways. And when I say that, I mean more 11 relevant to issues that they would actually 12 appreciate us highlighting. That sometimes we're 13 focusing too much on minutia in these surveys. 14 MS. FLEMING: Right. 15 MR. VAZQUEZ: And it's not helpful. 16 MS. FLEMING: Yeah. And that's the 17 intent. 18 MR. GAINES: Yes. Yeah. 19 So I'm just wondering if maybe we can 20 clarify that language a little bit so that -- 21 MS. FLEMING: Okay. I'd be happy to circle 22 back with you on that. And that is indeed the 23 intent. Because I, too, have received input from the 24 assessors as to how do we really increase the value 25 and the relevance of the survey so that it's more 26 actionable -- 27 MR. GAINES: Yes. 28 MS. FLEMING: -- and more valuable as they 45 1 take it to their boards. So that's really the intent 2 to try to get to the heart of that. 3 MR. GAINES: Right. And as we get more 4 experienced individuals that are doing the surveys, 5 that will improve, too. 6 MS. FLEMING: Right. And that's part of the 7 training goal. 8 MR. GAINES: But if it's part of our 9 priority and part of our strategy. 10 And then on goal No. 3, establish standards 11 for subject matter expertise and training programs. 12 You know, I think in terms of improvement of training 13 programs for assessors and BOE employees. 14 So I know that, you know, we're going to 15 need more training for our staff, because we're 16 hiring people, and they're not going to have the 17 background. They're going to need that training. 18 But we're experiencing the same thing at the 19 assessor's offices too. And a lot of the rural 20 counties are asking if there can be more classes. 21 I was in Mono County last week, and county 22 assessor says, Hey, whenever a class becomes 23 available, I just reserve two spots. Because they 24 fill up so quickly. 25 MS. FLEMING: Mm-hm. 26 MR. GAINES: And so I know we're spread thin 27 there. And we've got to look at strategically how 28 are we going to provide more classes. And do they 46 1 all have to come to Sacramento? Could you get five 2 or six counties to work together, maybe in, you know, 3 San Joaquin Valley. 4 MS. FLEMING: You're stealing our thunder, 5 sir. 6 MR. GAINES: Okay. All right. I'm just 7 giving you input about what I'm hearing, though. 8 MS. FLEMING: I greatly appreciate that. 9 MR. GAINES: Yeah. Assessors. 10 MS. FLEMING: We're likewise getting some 11 information. 12 MR. GAINES: Great. Thank you. 13 MS. FLEMING: Thank you so much. We're 14 right on the same page. 15 MR. GAINES: That's it. Thanks. 16 MR. VAZQUEZ: Mr. Schaefer, I think, has 17 another question. 18 MR. SCHAEFER: Yeah. 19 Mr. Vice Chair, I've been out in Imperial 20 Valley in a rodeo, riding in a parade, going up to 21 the border and looking at the Trump fences and 22 talking with Border Patrol people. I've been doing 23 some field work talking to people in Orange County. 24 I find a great concern on behalf of a lot of the 25 people about Pacific Gas and Electric. 26 We don't have anything involving them on our 27 agenda. But anything that people are talking about. 28 I know we're not Legislators. We might want to be 47 1 able to at least chat about it at one of our noticed 2 meetings. 3 MR. VAZQUEZ: We can bring it up tomorrow. 4 MS. FLEMING: Duly noted. 5 MR. VAZQUEZ: I'm sorry. 6 Go ahead. 7 MS. FLEMING: No comments. 8 MR. VAZQUEZ: Anything else, Ms. -- 9 MS. FLEMING: That will conclude it unless 10 there's any additional questions. 11 MR. SCHAEFER: Well, you know, my concern 12 that we not have five briefing meetings as we always 13 do. I look out at the table and there's a million 14 dollars' worth of talent talking to me, and they're 15 talking to each of you separately. And I'm being 16 told that you don't want to meet with somebody else. 17 We each want to have our own meetings as a taxpayer 18 advocate. I don't think that way. I'd be happier to 19 have your honor sit in my meeting, or I sit in your 20 meeting, you know, and teleconferencing or 21 physically. 22 I just, you know, I think we're draining our 23 staff. And they may think that's what they're there 24 for. But I think they have the duty to act 25 efficiently. And I think we have a duty to tell them 26 that. 27 MR. VAZQUEZ: Well noted. 28 MS. FLEMING: Duly noted. 48 1 MR. GAINES: Can I just weigh in on that? 2 MR. VAZQUEZ: Yes. 3 MR. GAINES: Because I do, I think it's a 4 great idea. But I see a problem in that with 5 Bagley-Keene. I think we've got to be careful. 6 So let's say you and I sit in on a briefing, 7 and I've got a question about, you know, training and 8 education. And I want to run that by Tony. And I 9 can't do that, because you and I have met. 10 So I think there's value. And I realize 11 it's a lot of labor going to each Member to brief 12 them. But I think there's value in having that 13 individual opportunity. And then each Member can 14 make a decision as to, you know, what other Member 15 they may want to discuss. 16 MR. SCHAEFER: I hate to disagree with you, 17 Member Gaines, but I've been told by people smarter 18 than me that we can remedy that by just giving a 19 ten-days notice to the public that we're going to 20 have this pre-briefing. And then the public has a 21 vacant seat at the table, you know. That is, I 22 think, a cure to the problem you mentioned. 23 Plus, if I were chairing the meeting, I 24 would say, We're not going to talk about that. 25 That's for the meeting itself. You can nip that in 26 the bud if somebody is starting to add something 27 substantive. 28 I just sort of sit there and nod and 49 1 sometimes ask some procedural questions. I think all 2 the questions I have are generally procedural 3 matters, which are not really Bagley-Keene matters. 4 I would not -- I am smart enough to know that I don't 5 start discussing an agenda item at a pre-hearing. 6 The pre-hearing is just really for procedural 7 matters. So I would have my two objections. 8 I think this is the first time I've ever 9 disagreed with you. 10 MR. GAINES: That's good to have 11 discussion. 12 MR. VAZQUEZ: That's healthy. 13 And actually I'd like to -- I don't think we 14 need to weigh in today. But I think that's actually 15 a good discussion to have tomorrow as we talk about 16 our strategic planning moving forward. Because I 17 think it's a good point. And I see arguments on both 18 sides of that one. 19 But I think we do need to be very careful. 20 Because there's only five -- well, in this case, 21 technically there's only four of us that are actually 22 elected to the Board. And then of course with 23 Ms. Stowers. 24 So unlike, you know, when you're sitting at 25 a counsel meeting, and there's twelve of you, it's a 26 little bit easier to team up with one other person. 27 Here, you have to be real careful. 28 Because I agree with Mr. Gaines that, you 50 1 know, having a meeting with somebody else then puts 2 you in a very predicament. Because all it takes is 3 just one little conversation with somebody else 4 slipping something, and, boom, you've already 5 violated it. 6 MS. FLEMING: Correct. 7 MR. VAZQUEZ: So I'd rather err on the side 8 of caution here on this one. But we can discuss more 9 in detail tomorrow. 10 MS. STOWERS: May I make a quick comment? 11 MR. VAZQUEZ: Oh, I'm sorry. 12 Ms. Stowers. 13 MS. STOWERS: I also want to, for the 14 record, be clear that the Bagley-Keene Act would also 15 apply to me as the Controller representative, just 16 like it would apply to any of your chief of staffs. 17 We're under the same restrictions. 18 And I understand Member Schaefer's concern 19 about the pre-briefings and the cost, because you 20 have the executive team coming and basically going 21 over the items that are on the agenda. I get that 22 concern. 23 Me, personally, when they offer me 24 pre-briefing -- and it depends on the topic if I take 25 a pre-briefing. We have that discretion to say thank 26 you, but no thank you. 27 MS. FLEMING: And she's exercised that 28 option. 51 1 So we appreciate your comments, 2 Mr. Schaefer, and the concern to the points that 3 you've all made. It is pre-briefing times five. 4 They typically can run anywhere from an hour to more. 5 But it also gives us an opportunity, just in terms of 6 the bidirectional value of a pre-briefing, it also is 7 an opportunity for staff to not only brief you, but 8 it's an opportunity for us to hear from you what your 9 thoughts are about the presentations that we're 10 making, and then just get a sense of perhaps what 11 some of the questions are. 12 So it's a little bit of a dress rehearsal 13 for us also, so that we're walking through the 14 material, and we have that exchange. So oftentimes 15 once we are finished with the pre-briefings, there 16 may be some adjustments or corrections or updates to 17 the presentation. Especially in the beginning months 18 for sure when we're presenting information, we wanted 19 to make sure we were presenting the right level of 20 content. 21 So there is some value sometimes for staff. 22 It is, you know, certainly -- we do it five times 23 every month. So just for those of us that count 24 numbers, it's a lot by the end of the year. But we 25 do see there's a value to at least try to prepare 26 each Member for the discussions that we'll be having 27 publicly. 28 MR. SCHAEFER: Ms. Fleming, I could agree 52 1 with you if we didn't have Mr. Nanjo here. But he is 2 listening to every word, and I'm sure he has a little 3 whistle he'd blow if somebody would, you know, go 4 astray, and that somebody would say, I strike the 5 last comments. 6 I'm sure that we could get through it if 7 Mr. Vice Chairman and I were at the same meeting, and 8 one of us would say something awry, it's probably the 9 last time we would ever do it. Because, you know, 10 we're watched. We're not going to be arrested or go 11 to jail or even fined, because we're going to 12 withdrawal our inappropriate comment if there was 13 one. 14 And I'm so convinced that we are 15 experienced, he with Santa Monica, me with San Diego, 16 we're smart enough to know what not to talk about. 17 MS. FLEMING: Duly noted. We appreciate 18 that. 19 MR. VAZQUEZ: Thank you. All right. We'll 20 go ahead and move -- is there anything else on 21 your -- 22 MS. FLEMING: That concludes this month's 23 report. 24 MR. VAZQUEZ: Thank you, and we'll move 25 on. 26 MS. FLEMING: Thank you. 27 ---o0o--- 28 53 1 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE 2 3 State of California ) 4 ) ss 5 County of Sacramento ) 6 7 I, Jillian Sumner, Hearing Reporter for 8 the California State Board of Equalization, certify 9 that on November 19, 2019 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 54 14 constitute a complete and accurate transcription of 15 the shorthand writing. 16 17 Dated: December 11, 2019 18 19 20 ____________________________ 21 JILLIAN SUMNER, CSR #13619 22 Hearing Reporter 23 24 25 26 27 28 54