HomeMy Public PortalAbout20200108 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD)
January 8, 2020
Board Meeting 20-01
*Approved by the Board of Directors on January 22, 2020
SPECIAL AND REGULAR MEETING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
Administrative Office
330 Distel Circle
Los Altos, CA 94022
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
APPROVED MINUTES*
SPECIAL MEETING – CLOSED SESSION
Vice-President Holman called the special meeting of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space
District to order at 6:00 p.m.
Director Riffle recused himself from participating in this potential transaction between POST
and the District due to his employment with POST, which is categorized as a remote interest
under California Government Code section 1091.
ROLL CALL
Members Present: Jed Cyr, Larry Hassett, Karen Holman, Zoe Kersteen-Tucker, and Yoriko
Kishimoto
Members Absent: Pete Siemens and Curt Riffle
Staff Present: General Manager Ana Ruiz, General Counsel Hilary Stevenson, Assistant
General Manager Susanna Chan, Real Property Manager Mike Williams,
Planner III Elish Ryan
Public comments opened at 6:00 p.m.
No speakers present.
Public comments closed at 6:00 p.m.
1. CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATORS (Government Code
Section 54956.8)
Property: San Mateo County APN: 066-280-050
Agency Negotiator: Mike Williams, Real Property Manager
Negotiating Party: Ben Wright, Peninsula Open Space Trust
Under Negotiation: Terms and Conditions
Meeting 20-01 Page 2
ADJOURNMENT
Vice-President Holman adjourned the special meeting of the Board of Directors of the
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District at 6:53 p.m.
REGULAR MEETING
Vice-President Holman called the regular meeting of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space
District to order at 7:00 p.m.
Vice-President Holman reported the Board met in closed session, and no reportable action was
taken.
ROLL CALL
Members Present: Jed Cyr, Larry Hassett, Karen Holman, Zoe Kersteen-Tucker, Yoriko
Kishimoto, and Curt Riffle
Members Absent: Pete Siemens
Staff Present: General Manager Ana Ruiz, General Counsel Hilary Stevenson, Assistant
General Manager Susanna Chan, Chief Financial Officer/Director of
Administrative Services Stefan Jaskulak, District Clerk/Assistant to the
General Manager Jennifer Woodworth, Natural Resources Manager Kirk
Lenington, Visitor Services Manager Matt Anderson, Interpretation &
Education Program Manager Renée Fitzsimons, Public Affairs Manager
Kori Skinner
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
No speakers present.
SPECIAL ORDERS OF THE DAY
• Introduction of staff
o Ivana Vento, Administrative Assistant
o Elizabeth Storey, Administrative Assistant
o Ellen Tjosvold, Interpretive Specialist
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Motion: Director Cyr moved, and Director Riffle seconded the motion to adopt the agenda.
VOTE: 6-0-0 (Director Siemens absent)
CONSENT CALENDAR
Public comment opened at 7:10 p.m.
Meeting 20-01 Page 3
No speakers present.
Public comment closed at 7:10 p.m.
Motion: Director Kishimoto moved, and Director Kersteen-Tucker seconded the motion to
approve the Consent Calendar.
VOTE: 6-0-0 (Director Siemens absent)
1. Claims Report
BOARD BUSINESS
2. Election of the Calendar Year 2020 Officers for the Midpeninsula Regional Open
Space District Board of Directors (R-20-01)
District Clerk Jennifer Woodworth described the procedure for electing Board officers.
Public comment opened at 7:12 p.m.
No speakers present.
Public comment closed at 7:12 p.m.
Director Hassett nominated Director Holman for President and Director Cyr seconded the
nomination. No further nominations were presented.
Motion: Director Cyr moved, and Director Kishimoto seconded the motion to close the
nominations for Board President.
By a vote of 6 to 0, the Board elected Director Holman as Board President for Calendar Year
2020.
President Holman thanked Director Siemens for his service as Board President.
President Holman called for nominations for Board Vice President.
Director Hassett nominated Director Riffle for Vice President and Director Kersteen-Tucker
seconded the nomination. No further nominations were presented.
Motion: Director Hassett moved, and Director Cyr seconded the motion to close the
nominations for Board Vice-President.
By a vote of 6 to 0, the Board elected Director Riffle as Board Vice President for Calendar Year
2020.
President Holman called for nominations for Board Treasurer.
Meeting 20-01 Page 4
Director Kersteen-Tucker nominated Director Kishimoto for Board Treasurer, and Director
Riffle seconded the nomination. No further nominations were presented.
Motion: Director Hassett moved, and Director Cyr seconded the motion to close the
nominations for Board Treasurer.
By a vote of 6 to 0, the Board elected Director Kishimoto as Board Treasurer for the 2020
calendar year.
President Holman called for nominations for Board Secretary.
Director Kishimoto nominated Director Cyr for Board Secretary and Director Riffle seconded
the nomination. No further nominations were presented.
Motion: Director Hassett moved, and Director Riffle seconded the motion to close the
nominations for Board Secretary.
By a vote of 6 to 0, the Board elected Director Cyr as Board Secretary for Calendar Year 2020.
VOTE: 6-0-0 (Director Siemens absent)
Director Hassett suggested the guidelines outlined in the Board report be updated to read that the
Board President and Vice-President could be rather than would be nominated based on the
amount of time since a District ward was last represented as either Board officer.
Ms. Woodworth reported that the guidelines are not Board policy, and the Board is not bound by
them. Ms. Woodworth confirmed that the guidelines can be updated for the next year to read as
follows:
1. The Director representing the ward, which ward has not held the position of president for
the longest duration of time, could be nominated to serve as the Board President.
2. If the Director representing that ward is newly elected, he/she could serve as the Board
Vice-President to allow sufficient opportunity to become familiarized with the Board and
District before serving as Board President.
3. The ward that has the second longest duration of time since serving as president could be
nominated to serve as vice-president.
3. Consideration of a Special Recognition honoring docent Chris MacIntosh for her
long-standing 40 years of volunteer service with the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space
District (R-20-04)
Interpretation & Education Program Manager Renée Fitzsimons provided the staff report
describing the 40 years of service docent Chris MacIntosh has provided to the District to date.
Public comments opened at 7:29 p.m.
Paul Billig spoke in support of his request to name a trail for Chris MacIntosh to honor her 40
years of volunteer service to the District. Mr. Billig described the trail for proposed naming and
the hikes Ms. MacIntosh leads along the trail.
Meeting 20-01 Page 5
June Cancell shared a letter from Kathryn Strachota that highlighted Chris MacIntosh’s years of
service as a docent and supported naming a trail for Chris MacIntosh.
Katherine Greene spoke in support of naming a trail for Chris MacIntosh to recognize and
acknowledge her achievements and the importance of the docent program.
Mary Bernstein spoke in support of naming a trail for Chris MacIntosh.
Chris MacIntosh thanked the Board and District for considering naming a trail after her in
recognition of her service. She described her hikes along the trail and shared her positive
experiences from volunteering as a docent for the District.
Public comments closed at 7:44 p.m.
Director Hassett reported on the Legislative, Funding, and Public Affairs Committee’s
recommendation to support naming a trail after Chris MacIntosh.
Director Riffle spoke in favor of naming the trail for Chris MacIntosh.
Motion: Director Hassett moved, and Director Kersteen-Tucker seconded the motion to
1. Approve naming an existing 0.5-mile, narrow unnamed trail that starts at the North Ridge
Parking Lot at Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve the “Chris MacIntosh Trail”
to honor docent Chris MacIntosh for her 40 years of volunteer service.
2. Approve the issuance of a proclamation acknowledging Chris MacIntosh’s remarkable
docent service achievement.
3. Hold a small, informal dedication onsite in 2020.
VOTE: 6-0-0 (Director Siemens absent)
The Board recessed at 7:56 p.m. and reconvened at 8:03 p.m. with Directors Cyr, Hassett,
Holman, Kersteen-Tucker, Kishimoto, and Riffle present.
4. Science Advisory Panel Topics (R-20-05)
Natural Resources Manager Kirk Lenington introduced the representatives of the Science
Advisory Panel (SAP): Lydia Vaughn, Erica Spotswood, and Stephanie Panlasigui from the San
Francisco Estuary Institute. Mr. Lenington presented the staff report describing the project to
date and proposed process to be used by the SAP, including topic selection, development of the
scope and budget for topic study, research, and reporting back to District staff and Board of
Directors. Mr. Lenington reported the suggested topics were reviewed by the Planning and
Natural Resources Committee and subsequently further refined based on the budget, amount of
time needed to complete the project, available scientific research, etc.
President Holman requested staff clarify on the work deliverables that the Science Advisory
Panel will be creating.
Mr. Lenington reported the deliverable for all the proposed topics will be a summary of existing
research describing the current scientific understating of a topic. No field research would be
conducted, but proposed methods of collecting field data could be described if future field
research is recommended or of interest for a particular topic.
Meeting 20-01 Page 6
Director Kersteen-Tucker suggested the research topic related to grazing include research into
alternative options for grassland management other than grazing.
Ms. Spotswood presented the proposed topics for study describing each proposed topic to be
researched, timeline for completing research, type of research to be conducted, and an overview
of information currently available.
Director Riffle inquired how other partners may be included in the process.
Ms. Spotswood reported the SAP will learn about partner agency programs as part of the initial
phase of research.
Mr. Lenington reported the SAP and staff will reach out to District partners to inform them of the
SAP research topics and process.
Board members requested and received clarification of the various research topics and their
scopes of research.
Ms. Spotswood and Mr. Lenington reported the SAP will be working with staff to further define
and refine the topics to address District needs, budget, current scientific knowledge available,
etc.
Public comments opened at 8:52 p.m.
Peter Cnudde provided comments regarding the impact of cattle grazing on climate change and
spoke against District support of cattle grazing. Mr. Cnudde spoke in support of researching
alternatives to cattle grazing for grassland management.
Pat Caffiello spoke in support of the District’s mission and against subsidized cattle grazing on
public land stating that it negatively affects climate change, riparian areas, etc. Mr. Caffiello
spoke in favor of studying alternatives to cattle grazing for grassland management.
Deniz Bolbol spoke against cattle grazing on District land and in favor of phasing out cattle
grazing. Ms. Bolbol spoke in favor of studying the negative impacts of cattle grazing on the
natural habitat.
Vinay Rao spoke regarding the negative impact of cattle grazing on biodiversity, soil quality, etc.
Janie Ryan spoke against cattle grazing on District land and to broaden the research scope to
study the repercussions of cattle grazing.
Kathleen Yoon spoke in favor of the SAP studying other options to cattle grazing and the impact
of cattle grazing on wildlife. Ms. Yoon spoke in favor of studying the natural biodiversity of
District lands.
Andres Gonzalez spoke against cattle grazing in the Bay Area.
Meeting 20-01 Page 7
Mohan Gurunathan spoke in favor of studying the impacts of cattle grazing and spoke against
cattle grazing.
Kathleen Willey spoke against livestock grazing on public lands due to negative wildlife
impacts.
Debbie Parsons spoke in favor of ending the livestock grazing program on coastal lands and in
favor of the SAP further studying the impact of grazing on wildlife.
Public comments closed at 9:10 p.m.
General Manager Ana Ruiz provided information related to the District’s expansion into the San
Mateo coastside and mission to preserve agricultural lands and rural character of the area and
encourage viable use of agricultural land resources. This mission was embedded in the
conditions of approval for that expansion, in the coastside mission statement, and in other legal
documents. Cattle grazing is part of the District’s conservation grazing program for managing
vast coastal grasslands and allows the District to continue to preserve and manage open space
lands in a cost-effective manner. If the District is not actively meeting its coastside
commitments, then it may not be able to continue preserving additional open space on the
coastside in the future to protect important wildlife corridors, salmonid habitat, sensitive coastal
grasslands, and other important natural resources that sustain the region’s biodiversity. The
District seeks the knowledge and expertise of a panel of unbiased scientific experts to study the
topic and provide the District with important findings to inform on land management decisions.
Director Kersteen-Tucker spoke regarding the agricultural heritage of the San Mateo Coast.
Director Kishimoto spoke in favor of expanding the scope of study to include alternatives to
cattle grazing for land management.
Director Kishimoto suggested studying how to monitor changes in bacteria at the landscape in
addition to monitoring plants and animals.
Mr. Lenington suggested the scope could be broadened to monitor biodiversity, but the cost of
the monitoring program would likely be extremely high and cost prohibitive.
Director Hassett suggested including a study of alternate options for grazing tenants other than
cattle grazing in order to help maintain the rural character of the coastside area.
Director Riffle inquired how members of the public can continue to be engaged in the process.
Mr. Lenington stated the SAP may provide an interim informational update to confirm the scope
of study. When the information is received from the SAP, the District will use public meetings
and other methods to inform the public of the results.
Ms. Ruiz stated the Board and staff will also need to study and carefully evaluate the trade-offs
that would impact the District’s ability to preserve additional acreage of open space lands on the
coastside if grazing is no longer used as a tool for land management.
Motion: Director Kersteen-Tucker moved, and Director Kishimoto seconded the motion to
Meeting 20-01 Page 8
1. Authorize the General Manager to direct the Science Advisory Panel to prepare scientific
reviews for the following three topics:
• How can the District effectively and efficiently monitor changes in priority plant and
animal populations at the landscape scale?
• What are the visitation and recreational use benefits and trade-offs to fulfilling
District goals, including natural resource protection and ecologically-sensitive public
enjoyment and education?
• Review of cattle grazing benefits and impacts:
• What is the net climate impact of cattle grazing (e.g., potential increase in soil
carbon minus cattle methane emissions)? What are the District’s options,
such as grazing regimes or dietary additives, to reduce emissions from cattle
grazing?
• What are the current scientific results on the effectiveness of managing
grasslands and reducing fire risk with cattle grazing?
• How does cattle grazing as a land management strategy compare to
alternatives in achieving District goals including climate protection and what
are the trade-offs?
2. Retain the remaining 10 topics as reviewed by the Planning and Natural Resources
Committee for future consideration when the Year 2 Science Advisory Panel work plan is
discussed in 2020.
3. Direct staff to return to the Board with the refined topics and definition of the SAP
deliverables and provide periodic updates.
Friendly amendment: Director Kishimoto suggested altering question 1 to read “How can the
District effectively and efficiently monitor changes in biodiversity populations at the landscape
scale?”
Mr. Lenington suggested staff could return with additional information for an expanded scope
after discussing the topic with the SAP. However, the cost prohibitive nature of monitoring soil
bacteria would likely prevent the District from being able to monitor it. He suggested focusing
on key indicators among plants and animals.
President Holman suggested returning to this topic after the SAP has completed a year of study
and has a better understanding of the topic.
Director Kishimoto withdrew her friendly amendment.
VOTE: 6-0-0 (Director Siemens absent)
5. Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Board Compensation (R-20-03)
General Counsel Hilary Stevenson provided the staff report describing the legal requirement for
the Board to make annual findings related to the number of compensable meetings per month.
The Board may also consider directing staff to draft an ordinance to increase the Board’s per
meeting compensation up to 5% from $100 per meeting to $105. Finally, the Board may direct
staff to make additional changes to the Board policy related to defining compensable meetings,
health insurance, etc.
Meeting 20-01 Page 9
Director Riffle spoke in favor of compensating up to six meetings a month and spoke against
increasing the amount of Board compensation. Director Riffle suggested any additional policy
changes be referred to the Legislative, Funding, and Public Affairs Committee for further
discussion.
Director Hassett spoke in favor of increasing Board compensation because the law has not been
amended since 1984, and the low amount of compensation may be prohibitive for some to serve
on the Board of Directors.
Director Kersteen-Tucker suggested modifying the mileage reimbursement allowances to be for
all District meetings, not only those not held at the administrative office.
Chief Financial Officer Stefan Jaskulak reported the District policy is that anything in excess of
the normal commute is reimbursable, and for the Board the administrative office is considered
the normal commute.
Public comments opened at 10:11 p.m.
No speakers present
Public comments closed at 10:11 p.m.
Motion: Director Holman moved, and Director Cyr seconded the motion to:
1. Adopt a Resolution making annual findings required by law that up to six compensable
Board meetings per month are necessary for the effective operation of the agency.
2. Direct the General Manager and General Counsel to prepare and introduce an ordinance
increasing Board compensation by five percent from $100.00 to $105.00 per meeting,
consistent with current law.
3. Direct the General Counsel to compile a list of compensable meetings.
4. Refer other possible changes to Board Policy 6.06 – Meeting Compensation, Reimbursement
of Authorized Necessary Expenses for Performance of Official Duties, and Adoption of
Ethics Training Requirements Pursuant to Government Code Section 53232 et seq.
(AB1234), including additional research on mileage reimbursement options, to the
Legislative, Funding, and Public Affairs Committee for further deliberation.
A. Additional research regarding mileage reimbursement.
VOTE: 5-1-0 (Director Riffle dissenting; Director Siemens absent)
INFORMATIONAL REPORTS
A. Committee Reports
No Committee reports.
B. Staff Reports
Ms. Woodworth reported the Planning and Natural Resources meeting for January 14, 2020 will
now be an offsite visit.
Meeting 20-01 Page 10
Mr. Jaskulak reported on the Measure AA Annual Accountability report that was provided to the
Board of Directors and will be reviewed by the Bond Oversight Committee.
Ms. Ruiz reported on a recent new article regarding the surplus land property process for 330
Distel Circle.
C. Director Reports
The Board members submitted their compensatory reports.
Director Kersteen-Tucker passed along positive feedback from the San Mateo County Farm
Bureau related to the conservation grazing workshop held on December 17, 2019.
ADJOURNMENT
President Holman adjourned the regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula
Regional Open Space District at 10:22 p.m.
________________________________
Jennifer Woodworth, MMC
District Clerk