936th
MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OF THE ALAMEDA COUNTY MOSQUITO ABATEMENT DISTRICT
April 30, 2008
SPECIAL BOARD MEETING
TIME |
5:00 P.M. |
PLACE |
District Office, 23187 Connecticut Street, Hayward |
TRUSTEES |
James
Kohnen, President, City of Dublin
William
M. Spinola, Vice-president, City of Newark
John
D. Hughes, Secretary, City of Fremont
Dennis
Bray, President, County-at-large
Edgar
I. Centeno, City of Pleasanton
James
N. Doggett, City of Livermore
T.
David Edwards, City of Alameda
Stuart
Flashman, City of Oakland
Paul
T. Garcia, City of Hayward
Jim
Golden, City of Emeryville
Denny
McLeod, City of Piedmont
Jim
Prola, City of San Leandro
Ronald
Quinn, City of Union City
Jan
O. Washburn, City of Berkeley
|
President
James Kohnen called the Board meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.
Trustees
Prola and Spinola were absent from the meeting. Trustee Flashman arrived after
roll call.
The minutes
of the 935th meeting held April 9, 2008 were reviewed and approved (Golden/Edwards
– unanimous with Doggett abstaining).
President
Kohnen outlined the public hearing procedures then introduced District Manager
John Rusmisel and John Bliss, Assessment Engineer from SCI Consulting Group
to provide background on the District finances and benefit assessment.
Mr. Rusmisel
provided a short history of the District, highlighting the fiscal events that
prompted the District to consider a benefit assessment (text attached).
Mr. Bliss
reported that 351,677 ballots had been mailed and that C.G. Uhlenberg LLP had
received 97,090 ballots for a return of 27.6% which is the highest rate of return
that they have seen for an urban county. He said it was a good sign having this
level of participation. SCI had sent out 188 replacement ballots that were requested
by property owners in the County. C.G. Uhlenberg LLP will start counting the
votes on May 1 and should have the results by the May 14th Board meeting. The
District must receive a positive response from the weighted majority of the
ballots in order to implement the benefit assessment.
President
Kohnen opened the public hearing portion of the meeting. There were two individuals
and one letter written to the Board concerning the benefit assessment.
Sophia Limnios
from Castro Valley, had several questions for the Board, first she wanted to
know why the meeting was scheduled for 5:00 p.m., secondly she wanted to know
how the Board knows the money from the benefit assessment is going to be used
for mosquito control. She ended her comments by saying the assessment is not
fair and she is opposed to it.
Michael Ruffolo
from Piedmont, stated that his brother Jim had died last Thursday in Modesto
after having been infected with West Nile Virus and hospitalized since August.
He said that even though the disease is rare it is a debilitating disease and
it is important to control it. His brother was one of 21 people who died from
West Nile Virus last year and at age 67 was too young to die from it.
He urged the Board to go forward with the assessment and prevent West Nile Virus.
Andrew Tran,
from Fremont, wrote to thank the District for informing him of the mosquito
issues in the county and stated that he supported the proposed assessment.
President
Kohnen then closed the public comment portion of the hearing and called for
a break while staff and consultants met briefly to discuss responses to the
questions received in the public hearing.
After the
break, District Manager Rusmisel answered Sophia Limnios's question about the
selection of the meeting time. The 5:00 p.m. meeting time is the standard meeting
time for the District and has been for over 20 years. It was well publicized
in the newspapers and in the ballot information guide. There is no perfect time
that would be convenient for all members of the public.
Mr. Bliss
answered Sophia Limnios's other question about how the funds from the benefit
assessment will be spent. California Government Code as outlined by Proposition
218 “The Right to Vote on Taxes Act”, states that the funds may only be spent
for the expressed purpose they were proposed for in the assessment hearing.
President
Kohnen announced that the public hearing would be continued to May 14, 2008
at 5:00 p.m. at the Alameda County Mosquito Abatement District office, 23187
Connecticut Street, Hayward, CA 94545.
The President
asked if there were any items to add to agenda for the next Board meeting in
May, hearing none, the meeting was adjourned
at 5:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
_________________________
John D. Hughes, Secretary
Approved
as written and/or corrected
at the 937th
meeting of the Board of
Trustees
held May 14, 2008
__________________________
James Kohnen,
President
BOARD OF
TRUSTEES
