RANCHO RINCONADA BOARD MEETING
Minutes
7:15 PM, July 9th, 2013
Rancho Rinconada Recreation Hall
Miriam called the meeting to order at 7:19 pm
Board Members Present: Jordan Eldridge, Julie Jervis, Miriam Salo, Sandra Yeaton (left @ 8:50 during new
business 1b), and Steve Wesolowski
Staff and Guests Present: Kevin Davis and Lance Howard
Mr. Howard came to give his support to the Homework Club program. He expressed that the high quality of
tutelage and lower price are essential for families that do not have enough money to afford the higher priced learning
programs in the area. Mr. Howard’s daughter has had excellent progress through the program and he would like to
see the program continue into the next school year.
COMMUNICATIONS:
A letter arrived for the CSDA Board of Directors elections. Jordan made a motion to approve a vote for Sherry M.
Sterrett since she has a parks and recreation background and because she is the only one who took the time to send
a biography. Julie seconded, all voted in favor, Sandra voted against.
Sandra read the minutes for the June 4th, 2013 Board Meeting. Jordan moved to approve the minutes with minor
spelling and grammar amendments, Steve seconded, all voted in favor.
Kevin read the Manager’s Report about the events that occurred since the last Board Meeting.
Steve made a motion to discuss and approve payroll checks and Wells Fargo account checks #2513 to #2599, Julie
seconded, all voted in favor.
OLD BUSINESS:
1. Check signing days – July 17th­ Julie
July 31st­ Steve
2. Pool Status ­ There was a pool closure for maintenance July 4th due to maintenance issues. Also, the future
projects section of the pool status was changed to include a timetable for completion.
3. Native Drought Tolerant Landscaping (turf replacement): A discussion took place regarding the
Master Gardener Program and the possibility of a partnership. The general consensus was that the District
Manager would reach out to the program leaders and make plan which will be presented at a future meeting.
4. Landscaper Review: The new landscapers are doing well. No action was necessary.
5. Homework Club Review: Taking Mr. Howard’s earlier support into account, a discussion took place
regarding the fate of the Homework Club. The consensus seemed to be that the costs to continue trying to
grow the program are acceptable but that there should be a timeline. Sandra was opposed to the program
and insisted that it is a waste of public funds. The directive from the board was to aggressively advertise over
the summer and attempt to turn the program around by December.
6. Checking Account: This item was postponed so that the board members might look into Focus Bank more
deeply.
FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS:
1. Upcoming Conferences of Interest:
a. Jordan made a motion to approve the funds for the District Manager and any of the other board
members to attend the California Special Districts Association’s Annual Conference & Exhibitor
Showcase in Monterey September 16th through 19th. The cost to attend is $525 per person with
certain modules costing between $150 and $225. These costs as well as travel and hotel will depend
on how many board members attend. Julie seconded, and a conversation on the benefits of the
convention took place. All voted in favor.
b. Jordan made a motion to approve the estimated $1685.70 for the District Manager to attend the
CSDA’s General Manager Leadership Summit in Newport Beach on July 14th through the 16th.
The cost breakdown and proposal can be viewed here. Julie seconded the motion, and all voted in
favor.
c. A brief discussion took place regarding the Bay Area Landscaping Water Conference occurring on
July 25th in Dublin. The District Manager will attend this free conference in order to learn ways that
Rancho can conserve water.
NEW BUSINESS:
1. Review District Policies:
a. Jordan made a motion to accept district policy series 1000, Julie seconded. Steve had some
concerns with policy 1040. He was concerned that personal liability claims were not properly
worded and that some of the dollar amounts should be replaced by the Rancho’s insurance
deductible. A short discussion took place regarding the wording but no amendments were made. All
voted in favor. Steve also voted in favor but wanted his dissent for policy 1040 to be noted.
b. Julie made a motion to accept district policy series 4000, Jordan seconded. Policy 4030 was revised
in order to clarify that the director’s fee is for attending meetings. There were concerns that policy
4060 may be unnecessary and that ad hoc committees might serve the same purpose. Steve took a
position against standing committees, whereas Jordan wanted the committees in place in case they
are needed. Sandy left the meeting at 8:50. Three voted in favor, Sandy was absent, Steve voted in
against.
c. Julie made a motion to accept district policy series 5000, Steve seconded. Policy 5070.2.1 was
amended from “Once the President has been recognized...” to “Once the President has recognized
the Director...” and there were brief discussions regarding meeting recordings, and special meeting
notification to media outlets. 4 voted in favor, Sandy was absent.
d. Julie made a motion to accept district policy series 9000, Steve seconded with amendments. Policy
9050.2.4 was revised to remove windows specific instructions. Policy 9080.1 had the language
softened from “... employees should attempt to …” to “... employees should be encouraged to...” A
discussion took place regarding this change. 4 voted in favor, Sandy was absent
2. Committee Creation: This item was passed as part of the district policy 4060
3. Bank Statement Procedure: Kevin explained that the procedure for opening bank statements is
cumbersome. Steve explained that this is to prevent embezzlement which has potentially happened in the
past. Kevin proposed asking our auditor if having the electronic copy sent directly to the board would be
satisfactory. This idea was accepted but no vote was made regarding the issue.
4. Work week & work day change: Jordan moved to approve the proposal to change the start of the work
week from Saturday at 12:01 am to Sunday at 3:30 am in order to eliminate shifts being split between two
days. Julie seconded, and all voted in favor.
5. Slippery Breezeway Floor: A Brief discussion took place regarding the slippery state of the breezeway
tiles. There were several ideas on how to fix the issue however the item was eventually postponed pending
some potential fixes that are in the works from Live Planet.
6. Consent Calendar New Employee: Julie made a motion to accept the new employees as presented in the
consent calendar below, Steve seconded, all voted in favor.
Alan Yap
Daniel Vahabi
Jerry Wu
Mane Mikayelyan
Mina Loldj
Alexander Canales­Rocha
Divyya Munshi
John He
Matt Novak
Monica Shih
Alyssa Chen
Elisabeth Messner Joseph Luo
Melissa Kumnoonsate Savanna Kiene
Charles Tzou
Ishan Sharma
Kaelyn Novak
Meryem Guler
Cynthia Xu
Jennifer Pai
Madeleine Klein Michael Munson
Sonia Lee
Vivian Lue
POSTPONED ITEMS:
Background checks & tuberculosis testing: waiting until after the swim season to tackle the wording on this item.
Jordan moved to adjourn, Julie seconded, all voted in favor.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 pm