John Harabedian — The chair thanks the Vice Chair and explains the hearing process.
John Harabedian — Called during roll call and marked present.
John Harabedian — Harabedian is called during the roll call and votes aye.
John Harabedian — The chair is thanked by name.
John Harabedian — John Harabedian briefly hands the gavel to the vice chair, who then takes over the meeting and notes that there are four people on the speaking list, plus a fifth.
Mr. Grant Parks — Mr. Grant Parks is first congratulated for the State Auditor's Office receiving a certificate of impact from the National Conference of State Legislatures, then he begins his remarks by thanking the chair and committee and introducing his office's dedicated staff as he starts his status report on the office's staffing and audit capacity.
John Harabedian — Addressed as chairman; the transcript appears to misspell his name as 'Haribedean' in the prior section and 'Harabedian' here.
Chris Ferguson — Chris Ferguson, the Executive Vice Chancellor of Finance and Strategic Initiatives at the Chancellor's Office, is introduced as joining David O'Brien and then appears as a speaker to address the committee, urging consideration of accreditation requirements and the separation of receivables from reserves.
Jennifer Johnson — Identified herself as Vice President for Government Relations for Calbright College and began public comment supporting transparency and accountability.
Ed Lee — Identified as Calbright College's chief financial officer.
Andrew Martinez — Identified himself as representing the Community College League of California and said the organization does not oppose the audit but has concerns.
Danny Maesantiago — Spoke on behalf of Calbright College and then on behalf of labor unions, requesting that accreditation and related issues be added to the audit.
Delaney Green — Delaney Green of UC Berkeley Law’s Policy/Advocacy Clinic is introduced as a witness and then identifies herself as a clinical supervisor. She explains that the clinic has researched restitution and victim compensation, but the available data is fragmented and the system is broken, with survivors receiving only a fraction of the restitution ordered.
Esteban Nunez — Esteban Nunez introduces himself as managing director for Actum and says he is speaking both from personal experience with California’s restitution system and on behalf of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition. He contrasts his civil restitution, which is paid directly to the victim’s family and feels restorative, with his criminal restitution, which has been opaque and confusing. He describes spending years trying to understand the joint restitution order in his case, including repeated calls to CDCR and the Franchise Tax Board and wage garnishment, while seeing little reduction in the balance. He concludes that this lack of transparency is dehumanizing and says it is why the audit matters.
Mr. Parks — Introduces the audit request and summarizes its objectives.
Mr. Parks — Provides the audit scope and estimated hours.
Mr. Parks — The auditor is thanked by the Chair at adjournment.
Katie Cardenas — Introduces herself as Deputy Executive Officer of the External Affairs and Compliance Division at the California Victim Compensation Board.
Miriam Alman Chawi — Chief of the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights at CDCR; thanked Senator Ashby and said CDCR has no concerns about the audit.
Roger Lackey — Roger Lackey, the Chief Financial Officer of the Franchise Tax Board, is introduced and then continues with testimony about the Franchise Tax Board’s court-ordered debt program and its scope.
Mr. Nunez — Mr. Nunez was praised for giving an unbelievably powerful and emotionally difficult testimony. He was also described as a valued and talented member of the capital community who vulnerably shared his story with the committee.
Rich Davis — Rich Davis is introduced as a retired RUSD administrator and member of the University Neighborhood Association, then begins his testimony with a brief exchange about time limits. He identifies himself as a Riverside resident representing homeowners, community organizations, and UCR resident students who have consistently opposed the project and support the audit.
Rich Davis — Mentioned as Lorna Davis's husband and a longtime district employee.
Renee Hill — Renee Hill, superintendent of Riverside Unified School District, testified about the district’s STEM Center and the work completed so far, including the STEM Academy’s background and standing. She concluded by noting that there had been substantial public input, that the school is an existing program serving students well, and that the district shares the committee’s interest in protecting the public process and ensuring proper expenditure of funds.
Mr. Davis — Referenced as transitioning out before the next speaker begins.
Daniel Modafari — Identified himself as litigation counsel for Riverside Unified and offered to answer questions about the litigation status.
Lorna Davis — Introduced herself as Rich Davis's wife and a longtime member of the RUSD school community.
SB1000 — Cited as a statutory consultation requirement relevant to the project.
Roger Moore — Roger Moore is introduced and then briefly introduces himself as an Oakland-based public lawyer with more than three decades of experience representing counties, water contractors, and environmental groups on water rights and State Water Project accountability and sustainability issues, including work in the Delta and northern Sacramento Valley.
Kelly Tabor — Kelly Tabor, representing cities, counties, and public water agencies in and north of the Delta including State Water Project contract holders, argues that legislative oversight is needed because DWR has not provided a complete accounting of how much money it has spent and will need to spend to permit and build the Delta Tunnel, including the sources of that funding.
Carla Namath — Identifies herself as the director of the department and begins the department's response to the audit request.
John Rubin — Identified himself as Executive Advisor for Water Resources and Capital Improvements at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and argued the audit would not be an effective use of resources.
Dr. Moore — The speaker follows up with Dr. Moore, first noting there is one more question for him if he is still present, then asking whether he or his organization are considering or planning any future litigation aimed at stopping the Delta Conveyance Project.
Jennifer Pier — Jennifer Pier, general manager for State Contractors, says she represents 18 public water agencies paying the planning costs and that delays increase costs.
Kira Ross — Kira Ross, speaking on behalf of the City of Burbank, states opposition to the audit.
Cynthia Cortez — Cynthia Cortez, identified as 'was restored Delta' in the transcript, speaks in support of an audit of DWR and on behalf of several organizations.
Terry McKeel — Spoke on behalf of Aaron Reed & Associates and the Upper San Gabriel Valley Water District in opposition to the audit, saying there is no evidence of abuse and urging the committee to vote it down.
Chris Anderson — Testified on behalf of the California Chamber of Commerce in opposition to the audit.
Chris Anderson — Testified in opposition on behalf of the California Chamber of Commerce.
Morgan Snyder — Testified on behalf of Restore the Delta in support of the audit.
Rick Callender — Testified as President of the California, Hawaii State Conference of the NAACP in opposition to the audit.
Sarah Stieber — Identified as representing the Coachella Valley Water District; the remainder of the sentence is garbled and partially unclear.
Matt Roman — Testified on behalf of Eastern Municipal Water District and West Basin Municipal Water District in opposition to the audit.
Ed Manning — Spoke on behalf of Mojave Water Agency and opposed the audit, referencing negotiations over the 2008 Delta Reform Act.
Spencer Fern — Testified on behalf of Restore the Delta in support of the audit.
Ashley Castaneda — Testified on behalf of Restore the Delta in support of the audit.
Thomas Brisbane — Said the project cost estimate of close to five billion is not accurate and urged support for the audit.
Joshua Golko — Testified on behalf of the Santa Clara Valley Water District in opposition to the audit.
Barbara Berrigan-Parr? — Testified on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife, Friends of the River, Little Manila Rising, and Restore the Delta members in support of the audit, arguing that funds held by DWR should be audited.
Roger Mamma — Testified on behalf of the California Striped Bass Association and supported the audit.