Aloha. Good afternoon, everybody. This is SBA America, but again, we're focusing on small businesses in Hawaii. Thanks for joining us today. August is proving to be a very, very busy month, and you can see by our panel with us today we have two guests. That's just how much activity is going on and how much information we have to share with you about small businesses in Hawaii and just how well they're doing, how we can do even better. I'm pleased to have Reg Baker with me. Many of you know Reg. He is a prominent member of our small business community and active with the Chamber. CPA, running his own business, specializing with small business. Reg also serves on our Region 9 Regulatory Reform Board, helping bring issues that small businesses have to the attention of the SBA and also making sure that your voices are heard. We also are very fortunate to have Yvonne Lee here, who is visiting from our regional office, our Office of Advocacy in San Francisco. She has some very special meetings planned and some different things to tell you about that SBA's Office of Advocacy is doing here for businesses across the country and for small businesses here in Hawaii. We're lucky she's going to be able to visit twice this month because so much is going on. Some of the important things that we're seeing happen, even this week, we've got a special activity that's a partnership of SBA and AARP. It's part of our summer of mentoring and it's called Encore Entrepreneur, your next best venture. And that is for people who are looking or have started a business venture here in Hawaii. And they're a baby boomer. Maybe it's their second career. This is happening on Saturday or maybe just people maybe haven't started yet. Maybe you're just thinking about, should I take my hobby or my interest and make a business out of it? So this program is to help you do just that or explore the possibilities. It'll be this Saturday from 9.30 to 11.30 and it will be a ward warehouse on the second floor in the kakaoko room. You'll hear from people who have done exactly that. You know, retired from our early career, started a small business and been very, very successful. What did they face? How did they make the change? And where are they going from that point on? So this is on Saturday, August 13th. You can call our office at 541-290 or contact AARP to get more information or register. But this group is a fast growing group. One of the faster segments. And they've added about 23% growth in this demographic over the last several years. So we can help those businesses get your idea on paper, figure out which way to go, and help you launch your business with the skills that you've learned and gained in your first career. We also have an event going on this week on August 11th. And this is with our Chamber of Commerce and discussing small business financing. Where do you find money? Really important question. And Reg, I know you're involved with that. Maybe you want to tell us a little bit about what you expect to go on with the Chamber of Commerce. Sure, I'd be happy to. I'm the Chair of the Small Business and Entrepreneurial Committee of the Chamber of Commerce. And this is an event that we do maybe every other month, you know, once every two months. And this is on August 11th. This one is going to be about, you know, focusing on the financing piece of what small businesses need to have. So we're going to have a Central Pacific Bank out there. We're going to have a Y National Bank out there. We're also going to be talking a little bit with the SBA. They're going to have some information. All about obtaining the capital and the resources, the financial resources you need in order to either start the business or take the business to the next level. And that's usually one of the bigger challenges that most small businesses experience is that access to capital. Access to capital? Where to find the money? How do I get money? Where's my credit? I mean, it's a complicated but critically important question for small business. So I'm glad you're going to be doing that and we'll be happy to support that. Most people know that financing is one of SBA's most important programs. And it is the lifeblood of small business. So we need to make sure that small businesses know what they need to do, where to find it. And so I'm glad you're offering. What time is this? This is going to be in the morning on August 11th. That's a Thursday. It's going to start registrations at 8 o'clock and then about 8.30 we'll kick the program off and then for about an hour we're going to have a series of speakers come out and talk about how, you know, what their process, what their procedures are and how to get money and what the SBA's role in all of this. SBA's not necessarily a lender but they are active in securing that funding in different ways. Yeah. I really always liked writing those big checks. No. SBA isn't a lender but we do guarantee a lot of loans and we have funds available to lend this year and a lot of different programs. So I think it would be great and very interesting for people to hear how we can make that happen for small businesses. And I just wanted to mention, you know, this entrepreneurship that you're going to have on August 13th, it's amazing to me how many people that normally would be retiring in their 60s are actually showing up for these events and trying to find out exactly how to have a business and start a business and there's a lot of reasons for that. But today people are living for another 20, 25 years and they want something to do. This is an exciting time for them to try out something they've been thinking about. And some of them are interested in supplementing a retirement income or creating a legacy or some idea that they've had and want to start with their families for example and maybe nobody's had the time or the availability to do it and now's the opportunity. We also see in a lot of people that will start kind of a socially conscious venture. They want to be able to give back and a lot of those companies as small businesses are finding a lot of success. So we hope some of you will come out and join us for this activity even if you're just exploring the idea or the concept, should I do this? Should I take my hobby like jewelry making or cupcake making or, you know, all of these things that people do, consulting, graphics. There's so many opportunities and we are seeing a lot of people succeed in that area. So please come down and join us and learn a little bit more. Whether you're in business and looking to grow or it's time to, you know, just get started with that idea. There's also a small business growth expo going on on Thursday. So it's hosted by PBN. SBA will be there again to talk about our entire range of programs. So it will be down at the convention center. You can check out at PBN's website to learn more information. There will be some free seminars and other activities. I expect over 90 vendors and 600 small business people. So it could be a great opportunity to learn more about finding customers or meeting other people in your industry as well. So we encourage you to get that. The attendance at this is incredible. They'll have literally hundreds of people going through there. The energy in the room is just over the top. I mean, there's a lot of very motivated enthusiastic people there. It's a great place to meet folks. Yeah. And I think that's what we want to talk about with this program, too, are the resources and networking and connections you can make through some of these small business activities. You know, we also have an important meeting. We were all involved in discussing this morning. Yvonne as well, because we have a regulatory reform hearing that will be happening here in Hawaii later this month. And that will be coming up on August 23rd. Yvonne, as I said, as our regional advocate is involved in this effort, we'll have folks from Washington D.C., our national ombudsman office, and of course, Reg is a member of our regulatory reform board is helping us frame up the issues that are important to small businesses in Hawaii and need some attention on the national landscape as well. So we talked a little bit about our agenda and ideas this morning. So maybe you'd kind of like to weigh in and mention that. Elonde, do you want to take a crack at that first? No. Well, since you are the board member, go ahead. Maybe tell them a little bit about what your role is as well. Well, I'm a member of the national board for regulatory reform for the Small Business Administration. I'm the chair of the 9th region, which is the western United States. And part of what we're doing is trying to solicit companies to come in and share with us some of the challenges that they may be having with some rules and regulations at the federal level that maybe we can help them with. And the process is very simple. Give us a couple of examples of what kind of issues we might be discussing. One of the areas that we have a lot of success with in the federal contracting area, if some of the companies or the agencies within the federal government are a little bit slow in paying or there's a little hiccup in there that they're preventing a payment to be made, we can help with that. And we've helped collect millions of dollars across the country in expediting the collection process. And so sometimes stuff happens and sometimes they need a little bit of help. And we've got direct access to the folks in D.C. Our administrator at the SBA sits on the president's cabinet. And so we've got some pretty high-level visibility and we can get things done. So this is a chance for people to come and talk about some of the issues they may be facing, or it could be labor issues, it could be labor employment, it could be payment, it could be government contracting, it could be access to capital issues as well. Just about anything that deals with federal agency or government. Overtime rules that are coming up. I think this morning you had mentioned that maybe healthcare might be something that people are still concerned with. Yes, definitely. My office is the Office of Advocacy, which was created by Congress about 40 years ago, specifically as an independent entity within SBA to represent the interests of small business within federal government. So our job as regional advocates is to bring back what we hear from the ground, the small businesses, their concerns, the three Bs, what are the barriers that's keeping them from opening or expanding the business? What are the best practices? Are there rules that help them? Or despite rules and regulations, they continue to excel? And what are the big ideas? Because the folks who really know how to grow the U.S. economy are the small businesses. So our job is not to speak for them. Our job is to amplify what we hear, their voices, back to Washington before the administration, before Congress. And most importantly, work with federal agencies as they put together these regulations. My purpose of coming to Hawaii this week is to participate in a couple of very important roundtable discussions with Hawaii small business stakeholders. Earlier today, Reg and I were involved with a meeting hosted by the Chamber of Commerce bringing together food small businesses to talk about the updates on the new law, the FISMA law, which is Food Safety and Modernization Act, which is a five-year-old law. The first time in about 50 years that we have a public health and safety regulation and law that was enacted. The purpose is to really keep consumers with safe food products, import and export products, and more importantly, to really have the ability to trace back the food from the farmers to the processor from the manufacturer from the folks who transport things and to the stores and the restaurants that the consumer will consume those products. So that idea of FISMA is to keep American consumers safe from food-borne activities. But more importantly, to really help food-related businesses to keep the business growing because if we have safe products, then the businesses will do much better. People will have more confidence in them. So that was our first roundtable earlier today. It was a really robust discussion that we had with the community. And since we do have groups for food manufacturers, associations, and we're looking at developing diversified agriculture and value-added products, what kind of things did you hear this morning? What is the response that you might be getting from our local folks? I think the one thing that I will bring back to Washington is that the businesses, because we have over 2,000 food-related businesses in Hawaii, and they're all small businesses. So the key that they want me to bring back is that they need more information anytime when Washington put together new laws or regulations, they need to be connected. They need to know what it is so that they can prepare to comply with those rules. And sometimes it takes more than just hiring a staff. They need to really look at their operation to really comply. And our job as advocacy is at the front end when the regulations are being proposed to make sure that their experience and their voice will be included so that they can say, this doesn't work because we talked about why regulations sometimes are not business-friendly because oftentimes people say, we don't like regulations, too much regulations. Because most of the folks who drafted these rules and regulations they themselves have never run a business. Right. So they would know it sounds good and it looks good on paper, but when it's being practiced, it may not work. So that's why it's so important for the small business owners and the stakeholders to tell us why it would work, why it won't work. And more importantly, their recommendations, how to make it work, so that it meets the spirit of the regulations. But more importantly, it keeps the small business growing and not to hinder their operations. So it's almost like reverse engineering to get back to the good intention of what a regulation was. Right. So what I think we'll do, we'd love to hear about some of your other activities. We're going to take a quick break, but then we'll be back with you on SBA America, focusing on Hawaii, and talking more about how our Office of Advocacy can help small businesses succeed. Hi, I'm Chris Leitham with The Economy in You and I'd like to invite you each week to come watch my show each Wednesday at 3 p.m. Hello, I'm Marianne Sasaki. Welcome to Think Tech Hawaii, where some of the most interesting conversations in Honolulu go on. I have a show on Wednesdays from one to two called Life in the Law, where we discuss legal issues, politics, governmental topics, and a whole host of issues. I hope you'll join me. Aloha. I'm State Senator Russell Ruderman. I represent the Pune and Ka'u District on the Big Island and the host of Ruderman Roundtable. We're here on Think Tech Hawaii every other Tuesday at 2 p.m. You can join us at ThinkTechHawaii.com. You can find a link there to a page where you can see past episodes. And we talk here about good government, environmental issues, and issues of the day facing the state of Hawaii. I'm Russell Ruderman. Please join us for the Ruderman Roundtable. Mahalo. Hi there. We're continuing again our discussion with Yvonne Lee from the SBA's Office of Advocacy and Reg Baker, our favorite local CPA, and member of our regulatory reform board. We've been talking about some of the activities that will be happening while our regional advocate is here. SBA's Office of Advocacy is an independent voice for small business and just wanted to kind of revisit this a little bit because a lot of people are like, why are they separate or what do they do? But the Office of Advocacy does remain independent and they're aligned very closely with SBA and the interests of small businesses. It can sometimes sound pretty dull and boring, particularly maybe you go to their website and you look at regulatory reform and some of these things. But the place of the website and what the office does, rich in research and economic statistics, a lot of data that's very, very helpful for small business. So some of these hearings that are going on or roundtables that are happening this week are very, very informative in a number of different industries. So this morning was looking at FSMA and food production and small businesses dealing with value-added foods, et cetera, here in Hawaii. Tell us a little bit more about what went on and some of the interests or comments that you got from small businesses. Well, I want to emphasize the key independence because small business often felt that they don't have a voice in Washington when decisions are being made, policies, regulations and laws. My office really emphasized the importance of independence even though we were very closely with SBA. We are part of SBA. The reason why we're an independent entity is SBA also promulgate rules, such as the size standards, such as other things like the loan package and everything else. So we want to make sure that the small business community knows that we serve the small business. We do not serve other federal governments. So when size standards come, even though we are brothers and sisters with SBA, we continue to say these are the things that we hear. So ultimately, we want the small business community to know that we are amplifying their voice. We do not want to convince them of what is happening. We want them to convince the decision-makers what their needs are to grow and start the business. So in addition to the FISMA rule, that is really going to impact Hawaii's business, we also recognize that in Hawaii, there's a really growing innovative technology movement here. The ecosystem is really growing really fast, and we are here Thursday to attend an innovation showcase that is co-hosted by the University of Hawaii as well as Senator Hirono for the purpose of bringing together innovation technology entrepreneurs to talk about Hawaii's ecosystem, what make it work, and what can the federal government do to really help build the system not only for the current entrepreneurs but to grow future startups and future entrepreneurs to make Hawaii a really innovative technology center. I think probably at the meeting you're going to hear a lot of things about what is happening here, and I think most people are generally surprised, amazed, and we're looking at how do we continue to build that and nurture that along as well. So where is it happening at UH? It's going to be at the iLab. The new iLab? The new iLab. I'm looking forward to visiting it. And it's going to be at the Manoa campus. So it's going to be at 8 o'clock. Is it open to 9 to 11? Is it open to anybody? Or you have to pre-register? It's open to the public, and we welcome everyone to come because this is a great opportunity for us to learn from their experience. Again, to learn from the three Bs. Great, great. I guess if somebody wanted more information, they can contact my office. I know we have some information about it, but if they wanted to call in your contact, have you been up there, Reg? No, I have not. I've been to the Innovation Center a number of times when I went to the new iLab. That sounds exciting. So what are some of the topics that you're looking at exploring with that session? Maybe you can tell us a little more. Well, in addition to the Office of Advocacy, we will also have the Regional Director for the U.S. Patent and Trade Office. As many of you know, the USPTO had created four satellite offices to ease the burden of applicants for patents and trade. So the Silicon Valley Office was open a couple of years ago. That would really help folks in the West Coast instead of having to go to Washington D.C.'s office. Because hop on the plane, go to Silicon Valley, and meet with the examiners, because as we all know, patents drives technology. And it really helps entrepreneurs and startups to really secure the necessary investment, capital investments. So the purpose of the showcase is also to share information of what the government has to offer to really help not only startups, but also establish businesses, to make sure that they have an easier path to secure the business, protect the business, and expand the business. Does the experience or the results show that those four offices are making a difference? I can definitely understand, let's get rid of the bottleneck. Having experienced been a bottleneck yourself. Just to see the experience is that they're helping, and it's encouraging more people to get in and turn around patents. It really has helped within the last couple of years looking at how the Silicon Valley office has really helped not just the California applicants, but people can really, they feel much easier. Like for Hawaii, it's a six-hour difference to call for any kind of information. So right now, you can either hop a plane, or you can just call with a three-hour, or sometimes two-hour difference. The information is readily there, so people don't need to waste time or sweat out what could happen, and I need this information right away. So the fact that these are more entrepreneur-friendly and in response to what the entrepreneurs are telling us, that especially in the technology field, time is money. They cannot waste time to wait for answers. So by having the satellite offices in Denver, in Dallas, Detroit, and Silicon Valley, it really helps the entrepreneurs to get the information right away, get the support, get the service, and as a result, their patent applications will be done more proficiently, and they can get the answers sooner. And thereby, they can attract their investors much easier. And that's an important part of the access to capitals, to make sure that if people are investing in these companies, that the intellectual property that they have, that they're trying to monetize, is protected. And in the innovation sector, these things move very quickly. And so having multiple patents in a series to protecting intellectual property rights is not uncommon. And so the faster you can get this turnaround, the better. And it's perfect. It's really what they needed. Right. Because under the New American Investment Act, one of the major changes is instead of the first to invent, now it's the first to file. So time is really of the essence, especially for folks in the biotech, high-tech, clean-tech sectors. So we hope that people can come and learn more about this. Yeah, it sounds like awareness then becomes, and knowledge of the process becomes critically important as well. Because we know sometimes some solutions or processes are developed in different areas almost simultaneously. So they need to be... It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that in some respects there is a race going on to who's going to file the patent and get it first. You know, it is a fast-moving industry, and they need to expedite the process. Yeah, I think we are seeing that happen across the country and probably around the world as well. So we've got STEM you were looking at, innovation, other topics that are going to come up at UH, or some of your other meetings. Maybe you can tell us some of your other research or ideas that are going on with the Office of Advocacy. Well, besides our regulatory and policy work, we also have an economic research team. Their job is to produce reports and data collection to really inform the legislative leaders as well as the public of the state of the U.S. economy. Where are we heading? Where are some of the opportunities? And what can we do together, private and public sector to get to that happy place? Right. So we have issued several issues brief on trade, because Hawaii is the closest, next to Guam, is the closest U.S. state to a huge consumer market in Asia. So we have issued a report, issues brief on small business role in international trade. So we welcome folks to visit our website, to look at our products, and we also welcome you to give us feedback. So we can go to anybody who's interested, can research some of the different topics. I know there's information on women on small business, veterans business, the state of economics, and anyone in the 50 states. But what are some of the other topics, different kind of data that you mine? I mean, you fund a lot of research too, to see where the trends are, innovation, or how sometimes rules and regulations are actually working out. Right. Well, because there's so much attention on diversity in STEM, so we've been putting together a report on gender gaps in STEM, immigrants in STEM, because both in Hawaii and most part of my region, there is a growing population of immigrant entrepreneurs who are in STEM fields. And so we put together the report on where they are, and how they have contributed to the U.S. economy, and how we can all help them grow. Wow. And so to wrap up our conversation, if somebody is interested in looking, where do they go to find your website? They go to SBA, because we're part of the SBA network. SBA.evocacy.  We make comments on a lot of regulations. They are welcome to review them. And again, the key is we need to hear from the small business community. Otherwise, if the voice is not being heard, then decisions are made without the input. And that would not be a good thing. So there's another good reason to look to SBA Office of Advocacy to help you with your business, to even find some of that market research data that you may need to support a proposal, to support your idea, to convince your spouse that you are going to take your innovation commercial. But we thank you for joining us today. We wish you well with your trip, and thanks for helping us be the voice of small business. Thank you. Aloha. Thanks for being here.


This process is controlled by a protein called aplin, which is released by these cells and binds to its own receptors on other cells. Blocking this process prevents the lungs from healing, suggesting that aplin plays a key role in the regeneration of the lungs' microvasculature. This article was authored by Raphael Suarez Godoy, Nicholas de Coba, David P. Cook, and others.


No Roll call shows mr. Jaffe is gone, but everyone else is present No, public hearing. We have three things on the consent agenda anything to get pulled by the directors of the public I Do not I Can't find the but I don't think I have anything I Don't have anything to pull so if no one's pulling any then I'll move the approve the consent agenda And I'll second it motion and a second on favor This brings up oral communications any item not on tonight's agenda for the public to talk about Thank you, Becky Steinburn a resident of Aptos I just want to thank your staff for a good budget presentation I got here through kind of the middle of it, but I thought it was very good and I just wanted to point out. I talked with mr. Dufour Afterwards there there was some discussion about the quail run tank supplying pressure for cathedral and Vistamar court and so my question was what about the epimony toy on tank that I know was put in to Supply gravity fed water for those areas so he cleared up my question, but I just want to make make sure that The you folks haven't forgotten. There's a good tank up there on the top of the hill above money toy on camp and And I was interested to find out that the water from that tank stops At the top of the hill there on Cathedral Drive. Otherwise the pressure would be too great So that was interesting news to me from mr. Dufour I also had some questions for mr. Dufour about the status of the granite way well and I have observed there are two buckets Containers that have just kind of showed up behind the pipe So many people are wondering what's going on with that well And in fact I did email mr. Dufour and he assured me at a public meeting at the Rio Sands Motel when there was discussion about with supervisor Zach friend. He called it a monitoring well So if any of you have a good relationship with him You might want to just clear that up because mr. Dufour did assure me that it is a production while at granite way Outside of that I just was sorry to see the 50-foot geyser come up in the middle of the Aptos Village project last week and Yours your good staff responded and assured me that the lines will have to be Disinfected because many of the soils in that project are contaminated So he says the second time it's happened to and they didn't call you right away Anyway, it was quite a bit of excitement in Aptos Village. Thank you very much. Thank you Any director comments Stop, okay reports Board planning calendar 5.1 Yeah, I mean not a lot really to say today. I think Tracy may want to add a few words I Had mentioned at the last board meeting I'd mentioned at the last board meeting that we had set aside Public service employees recognition week The that that is happening actually next week May 7th through the 11th And I did want to we had kind of had a tentative plan We've nailed some of that down and it looks like we'll be having our Managers hosted breakfast, which is something that we've done several times for staff that'll be on Friday morning the 11th And we hope to be able to have an ice cream social that's planned for Monday afternoon May 7th Probably starting at around 345 So those are the two events if board members are interested in attending that We would love for you to show when's the breakfast the breakfast we usually get that started at 8 a.m Yeah, I'll be sending it We haven't sent staff the notice yet either just because there was some Questions about what we were gonna be doing and when we had some last-minute decisions about who was gonna be at Aqua and so that changed some of our thought process a little bit So hopefully we can get that notice out to both you and all of our staff tomorrow Great, and I'll just note that on the 17th of May is the MGA meeting and Then again, of course on the 23rd will be the GSP meetings and it might If the board would like Be whom to have maybe a presentation by Cameron or Georgina or somebody from hydrometrics come and present just to give an update of where they're at with the sustainability indicators and How it's progressing I mean I could certainly give you a you know my my perspective, but the Group is starting to to dive into it a little bit. We tackled sea water intrusion What's acceptable what's unacceptable where's that bottom line and we haven't gone we'll go through What's the the least acceptable thing or you know where they draw the line in the sand and then come back to all of them and say What are we really aiming for though? So it is starting to Not as a member of the audience and And It Was it has few glitches that I thought maybe could be corrected that we should make an effort to make sure And that is that it was hard to hear Cameron period. So a lot of people Especially a lot of people who are inexperienced members of the panel had a hard time hearing him and understanding him and So that added to it. I think it'd be and I think it would really be a good idea to have Cameron come and Review where they're going with that. I agree. I agree. Yeah. Yeah, based on director Christiansen's input what I'm gonna recommend to the Committee and Miss Steinberg and you probably appreciate this. I think What we realize is the people from the public sit behind the speaker with that with they're facing the back of the speaker So who's ever gonna be speaking say we have the hydrologist or engineers up there? Maybe they should sit at the other table looking out. So simple things like that if we need to ramp it up Yeah, for him, so I just Microphone is always good. I just wanted to point out just it's not something for me It's just I just noticed that the June 5th meetings at the community foundation just as a heads up. It looks like So still 6 p.m. I assume but Right and gotta be out by 9 that shouldn't be an issue, but yeah thing to know. Yeah This room was not available. And so I don't forget. I'm not gonna be here for the 15th Okay, but I'll post it on my door and do it in my apartment May 15th, yeah Okay, okay, that'd be great. I'm flying at 6 a.m. The next morning to go get my daughter from college I'd like to see on the calendar is Scheduled is our pipe test report. You know how that's going? Okay, whenever that Is ready, but it'd be nice to see that are you talking about reporting out on not yet Yeah, it's an item on a board. Okay, great current status. Yeah, okay And the next is the status of the meter. Am I kind of work whenever that's appropriate? Okay Yeah Yeah, that'll come out when it's when it's ready Just put that on the calendar, huh You know, I've been dying to see that model I've been just Turn the crank and watch the water come All right, let's move right along. We have no will serve letters I think the next thing is the general manager performance review and compensation consideration. Yeah, so thank you for this opportunity That the main focus of this memo is really about what is the appropriate pay for the general manager position? There's a second component that's related to me. It's hard to separate the two but the focus is really on What? Is what may be considered the appropriate? Pay for that for the this this position and let me talk about process for a minute. So Tracy our human resource manager to my left here Surveyed these different agencies. You see them listed here. There's 23 and that's how the salary average salary and different other parameters were Estimated and then Average salary being here and then a compaction study to from a data state database shown here and Tracy if I'm wrong on anything, let me know of these various 23 similar agencies all this is 2016 data But they spread or compaction shouldn't have changed that much if anything it probably got a little wider Front and that and that's from the general manager position to the next highest salary so when we talk about compaction and look at those numbers, that's where this is coming from this table and When we talk about salary average salary and benefits. It's coming from this table however, before I dive into that one thing I wanted to I think it's really key to the discussion and that is you know when you're considering GM position And I consider all these positions leadership positions, but that petition position in particular you Want to be competitive in the marketplace not only for people To bring them in but to sustain them to and you know make no doubt about it. We're trying to Have in a house capability that can be grown and done that and serve that role but you also want the opportunity to potentially look out and be attractive, but what I wanted to show and this is the why behind it being competitive and leadership impact on staff engagement basically the best leaders in Gender three times more staff engagement than the worst leaders and this is from Sources are cited down here. So that's great Good leadership gets better engagement. What's that really mean? And I could have tried to do this in a a different way that relates to customer service because that's really what we're about but I I did it it took the data directly from one of the large workforce studies that's done and what they say is that And these are over, you know, usually thousands of companies and people and that sort of thing The engagement matters if you look at a profit operating profit thing poor performing leaders or average low traditional engagement companies Turn a profit about that and with high engagement. It's three times that much. So the nut of this is Good great leadership can Increase states staff engagement by three times which results and and I look at this when I see this three times Better value for our customer so we don't want to sell that part short that's and and actually I presented this to Some people at Aqua and JP IA and it helped inform their process to start a leadership program which is very exciting which they have going on today and They actually took this model the model that was presented there in the top of that So let me let me get to it So what the result of the salary survey show is that the current district GM salary is this The average GM salary of the 23 similar agencies surveyed is that and the difference The current district GM salary is 8.3 percent below the average salary of the 23 agencies surveyed Now interestingly, that's one main component people look at and it says here the other Parameters considered in that table are on on par roughly with the districts So the other parameter that she usually looked at is the percent compaction and that's the difference of the GM position to the next highest level and That in our situation is 11% compacted and Generally, there's a 25% spread between the GM position and the next highest paid position now interestingly enough And I think it's it's supports each other if you take the current GM salary and Put it at the average it brings this spread to 23% so almost directly in line On both factors so kind of supporting evidence on that Let's see See my other Let me look at my notes for a second So, okay, so great. So that's that's the the genera out generality of it applying to the GM position now the other component of this is is my performance rating by the board and Staff the managers they did a 360 anonymous Rating and they've done this for three years you've done this on me for three years in a row And I'm very appreciative of the feedback. There was some great feedback ranging from Well, I don't want to get in the specifics But honest feedback on both sides things I'm doing well or at least perceived as doing well and things I need to improve on and we went over those in closed session But what I did was able you can because it's numerical on 17 of the questions Graded and convert those to a percentage performance to steal it down to one number and so When I first started the number was what is that 83% or something like that and it steadily gone up to 94% I think was the current rating and You see a progression here This graph is really important to me and one of the reasons I do these kind of things I've been doing 360 surveys for probably I don't know. I'm gonna say running on six to seven years and What they reflect whether you're running at a department or an organization or whatever I think they're more reflective They're just as reflective of the people giving the performance review and reflective of the organization In my opinion and there's there's some information to support that so I In my viewpoint This is really a reflection of how the agency has grown the people have grown. I think We're good. Maybe a little better and good. We're certainly not excellent But we have the right people in place and that's the key that is absolutely the key to get there And we are on that trajectory. There aren't they're gonna be bumps. There's good at there We're always stuffed, you know, imagine a 45 member family or something what that would be like, but I Love this because I think it shows not only maybe some self-improvement, but improvement for the organization So I have other a few other things But I'll Leave it at that for right now Thank you. Okay, and I just wanted to point out a couple things one is just we do have an amazing crew of managers too and and to me, it's really important to see that they all want to keep working Here and with you because I think we need all that talent. We got a lot lot to do and I really appreciate all of them and I especially appreciate How you treat everybody with respect the people that work for you the customers the board And I absolutely never doubt your integrity. So thank you. Well, I second that one I mean, I think that's a measure of the whole organization and the speed with which we completed the budget discussion Fact is part of that Part of how well things are running for every, you know in the district because of you all and Ron I Think it's a really good idea to have a open review every year just to see where we are and a 360 review I'd never heard of before but it's Really illuminating Any public comment on this item? Thank you back his steinbruner. I I think this is interesting and if I were in your place I'd feel a little awkward having the general manager come and Ask for a raise and put forth all the information to support it I think I would feel more comfortable if I were in your shoes deciding this in closed session rather than in front of him We can't legally. Oh, you can't be an open session. I see we can do the review But no salary has to be in sunshine. All right. All right. Well, that's good information I I also think it's interesting that it's That the general manager himself is presenting this information and not your director of human resources I've never seen that done before and I Just want to make that comment. I Haven't always Felt I get straight answers from Correspondents to your general manager, but I appreciate that Sometimes he's in a very difficult position to give Clear answers but In terms of how the Pirated water connection on granite way was handled with the Aptos Village project I feel that need that that needed to be handled differently and He Mr. Duncan wrote letters to the people rape payers of yours who were trying to report the Water that was being used Unmetered without any backflow prevention And they were brushed aside It wasn't honest communication. So I just want to put that in the hopper and be very honest And that's all I have to say. Thank you You Well, I mean I'm I'm okay with the the particular salary Adjustment, and I am too Yeah, I am too I'm waiting for discussion, but you know, I guess the only the only thing that I would add that is a little bit of a concern is that the Water manager for the city of Santa Cruz Which is sort of the bigger us is one ninety eight one seventy one I don't I think we should go up the question in my mind Right, do we go to the average one thing I might suggest and I'll just put it out there because it could I'm a believer in performance is the ultimate mark Here's the current salary there are steps between the All the things in that range ranges I don't know up to about three thousand five hundred bucks But this is what I wanted to show you and that's each manager can progress over that but this is something that was identified in the a year ago not actually That that I was needed improvement upon and it's that basically the fundamentals of Administration for an agency and I took that to heart. I applied you've got to have like over four hundred points to even get in There it's years of experience and Other things and so I've been studying for this test not so much lately because I've been busy, but I Plan on taking it and so and hopefully passing it And part of the and this is kind of the topics a they cover and all that and I think it'll serve the district well in our customers For me and you know, maybe other people to Have something like this. So I just float it Whatever maybe part of it could be contingent upon a successful Implementation of that or certification Well, I was basing my approval that that raise based on the salaries of the managers and that compression that compression data and It create I think it creates a space for everybody to advance There's a proper balance between the people are being supervised and the manager and by the way, we are the re-approved the salary that Ultimately the evaluation and the salary of the general manager and not the human resources director so Anyway, I feel that is one of the that is one of the reasons I think this would add to it I think that I think that we already have as an organization the direction To excel in these areas. So I think getting a certification would be it would be icing on the cake. So to speak but So I I Think you should be able to do that. I don't know how of this the managers in this district could Have the time right now to pursue a certain action certification Well, it's definitely beside your nightbed and you know, your wife says enough I just appreciate that you're Willing to try to improve and accept that you need to be you know, you have areas of improvement I have not seen that in too many managers and I do appreciate that I think that's a great leadership skill just that For me that puts him at the average, but I don't think he's an average manager I don't think so. I'll just make the motion to go ahead and go with the Motion and a second don't think this is roll call all in favor. Hi post Thank You Ron We go to 6.3 At the last meeting I presented to the board an informational item It was presented in the packet as an action item But as you'll recall on the April 17th meeting I prefaced my presentation. It was late in the night But the real reason was we wanted a little bit more time to talk to our employee groups in regards to some of the details on this Recommendation for district organization and staffing review So I'll cover briefly the bases if you have any questions, please feel free to let me know The first position that we took a look at Was the equipment mechanic position? That's a long-standing position with the district it's a single position and We have one incumbent who's been working with this district for a number of years very qualified individual with a great skill set we recognized that that particular job description needed summary vision and it was prompted by a classification study that actually was initiated way back I believe it was in 2012 or 2013 before I started with the district It had been started by a consultant and it was shelved We took some time to Talk about bringing that study back and then it took a little bit longer through the analysis than we anticipated Quite some time through that process We gathered all kinds of information in regards to that particular position and we recognized through that study That we have a need as an organization to Maintain an equipment mechanic classification as it stands based upon the large number of Equipment and tools that this position is responsible for maintaining and keeping safe and in working order But we also recognize that the incumbent in the position Has had as in HR speak a gradual accretion of duties Which really prompted us to take a look at created a new job classification Through that reclassification process We didn't want to eliminate the equipment mechanic due to the need, but we really recognized that his duties had changed over time And so we are proposing a new job description of equipment utilities mechanic To recognize that work that he's doing in our system Through that process in the discussion We also recognized that maybe the organizational structure needed to be looked at in regards to our operations and maintenance Distribution currently the equipment mechanic is a direct report to the ONM manager But that position spends an awful lot of time, especially with it with the change in duties With a focus on some of the utilities Spends a lot of time working directly with the operations supervisor and so through that process We really recognize that it might make sense to be able to have that as a direct report in a supervisory capacity to the To the operations supervisor instead of a direct report to the ONM manager the ONM manager will still hold some Responsibility and overview of some of the details That the equipment utilities mechanic will be responsible for for instance fleet purchasing recommendations and you know decisions that Encompass the entire unit But we really felt that it made more sense to have that direct reporting relationship to the operations supervisor We anticipate a retirement in that very critical position as operation supervisor And so through that discussion organizational review We really recognize we needed to make some changes and revisions to that job description to make sure that it was up to Date for any future recruitments that we we see coming up So with that said I am proposing by motion that the board Approve the job class family for mechanic by creating the new classification of the equipment utilities mechanic There's a recommended salary placement that's attached to that as identified in the salary schedule in the packet also Looking to approve the existing classification revisions of the equipment mechanic and the operations supervisor and Approve their revisions to the existing organizational structure as identified in the proposed org chart with which is also listed As attachment number five We've made some corrections there weren't any changes made to the job descriptions We worked really closely with the equipment mechanic in developing the job description the new job description as well as revising the existing job Description that's part of the process that we go through as we work closely with the incumbents As the subject matter experts to make sure that what we're putting in the job description So subsequent discussions didn't change anything necessarily, but we did work out some questions that they had just in regards to Some of the structure and reporting The one change that you will recognize in here from the original package is that through discussion with the incumbent we actually landed on a Salary placement that is a little bit different from the normal classification reclassification step placement. That's usually done at a promotional Organizational structure and that's dictated by our MOU agreement And usually when someone goes through a promotion, which this move would necessitate then we have a 3.5 percent Promotional rate to move to the next Range salary range in this particular case because this Study was initiated years ago Was shelved brought back and took an awfully long time for us to make feel very comfortable through our analysis We didn't feel that he should be penalized because of that timeline process, and he was very very patient through the process So the recommendation in terms of his particular salary placement on that range would be to keep him at the level That he's currently at on the salary schedule Any public comment on this item What's your pleasure folks? I will move approval of all four motions Okay, it was second That means we're all set all in favor. Hi post that's unanimous So we want to have one additional item, which is a written a communication from Tom Stumball read it Comments or questions or changes to it? Thank you, Becky Steinbrenner After the budget Part of the meeting ended. I actually went to mr. Stumball's house. He wanted to come and read this letter into the record And I'm a little worried about his health. He wasn't there, and he has been having some difficulties, so I'm sure that he will be fine, and he will come speak with you at your next meeting about this communication but he is as a rate payer very concerned about a lot of the questions that he sees in the The relationship between Soquel Creek Water District and the Aptos Village project developers The water demand offsets cannot be verified for the work at Cabrillo the Facilities manager at Cabrillo at the time mr. Joe Nugent Did in fact say that there were a lot of problems He had to call back the crews many times because the work just wasn't done, and he didn't know if it ever got done He doesn't work there at Cabrillo anymore. He just recently took a job at Monterey Peninsula College but I spoke with him and He basically said well he really wasn't involved in the project. It was kind of dumped on his lap and Doug Deaver Kind of shepherded it through but that there is no paper trail for this. I think bears scrutiny and investigation and I've asked you for that and you refused and I I really think that there needs to be Better verification of the water demand offset credits. I am personally concerned about the $10,000 payment to Magnolia tree investments That supposedly are for water demand offset credits, and this is a large company owned by Chinese It looks like Chinese investors in Fremont So I'm in the process of getting public records information about that But more to mr. Stumbaw's letter. I I think as a rate payer He would really like to see this whole thing investigated and He lives right next to all this work, and it's difficult for him to watch and he is very diligent as mr. Duncan knows at saving water and It bothers him a lot So I hope that mr. Stumbaw will come and address you about this at your next meeting And I think that he does want a written response to his letter from staffer the board Thank you very much So Have we looked into this and are we comfortable that the offsets were done? Yeah, let me let me respond I think it's important to for the benefit of our customers because I think that there's some misinformation there Miss Steinbruner first of all Joe Nugent when I heard what you'd said before So I approached Joe before he left and he gave me a very different story to what you're saying So I will also Say that we do have verification papers it may not be What you want to see but it is a verification It is verifying that the toilets and urinals were done and our own staff Roy Sykes Reviewed many of those and including myself. I even went there during part of the Retrofit and and saw them in the upper part of the campus near where they do the farmers market Just to to see it in action But the ultimate proof is the restrooms one can go to the restrooms see the the high efficiency pictures that are there Besides the paperwork that we keep so Thank you. I just like to comment too. I did one of those WDO low-flow toilets that point eight gallons and on my house of my son staying in to go to college and We got a letter from the district for saving water just one toilet You know it does make it you don't think that it makes any kind of a difference But if you look at the water demand and the pumping rate through the through the years When the WDO program started up water use Water demand did decrease by almost it was projected to be double what it is now And it's half of what it is for the same number of people so Somewhere that conservation wasn't just people hauling water Washing dishes and little buckets and things like that It was this water demand offset program really made a significant difference. And so and Cabrillo College was a huge number of toilets.  They really make a difference So if there is nothing else on that one, there is no closed session. And so we are adjourned. Thank you everyone


Azerbaijan could arrest many separatist leaders in Karabakh. Azerbaijan managed to detain almost all the separatist leaders who committed war crimes in Karabakh. Russian political scientist Maxim Shevchenko said, Azerbaijan received an almost complete royal flush of its longtime enemies. For a royal flush, the only thing missing is Sargisyan and Kocharyan, Shevchenko said. He noted that since World War II it is unlikely that the same number of war criminals have been simultaneously detained and prosecuted. Russian propaganda blames Pashinyan for this, but a calm reader would ask, did Russia have to fight against Azerbaijan for the Artsakh project? Shevchenko said. On September the 27th, Ruben Vardanyan, who had illegally arrived in the country, was detained at the Lachin border checkpoint while crossing the state border and taken to Baku. He was the so-called Minister of State of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. On September the 29th, Levon Manat Sakanyan, who was the Minister of Defense of the so-called Quasai Formation of Separatists in Karabakh in 2015 to 2018, was detained at the Lachin checkpoint. On October the 3rd, employees of the State Security Service of Azerbaijan detained the former President of the Separatists in Karabakh, Iraik Harutyunyan. Also, employee of the State Security Service of Azerbaijan detained and brought to Baku, former leaders, the so-called ex-president of the illegal separatist regime in the Karabakh region, Arkady Gukasyan and Bako Sahakyan, as well as the representative of the Dashnaks in Karabakh and the former so-called Chairman of Parliament of the Illegal Regime, David Ishkanyan.


This research has demonstrated the potential of a new type of battery anode made from a double perovskite material. The material has been shown to have excellent performance in terms of both rate capability and cycling stability, making it suitable for use in next-generation batteries. This article was authored by Chang Zhong, Yu Zhong, Zhiyuan Ye, and others.