If we're ready, I'll go ahead and start. We're ready, sir. Okay. I will now call the January 5th, 2021 special meeting of the Board of Supervisors to order. Will the clerk please call the roll? Good morning. Good morning.  Okay. Good morning and welcome to the teleconference January 5th, 2021, Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Special Meeting. Pursuant to the provisions of the Governor's Executive Order N2920, this meeting is being held virtually. The county welcomes the public to participate in today's meeting using the Zoom link provided on our website at www.SantaCruiseCountyCA.iqm2.com. Click on today's date and then the agenda, you will find the Zoom link there, or you may type it in as you see it here on the screen. If you wish to participate by phone, you may do so by calling 1-669-900-6833. The meeting ID is 837-1112-9242. Again, you may call 1-669-900-6633. Enter the meeting ID number 837-1112-9245. If you need further help logging in today's meeting, you may call the Clerk of the Board's office at<PHONE_NUMBER> and someone can help you log into the meeting. As always, you may watch the live stream broadcast of today's meeting through the www.SantaCruiseCountyCA.iqm2.com link, the county Facebook page, or through the community TV website. I'll now call the roll. Supervisor Koenig. President. Friend. Here. Coonerty. Here. McPherson. Here. Chair Caput. Here. Chair, it's ready for you now. Okay. Please join me in a moment of silence or prayer followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. I guess do we need to stand or we can do the Pledge of... Well, we'll do the Pledge of Allegiance from where we are. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Are there any... Hi, Carlos. Are there any revisions or corrections to the today's agenda? Chair Caput, there are no revisions to today's agenda. Okay. We'll go to item number four and we'll consider a selection of a chairman or vice chairman for calendar year 2021 as outlined in the memorandum of myself. Okay. Chair, this is Supervisor Friend. First, I'd like to take a moment to thank you for serving as chair over the last year. I know that this was a very challenging year for the county and it is a significant amount of additional work. And so I appreciate your work over this previous year and I just want to make sure you were acknowledged on that. I'd also like to welcome our new colleague, Supervisor Koenig. Welcome you to the county family and we look forward to working with you to making this county an even better place. Congratulations on your victory and we look forward to your service. On this item, I believe that Supervisor McPherson and Supervisor Koenig would make a good chair and vice chair combination and so I would move the recommended actions assuming that there's no public comment on the item. And I'll second those items. Second that motion, this is Ryan Coonerty. Okay. We have a first and second. If we can hear a public comment on this item, each person will have, we'll give them three minutes. I don't think there's a whole lot lined up, but anyway. Supervisor or chair, I'm sorry. I do not see anybody raising their hand. I don't either, yeah. If you'd give me one second. We have one hand raised actually. If you would, before we begin as a public comment chair, we're gonna, I'm gonna read some directions for people. So they have the opportunity to speak and understand the way we're doing it if you could hold on. Okay, so now is the time for public comment. If you wish to comment and are joining us through the Zoom link, please find the hand icon on the bottom of your screen and click on the icon to raise your hand. This will place you in line to speak. When it is your turn to speak, I will call you by name and you will see a pop up on your screen asking if you want to accept being unmuted. Please accept this and start speaking. Once you start, the timer will start. If you are calling from the phone, please dial star nine now.  I will identify you by your last four digits of your phone number. When you hear me say the last four digits, please dial star six. This will unmute yourself. Only dial this once.  Once you dial star six, you may start speaking and the timer will start when you begin. You will hear a beep at the one minute warning and again, when your time is up.  Okay, speaker Monica McGuire, you have three minutes to speak. I am unmuting you. Please accept the unmute and start speaking. The timer will begin when you start. Okay, yeah. Hi there. Thank you so much. Very interesting new world of all this. Good morning. And the number one reason I decided to raise my hand was I had trouble getting on. I'm sure there's other people that are having trouble getting on and I didn't want the moment to pass without the opportunity for the public to say, welcome to Manukuneg and to the new 2021 where we have this bright, bright, beautiful morning to tell us that we have the chance to do something wonderful and amazing for our county together. And I deeply appreciate that you were able to see my hand raised and I'm surprised if there aren't others because I'm sure other people are trying to join in as so many people care deeply about what's going on in this county and what we can do to make this a safe and healthy place to live on every possible level, especially with the freedoms and the needs to move forward as human beings and as indignity in the aspects of what's going on of choices that don't make sense and choices that are very difficult and that we wish to assist and join in our county with. So thank you for hearing me. I think it's not the time to say much else except I hope other people are hearing something and finding a way to put their hand up if they wish to speak and that this is working on every level. Thank you so much. And blessings, blessings Manukuneg on being a new member with so many beautiful, wonderful people thrilled that you are a new voice, a new heart, a new mind for this new year and the future that we're hoping to help people for us. Thank you so much. The next speaker is Carol Bjorn. You have three minutes to speak. I am unmuting. You please accept the unmute and start speaking. The timer will begin when you start. Good morning. This is Carol Bjorn and I wanted to express my congratulations to Manu. I'm looking forward to working with you on the board. I also wanted to say just echo the comments that Monica made. I'm really looking forward to working with all of you on the board this year and I would just want to urge everybody to be really listening and really asking questions. One of the things that I have taken away from the past year was things that appear a certain way may not always be true. And I've asked a lot of questions this year and I found answers I really didn't expect to get. And I think that that's probably true with a lot of things. And so I would just urge everyone to be very curious, to follow your curiosity, investigate things that you may have been very set in the way you think about something but perhaps there's a different way of looking at it. Perhaps there's a new way of looking at it that you may have not ever considered before. And just by looking at it might open up lots of new possibilities, not only for you in a personal capacity but for our community at large. I think really now is the time, especially with the new year, to look at things differently. My personal opinion, I think a lot of our governmental policies haven't worked as well as we had hoped. And I think that was really highlighted in the past year. So it's really time to follow curiosity, ask questions and find out, is this really working? Is this really the kind of community we wanna create or can we create something different? So I would just urge everyone to look at things differently, ask questions, be open to different ways of looking at things. And again, I do look forward to working with all of you in the upcoming year. And I would urge the in-person meetings, I think they're very important. And if you're not gonna do that at the very least, let's show the faces of the speakers. That way we do create more community connection. Thank you so much. Thank you. The next person is a phone caller. If your phone number ends and 1-9-9-9, you have three minutes to speak, I am unmuting you. Please accept the unmute by dialing star six and start speaking, the timer will begin when you start. Good morning, my name is James Ewing Whitman, can you hear me? Yes, sir. Excellent, so I don't have much to add right now, but I appreciate the public comments. An observation I would like to make is on other Zoom calls, and let's say I prefer not to do Zoom, but do a telephone call, there's several telephone numbers, so my observation is hopefully the one telephone number given has an unlimited amount for people to participate. I'll make public comments, but thank you all, happy new year. Thank you. I do not see any more hands raised, so that is the end of public comment for this item. Okay, we'll bring it back to the board for a vote on the selection of chairman and vice chairman. I'll call for a vote. Supervisor Koenig? Aye. Friend? Aye. Coonerty? Aye. McPherson? Aye. Chair Caput? Aye. The motion passes unanimously. Bruce, you're on. Hey, thank you very much. I appreciate all your service, Mr. former chair of Caput, he did a terrific job during a very difficult year. I'd like to make just a few comments. I want to thank the team, the IT team that's put this together for us to go on virtual throughout for the future. Do we, otherwise, I want to just say thank you to one of the patients of the public and all. We will have our first regular meeting on the 12th of January, so we're looking forward to that. I'd just like to make a couple of comments before we get on to the one item we're going to be discussing. As we know that 2020 was an unprecedented year with two crises at once added to the homeless, ongoing homeless issue we have along with every other community in this state. We have been managing an epidemic amid a catastrophic fire. This challenges in ways unseen and unexpected, unlike I've ever seen in my more than 20 years of public service. Our county team rose to the occasion despite the budget cuts furloughs and we will continue to do so in 2021 to the best of our abilities. And believe me, I think the ability of our staff, our county staff is outstanding to what they have been done and the challenges they faced in 2020. And we're going to face them as we go on. I have every confidence that this board will also rise to the occasion and work together to set a good policy on behalf of our residents. We really face some unprecedented challenges in housing, transportation, homelessness and public health, just to name a few. It will take all of us to identify solutions and we will need to do it with challenges on our budget that are impacting us as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. I want to thank Senator Supervisor Caput again for his service as year's chair and congratulations one against to our incoming supervisor, Manu Ponig. It's nice to have you here. And I want to thank the CEO, Carlos Palacios and his team and all of our county employees for their service this past year and in the year to come. I can tell you that the break that we have had has not been a break for county supervisors, county staff. They have been working overtime and I can't overemphasize how proud I am of the work of our county employees and what they have done, whether it be at a hospital or in the cleanup of the after the fire, ever it might be. You have done an outstanding job and this goes to our special districts and our other districts that we have in Santa Cruz County. I'd just like to say thank you again for the opportunity to serve as chair this year, 2021. And I know we're gonna make markets in many ways. We're gonna, it's gonna be partly come back and it's gonna be a lot of advancement at the same time. Believe me, I know that our dedicated staff will do all it can do to make this as convenient possible for the people of Santa Cruz County. So I thank you for the opportunity to serve you as chair of the board of supervisors in 2021. And with that, I think we can go on to the next item. I appreciate your patience unless let me have a little spiel. We'll go on to item number five, to consider the adoption of a resolution extending for 30 days the proclamation of a local emergency by the county administrative officer and declaration of a local health emergency by the county health officer related to the CZU August light and complex fires and take related action as outlined in the murmuring of understanding of the county administrative officer. We will have a resolution extending the local emergency and the local health emergency. So I would like to see if there's any, there's a presentation by the CAO if you'd like to make a comment, and then we'll go from there. Thank you, chair McPherson. Wildfires known as the CZU August lightning complex fires began on August 15th. These fires destroyed numerous residents and other property resulting in evacuations and displacement of residents road closures and damaged property and utility systems. This item extends the existing proclamation of a local emergency and declaration of a local health emergency. Under government code section 8630 a governing body must renew the continuing local emergency at least every 30 days. Although the county is well into the recovery period at this point, many of our community members remain displaced, moreover the danger created by the fires is still present as the county continues to move through the recovery and debris removal stage with Cal OES and other governmental partners. So with that, we are requesting that the board approve the resolution extending the local emergency, the declaration of local emergency for another 30 days. And I am available as well as county council, Jason Heade for any questions you may have. Thank you. Are there any questions from the board? And I'll go down by the numbers of Mr. Koenig. Do you have any questions? Yes, thank you, Chair McPherson. And thank you to all my colleagues on the board for the warm welcome from the members of the public. And to county staff also for setting this virtual meeting up, I think it's a great step in the right direction as far as our virtual meetings go. And I can assure you no one's looking forward more to the first in-person meeting this year than may. I just a quick question on this. I was reviewing the online tool that tracks the number of properties that have been cleaned up. And it looks like about seven properties as of this morning had been cleared for a return. And my question is, does that mean that the other 900, almost a thousand homes that were destroyed, that we've got still close to that of people who are displaced? And how many people are still using the facilities of the county fairgrounds or other temporary facilities throughout the county for housing today? I'm gonna see if any of our staff that could provide a more detailed answer than I could on the answer to the number of people that are still displaced and the status of people returning to their property. Maybe, I don't know if Matt Machado or Lisa are on the call and they could attempt and answer that question. Hi, Carlos, he has Elisa Benson here, assistant CAO and I'm trying to actually get my camera. See, can you guys see me? See. It's not letting, well, can anyone hear me? We can hear you. Okay, well, I'm not able to click my video over. Good morning, everyone. And we no longer have anyone at the fairgrounds. We closed that facility about a month ago and we have no one in sort of what I would say, post-county-sponsored hotels. We do have some survivors who are using their FEMA benefits to stay in hotels as they're not yet able to find short-term housing and our team is working with them on housing options. So, yeah, at this point, we don't have anyone, anymore, we're not having to sort of shelter folks at this point, but we do have ongoing support in terms of housing navigation supports and helping them navigate the housing market here as well as mental health supports or online and some case management support is in the works for a little bit later in February. If I may chime in, this is Matt Machado, Deputy CAO and Director of Public Works. Can you hear me fine? Yes, be hearing. Thank you. Supervisor Koenig, I'd like to respond to part of your question. In terms of the debris cleanup, I believe there are about 70 parcels fully cleaned up. It doesn't show in the dashboard because they're awaiting some soil testing results to confirm that final cleanup. In addition, there are about 17 still actively clean up the other parcels. There are a little more than 900 in total. Most have signed up with either the public option or the private option to do the debris removal. I think we're only short about 30 or 40 parcels that really aren't signed up for any option and we're having to pursue those individually. So we're making good progress. It's still a long row ahead of us. Cal OES is leading this charge with their contractor Anvil out of the San Francisco area. And so I think that tries to answer some of your question. I can answer more if you have additional thoughts on this topic. For me, thank you. Okay, Supervisor Friend, do you have any questions? I know, Mr. Chair, thank you. Okay, Supervisor Poonerty. No, Mr. Chair. Thank you and Supervisor Caput. Yes. The only comment I'll make is there are a few RVs still out at the fairgrounds here in South County. And I don't know if, you know, how long they can stay or whatever, but is there any comment on that on the RVs? They have electrical and water hookups there at the fairgrounds. Anybody have any information on that? I don't know. Yeah, we can get you that information offline. I don't have any right now about those. I knew there are still a few people that are displaced, that are living in their RVs and we can get that information to you about the specifics. That'll be fine, yeah. And I, the one, two families that I talked to, they said they're in that Supervisor, let's see, Poonerty's district, yeah. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Maybe I'll ask the clerk, the board, do you have, for public comment, do you have anybody that just wants to speak on this issue? We currently have one person that has their hand up. Okay, I think, is there any need to just, why don't you repeat the numbers and just the numbers for people to call in? Yes, and I can go ahead and share my screen one more time. That has all that information on it. So, as you can see at the top of the screen there, the telephone number to call in, if you wish to call in, is 1-669-900-6833. The webinar ID is 837-1112-9245. Okay, I apologize, somebody's correcting me. The webinar ID is 837-1112-9242, not 45. So it ends in 42. Okay, 9242. Yes. Okay, we will allow each speaker two minutes to speak. And would we? Okay, thank you. Chair, would you like me to leave this slide up or would you like me to bring this timer up? I'll bring the timer up. Okay. Thank you. Okay, speaker whose telephone number ends in 2-915. You have two minutes to speak. I am unmuting you, please accept the unmute by dialing star six and start speaking. When you start, the timer will start. Hello, this is Becky Steinbrunner. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Thank you. Good morning and welcome to Supervisor Koenig. It's a real pleasure to welcome you to the board and also to welcome you Supervisor McPherson as chairman. I want to first comment that it has not been easy to find this access information for the public. And I hope that your board will include public computers in the lobby somewhere in the county building for people to use because all of the public libraries are closed and many people do not have computer access. So as we proceed and there are staff presentations, it will be pretty important to make that available to the public. I have some questions. First of all, I too have gone to the fairgrounds to observe what's going on there. There are a number of people evacuees from the CZU fire still staying there. They are all being charged $900 a month to stay there. And I find that appalling at a time when we're giving free places for many people in our community to stay to the shelter in place for COVID that these fire evacuees are having to pay $900 a month. Some of them have not been successful at navigating the FEMA process and are having to come up with that money out of their own pocket. When I talked with them, some of them didn't know if they would be able to make the next month's payment and would be out on the streets. So I really think we've got to do something about this. I don't understand why the county would not renovate the site in Watsonville on Freedom Boulevard and Crestview, where in the 1989 earthquake damaged home owners, our homes were damaged. Some of them were due. There were many FEMA trailers that were brought in there and people were able to stay. Telephone caller whose telephone ends in 1-9-9-9. I'm unmuting you when you accept the unmute. Please speak and the timer will start when you start. Good morning. My name is James Ewing Whitman. I appreciate Becky Steinberger's comments. And during the public comment, I think I might have something that would be humorous, but now we're talking about the CZSU fires. I spoke on September 15th, 2020 about the CZSU fires. And I'm just kind of curious where, if everybody's getting their insurance validated because Lloyd's London doesn't cover damages from wireless. And I'm gonna make another note to a CNN 1985 report about wireless weapons directly about lightning and that 60 gigahertz is a military weapon. So I don't think that's very funny, but it's something that needs to be discussed and thought about. That's enough for now. Thank you very much. Thank you. The next speaker is Monica McGuire. I am, please accept the unmute. When you start speaking, the timer for two minutes will begin. So I'm choosing, I hope you can hear me. I'm choosing unmute and it's popping back up that I had to choose. You're okay. Just I'm saying all that just so you know that could be happening to other people as well. Again, brand new year, it just would be incredible to have the change that you respond to the public this time, this year. Becky Steinbrenner brought out that point over a month ago, I know about the fairgrounds and it's talking that there was a report that no one's at the fairgrounds has been closed down and that we all know Becky is incredibly good researcher and she gets out and does things personally. So please respond to whether this is happening on a level that you have some control over or why people are being charged $900 a month to stay there. And then we're told that it's all closed down. Having brought these things up, like so many others with no response for so long, we really would like the new year to have this change bring about actual response to why is that happening? How is that happening? Why is it misrepresented? And what else will happen about it at this point? Cause that is unconscionable that people would be charged $900 a month to stay there. The fact that it happened at all before, again, please confirm, please respond, please let us know. Please be transparent. Please, I keep noticing that Mr. Friend's video goes away just like all last year we never saw his face. He didn't show up in video at any of the meetings. If you're not gonna show up in person, at least show up where we can see what you're doing and how you're responding when we speak. That is our right as your employers to see and understand everything by asking our questions and getting responses. Thank you so much for hearing me out. The next speaker is Jessica. You have two minutes to speak. I am unmuting you. Please accept the unmute and start speaking. The timer will begin when you start. Yes, hello. My name is Jessica Yala and I have been attending the meetings, the board meetings at the fairgrounds for the past maybe eight months or so. For my knowledge, there might be about 17 campers from what I could recall. They're paying rent. They're paying about anywhere from 900 to 950 a month depending on the hookup services that they choose. Many of the evacuees still living there have no idea how they're going to make their rent. They're very worried. They're very tight strapped and I would hope that the county would find a way where they can put in place the MOU for those campers so they wouldn't have to pay that rent. It's very concerning to see them struggle and I just feel that the county should consider doing more than what they're doing now for my knowledge, they started paying rent in either October or November. I can't really recall, but that's a long time to be paying rent when you don't have the money. And I know a lot of evacuees left because they did not have the money. So it's just something that I would really like the board to consider. It's extremely important. And when it is said that the evacuees have left, they've not left, they've actually turned into tenants. And so their status title has changed, but the evacuees are still there, thank you. Chair, I do not see anybody else with their hand up. So that would be the end of public comment. Okay, we'll bring it back to the board. I'll ask for further comments. Any comments from the board members? No comments, but I will move the recommended action. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Second by Supervisor Friend, a motion by Coonerty. Better call the roll on all of these now. Chair, I believe that Supervisor Koenig has some comments still. Oh, excuse me, sorry. Thank you, thank you, Chair. Yeah, I just wanted to ask for clarification of how many people did pay rent last month for space at the County Fairgrounds? Do we have some record of that? Let me see if Alisa Benson might be able to answer that question, it's also important to note that the County Fairgrounds is not the Santa Cruz County. They're an independent board under the state. But I will ask Alisa to comment. Sure, and I have Council, our board members, Alisa here and I apologize, my camera is not cooperating with the Zoom platform right now. Supervisor Koenig, I will have to check in with the Fairgrounds manager on the number of tenants there. So as one of our public commenters mentioned, this is the rent they're paying to utilize an RV hookup at the site. Many of the evacuees who are still there have received individual assistance through FEMA, which is rental assistance and they're utilizing those dollars for that payment. I am not sure if all of the folks who are at that site were qualified and received FEMA assistance and they may be some of the folks who are having more of a challenge. With individual assistance for rental assistance, it is not a lump sum. It is re-evaluated by FEMA on a regular basis. So that may be introducing some of that uncertainty some of our evacuees are feeling. As I mentioned in providing a little bit of context around the recovery services that are coming online, we do have FEMA funded case work, which is to work with each survivor approved under the federal declaration for, not just our fire survivors, but it's across the state. Catholic Charities is the award winner for that for the state and they are trying to actually get their operation up and running. Unfortunately, there's a lag between when that happens and when you get that case work support out to survivors and we're looking towards February for that. So in terms of, again, that rent that folks are paying is that standard RV hookup that the fairground charges. Our program, as what I was speaking to is the county run program did close, gosh, I wanna say mid-December and that's part of, partially after three extensions of that program with FEMA. Typically shelter programs closed within 30 days of the event. So I just wanted to put that out there and I'm happy to research any additional questions around that. Ms. Benson, this is Supervisor McPherson. How about the involvement of the state agency in the fairground? Does that complicate the issue? I mean, it's not a direct line to the county, is it? Does it state? Yeah, it does complicate the issue. I mean, as the fairground board sets their rates and so we don't have a role in that regard and I will also say the fairground has been impacted significantly by the pandemic and by the fire. So they are trying to manage their own affairs but we are, we do work with the fairground manager and the board, but yeah, I mean, those are converse, that's those decisions are round cost for their sites of the county fairground board. Okay, if we wanted to get an update then how we might address this in a different way or would we have to wait till February according to what you're saying? No, we can look into it before that, Chair McPherson to just address how many people are there, what's the level of, well, I'll call it sort of rental insecurity given sort of as I mentioned that FEMA individual assistance is reevaluating on a reoccurring this basis but we can actually get more of a status of what's going on there prior to February and see if there's any short shorter term supports we can offer. Okay, do you think we might be able to have something update on that the next week at our regular meeting? I'm happy to start those questions today and we can, we'll bring whatever information we're able to get back on next Tuesday. Thank you, okay. Any other questions from the board? We do have a motion, who seconded that? Did somebody, I didn't see a second. Yes, Supervisor Friend second it. Excuse me, okay. Please call the roll. Supervisor Koenig. Aye. Friend. Aye. Coonerty. Aye. Caput. Aye. And Chair McPherson. Aye, and that motion passes unanimously. The last item on today's agenda is the closed session. I will ask the county council, will there be any reportable items? And then I'm gonna ask if there's any public comments. Is there any reportable items in this council? There are no reportable items. Okay, are there any comments from the public on the scheduled closed session item we have? Yes, we do. If you give me one second, I mean, is it, how long would you like them to speak for public comment? Two minutes. Okay, great. Thank you. One second, please.  It's not wanting to come up. So speaker whose telephone number ends in 2915, you have two minutes to speak. When you are unmuted, when you start speaking, the timer will begin. Hello, this is Becky Steinbruner. Can you hear me? Yes. Yes. Thank you. First of all, I would like to ask that in future meetings, the public be given three minutes instead of two, unless there is a very complicated and long agenda. I would like to speak to this closed session item, the threat to public properties. I am assuming that is in the event of debris flows. And I hope that the county is able to hire on extra public works maintenance workers to remove log jams and debris that could clog culverts and thereby damage roadways and bridges. And ask that the members of the public be informed about this. And also that people be allowed to go out and manage their own properties and preserve these county owned facilities so that the property owners also are able to maintain access to their properties throughout the winter. Thank you very much. Usually I don't respond, but I do think under the circumstances with so much work having been done by our county staff through public works in particular with Mr. Machado, I don't know how many hours and how many people have been working at this along with state and federal agencies.  This is a little unusual, I know, but I think under the circumstances, I think the public could be assured that we have been doing really working deliberately night and day to try to clear that, clear it up as the best of our abilities. Mr. Machado, could you make a few comments, please? Sure, thank you, Chair McPherson. So just quickly, we did hire a number of contractors to help us with that from a staffing perspective. And so we do have those resources at our disposal and we're monitoring each storm and each event to ensure that those culverts stay as open as possible and that the soils also stay clear. And so I think we're in a good shape. We've actually had a, you know, it's been a light winter as everybody knows. And so we're ready for the next event and after that event, we'll get ready for the next one. And if need be, we will pull those contractors back in to provide the resources needed to keep the roads clear and the culverts clear. And so I think we're in good shape right now and we're thankful for the light winter. Thank you, Chair. Very good, yeah. Good question and thank you for your answer, your update on what we're doing and continuing to do. Any other public comments on the flow session item? Yes, we do. The next speaker is Monica McGuire. You are being unmuted. When you start speaking, the timer will start. Thank you. Hi. Okay. So I'm wanting again to speak for the public on this detail of what Mr. McPherson just said that he usually doesn't comment like this. He usually doesn't bring something back up if the public brings something to their, to your attention through these meetings. I'm certain that I'm not alone in not understanding how the public is supposed to get responses from you if it's not through these meetings. And when we speak and we don't have responses in the past, it's been so frustrating. So hooray that you're responding today and that Manu very specifically responded to us earlier as we were asking questions is just the most beautiful start again to feeling like we're heard and met our voice and questions and needs matter when we take the time to show up to these meetings. Basically what I want to refer to as well is when there's the continual issue of looking at the way the agendas are written and how we have to pour through hundreds, sometimes thousands of pages in order to understand what we can and it's difficult to understand when we ask these questions at the meetings, it's really important that you do respond to us and give us answers because it's very complicated and as a writer and editor myself, it doesn't look like it needs to be quite that complicated to help us understand what an agenda item is about and how to go about asking questions on behalf of other residents and people who live in this county who are not showing up. And I know a lot of people who just feel so disappointed and disillusioned in the past, that's why they don't. But again, this new era, let's just please keep responding to us as you just did and use the Brown Act appropriately. So thank you for hearing that out and please keep listening to Becky Steinbrenner. Our next speaker is Mary Lou Sams Wiley. You are being unmuted. Please accept the unmute and start speaking. The timer will begin when you start. Good morning. Yes, I'd like to remind people, courage people, county and also homeowners and stuff to throw out winter right. Ask a farmer. Renitrify your soil. The roots will grow despite you don't need to do anything to it. Just throw it, water it with the rains. It will grow and the roots will help hold the soil in place. It will, the local critters won't eat it, which is a plus. You wanna feed the animals, put out their feed if you wish, but it will not regrow unless it's in a marshy area. You may get one or two seeds that will grow again, but it will die out. And so it will be, when it dries out, the leftover will go back and provide mulch for the soil and such, but it will help prevent some of the soil loss. I did it for mine after the 08 traving fire when they wanted me to plant barley and a bunch of other stuff. And I told the guys that I'm not fertilizing. And when he came out and saw my waves of green it was blowing and such, he was very amazed. And I said, no, that's winter rye, that anemic yellow stuff over there, that little patch, that is your barley. And so you have to ask farmers, how do you keep your soil from eroding? How do you get it to be a healthier soil to be re-nitrified in the root system helping out keeping the soil in place? So again, if you have to order it online, local feed stores are not stocking it, unfortunately. And then also use, please for heaven's sakes, use rice straw, not regular straw. Regular straw has a lot of seeds in it, whereas the rice straw doesn't. So you won't have any invasive weeds and such. I did use, unfortunately, a little bit of the regular straw. And I got... Chair, and that is it for public comment. Okay, all right. Then we will move into closed session and there will be no reportable items. Next board meeting will be at 8.50 at nine o'clock on January 12th. This meeting is adjourned into our special session. Thank you and great start to 2021, everyone. All right, we'll see the board at least about five minutes. We'll reassemble for a closed session. Thank you. Meetings adjourned.


Hello and welcome to another episode of the Private Property Home Shopper Show. Today we're in my favorite car of all time at 2015 Mercedes-Benz AMG GTS, 370 kilowatts, 400 Newton meters of torque. Those numbers propel this car from 0 to 100 in 3.2 seconds flat. This is a two-seater coupé. Now the old AMGs are known for biting the hand that feeds them so to say those cars would punish you if you didn't know what you're doing and this car is nothing like that. Those numbers might be intimidating but driving this car could fool you into thinking you're driving a coupé, driving a cruiser until you switch this dial into sport or race mode. The exhaust note livens up, the handling tightens up and you know immediately you are driving nothing other than a super car. Guys we're going to show you around this car. We're going to show you some of the coolest features, some of the nicest buttons and what it's like to drive this car in traffic as well as what it's like to let it open on the open road. But I wouldn't be here and we wouldn't be looking at this car if it wasn't thanks to the people in Dominique especially from the guys at Prestige Mox. This place is the home to the finest cars in South Africa. If you're looking, your friends are looking, your family is looking, if anybody's looking to treat themselves not only to super cars but any single car of your dreams, the guys at Prestige Mox have got it all. So give them a shout, they'll happily organise you a test drive. By right now we are heading to Bryanstead, we're going to show you one of the newest and most exclusive developers in Bryanstead. It's a beautiful home and we're going to be taking you there in the most beautiful car. So let's go. Let me talk a little bit more about this car and the first thing you'll notice as you step into it is your central bridge.  The first one that I want to mention is probably the most important that that is your drive mode selector and on that drive mode selector you've got five different options. The first being individual and that is a drive mode that you can customize to your liking.  You can set that up and save it right there so it's always immediately selectable. We've then got comfort which is self-explanatory and that's the mode I'm driving in right now. You've got sport and sport plus but the final mode is race and what that does is it tightens up everything. It lets the exhaust loose and it gives you a little bit more freedom to let this car go and race mode is a very, very special mode to be in. It's not a mode I'm going to try out on the road but it's definitely a mode if you purchase this car you should give just a little bit of attention to you because I don't think you're going to be disappointed. Just below that you've got your engine start stop button. You've got the ability to turn your traction control off. Then you've got the button that tightens up your suspension to a setting you like. On the left hand side we've got my favorite button and that is the exhaust button so pressing that button opens up the exhaust flap and lets this V8 bi-turbo really growl. AMG cars are known for how good the exhaust note is and that button steps it up a notch. Above that you've got your auto stop start. Then you've got your button that puts the car into manual mode if you'd like to control it with your flappy paddle gearbox behind the steering wheel and this is an Alcantara lined steering wheel with your center line just in case you do want to take this out on the track and then last but not least you've got your button controlling your radio. You've got your white lined two-tone leather interior. The seats are all leather with that white interior cream should I say. It really is quite a nice color inside this car. You've got your Burmeister sound system leather wrap dash. All of your park control, your park distance control, there's no way you're going to be bumping into anything within this car. Then you've got dual zone climate control which is really nice if you're going to take this car out on a cruise. But that does sum it up for the inside. It's a comfortable quiet luxurious place to be for what is all intents and purposes a super car. There's nothing about driving this that feels like you can't do it on a day-to-day basis. We've got a Lamborghini Gallardo passing us right now which is awesome. But now let's talk about the exterior. So the exterior you have got absolutely enormous brakes. I think these brakes are about the size of a normal Polo's wheel. Then you've got the styling. This styling leaves nothing to the imagination.  You've got your rear wing that deploys at a certain speed, I believe is 120.  There's nothing about this that I wouldn't like about parking into my garage every single day. And guys in the comments let me know is this your dream car as well? And if it is give us a thumbs up. Give us a hot. But here we are right outside our home of the day located in Brynston. So we're going to park this baby. We're going to jump out and we're going to show you what it's like living in this new development right here in the heart of Brynston. The Mercedes Benz. We've jumped out of it and we're walking in to what you'll now know as Skyward. This is one of the latest developments in Brynston and this unit is a three bedroom, three and a half bedroom type A unit. There are three different unit types available in Skyward. Type A, B and C. The type A is going for $3,945,000. But you can buy into Skyward starting from $2,840,000. And here we are. We've just walked through the entrance wall. You can see the staircase behind me on the left. Glass railings there. Because this is a development what's so important to note is you can spec these units out to your liking. You can choose what floors you like, what concrete you like, what tile backings, splash guards, features walls, all of it. We're going to be showing you some of the cooler stuff in this apartment. But here we are right here in the lounge area. Plenty of space for whatever kind of lounge set up you'd like. And also a lot of space here. Right now you can see we've got a kitchen table in here. This could easily fit four people. Again, probably easily six. I love the space in the unit. I love the light. And I definitely love the way they've done the marble in the kitchen. Take a look at this marble frontier. We've got smeg. Burner there. You've got access to your garden. You've also got that chef's sink. As I've mentioned, recess into that beautiful marble. Some shelving is done, window access into the garden, and plenty of cupboard space both above the counter as well as below the counter. You've got your drawers there with soft clothes mechanisms as well as plenty of space in the pantry for your dishwasher and your washing machine. All plumbed, easy to put in, easy to take out. When I walked in, I told you, because this is a development, there's so much you can customize. So let's talk about some of the things that have been customized in this house here. This down lighting, customizable. You get to choose what kind of down lighting you like. The gloss railings on the stairwell, customizable. You get to choose what gloss railings you like. And then we've got bulkhead ceilings above us with recessed LED lighting. Again, you can choose whether you want it or don't want it. Another really, really cool feature within this whole house is every single window and sliding door you see is double-pane imported Italian, which means not only is it very, very high quality, but it keeps the cool in during the summer and the heat in during the winter, which is going to save you a lot on your electricity bill. But come over here, we've got a perfect little scullery here. Now, as you've noticed, on the right inside, you've got a chef's sink recessed into the marble. But here, away from crying eyes, we've got your double din sink with very, very fancy taps. Take a look at this.  And the fourth process behind that is to save you electricity on not wasting hot water when you're just opening your tap, preferably with some cold water. And then rounding off your kitchen, you've got space here for your double door fridge surrounded by even more cupboard space just in case you need it. Now, this is what's going to round off the downstairs area. Right over here, you've got access to your garage, I'm going to be showing you that in a moment. And downstairs, this is where you find your half bathroom. And something to note about this half bathroom is just how large it is. So often these are just cramped into a corner, but this one's got plenty of space, plenty of light because of the window above the bathroom. Your hidden cistern with all of your flashing mechanisms integrated into the wall, recessed LED lighting behind the mirror and a floating sink. That half bathroom is one of the most beautifully equipped I've seen. But let's take it upstairs and show you what else this three bedroom, three and a half bathroom unit has got in store for you. And trust me, that's a lot. Coming up the stairs, your eyes automatically drawn to this feature wall here. And this just isn't any feature wall. This is a concrete feature wall that you can expect to your taste. And just below it, you've got a frosted glass window, letting in a lot of natural light. So coming up the stairs, you find yourself on the top level. And this right here is a pajama lounge. Now both this pajama lounge as well as the first bedroom, which you guys are currently standing in, looking at me have access to an outside balcony. Again, all the windows here are double glazed, keeping you warm during the winter and nice and cool during the summer. So let's go into the first bedroom and see what it looks like. So yeah, we are within the first bedroom. And this bedroom easily fits a double bed. You've got cupboard space all the way on the right hand side and a built in desk, just in case you want to do any work on the left hand side. But take a look at this bathroom. Behind me, it's partitioned by this sliding frosted glass door. And the flooring in this bathroom is incredible. This is what Zotos calls quartz carpet flooring. And you can spec this within your own household. And even as one customer has done within the garage, you've got two color taps. And now the color taps are repeated throughout all the bathrooms, as well as the kitchen area. You've then got your floating vanity with your mirror mount there, as well as a standalone bathtub. And this is an extra length standalone bathtub. You can easily take one of the best so except the same thing that is repeated throughout the house is your floating toilet with hidden system. And then right here, walk in shower framed with glass, looking extra beautiful. Now before we go anywhere, let's take a look at that balcony. The sliding glass door, a Lumill glass door that is a brand name with these glass doors, leading out into your balcony. The balcony is again framed with those glass balustrades, and you've got a view of the downstairs area that balcony wraps around from the bedroom into your pajama lounge. So I've shown you the first bedroom, but there's two more located upstairs that I think you're going to be very interested in. This one right here would make a perfect guest bedroom, another office area, or even a kids' bedroom. You've got space here enough for a single bed, a double could probably squeeze in here. You've got plenty of cupboard space, and then you've got another one of those double-pane, imported Italian windows that open outwards, leading in a lot of light, a lot of air. But as soon as it's closed, it shuts off all noise outside. Because this is a development, there's a lot of construction going on, and you can't hear a single thing which is testament to the quality of those windows. Now over here, plenty of cupboard space. You can spec how you'd like these cupboards to look. I love the customizability of a development and what you get to do within a year through Zotos. You've got another one of those sliding, frosted glass doors partitioning the inbuilt bathroom from the rest of the room. And in that bathroom, again, the incredible quartz carpet, a floating vanity. You've got your mirror right there, as well as a walk-in shower and your toilet system. And now, and now, and now it's time for the creme de la creme, the main bedroom. And it's got some really cool features that we've never seen before. So come along. And here we are.  What is a master suite on the home shopper show without a walk-in closet? Plenty of closet space behind me. As well as a skylight built in, letting in some light in here, making it seem a lot more airy, a lot more fresh. And here we are within the master bathroom. Look above me. Now this is a real skylight, a real opening. I love it. It's domed. It looks so cool. It makes this bathroom seem so, so fancy, specifically for the price point we're coming in. We've got another one of those floating tubs, the beautiful quartz carpet. I actually can't get enough of this. I love it. Guys, in the comments, tell me, you feel the same way? Or am I just crazy? Double vanity with your cola taps, imported taps. And then you've got your mirror right here with some LED lighting going down. They're making it just a little bit more unique. You've got a walk-in shower with beautiful marble. This beautiful marble all over this bathroom. I actually love how it is, bulkhead ceilings.  But follow me because we haven't even shown you the real creme or this creme de la creme. So coming out of the walk-in closet, you'll find yourself within the main suite. Now this main suite is plenty of space around you, mainly because of the walk-in closet, removing that cupboard space from where you'd be sleeping and into that walk-in closet. So I love just how spacious it is. We've got pendant lights that can be specced to your taste right here in the corner, all done for you. And then one of the coolest features is just behind these aluminum sliding doors. So you'll slide that open and now you see you've got some balcony access. You can do the same right over here and you can pull it this way. So you can choose how you'd like it open. But for you people that like your area to be as dark as possible when you sleep, you want no traces of lights. Not only do you have roll-down blinds built in above all of the windows, but you also have these shutters that you can close on both sides and then close this door and that blocks out all of the light as well as the heat. So on those really, really hot summer South African days, you'd close easier and you'll have such a nice cool master suite. I love that they've thought of this. But down there, just below me, as you can see, we've got a garden, we've got a pool area that's also really interesting. So I'm going to go show you that. But before we go, let me show you the double garage. That double garage currently is specced out as a place for Zotos to sit down potential customers and show them the different offerings and the different specs. So take a look at the video as we scroll through this double garage. Take a look at some of the specs offering, pause when you need to, and if you want any more information, contact Zotos. They'll happily take you to Skyward, schedule a viewing in this exact apartment and show you how much there is to love about this. But right now, let's go downstairs and let's show you what the garden looks like. And here we are downstairs in the garden area. This patio is a built in bright with some space underneath for any bright implements you want. And yeah, the garden is and I love it. It's just enough for a plunge pool. You've got beautiful marble tile backing. Again, I can't mention this enough. Everything can be specced to your liking and every single unit within Skyward comes as very own inverter as well as solar and electric eases. So power is never a worry. But guys, thank you so much for joining us on another episode of the Home Shopper Show. Thank you for myself, Chad. And if you'd like to inquire for Skyward, contact Brian at Zotos Property Group. He'll happily schedule a viewing for you. So from the team, from myself, from everybody at Private Property, we're going to see you next time. We love you and goodbye.


A-pleasant day to everyone. I am Glesy Atienza from the College of Arts and Letters and it is an honor for me to be with you. Your mere presence in this lecture is an indication of your deep commitment to learning to further your work in drama or your thirst for learning in the field of theater. As teachers, educators, or even as ordinary learners for life, we have taken so much work and we have taken so much efforts to widen our knowledge. What paths have we not taken in sharing our knowledge and skills to make life in our communities better for education? Or what paths have we not done? What roles have we not done? This path of theater, which is seldom taken seriously and has long been regarded as a trivial path, has occupied most of our waking hours and has brought us to put aside the comforts of a stable career in exchange for the risks of life in theater. Theater must have brought us so much thrill, so much challenges, so much meaning in our lives, and yes, so much happiness from taking center stage and performances to doing production work behind the stage, to organizing venues and material support for performances, raising venues, raising funds, research work, and all the works. But these jobs are not at all glamorous or well-paying, but still they are able to generate intense interest and provide immeasurable happiness for people. There is an overwhelming experience of well-being, a sense of achievement, and as we say in Filipino, basta masaya. This particular concept of masaya or happiness is something that we want to use in our search for a deeper meaning of theater in Philippine life. At this point in time, can I ask you to join me in an action song as you very well know our life in theater involves action? So we need to get up from our seats and put on our shoes probably and maybe shake off a little of our tense muscles and join me in this action song. Okay lang ba? Oh, si Ge, game ha? Tayo na tayo? Let's get up, let's get up. Okay, the title of the song is Masaya Kaba. Masaya Kaba meaning are you happy? Oh, are you happy? At siguro you can use your shoulder, baby sound off in the comforts of your room or in your homes? Oh, masaya kaba? Igalaw na natin yung uloob natin, let's shake our head. Masaya kaba? Okay, at this point, we will try to sing a song. Okay ba yun? Masaya ito, kaya salin na tayo. Okay, the lyrics of the song is very simple. Masaya kaba? Are you happy? And then you will say, Oh, yes. And then I will ask you again, talagabang masaya ka? Are you really happy? And then you will have to convince me. Oh, meaning yes. And I will ask you then, igalaw, move one body part which I will tell you to move. For example, I will ask you to move your shoulder. Then you have to move your shoulder. Okay ba? You see, we do this in our communities when we ask our audience to warm up and join us in the performance. So let's try it. Okay, let's do it. So we have to do the lyrics. Masaya kaba? And then you will say, Oh, talagabang masaya ka? Oh, at ipakita. Igalaw natin ang balikat. Let's move our shoulders. Galaw?  Then let's do it in a rhythm. Let's clap our hands. Masaya kaba? Ipakita sa balik. The experience of happiness or the danas of happiness has brought various heights and depths of meanings to see at your work in all walks of life. In the recent years, happiness has become a major concern among countries. Each one besting the others' claim as having the most G and H or gross national happiness, a term which has been created by the young king of Bhutan in the early 70s. Medical sciences have relegated happiness to the fore of contemporary sciences making it an important subject of research. It has occupied a main agenda in most countries' concern and has become a much sought after target of success in governance and in the recent past. I found the thought of looking at happiness very interesting because in theater, it has been after all a concern. What would theater be without that feeling of happiness? But this has also prompted me to realize that much has been said about the heights that our theater work has reached in as far as advocacy and social change is concerned. But as far as happiness is concerned, although perinally it is a measure of success, it is something which has not been really studied. Very interesting, isn't it? So I pursued the search of happiness in theater, like Peter Pan's search for that happy thought. After all, this valuable measure of success and achievement in one's work is something that we have all experienced and worked for, though much has not been said about it. I thought it would be easy knowing how common the experience of happiness is in theater. I scored through technical works, technical papers in all fields. And then I came to a conclusion that the search for happiness is not at all as simple as it looks. In my theater work, it entails a long, arduous and continuous search for truth. Allow me to draw from my experience in theater in the communities. How does one spot happiness? Ano ba yung masaya? Is it the sight of smiling faces, the gleeful clapping of hands, a warm hug, the sound of laughter, hot meals for hungry performers offered by hospitable communities, happiness manifests in various moments of theater interactions to mean entertainment, pleasure, joy of watching or being entertained or the euphoria which is exclusive to those who are engaged in the experience. Theater through a collective danas or experience of the imagined and creative space allows for a special level of excitement and deep sense of joy derived from the magic of creating something out of nothing. That quality of euphoria exhibits a spectacular quality that lingers only for a moment and prevails in the senses till the next creative experience. Thus, happiness in a theater engagement is addictive as it enlivens the senses like no other stimulant. It is empowering, it breeds confidence, an awareness of possibilities and immeasurable journey for more. In Filipino, several terms pertain to varying degrees of happiness, such as masaya or saya which refers to a general danas or experience of pleasure. To what? Say masaya but it insinuates a more direct source of happiness such as a momentary encounter. Libang which refers to the danas of happiness which takes once attention from asad experience for a fleeting moment or the lugod which may refer to the happiness derived from the pleasures of the flesh or the basal instincts or the ligaya which may sound like the saya but it exudes a deeper base of pleasure, especially when transformed into the more encompassing concept and the noble version kaligayahan What is happiness? You see, biologists have indicated manifestations of happiness marked by physical and chemical changes in the body endorphids, dopamine, adrenaline, scrotinin, melatonin chemical switch acts as neuro-transmitters and impact on the brain, the heart and other organs to make people hurt and happy. A molecular biologist from Slovakia Ladislav Kovak refers to happiness as experiences both fleeting sensations and emotions and consciously appreciated as permanent dispositions of the mind. It encompasses two inseparable aspects hedonia, the pleasure of the senses and eudaimonia, pleasure of reason. Kovak further identifies three major types of pleasure which he uses to refer to happiness the pleasure of the senses the pleasure in reason and the pleasure in function. To my mind, these types of pleasures provide rational explanations as to how the brain and the body functions to sustain the survival of the human race. Sensory experience manifests the body's capacity to calculate the impact of a stimulus by providing pleasurable or painful emotions. The brain's rational side functions to measure and experiences value by finding reason for the experience which is further validated in its function responsive to the person's changing need for survival. The pleasure in function psychologist and language scholar Carl Buller pertains to the pleasure of achievement the pleasure derived in achieving a certain goal. All this resonate to the integration of thought, will and action in achieving a certain state of well-being learning guideposts which have been used in Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophical studies. A closer look at the pleasures pointed the fact that change is an ultimate ingredient in all the pleasures indicated above. A certain level of change a certain level of development transpires from nothing to something to something else. The achievement of pleasure of the senses is derived from the motivations set to titillate and create a sentient experience from a state of unfeeling to a state of feeling deriving pleasures of reason involve the attainment of an experience and the realization of a rationale in the fulfillment of an experience from no reason to reasonable. Likewise achieving a goal takes on a process of change from a state of something to be able to progress into becoming something else. Take note too that change is indicated as something which goes through a process and takes on another form in another level and another state of being. Thus, transformation a change in the form state appearance induced by one element onto another which alters its general appearance or mode of life is a more appropriate term. Transformation is a natural capacity and a constant quality in all living things. Without transformation life cannot be possible. Without transformation, therefore theater cannot be realized. Our theater experience points to a fourth type of pleasure, therefore. May I say the pleasure of transformation a quality innate in all living things which is found also in theater. It is the same quality that attests to the magical power of the creative field. Interestingly, the power of transformation, this salient component of creation has not been favored with the amount of importance it deserves. It is the same component perceived by Maslow when he mentioned that the fulfillment in the achievement of pleasures usually is found in the achievement of goals and not in the process of achieving it. Maslow uses the term achieving the being rather than the process of becoming. To my mind what Maslow was referring to is none other than the phenomenon of transformation embedded in the term process of becoming from the state of being. It is the same phenomenon which transpires when a life experience is translated into an artistic expression. The danas ng buhay or life experience becomes danas na buhay danas ng buhay becoming danas na buhay. This is transformation encapsulated in the phenomenon of becoming through performance which we will refer to locally as the ganap. So here we introduce the term ganap. In my ongoing research on local terms in Philippine theater I came across the term ganap. The ganap is present in the manuscripts of many plays performed since the 1900s. Recently it has come to be known to refer to a group of fans who are enamored by Nora Onor but this is not the phenomenon that we are referring to. The Filipino word ganap encompasses the experience as it embodies the act of putting things or ideas into action. The term ganap is an old Tagalog word. It means realization and equality. This comes from Juan Nosedda and Pedro Sanlucar. And it is the same term rooted in an old term meaning to make things happen. It is the same term used in reference to a performance or to realize a role or to become an actor. It is a familiar term among many because we use it in the theater field in the Philippines but it is something which we have not really appreciated probably due to the convenience or bane of using the English term act or to perform to mean the same thing. The English translation lacks the local nuance embodied in the word which illustrates ganap meaning the realization of life to a leveled up a level or leveled up life or living life. This is what we refer to as the buhay becoming buhay. I'm very sure that each area has its own local term for this concept but allow me to dwell on this further as this involves our engagement in the science of realizing life through theater using local terms as indicators of a local experience. The term ganap refers to space people, experience and its transformation to a new state through the use of devices which appeal to the senses like movement, sound, words, visuals and the scenery among others. A life experience or danas na buhay is transformed to become a new living experience danas na buhay. There is that emphasis there. There's buhay and buhay. The process of realization or the moment of transformation from a life experience to another level or a living experience transpires through the ganap. While a raw sensory experience happens in the danas na buhay a certain level of selectivity transpires in the danas na buhay. As life is translated into a creative mode and is realized in a space made alive to create a sensory experience taken from a real life experience but not necessarily the same as the life experience. Through the intervention of tools of expression such as the body of the actor a life experience or buhay is recreated and relived to become a live and living experience or buhay. In Filipino there is an archaic term used to refer to the actor that is Kilos Cining literally meaning mover or action taker for an art. The term Kilos Cining was noted by Filipino playwright Seberino Reyes. The term indicates the importance of the actors as tools in expressing or realizing a live and living experience. The actors take the responsibility of preparing their bodies as instruments of expression with the end goal of creating a connection with their audience through an experience which they hope to create during the performance. Here lies the power of the actor that inexplicable moment of recreating an experience while coping with the realities of the given performance conditions putting all that has been rehearsed in consideration while keeping their eyes on the goal of bridging the gap between the audience and the performer and the experience that is being created in the process. The ganap embodies assemblance of the liminality which Victor Turner discussed in his study of the ritual rites of the Ndembu tribe of Africa. He describes the process of realizing a ritual as happening in a space which is neither real or imagined what he calls the betwixt and between because it is made possible or performed by an actor who delves and realizes the imagined space while being part of a real space. This phenomenon happens to the actor as he or she negotiates his way into realizing a rule in an imagined or created reality during the performance while he's negotiating his way through the realities of his own real performance space. Sieter is life performed and made alive through a new danas na buhay a new experience in reliving a sliver of life. Thus, Sieter as it relives life transforms life. Sieter is the embodiment of a living system made alive through the creative process an opportunity for transformation. Here lies the power of Sieter to create a pleasurable experience. Transformation in Sieter is not limited to opportunities nor to feelings that Sieter provides. Community action is posed as the ultimate measure of success in Sieter's capacity to effect transformation. For centuries of Sieter work in the communities it has pointed to the function of Sieter as a major tool in people's empowerment. Our own local histories have marked the role of Sieter as potent weapons in exposing the ills of society and calling people to take up concerted actions in their pursuit for a better quality of life. Our own country's movement for nationalism and independence is marked by the developments in the form and function of Sieter. For instance, in the 19th century when the Philippines was declared a nation as a result of its colonial encounter with Spain new technologies of communication affected new ways of information using music, words and movement the very basic modalities of Sieter which have been in use since the early times. Oral lore which embodied local tropes through the musicality of words became codified in print. A revolution for national independence was in place as Sieter artists coped with the new technologies of communication such as writing, music and the new musical theater forms such as the Sarsella and the Wodville. With a new entry of the colonizers the Americans the theater artists most of whom belong to the most articulate and the most learned in the communities together with a new intelligentsia who have been educated in the West developed what was later referred to as the seditious Tagalog Place. This place were performed before packed audiences in various communities in far-flang areas in support of the anti-American revolution. The actors, many of whom belong to the anti-colonial movement used the opportunity provided by this place in encouraging people to support and join the revolutionary cause. Using satire and local imagery embedded in poetry the performances became opportunities for people to come together and process their experiences with the colonial Americans. Staging spectacle was used to stimulate nationalism among audiences who were barred from waving their own flag under the American colonial rule. The place created quite a steer among the American soldiers who truth to the performances to witness how the place roasted and killed Americans quote-unquote and of course to arrest the players. The period of martial law in the 70s to the late 80s was also witnessed to a new kind of theater for empowerment. Taking on the vision that theater should serve the interests and needs of the people, theater skills were disseminated to ordinary people who saw the development of new narratives based on their urgent concerns and life experiences. Theater became a living newspaper in the face of curtailment of freedom of expression and self-expression. Theater was created by non-theater people who used their new found skill in creating narratives that seek to call attention to concerns begging for change, militarization, human rights violations, poverty, corruption, displacement at even land grabbing. Theater became a living spectacle in providing opportunities for transformation. Plays were hounded by military who took no time in arresting theater directors and playwrights who criticized the government and posed radical ideas to the audience. The arrests, however, did not deter the performances of new plays. Neither did it stop theater groups from performing plays in a similar note. The arrests became living markers of an achievement among the players. They were able to put across a clear message calling for social transformation, thus earning the ire of the military. It was a pleasure in reason and pleasure in function and, of course, pleasure in transformation in action. It is important to take note of the various theater workshops we have become popular tools for introducing new opportunities for expression and critical thinking. Among these workshop processes, PETA's basic integrated theater arts workshop, or commonly called the BTAW, can be considered as one of the influential theater designs in the use of theater as pedagogy for learning and transformation. BTAW, initially called the Integrated Arts Workshop, started out as a theater workshop design framed on a middle class liberal view of self-expression and self-awareness. The BTAW's popularity served as a timely response to the need for self-expression which was curtailed during the martial law. Its popularization among the basic communities in the regions befaced by challenges of militarization and human rights violations, however, pushed the BTAW to evolve into a theater design aimed at providing an alternative avenue for self-expression and critical thinking. Using local cultural modes of artistry such as songs, dances and wordplay, the local issues as basic materials in developing original theater pieces were used. BTAW provided an alternative for learning and critical communication tool, an antidote for an ultra-silenced, westernized consciousness made worse by a repressive military rule. Significantly, many of those who encountered the BTAW as participant or as facilitator did not recognize the fact that the community theater workshop process's strength lies in its radical qualities which embody transformation in community action. Improvisational theater processes which embody change as the moving force of community action. An output and process which is culture-based, audience-oriented, participatory and collaborative and a pool of actors who allow their bodies and minds and hearts to be used as tools to draw critical studies of community concerns geared towards change. Community theater processes characteristic openness, adaptability and transformative quality can be misleading if taken out of its participatory, historically rooted and community concerns-responsive framework. A number of individuals and groups who have undergone community theater workshops have taken the liberty of using theater learning processes for various educational purposes such as curricular reforms in non-formal and formal education and have reaped the harvest in effective learning processes. Others have mimicked many activities and games to suit their particular needs commercial and otherwise without due consideration to its philosophy as an alternative learning pedagogy relegating its use to the function of entertainment and fun alone and without regard to its development from a venue of self-expression to a culture-based and historically rooted transformative action. Thus, transformation in community theater presents its political color as it positions people in a power space where they can transform their conditions and take control of their lives. Advocacies in various forms and levels of interest could not but be related to transformation in community theater because it involves the very elements that make theater happen. Setting, character, conflict, sequence of action towards the achievement of a conflict's resolution or dissolution. Add to this the creation of an experience-based experiment where ideas are tried and validated through the magical theatrical interrogative what is and you have a radicalized take on life and living. Radical to mean taking its scores of action from the roots. This experiences that I have shared with you will not be here if not for the colorful life which I have lived in theater. Mine is a classic example of a showbiz wannabe turned community theater artist. I am a product of the turbulent challenges that my country has posed to artists who yearn to make their audience happy and fulfilled and I have taken up that challenge as a commitment to my audience by doing performances writing plays on urgent community concerns sustaining theater linkages and conducting training on community theater work for schools and communities. Our network is composed of 30 groups from various universities and schools in Metro Manila. It's called the Alianza and we embody a mission that is to train actors, artists, community-oriented teachers, organizers, researchers who realize the concept of the GANAP using creative artistic approaches and based on the perspective of the KAPWA or literally in Filipino the self in the other. The core members of our group started doing community work in their high school years and have moved on to become professional teachers and artists today. A number of them occupy influential administrative positions at various universities. They become union leaders, program heads of curricular programs and cultural affairs, department chairs, directors and television networks among others. They seek support from government and non-government partners to spearhead national festivals and theater conferences and conduct trainings and performances using theater as processes to address community concerns. These actors, artists, teachers, students and employees who have migrated to the cities in search for greener pastures and who have to cope with the challenges of surviving in their temporary rented homes or children of migrant workers who yearn for a sense of family as they cope with life in their relatives' homes. These actors represent the new age artists who have been equipped with the tools of theater and who can opt to further achieve fame, fortune and popularity if they wish to but who have instead taken up the advocacy of using theater to respond to basic community needs despite the seemingly comfortable life that new modes of living have projected. Allow me to share with you a few theater experiences which we had in a remote provincial island with several coastal towns in central Philippines as we advocated for the construction of toilet facilities through a play which we called Hello Healthy Goodbye Dumi or Hello Healthy Goodbye Dirty These areas are targets of zero open defecation program spearheaded by the UNICEF through the local government units and our partner institution the Center for Health Solutions and Innovations Our musical play entitled Hello Healthy Goodbye Dumi centers on the efforts of four friends called Apat Nakay who are bent on raising community support to put up toilets and water pipes for clean water in every household They took part in a popular TV contest but their efforts were plagued by shame when the TV host slipped and got dirty by feces which were scattered all over the place The village chief gets angry with the four case because of the humiliation it has caused the village Soon villagers were running all over the place because of dysentery The four case then investigate how the disease spread and calls on their barangay boil drink in water and construct their own latrins and toilets in their homes to keep themselves informed to maintain a healthy body The script was based on a scientific research of UNICEF and major considerations were based on the motivations of shame and loss of face to motivate the audience to move, build their own toilets and become healthy Songs and dances were used to demonstrate the fecal oral disease transmission and the songs were composed using the popular genre in the rural areas These were sung by actors using easy to follow movements which were taught to the audience in a style similar to a mass calisthenics program At this point in time I'd like to share with you a song featuring the fly and the feces which were made into animated characters for easy information dissemination on the fecal oral disease transmission It's a love song and it's entitled Ang Taekong Pag-idik Okay, did you like that love song? It's about the lowly fly and the feces in a love song But this one, the next song features one of the kids as he explains why he defecates in the open The song is entitled Kung May Kassilya Slamma Kung katawayas lang sana sa sakin na dum sa anagalad Sana'y tayo'y makakatiwas sa sakin saan sa anagalad Sana'y To further intimidate and shame the audience a concoction of feces is squirted from his behind making the audience further squirm and laugh. Of course But just the same it makes the same impression of shame among the audience. After going through this grueling experience the audience are made to choose from among the options to address the problem of the seas in the community. Through a game-like activity pictures of different ways of feces management are presented and they are made to line up before the pictures they prefer. They are also challenged to identify the image of their community which they wish to present to the world. They are then encouraged to take their selfies in front of latrines and toilets which they prefer. Throughout the play roles are done by community members who have been requested to perform Kameo roles. This further encourages the audience to own the play and consider it as their story. Furthermore local keywords related to the fecal oral disease transmission were used to bring the play closer to the audience. Characters and incidents were also taken from popular icons. Original music compositions tunes were inspired by sentimental videoke and joke box hits which has remained popular in many rural communities. The show was performed for four times in four areas to around 800 people. All four shows moved people to action in varying degrees and intensities. The first show moved the vice mayor to pledge his support for the formation of a local theater group who would perform all over the municipality in support of the ZOD program. The local government officials and the school administrators took no time in bringing the school children to the town center so they can watch the play. Government buses and trucks were sent to their remote areas to ferry the children to the town center The second and third shows made the village health workers move as hosts project implementers and even actors. The village men took turns in setting up the shade for the audience while others helped the performers fix their sets and technical needs. The women folk helped prepare refreshments for the performers while the rest became stage hands helping the actors borrow hand props from nearby houses and helping convince some school children to participate in some scenes. This occurs in almost all community performances. Ordinary villagers taking time from their routine and contributing their limited resources to help put up a successful performance. The fourth show also made the village health workers and local leaders move but what was interesting about this last show was that the villagers were keen about setting up toilets in their houses. One mother was asking the performers if they had brought urinals for distribution. She said her family has been preparing a hole in her backyard and is now ready to set up her urinal. She was ready to build her toilet. This move to build structures in response to a specific call is the ultimate test of theater performances impact in creating transformative action. Urgently though the play ends with another song. This time, it leaves the skill and importance of hand washing among children. The title of the song is Ang Tamang Pugas ng Kamay. Would you like to learn the song? I can teach you the action. Alika, pangarala natin. Okay, ganito yun. The children took no time in learning the song with sticky soap chips distributed as tokens to force them to wash their hands. Local government leaders were urged to arrange for the holding of performances of the same play. This time to be done by young actors who have been trained to do the performances for their own barrios. They have been trained to roll out performances as their share in encouraging their neighbors to build their own toilets and wash their hands toward of diseases in the community. Here, theater is identified not only through its capacity to mimic life but more also by its capacity to transform a problem situation into positive action through various levels of engagement by people who are directly engaged in the community as well as those who are engaged through the magical link created by theater. Roles are done by people in varying degrees and qualities of participation from being audience to being technical support, organizers, researchers and performers. Similarly, the performers also did their part in contributing to the advocacy. More than three months were devoted to preparing the show from research to writing to mounting the scenes, doing choreography work, composing the songs, recording the songs and preparing logistical and technical needs for the production. All this contributed to the realization of a sliver of life made buhay or alive through a space transformed so that it may function as a laboratory for community action. It takes a new breed of actors to mean artists, community-oriented teachers, organizers, researchers to do this job. It underlines the inaliable role of the theater artist as a community servant whose work faces unending challenges as it negotiates its effect on its audience's life. It poses the same challenge taken up by any artist that of continuously improving its artistic craft to be able to translate life's idioms into more intelligible forms of expression. However, the community orientation sets the direction for service as against the usual regard for theater which has fame, fortune or popularity as its ultimate target. As actors, the primary motivation is to disseminate ideas and information and to engage the community into action. Thus, the ultimate challenge is in the audience's move to transform and take up an action for the community's benefit. Thus, to be an actor requires a shift in theater orientation from being limited to individual self-expression to being committed to service and the common good. At the first stage, and the actor initiates, explores possibilities and facilitates community action. The actor takes on the responsibility of preparing community action and works towards creating markers of distinction specific to the community's needs and cultural priorities. Education and critical thinking is an important component in this process because transformation necessitates a mission which the audience has to take part in to be fully realized. Skills in social mobilization as well as research is likewise important since the objective is not simply to amaze or to entertain but rather to enjoy and encourage transformation among community members. The actor then takes on a radical role as educator and forerunner of the most important output of our new age technology transformative knowledge in action. I say radical because to be an actor recognizes the importance of knowledge derived from study and skills training and applies this to encourage community participation in effective action. With the community's welfare and happiness as the ultimate target and once personal pleasure becoming aligned with the community's concerns. Our own actor's transformation from being ordinary student artists to becoming leaders in transformative community theater illustrates this. They become equipped with artistic skills and critical tools for analyzing social concerns that their participation becomes processes of unmarking realities. Our own actors have shared experiences on how issues concerning commercialization of education and rising prices have been made acceptable to rich businessmen through songs and dramatization. Dramatic performances have become venues for criticking erroneous educational reforms and universities. Theater festivals have become avenues for organizing among theater artists who are also part of the community workforce. The teachers, employees, students and community leaders, the health workers among others. There is a wide spectrum of transformation that theater creates in community life from the very simple opportunity to interact and share to the transformative community action which may lead to radical changes in a community's life. It is important for theater artists and educators to know where they stand and where they intend their efforts to lead as their powers are proven to be potent agents of transformation in society. After all, transformation in theater is living radicalized. So may our efforts in theater lead to transformative action with our community's varying degrees of happiness in all its intents and intensities. This is Glesy Atienza from the College of Arts and Letters. Thank you very much for your kind attention.