All right.
Thanks.
And are there any public comments on this item?
No public comment at this time.
Okay.
Thank you.
So we'll now move on to item four, which is an Update and Discussion on our Statewide equity Listening.
Sessions.
And I'll turn it to Amar Cid and Carolyn Abrams.
Thank you very much.
And Carolina, if if if you're able to could you think I was trying I don't know why it we'll we'll try and get give me 1 second.
Just to be clear to anyone who who was confused.
That's Carolyn.
It grows.
Unfortunately, she sees the link.
But it's all right.
You can just move forward.
All right.
I think we can get started.
Maybe I'll just kick it off to begin with, let's go to the next slide.
All right, so well, Caroline is getting back online.
So we started off the listening sessions as a kind of try agency partnership.
This is just a reminder on, on, on where this came from.
There was a lot of discussion with our homework.
Director who's now the Secretary with share woman near normal width secretary Kim at the time about how do we really get exact leadership involved with community?
How do we start maybe paying more attention or doing things differently outside of a lot of our structures that we had already in place instead of CD.
You see meetings or town halls really getting into a partnership to here and start building on our equity efforts and then really also look at spaces to kind of build upon our race and equity action plans or change up how we're doing things as our transportation agencies are, are kind of really.
Forging partnerships in the space.
So we started off with six different sessions.
That was where we were gonna go for the kind of first iteration of the listening sessions.
We thought about kind of affinity groups that we would prioritize for those exceptions.
But also then think.
Kinda thought through, what does that look like if we're only able to do one session for one affinity group that may not be representing the entire state of California or all members within that group and kind of thinking about on every person would represent that group that they identify with.
So we then looked at geographical.
Well neighborhood type settings.
And this is where we landed here with our sixth sessions.
We kicked off to sessions already, Carnot County, Lake County, and then the next for our in the works for being scheduled out.
You may turn over to Carolyn if you have anything to add there and then maybe you want to carry on the rest of the presentation.
Thank you so much, Amar.
Yeah.
I think the only thing I'll add here is that we are in conversation with some CBOs to schedule the remaining four of these sessions.
So we have some potential partners that we.
The meeting with in the East base, specifically in Richmond.
So we're trying to find a date that works for those CBOs.
We're also a tentatively partnering with a CBIO in Imperial Valley and they're connected with the AV 617 work as well.
So we're looking at an early June session for Imperial Valley.
And then.
And we also have a partner in LA that we're working with and we're looking at scheduling that session for June as well.
So the only area that we don't currently have a potential partner with is Inland Empire.
We're continuing to take any recommendations or connection.
Folks have, but we've we've seemed to have a little bit more difficulty finding a CBIO that's either available or willing to partner with us on that location.
So that's the only one that is a little up in there.
But we're moving we're moving in the right direction with scheduling and we'll make sure to.
Release so States as they say, come along.
Next slide.
Great.
Okay, So I think what I want to do today, just in terms of an update and recognizing that this process has been in the works for awhile.
I wanted to circle back around.
Down and just given overview of some of our priorities that we've been using in the planning process.
And then considering the fact that we still have for remaining sessions that haven't been held yet.
We are open to feedback and recommendations as far as anything that we might have missed or other priorities.
That are critical to this effort.
So a couple of things we really are trying to work with CBOs around their preferred schedule and they're meeting times.
So this has often meant scheduling sessions that accommodate naturally the local residents, but really prioritizing.
That over our agency staff.
I will say, you know, it's a bit of a juggling act to essentially get all of the schedules aligned with our executive leadership and our commissioners.
However, that has been sort of secondary to making sure that we have look.
Go residents and CBOs that are available and that were scheduling at a time that works well for them.
So this has sometimes meant doing things in the evening or at the lunchtime.
Our just leave that at that.
And then as far as tailoring the sessions to the needs of the participants, were really trying to make sure.
Or that we provide the appropriate language supports and that our agency staff are serving in more of a listening role and not taking over that space.
Trying to really create a welcoming environment where residents feel able to be completely transparent with us and share their honest feedback.
And then we're also.
So trying to make sure that for every single session we provide the appropriate interpretation services.
And when possible, facilitate the sessions in the language that is predominantly spoken among participants were also, as we've mentioned before, we keep coming back to this.
We are really trying to be mindful to not overextend are.
So especially after two years of the pandemic, we recognize that a lot of CBOs have limited capacity right now.
And just because we're able to compensate them for this effort, doesn't mean that they are gonna be able to support this work.
So we are really trying to build trust and partnership with.
The CBOs over the long-term.
And so we've shifted our timeline substantially to essentially create those working relationships.
So that being said, the other piece of this trust-building is also recognizing that a lot of our CBOs are essentially expanding there.
Social capital on behalf of our agencies.
And I think we need to be really mindful of that.
So if we're asking a CBIO to go to their local residents or their constituents that they regularly work with.
We need to know exactly what we are asking, and we need to be transparent about the follow through and what it is that our each.
T-shirt committing to.
And then in terms of compensation, we are also making sure that we compensate our CBIO partners at the hourly rate that we use to compensate our consultants.
Trying to use that as as the best practice.
And then finally, as I touched on a little bit already.
The CBOs want to know what we're committing to.
And so did the local residents.
And so we're trying to be abundantly clear about what we're promising to these communities, when and how we're returning to the communities.
What that looks like and then what future efforts might entail.
All right, I'll leave it at that for priorities.
Let's see next slide.
So as I mentioned, we've held to sessions to date and the first one that we kicked off was in current County.
And for this session, we partnered with the center on race poverty, and the environment.
And we.
The essentially help the session as part of one of their standing monthly community meetings.
And this provided a really good forum to already have residents who are engaged with this work in an environment that they're comfortable with in a format that they're used to.
And so they've been conducting their monthly meetings virtually throughout the pandemic.
And they've been using Zoom.
So he followed a similar format for that.
We facilitated the session and Spanish and then we provided simultaneous English interpretation.
And for this session in particular, we had about 31 residents and local leaders from the community.
And then that was accompanied by about night.
Team representatives from our state agencies.
And then I'm gonna just give a few high level themes that emerge from the conversation.
I won't go into great detail in just as a reminder, our consultants that we're working with are capturing all of the detail from the participants in terms of their feedback and their priorities and.
A lot of that detail will be captured in the final report.
But for the purposes of today's conversation, some of the key themes that emerged from the current County session included the fact that they're often very dangerous conditions in the community for residents with disabilities.
There's also limited or no maintenance for pedestrian accessibility.
Than that in and of itself is tied to the dangerous conditions that exist for people with disabilities in terms of sidewalks and other other modes of transportation.
And then there were also major safety concerns that exist with the rail crossings, particularly around the schools.
And recognizing that often Students are trying to get to school, they have to cross these railways.
And that has presented a lot of dangerous conditions for residents as well.
There's also a lot of freight traffic in this area which creates substantial health and safety burdens.
This is often typical of a more agro industrial.
Rural communities that definitely came up in conversation.
There is also concerns around excessive noise pollution, and congestion issues, especially for highway adjacent communities.
And even for communities that aren't immediately adjacent to the highways, there were some concerns around some of the highway widening projects and how that is essentially.
Pushing more and more people closer to a highway.
And then finally, this was sort of an overarching theme throughout the conversation, but a lot of residents felt like rural, small and low-income communities are often not a priority in comparison to other more affluent communities or urban areas.
All right, Next slide.
So the second session that we held was in Lake County and for this session in particular, we partnered with the Lake County Chamber of Commerce and the Lake County Economic Development Corporation.
We had about 20 residents and local transportation professionals.
During the call.
When I say local transportation professionals, I mean, some of the folks that work in city planning, particularly in the transportation planning department, and all of them identified as local residents as well.
But there's a distinction that we had a little bit more of.
A professional audience there.
I guess, professionals leaving off the proper term, but that's how folks showed up in that session saying, I am showing up as a representative on behalf of the city or this planning department.
So then that was accompanied by about 18 representatives from our local age or from our state agencies.
And then some of the You know, any concerns came out of this conversation in terms of key themes, was really centered around the fact that the tribal members and area residents think that most importantly, there needs to be greater Representation and Inclusion for tribal members in the transportation planning process as well.
The decision-making process.
A lot of their concerns stemmed from that.
And so this was a key theme.
There was also a point made multiple times set the limited and narrow main corridors going in and out of the community, often create unsafe roadway conditions.
And there's Often no other alternate routes.
And so in cases of evacuation or other other emergencies, this often makes entry and exit into the community very difficult.
Folks also mentioned that there is limited access to the area reservations and that definitely needs improvement.
And It also came up that there is a large population of chronically ill and aging residents, many of which many of who are living in poverty.
And they have unique transit needs.
So one example in particular that came up with the fact that often these residents have to travel outside of the County for medical care and that Isn't always taken into consideration when planning the transportation networks in this rural community.
And then finally, some of the bus and transit systems essentially need increased frequency availability and transit stock options to make them more viable options for residents.
And I believe that's it.
If you go to the next slide, I think that's her closing one.
So just to quickly recap, we've held these two sessions so far.
The audience looked very different and our community partners were very different across the board.
And so we're seeing, you know, to know.
Price that each of these sessions is very unique to the community in which we are holding them.
And so for the remaining four sessions, we will continue to follow a similar format in terms of offering language support and resources and really trained to choline and collaborate with our CBOs to plan and Designed the sessions.
But some of these sessions might, again similar to the current session, be part of a standing meeting.
Others might be a standalone session like the Lake County one.
And so again, we are open to the feedback from the CBOs and then also for today's purpose, any questions or feedback on that folks have from the Roundtable.
We're happy to take.
Think one thing to add also to both sessions.
And I think this is what we're expecting for all the other sessions as well as a what happens.
Next question.
Is there an opportunity for our agencies to come and meet with them in person?
Is there opportunities to collaborate for site visits?
So they are executives can have a really deep understanding of some of the transportation issues that they're expressing online.
So those are commitments that I think all three of our agencies are making to come back at a different time.
And even if it's outside.
Consultant contract, those are things that we'll be working on for the near future.
It looks like we have a couple of questions and comments in the chat.
So feel free.
Panel.
Magical members to say it out loud or for your brother, I read them, let me know.
We'll start with Brandy.
Mentioned, do you want to say it or do you want me to read it?
I just wanted to.
Thank you.
Stopped presentation.
Just point out that I appreciate the point made about trend of match.
The hourly rate that's used for consoles to match that with our they wait for CBOs.
Thank you for that.
And just disclosure, I worked for a CBO, so that's something that we do discuss.
Don't want to point that out.
I did have a question about the next steps are are gonna be.
Yeah.
Yeah, I might have missed it.
I apologize, but they're gonna be more listening sessions taking place in the state.
And what's the what is outlook like?
I know you mentioned the Inland Empire, I believe Are there additional locations, plant Yeah.
Great question.
And I'm happy to take this, but feel free to chime in.
So these six sessions are a starting place, right?
We recognize that six sessions can't possibly cover the entire state of California, particularly when it comes to priority populations.
So what we're looking at based on these sessions is.
To gather some of the community feedback and then from there, figure out what it looks like in terms of returning to some of these communities, either to provide an update on what we've heard and where we're at in the process or just continue to keep these open lines of communication between our state agencies and the communities.
But beyond that, we're also.
Considering some other options.
So that could involve site visits.
And this can extend beyond the six communities that we've identified for this first round of sessions.
So site visits, community tours, other perhaps smaller meetings with advocates or community organizers.
And then The other option is of course, additional listening sessions.
And I think some of that decision-making will have to come as we move through this process to see if this is an effective approach, if we're gathering the feedback that is valuable that we're hoping to here.
And so, and then for each community it might look a little different, right?
We might.
Into a site visit in one community, we might return to a community meeting in another.
We could also hold an open forum or a town hall, something like that.
So I think it's in the the vision is that this is a jumping off going.
Yeah.
Just to add this initial concept was also structured with.
Consultant teams are, are, are contract does and the summer.
Outside of the contract, I think Caltrans, CTC and agency or gonna work together on what those mix iterations with look like for listening sessions round to.
And then also working with our districts who may be hosting and holding their own sessions with different comedians.
Numbers already.
So we have had a request and district for from the would street community to do listening session where Andrea, who's equity lead within district for our PIO team, which is the public information.
Folks, held a couple of different sessions.
They're already.
Back in November and December.
So there's different things that could be happening outside of this initial space.
What that looks like we have yet to determine what they may be.
If this is a standardization that will be creating, that's also something that will have to entertain.
But I think there is a lot of interest from our district partners and District district staff at Caltrans to kind of take someone more lead efforts, especially on our very rural communities that would like more kind of communication with district staff.
I had a question in the chat as well, and I actually had 21 of them.
You've already touched on an answered which is just how will you follow up with some of these folks who've been able to bring together.
The other is you mentioned that you all were working with consultant.
To we're collecting the notes and we're gonna be able to help you kind of look at the themes across the different locations.
Can you just remind us of food that consultants were.
Consulting team, ICF.
And then what we can do is maybe send out in these minutes just who the consultant team is so that you can have access to that.
Thank you.
And thanks for the presentation.
Hi, this is Leslie Sanders.
You did answer part of my question, but with the Lake County, I was wondering if it was just like.
County.
I mean, there are so many COBs and so many tribes in handbook, which is so close to lake.
It wasn't it was just Lake County.
It was an open to say some of the COBs and Humboldt, are they tribes and humbled?
It was specific to Lake County.
Yeah.
I think a couple of things to note on that is the short answer is yes.
We've come back to this question multiple times around.
How do we create an inclusive space where we aren't telling people no, sorry, you can't participate.
And at the same time, allowing these to be meaningful conversation so that there is some level of geographic focus or population focus.
And so eventually came back to, Let's narrow down on the sixth communities that we selected.
And from there, if there are folks and so intentional outreaching.
Engagement will be done for those communities.
However, if there are folks that reach out or contact us that feel compelled or want to participate or feel like it would be an important space for them to partaken because these sessions are being held virtually for the most part, that allows us to make it more inclusive.
So.
To answer your question, the outreach and engagement was done specific to Lake County.
So we did not extend beyond that.
However, I think follow-up conversations, you know, could extend beyond that.
Like I said, we're not limited to these six communities when we start looking at, you know, next steps and what our future efforts look like.
But you make a good point.
There are are a lot.
Of other tribes that operate up in Northern California.
And so to make that, you know, that border distinction is sometimes sort of arbitrary.
And then I think we did have initial questions and comments about inclusion from different tribes in the area.
So it was shared out at the.
Caltrans district, one tribal summit, and then also a couple of different tribal community groups shared it out there.
So I think for Lake County, we did have tribal representation from the area online.
And then there's also a couple of different specific requests for maybe an additional listening session or.
Or to with tribal communities from Northern California that would then expand beyond Lake County.
Well, and I think would be a wonderful place for you to really engage and that would be tribes up and down California, I mean, southern colonies.
Foreign you tribes or their Northern California central.
Because I apologize.
I was at the district one meeting and I did not hear about the Lake County summit.
And we have so many others, COBs and Humboldt County.
I mean, it just.
When you're talking in when Lake County is talking about rural, it's like they're rural.
And our rule.
Our different.
Yeah.
I mean, Humboldt County.
It parts a Shasta.
Go by the Klamath.
It's totally different than late noun.
So I was just surprised that Lake County was was there an I had not heard anything about it, and I did have just been offline and not heard, but yeah, I had not received anything.
North Coast tribal Transportation Commission heard nothing about it, so I would have put it out to all of the members.
North Coast tribal Transportation Commission had I'd been aware that it was coming.
Thank you.
Will make sure to add that in because I do think information was disseminated.
And then we did have some folks from district one that we're helping to share out the information.
We did also bring it up at the NAK quite a few times.
There was also maybe some discussion.
Early on about the inundation of tribal listening sessions at the time because the governor's office was holding different listen listening spaces.
So we're trying to figure out a way to make sure that we're not overburdening with multiple sessions trying to partner with different agencies.
So that Again, we're not having like ten different agencies holding listening sessions with the same groups, trying to organize around that.
So I think there's just a lot of collaboration that still needs to happen so that we can make this easier for our folks that we're trying to engage with.
And so that we're just not missing the mark.
So.
Think over the next couple of months, we're gonna try to figure out a better way.
I'm not 100 % that it's going to be perfect.
But again, I think there's just different ways we can do this.
So thank you Lozi for your comments.
I just wanted to oh, sorry.
Go ahead, Jasmine.
I'm sorry.
I'll be brief, Connie, I'll be brief.
I just wanted to say, Carolyn, thanks for the additional comments around other ways that you all are looking at doing these listening sessions and thinking about how you can.
Can connect with people to hear about what's on their minor, what's going on.
In particular, I think going out into these communities where, you know, they're having conversations about transportation planning or even linking up with some of the council like council's of government or MPO's.
In the area is another way.
I know that that's probably already happening in other forums.
But just something else to think about, like I know our CagA street cog is really open to being part of those conversations, but also making connections or making referrals to other community-based organism.
Innovations that you could and should speak with.
So that's a good, maybe a good best practice to also look into.
And then I just wanted to also say MRI, like a really appreciated what you said about multiple state agencies approaching communities.
I really, really really think.
Think that's a really important one.
I know.
There's all this funding coming down from the federal government and from the state around innovative projects that we're all trying to take on.
But yeah, it's definitely I've definitely felt it from our organization.
And it's great.
It's amazing to be having that.
Line of communication be extended.
But it is a little difficult to keep track.
And I will say of several years ago, the Kelly PA environmental justice Task Force came to Stockton and what they did was they actually organized many state agencies in one Single room so that it was like one convener.
And I think that that was really and and we got to talk about a multitude of issues.
So that might be a model to look at.
Because it went really well and and it was very well organized, appreciated the care that they had for the CDL partners that they were engaging with.
But Yeah, I just think getting out into these communities as as much as you can, having like even one staff person, I wanna think Sequoia to cut for coming to us.
This invest in stocked in just last month, we had mobility project that we were launching and she was able to join us and that was great.
And I think even just having one stop person going out to communities where these things are happening.
You're gonna meet a lot of different people.
And here From a lot of different groups at those kinds of events.
So yeah, I really appreciate that the work that you all are doing.
Thank you, Jasmine and tear point about the MPO.
I do really appreciate that, and that is an option that we've been exploring.
And I think so for some areas, particularly when we were having difficulty finding CBOs to partner with, that was a good linkage to some of the communities.
But then are, are other concern around that which again we're open to feedback.
Back on is we're trying to strike this balance of how many sort of, you know, planning officials, city representative, state agency representatives, and all of those folks are in the room kind of taking up space versus the actual community members.
And we're trying to make it so that the community.
Remember, is actually feel like they can be very open and honest when they're having these conversations with us.
So I'm not saying that having MPO's in the room changes that dynamic, but it's something that we're trying to be mindful of because already with our agency, almost 20 people on some of these calls, which kind of overwhelmed.
I think we take up a lot of space.
I totally understand.
Let me clarify what I was saying is I would hope that and maybe other places, maybe other POs are not as collaborative with their CBO partners.
But we are in certainly King County.
And so it might be different, but I was seeing is Maybe they could make a referral to an organization not necessarily having them do it.
Or another way to just like bypass that is maybe to look at who's making public comments at their meetings.
I don't know.
I don't know if someone on your team has the time to do that kind of research.
If, if there's a particular area where you're wanting to target, maybe there are, are people making comments or For on like company, community advisory boards or whatever?
Yeah.
Just a thought.
At least in smaller, more rural areas, people who are making public comments at those meetings are probably people that you would want to speak with.
Yeah, that's great suggestion.
Thank you so much.
Jasmine.
Thanks so much.
It's CATI high.
I wanted to get in here on the rural I think Leslie and I are having the same issue and, you know, I mean, in this equity space, we did name rural animal, so we have the ethnicity and the disabled.
The issue as well.
And so I think, you know, one of the issues with some of the state equity work is since rural is named as an equity group, often, we see the state partnering with.
Organizations that don't have an equity lens in their community.
So I think that's part of our reaction to choosing an economic development agency, for example, as your CPO.
So what I wanted to ask and what I do think I mean, honestly.
Doing six, we all knew that it was gonna be a struggled to be representative with six I'm hoping that what will come out of this is not just a report on what you heard, but on how you went about and lessons learned, so that the districts and Others should you not get additional grant funding, have a model of how to do equity listening towards in their region.
Because that would be more valuable.
I think, you know, you know, I've been very critical district one in this space.
It's a very large district.
And they have some set equity points.
But, you know, there were those of us who are in the grounded rural who actually do know the equity CBOs and they do have some capacity and would point you in their direction, you know, with the tribes or the Latino community.
The disability community in our region.
So we just hope that I mean, where it might be more apparent in urban areas who helped holds that space.
Some of us do know in rural areas on the ground and can help guide to other CBOs.
And then I just also want to responded.
Push-back a little on the conversation around how many meetings around equity there are a lot right now.
But I think often times on the ground we feel like with like I just noticed with the surf equity project.
Right now, it was literally, Hey, read would cost you come to this meeting on the 27th.
This is your only opportunity in your only day to give equity comments on this thing.
And so I do think that I mean, ideally I would love it if we got to a space.
It's where we didn't feel all as equity advocates of the community.
We had the this every meeting and there was so much conversation going that it was okay for you all to reach down to us and it was okay for us not to show up in every meeting where it becomes normalized and you don't.
Have to think about coordinating, how you talk to communities because you wouldn't do that in a community if it was predominantly a non-equity community.
So I just want to I just want to say, you know, com a lot, talk to us a lot.
We're talking about these issues a lot.
And don't worry about over taxing as as much as you might think.
We're eager to have conversations.
We are eager.
Thank you, Connie.
It I really appreciate that.
Maradona, if there's anything that you want to add, but we definitely hear your feedback in here.
Those comments.
Thank you.
Yeah.
I think those are valid comments.
And again, this is.
Not a one in done, you know, we're looking at other options.
I know myself and Carolina, at least the core team from Caltrans are looking the prioritize work forward.
So even if we can't do it as a joint effort, these are things that we're gonna be working with our district team members to build out.
So please please don't think that this is.
And then I think also kind of just back to what the report looks like.
That's one thing that's calla and I have had multiple discussions on his documenting the process so that it isn't just, you know, what we heard report its its how we're doing things differently, how we have kind of built in a lot of time into the space.
Putting our own, you know, requests like on-hold I from the department level where, you know, we do need to make sure that tour following a contract process, but building into that space that time and considerations so that it's not feeling like a one-sided were were demanding our CBOs to do or executes anything.
You know, rapidly so that we can get the outcome.
So that is gonna be part of the process, part of the larger report is what we're looking at.
And then looking at who we partner with.
That's that's also something that, you know, we're documenting.
How do we make sure that we're partnering with the community members.
Represent community whose whose out the table, who's not.
What are these partnerships look like?
If we did not partner with certain communities, why or why not?
How can we then reach those communities in community groups differently?
And Lake County, there's also going to be some discussion on on the partnership, their an One of the other partnerships that we did have with them.
They just it just couldn't work for this particular session.
So it's not something that we haven't prioritize with equity-based groups.
That is part of the model and why we've been taking a little bit more care in time to figure out how do we do this with veterans.
If there isn't any other questions I'm wondering if any CTC commissioners or staff or agencies stuff wanted to share out really quickly on their experiences.
Oh, I see somebody who, who.
Actually Jasmine just put it in the chat box.
It's gonna be critical.
Next.
You know, sort of your gets to problem.
Or actually the last rhotic precession.
Curious south.
Marketing flyers or Alice distributed is also important.
So you know how the marketing materials said that information out to these entities, such as you want to happen.
The first comments figures, that's gonna be an important to as well.
So it is not just person who gets fired squared event writers.
Expand access span easily, use those social, some look kind of science.
Just to recap low because it was a little bit difficult to here where the comments or questions around or we documenting the process for outreach and engagement to the communities organizations.
What does that look like?
Or was it like also the average engagement from the CBO to community?
Both.
Essentially saying that he he said the attacks and also emails expanded<