HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 01172006 - C.28 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
° Contra
FROM: STEVE WEIR, County Clerk-Recorder ; Costa
DATE: January 17, 2006County
osrq cfiuK`�' cS
SUBJECT: APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Clerk-Recorder or designee to execute a contract to
apply for and accept Federal H.A.V.A. (Help America Vote Act) EAID (Election
Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities) grant funding, authorized by the Secretary
of State, in the amount of$115,576.72 for accessible equipment and staff training to
meet accessible votinig requirements.
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Clerk-Recorder or designee to execute a contract to apply for
and accept Federal H.A.V.A. (Help America Vote Act) EAID (Election Assistance for Individuals
with Disabilities) grant funding, authorized by the Secretary of State, in the amount of
$115,576.72 for accessible equipment and staff training to meet accessible voting requirements.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no County match required for this grant.
REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION/BACKGROUND:
The October 2002 Help America Vote Act requires every polling place to have equipment at each
polling location to allow disabled voters to vote unassisted and confidentially. To this end, Contra
Costa has replaced their voting equipment with a system that can meet these requirements.
Additional Federal funding is available specifically dedicated to assist disabled voters. We plan
to use these grant monies for specialized tables to hold our accessible devices, poll worker
training on these devices, State certification training and equipment to survey polling places for
accessibility requirements and the survey of each polling place in this County.
CONSEQUENCES OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Contra Costa County is under the scrutiny of the Department of Justice, as are all counties. The
Department of Justice is aggressively cracking down on California counties who fail to address
these issues.
Failure to approve this action will prevent Contra Costa from implementing programs to increase
voter accessibility, education and pi II worker training.
Note: The State of California requires that the County indemnify, defend and save harmless the
State from any and all claims and losses resulting from the performance of this agreement.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: SIGNATURE: `A^
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMM NDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
✓ APPROVE OTHER
r
SIGNATURE(S):
ACTION OF BOAR O I 1'1!71d-Q0
APPROVED AS R C MMENDED OT ER r
VOT OF SUPERVISORS: J I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND
V UNANIMOUS(ABSENT �/ ) CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND
ENTERED ON MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF
AYES: NOES: SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
ABSENT: ABSTAIN:
Candy Lopez, ' ��
Contact: 6-4173 ATTESTED:(DATE) LA 0 LPA
cc: JOHN SW TEN,CLERK OF THE BOARDOF UPERVISORS
AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
BY: O Deputy
�e
V
BACKGROUND (cont'd):
In addition, Contra Costa County did very well in reauthorization of the Transportation Bill, TEA 21.
The bill was enacted as SAFETEA-LU with a 5 year authorization, effective 2005. The County was
allocated demonstration project funding for the Brentwood Expressway project and the Carquinez
Bay Trail Segment. In addition a-BART was authorized as a rail "new start."
➢ Brentwood-Tracy Expressway - $14 million for planning for development of new State route
239, including route definitionl, alignment studies, commun9ity outreach and environmental
review.
➢ Carquinez Bay Trail Segment - $1 million for construction of a bicycle and pedestrian trail
between Port Costa and Martinez as part of the San Francisco Bay Trail.
➢ eBART— authorization of eBART as a rail "new start" which positi9ons it as eligible for future
funding. Future appropriation requests may be forthcoming after BART has completed the
environmental process and preliminary engineering for the project (separately funded
through Measure C, Toll Bridge and federal formula funds).
In addition, Alcalde & Fay has been successful in ensuring that the Water Resources and
Development Act (WRDA) has included language important to the County regarding local match
credits for expenditures on flood control projects prior to execution of the Project Cooperative
Agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers. Language has been included in the draft bill every
year for the past three years, although WRDA has still not been enacted by Congress.
Over the past year the County has requested substantial increases in advocacy on its behalf from
Alcalde & Fay, particularly with regard to Indian Gaming. Paul Schlesinger and Charlotte Hrncir
have worked closely with Senator Feinstein's office in support of S113 which would require the
casino in San Pablo to undergo the same two-part determination process as required of other
casinos in West County. As anticipated, this issue will continue not only in 2006 but beyond, as the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is receiving increasing scrutiny in Congress.
In addition to increased advocacy on Indian Gaming issues, the County will be asking Alcalde & Fay
to direct considerable more attention to the Medicaid Waiver which provides funding for public
hospitals. Other health issues include proposed restrictions on federal reimbursement of targeted
case management services to Medicaid beneficiaries.
Congressional action that would be disadvantageous to the County is also under consideration in
the areas of federal financial participation rates for child support; use of federal Title VI-E-funds for
child welfare for abused/neglected children; new federal mandates on the Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families Block Grant (TANF), and reauthorization of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
Based on this increased scope of work, staff is recommending a modest increase in the contract
from an annual amount of $100,000 to $105,000 per year. This is the first increase since the
contract was initiated in 2001. No further increases are provided for in the second year of the
contract extension (total 3 year contact to December 31, 2007).