9-1-1 Advisory Board Meeting 20260609 192743UTC Meeting Recording

001All right, we'll go ahead and get started. Uh, good afternoon everybody. Welcome. Thank you for coming. This is the second state 911 advisory board meeting of 2026. Uh, before we get started, we'll do a little bit of the housekeeping items. In the event of an emergency that requires evacuation, please note the emergency exits on either end of the room. Please make your way calmly and peacefully through those doors out to the fresh air. Um, also note that the restrooms are located out in the out this door over here into the lobby around to the right. Um, and as always, please silence your communication devices while you're in the room. And if you must take a call, please do so out in the lobby. Uh in today's meeting, we're going to go ahead and um be

002hearing some updates from the different program areas that are covering some of the continuing activities and discussing activities and updates of the NextGen 911 platform and the progress being made there. Uh it's my persistent hope to have a robust discussion from among the board members that leverages the expertise represented among all of these people that are on the board and have been appointed to this board with the specific purpose of serving the interests of the public and the member and the people of California. At this time I think we'll uh turn our attention to the roll call. And so uh as I go through I'll do a a verbal roll call. if you'll indicate yes or no here or not here. Um, let me know uh your status. We'll start off at the top with

003uh Rodney Ellison >> here. Thank you. Kurt Wallace >> here. >> Thank you. Jennifer Gonzalez >> here. >> Thank you. Andrew White >> here. >> Thank you. Mark Chase >> here. Thank you. Amitrius Sydney >> here. >> Thank you. Eric Clevmire >> here. Thank you. Garrett Huff, >> I'm here virtually. >> Thank you. Robert Johnson, >> here. >> Thank you. And Yasinia Sanchez >> here. >> Thank you. By my count, we have perfect attendance and therefore are assured a quorum. We may proceed with the business of this board. Uh at the top of the order, uh we'll move to item number two. This is uh the director's comments. And so at this time, we'll turn our attention to the director of Caloes, Caroline Thomas Jacobs. >> Good afternoon, everyone. Um I am happy to be

004here with you today. Uh for those of you that I haven't had the chance to meet yet, I am uh Caroline Thomas Jacobs and I was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsome in March to be the Callas director. Uh this is not my first time at Callowas. Uh I was previously here from 2014 to 2019 where I served as the chief of headquarters response operations. Uh I also was later appointed by Governor Gavin Newsome to be the inaugural director for a new department called California Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety and then had the privilege of being able to come back here to Callowas in March. Uh in addition to more than 20 years of emergency response and public safety experience. Um, I've held several roles at the C uh Contraosta Sheriff's Office, the Bay Area, uh,

005Urban Area Security Initiative, um, and also in in technology down in Silicon Valley at Apple Computers. I want to take this opportunity to thank the board members for their time and continued engagement and willingness to contribute their expertise to the development of the 911 system. >> Yes. And I'd like to acknowledge and congratulate our newest board member, uh, Eric Clivemar, the director of emergency services at Stanos County. So, welcome to the board. Thank you for joining us. Uh, and I look forward to the contributions that you offer and that all of the board members offer to our 911 system. I want to assure you that the NextGen 911 project uh has the highest levels of support and commitment from both me and the administration because public safety is our priority and this project must be

006successful. Your continued support and engagement are critical as we navigate the implementation of NextGen 911 and the success of this project depends on strong partnerships with the people who operate, manage and rely on these systems every day. That is why I I have directed my Callowas team to work with the board uh and the involvement for to make sure that we have earlier involvement uh more frequent engagement and greater visibility into the project planning and implementation here at the board so we can get your input as we move forward. We are committed to moving forward and beyond simply providing updates and toward a more collaborative partnership that allows this board to help inform key decisions, identify risks early and provide practical expertise throughout the transition. I know this is a priority for many of you

007and it is certainly a priority for me as well. Your experience is one of the greatest assets that we have to move forward. And later in this meeting, you will hear from director uh Yarro. We'll discuss several initiatives and initial ideas we have on how to be able to facilitate that um to strengthen the advisory role that we ask of you and I look forward to continuing that conversation with you as we define together what increased engagement and partnership should look like moving forward. The 911 communication system is the backbone of emergency response and saving lives. Californians deserve a safe and reliable and secure 911 system that works for everyone and advances us away from potentially vulnerable legacy architecture toward a more modern system. When we move to forward as a team, we can serve

008Californians better. This audience is fully aware that after a thorough review, Callowas made the decision to move from a regional 91 nextG 911 system to a statewide solution. The details of this approach have been shared during our last advisory board meeting in February and have been published uh on our website through our next generation 911 transition implementation document. Since then, Callowas has assigned more resources to this effort and is moving forward rapidly to implement the statewide solution. We secured an interim contract with a statewide provider, ATOSS, that we are referring to as a bridge contract or solution. The bridge contract will stabilize the current NextGen 911 system, allow the NextGen 911 deployments to continue and support the Los Angeles regions PAPs public safety answering points for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and parolympics games. In

009parallel to the bridge solution, we are working with the California Department of Technology and the Office of Data and Innovation to prepare and conduct a competitive procurement for a permanent long-term statewide solution. To continue to advance this effort, the governor in the May budget revision included a proposal to move forward with the statewide solution and stabilize 911. Currently, we are still awaiting that outcome. More details on the bridge solution and the procurement for the long-term solution and budget proposal will be provided later in this meeting. Um, and as we move forward with this transition, we are aware that there is a call for greater oversight. We agree and are working to strengthen that independent project oversight through the California Department of Technology using a model like other large state technology projects. This will provide stronger

010reporting, earlier identification of issues and closer monitoring of project performance and with greater accountability. Callowas is also reinforcing the legacy system which must remain operational through this transition. As you know, PAPS run by our local partners are responsible for maintaining their call processing equipment and Callowas ensures that the tools, the funding and the contract pathways are available to do this. An important component of the May budget revision proposal ensures stable funding for local PAP providers to maintain their call processing equipment. Again, I want to thank you for this opportunity to introduce myself. Thank you all for your time and valuable perspectives that you bring to this board. Your guidance helps us strengthen our strategy and better position the state for overall success with our 911 system. We appreciate your continued commitment and look forward to

011your input and recommendations as we move forward. And I look forward to debriefing with my staff uh and hearing how the rest of the meeting goes in the discussion that follows as there are many important items to discuss. Uh, with that I will now leave you in the very capable hands of Deputy Director Yarro um for the remainder of the meeting. >> Thank you very much, director. Thanks for making the time for us. Um, okay. So, the next item on our agenda will be the approval of the meeting minutes from the previous uh board meeting that we had in February. And uh so in order to facilitate that, I'd be happy to entertain a motion to that effect if the any of the board members wanted to do so. >> Also move. >> All right.

012I hear a motion and a second. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> All right. Thank you. Hearing a motion and a second, we will now uh turn our attention uh procedurally to any comments that the public might have on this action where we're about to vote on. So, if there is a public comment on the approval or not approval of the board meeting minutes from the February board meeting, I'd be happy to hear those public comments at this time. All right. Hearing none, uh, we will then move to the to the roll call vote. Um, so I'll start off at the top of the top of the order again. Rodney Ellison, how do you vote? >> Yay. >> Thank you. Kurt Wallace, >> yay. >> Thank you. Jennifer Gonzalez, >> thank you.

013Andrew White, >> yes. >> Thank you, Mark Chase. Yes. >> Thank you, Demetrius Sydney. >> Yes. >> Thank you, Eric Clivemire. >> Yes. >> Thank you, Garrett Huff. >> Yes. >> Thank you, Robert Johnson. >> Yes. >> Thank you, Yinia Sanchez. >> Yes. >> Thank you. With that, by my count, we have unanimous approval of the board meeting minutes. And so, uh, we will close out that item on our agenda and we will move on to the next item on our agenda. Um, and that was to welcome our newest board member, Eric Clevmire, chief fire warden and director of emergency services for Stannis Lost County. I thank you for joining us um and look forward to all your contributions over your term here of the next uh period of time. So, thank you. >> Thank

014you very >> All right. Uh moving uh right along to agenda item number five. This will be our legislative update. And I'll ask uh Ivon Dantes if you want to come up and take a seat there. This is uh Ivon Dantes, deputy director of legislative and governmental affairs here at Caloes. >> You apologies the AC in my office hits right at my throat. So it's been really itchy [clears throat] today. So bear with me. What was that? Yes. Are you able to hear me better now? >> Great. All right. Well, thank you for having me today. Um, as Steve mentioned, my name is Ivon Durantis. I'm the deputy director of legislative and governmental affairs here at COES. I'll start off with some key um dates for the remainder of this legislative cycle. So, coming up

015on July 2nd is the last day for policy committees to convene at the legislature. Um and uh between July 3rd and July August and August 3rd, the legislature will be in um summer recess. And then August 31st is the last day for each house uh to pass bills. So just some key updates for the next couple of months and then I'll briefly go over some of our state legislation and then some uh federal legislation. So starting off with our state legislation, we have Assembly Bill 14 1540. uh by Assembly Member Gonzalez. AB1540 would require CAOES to request uh the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, also known as SAMA, approval by June 1st of 2027 for a press 3988 option routing calls to a specialized center. The bill would require OES to deploy associated

016technology within 12 months of federal approval and would require OES to establish criteria and administer funds to qualified mental health crisis organizations. It would take effect immediately as an urgency statute. AB1805 by Assembly Member Ransom would add a CDT uh California Department of Technology Representative and would make the chief of the public safety communications division a non- voting member rather than chair and it would authorize the hire the hiring of independent experts would require quarterly uh NG 911 progress reports and would require a state auditor uh review beginning no later than September 1st of 2026. It would also take effect immediately as an urgency statute. AB1832 also by Assembly Member Ransom would require COS to convene state emergency planning agencies and the PUC appointed 211 lead entity to integrate 211 into statewide emergency planning. It

017would require OES to enhance system capacity, publish a statewide needs dashboard, develop aligned 211 911 988 protocols, and would create a 211 fund. AB1872 by Assembly Member Ta uh would increase penalties for repeat false 911 reports, allowing later violations to be charged as misdemeanors or felonies. It would extend liability to property damage caused by emergency responses. AB 2041 by Assembly Member Gario would require public safety agencies that were not providing pre-arrival medical instructions by January 1st, 2026 to report their compliance statute status to their local EMS agency by January 31st of 2027. AB 2093 by Assembly Member Bower Kahhan would require the state 988 advisory group to continue to meet quarterly through December 31st of 2029 and would allow disbandment on or after January 1st of 2030. Senate bill uh 985 by Senator Strickland would

018require CAS to provide quarterly reports to the legislature on NGN1 development implementation progress and expenditures. Moving on to federal legislation, um HR6505, um would amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's authority to support expanded and coordinated deployment of NG 911 via a new grant program to support the implementation. HR 7031 would direct the Secretary of the Interior to upgrade National Park Service emergency communication centers to NG 911 capable systems. Uh Senate Bill 2826 would direct uh US HHS to dedicate resources to support LGBTQ plus youth contacting the 988 Lifeline. And that's the end of my report. Um, if you would like to continue to track any of the bills that we are tracking with any kind of impact to 911, uh, CAS Legislative and Governmental Affairs does post our weekly, um, updated tracked bill list

019online. So, please feel free to refer to our website. >> Right. Thank you. Any uh, questions from the board members on uh, Deputy Director Durant's report of legislative goings on? No. All right, seeing none, thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> All right. Uh we will then move on to agenda item number six and this is the California 911 branch update. The branch will be providing updates on a few topics. Uh call processing equipment, core services, fiscal and operational review status, and the nextG 911 project update. Um, I'll start off with a little bit of a preamble on this topic. Um, you know, over the last few 911 advisory board meetings and the many public hearings that have occurred during that intervening period, there have been many voices offering input and uh, we've been

020listening closely to the input that all of you and and many other members of the the larger conversation have offered. Um, and it's important to say that we have heard the specific concerns and take very seriously what we have heard from you and understand that a few important changes could go a long way to optimizing the impact of and leveraging the strength of all of the all of the expertise that we have on this board. and certainly uh in the community of first responders who um you know are relying on the 911 system in general for to do their job. And so I think a few of the things that have been highlighted in all of those conversations I'll summarize here is one and I think the director touched on it earlier in her remarks

021is increased involvement from this board and you know obviously the board exists for a very important reason and that is to you know leverage the experience to provide uh you know a lot of insight and advice on how to succeed with this project. It's not just about uh you know offering you know input but it's about offering input with the intent of making a success not just for the project or the program but for the people of California. And so I think understanding that that's you know the direction that we're coming from here and wanting to do that and make this a really robust discussion and make sure that we are getting the best outcomes for the people of California. Um, second, I think, is a greater project management structure around what uh the the

022projects that we're delivering here at the 911 branch is one of the key things that we've heard. And then um having I think an independent mechanism to incorporate feedback on how it's going for the people who use the systems. Um often times, you know, we we lose sight of the fact that we're providing a tool into the hands of the telecommunicators who are the ones who are, you know, on the front lines taking those emergency calls. And so making sure that we hear very clearly and and consider very strongly the input we get from that community is important as well. So these suggestions that have been brought to us are inherently reasonable. and you have my commitment that we will work with this board to identify ways to incorporate these suggestions and to improve the

023program so it can achieve its full promise for the people of California. Um so I'll move on to a second a second point that I wanted to make here and that's as we proceed it's important to to remember that 911 operations are comprised of multiple components that work together. Uh, a couple of those are the CPE, which we'll be hearing an update on here momentarily, and then of course the network itself. And it's all it can be all too easy to confuse where the, you know, the delineation is from one of these components to the next and uh perhaps, you know, confuse how it all works together and understand that clearly. And so during the during the conversation, I'm hoping to make a little bit more of a distinction or clarity of it. This the

024distinction between what call processing equipment is and where core services and the nextG 911 system uh pick up. And so I think I'll start by talking about CPE briefly. CPE, call processing equipment, sometimes is referred to call handling equipment, is the equipment that enables a dispatch center to receive, process, and dispatch emergency 911 calls. CPE connects to and interacts with the net the network, whether it be legacy or nextG, but it is separate from the network. Furthermore, under the contracts that Callowas has established, CPE is agnostic of which generation of network that it is operating with. It can work on either legacy or nextG. Apart from that, we have core services. Core services of the network are the sets of software, services, database, and executive function needed to route emergency communications across the nextG 911

025network. This is the central nervous system if you will of the network. Callowes through and with its vendor partners is responsible for providing this network including the core services and the transmission lines. But CPE is different than that. The responsibilities that Callowas has with respect to CPE are as follows. Callowes is to administer the statewide procurement. It is to advise and support PAPs in their efforts to procure CPE systems and it is to provide funding to support uh uh the the purchases of those pieces of equipment along or in accordance with the established policies of the 911 branch. That's the 911 branch at OES's responsibility. The responsibility of the PAPs on the other hand is to proactively manage the CPE including making sure that the equipment is operating as intended, making sure that it's maintained

026and has scheduled service on a regular uh basis and ordering and replacing CPE equipment in a timely manner when the system nears the end of its lifespan. And then of course following the funding processes and procedures that are set forth in the branch's manual of operations. Um and with respect to the manual of operations that of course is posted on our website and available for any member of the public to come tap into. The section that pertains to CPE funding and purchases is in chapter 3 of that manual. So, the Caloes team has been working with the PAP partners to begin the process of updating this equipment. I know it's been an ongoing question and report out here that Andrew, uh, Matson and his team provide at each of these board meetings. And so, um,

027with that being said, I think we'll turn our attention to Mr. Matson and get a report out from how things are going with CPE. >> All right. Thank you, Steve. All right. Uh Andrew Matson, program management division chief at the 911 branch. Uh going to go ahead and report a little bit today on what we're doing in call handling. As Steve mentioned, if you could hit the next slide for me, please. >> There we go. Thank you, sir. >> Uh so this slide we've shown over and over uh over the years and it the numbers continue to grow, right? This is our system our statewide CPE maintenance age of of all of our systems of all of our PAPs in the state that are over year seven. So last time we reported on this last

028quarter it was about 338. So we've grown by 10 paps uh this time around as far as being on this list, right? Being on this list of of systems that are beyond year 7. That is not a bad thing. I'm going to I'm going to show you guys on the next slide. Uh the number should be higher. We are making great great strides in getting call handling out there to the PAPs. Uh we'll talk about that in a second, but for now uh we're continuing to track, we're continuing to monitor the situation. Uh we really do want to ensure that no system uh gets to the age that we're seeing here. I mean that that is our absolute goal. Um you know the the the circumstances as they were, we think that we have uh

029we have we have fixed the contract to uh make it more palatable to the PAPs. We're seeing a lot of engagement now. We're we are working very hard to make sure that these systems get out and get installed. Um but for now the number continues to grow albeit slowly. Uh but we hope to see that on the next report out this number will start to shrink and then rapidly shrink from there. Next slide please Steve. Oh you won't. There we go. All right. So uh we'll get into some numbers here in a second. Uh what I want to speak about uh real quick before we do is that we do have another call handling contract underway ready to award. Uh we expect award by August of 2026 about the middle of August uh right before

030the time that this board meets again. So we hope to have good news there with a signed contract ready to deliver. Um that contract we're very excited about. It's going to have you know all the elements that the PAPS expect to have. Uh we hope to have um you know a good solid basis for our vaps to be able to answer these calls on as Steve said regardless of nextg or legacy connectivity. Uh it should be a it should be a good uh cloud andor um on-prem based system regardless of of you know what your pap's needs are. We're going to have a system available for you. So that work's being done now. Uh we expect bids to be uh arriving I think uh they're due in two weeks. Uh we've been working through this

031process going through the CDT process. They they guide us through all of our contracts. Uh they are our procurement officials and they've been working with us closely on this. So we expect to have those in. We'll start reviewing bids, evaluating those. And uh it's a multi it's a master purchase agreement. So we will have multiple vendors on there. You will have you will still have a choice of what CPE you want to use at your PAP. We intend to offer as many platforms as we can. Uh so now when that contract is executed, we'll be able to uh we will uh you know notify everyone of that and we expect you to go ahead and reach out to your 911 adviser uh to get the process started for funding. Um the aotment letters that we

032send out that we give to PAPS to tell you how much money you have to spend on the system that changes with every contract and it says right on the letter that that that funding amount expires with the expiration of the contract. The reason for that, it's not that I want to give my staff more letters to write. The reason for that is because the pricing that or the aotment that we award you is based on the pricing of the contract. So it varies from contract to contract. So we want to make sure that that uh we're awarding an appropriate amount. So when that contract is awarded, just reach out to your adviser. If you haven't gotten in progress with the system, we can get you a new letter uh relatively quickly. So on to

033the numbers. Uh this is uh very exciting for us to report out since July of 2025 uh since we created our uh our amendment to the contract and we added an on-prem uh solution to the current call handling contract. We've issued 226 aotment letters to PAPs in the state. So that's half the PAPs in the state of California have have requested a lotment that we've that we've issued. 155 systems have been approved. So you know in one year that is just that's an outstanding number for us. Uh I think our our our best year we have ever had was about 90 or 92. Uh so I just want to point out the fact that that the staff has really really been working overtime on this. These are not small packages uh to approve. I mean

034this is a this is a you know a hefty contract each time that they have to get uh the paperwork approved for. So uh this is a unit that uh was four people up until December. We had one retire and so all of this work has been done by three staff and one supervisor. So they are really really uh pushing hard and getting this work done. And so I'd like to take a moment to to recognize their hard work on that. Um, six systems accepted and invoiced. Uh, right. So now we're starting to see that that that trickle in. Right. I think I've talked about this at past meetings where, you know, we approve the system, we get you the a lotment letter, you get your system decided upon, you go to the vendor, you

035work with the vendor, you get the the system that you want, we start working through the approval process, you get your paperwork, and then you're off and running uh to get the system installed. But that takes time. It takes, you know, for a small, easy two-seater PAP, you know, maybe six months on the on the short end. So, it's it's a lengthy process. These systems are, you know, they require a lot of integration to your peripheral systems, your CAD, your radio, and whatnot. So, larger systems do take upwards of a year. So, sometimes more. So, we have six systems accepted, approved, um, and invoiced. Uh, so we're getting started. Uh, we're we're we're seeing these systems now get installed. We're meeting with our vendors regularly to make sure that they're able to keep up with

036demand, and we're monitoring that closely as well. any questions on on call handling? >> I I'll make a comment. Um, and I think this is one of the one of the opportunities I guess, you know, in the spirit of engagement with the board. I I would be interested to hear if there were were any ideas and it doesn't necessarily have to be right now on the spot, but if if you could go back uh in between the board meets and and consider what are some of the actions that we can be taking or moves we can make to make sure that we're driving this process of refreshing the equipment forward. Is it a an education thing that needs to happen? Is there an outreach campaign that we should be doing? Um, I I would love

037to have that input from the board members from from your vantage point. What would it take to move that needle to where we get to where all of those numbers that are seven years or older on their CPE uh setup? How do we get that low and keep it as low as possible? So, um, if you would um, if you have an idea right now, I'd love to hear it, but if you don't, I'd love to get some feedback over the next couple of months from you about what it would take. And I see Yes. I'm happily retired, so I'm out of those meetings. But um the there were meetings in the past where it would be a Zoom meeting hosted by an agency like Caloes where they would have all of the comm managers

038or whatevers um could sit on that meeting. You could give them this direct over overview and then ask for either their input at that time or make resources available for them to at least get caught up. I know they know about it but the reminder in their busy lives to give them an opportunity they start you know seeing each other on the videos again so then they start connecting with each other which gets more momentum and energy which would then give you better feedback andor participation. >> All right. Thank you. Any other thoughts on that before we before we move along? >> I I'll add to that Steve. Uh Chief, we are happy to send people out uh to to join Zoom meetings to join county meetings. uh we every time we hear about a

039county meeting or PAP managers meeting we send staff and we and we try to make sure that that we are educating as much as possible. So we're we're happy to do so. So I'll extend the invitation to anybody on this board or listening that if you're having a meeting you're having it any level uh we we're happy to send staff and make sure that we continue that education campaign. >> Just to clarify, I meant flip it. [clears throat] Host the meeting. >> Oh. >> Push out the you know Zoom address, tell them the date and time and ask for each department to have a representative attend. And then you can tell them what you want them to know. >> We'll do that, too. >> Instead of bouncing to every meeting trying to get, you know,

04010 seconds on an agenda, you host the meeting, give them everything you want. >> Excellent. >> All right. Thank you very much. Uh I guess you have another topic that you wanted to cover. >> Yep. I think we have one more slide. >> All right. All right. So, this is our fiscal and operational review. Uh I' I've mentioned this before, but uh I I do understand we have a new board member, so I want to make sure that we kind of talk through this just a little bit. Our fiscal and operational review program, we call it four for short, is a program that our office established probably about oh, I don't know, maybe uh 10 13 or so years ago. Uh we've been doing it for quite some time. It's where we where our staff

041will come out v personally visit with you and your pap and we'll bring, you know, a a booklet of information that's tailored to your pap, right? It'll basically uh uh cover fiscal uh information as far as what our office provides, what we pay for, how much we've paid for your office, going back to, you know, a set amount of time. Um, and then we'll look over some operational standards, some some NINA standards, a few things that that our office tracks to make sure that uh that we're on the same page with what's going on at your PAP. It is a wonderful opportunity for a PAP manager, especially a new one. This position tends to rotate quite a bit out there in the field. It's a good opportunity to engage with our office on a one-on-one

042basis. You know, we'll come out, we'll spend, you know, however much time you need. You know, 90 minutes, two hours if you just want to sit and and talk with Callowas about call handling, about network, about any topic. I mean, we we bring a set uh list and agenda of items that we go through and material. But, you know, that that conversation, we want that to be the PAP's time. So, uh this program, like I said, has existed for some time. Um as I showed you on the last slide, 155 systems uh approved was a large effort for us. So fours have gone on the back burner uh for right now. Uh we've instructed staff that call handling approvals come first no matter what right now because we need to get those systems out and

043site visits are are are happening kind of in a as a secondary uh capacity. So for 2026 uh we we've only completed seven this year. So, uh, I don't anticipate that number is going to grow a whole lot, uh, for the rest of the year cuz we're going to be focusing pretty heavily on call handling right now. That's the same staff that do both, uh, those those same three people. U, once we get to steady state or if we can get some more, uh, some more hires coming in. I do have a vacancy that, uh, we'll be filling very, very soon. Um, then we'll get back on track with this. We'll get, uh, get some fors going again. But, I want to just again put that plug in there for any paps uh, that are

044listening. uh the office wants to wants to engage, wants to get it out there. So, if you have a need, please let us know. >> Right. Thank you for that. Um I think there was a hand up online that I didn't see pertaining to the CPE conversation. I think Chief White um did you have a a comment on the CPE conversation? >> Yeah, I just wanted to say that um what Chief Matz has been doing I think is on the right track. that there was a lot of uncertainty regarding at least from what I was hearing from agencies of should we upgrade now, should we wait and so I think we're on the right track. I like the idea about the um the Zoom meeting stuff. Um I will say that there's a lot of

045turnover at the upper levels um and so some people who are familiar with the processes, they're gone. Uh so I think just getting that information out there in easily digestible format um is good. And then I think you'll see more agencies move from letters to actually implementing uh systems. I'll also say that I think with the new one I believe the a lotments will be a bit higher which hopefully will be helpful because the last round there wasn't much window of extra funding to get things like call recorders stuff like that that agencies uh some agencies count on. >> Yes. Thank you for that. Um any any questions from the panel members on the FORS the fiscal and operational reviews that uh Andrew was just referring to? >> Steve, I have a question going back

046actually for the CPEs and maybe you're going to cover it. So just stop me if you are looking at the numbers and the duration of time it takes to get to the past the allotment but actually accepted and invoiced. We're at six now. With the pri priority in uh being LA for the 2028 Olympics, how many of those letters have been submitted to get them prepped for that installation in time for the Olympics? >> Uh well, so as uh Deputy Director Yarro said, the the CPE that is in place at the PAPs right now is is capable of of handling nextg traffic. So, uh, luckily for us, that means we don't we don't have to prioritize the Los Angeles region for call handling because it's it's already capable of ingesting the nextG traffic. Um, so

047yeah, we we we haven't had to prioritize them for call handling. If I could just weigh in as well on the u to Chief White's point um as just weighing in on the topic of like how how to get more compliance with departments and things like that. Um even just like a basic calendar bar calendar reminder, right? Maybe for the branch advisors of like one year out, hey, reach out to Folsome PD or reach out to PaloAlto PD or whatever, right? Um and just let them know, hey, you're year six. Um you're, you know, eligible to upgrade at year seven, >> right? >> Um but that would that may involve a phone call just because to to everyone's point, there's turnover, things like that. And also just make sure try and reach out to two

048people at the agency. I would say the chief executive, either the chief as well as whoever's uh the supervisor for the dispatch center, >> right? >> Um but that's really the biggest thing. It may require just a phone call during the week, right? To say, "Hey, who's who's in charge of the dispatch center right now and who's who's the chief right now?" And just leaving a voicemail saying, "Hey, you know, please reach out." And then to the um to the video point, I think just um to Chief Gonzalez's point, just um record the session and then um and also make that available, right? Maybe [clears throat] every six months, just do two of them or or if you want to do them quarterly, >> right? >> But just make sure they're um posted and available.

049So when you do make that phone call, just say, "Great, may I get your email?" And then you can send a link to that meeting so they can watch it. >> Because that's part of the problem as well is just, you know, we're all very busy people. So then know you can't you schedule it for a Tuesday morning and you know a month a month later comes and something comes up right there's something that pulls your attention away. So just making that link available >> so people at least a couple of times a year with the current accurate information are able to just watch the link and understand it at their >> when it's convenient for them. >> Yeah, that's a great recommendation. Um makes it makes a lot of sense actually. [laughter] Um, okay.

050Any other comments on that topic? All right. Uh, well, thank you, Andrew, for your update. Um, and so I think one of the things that we, uh, are doing, so this was the fiscal and operational review section. And so, uh, one of the ways that that's relates to some of the other updates we want to give today is, um, in terms of the overall fiscal footing for the program. And so I think I'll invite uh deputy director Eric Swanson up to the microphone. This is uh he's the chief of our finance and administration here at Caloes and uh he'll give us an update on fiscal matters. >> Thanks so much. Um [clears throat] Eric Swanson, deputy director of finance and logistics administration here at Callowas. As our director mentioned at the top of this meeting,

051we have submitted a uh a budget change proposal or BCP the legislature. We did that about a month ago. Um there it is. Did that about a month ago. We've proposed um a one-time increase of $141.9 million to accelerate the uh roll out of Next Generation 911. And it's uh one time not because uh we all we have long-term plans for the project, but we also um want to get a uh um a better scope of what the costs will be in future years next year. And we also want to revisit with the legislature uh how the project is going. Uh the increased funding will come from the state emergency telephone number account. As many of you know, this is SETNA. Uh this will result in an estimated 13 cent increase in monthly SENTa fees

052which is charged on um phone lines. Uh but even with this increase the seta search charge is among the lowest in the country. In California um we are there's only I think seven states that are uh lower than us even with this increase. Next slide please. This BCP would do four things. Number one, it transitions the 23 PA apps that have already migrated into uh migrated to NG 911 onto the statewide system. It supports equipment purchases to repair or replace 911 call handling handling equipment systems that have reached their expected lifespan as we just talked about. Number three, it extends the support of legacy 911 until NG 911 implementation is complete. And finally, it prioriti prioritizes NG 911 deployment to the Los Angeles region prior to the Olympic Games. Uh, and with that, I will

053uh I'm available for any questions you may have. >> Right. Any any questions from the panel on the fiscal update? Looks like uh Chief White, you have your hand up. >> Yeah. So, on this one, um, I've had quite a few questions from the public. Um, I'll take this in reverse order. Can somebody clarify when we keep talking about prioritizing NG 911 deployment to the Los Angeles region, what exactly we mean by that? >> Sure. Yeah, I'm happy to address that. So the idea there um you know obviously the Olympics are coming wanting to make sure that we put uh the best tool possible in the hands of as many public safety answering points in that area. Um, and also recognizing not just with the Olympics, um, even taking that out of the equation, it's

054still home to nearly one in four Californians. And so it is one of the one of the places where, you know, you're looking to make uh, you know, an impact that in, you know, serves a lot of people. So the idea is that just to just to make sure that we're putting the best tool in the hands of of of those PAPs, especially when they're expecting an influx uh of visitors to the area for a big event such as it is. I think the estimates I've seen has been on the order of 12 to 15 million visitors will be coming into that area. So I think um does that answer your question, Chief, in terms of what we what mean? >> I think I understand the why. It's more the what. So when we say

055that like for example, we understand through the contract that we're looking to steer traffic statewide to autos, but when we say in there we're prioritizing, does that mean we'll do that work first there or we're putting more resources at it? Are we taking selective call routers out and putting in uh you know switching stuff over to nextG sooner so that we can handle more traffic? It's the what I get the why about population and the Olympics and all that. Yeah. So I mean it's a holistic approach to get those paps on to nextgen and so there are obviously certain technical things that that are involved with that but the the end result we're looking for is uh for paps to be on the nextg network. >> Okay. Uh the other one is for call handling.

056I think I know the answer to this, but to clarify, we are asking for an increase because we anticipate that the CPE uh bids are going to come in obviously higher than what they were years back when the current contract was bid. Is that accurate? >> Well, I I would say that certainly factors into it. Um I I don't I wouldn't say that explains the entirety of the request. I think the backlog that we were just briefed on is also part of that equation. And so, um, yeah, of course, anytime you, you know, get a new contract put in place, the price seems to seems to go up, uh, commensurate with the number of years that have transpired since you had that contract, uh, refresh. But also recognizing that we have what was it 339

057paps that have CPE beyond 7-year lifespan. Um just recognizing that that's going to take an amount of funding to get that refreshed in in band um is is the reasons for that request. >> Okay. Probably for a future meeting just along the way at least my understanding maybe other board members feel differently but it's been my impression that there always has been sufficient money for CPE replacements um under the existing model. So, as things flush out with the contract going in place, I think it'd be good just to be clear about why it's there because the the complaint that I've gotten I think now 900 and something emails about it talks about the 31% increase to the SEDNA and what it's asking to achieve kind of some of it was already understood that funding was

058there. So, again for a future meeting. >> Yeah, I think we have a way of explaining that that will make it all clear. So, yeah, we'll take that as an action. Can I quick clarification and I think I asked this back in February and it's kind of in line with Chief White's comment of the how when you say we're going to get or we're prioritizing the LA region to deployment onto the nextG 911 right now if I I think I remember the numbers there a lot of numbers but there's 23 that are on the network actively on the network right >> that's correct >> out of that 23 how many are 100% oper operational in NextG 911. >> So none of them are fully deployed nextgen. So they're taking voice traffic on some of the

059originating service providers. >> And then going back to the earlier question with the LA region I again a lot of numbers but I think there's 81 municipalities or 81 cities. So how many paps are we talking about for the LA region? >> So we've been working with the Los Angeles region PAP community. Uh we've had at least three engagements with them over the past few months. Um and I think the number that we're looking at and I don't know this is a ballpark number because I I don't have the number right off the top of my head but I believe it's around 50 5-0 paps who we've worked with who said they want to transition on to nextgen ahead of the Olympics. >> Okay. So again just for understanding if they go if they align

060with these 23 >> that would be over and beyond the 23. So 23 plus 50 >> we potentially 75. What's the optimistic realization that any of them will be operational? >> My expectation is that they all be operational taking all carriers worth of voice traffic by the Olympics. But today we don't have any of them. >> That's correct. >> Okay. Thanks. >> Clarifying question. >> Yeah. >> Uh earlier Andrew had said that it's not a need to prioritize the LA region, but in the fiscal prioritization here we're seeing that it is. Can we pick one or am I misunderstanding that? >> So there's a nuance there. So Andrew is correct. the the CPE that we have deployed out there can work on either the legacy or the nextG system. And so that from that perspective,

061you don't have to prioritize CPE because CPE will work if they do upgrade networks, the CPE they have will work with the new network that they're going on to. So that's the frame of reference for not needing to prioritize swapping out CPE in the Los Angeles area. Now that being said, some of those PAPs in the Los Angeles area are well beyond the 7-year lifespan and therefore they should be prioritizing the CPE swap out and it would make sense to do that. So, I mean, if you upgrade one part of your of the entire, you know, every link in the chain that brings uh 911 traffic to your dispatcher, um it would it wouldn't make a lot of sense to upgrade one and only to be limited by the other one. And so, having, you

062know, CPE that is, you know, not 8 n 10 years old and and ready to be a a hindrance to you, um makes a lot of sense. So that's the I think the nuance there. >> But at that point I I realize the value of upgrading but it would be a want not a need at that point because we would want them to upgrade as you've explained why >> but it's not critical mission critical for the Olympics to upgrade. It's a want versus need at that point >> from a have to do it versus nice to have. >> I think that sounds reasonable. Yeah. If I may, um, yeah, I would just, um, in the in the coming, uh, months as we like approach the Olympics, we're two years and one month out >> from

063the Olympics being in Los Angeles. So, as a board, um, it would be nice to have just a rough outline of, you know, and a presentation on >> what the plan is going forward, uh, how those meetings are going and, um, what the path forward is, just some more specificity. >> Sure. because to Chief White and Sheriff Johnson's point, um, again, it's nice to say we're prioritizing, but it's it's not really it doesn't really give us much to go on. And >> to Chief White's point as well, right, we're all getting a lot of questions from um our different organizations, our different, you know, constituent groups. >> Yes. Yes. And it would be nice to have a little more knowledge to be able to say exactly what's >> Yeah, I think uh it's an excellent

064point and um I note that it has come up a couple of times that this particular request of us has been made and I think um we have some some points later in our our presentation today that we'll be addressing what you're talking about. And I think also we're ready at this point to be able to engage with the board in ways that we haven't before that I think will uh sort of be tying right in with what you're asking for. So I think it's uh a great a great recommendation and I think we you can expect us to be addressing that. Okay. Any other any other questions on the on the fiscal part of the presentation today? >> I just want to um confirm with u with director Swanson. So we're talking about the

065current set of fund is 41 cents and we'll be going to 54 cents. Is that did I do the arithmetic right? >> I think that's right. Yeah, we're currently at 41 cents and we'll be going to 54 cents. Right. >> Okay. Thank you. And of course that's just an estimate. We actually get like a update in terms of the amount of phone lines from all the carriers in July which would impact the actual um so it's an estimate at this point. >> When will we have the firm number? >> We release a um we send out a letter. We our statutory deadline is October 1st to send a letter to uh the tax and fee administration uh which would and the actual fee increase would take place uh January 1st, the beginning of the calendar

066year. >> Okay. So in our next meeting we would get an update if the fee is going to be more or less. >> Yeah. Um, so yeah, usually in the August and November meetings is when we start to really hone in on what the exact number is. Yeah. So, oh, I this conversation will becoming increasingly precise as we go through the the next two iterations of our meeting. Okay. All right. Uh, no no other hands from our online members. All right. Thank you, Mr. Swanson. Um, let me see here. All right. I think, um, I think that was a pretty robust discussion. Um, and I appreciate all the board members engagement on that point. And so, um, and I hope, you know, as we go along, we're able to continue to, you know, have the

067have the dialogue and engagement the way it is. Um, I feel like that's the intent behind all of this and we want to get better at it as we go along. So, I appreciate uh all of you working with us on that point. I'll move along to the next uh agenda item um which I believe is our uh what is it? The oh, this is the nextG 911 project update. And so, I have a few remarks here. So, we've been making some key adjustments uh within the NextGen 911 realm since the last time we met. You know, you'll recall I I think I've emailed you uh as a board on on several occasions of some actions that we've taken along the way. I think uh I we published a lot of information to our transparency

068and accountability website, which is a new a new feature that we're posting now. Um so, I think I shared that with you all. I've shared some of the actions we've taken concerning contracts that we uh that we have. Um and so, you know, on the I think there's a couple other points that maybe I haven't, you know, emailed you all on I wanted to share here. Um in terms of program leadership here, there's some, you know, new development, new developments that we're working on. Uh we have two leadership positions that are currently in the recruitment process here. Um, in the very near future, I'm expecting to get to a point where I can make a make an offer um for the branch manager position. This is the position that was formerly held by Paul Troxell.

069Uh he retired last fall. And so, we're getting to the point, I think, where we'll be able to make an offer and have a new uh branch manager, which will provide that day-to-day leadership over the 911 branch and its activities. But then also um one of the one of the leadership positions we're pursuing is a project director for the NextGen 911 effort which will provide executive level steering and project leadership um to guide that project as we go forward. We know it's um obviously a project that has a lot of moving parts associated with it and it has um you know a a long time horizon that it plays out over and so it's important to make sure that we have sound project direction coming on that and so a project director uh it will

070be coming along I'm hoping in the few in the coming few weeks uh maybe in the next month we would be able to have a name associated with that role as well and So, uh, the expectation here is that we're making sure that we have good, uh, executive leadership and we have good direction for the day-to-day activities. Um, and that those aren't necessarily the same thing. um you know often times running the day-to-day program um takes a lot of uh a lot of time and energy of its own and uh we wouldn't want the direction of the project to be sort of an also kind of task that you bolt on to that full-time job already. And so making sure that we're provisioning those needs uh separately and independently is one of the key things

071that we want to do here uh so that we don't end up having to you know make uh decisions of priority between which of those you know lines of effort to you know move on first. And so making sure that they're both resourced properly is the key there. Um, and I think another thing I wanted to point out or move to in terms of our discussion here today is uh key action that's transpired since the last time we met is progress on an item that I think we first indicated and and planned for uh when we published our transition plan to this board last November. Uh and then we uh we shared with you also in our implementation plan which was published uh in February of this year that we would begin the process of

072transitioning the NextG 911 system away from the regional architecture towards a statewide model. And to that purpose uh we've issued the bridge contract that you heard the director refer to earlier um that had an effective date of May 1st of this year. uh and to initiate that transition away from the region to a statewide architecture. And at this time, I would like to introduce our bridge contract partner, Ottos. If I could have them come up um to the microphone and share share some information that they've prepared. [snorts] Good afternoon. Jason Bivvens. I am the vice president and client executive partner with ATOSS public safety. I'd like to provide um the the project update for you as well as potentially a little background on ATOS just so that uh you can be a little more familiar

073with our our past and and our our track record at public safety has a deep bench of technical and operational staff that have been working in the 911 industry for decades. uh timely with the bridge contract. I think it's important to point out we've we had a very strong partnership with the Olympic and Parolympic committees for over 32 years as their IT partner. Um we last supported the 2024 Olympic Games. Uh and in that 250,000 hours of testing, 25,000 users supported 247 and monitored 55 billion cyber security events with zero incidents impacting the games. Uh, finally, we've served the state of California as your statewide backup provider since 2019 through a collaborative and transparent relationship with the OES 911 branch. And that has resulted in our ability to back up our partner regional providers when

074they had suffered service impacting events. So, turning specifically to the project, I'd like to first acknowledge the significance of this project. 911 reliability and resiliency are non-negotiable. uh priorities. And to that end, uh in partnership with the branch, we've identified four key objectives uh of the bridge contract. One, ensure a stable network using a redundant, resilient, and secure network. Transition the OSP traffic at the 23 live PAPs from the RNSP networks to the ATOSS network. migrate LA area PAP from Legacy to NG 911, ensuring that they're on a stable core infrastructure in advance of the 2028 Olympic and Parolympic Games that begin in July 2028. There are currently to your uh question earlier, there are currently 54 opt-in PAPs in the LA area that are participating. And finally, provide primary continue to provide primary delivery

075of text to 911 I3 location services and alert and warning to all PAPs. And that's work we started in 2019. In terms of deployment, prioritization, and a timeline, we're actively migrating the live PAPs over to the ATOS [clears throat] network. Now, we anticipated this to take 90-day work effort from the project kickoff, but I'm happy to report that we're already moved all OSP voice traffic from the central, LA, and northern regions, and we anticipate having the PAPs in the southern region migrated by the end of the month, 30 days in advance of our initial work effort. Uh on June 2nd, the 911 branch and ATO staff kicked off the LAPAP stakeholder um meeting at a combination inerson virtual meeting hosted by LAPD. We're really thankful for LAPD for hosting that event and for the roughly

07650 PAP leaders and staff uh who attended and participated in that interactive discussion. In parallel, we've begun enhancements to ensure that the 91 network is operating on the most current and resilient components available in the industry. Another important aspect of the project will be the deployment and use of LSRGs as transitional elements. Using LSRGs will allow us simply put to transfer calls between the legacy and nextgen 91 environment. And that's a a a key and important topic as it relates to being able to strategically deploy PAPs more smoothly. Uh in this in this uh next stage after the successful deployment and testing of the LSRGs, we will begin pre-migration testing and OSP migration of LAPs beginning in early spring 2027 with an anticipated completion by March of 2028. This allows for a threemonth service provider

077soak period to ensure LA is completely ready uh for the games. Finally, I'd like to just provide some details on how we are going to structure the project in coordination with OES uh to to really push on that success factor. We've already established 11 project work streams as sub projects under the core um uh bridge contract and we have independent project teams that are partnered with a 911 branch project manager uh as a collaboration point. We've established weekly project status meetings uh that all of our project work streams will report into as well as risks and escalate and issue escalations. Um there are operational and technical committees that will meet monthly and as needed to elevate progress, evaluate progress, look at upcoming milestones and are an escalation point for any risks or issues that are

078identified as strategic. And then there's also an executive committee with OES and ATOSS leadership that will provide strategic guidance around the project. for communication. We're working jointly with the branch to um schedule one-on-one PAP meetings with those PAPs that are part of the project to highlight what their experience is going to look like. We'll provide one plus one plus month notice on scheduling of all events that need to occur at the PAP uh with follow-up reminders leading up to the event. So, for example, we'll give you a one plus month notice, two weeks out, 3 days, hey, we'll see you tomorrow to make sure that we're clearly communicating. And then we're going to hold various stakeholder meetings, including the bimonthly LA stakeholder meetings, both in person and virtually. And then I'd just like to close

079by saying that ATOSS is excited and to continue our partnership with Callaways, the PAP community, and all the other public safety agencies that support emergency response in the state of California. We're steadfast in our mission of ensuring Californians have a stable NG 911 network so when they need help the call goes through. Thanks. And I'll add on um and this I think ties directly Mark to your point is in the coming weeks uh ATOSS will be developing a project plan and I want to provide that project plan to the members of the board here and I would ask for your thoughts, input and advice on that plan at our next meeting. So, there's a little bit of uh homework, if you will, um that I'm expecting to have a a good conversation around when we

080meet next. Um and I think it, you know, it speaks directly to the question, I think, where you were going is wanting to have that kind of a dialogue. And so, that's I think the the way we can approach this going forward. And I think it will be different than what we've seen up to this point in in terms of the way we execute this project. So, I'm looking forward to that. Um, yeah. Are there any questions from the panel members either here present or our panel members online about the uh the update you just heard on the NextGen 911? >> Um, what's the status of the transition of um Annie Alley? >> Uh, I don't have that information in front of me and I don't think that JB's prepared to talk about it either.

081So, we can take that as an action item. uh and and answer that uh at a a later time. >> Okay. Is the expectation that we'll still go back to AT&T in the >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Any hands up online? >> All right. Chief White. >> Yes. Uh thank you and thanks for the the high level overview. I think some of this may come up in the the homework that you're assigning. So, um, that's fine if the answer is that's coming there. I I would say at the 60,000 foot view level, I think one of the most critical questions that's being asked is, um, it says in the contract that, you know, there will be no single point of failure, um, multi-level redundancy, stuff like that, but there's no actual reference to

082a design or assurance of how that'll happen. Um hopefully when that plan comes up uh I think the board needs to hear more about how that's going to work and if there's any trade-offs that occur as a result of um taking this direction. The other one will be just learning lessons from the past is you know when you look at failover from end to end with live traffic like what type of testing is being done. Um I think the other one is we talked about it in the subcommittee but broader for the board is to understand that you know I think it was um there was a significant outage that if they would have been the statewide provider primary you know we want to avoid a statewide outage. So I think just understand what things

083are being put in place now to uh insulate the public against that. Um I think that's all important. The other one is the PAP experience. We've talked about it time and time again and you know I know there's contract agreements about a help desk and a call center. Um that's not good enough for me for the PAPs given what's happened in the past. So, um, I appreciate that, uh, it was mentioned about, you know, making sure we get the information out there, but when it comes to this project plan and how it goes forward, I'm expecting to see, you know, sort of boots on the ground and resources at PAPs to help them side by side. Um, a call center is not not good enough, uh, based upon what's happened in the past. And just

084understanding how we're going to make sure that things are being dealt with timely. um because you know I understand in the contract there's SLA credits but public safety can't rely upon SLA credits to um ensure that things aren't done you know that that jeopardizes public safety. So um I look forward to hearing more about that if there's anything you can answer today. I think that would be um good and I really uh just want to thank you for um you know the outreach that you've done because I think that that's critical sharing information with the board and engaging the board is is all fantastic. >> Yeah, thank you for that. I don't know um I don't know that we necessarily have any of the immediate responses we can speak to on that. I know on

085the in terms of the call center portion of the question you had um and just so I'm tracking it you you you're not expecting or thinking that we need to have uh staff posted up at the PAPs around the clock. It's just they need to be available to deploy there as needed to address these issues when they arise. Correct. Well, I I would defer to I think the plan that uh uh they just referenced in the presentation that I think that needs to be addressed and frankly I would say yeah I think the first few places that transition over there needs to be people on the ground and I think from you know what I've heard before offline from MTOS is like there's a commitment to do this right and so I'm not questioning that

086that's not there but we need to make sure that that's clear to the public. So yeah, the first few there probably does need to be people physically there on site that can immediately remedy issues and act as a liaison. I think the other one too I appreciate you mentioning about the new project manager uh position or the kind of the chief of this project. Um but secondarily is we need somebody that can level set from the pap because you'll recall one of the most significant feedbacks from the paps that transitioned was kind of feeling lost at somebody to speak up for them. We need somebody appointed that's like an ombbudsman that can come back and say, "Hey, here's what the vendor is saying. Here's what Callies is saying, and this is what this person's gathering

087from the agency so the board can act uh accordingly." >> Yeah. No, absolutely. I think I've heard it referred to as an ombbudzman uh from time to time or an ambassador, I think, was another another term that was used for that. And and I think actually this is a good question. um you know like and I turn to the members all the members of the board here in this in a scenario that we're talking about where we have an ombbudsman or an ambassador uh to advocate on behalf of the PAPs um do you have a model that you've seen work in your agencies or agencies that you're familiar with um that that you would recommend that we you know look to as a way of doing this uh well or um any recommendations you might

088have around how to set up a scenario like that? I don't you know is it something that um you know exists independent of the program area or how how would you recommend setting up an onbudsman or ambassador type uh situation? So if you have ideas on that now I'm happy to hear them. Um I I recognize on the spot you may not you know have an answer. So if you think of something after the meeting is over then um we'd love to hear your thoughts on how to set up that type of a you know onbudsman or ambassador type situation. And so if you if you could submit those I think and and filter them into um Samantha Barton our board liaison to collect that information um that would be fantastic because we do recognize

089that you know and and the way I'm viewing this just you know to level set everybody is that the people um at the paps are the customer in this case and so customer service is very important to getting this right satisfaction of the customer has to be one of the key metrics that we're tracking. And so this would be a mechanism for us to have our finger on the pulse of the satisfaction of those customers and then be able to course correct as we move through the project to make sure that we're continuously improving how we do this. Um because it will play out over a number of years and so there'll be plenty of opportunity for us to get better as we go along and we can't do that though without that feedback from

090the front line. So, if you have any ideas on that, we'd love to hear them. Um, uh, any other comments on the on the presentation from this section? >> I just had one question. The project director for next to 911, who is who are they going to report to? >> So, that'll either report into me or above me in the in the food chain. So, to maybe to the executive office. >> Staying on that. >> Yeah. Um maybe for the next meeting if we can get a updated food chain of who's okay. We've had some transitions. Yeah. So >> that's good point. >> All right. Thank you for that update. Um so yeah, moving then along within this agenda item, I'll touch on a little bit. Um we've referenced here a number of times uh

091our intent to solicit an open solicitation for a long-term network partner. And so we've been working with the department of technology and the office of data and innovation here at the state um to develop an RFP solicitation that will go out sometime here in the coming uh you know weeks that we want to you know make sure that we're putting together a solid contractual uh and projectoriented foundation that's clear and achievable and aligned with the statewide standards and public safety requirements that a system like this has. And so as we're as we're moving through that, we're bringing to bear all of the resources uh of the state for sure to make sure that we get, you know, a modern contract that has features and capabilities in it with modern terms and conditions to ensure that

092we are have a system that's, you know, as imperous as possible to cyber attack, but also impervious to, you know, natural disaster and things of that nature. And so we're working on that. We want to, you know, advance as as quickly as we can to get, you know, that out on the street and and um get the vendor community to, you know, submit whatever proposals they might have for a solution. Um but uh you know we would be very interested in having representation from what you know we're talking about the com the the endusers if you will the customers that we're serving the people who will be using this system and so when I say that I'm talking about PAP specifically as the customer um we would want to have input uh into how how

093this RFP looks and how it uh how it ultimately turns turns out. And so we're exploring ways as to how, you know, ways that are permitted within state contracting law um that would permit us to have those voices weigh in directly on how we write and um and award such a contract. And so between now and our August board meeting, if you have any ideas about specific um specific PAPs or people you know within the PAP community who would be willing and able to provide, you know, quality input to that process, then I think we would love to hear from them and uh see if there's a way we can figure out to involve them in that process. So, I'm kind of relying on your uh professional networks, if you will. Um, if you know

094of people um who you would recommend for that purpose, again, please submit them to uh Samantha Barton at calowas.ca.gov. Um, and she'll collect those and get them uh into the into the pipeline so we could involve some of the some of the people working on the front line who are using this product uh in in the process as we go forward. Um I think that uh that brings us to the end of that um agenda item. And so as such um I think we'd love to open open the opportunity now for members of the public who wanted to offer some comment on on this topic. Um if we'll have both online and in the room here we have a a microphone here at the at the podium in the middle of the room. So, if

095any members of the public in the room want to offer a comment, please line up at the podium. Um, be mindful that there are others who also would like to make comment and we're somewhat time constrained, so please keep your remarks to three minutes if you could. Uh, and with that, we'll turn it over to you. >> Good afternoon, chair, and members of the advisory board. U, my name is Kim Cameli, and I'm speaking today on behalf of the Central Valley Taxpayer Association. Um, we support modernizing California's 901 system, support reliable emergency communication, and we support making investments better. What we do not support is sending another taxpayer dollars on the 911 upgrade until an independent audit of the completed regional buildout is complete. In the past few months, over 4,700 Californians from across the

096state have signed and sent letters to decision makers and public safety leaders expressing concern around taxpayers spending accountability within the NG 911 suspect. Most recently, there have been more than 2100 taxpayers who have sent letters calling for a pause on the HS bridge contract until an independent review can be conducted. These are taxpayers who want answers before more money is spent. You know, chair, you keep saying that the PAPs are the customers. And while yes, we want them to have a great experience, I think the taxpayers are also customers here and our money should be spent and should be you know need to look at where our money is going. Um and as you mentioned earlier also there's an important distinction between issues um architecture is fundamentally unworkable. Today taxpayers have not seen any evidence

097supporting that conclusion. Families across California are struggling with the cost of groceries, childare, housing, and fuel just to get to and from work. We're asking them to fund and additional spending. State of California owes them transparency and accountability. The audit concludes that a new statewide approach is necessarily taxpayers have confidence that that decision was based on facts and independent analysis. that if there's a way to build upon that infrastructure that California has already purchased, taxpayers know deserve to know that as well. I respectfully urge this advisory board to support a pause on any NG 911 infrastructure changes that call and call for a full independent audit before California commits any additional dollars to parkour. Thank you for your time and >> thank you. Any other public comment from within the room? Seeing none, any public

098comment online? Seeing none, uh we'll move on to our next agenda item then. Uh let's see. The next agenda item I'm showing is the 911 subcommittee report. Um, so Mr. Mr. White and Mr. Chase, any any uh update you prepared to give today? >> I can uh kick it off. >> Sure. Um so uh obviously as you know we've had a I think a couple meetings and I think just the the highlights is that we support and through um I can speak through the police chief's association um setting up the proper uh staffing model. So you mentioned the uh the project manager project chief position. Um, we think that that's really important that there's dedicated staff and clear lines of accountability to manage wherever the project uh ends up um going. Uh so I think

099that that's good to see that there's progress. Hopefully there's more progress um regarding identifying if additional positions are needed um in order to you know carry out the prioritization um but also to a successful roll out uh statewide. I'm trying to think if there was anything else substantive. I think you covered the contract piece giving the feedback on the the longer term one. And I think that's something that will come um in the future. And I appreciate you taking the feedback and applying it in terms of keeping the board updated with the uh kind of the one-way emails um to let us know what's happening or what's changing and then also to keeping the website up to date. That was something that was asked for um a couple years back is making sure that things

100were up there and every time I've gone to look I've been able to find what uh what is needed. So um I'll turn it over to uh Mr. Chase to see what else he like to add on. >> Uh, no. I just um Steve, you and I have had conversations about this, but um just as you're looking to fill the branch manager position, you know, I have strong feelings that should be recruiting someone from out of state or someone who's previously successfully deployed a NextG 911 network for some part of that that really can um point out any of the potholes that we may encounter, make sure that this project is successful and u believe that knowledge is is very important. Mhm. >> Uh but no, we dore appreciate the increased transparency and the uh

101updates. >> Thank you. >> Um okay. Yeah, thank you for that update. Any any questions from the from the board members on the the update from the subcommittee? Um, yeah, that's all right. Okay. Uh, sorry about that. Yeah. Next item on our agenda then will be the long range planning committee report. And uh I believe the long range planning committee ah yes please step to the microphone for the update then [clears throat] good afternoon everyone. For those who haven't had the pleasure to meet my name is Jeff Logan. I sit on the long range planning committee and uh as one of our first updates uh today we met uh prior to this meeting and uh we had a little bit of a reorganization there and so uh I have been uh nominated voted in as

102the chair uh to take over for that role. So I'm happy to do this update. Uh I would be remiss if I didn't go forward. Our previous chair is still remaining on the board, uh, Alicia Fuller, representing, uh, California Highway Patrol, and she has done an absolutely phenomenal job of leading this, uh, board and keeping us on task and helping us, uh, you know, point our direction, uh, to all the different projects that come our way. So, uh, Alicia, I know you're listening online and, uh, I just hope I can uh, carry the torch that you've been leading there for us. So with that uh a couple of updates that we want to report on is um we have got uh an opportunity today which one of the next agenda items to recognize um a

103nomination and hopefully be accepted uh to our board. Um we're a small group and and it's time tough at times it's tough to travel. uh last uh meeting that we had, we ended up having to cancel because we didn't have a quorum. And so getting these positions filled is incredibly important uh for our group here. Um so in today's meeting uh earlier this this morning, we had a couple of different items uh that would that we provided updates on that we will be bringing forward to the advisory board here uh in in different formats. Um, one of them is we've had a long-standing topic of doing some research on um, uh, re regionalization and consolidation and uh, the advisory board had given us direction to take a look and maybe submit some uh, best practices

104and things to consider for agencies that are looking to do that. And so our group has been meeting and working on that and we will have uh at the next meeting in advance of the next meeting uh a draft document for your review and input uh on that topic. We've also been working on uh projects specific to uh the process of updating job descriptions um across our industry. This is a very important task that is often overlooked in the 911 world. And so we have been working on putting together some draft documents and we're trying to finalize a repository of where those would live and how we can direct other agencies to some samples that have been proven uh out and moving our profession more uh where it should be represented. We've also had a

105topic that we've been working on at the direction of the 911 advisory board of looking at uh best practices on remote call taking of all of the prior remote call taking in 911 in the state of California. Um of all the projects that we have that's fallen down the lowest on our priority list. Obviously there's a ton of issues with next generation 911 as we've been talking about. there are agencies who are successfully looking at some of the non-emergency versions of that and so we are focusing on those issues along with some of the AI um enhancements that are available to assist with some of that non-emergency call handling uh to place some relief in our 911 centers. With all of that, the item that we've focused the most attention on and what I want

106to brief on today is actually the next topic that the advisory board has before them, um, which is the staffing and retention, uh, survey. So, the LRPC has been tasked with coming up with, um, some information of how do we utilize that document um, which believe it or not is like two years old now. So, I know it's hard to believe and time flies, but what do we do with that? And so as a group, one of the things that we really work through is that at its highest level, it's always been intended to be a document in the hands of PAP managers, PAP directors, decision makers within an organization. What are the trends out in the world and how do you use that for a decision-making tool? So whether you're looking to um you

107know budgetary decisions, it could be contract negotiations, it could be policy and procedures. Do I turn left here? Do I turn right? use that document as a guiding light for what's being affected in the centers today currently. But beyond that, we think there's more. And so today, we brought forward a recommendation or a discussion item with uh OES 911 office to consider opening up a program that was recently used for regional technology task force. So there was regular meetings that OES would host within each region with PAP leaders to talk about some of the technology deployments and they would bring that information back to the LRPC. So we've kind of reimagined this scenario is that you know there are certain things in that staffing study that we really broke down the pressures and and staffing

108stability, wellness, resilient, wellness and resilience and leadership and development. our paps. While we don't know if there's a magic wand or a secret sauce to wave and solve that right away, we know some of our centers are doing it really well. And what we would like to do is establish regional working groups to talk about these items um bring them back together and start sharing them on a on a wider basis. And so um the OES team was uh the 911 office team was very supportive of that today. We're going to work through some logistics with them to how to get that started. and each member of the LRPC is more than willing to make those meetings and attend them and help get the dialogue started. But if there's great things going out uh in

109the centers around us, we want to lean into that knowledge and find ways to uh explore that. The second recommendation that we had as a part of that meeting um was a discussion item here with the 91 advisory board and that is you know policy and procedure that we have in the 911 office. One of the the great things we have is uh ATA funds. So authorized uh training aotment funds that each PAP is able to utilize. Um but the reality of it that we know is that not all of those funds are utilized. There's there's limitations uh with some organizations of using them. There's there's sometimes knowledge uh barriers. And so what we would like to do is maybe encourage the 911 office to look at other ways to expense those funds. If you

110have centers that are not using them, but you have centers that are using them, find ways to request additional funding. You know, whether maybe it's a mid-year assessment. I there's a lot of different options. All we would like to do is just say maybe uh give it another look. The second part of that is establishing uh or discussing the possibility of establishing a similar fund for um dispatcher wellness programs, mental health initiatives. Yes, ATA funds can currently be used for those, but now you're having to choose are you using your funds for training or mental health mental health initiatives. uh we would like to see an opportunity for more centers if they're willing to use those funds to find ways to use uh those for their centers. So that's kind of our kicking off point

111of what we've got with the staffing and retention study and how do we keep that information moving forward. Um I'm happy to answer any questions um related to those uh recommendations, but for our meeting today, that's kind of what it was highlighted around. Thank you. >> Thank you for that update. Um any any questions or comments from uh the board um on the on the update from the LRPC? >> Yes. >> Recommendation maybe more comment um if you are able to get a quarterly or twice a year meeting with the call managers via team zoom whatever. Um two-part is I believe this long range planning committee needs to be a regular standing section for those meetings. Yeah. >> Um to get them updated, to share the information, especially, you know, my my trip's always the

112oneless part of dispatch. So, taking care of the comm center so they can take care of the community. And the other part would be if you could do a breakout from there and let people sign into whatever room they want, that would automatically put them into their region. And then after the meeting, just have a breakout group where they go into different rooms, Teams, Zoom, whatever. um where they can then have the meeting within their region as part of it so you don't lose them once you have their ability to meet and then they can maybe sign up afterwards if it's recorded. >> Um as Mr. Sheay said earlier, >> providing them a recording to watch it later or go to that breakout room and learn the other regional stuff because they might learn something

113from that. So >> um giving them access to the meetings is important. >> Yeah. >> So thank you. >> Thank you for that. question and the um guidance one is uh you brought up AI for the dispatch of PAP centers is are any of the PAPs currently utilizing AI technology and if so do you know how many >> well I couldn't give you a number of how many uh a vast majority of centers are leading to some version of AI AI technology within their centers and it and it spans a lot of different uh parts of the disciplines that uh we interact act with. But yes, it is becoming more and more prevalent. >> Yeah, because my understanding is some companies are actually developing full dispatch AI services and I just didn't know if we

114had gotten to that point of utilizing any of those in a PAP yet. >> I haven't seen any uh presentations that are full dispatch AI. Everything that I've seen, heard of or interacted with has been uh assistance uh programs. >> Okay. And then the last thing is you probably don't know I chair the wellness committee for the Cal State Sheriff's Assoc Association and we just launched a state and national wellness campaign that if you want to reach out I can get you the contact. It's 8week nocost wellness program for all public safety agencies. >> That's amazing. Thank you. >> Sure. If I can if I can just follow up. when you say full AI or full dispatch, what what does that mean? >> So, the presentation I recently received was a demonstration of call centers

115being automated straight to AI voice dispatchers, you know, taking the call, processing the call, sending it out. So, it is completely nonhuman. And I just didn't know if anybody had actually started looking at that uh to supplement some of our dispatch centers. >> I think does are you talking about LA sheriff like they have sort of a model like that right where it reads the call out. >> No th this evolution and I just think with the timing and everything when we're talking about PAPs in the future of getting equipment 10 years from now the whole system is probably going to be completely different. What I saw was going down that path for five years of utilizing technology in PAPs that just can't staff with human personnel anymore. >> Yeah, I mean I can provide

116some examples of centers that have been um using either um like a service like Amazon Connect or um there's some other companies out there Aurelian now with the Axon model. there's prepared. There's a bunch of people in the in that model. Um, so far the what I'm hearing is typically it's um siphoning off the non-emergency calls. Um, and then there's also the opportunity for either the AI bot or the the program to take a a report and put a call into CAD. Um, or they can file a report online through the product or they can also get a a link to um sent to their cell phone via text and they can also either input a call for CAD or input a report. So, that's pretty much what we're hearing out there. Um, I'm sure

117there there are some people who might be doing some testing on some other things. And then the other the other use of um AI that's really coming into play now is with language translation um carbine or some of the other vendors right that are doing that um rapid SOS where um you know all comes in and then even if the dispatcher is unable to speak in that language it still will translate that's >> you know at the speed of which technology is moving I was just curious on how much conversation we've had in relation to dispatch centers so thank you for that update. >> Yeah. >> No, thank you for that information, too. And I I would just add that um there is a lot out there. >> Uh more than you can even imagine

118when it comes to uh different programs available uh within 911 centers or really anywhere in our industry. It doesn't just have to be the 911 side of things. And most uh most instances I've seen, like uh Mr. Chase just mentioned, they're usually assisting some portion of the 911 process inside of the center. At least that's where we're at currently. And to to the chair, just to to point out, I know that it's been brought up to um some of the PAP advisors, but utilizing some of being able to utilize um some of the excess funds that we have or freeing up some funds to be able to uh purchase these solutions really can help with staffing because um in a lot of cases, these non-emergency calls are taking up, you know, the the the uh

119vendors are able to provide, you know, they can take 30 to 40% of a piece these apps call volume and really leave the telecommunicators available to take non-emergency calls, do EMD, things like that >> and not just the overflowing sewer, right? The dead animal calls, all those type of things that we're tying up a 91 dispatcher right now for on a non-emergency basis, right? >> Um, you know, I mean, in in our communities, it's like the u battery uh smoke detector, right? to Jeff's point as a fire center manager where an elderly person calls and they're unable to change their smoke detector batteries. So that >> you know presents as a call to the fire department, things like that that um really could be handled um by an AI technology. >> Yeah. No, excellent, excellent

120input and feedback across the board. I think the point is well taken that uh you know the technology you development and increase isn't a linear process. it's ramping up a lot faster and so I think you know making sure obviously that we have a network that those applications can traverse is one point but then evaluating all of the possible applications that are you know could come into play is really uh you know I think where the rubber meets the road. I don't I don't like a a future that it doesn't involve human beings, but I think, you know, whittling down what the humans do and what the nonhumans do is is a wise way to approach it. >> Yeah. But, you know, as Director Chase said, if if we could get to a point where

121the human element was the 911, which is very very critical. >> Yep. But that that the vast majority of calls and the time it takes from point of call to dispatch for non-emergent is extraordinary and I think if there's a way to be more efficient with that uh we should definitely be looking at it. So glad to hear that it's definitely part of the conversation. >> Yes. >> All right. Uh I think there might have been a hand up. Uh Chief White, did you have your hand up on this topic? Yeah, I'm sure you're not surprised that I support uh exploring this further. Um and to the extent that we can to put some funding behind it. I think a good model that worked uh this is dating quite a number of years back. But

122when they were doing the big GIS upgrade, each agency could get like an aotment of fund and you could do it with um you know what worked for your agency. I think a challenge as all this technology is coming forth is to make sure that we provide a solid baseline of service throughout the state of California so that you don't end up with uh areas of drought where they simply don't get the same level of service as somewhere else. So, however it is that we can do that I I think is good. Um, I also support the uh, you know, to be as creative as we can with the wellness funding, particularly considering that the new systems are going to expose dispatchers to more visible things, right? Streaming video, pictures, that kind of stuff. Um,

123that may bring along its its own problems. And then last but not least, whenever you're ready, um, I have a little nomination thing to read for their, uh, member that they're asking for. >> Oh, I think it would be appropriate to hear that now. commend the nomination of Josh Armstrong. He's the IT director for City of Hawthorne. He has over 26 years of experience public safety operations, 911 systems technology, and regional public safety communications. Uh his background includes uh law enforcement operations, dispatch records, klets coordination, uh IT leadership inside and outside the department. He serves in addition to the city of Hawthorne. Um he's the PAT manager for the college police and is actively involved with multiple uh public safety technology issues on the regional uh level including CAT and RMS uh systems planning and

124cyber security. He also is a Nenina uh professional uh NG 911 coordinator for Los Angeles County and on the South Bay regional radio system tech uh committee where he's the chair. Uh he brings a combined operational and technical perspective to public safety communications and long-range planning efforts. And by the way, in his spare time, he's a dog dad to his Rottweiler named Athena. So I think he brings a lot to the table. Um I'm glad that he stepped up and I think as uh was mentioned, it's critical that we give this long range planning committee the proper number of people. So with that, I would make a motion to nominate Josh Armstrong. >> Right. Thank you. hearing a motion then. >> I'll second and then hearing a second. Um I think we would be remiss

125if we didn't open it to any additional nominations that might be offered at this time. So uh are there any additional nominations to be offered from the members? Just for clarity for this position, if it wasn't mentioned, this is to represent the California uh Police Chiefs Association. Each one of our member spots on the um uh LRPC represent each one of your roles here as well too. And that's why Chief White brought the recommendation forward. >> Okay. Right. So then I don't hear any additional nominations. Um but we do have a motion pending. And so with that, I think what we have to call for public comment. And so uh I would like to open the microphone at this time to public comment. We'll start in the room. Is there any public comment to be

126heard on this nomination? I'm not seeing any. Uh how about online? All right. No public comment online and we will proceed to a vote then. And we'll start at the top of the order. Rodney Ellison, how do you vote on this nomination? >> Uh, yes. >> All right. Kurt Wallace, >> yes. >> Jennifer Gonzalez, >> yes. >> Andrew White, >> yes. >> Mark Chase, >> yes. >> Demetrius Sydney, >> yes. >> Eric Clevmire, >> yes. >> Garrett Huff, >> yes. Robert Johnson. >> Yes. >> And Yinia Sanchez. >> Yes. >> All right. By my count, we have a unanimous verdict. Then uh the nomination carries and shall be appointed as such. >> Thank you so much. We really appreciate the time and consideration for that. Josh is going to be a great addition to our

127team and uh he is very excited to uh take on this opportunity. He was very uh disappointed he could not be here today with the meeting time change, but he is very engaged, very active, and will be here. Um he's usually here at all of these meetings as well as the LRPC meetings as an audience attendant. >> And so you as the chair of the LRPC will inform him of the outcome here. >> Yes, I believe he's listening. Josh, congratulations. >> All right, >> with that. The last item of close just uh for awareness. uh a couple of uh months ago uh we had moved our LRPC meeting to follow the 911 advisory board. Um it is not working out uh well for us by way of giving timely updates. So we have uh switched

128back to the original process. So we'll be meeting the Tuesday before with fresh information for the Wednesday 911 advisory board meeting. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Um, all right. So, um, the next agenda item, and I believe we touched on it previously, but it is an agenda item, so we will address it here, is the staffing and retention study discussion. And so, um, I think incorporating everything that we just discussed concerning the staffing and retention study into, uh, where we're at right now, are there any other, uh, comments or discussion around the staffing retention item that you would like to carry out as board members at this time? >> Yes. Just for the new members uh information, I I will continue to push to encou encourage everyone's support for identifying funds for wellness

129for comm centers and dispatchers. Uh we've talked about some of the exposure that they have and the work that they're doing as well as short staff. So then the stress of trying to fill vacancies andor fill spaces until the vacant positions are filled. uh that it's just an incredible team of people that are helping us answer emergency calls and dispatch those calls and the state had provided wellness funds for peace officers specifically that unfortunately did not include the comm center members. So while the officers were provided resources um their counterparts were not. So I will continue to encourage everyone to support any funding that we can find for comp center members. Thank you. Any any other comments from the board members? Any online? Okay. Um Okay. Thank you. Um we'll go ahead and wrap up

130that agenda item. Our next agenda item is the uh closed session for the for the board members. So, um board members will be stepping out to go into a closed session and we'll return uh when that session concludes. We'll come back to this this forum and uh complete the complete the meeting at that time. So, thank you. All right, welcome back everybody. Uh we're back in the open session for the 911 advisory board. All members are present with the exception of Sheriff Johnson. Uh so that being said, we still have a quorum and continue to do business. Um I believe we'll move to the next item on our agenda. as I search within my paperwork for what that is. Uh I believe after the close session, we move on to uh any agenda items for

131future meetings uh that the board members um would like to offer or suggest. Keeping in mind, of course, that this is not your only opportunity to do so. You can of course at any time email those into the board liaison um at the email address and she'll add those to the next agenda. Uh so if you don't have anything right now that's fine. But if you do have something right now you'd like to talk about by all means speak and uh we'll hear what you have to say. Any any agenda items to add to the next session? No. Okay. How about online? Any hands? All right. Seeing none. Yeah, as I mentioned, just go ahead and email them in if you think of something in between. Um, and we'll add it to the next session.

132Uh, we'll move to then uh agenda topic number 12, which is public comment for matters that are not on the agenda. And we'll start the public comment here in the room. Uh, keeping in mind, um, of course, that we'll limit our public comment to, uh, three minutes each. And uh if you'll want to start lining up at the podium with the microphone, we'll do that. Not seeing any movement to that effect. Uh we'll turn our attention to the virtual room. Are there any in the virtual room who would like to offer a public comment? Not seeing any hands or hearing. Oh, wait. Well, he's not public. Chief White, >> I know I'm not public, but I don't think we have an official like word thing. So, I just wanted to thank the staff for supporting

133uh the request from the Bishop Police Department regarding some of the outages they've been having in their county um with phone systems that have impacted 911. So, thank you to yourself as well as Chief Matson for coordinating with them um and look forward to getting him some uh help. >> Ah, yes. Thank you for that. Yes, very important work. Um, all right. Any do we see any other hands out there? No. Okay. Um, that's the last of those agenda items. The only remaining agenda item. Agenda item number 13 is the adjournment of the second occurrence of the 911 advisory board for the year 2026. We are hereby adjourned. Thank you everyone.