Submittal to the Board of Supervisors County of Riverside, State of California Item:3.50

The County of Riverside has departments and personnel with specialized expertise and resources that the March JPA lacks, enabling it to meet the commercial and general aviation needs at the March Air Reserve Base more efficiently than the small March JPA staff. Response to Grand Jury Finding #10: Respondent agrees with finding. Riverside County Aviation (Aviation) has broad expertise, resources, and established processes to manage airport operations. With more than 250,000 annual aircraft operations, 400 based aircraft, and over 330 active leases across five (5) general aviation public-use airports situated on approximately 7,000 acres, the County oversees a robust and complex aviation system with a dedicated staff of thirteen employees. This team brings extensive airport management experience and subject-matter expertise in operations, planning, maintenance, real estate, and regulatory compliance. Aviation has a proven track record of securing and managing state and federal aviation grants. Since 2020, we have accepted $9.4 million in FAA and Caltrans grants supporting $10 million in completed airport improvements. We are anticipating an additional $13.6 million in grants toward improvements planned for the coming year. The County team has not had direct experience in working with the U.S. Air Force at the March ARB, nor long-standing relationships with Air Force personnel, relating to airport operations. None of the County airports are Joint Use Airports military airports. The County Airport Director does have more than thirty years of diverse experience in aviation, including prior work experience as a consultant supporting the U.S. military under the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence. Grand Jury Finding #11:

March JPA can legally transfer its utility authority to the California Gas Company and its Successor Agency to the County of Riverside. Response to Grand Jury Finding #11: Respondent partially disagrees with finding. The County agrees that the administrative oversight functions of the successor agency can be transferred to the county. The County possesses a comprehensive understanding of successor agency processes and operations, as the County Executive Office fulfills that role for the County successor agency to the former County redevelopment agency. California Health and Safety Code §34173 allows any of the entities in a Joint Powers Authority that created the redevelopment agency to be a successor agency. As the successor agency is a legally distinct entity, with separate assets and liabilities from the sponsoring entity, it would remain as its own separate entity. Therefore, administrative oversight could be provided by the County, if there was interest from the March JPA member jurisdictions. The County disagrees with the finding language regarding the utility authority transfer to the California Gas Company. The County is not a member entity of the March Joint Powers Utility Authority, and as such does not have involvement in the operations of the Utility Authority. GRAND JURY RECOMMENDATIONS: Grand Jury Recommendation #4: