has provided great value to the County in terms of acceleration of transportation infrastructure, development and*

Inadequate Board Oversight Finding: RCA Board Members often have a limited understanding of the very complex requirements and obligations of this conservation agency. They need more measurable information on the long term trends of the RCA. Many elected Board Members do not remain on this Board for more than a few years, and so institutional memory of the Board is often limited. Only the Executive Board appears to make decisions about setting the agenda.

Board Lack of Awareness of Financial Pitfalls Finding: The RCA Board has not acknowledged its inability to meet the current time table for acquisition of habitat conservation lands. The current rate of land acquisition has slowed to the point where it is unlikely to expect that it will meet The Plan's goal of completion of habitat land reserve within the remaining ten years of the 25 year plan.

Over $1 Billion Will Be Needed Within the Next Ten Years Finding: Even with the RCA's recent estimate of land acquisition costs at $13,000 per acre, the necessary land acquisition costs to complete The Plan are expected to be a staggering $1.0 to $1.5 billion dollars. This represents a significant financial risk to the County.

Endowment Fund is Underfunded Finding: The Plan calls for an endowment fund of $70,000,000 to support future monitoring and maintenance of habitat lands. At this time, the fund is severely underfunded currently at about $5,800,000. The failure to build this reserve fund, the interest income of which would fund habitat maintenance activities in perpetuity, could obligate the participating cities to carry these costs after completion of the land acquisition requirement.

Efficiencies of Outside Contractors vs. In-House Staff Finding: RCA outsources many costly contracts to outside parties for legal services, plan implementation, real property services, and other professional services. These costs drain the limited general funds, used to build up the endowment and other services. RCA contracts with an outside company to act as a middle-man for projects that are negotiated between developers and RCA staff. The outside company agents explain the MSHCP process, provide interpretation and deliver a completed packet of documents for the RCA joint project reviews.

Insufficient Financial Commitment for Maintenance & Security of Habitat Reserve Finding: The Plan Land Management budget does not provide sufficient park rangers for increased land patrol and maintenance responsibilities of the expanding habitat reserve. The maintenance and security of the current accumulated 400,000 acres of conservation land is suffering from damages caused by fires and floods, as well as off-highway vehicles (OHV), and homeless encampments. This damage will only increase in the future.

Legislative Solutions for Funding Are Far From Certain Finding: RCA continues to spend over $200,000 annually, of its own limited, local general funds for two K-Street lobbyists. Their proposals repeatedly seek funding resources through legislative alternatives. These approaches have indeterminate and un- measureable [sic] outcomes.

RCA is an obscure agency. The taxpaying, voting public is not aware of its valuable contributions to the conservation of the environment or to the development of public infrastructure in the County. Recommendation: RCA should improve outreach efforts to the general taxpaying, voting public. Provide public education about the RCA's conservation mission and build a public constituency of those who may be asked to approve future funding mechanisms to support its goals. Create public understanding of the importance of this conservation plan in reducing delays in the development of public infrastructure projects and the value of protecting the habitat for endangered species. RESPONSE Finding - Agree Partially: Recognizing the need to increase public awareness of the MSHCP, the RCA Board of Directors approved a public outreach program which includes e-newsletters, a redesigned website, new reserve signage, a new brochure, social media outreach, an educational component and media relations, in September 2018. These materials and activities have been completed and implemented, or are in the process of being implemented. Recommendation Has Been Implemented: As discussed in the preceding paragraph, the RCA Board of Directors in 2018 approved a public outreach program including e- newsletters, a redesigned website, new reserve signage, a new brochure, social media outreach, an educational component and media relations. This is expected to increase visibility to a wide swath of the public, including voting taxpayers. 9. More Useful Annual Reports Finding: The information in the Annual Reports meet the minimal requirement set out in The Plan, but do not discuss financial issues of concern or proposed remedies and actions. They do not provide comment on whether the income receipts and the rate of the land acquisition are sufficient for the RCA to meet its goal of acquiring sufficient habitat lands to assemble the reserve within 25 years. Recommendation: The Annual Report should serve as a benchmark to be used for evaluating compliance with The Plan requirements and goals. The report should provide graphic description of the RCA's progress towards The Plan conservation goals. It should identify significant issues in The Plan implementation and proposed remedies for concerns which may delay implementation. Copies of the Annual Report should be made available to the public and presented at an open workshop where they may comment. RESPONSE Finding - Wholly Disagree: At nearly 450 pages, the Annual Report and its attached appendices and technical reports amply fulfill the MSHCP requirements with details about funding summaries, management objectives, habitat gains and losses, monitoring activities and related issues from the previous year. Up to date financial, acquisition and monitoring information are best available to the public and in real time through the Board meetings, which are broadcast online with live video and preserved via online video archives. Like all public agencies, minutes, reports and public information are available from the RCA as the agency follows the same rules as those adhered to by other cities, the County and similar JPAs. It is worth noting that by its very name, the Annual Report is a summary of the RCA and MSHCP's status and activities from the prior year. As with any Annual Report, that means the information is dated. The RCA works within an extremely dynamic system and makes real time decisions. Recommendation Has Been Implemented: The Annual Report and its attached appendices and technical reports are presented to the RCA board at public meeting. Members of the public are welcome to appear at such meetings and address the Board with their comments. Current and past Annual Reports and all related appendices and technical reports are available online for review or download by the public, or by request. 10. Consolidation of Duplicate Bureaucracy Finding: RCA is a free-standing JPA. The other two habitat conservation agencies in the County, HCA and CVCC, are not free-standing and are subject to a higher level of public visibility along with managerial and financial oversight provided by the existing multi-city management structure. Recommendation: The consolidation of RCA within an existing multi-city management structure would provide: Operational improvement • Reduction of duplication of bureaucracy Cost reduction Increased public visibility Increased financial oversight WRCOG could serve this function, as Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG) does for Coachella Valley Conservation Commission (CVCC). RESPONSE Finding – Wholly Disagree: Consolidation would create another layer of bureaucracy which would increase costs, undermine existing operational efficiencies and, most importantly, distract from the sole and central mission of the RCA, namely to oversee the MSHCP and assemble its Reserve System, by placing that responsibility with another agency that already has distinctly different and varied responsibilities. Recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted or is not reasonable: Placing the RCA under another entity could potentially prove disastrous from both a conservation and infrastructure standpoint. Merging RCA with another agency, such as WRCOG, would likely mean that Board Members will spend less time on conservation matters. At the inception of the RCA, such an organizational structure was initially implemented with WRCOG overseeing RCA activities, but was quickly abandoned to allow the RCA Board to focus exclusively on conservations efforts. Further, another agency would lack the specialized experience in the complexities of the MSHCP and its implementation. In fact, such a reorganization is inconsistent with the Grand Jury's (unfounded) concern regarding the experience and training of board members and would likely result in less board oversight over the RCA's conservation activities. Additionally, the RCA Implementing Agreement provides that upon expiration of the SKR HCP in 2026, coverage for the SKR will be provided by the MSHCP and the SKR reserve will be managed by the RCA. In contrast to any other agency, including WRCOG, RCA has over 15 years of experience assembling and managing tens of thousands of acres of conservation land and protecting 146 native species. Further, the RCA has completed nearly 500 acquisitions and more than 800 Joint Project Reviews. RCA staff members are County employees, the County Auditor-Controller is the RCA's auditor, and the County Treasurer is the RCA's Treasurer. For cost-savings, RCA utilizes many County services, including real estate, purchasing, Information Technology, financial and payroll systems. If the RCA Board wanted to merge the RCA with another organization, the County of Riverside could best provide the oversight with the greatest operational overlap with the RCA.

More Useful Annual Reports Finding: The information in the Annual Reports meet the minimal requirement set out in The Plan, but do not discuss financial issues of concern or proposed remedies and actions. They do not provide comment on whether the income receipts and the rate of the land acquisition are sufficient for the RCA to meet its goal of acquiring sufficient habitat lands to assemble the reserve within 25 years.

Consolidation of Duplicate Bureaucracy Finding: RCA is a free-standing JPA. The other two habitat conservation agencies in the County, HCA and CVCC, are not free-standing and are subject to a higher level of public visibility along with managerial and financial oversight provided by the existing multi-city management structure.