Clerk of the Napa Superior Court Duning*

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Create oversight committees, including an audit committee Response - NCTPA: On September 16, 2009, the NCTPA Board of Directors created the "Transit Efficiency Committee" to assist the full Board in the monitoring the performance of the Transit Services Contractor (Veolia Transportation) which will sunset after 2 years unless the Board takes action to continue said committee. This committee meets quarterly to assess the Transit Service contractor's performance to the measures put forward in the contract and RFP 09-01.

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Correct the deficiencies listed in the latest outside audit and other regulatory agency reviews Response - NCTPA: The Executive Director and its Board of Directors concur with this Recommendation.

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Focus on NCTPA stated main purpose of providing for transportation planning and services delivery Response – NCTPA: The Executive Director and its Board of Directors concur with this Recommendation.

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Prepare and publish a budget summary each year with sufficient detail which can be easily understood by the public The Executive Director concurs with this Response NCTPA: Recommendation.

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Develop a plan for the Agricultural Worker Vanpool Program to be self sufficient after June 2011 this with The Executive Director NCTPA: concurs Response - Recommendation.

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Establish a plan to seek ongoing funding for street and roadway repair and maintenance this Executive Director with The concurs NCTPA: Response _ Recommendation. NCTPA would like to take this opportunity to clarify the following information contained in the Grand Jury Report. a) SUMMARY (pg. 1) The NCTPA's stated goals include the maintenance of our roadways, land-planning oversight, and many other functions listed in this Report. Response - NCTPA: The statement as written seems to imply that NCTPA oversees the maintenance of roadways for the Napa Region. Maintenance and repairs of roadways for the Napa Region are the direct responsibility of the six governmental entities within the county. NCTPA helps to identify, plan and program Federal and State funds that are available to the region through formula and street classification. Although there are stated interests to maintain street and road infrastructure and to invest in strategic road system expansion in South County, the public has not seen much evidence of these elements being a priority at the NCTPA. Many of the roadway repairs completed last year were funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) rather than from an on-going maintenance program. Response - NCTPA: Napa County is one of a few counties within the nine- county Bay Area that does not have a dedicated transportation sales tax known throughout California as a "Self-Help" county. They are responsible for delivering voter-approved transportation sales tax measures throughout the state. Without such dedicated funding makes it extremely difficult to deliver many of the region's priority transportation projects. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission administers and allocates by formula all of the available Federal and State monies it receives that then NCTPA plans, programs and distributes to its member jurisdictions. NCTPA also serves to distribute and program by issuing Calls for Projects of available funding for state and local programs such as the Transportation for Clean Air administered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). However, it is worth noting that some programs are established with very specific criteria and conditions that must be met in order to qualify. Federal funds require a local match of either 10 to 20% of the total project costs. Use of federal funds also triggers full compliance of all federal requirements such as Timelines; Procurement; Environmental; Reporting; etc. ARRA serves as a prime example in both project delivery and source of funding to which Napa County delivered 100% of its allocation. b) BACKGROUND (pg. 2) The NCTPA is the public agency that operates the transit system (public buses and paratransit vehicles) in Napa County. The NCTPA is also involved in other lesser known activities/services. In addition to providing the bus and van services in our communities, the NCTPA manages the following activities: Agricultural Workers Vanpool program Response - NCTPA: In 2008, a Feasibility Study concluded that this program was both viable and warranted in the Napa Valley region. This new program was launched by NCTPA in June 2009. Provides staff for the Arts Council Response - NCTPA: NCTPA does not provide staff for the Arts Commission but does provide its meeting facility. One member of the agency provides staff assistance to the Arts Commission pro bono. Assists the Transportation for Clean Air Program in Napa County Response - NCTPA: NCTPA serves as the County Program Manager for Napa County as defined in its bylaws. Establishes the Climate Protection Plan for Napa County Response - NCTPA: NCTPA served in an advisory role to help to establish the framework of the Climate Action Plan through a collaborative process for Napa County. Develops potential land use planning regulations Response - NCTPA: NCTPA serves in an advisory role to assist its member jurisdictions in reviewing potential land-use planning regulations. History of Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency (pg. 4) Individuals interviewed indicated that during this period of time there was little direct oversight of the NCTPA. Due to the technical nature of the operations of the NCTPA, the BOD appears to have accepted most of the recommendations presented to them by staff. Response – NCTPA: The Board of Directors does not agree with both statement as written and takes exception. At no time has NCTPA or its staff has ever gone without executive management oversight. First, NCTPA is required to hire or contract for the provision of the services of an Executive Director to serve as chief administrative officer of the NCTPA (Joint Powers Agreement). Throughout the history of the agency, the BOD has taken whatever means necessary to ensure that this position has been filled whenever a vacancy has occurred. The BOD does acknowledge that deferring reassessment and realignment or its staff or its decision to become independent in 2008 until after a new Executive Director was hired may appear to have been a missed opportunity. Audits while they are a useful tool in noting deficiencies do not prescribe or dictate solutions. The development and implementation of policies and procedures stem from Best Practices and trial & errors. The wording of the last statement is misleading. Virtually all of the agency's activities either stem from or are dealt with by each member jurisdiction at the local level before the BOD hears them. Often times an item is heard and continued over a series of months to ensure it meets the 3C planning process of continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive before it is approved or adopted by the BOD. c) METHODOLOGY (pg. 5) Response - NCTPA: It is unclear what approach or how the elements listed on page five were used to seek out and validate and verify statements made throughout the report. It is customary to include a written description of the author's rationale and the assumptions that underlie a particular study relative to the method use. d) DISCUSSION (pg 9) v) The VINE Contract All transit services are contracted with Veolia Transportation under a five-year agreement approved in September 2009 by the BOD. This approval was contrary to staff recommendations. The BOD approved a request for proposal (RFP) on July 25, 2008, which was sent out to transportation operators before it was reviewed and approved by County Counsel. The RFP was quickly rescinded. The RFP was re- issued and two proposals were received in June 2009. At that time, staff made the recommendation to award the contract to MV Transportation, but the BOD issued the contract to Veolia. Currently there is pending legal action against the NCTPA by MV Transportation regarding the Veolia contract. While the NCTPA indicates that the contract award was completed in a legal manner, the court will make the final determination. Response - NCTPA: Originally, the City of Napa contracted for the Fixed Route intercity and intracity transit services with the Volunteer Center overseeing both the local shuttle and paratransit services. Both of these contracts conveyed to NCTPA as part of the consolidation of transit services as mentioned above in 2001. In November 2007, NCTPA issued a Request for Proposal for a Transit Service Provider that combined all these services under one six-year contract. On April 30, 2008, after receiving two responses and tentatively awarding, decided to cancel this solicitation. Staff also agreed to return to the Board with a Request for Proposal to hire a consultant who would be tasked with creating a new request for proposal and managing a new procurement to solicit firms to provide contracted transit services to NCTPA. On July 25, 2008, the BOD authorized the release of an RFP for Procurement Services to develop a Request for Proposal for a Transit Service Provider. Included for your information is the cover page with approval by County Counsel prior to its issuance. NCTPA received five responses to its REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP#0801) solicitation and was prepared to make a For recommendation to award at its <b>Procurement Services</b> January 2009 BOD meeting. On For February 18, 2009, after review by the Assisting NCTPA to Procure Transit Services Executive Director he new In recommended NCTPA staff that Napa County undertake the revision of the Transit Friday, August 1, 2008 (Proposals due Friday, September 5, 2008) Operator Services Request for Proposal At 12:00 NOON, PST) for release to prospective Proposers no by later than April 1, 2009. The Executive Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency Director also recommended that the Release of RFP authorized by: Mr Board reject all bids for RFP # 0801, 7/31/08 CTPA Executive Direct the RFP issued for the development of 7/31/08 Dutte a revised Transit Services Operator 7/3:/08 Request for Proposal, which would save the agency $60,000. On March 31, 2009, NCTPA issued the Request for Proposal and as stated above received two proposals. The legal action is no longer pending and the Superior Court of Napa after a Writ of Mandamus was filed, upheld the procurement process as administered by staff and found no wrongdoing. It also upheld the decision made by the BOD of its award. vii) Management of Consultants and Grants (pg. 12) In past years, management of grants has been criticized for lack of oversight and compliance with regulations. The NCTPA was recently subjected to public criticism when a story published in the Napa Valley Register indicated that there was a mismanagement of over $2,600,000 in grant monies. Several of the deficiencies listed in the June 30, 2009, NCTPA audit indicate that it repeatedly failed to create proper internal controls to monitor grants and reimbursement procedures. It is very important to correctly track federal grant monies, otherwise anticipated reimbursements could be withheld or services denied. Another deficiency listed in the 2009 audit indicates that the NCTPA has been out of compliance by not submitting required quarterly reports to the MTC. Thus, the MTC may impose sanctions against the NCTPA. At the time of this investigation, it is still unclear if the NCTPA established all the required internal control systems to satisfy the grant and regulatory agency's requirements. Response - NCTPA: As noted above, NCTPA became an independent agency on July 1, 2008. Up until then NCTPA staff relied on oversight by the County of Napa's Auditor-Controller and its External Auditor to assist with its grant management practices. It lacked the necessary tools to track and properly monitor both its federal and state grants, which predate the agency. NCTPA has brought onboard-trained staff that has actual hands on experience with tracking and monitoring grants as recommended by the internal audit. In addition, NCTPA is reassessing its staff and is conducting a Classification Study, which had never been undertaken by the agency. As to any reference of mismanagement of over $2 million dollars in grant monies, NCTPA has now learned that this was in error. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) had initially indicated at the end of June 2009, that the agency had failed to apply for its FY 2007-2008 Section 5307 funding allocations. In May 2010, in preparing to submit an application and programming of those funds MTC found records showing that the agency had already applied for the funds in question. We wholeheartedly agree that it is very important to correctly track and monitor grant monies to manage the risk of any loss of funds. Beginning in September 2009, NCTPA took the necessary steps with the assistance of MTC to bring its monthly and quarterly reporting back into compliance. Early FY 2009-2010 NCTPA made the decision to change from cash to an accrual basis accounting system done so that the agency can monitor its performance, it also allowed for establishing a set of financial controls that will satisfy the agency's requirements under the various programs. ix) Oversight and Accountability Response - NCTPA: NCTPA completely agrees with the statement that its residents should expect a scale of transportation fitting the rural character of Napa County. NCTPA and its BOD are committed to regain the public's trust and work together to help identify solutions and much needed improvements.