To: Board of Supervisors
From: Kristin Connelly, Clerk-Recorder
Report Title: Limited Waiver for Lodging and Transportation Costs
☐Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Approve and Authorize the Clerk-Recorder, or designee, (1) a limited and one-time waiver of the county’s travel policy because Contra Costa County is hosting, to allow private grant funding to pay $7,091 for lodging of the managers, supervisors, and senior leaders attending the Annual Conference of the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials who live in Antioch (3 staff), Brentwood, Oakley, Pittsburg, Fairfield, and Vallejo (3 staff) to facilitate their full participation as hosts; and (2) approval to spend $1542.42, plus at-cost registration fee, in private grant funding to pay for a bus that will allow 33 front line staff and supervisors to attend the conference on July 9, 2025 as part of a robust and unique professional development experience.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Lodging for the 13 senior staff and bus transportation and registration costs for the 33 staff are estimated to be $11,438.42 are 100% supported by Private Grant funding. Total travel costs including meals, parking and mileage are estimated to be approximately $19,856.
BACKGROUND:
In 2025, Contra Costa County is proud to host the annual conference of the California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials (CACEO) from July 8-11th at the San Ramon Marriott. CACEO relies on the staff of the host county exclusively to develop the agenda for the conference. For more than 8 months, a planning committee of Clerk and Elections staff has met in earnest to develop a theme, identify a keynote speaker and to ensure that the agenda reflects the most important priorities for both the Clerks and Elections officials that will be in attendance. With more than a month until the conference more than 175 officials from 38 different counties have registered to attend in addition to exhibitors and representatives from the Secretary of State’s office, as well as interested stakeholders. Bringing counterparts and stakeholders to Contra Costa County for this conference provides economic development to the County.
It is common practice for a limited number of supervisors and managers from both the Clerk-Recorder and Elections Divisions to attend CACEO’s annual conference which alternates between northern and southern California. Budget constraints typically do not allow front line staff to attend conferences. When staff attend this conference, the costs for attending include lodging and travel. The agenda typically runs from 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM and later with evening opportunities for networking. As hosts of the conference staff from Contra Costa are expected to be the first to arrive to the morning sessions to answer questions, make attendees feel welcome, and to make the most of the conference, as well as the last ones to leave at the close of the conference each night.
CACEO’s Site Selection Committee toured potential conference sites in Walnut Creek, Concord and San Ramon in April of 2024 and selected the recently renovated San Ramon Marriott.
We request approval to rent a bus for a unique professional development experience for 33 staff people to attend one day of the annual conference that their Clerk and Elections colleagues have planned as hosts. CACEO has provided Contra Costa County a special one-day, at-cost registration fee of $85 per person to participate, which includes lunch. The registration fee for the full conference is $265. Staff attendees on Wednesday will be able to hear the welcoming remarks from Chair Andersen, the keynote speaker, and to attend both the Association's Luncheon and the general session featuring a discussion with both California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Traveling together will allow the 4 supervisors on the bus to familiarize staff with what to expect at the conference and answer questions. Similarly, by riding together back to the office, the supervisors will be able to debrief the shared experience to maximize professional development and team building. Riding a bus together is the most efficient use of time because it allows staff to travel in the carpool lane during rush hour and will facilitate on-time arrival and departure. Riding together also ensures that our staff will have the least impact on local traffic and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) while experiencing this unique and important professional development opportunity.
While the Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters appreciates the CAO’s approval and support of our plans to attend the CACEO Annual Conference, this limited one-time waiver request of the travel policy and support for a non-county event, including both the one-day registration fee and the transportation costs for the bus requires approval by the Board of Supervisors. Again, all the funding requested here is supported by private grant funding received by the Clerk-Recorder-Elections Department that can be used for anything to support our work above what is normally funded by County General Funds. This request is only being made because of hosting the CACEO conference which will not happen again in the foreseeable future.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
With respect to the request for lodging, if it is denied, department leaders attending the full conference will have a diminished capacity to fully participate as hosts because of their daily commute to and from the conference, which is significantly more than their usual commute to downtown Martinez. This will minimize the benefit of attending the evening networking and conference events for many of them.
With respect to the request for participation in and shared transportation to a non-county event, if it is denied, the department will miss out on a low-cost, unique, robust professional development opportunity for 33 staff.
If the Board approves participation in the conference, but denies the request for the bus, the county would save less than two hundred dollars because the cost to reimburse those staff in attendance for mileage and parking (estimated at $41.02 per person or $1312.64 total for 32 people). In this scenario, staff will be denied the full benefit of professional development planned for July 9, 2025, because they will not have the orientation and debrief with supervisors on the bus, nor the shared experience of riding together. Additionally, at least one staff member will not be able to attend because of their driving limitations. Staff also will have significantly longer commutes to and from the San Ramon Marriott compared with a bus because they will not be able to use the carpool lane. A conservative estimate is that it will take 30 minutes longer each way for each staff person to get to the San Ramon Marriott if they drive individually than it would on the bus. The cost of 60 minutes of wages paid to the 33 people (4 supervisors, 14 Technicians and 15 Specialists) on the bus is $1230.40.