Advisory Council on Aging

Agenda (25 items, 2 with a recorded vote)

• —The public may attend this meeting in person at the above location. The public may also attend this meeting remotely via webinar. Login information is provided above. The public may attend this meeting in person at the above location. ACOA members will also be participating from the following locations: 2756 Lily Court, Antioch |14720 Byron Hwy #4, Byron | 2950 Buskirk Avenue, Suite 330 Walnut Creek.
• —(untitled item)
• 10:00Call to Order: President Jill Kleiner called meeting to order at 10:02 am.
• 10:05.Roll Call/Pledge of Allegiance/Introductions: Roll call conducted and 24 members qualified to be counted toward a quorum. Therefore, a quorum was established.
• 10:07Approval of April 2026 Minutes · approved · passedMoved by Gerry LaLonde-Berg, seconded by Kevin Donovan22 aye, 3 abstain, 7 absentCarol Kehoe Absent, Carol Schaefer Absent, Faith Gaither-Davis Absent, Nikki Lopez Absent, Richard Morisky Absent, Sharon Maxwell Absent, Shirley Krohn Absent, Logan Robertson Abstain, Sean Barry Abstain, Teresa Wright Abstain, Brian O'Toole Aye, Cesar Court Aye, Chalo Buckman Aye, Deborah Card Aye, Deborah Wiener Aye, Dennis Yee Aye, Gerry LaLonde-Berg Aye, Holly Frates Aye, Indy Sekhon Aye, Jill Kleiner Aye, Kathryn Monroy-Dexter Aye, Kevin Donovan Aye, Lorna Van Ackeren Aye, Marilyn Fowler Aye, Roger Boaz Aye, Sharon Sakai-Miller Aye, Sonja Shepard Aye, Steve Lipson Aye, Steven Freshman Aye, Susan Wright Aye, Terri Tobey Aye, Thomas Lang Aye
• —ACOA General Meeting Minutes 04-15-2626-2206 · Discussion Item ·
• 10:10Area Agency on Aging Report: Tracy Murray, AAS Director • General Updates - Program Manager Position – We did not hire anyone and the recruitment has is closed. Will determine next steps. - III B/MX Request for Proposal – There were 13 applicants and we are funding 10. Staff are developing contracts. Thank you to ACOA reviewers. - Office of Emergency Services – disaster drill occurring today. • CDA 2030 Future Readying – (see attached material) Due to proposed changes to the Interstate Funding Formula (IFF) there may be a 13% reduction to Contra Costa for AAA funding in FY29-30. This reduction, of $770,057, equals 124,202 home delivered meals. The Association of California AAAs (C4A) and the California Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) wrote letters of opposition. The California Department of Aging (CDA) received 250 comments but did not have a public hearing on this issue. CDA attached a “trailer bill” to the May Revise which will move forward with the proposal. C4A proposed no changes to any AAA =/- 10%. • May Revise decreases the number of seniors eligible for Adult Protective Service by changing client age eligibility to 65 (from 60). • The Federal Government is withholding $1.3 billion in funding for In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS).
• —CDA - Opportunity for Public Participation on Changes to the IFF | IFF Factor Update Summary by County for website - Remediated Final | What is Intrastate Funding Formula (IFF)26-2207 · Discussion Item ·
• 10:30Presentation: Matthew Hulse, Contra Costa Senior Legal Services (CCSLS) • Matthew Hulse informed the ACOA about the services provided by CCSLS. See attached slides.
• —CCSLS Presentation Elder Abuse26-2208 · Discussion Item ·
• 11:00Break
• 11:10Member Introductions: ACOA Members (1-2 min each) • ACOA Members introduced themselves. (Stopped at Sam Sakai-Miller)
• 11:20California Senior Legislature (CSL) Elections • CSL History – Lorna provided the history of the CSL. “Bottom line of CSL is to improve the lives of older Californians”. • Roll Call Vote on CSL Slate (see attachment) • Debbie Card made and Lorna Van Ackeren seconded the following motion: “Move to approve the proposed California Senior Legislature (CSL) slate for the 2026 election cycle, consisting of Deborah Wiener, James Donnelly, and Steve Lipson.” • A roll call vote was conducted and the motion was approved. · approved · passedMoved by Deborah Card, seconded by Lorna Van Ackeren23 aye, 2 abstain, 7 absentCarol Kehoe Absent, Carol Schaefer Absent, Faith Gaither-Davis Absent, Nikki Lopez Absent, Richard Morisky Absent, Sharon Maxwell Absent, Shirley Krohn Absent, Brian O'Toole Abstain, Terri Tobey Abstain, Cesar Court Aye, Chalo Buckman Aye, Deborah Card Aye, Deborah Wiener Aye, Dennis Yee Aye, Gerry LaLonde-Berg Aye, Holly Frates Aye, Indy Sekhon Aye, Jill Kleiner Aye, Kathryn Monroy-Dexter Aye, Kevin Donovan Aye, Logan Robertson Aye, Lorna Van Ackeren Aye, Marilyn Fowler Aye, Roger Boaz Aye, Sean Barry Aye, Sharon Sakai-Miller Aye, Sonja Shepard Aye, Steve Lipson Aye, Steven Freshman Aye, Susan Wright Aye, Teresa Wright Aye, Thomas Lang Aye
• —Proposed CSL Slate 2026 Election Cycle26-2209 · Discussion Item ·
• 11:30ACOA President’s Report: Jill Kleiner • General Updates - Area Plan Update – reminded Committee Chairs that status report on Objectives from APU will occur at the August General Meeting. - Jenny worked with the Communications Team to update the County ACOA website. Many thanks to her. • ACOA Roles & Responsibilities (see attachment) – sharing the updated document for ACOA members. • A Leadership Session on responsibilities of Officers is being planned.
• —CCC ACOA Purpose and Responsibilities26-2210 · Discussion Item ·
• 11:35Committee Reports: Chairs (2-3 min each) • Membership/Nominating: Kathryn Monroy-Dexter - Thomas presented the ACOA to San Pablo Senior Center in the hopes of getting a San Pablo representative. - Working on a document regarding role of the Alternate members. • Planning: Jill Kleiner - Site tour of MOWDR on Friday, 5/22 – 3 slots available. If you want to attend, reach out to Cristina. - Thank you RFP reviewers. • Health & Elder Abuse Prevention: Thomas Lang for Mike Wener - Last meeting: How to put together an Advanced Health Care directive. - Next meeting: Treatment and diagnosis of a diabetic foot. • Housing: Kevin Donovan - Thanks to Nhang and Marilyn for their updates to the No Place To Call Home presentation. - Presented to Martinez Rotary last week. - Kevin will reach out to cities for more opportunities to present. - Tiffany Huyenh-Cho, Director of Medicare and Medicaid Advocacy, Justice in Aging made a presentation at the last meeting. She reports an estimated 4 million will be uninsured in California based on HR1. • Legislative: Shirley Krohn/Steve Lipson - AB 1359 Jury Exemption – allowing seniors over 80 to opt out of Jury Duty. - SB 1002 Out of State physician bill – allows care by a physician out of state. - SB 971 Older Adult Education passed Health Committee then passed Human Services, then Senate floor unanimously. Now to Assembly. • Technology: Steve Lipson - The Committee: - Discussed AI tools and policies from local government perspective - Looked at updates to AI tools. - Reviewed the County’s ACOA webpages: o Is there a timeline for changes? o Is there data about activity? - CoCoElders website views have been steadily improving. Please share the postcards. • Transportation: Jim Donnelly/Bryan Harris - Haleema talked about Accessibility Advisory Commission. - Next month: Riki Juster to present on Lamorinda Spirit Van.
• 11:45Regional Coalition Update: Debbie Toth • Legislative Advocacy & Senior Rally Day were held in May. • 8 legislative visits – thanks to ACOA members who attended with Senate, Assembly and Congressional representatives.
• 11:50Consent Items: None
• 11:50Public Comment/Announcements (2 min each) • Lorna: Shirley Krohn resigned from ACOA. • Indy: Hey Guys! Still collaborating with Rodeo/Crocket seniors. Culinary medicine, restorative fitness, local organic farms. • Jim: We need more people involved in leadership roles of the ACOA. Step up and get more involved.
• 11:59Next ACOA General Meeting: - Wednesday, June 17, 2026, 10am – 12pm 500 Ellinwood Way, Board Room A/B, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 - Note: the ACOA does not hold a General meeting in July.
• —The Committee will provide reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities planning to attend the Committee meetings. Contact the staff person listed below at least 72 hours before the meeting. Any disclosable public records related to an open session item on a regular meeting agenda and distributed by the County to a majority of members of the Committee less than 96 hours prior to that meeting are available for public inspection at 500 Ellinwood Way, Pleasant Hill during normal business hours. Staff reports related to items on the agenda are also accessible online at www.contracosta.ca.gov. If the Zoom connection malfunctions for any reason, the meeting may be paused while a fix is attempted. If the connection is not reestablished, the committee will continue the meeting in person without remote access. Public comment may be submitted via electronic mail on agenda items at least one full work day prior to the published meeting time.
• —For Additional Information Contact: - Jenny Lam at 925 655-0773 or jlam@ehsd.cccounty.us | Membership Committee - Glenda Pacha at 925 655-0772 or gpacha@ehsd.cccounty.us | Technology Committee - Thomas Weisbrich at 925 655-0776 or tweisbrich@ehsd.cccounty.us | SMAC Committee - Nhang Luong at 925 655-1385 or nluong@ehsd.cccounty.us | Housing Committee - Cristina Ugaitafa at 925 655-0775 or cugaitafa@ehsd.cccounty.us | Health and Planning Committee - Dixie Peralta at 925 655-0774 or dperalta@ehsd.cccount.us
• 10:05Roll Call/Pledge of Allegiance/Introductions: Roll call conducted and 24 members qualified to be counted toward a quorum. Therefore, a quorum was established.
• 12:00Adjourn: • The meeting was adjourned at 12:05 p.m.