New Capitol Rules include Telephone Testifying
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Two months after public health concerns brought the work of the State Legislature to a sudden halt, some Assembly members and Senators have returned to Sacramento.
It’s not business as usual though. Neither house will reconvene in full until June, in part because the tightly placed desks in the chambers of the Senate and Assembly make social distancing a challenge.
Access to the historic statehouse is very limited. Faced with these strict access restrictions, Metropolitan’s state lobbyists,
Kathy Viatella
and
Rosie Thompson
, are among the many people who are finding new ways to do their work from a distance.
Lawmakers and legislative staff are taking Zoom videoconferences and phone calls instead of in-person meetings. And the Legislature only allows a few people in hearing rooms, so for the first time ever,
Kathy
testified by phone when she spoke in support of a bill to replace leaking underground storage tanks. And last week,
Kathy
learned of another another site where the public can now provide testimony on legislation - it's outside of the building, in Capitol Park "near the fish pond."
Lawmakers are scrambling to make up for lost time to deal with the pandemic’s impact and pass a balanced state budget.
Rosie
has combed through the Governor’s revised budget to see if the efforts to close the $54 billion budget gap will impact Metropolitan and its services.
Rosie
also plans to testify by phone for a weekend budget hearing on funding for safe and reliable drinking water.
The schedule and process changes daily, but
Kathy
and
Rosie
are discovering ways to navigate this legislative session like none other.
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Drive-thru Graduation for these Class of 2020 Twins
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Like many others in the Class of 2020 who have seen the pandemic steal their senior activities, twins David and Marissa Carrillo knew they wouldn't experience a normal high school graduation ceremonies. But luckily for them, their amazing mom,
JoAnn Carrillo,
dad and teachers came to the rescue.
“Their school, Colony High School in Ontario, organized a drive-by graduation for all of the seniors that lasted two days,”
JoAnn
says. “And that evening, our family put together a surprise drive-by parade with family and friends outside our house.”
For the school event, students and parents drove onto the campus and followed a map with a pre-determined route. At the first stops, they were given decorative masks and gloves. Then they passed a long line of all their teachers who were cheering the students on with signs, and a DJ playing music.
At the front of the school, each car stopped near a small stage and students were called up one at a time so they could receive their diploma, shake hands with the principal (everyone was wearing clean gloves, of course) and get official photographs taken. KABC Channel 7 even featured the school’s unique drive-by graduation on the evening news.
Story and video
David will be attending Cal Poly Pomona and wants to be a history teacher with possibly a minor in Spanish or special education. Marissa will be attending Chaffey College for general education. Her major is undecided.
“It’s not what we expected when the year started,” says
JoAnn
, “but the kids were really happy to have such a unique graduation and appreciative of the efforts by their school and teachers.”
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3 mph to 100mph in his Racing Yellow Corvette
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“As a civil engineer, it’s rewarding to work on a legacy project such as the Colorado River Aqueduct,” says
Ish Singh
, a principal engineer in the project management section of the CRA Team.
After 15 years working at Metropolitan,
Ish
is modest about his own knowledge of the system’s intricacies. He sees first-hand the beauty of what his engineering predecessors have designed and constructed. And with his colleagues, he strives to upgrade the system with the best modern features.
As he describe it, the work includes taking pride in both the mundane and the magnificent. For example, the Iron Mountain maintenance garage needed a new mechanic’s pit. And the pump plants’ water tanks now have 21st Century safety features including staircases for access and motion detectors for night lighting. Next up, a project to tackle the CRA main pump reliability program.
He's also impressed with the surroundings when he's out at these facilities. “You haven’t really experienced the desert until you’ve spent a night in the Iron Mountain dormitory,” notes
Ish
.
The metaphor of wearing one’s heart on his sleeve may be apropos, as
Ish
wears his soul on his head, so to speak.
Ish
wears a turban. Born in India, he identifies with the Sikh faith. Always worn in public, he does remove it when he wears a construction hardhat.
Always nattily color-coordinated with his day’s attire, on weekends
Ish
sports a 'racing yellow' turban to match his 2017 Corvette. So while the CRA waters may flow at about 3 mph, you'll find him zooming across desert roads much faster.
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