14-280 - AC Transit

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Report No.
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Meeting Date:
14-280
November 12, 2014
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
STAFF REPORT
TO:
Finance and Audit Committee
AC Transit Board of Directors
FROM:
David J. Armijo, General Manager
SUBJECT:
FY 2014-15 First Quarter Employee and Non-Employee Out-of-State Travel
BRIEFING ITEM
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
Consider Receiving the FY 2013-14 Fourth Quarter Employee and Non-Employee Out-of-State
Travel Report.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The Employee Out-of-State travel for the First Quarter of FY 2014-15 totals $11,957.87 which
was funded by the District Operating Program. There are no non-employee travel expenses to
report. Attachment 1 summarizes the trips that were taken in the First Quarter, and Attachment
2 provides a detailed description of the justification for the trip and the nature of the expenses.
BUDGETARY/FISCAL IMPACT:
Budgeted travel activity is included as part of FY 2014-15 budget.
BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
In compliance with Section liLA of Administrative Regulation Policy #180B, Travel and Meeting
Expense Reimbursement for Employees, the Quarterly Report on Employee Out-of-State Travel
is submitted to the Board of Directors for review.
The Employee Out-of-State travel for the First Quarter of FY 2014-15 totals $11,957.87 which
was funded by the District Operating Program. There are no non-employee travel expenses to
report. Attachment 1 summarizes the trips that were taken in the First Quarter, and
Attachment 2 provides a detailed description of the justification for the trip, as well as the
nature ofthe expenses.
ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES:
There are no notable advantages or disadvantages.
ALTERNATIVES ANALYSIS:
This report does not recommend an action.
Report No. 14-280
Page 2 of 2
PRIOR RELEVANT BOARD ACTIONS/POLICIES:
Staff Report 14-129 FY 2013-14 Fourth Quarter Employee and Non-Employee Out-of-State
Travel
ATTACHMENTS:
1:
Employee Out-of-State Travel Summary, First Quarter FY 2014-15
2:
Detailed Description of Employee Travel, First Quarter FY 2014-15
Department Head Approval:
James D. Pachan, Chief Operating Officer/Interim Chief
Financial Officer
Prepared by:
Sue Lee, Treasury Manager
AC Transit
Sorted by start date
OUT OF STATE TRAVEL SUMMARY (EMPLOYEES)
1st QUARTER (JUL- SEPT) FY 2014/2015
I
Name
II
Start Date
II
II
End Date
Purpose
I
City/State
IIGrant Funded?
I
IITotal Cost
1,095.37
Newhouse, Stephen
8/10/2014
8/22/2014 2014 Multimodal Ops Planning
CHICAGO,IL
Mason,Patricia
8/17/2014
8/22/2014 Eno 2014 Transit Mid-Manager
NEWYORK,NY
No
No
Aguas,Rosauro
9/17/2014
9/18/2014 OPIS Fuel Buying Strategies
DENVER, CO
No
993.00
No
2,276.60
2,399.04
1,849.25
Pachan,James
9/20/2014
9/26/2014 ENO Transit Executive Seminar
WASHINGTON,DC
del Rosario,Robert
9/20/2014
WASHINGTON,DC
Archer,Mary
9/30/2014
9/26/2014 ENO Transit Executive Seminar
10/2/2014 Labor Relations for Supervisor
MILWAKEE,WI
No
No
10/9/2014 2014 Transit Labor Exchange
AUSTIN,TX
No
Prescott, Thomas
10/5/2014
2,475.35
869.26
11,957.87
Total
Recap:
Grant-funded travel total
District-funded travel total
Total
0.00
11,957.87
11,957.87
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Employee:
James Pachan
Date:
9/20-9/26/2014
Purpose:
ENO Transit Executive Seminar
Place:
Washington, District of Columbia
Cost:
$2,276.60
Nature of Expenses: Airfare ($406.20), Lodging ($1,596.16), Ground Transportation ($34.00), Mileage
($30.24), Per Diem ($210.00)
Justification: The Eno Transit Executive Seminar was an intensive week-long training program held in
Washington, DC. The seminar was conducted by transit industry experts that were able to provide
information or tools that will allow for the advancement of my leadership skills in an effort to
continually improve the performance at AC Transit. The training also provided information on advancing
public transportation at a national level. The support for public transportation at the national, state, and
local levels is extremely important for the development of sustainable funding and regulatory support.
The development of leadership skills that will be able to advance public transportation efforts is
extremely important for this industry as changes and new paradigms continue to provide uncertainty in
the industry.
Employee:
Rosauro Aguas
Date:
Purpose:
9/17/2014
OPIS Fuel Buying Strategies
Place:
Denver, Colorado
Cost:
$993.00
Nature of Expenses: Airfare ($293.20), Lodging ($548.50), Ground Transportation ($83.30), Per Diem
($68.00)
Justification: The OPIS training provided insights on the fundamentals of purchasing physical fuel: the
fuel chain, fuel pricing, choosing a fuel supplier, picking a rack benchmark, spot markets and how it
affects consumers like the District. It provided a good understanding of how the whole supply chain
interacts and how the market dictates fuel pricing when sourcing fuel.
Employee:
Mary Archer
Date:
9/30-10/2/2014
Purpose:
Labor Relations for Supervisor Seminar
Place:
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Cost:
$869.26
Nature of Expenses: Airfare ($289.20), Lodging ($412.06), Ground Transportation ($15.50), Per Diem
($152.50)
Justification: attended a two-day class to learn more about how to be a labor-savvy Supervisor the Pole
Crew. As a front-line manager, she continuously faces labor and work issue challenges/questions. At
this class, I obtained tools to tackle these challenges and build knowledge to oversee contract
regulations. Now I am more familiar with labor laws for working in a labor environment and able to
make managerial decisions to avoid unnecessary grievance.
Employee:
Patricia Mason
Date:
8/17-8/22/2014
Purpose:
ENO Transit Mid-Manager Conference
Place:
New York, New York
Cost:
$2,475.35
Nature of Expenses: Airfare ($527.50), Lodging ($1,331.35), Ground Transportation ($106.00), Per Diem
($390.50), Miscellaneous ($120.00)
Justification: The Eno Center for Leadership Mid-Manager Conference was an informative and self
evaluating workshop. Informative because the workshop touched on tools to enhance professional
growth while improving personal growth in the process. My favorite subjects were bridging generation
gaps by finding what each generation needs to understand how to reach a common goal. My other
favorite was dissecting the diversity in personalities amongst the workforce: logic, relationship, do-ers,
power, detail-oriented, and innovative /creative. Each of these personality differences is needed within
the workplace to successfully manage a diverse group in any agency. I recommend this conference to
more AC Transit employees to enhance their managerial skills.
Employee:
Stephen Newhouse
Date:
8/10-8/14/2014
Purpose:
Multimodal Ops Planning
Place:
Chicago, Illinois
Cost:
$1,095.00
Nature of Expenses: Lodging ($460.42), Airfare ($400.00), Per Diem ($228.00), Ground Transportation
($6.95)
Justification: The Multimodal Operations Planning Workshop is APT A's annual event dedicated to transit
planning and scheduling. This workshop is organized by transit professionals who have taken a
leadership role within APTA. This year, sessions were focused on several topics relevant to my current
assignments at AC Transit: public outreach (best practices, effective messaging, incorporating interactive
elements, and leveraging technology), designing service around high frequency, operating challenges in
multimodal environments, organizational structures within planning departments, and scheduling
techniques to improve on-time performance. The conference provided me with new insights about
outreach and planning related to the on-going Comprehensive Operations Analysis, working with citypartners on "complete street" projects, and pursuing innovative bus-priority treatments. I also had the
opportunity to form new relationships with peers from other transit properties and consulting firms,
which have proven valuable when seeking an outside perspective on particular challenges.
Employee:
Thomas Prescott
Date:
10/5-10/9/2014
Purpose:
2014 APTA Conference
Place:
Austin, Texas
Cost:
$1,849.25
Nature of Expenses: Airfare ($650.00), Lodging ($916.00), Ground Transportation ($50.00), Per Diem
($233.25)
Justification: Attendance at the annual transit labor exchange held this year in Austin, TX. Conference
runs from Sunday evening through Thursday a.m. This meeting brings together the labor relations
professional from transit properties across the country to discuss trends in bargaining and other issues
affecting labor relations at the various properties. AC Transit is one of the 25 member agencies of the
transit labor exchange.
Employee:
Robert Del Rosario
Date:
9/20-9/26/2014
Purpose:
ENO Transit Executive Seminar
Place:
Washington, District of Columbia
Cost:
$2,399.04
Nature of Expenses: Airfare ($489.20), Lodging ($1,756.46), Ground Transportation ($38.55), Per Diem
($114.83)
Justification: Given the unexpected promotion to Director of Service Development in 2012 to replace
Cory LaVigne, I needed to adapt to a situation where I now supervise his peers with limited managerial
experience.
Based on these circumstances, I applied for and was accepted into the Eno Transit Executive Seminar.
The seminar provided me with exposure and an understanding of:
•
•
•
•
•
the business and future trends of transit outside of AC Transit and the Bay Area
organizational leadership concepts including interaction with governing boards and stakeholders
methods to broaden his leadership strengths and competencies
knowledge on how to develop an interactive work environment with the proper tools to
successfully lead a team
collaborating with fellow directors and executives to ultimately operate a prosperous transit
system

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