The financial impact of these one-time cash awards is $450.

During the last four months, TAMC has weathered not only the COVID-19 shelter-in-place but also has secured approval of the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway agreement by 7 agencies and their legal counsels, and has submitted three state SB 1 grant applications and the first ever federal BUILD grant application. The employees named herein are proposed for this modest incentive award in recognition of their extraordinary work in these three areas, as follows:

• Dave Delfino, Finance Officer:  On March 16, 2020, the Transportation Agency for Monterey County ordered its staff to work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the sudden onset of the coronavirus and its severity, the decision to work remotely was made at a very short notice, with little preparation for how the day-to-day essential functions, particularly finance-related, could be handled remotely. Even with preparation, many of these functions required a physical presence of some staff at the office.  During this unprecedented period, Dave Delfino took on an extra workload by being the sole presence in the office on a daily basis. He voluntarily came in and handled critical and essential functions such as preparing payroll, making payments to vendors, sending trust fund money to Monterey-Salinas Transit, invoicing grantees for reimbursements of funds, and conducting audit related activity. In addition, he sorted the mail, scanned and sent copies of important documents to staff working from home, coordinated tenting of the office for termites with the landlord, and assisted with the installation of COVID-19 social distancing signs/work in preparation for staff's eventual return to the office.  While the rest of the staff worked remotely or went into the office on an as-needed basis, Dave’s dedication and commitment to coming in every day has been essential to the day-to-day running of the Agency.
• Stefania Castillo, Associate Transportation Planner:  Stefania coordinated with TAMC Legal Counsel (who deserves her own award) and the attorneys for the cities of Del Rey Oaks, Marina, Monterey, Seaside, the County, the Monterey Peninsula Regional Parks District, and the Fort Ord Reuse Authority to update, rewrite and update again the master agreement for implementation of the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway.  She made one and many times two eloquent presentations to each of these governing bodies, sometimes waiting for hours before being heard.  Her efforts assured that each of these agencies approved the same agreement, critical to the timely allocation of over $10 million in Active Transportation Funds.   
• Madilyn Jacobsen, Transportation Planner:  Madilyn has served as the team lead for four grant applications aimed at securing $20 million in funding required to deliver the Highway 156 - Castroville Interchange project in 2022.  She coordinated with Caltrans District 5 and headquarters staff to submit four complex and differentiated grant applications within a 5 week time period. She put in evening and weekend hours in order to meet the deadlines and assure that the highest quality grant applications were prepared to maximize the chances of an award.

Management seeks Executive Committee approval to award these three staff members a special incentive due to their dedication and commitment to the Transportation Agency for Monterey County during the past four months.