Delta Leadership Program Visits Port of Stockton

STOCKTON, Calif. (Feb. 9, 2025) – The 2025 Class of the Delta Leadership Program spent Friday at the Port of Stockton interacting with state and regional water policy leaders and touring the port.

The tour included a sighting of agricultural wood waste being unloaded from big rigs, not the kind of thing most people see every day, or ever at all, with the entire trucks raised on hydraulics to let material fall out the back (video on Facebook). The port tour was led by Jeff Wingfield, himself an alumni of the first class of the DLP (2016).

The program is a joint effort by the Delta Protection Commission and the Delta Leadership Foundation to support sustained leadership development in the region.

2025 Delta Leadership Program Kicks Off

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Jan. 10, 2025) – Nineteen emerging Delta leaders convened Friday at the Nature Conservancy in Sacramento for the kickoff of the 2025 Delta Leadership Program.

Run by the Delta Protection Commission and the Delta Leadership Foundation, the program is designed to build and support leadership within the Delta community. “We’re making you stronger leaders so the Delta is stronger,” Leadership Foundation President Mike Campbell told the group.

The group will gather four more times between now and April for daylong seminars that will provide deep dives into the Delta’s ecology, economy, heritage, regulatory framework, and more. Seminars will also hone participants’ leadership skills and serve as workshops for team projects that will be presented to the Delta Protection Commission on May 15.

This year’s participants are (a text-only list follows the photo gallery):

Lacy Berry (Clarksburg) – Community Volunteer, Town of Clarksburg

Jack Cronin (Rio Vista) – Assistant Engineer, Metropolitan Water District

LeighAnn Davis (Brentwood) – Executive Director, Contra Costa Co. Historical Society

Lea Emmons II (Tracy) – Water Operations Superintendent, City of Tracy

Gerry Goodie Jr. (Walnut Grove) – Manager/Owner, Wimpy’s Marina

Megan Harrison (Livermore) – District Planner, California Department of Parks and Recreation

Misty Kaltreider (Fairfield) – Water & Natural Resources Manager, County of Solano

Yuen Lenh (Sacramento) – Water Rights Engineer, MBK Engineers

Ahmad Majid (Stockton) – Watershed Protection Advocate, Stockton-area community organizations

Esther Mburu (Stockton) – Carbon Policy Analyst, Restore the Delta

Amber McDowell (Walnut Grove) – Executive Director, Sacramento County Farm Bureau

Gregg McMillon (Sacramento) – Water Resources Engineer, California Department of Water Resources

Josh McMillon (Walnut Grove) – Community Volunteer, Town of Walnut Grove

Beatriz Portillo (Martinez) – Senior Emergency Planning Coordinator, Contra Costa County Office of Emergency Services

Kirsten Pringle (Sacramento) – Project Manager, MBK Engineers

Kathleen Schaefer (San Anselmo) – Clerk, Delta Region Geologic Hazard Abatement District

Ashley Seufzer (Sacramento) – Program Manager, Audubon California

Gerald Strootman (Acampo) – Ag and Commercial Lender, F&M Bank

Heather Swinney (Sacramento) – Deputy Project Leader, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ex officio member of the Delta Protection Advisory Committee

NHA Advisory Committee Members Appointed

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Sept. 19, 2024) – The Delta Protection Commission appointed 12 members and 4 alternates Thursday to the Commission’s new National Heritage Area Advisory Committee. 

The Committee will recommend policies, processes, and governance as the Commission implements the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area Management Plan. Committee members will also act as ambassadors to the diverse partners and communities in the NHA. 

The appointees are: 

• Mike Campbell, president of the Delta Leadership Foundation, board member of Friends of the 1883 Clarksburg Schoolhouse, served on NHA Management Plan Advisory Committee 
• Colin Coffey, an elected member of the Board of Directors of the East Bay Regional Park District 
• Lisa Craig, Mayor of Lodi, President of The Craig Group Partners, a Lodi-based preservation and planning consulting firm 
• Dwayne Eubanks, President Antioch Historical Society from 2019 to 2023 
• Carol Jensen, author, active in Delta historical societies, works in finance, accounting & information systems consulting, served on NHA Management Plan Advisory Committee 
• Morris Lum, has served as president of the Sacramento Historical Society and board member of the Sacramento River Delta Historical Society and Sacramento History alliance, an elected director of Recreational Boaters of California, member of Delta Protection Advisory Committee, alum of the Delta Leadership Program (2022) 
• Don Nottoli, former Sacramento County Supervisor, former chair of Delta Protection Commission 
• Elizabeth Patterson, former mayor of Benicia, lead project manager for the State Lands Commission’s initiative leading to the adoption of the Delta Protection Act; was vice chair of NHA Management Plan Advisory Committee 
• David Stuart, archeologist, Director of Sacramento Science Center (now MoSAC), Sacramento History Museum, and San Joaquin County Historical Museum, Sacramento River Delta Historical Society board member, served on NHA Management Plan Advisory Committee 
• Stuart Walthall, chairman of non-profits including the Locke Foundation, chair of the Locke Management Association, professional musician 
• Dan Whaley, chairman of Delta Legacy Communities, operator of the Willow Ballroom and Event Center, served on NHA Management Plan Advisory Committee 
• Katie Wiley, owner/operator of K. Wiley Marketing Design, member of Delta Protection Advisory Committee, alumna of the Delta Leadership Program (2024) 

The alternates are: 

• Paulette Hennum, former Tribal Affairs Program Manager, California State Parks; has worked in museums as an officer, board member, program advisor, peer reviewer, collections care assessor and grant reviewer; served on NHA Management Plan Advisory Committee 
• Douglas Hsia, secretary of Locke Foundation and materials broker for shoes and leather goods production, member of Delta Protection Advisory Committee, served on NHA Management Plan Advisory Committee, alum of the Delta Leadership Program (2022)
• Janet Lake, board member of Freeport Citizens Community Council, served on NHA Management Plan Advisory Committee 
• Gia Moreno, secretary of Hood Community Council, member of Pear Fair Planning Committee, served on NHA Management Plan Advisory Committee  

Ex officio (non-voting) members are: 

• Amanda Blosser, a cultural resource specialist at the Diablo Range District of California State Parks, worked on the National Heritage Area interpretive plan for State Parks
• Chris Lim, Executive Director of the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District, an alum of Delta Leadership Program (2022)

Other entities that may be represented by ex officio members in the future may include the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District, the Delta Stewardship Council, the East Bay Regional Park District, the National Park Service, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy, and the Suisun Resource Conservation District.

In addition to the above, two members of the Delta Protection Commission – Chair Diane Burgis of Contra Costa County and Commissioner Oscar Villegas of Yolo County – sit on the Committee. The group will be chaired by the Delta Protection Commission Executive Director Bruce Blodgett or his designee. 

The Committee, which is governed by this charter (PDF), succeeds the NHA Management Plan Advisory Committee, whose work is done now that the Management Plan has been submitted to the Secretary of the Interior, via the National Park Service. 

The Committee’s first meeting will be Oct. 31 in Oakley. The agenda for the meeting will be posted at least 10 days in advance. 

DPC Creates Memorial Seat Honoring Gerry Goodie

Gerry Goodie, shown here in the front row on the right side at his first DPAC meeting in February

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Sept. 19, 2024) – The Delta Protection Commission on Thursday named one seat on the Delta Protection Advisory Committee in honor of Gerry Goodie, who served on DPAC briefly this year before passing away.

The Gerry Goodie Memorial Seat is Delta General Public Seat 2, currently occupied by Goodie protege Katie Wiley, who was appointed to the committee in May.

DPAC Chair Anna Swenson spearheaded the action. “He was so active, a great communicator, and a valued member of the Delta public,” she said of Goodie.

Goodie was the co-owner, with his wife, of Wimpy’s Marina Restaurant & Bar in Walnut Grove, as well as a 2023 alum of the Delta Leadership Program, a joint program of the Delta Protection Commission and the Delta Leadership Foundation. He was appointed to DPAC in January, and passed away in late February.

DPAC provides recommendations to the Delta Protection Commission on diverse interests within the Delta, including the Delta’s ecosystem, water supply, socioeconomic sustainability, recreation, agriculture, flood control, environment, water resources, utility infrastructure, and other Delta issues.

Nominate or Apply for the 2025 Delta Leadership Program (Deadline: Nov. 22)

Read reflections from the Class of 2024 here.

Nominations are open for the 2025 Delta Leadership Program, a joint effort of the Delta Protection Commission and the Delta Leadership Foundation.

The program targets potential or emerging leaders in the Delta from all walks of life – agriculture, law enforcement, local government, non-profit organizations, local business, and the tourism and hospitality sectors, among others. It puts participants through an intensive curriculum to expand their knowledge of key issues and challenges in the Delta, teach them leadership skills and tools, build relationships and trust, and foster community.

The ultimate goal of the program, which has been operating since 2016, is to build a cadre of dedicated leaders to protect and improve the Delta. Alumni can be seen in leadership positions throughout the Delta and often appear in the news.

What’s Involved

Interested participants can apply, or they can be nominated. (Application information is below.)

Nominations and applications are accepted through Nov. 22, participants are announced the week of Dec. 9, and the curriculum – five day-long seminars – runs January through April. Nominees must commit to 100% attendance on these dates to be considered for participation in the program:

• Seminar 1: Jan. 10 in Sacramento
• Seminar 2: Feb. 7 in Stockton
• Seminar 3: Feb. 28 in Rio Vista
• Seminar 4: March 28 in Oakley
• Seminar 5: April 25 in Clarksburg

In addition to attending seminars, participants work on team projects designed to benefit the Delta, with some of the work occurring during seminars and some on their own time – about two hours per month. When feasible, participants take a tour of the Delta by boat in the late spring.

The program concludes with a graduation at the Delta Protection Commission meeting tentatively scheduled for 5 p.m. May 15 at a location in the Delta. The exact date and location will be determined in November, when Commission sets its 2025 meeting schedule. (Information continues below photo.)

Scenes from the 2024 Delta Leadership Program

Nominating or applying

The application form can be completed online. The deadline is midnight Friday, Nov. 22, 2024.

The quality and content of the nomination is critical to the candidate’s success. Try to include specific examples and make sure you have included all of your nominee’s civic and leadership experience and service.

If you are nominating someone, they will be notified of your nomination as soon as you submit it. Nominees accepted into the program will be notified by the week of December 9, 2024.

Class size is limited, so not all nominees will be accepted – as a courtesy to all applicants, please refrain from announcing nomination submissions publicly.

Submission Checklist

1. REQUIRED: Complete the Delta Leadership Program 2025 application/nomination form online by Nov. 22.
2. REQUIRED: Upload at least one and no more than three substantial letters of recommendation. You will upload these during the online application process.
3. REQUIRED: Nominee/applicant must complete Letter of Commitment online, also by Nov. 22 (they will get a link when your nomination is submitted).
4. OPTIONAL: Upload nominee’s resume, if available. You can upload this during the application process.

QUESTIONS?

If you have questions, please contact Program Coordinator Erik Vink at erik.vink@delta.ca.gov or (530) 650-6327.

Delta Water Recreation: Access Is Everything

Tricia Canton (Photo courtesy of Delta Sculling Center)

Water defines the Delta, and access to water defines people’s connection to the Delta.

For both Dr. Pat Tirone and Tricia Marie Canton, there was no access in the beginning. Their early time as Stockton residents was completely disconnected from the water that flows through the city.

“I lived here for three years and didn’t know the Delta was here,” said Tirone, a physical therapist and graduate of the 2024 Delta Leadership Program.

When she first stumbled onto a city park with water access, she saw not the water and boat ramp that were hidden from view, but a private boat club, and it was unclear whether she even had the right to access the water.

Then she came across a rowing club that was raising money at a shopping center one day. That’s when she learned the public does have access to the water, and that there were ways to enjoy it without buying a power or sail boat or joining an exclusive yacht club.

That launched her into something that would become not just a personal passion, but a professional one: sculling.

Canton’s path was different. Born and raised in Stockton, she discovered her love of water only when she moved to Southern California to attend UC Irvine, becoming an avid beachgoer.

Then in 2014, at the age of 28, she had a ruptured brain aneurysm and three strokes that nearly killed her, leaving the entire left side of her body paralyzed. Her family was told she would probably never walk, talk or even breathe on her own again, and they moved her back to Stockton to take care of her.

This is where both Canton’s and Tirone’s stories would meet.

Pat Tirone

As part of Tirone’s rehab work, she spent much of her time taking her clients into nature, often at Berkeley’s Bay Outreach and Recreation Program, which had an entire barn full of adaptive recreational equipment. But as soon as her clients were discharged from rehab, their access to those opportunities ended.

“My husband listened to me complain that there was nothing like that in our community and finally told me to put up or shut up,” Tirone said. So together they started the Delta Sculling Center in Stockton in 2013, buying boats, renting storage space for them, and acquiring gear needed to adapt to rowers’ various needs.

“Rowers joined us as volunteers, and all a sudden we had a whole program,” she said.

Canton learned about Delta Sculling Center in 2022.

Being immunocompromised, she had been confined to her home since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, and her rehab stopped during that time. As the pandemic was receding, her doctor told her about a program that teaches people with disabilities to row, and that’s when she contacted “Coach Pat.”

The Sculling Center had a way to compensate for poor grip in her left hand: a Velcro connection to the oar, and a handle that would release if the boat turned over so the connected oar wouldn’t drag her down. The Center also had gear that would help her climb into the boat. And of course, volunteers who would row with her.

She used her arms more in her first session than she had the entire time since the aneurysm, and rowing has increased her endurance and strength. Just last week, she set a new personal record: 7 km on a day when her goal was 5.

But it’s about more than that. “On land I have to worry about gravity, other people, and the terrain – if it’s slippery, if there’s an incline, if there’s gravel, if there’s sand,” she said. “On the water, I’m just free.”

Beyond that, nature is endlessly delightful, a chance to encounter ducklings growing from one outing to the next, sea lions swimming near the boat, herons threatening to “drop bombs,” or the rush of dozens of blackbirds lifting from a powerline all at once.

And then there are the local landmarks, like the miniature Statue of Liberty at the confluence of the San Joaquin and Calaveras rivers. Canton rowed there recently with Tirone’s husband Bob, and they spontaneously sang God Bless America.

Experiences like these are what Pat Tirone cherishes about her time on Delta waters as well. “The other day, I was out rowing by myself and the sound of all the birds at 6 in the morning was just overwhelmingly beautiful,” she said. “I just turned the recorder on my phone on, laid it down on the deck of my boat and captured their beautiful music. In the middle of Stockton! What a gift.”

All people need to be able to connect with this gift – the water that is the lifeblood of the Delta – is access.

Learn more about:

• The Delta Sculling Center. The center is a non-profit whose mission is to provide inclusive rowing opportunities to people of all abilities. Tagline: “Where EveryBODY Sculls,” and “EveryBODY” includes adults of all ages, military veterans with disabilities, and middle and high school aged youth, especially those who come from under-resourced parts of the region.
• The Delta Aquatic Center. The Delta Sculling Center has been instrumental in the development of the Delta Aquatic Center of Stockton project, a new facility in Stockton that would increase access to the water for the community. A $2.5 million grant from the Delta Conservancy is funding planning for the project.

Delta Protection Advisory Committee Members Appointed, Reappointed

Delta Leadership Program Graduates a New Class of Leaders

Participants Share Their ‘Ah Ha!’ Moments

Top image, L-R: the 2024 Class of the Delta Leadership Program – MacKenzie Owens, Krystal Moreno, Cintia Cortez, Malissa Tayaba, Katie Wiley, Matthew Brown, Nancy Young, Alice LLano, Min Park, Tim Cook (not shown: Priti Agarwal, Ahmad Majid, Samar Salma, Jacylyn Stokes, Pat Tirone). Bottom left image, L-R: Three alumni of the Delta Leadership Program – Chuck Winn, Anna Swenson, and Emily Pappalardo. Bottom right: Erik Vink, Coordinator of the Delta Leadership Program, a joint project of the Delta Protection Commission and the Delta Leadership Foundation

CLARKSBURG, Calif. (April 19, 2024) – The 2024 class of the Delta Leadership Program graduated Friday, and celebrated at a reception hosted by Bogle Family Vineyards in Clarksburg.

The graduates were welcomed there by existing Delta leaders, many of whom are also alumni of the program, including Delta Protection Advisory Committee Chair Anna Swenson, former San Joaquin County Supervisor Chuck Winn, and Delta NHA Advisory Committee Member Douglas Hsia.

The program, a joint project of the Delta Protection Commission and the Delta Leadership Foundation, is designed to build and support leadership within the Delta community.

The group visited locations around the Delta where it heard about diverse issues and perspectives on myriad challenges facing the region. Members also worked on group projects, which they will present to the Delta Protection Commission on May 16.

Some of the graduates reflected Friday on their “ah ha!” moments and key takeaways, including:

Krystal Moreno, Traditional Ecological Knowledge Program Manager for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians: “Hearing from a panelist talking about rice farming conversion and its connection to salmon habitat, which was new to me. As an indigenous person, we have been fighting to restore salmon in our watershed. (This is) work we can connect to.”

Min Park, hospitality industry and Bethel Island community volunteer:  “The fact that most of our water comes from the Delta, and my friends in Los Angeles have no idea about this. We need to protect this place – it’s special.”

Alice LLano, pear farmer: “We have to start teaching our children more about the Delta. Our kids live here, and we need to be teaching them about how fragile it is, what the issues are, so when they grow up, they can be Delta advocates.”

Min Park pours water into a to-scale map of the Delta at Big Break Regional Shoreline in Oakley.

Pat Tirone, Founder of Delta Sculling Center in Stockton: “It was standing on the map at Big Break, seeing everyone having fun pouring the water in, really seeing why water gathers in one place, and how much you need the water to flow from another place, and how all of it impacts each other.”

Jacylyn Stokes, fourth-generation farmer: “Being able to interact with the tribal community. I got to have conversations with my colleagues Malissa and Krystal, and hearing their perspective on how ownership and land have affected them, in comparison to my story, really changed the way I view things.”

Malissa Tayaba, Vice Chair of Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians: “I learned so much from other perspectives that were really important because there are so many different communities in the Delta. … (Also) the thought of building coalitions and relationships that make movement in the Delta. I think that’s how things move faster, when you get together with people with common goals and make things happen.”

Tim Cook, co-owner of Meyer and Cook Insurance Co.: “One thing that stood out to me the most was the part of it I’d never really thought about before – the interests of the California Delta from indigenous people’s perspective. I didn’t really understand why Shingle Springs had an interest in the Delta. Going through the program, I learned the history.”

Cintia Cortez during an exercise in Rio Vista about leveraging strengths and weaknesses

Cintia Cortez, policy analyst for Restore the Delta: “There was an exercise where we had to talk about our strengths and weaknesses and how to leverage those. We had to be vulnerable and share what we struggle with the most. One of my classmates, Min, she told me she really looked up to me and in those spaces she started to expect me to show up in a certain way. When I walked into that training, I felt like a closed rosebud, and after that, I felt like I bloomed, through the training and with a compliment from a classmate.”

Nancy Young, Mayor of Tracy: “I joined this group just to learn more about water, and my eyes have been opened. I see water everywhere: I see the reservoirs, I see the aqueducts, I see the Delta, I see the flow of life around me. I’m excited to have learned so much from individuals, from the Miwok tribe, understanding how it’s part of their land.”

Delta Happenings – March 26, 2024

Delta Leaders, Hidden Women, Free Marina Workshops

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Contents

• Delta Leadership Program Participants in the News
• Women of the Delta: Hidden No More
• Gerry Goodie Celebration of Life April 13
• Larry Ruhstaller Memorial April 14
• State Route 4 to Close Overnight for Testing
• Free Workshops for Marinas and Yacht Clubs
• Applications Open for 6 Seats on Delta Committee
• Delta Agency Meetings
• Community Events: West Sac Earth Day, Dockwalker Training, Wine Festival and More
• Harmful Algal Blooms Report

Delta Happenings – Jan. 30, 2024

Chinese New Year, SPAM Festival, Delta Newsmakers

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Contents

Governor Appoints Delta Leadership Program Alum

Commission Appoints Gerry Goodie to DPAC

Delta Agency Annual Reports Released

Conservancy: Fishing Dock Grant Approved

Rio Vista Pedestrian Improvement Project Begins

Opening: Tribal Representative on Delta Protection Advisory Committee

Delta Agency Meetings

Community Events: SPAM Festival, Chinese New Year and More

Harmful Algal Blooms Report