The California Valley Miwok Tribe (located at 10601 N. Escondido PL, Stockton, CA, as listed in the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ BIA/DOI Spring 2011 Tribal Leaders Directory), a federally recognized tribe eligible to receive and distribute services from the federal government – on Friday, December 9th, 2011, the California Valley Miwok Tribe invited Mr. Aaron Hoyt, Associate Regional Planner from the San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG), to the tribal offices to discuss in-depth the transportation needs of tribal members and the local community. Also invited was Ms. Joni Drake, Site Manager for the local California Tribal TANF Partnership/Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (CTTP-TANF) of which CVMT holds membership.
In her official capacity, Ms. Drake has helped and continues to help numerous families that have fallen upon extraordinary hardships in these uncertain times. Although her clients have various needs, their common issue is the availability of the transportation services within San Joaquin County. Mr. Hoyt brought informational pamphlets for all attending and discussed in-depth all literature and questionnaires that he also provided to be filled out so that all transit districts operating within San Joaquin County may know how to best provide and expand upon existing services. Mr. Hoyt went into great detail of the various transit districts and systems and how they work together with the SJCOG to better address all of the various public transportation needs of citizens living within San Joaquin County.
Mr. Hoyt also spoke of how the majority of these services are publically funded, of how the improvement of roadways have also been and are currently being addressed, and of how SJCOG also works with the other eight counties located in the greater valley of California regarding carpooling, van pooling, air quality impacts involving all forms of transportation and construction on our roadways. After a very informative presentation, many questions were asked by tribal representatives, with many specifics also being asked by CTTP-TANF Site Manager Joni Drake, in which Mr. Aaron Hoyt answered and also documented, saying they would be further addressed in the upcoming survey review. The meeting was lengthy and much more was discussed than is highlighted in this story and so much more was learned by all. Also, attendees were very impressed with the professionalism and display of knowledge presented by Mr. Aaron Hoyt, San Joaquin Council of Governments Associate Regional Planner and thanks him for the presentation.
