Kathryn Zdan, EA
Editorial Director

The BOE and the CDTFA are finally leaving their offices at the beleaguered 450 N Street in downtown Sacramento. The BOE will be relocating to Natomas, and the CDTFA will be moving into the offices once occupied by the Office of State Publishing just north of downtown.

This move is long overdue, given the staggering number of problems that staff have experienced at 450 N Street: structural leaks, toxic mold, bursting pipes and corroded wastewater plumbing, faulty exterior glass panels that fall onto unsuspecting passersby, a bat infestation, unreliable elevators, noxious odors, trace amounts of toxic chemicals, and a poltergeist. (Ok, I may have made up that last part. But given the number of other problems, I think we can all agree that 450 N is probably haunted. You heard it here first.)

There are plans to renovate 450 N Street so that some other unsuspecting government agency can move in sometime around 2026. At least there's already some scaffolding in place to protect against the sky falling.

Lynn Freer, EA
President

While on vacation in the Dominican Republic I took an all-day tour of Samana, a city of wild beaches, coconut plantations, and rainforests.¹ The tour included a 2 ½ hour bus ride each way and three ½ hour boat rides. The boat rides were great, especially when I saw a large pod of whales.

Anyway, as we started the drive, the tour guide, Papa George, told us, "Julio is our bus driver. He has a license and went to school to learn to drive." Five minutes later, Julio hit a cow. It was not full grown and got up and walked off the road. Papa said animals are always in the road and get hit. "We worry about people on motor bikes and bad drivers."

Later in the day, we were riding in a safari truck when Papa, then driving, was careening through the mountains, passing anything he could. As we reached town, he did not slow down and BANG. We rear ended the back right side of a brand new van. Not sure what happened but there was much conversation and hand waving. Not sure if pesos changed hands but off we went again. Well, at least we hadn't hit a person.

Whew, we're all loaded on the bus to go home, tired and sweaty. There are cars, people, pets, and scooters on the tiny streets as Julio charges through the square. Bump! Someone said the bus hit a woman. The police boarded the bus and had calm conversations. They left. We left. No problem.

Good thing we were nearly home at that point — who knows who or what Julio would have struck next.