North Bay Leadership Council is pleased to endorse the following candidates for their respective offices as follows.  We are supporting these candidates because they are balanced in their approach to the issues, not beholding to any special interest group, and committed to economic vitality and more housing.

NBLC is proud to endorse:

Novato- By District

Rachel Farac #3

Petaluma- By District

Karen Nau #3

Dylan Lloyd  #1

David Adams  #2

Kevin McDonnell  — Mayor

Rohnert Park- By District

Susan Hollingsworth Adams #5

Samantha Rodriguez  #1

San Rafael – By District

Maribeth Bushey #3

Eli Hill  #2

Santa Rosa- By District

Mark Stapp #2

Dianna MacDonald #3

Terry Sanders #4

Jeff Okrepkie #6

Napa County Supervisors:

Suzanne Truchard – Supervisor – District 1

Anne Cottrell – Supervisor – District 3

Community College Governing Boards: Sonoma County Junior College

District Trustee Areas 1 (East):  Ezrah Chaaban

District 2 (South County): Maggie Fishman (Inc.)

District 5 (Central Santa Rosa): Dorothy Battenfeld (Inc.)

District 7 (West County): Michael Valdovinos (Inc.)

NBLC members also support the following Ballot Measures:

SUPPORT: Proposition 1: Would make California’s existing rights to abortion part of the state’s constitution.
SUPPORT:  Prop 31: Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning the sale of all flavored tobacco products, whether smoked, chewed or vaped. The tobacco industry gathered enough signatures to ask voters to overturn the law with this referendum. (A reminder: Voting “yes” is to keep the law; voting “no” is to get rid of it.)

Please make sure that you are registered to vote. If you are voting by mail, remember to mail your ballot very early so the slowdowns in mail delivery do not delay your ballot being received by the Registrar of Voters in a timely manner.  Your vote counts!

In California’s Housing Divide – Public Policy Institute of California (ppic.org), we learn that our housing crisis is worsening, especially for African Americans and Latinos.  Authors Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Hans Johnson, and Julien Lafortune write, “The housing crisis in California affects residents of all races and ethnicities, but the lack of affordable housing is particularly acute for African Americans and Latinos. Skyrocketing rents in many California metro areas impose growing financial burdens, limiting opportunities for savings. Combined with rising home prices and interest rates, owning a home has become harder to afford over the past year, even as many saw growth in wages. Given the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on households of color, disparities in homeownership are expected to widen. To address these gaps, policy actions that target the causes of these longstanding inequities are necessary.”

The authors state, “Before the pandemic, the racial homeownership gap in California was large, but it appeared to be narrowing. In 2019, the Latino homeownership rate stood at 44.1%, or 19.2 points below that of white households. The Black homeownership rate was even more worrisome at 36.8%, or 26.4 points below the rate for white households. However, Latino and Black households also saw large gains in homeownership between 2014 and 2019 (2.2 and 2.3 percentage points, respectively). Meanwhile, homeownership among Asians grew the most in this period (2.5 percentage points) and, at 59.8%, was only 3.4 points below the white homeownership rate in 2019. Because home equity makes up the majority of wealth for low- and middle-income families, gaps in homeownership rates magnify wealth inequality.”

“Most homeowners start as renters who then save their way into buying a house—but when rents are high, chances to save are low” say the authors. “African American and Latino renters are more likely to pay a sizable share—30% or more—of their household income on gross rent, making the prospect of saving for homeownership daunting. (Even among homeowners, African Americans and Latinos are more likely to spend a high share of their income on mortgages.)”

Dan Walters in A Solution that Won’t Fix California’s Low Homeownership (Link) says, “California is the land of dreams and extremes and nowhere is that more evident than in the state’s very low rate of homeownership. Just 56% of California’s families live in homes they own, very slightly higher than New York’s lowest-in-the-nation 55% rate and nearly 10 percentage points behind the 65% national rate, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.”

Walters explains, “That so few Californians live in their own homes should not be surprising. After all, the state has the nation’s highest rate of poverty and when the near-poor are added, more than a third of the state’s nearly 40 million residents live with financial distress, PPIC has calculated.”

He says, “Moreover, the state’s median home price of $834,000 — nearly twice the national figure — means that only a quarter of California families can afford such a home, those with incomes of $160,000 and above.  In other words, homeownership is another of the many indices of California’s highly stratified society — one infinitely ironic for a state whose political leaders, particularly Gov. Gavin Newsom, tout it as a model of egalitarianism and social mobility that should be emulated elsewhere.”

What can be done to improve the housing situation in California?  Unfortunately, Walters doesn’t think much of President Pro Tem Toni Atkins proposal.  His critique is, “Under her California Dream for All, the state would partner with some families to make down payments on home purchases and then recoup its investment when homes are later refinanced or sold. Atkins’ program would join other state programs that already offer homeownership assistance. And while her sincerity is genuine, at best her proposal would help only an estimated 8,000 families in a state where about 7 million families are renters.”

Walters says, “It’s typical of politicians’ approaches to social and economic disparity — create a new program with a catchy title that has little impact, if any, and sidesteps core issues. California’s low rate of homeownership results from high levels of poverty and sky-high home prices. Throwing a few dollars at it doesn’t solve the problem and could even make it worse by enticing some families to buy homes they really cannot afford.”  That’s what went wrong in 2008 when the housing bubble burst.

Walters advises what the real solutions are, “California’s homeownership rates will rise when the state improves its economic fundamentals — when it removes impediments to housing construction, makes itself more welcoming to investment in middle-income jobs and improves educational outcomes of poor children.”

When the budget is finalized, we will see how much money is going into new housing and after that, which housing bills get the Governor’s signature.  It is encouraging that there are efforts being made, even small ones, but we need serious action taken to address the dire housing needs of our state.

Thank you to all attendees, honorees, sponsors, and guests who participated and attended the 2022 Leaders of the North Bay Awards Luncheon. This wonderful article by the North Bay Business Journal was written for those who were unable to attend.

“In a virtual and in-person event Friday, the North Bay Leadership Council recognized the recipients of its 2022 Leaders of the North Bay Awards.

The council is made up of people and businesses through the area.

Award recipients

As its United We Stand, Community Building honoree, Keith Woods, a current member of the advisory board of Santa Rosa-based Exchange Bank and former executive director of the North Coast Builders Exchange, was recognized for “work helping rebuild after the devastating fires in the region; partnering with the CTE Foundation, SCOE, and SRJC to launch the North Bay Construction Corps; implementing CHOICES, a high school dropout prevention program; and serving as “Sonoma County’s MC,” where he has volunteered hundreds of hours helping nonprofits raise money,” the NBLC stated.

Paint the Community Green, Environmental Stewardship was the honor this year given to The Climate Center, a citizens group focused on climate issues and based in Sonoma County.

Among its efforts, the center “played a key role in the tremendous growth” of community choice aggregation agencies (CCAs) in the state over the past six years, the council said. There are now 24 CCAs providing on average 88% greenhouse gas-free electricity to over 11 million residents in more than 200 cities and counties.

Recognized for Empowering the Latino Community, Leadership Within the Latino Community was the Canal Alliance in Marin County.

Noting that the Canal area of San Rafael has relatively poor internet connectivity, the council honored the alliance for its collaboration with government and other community groups to gather financial support to provide “a free outdoor wireless network and community COVID-19 website for e-learning services and for residents accessing critical information and services. With the leadership of the core group, design, communication, installation and digital literacy was combined to provide not only access, but also Chromebooks and digital literacy training.”

The From Red Tape to Red Carpet, Leadership in Government award went to Dr. David Wain Coon, superintendent and president of College of Marin since 2010.

Coon has overseen expansion and modernization of facilities at the community college, tackled diversity issues at the institution and “worked extensively to engage with the local community and businesses including supporting numerous nonprofits,” including the leadership council.

As recipient of the Murray Legacy Leadership, named for current NBLC CEO Cynthia Murray, the group tapped Steve Page, who served as president and general manager of Sonoma Raceway for three decades.

“The raceway has raised nearly $7 million for charity. Food drives, blood drives, charity rides, training grounds for disaster response — the track has been made available to help better the community,” stated, adding “Steve Page is known for his inclusive leadership style, sharp wit and big heart. Whether it be taking the raceway through all kinds of innovations and improvements, helping local charities, leading community efforts or embracing change, Steve is the ‘go to” guy in the North Bay.'”

https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/article/leaders-recognized-for-contributions-to-the-san-francisco-north-bay/

With April being this month, we celebrate Earth Day and the reports on the acceleration of climate change, we are sharing an article that urges we don’t give into climate fatalism and continue to do all we can to stop global warming.  Susan Joy Hassol and Michael E. Mann say in Now Is Not the Time To Give in to Climate Fatalism (Link), “We are at an agonizing moment in world history. The combined stresses of the war in Ukraine, the climate crisis, and economic troubles stemming from spiking oil and gas prices, inflation, and growing global inequality have pushed us to our limits— geopolitically, environmentally, and psychologically. After centuries of colonialism, intensive resource extraction, and narrow, short-term thinking, the chickens have come home to roost. But what if we could feed three birds with one scone?”

The authors note, “Following the release of climate reports, such as the recent IPCC assessments, we often observe a surge of doomism. When headlines proclaim it’s ‘now or never’ to limit warming, some assume we won’t do what’s needed in time. And if you think there’s nothing we can do, why bother trying? Some well-meaning people can be weaponized by those who stand to benefit if we throw up our hands in surrender rather than challenging the fossil fuel industry’s social license. We must stress the urgency. There is clearly no time to waste. But there is agency too. The problem with ‘now or never’ is that it implies a hard threshold at 1.5°C that if we fail to achieve, it’s game over. But this game will never be over. There is no point beyond which we shouldn’t keep trying to limit warming. Every fraction of a degree matters to the level of suffering climate disruption will rain down on us.”

“With so many crises competing for our attention and concern, how can we prioritize the greatest threats when the more immediate ones so often displace the most important?” the authors ask.  “Someone needs to be thinking about the future, and fittingly, those who will inherit it, are. More than 80 percent of young people are worried about climate change. And they are angry, as well they should be. Greta Thunberg, Alexandria Villaseñor, Vanessa Nakate, and other leaders of the youth climate movement are fueled with righteous anger against those who have stood by and watched as the world burned.”

And Hassol and Mann reveal new insight:  “Interesting thing about anger; turns out it’s a more useful emotion than anxiety or depression when it comes to climate action. It engages and empowers. There is good cause for righteous anger. There is a villain in this story. The fossil fuel industry, the richest in human history, has known for decades the climate damage its products would do. Its own scientists told them decades ago. But instead of releasing the scientific findings and charting a different course, it bankrolled a massive disinformation campaign designed to thwart action on climate change. The industry, and the politicians it supports to do its bidding, have been largely successful in blocking effective measures to rein in climate change.”

And reining in climate change is doable.  According to the IPCC’s latest report, on climate change mitigation, “reducing future climate change by cutting heat-trapping gas emissions or increasing their uptake from the air, tells us that this is entirely possible, using current technologies. Many such actions are on the so-called ‘demand side,’ because they reduce energy demand rather than increasing its supply. The IPCC found that demand-side strategies could reduce 40 to 70 percent of heat-trapping gas emissions across all sectors by 2050. A pretty astounding finding, and as investigative journalist Amy Westervelt bemoans, why wasn’t this a headline in every paper?”

“Let’s return to our three birds: war in Ukraine, climate change, and the economy,” they say. “A broader and more integrated approach sees these not as three separate crises but as one with a single win-win-win solution. Now is the time to tackle these related crises and seize the opportunity to move with determination into the clean energy future. The U.S. is in a good position to do so; we’re not starting from scratch. The U.S. is second (to China) in both wind and solar. Fossil fuel companies can use their expertise, work force, and other resources to become broader energy companies. Their experience in geology can be turned to geothermal energy, which has tremendous untapped promise. Their experience in offshore oil can be turned to offshore wind, a resource with enormous potential, and in which the U.S. lags far behind a dozen other nations. Peabody coal owns extensive lands that can be used for solar farms and other renewable energy development.”

“The only path to lasting security is to get off fossil fuels, once and for all. Let this be the moment that the U.S. takes the lead in solving the related challenges before us, helping propel the world toward a climate safe, politically secure, and economically prosperous future.” Hassol and Mann issue a call to action:  “It is in our hands.”  Let’s hope we can achieve this win-win-win!