John’s Soapbox-

EVP Newsletter 9-22-16

The Northern California Engineering Contractors Association is pleased to announce in this “Soapbox” who the 2016 candidates are that we are endorsing and who we are contributing dollars to. The Press Release containing all of the endorsed candidates and the individual letter to our endorsed candidates will vary slightly (duh) but will deliver similar messages of why we are supporting who we are supporting.

Draft of the Press Release Being Considered:

“The Northern California Engineering Contractors Association (NCECA), which is a local membership made up of thousands of working men and women in Sonoma, Marin, Lake, and Mendocino Counties, is pleased to announce our endorsements for 2016.  Since 1978 the NCECA has served its membership and community by being “An Organization Supporting The Local Construction Industry Through Stewardship Of The Community And Environment.

The NCECA feels the attached list of candidates (here) best exemplify what our Association looks for in a candidate.  Those attributes include:  Candidates that are committed to being good stewards of our environment, candidates that demonstrate an ability to work hard, candidates that represent in an inclusive manner their constituent’s best interests, candidates that recognize businesses need to be healthy enough to promote economic growth in order  to support the increasing costs of local government services, candidates that adhere to an attitude of open minded governance without pledging their future votes in any way, and candidates that welcome the ECA and its members as valuable resources in determining governing positions on transportation, infrastructure, business, and land use issues.”

In order to get to the point of endorsing candidates, the ECA has met with, questioned, and researched EVERY candidate we are endorsing. I have personal relationships with many of the candidates. They need to understand what the ECA looks for in a candidate, and they sometimes need to be reminded of what we expect from our supported and endorsed candidates. We never ask our candidates to “pledge” any future votes. EVER! We do ask questions pertaining to where the candidates stand on the following issues: Land use policies, Project Labor Agreements, infrastructure funding, pension reform, water supply and transmission, rent control, Permitting and Plan Checking services and costs, and how they will get along with business people as well as special interest folks that are going to be “in their face” if they get elected. We also ask how they see the more “regional issues” like housing allocations being tied to transportation funding, Bay Area Air Quality authority, affordable housing issues, and CEQA reform issues. We also ask the candidates who they are endorsed by, who they are most aligned with on the current City Councils and County Supervisors to see how they are aligned. All in all, we do a comprehensive and complete job of “vetting” the candidates.

We hope you will appreciate the efforts and will help get the endorsed candidates elected.

Thanks to all of you who contributed to our PAC and we think if our candidates do get elected, they will represent all of our ECA members very well. When we chose to not endorse a candidate, it is because they are not aligned with positions that would complement and support your businesses.

That’s All Folks

John