AS we close out 2020 and get ready for the new year of 2021, it would be nice to have a well thought out plan that we could follow wouldn’t it? As with all of your own firms, we do the best we can but we find ourselves being influenced by major outside events that we have little control over. We do not know when Covid-19 vaccinations, precautions and treatment developments will lower our cases enough to fully reopen our businesses and ways of life to pre Covid-19 levels. Is that even possible to do? We do not know what the new President’s administration means to our industry and our opportunity to see developers move forward on their projects. We are not clear on what new rules and regulations will come out of Washington and Sacramento that will affect how, where, and to what extent, we will be conducting our business operations in the near future.
With the fact that uncertainty is out there, you have to make business decisions just as we do at the ECA. We are currently setting up for our new Officers and Directors to have a “Planning Session” on January 19, 2021 that will set the tone for the upcoming year for the ECA. Some of what we are going to be deciding upon include:
- Reviewing and modifying if necessary, the “mission” of the ECA and the tactics to accomplish our goals in the future.
- Changing from an annual General Membership Meeting to a Quarterly General Membership Meeting in order to encourage closer communication and involvement with our ECA membership. Our intent is to schedule a GMM every 3 months and have relevant, interesting, and informative speakers that will provide information to the ECA that will help us all deal with the uncertainties out there. These GMM’s will be held on the 3rdTuesday of months 3,5,9 and 12 during 2021.
- Modifying the events the ECA does each year to accommodate Covid 19 issues. For example-the Installation and Awards Dinner that is traditionally held the first weekend in February to introduce everyone to the new President, hear what our outgoing President has to say, introduce and install the new Board of Directors and Officers, and also recognize and honor our Award winners, will have to be changed dramatically. We are contemplating a “virtual event” that will allow us to hear from our Past President and Incoming President, and to introduce everyone to the new Board of Directors and thank our outgoing Directors, but the Awards will be rolled into another evening later in the year. We have to discuss and plan for a modified date for Public Officials Night as well. It is unlikely that our traditional date of early to mid April will allow us to have Public Officials Night in person in 2021. We will most likely move this event to the Fall so we can meet in person and enjoy that great ribeye steak dinner we all have come to love! At this time, I would guess that the Fathers Day Car Show should be able to be held on Fathers Day at Julliard Park as we have traditionally done. Our Golf Tourney should be able to be held in late July as well. Even though we had a blast doing our Virtual Auction a week or so ago, we should be able to do an in person Auction night in late September, 2021.
- ECA Board meetings will have to be held virtually for the first and second quarter of the year. By the middle or end of the 2nd quarter, we should be meeting in person again. However, there has been some real benefits to learning about Zoom and virtual meetings, and we envision our Board meetings to be in person if directors choose to have lunch with us, or they will have the option to join virtually if they wish. Same with Committee meetings. We are planning on having our Exec Team meet in person in January, 2021 for a final planning session before our January 19 Board Planning session, but we will have the actual Board Planning Session be done virtually to ensure everyone’s safety.
- In order for the Board to have a planning retreat that is meaningful, new President Josh Cleaver has asked me to include a survey for our members to fill out so we can best represent the membership in 2021. The survey will be used to define the ECA Core Values and Goals for the next 2 years. Knowing what the members want us to be doing is way better than us sitting back telling the members what we are going to be doing without that input. So, please take a few minutes to fill out the survey HERE:
That’s All Folks!
John
**********************************************************************
Fire Cleanup News for Wallbridge, Meyers, and Glass Fires:
The ECA decided to come out with our Newsletter one day early in order to provide information on the wildfire debris cleanup operation which publicly started December 1, 2020. The first step in cleaning up after the fires have been extinguished, is the Household Hazardous Waste sweep done by the California Department of Toxic Substance Control (CDTC). To understand more about the first process that is required prior to private or public fire debris cleanup, the link below explains it-
California Wildfire Cleanup & Recovery in 2020 | Department of Toxic Substances Control
There is a Town Hall virtual meeting to be held at 5pm Tuesday, December 2, 2020 and the information can be found below. If you are a contractor seeking to participate in the publicly assisted wildfire debris cleanup program, Cal Recycle is managing the cleanup and their information is listed below as well. If you have questions regarding what protocols are required for ash removal (regarding Hazwopper certification and PPE), the safety protocols for homeowners, recycling, trucking, and private contractors can be accessed in the link below.
https://socoemergency.org/recover/debris-removal-requirements-after-wildfire/
California Office of Emergency Services has authorized Cal Recycle to administer to the publicly aided fire debris cleanup of the Wallbridge/Meyers/Glass Fires in Sonoma County. The public debris cleanup began yesterday, December 1, 2020. To get the latest information from Cal Recycle on the wildfire debris cleanup, click on this link below-
Wildfire Debris Cleanup and Recovery (ca.gov)
For more specific localized information on wildfire debris cleanup for both homeowners and contractors alike, the Sonoma County Office of Emergency Services has a very good website, and the information can be accessed below-
https://socoemergency.org/recover/glass-wildfire/debris-removal/
There is a virtual own Hall Meeting being held for victims of the Wallbridge and Glass Fires December 2, 2020 at 5pm. Information on how to participate is included in this link—
The controversial Golden Gate Bridge appointment for a Director was decided Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors, and they chose Operating Engineering union head Chris Snyder instead of Brian Sobel, the incumbent Director. The article is here—
