My standard disclaimer, intended to keep myself and the ECA from problems, is that this Soapbox is written from my opinions and those opinions are not necessarily shared by the ECA or any of its member firms.

Although I do believe in making an effort to leave a smaller footprint on the environment than what we have traditionally done, I think sometimes our well intentioned “climate change” and “endangered species protection” regulations do as much harm as good. We have to be mighty careful to not give the Tiger Salamander a better chance at a happy life than the humans who are doing the best they can with ever increasing regulations, taxes, and rules that limit our own freedoms of choice. There-I said it. My perspective is not the popular one these days, but I am entitled to it (for a while anyway-I may be censored by Facebook soon if I keep this up right?). If this offends you, I apologize right now and suggest you stop reading, because it gets worse!

So, despite my belief that I want to lower my own carbon footprint by use of solar power, driving a hybrid or electric vehicle (soon, not yet!), watching what I put into the landfill, and supporting reuse and recycling of all things, I still cast a wary eye at attempts to tell me I cannot build a house that has gas appliances, that I can’t widen a road that is obviously overcrowded, that I cannot see affordable housing get built because of a challenge to the sacred right of a salamander to move around freely even while we humans are disallowed from doing the same.

So, this Soapbox is determined to be edgy, like some of my older ones were, and I hope it makes you think about things that are happening now, and the reasons they are happening for. When we talk about the high cost of construction, let’s keep an even perspective as to how the high cost came about-WE DID IT TO OURSELVES! We vote to elect politicians who continue to demonstrate how they “care” by way of enacting more and more rules and regulations that continue to add paper cuts to our already gaping wound called “building more housing”. We open our borders, with zero thought to where these folks are going to live. We eliminate penalties for minor crimes and cluck our tongue at how homeless folks just do not care about camping on our public areas. Yes, we created this with our well-intentioned voting. And we have created a monster bigger than Kong or Godzilla. So, my hope is this enables us to think for ourselves, not to simply parrot what the right wingers and left wingers are prattling on about.

SB 743, which was signed into law in 2013, initiated an update to the CEQA Guidelines to change how lead agencies evaluate transportation impacts under CEQA, with the goal of better measuring the actual transportation-related environmental impacts of any given project.

Noble? Or a political attempt to regulate social engineering gone nuts?

Here we are some 15 months after the COVID 19 crisis hit us and changed our lives forever. More and more people are working from home offices, and companies are finding that this is productive, and in some cases, cost saving as the companies may not need to have as large an office facility as pre COVID. Workers are finding their way in producing work product for their employers without driving into the office anymore. Obviously, this does not work for manufacturing plants that need bodies “on the line” making the widgets, but a lot of people curtailed their driving lots of miles from the suburbs into the business districts of San Francisco, Oakland, Marin, Sacramento and elsewhere.

So, as we are continuing to be “force fed” on public transportation, do we need it like we did in 2013 when SB 743 was enacted? Should it be the “final say so” on whether a developer can build affordable housing that is sorely needed? Vallejo is a great example of what I will characterize as “well intentioned social engineering” running contrary to what is actually needed housing. To read a good article from the North Bay Business Journal, click here

I am running out of room, and I think I have gotten myself in enough trouble with this piece so I will wrap it up now. Let’s think about the good part of lowering vehicle miles traveled and take a more holistic approach to the end product. Maybe take some of those dollars from the bullet train and give tax incentives to companies who encourage their workers to work as much as they can from home, and to limit business travel that is unnecessary. How about jacking up incentives for companies who want to buy electric vehicles and incorporate them into their fleets? I can think of a lot better ways to lower GHG’s than to say not to worthy housing starts because people are looking at pre-COVID travel patterns.

‘Nuff said. My ranting and raving is done for this week. Thanks for reading this far if you did—-

That’s all folks!

John

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Around the State Construction News Bits and Pieces

Marin County Scholarship Opportunities

From our friends at the Marin Builders Exchange, comes their announcement of the deadline to submit for a scholarship. Here is the link you need!

2021 NCBE Scholarship Applications are now available!

You can find it on North Coast Builders Exchange website, here:

Completed applications are due at NCBE by 5 p.m., Friday, April 9, 2021.

If you have any questions, please contact Robin Bartholow at: (707) 542-9502 robin@ncbeonline.com

Bullet Train More Like a Snail Train?

Sorry folks, I do not believe the officials who say to disregard the letter that describes the delays in procuring right of ways. This project is a mess or EPIC proportions! Here is an article (from the Marin IJ) that describes part of the problem—

Congratulations to Mike Brown Electric Company!!

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