Few businesses have continued to work, mostly uninterrupted, over the past 18 months. The Construction industry has.

While restaurants and office businesses saw tremendous downside during the pandemic, it seems our industry has continued to “get ‘er done” on highways, bridges, sitework, utilities, and water resources projects. Our industry has been pretty darn good about masking up and not being a “super spreader” of the Covid virus.

It is well known that our employees are relatively well paid, so it is no surprise that if we were all working for the past 18 months, while many others were not, it is logical that our families have largely been fueling the economy.

“Construction business is very important to the country’s economy. The construction sector provides about 18 million job opportunities and about 9% of the GDP growth. It creates jobs, drives economic growth, and provides solutions for social, climate, and energy challenges. Particularly in India, the growth of the construction industry hits a rocket speed rise and creates investment opportunities across related sectors.”

AS commodity prices keep going up, the opportunities for construction material companies to expand and consolidate market share is unprecedented. Although this Soapbox is not intended to be a factual accounting, the point is that we are big big players in the nation’s economy moving forward. One of our ECA firms, Vulcan, is in this article about making a major move soon- High Commodity Prices Are Fueling Construction Sector Consolidation | The Motley Fool

Let’s not be fooled people. We are working, turning dollars over, and reinvesting those dollars back into the economy. As long as we can keep doing that, I believe our elected officials have to continue to keep “stoking the fire” and keep us all working at or near 100%.

That is my “bullish” report on our industry. It is a very good time to be a construction bull!

That’s all folks!

John

I had the pleasure of a virtual meeting with State Senator Mike McGuire on Wednesday. Some of you may not understand this, but I am a Mike fan. I like him personally, and I think he is an effective and influential leader for his constituents. With that said, Mike commented on what Sacto is doing with its aggressive spending plans. Let me tell you, there is a lot of money being spent by Sacramento!

Senator McGuire offered that the State has repaid its “rainy day” fund and now it has $28 billion in the account. I applaud that.

Many of the items Sacto is spending money on, are hard to argue against. They all seem to be very worthy causes/concerns. Amongst other things, the State is spending big dollars on:

1. Career training – vocational training is now recognized as part of the solution to our worker shortage in CA
2. $6.25 billion in 4 years to trench and install broadband to rural areas of California. CEQA exemption to this work should push these projects forward very quickly.

Senator McGuire also discussed wildfire vegetation management funding, wildfire resources expansion with night flying helicopters and more firefighters being hired. Additionally, preschool funding and childcare funding is receiving big money.

There are too many things to list that are getting money.

Here is my question: Where is all this money coming from? What is the Dirty Little Secret behind all this “windfall” spending?

Senator McGuire told us, corporate taxes are at a record “windfall” high in CA, as are revenues from personal CA State Income Taxes. Main reason was subsidies, changing the way people did business, and Federal bailouts pouring into California created a lot more wealth for the already wealthy, and the source of those dollars came from the COVID 19 pandemic.

In other words, the “rich got richer” from the COVID 19 pandemic. In a big way!

I have included some excerpts from an “Op-ed” piece from the Sacramento Bee that is pertinent to all of us. I hope you enjoy the opinion of someone other than “Me”!

“How do you spell “windfall”? In California today they spell it with a seven, a five, and nine zeroes.

$75,000,000,000 is a lot of “extra” money for a state that had originally projected a $54 billion deficit.

That’s a rounding error of $132 billion — more than half the state’s annual budget. How did Governor Gavin Newsom and the state assembly get it so wrong, and in such a nice way?

To be blunt about it, California was a great beneficiary of the Wuhan Flu pandemic. A spokesman for the state’s Department of Finance further warned that “better-than-expected revenues haven’t translated into an economy that’s fully rebounding.”

Approximately 1.6 million Californians lost their jobs in 2020, and of those, “Nearly a half-million people stopped even trying to look for work,” according to the AP. “Business properties saw their value plummet more than 30%.”

But the Tech Gods of Silicon Valley made out like bandits, according to that same report:

The Newsom administration projects Californians will earn $185 billion from capital gains — the most ever — resulting in $18.5 billion in tax revenue for the state.

The pandemic resulted in the largest one-time transfer of wealth from the lower and middle classes to the One Percent of the One Percent. California, having a surplus of billionaires, also enjoyed a one-time surge in state and local income tax revenues.

Corporate taxes, too. The most obvious example is Cupertino-based Apple. CEO Tim Cook just reported a record-smashing second quarter, with high-double-digit sales increases for both their Mac and iPad computers. Again, those are one-time gains caused by people needing new computers while forced to work from home.

But even all that revenue isn’t enough to account for the state’s $75 billion surplus.

Where did the rest come from? It came from you and me, pardner.

POLITICO reports that despite the state’s enviable revenue surge, “California is due to receive $26 billion in direct federal aid.”

One-third of California’s one-time surplus comes from the taxpayers (and taxpayers yet to be born) across the entire country.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the $26 billion is on top of another $16 billion in federal largess being paid directly to California city and county governments.

POLITICO reports that despite the state’s enviable revenue surge, “California is due to receive $26 billion in direct federal aid.”

One-third of California’s one-time surplus comes from the taxpayers (and taxpayers yet to be born) across the entire country.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the $26 billion is on top of another $16 billion in federal largess being paid directly to California city and county governments.

This article was originally published by Pjmedia.com. Read the original article here.”

That’s all folks!

John

Monday is going to be a great day for networking, camaraderie, cementing deals, and establishing and fostering relationships. The ECA Golf Tournament is BACK! And if none of those things interest you in my opening sentence, some folks will get treated to a rare day of catching their breath.

Everyone knows how hard you all have been working. All of your crews were deemed essential and have missed very few days in the pandemic. Finally, we have a day of fun planned. Mary and I, and our Premiere Sponsor Northgate Ready Mix, along with Brett Wilmes of Stony Point Rock Quarry and the Soiland Company, sincerely hope you come out and enjoy the forecasted great weather at Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club on Monday! We are sold out. That is a testament to not only ECA loyalty, but to the generous spirit of our employers offering their key people and invited guests a chance to go enjoy a day.

We hope you enjoy the event. If you do, praise Brett and me and Josh Cleaver our President. If you do not enjoy the event and the day, ask me and I will give you Mary’s private number!! Just kidding-Mary has worked very hard to put this event on and if you get a chance, butter her up and tell her “Great job” please.

Bring your best swings, your best attitude, and a willingness to eat, hit a golf ball, and brag about that 20’ putt you made!!

See all you golfers on Monday!

That’s all folks!

John

As I ponder what to entertain you with this week in the Soapbox, I had a discussion with my “main muse” who will remain a secret! He and I discussed the craziness of Summerfield Road Improvements project in the City of Santa Rosa, that NARROWS the road and adds more bike lane width and pedestrian access via painting and striping mainly.

Hmmm-I did not know this was a problem, so I started to go back and review what caused this “road deletion” being funded by our pavement preservation fund. IF you want to see the Town Hall Meeting regarding this project, click here- City of Santa Rosa Summerfield Road Bike and Pedestrian Improvements May 27, 2021 – YouTube

If you actually go to the video, you might go to “43:05” and hear our good friend Keith Woods’ comments and question. Keith’s main question was “who decided this was necessary?”. Mr. Woods cited the 3,000,000 auto trips that use this section of road, and the fact that there is only a handful of speeding incidents and/or accidents. Most of the speakers offer anecdotal comments that Summerfield Road is a “drag strip”. Our friend Rob Sprinkle from the City of Santa Rosa, answered Keith’s question as to “who decided this was necessary” with a comment that there have been, over the years, a series of comments made by residents that complain about excessive speed of autos and danger to bike riders and pedestrians on this stretch of road.

This Summerfield Road stretch does not seem to be in dire need of traffic calming and a narrowing of the street in order to slow down traffic from my viewpoint. It may be in need of more enforcement of traffic laws by police!

I don’t know what prompted folks to write in and complain about Summerfield Road, but I am sure they have their reasons. Many of the public comments had to do with cyclist concerns, which would lead me to believe that a coordinated effort of commenting might have been organized by a pro-cycling group. I am all for bicycle safety and I ride that area quite often over the years. I have never felt unsafe on my rides in that area (any more than any other roadways in Santa Rosa). I am of the opinion that there are much higher priorities in the City Designed for Living than Summerfield Road.

But, as we know, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”. I guess the “saving grace” of this project is that the traffic changes are largely being done with paint, and can be changed back during an emergency for a wider roadway that would be advisable.

It makes me wonder if some of our most famous City of Santa Rosa residents could have envisioned their “City Designed for Living” being morphed into the “City Designed for Not Driving”.

Out of respect for our upcoming Car Show at Julliard Park, which has a very nice museum that borders its northern boundary, I have included this historical clip to drive home my point-  Believe It or Not!, Robert Ripley, Famous Santa Rosan… Part 2 – YouTube

Ripley was one of the more famous residents of Santa Rosa. I wonder if he had a car?

That’s all folks!

John

This Soapbox is going to be a bit controversial, a bit fantastical, a bit of conspiracy theory, and a bit repugnant to some. So, if you are completely bought into the idea that we can totally trust our government to manage our resources, stop reading this Soapbox right now please!

Here is the usual caveat-I am expressing my own opinions here, and they are not reflective of ECA opinions, nor are they used to guide the ECA in any manner whatsoever. They are simply the musings of John Bly-period.

In the movie Chinatown, circa 1971 or so, the rights to water were so hotly contested, big interests went to extraordinary measures to secure the flow of water to Southern California. Mainly at the expense of farmers. Once the water was “stolen” the farmlands became, essentially, worthless, and big development interests started buying the discounted and dusty (from no water) farms from to put houses there. The scheme was devious, but effective. Lots of subdivisions were created from Palm Springs to Los Angeles.

Fast forward to 2021. Although this may not seem to be directly in the local interest lane of the ECA, I find the story eerily similar.

I started thinking about how fast this “drought crisis” came upon us, when I kind of recalled that our reservoirs were being bragged about as “full to capacity” not too long ago, and now they are at historic lows. Can “climate change” really be THAT impactful? Remember, this is an “opinion piece”, so facts are not a big requirement to make us think-opinion is able to take front stage here!

Water, water everywhere, and then there is none. What the heck?

I have included a link to an op-ed piece from the “Health Impact News” publication, that is highly critical of the California State Water Resources Board and their management of our flows from reservoirs into the ocean. The link is here, and it is an interesting read–California State Water Board is Manufacturing a Drought by Draining Reservoirs into the Ocean (healthimpactnews.com)

I have copied an image from the article that shows California reservoir capacity from June 2019. It is startling to see us go from “full to over full” to nearly catastrophic low levels in our reservoirs in less than 24 months.

Don’t you think? Link

Where did all that stored water go?

I’m guessing an awful lot of it flowed into the ocean.

There has been a political battle over water in California FOREVER. It does not seem contrived to me to imagine that policies hatched in Sacramento can have nefarious and hidden goals.

Man-does this have the makings of a script for Chinatown II or what?

Do you remember when Trump ordered more water be diverted for farmers back in 2020? Becerra and California quickly filed suit against the Feds-here is the link for more info on that suit-California Files Suit Against Trump Administration Over Central Valley Water Diversions – California Globe. I have not had time to find out the outcome or status of the lawsuit, but I am guessing, actions taken by the State Water Control Board regarding flows from reservoirs to the oceans, were not decreased during the court case.

Is it possible that policies in managing flows from reservoirs are either intentionally, or unintentionally, adding to our water problems we are experiencing from a long drought? Is it possible that the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act is intentionally, or unintentionally, damaging farmers and their land values?   Is there not a “middle ground” that would have cut down the flows from June of 2019 when reservoirs were full to the brim, in order to keep some for a “non-rainy” day?

I know it is complicated, I know it is political. I know there are ramifications from farmers land being denied water rights. Drive down I5 and you see hundreds of acres being cleared of almond and other agricultural land that needs water. And can’t get it. Either from allocations, or from the ground.

I don’t know if any of you know Roman Polanski, and I don’t think Jack Nicholson is too old to star in it, but I hope someone calls Roman and suggests it is time for a sequel. If Polanski decided to make a sequel to Chinatown, maybe we could “STREAM IT”!

That’s all folks!

John

It is obvious that the Pandemic and the resultant virtual meetings have taken their toll on ECA involvement and participation. Although I continue to believe there are some benefits to Zoom meetings (the fact that we can record them and watch parts later for instance), it was difficult for some board members to meet on Zoom.

The time to be selecting our next Board of Directors is now as the ECA Nominating Committee (Dave Weller is Chair) is setting up to ask who wants to help Walt Turner (2022 president) and his Officers guide this venerable organization in 2022.

If you have interest in attending 9-10 Board Meetings for 90 minutes during 2022 (meetings are lunch meetings from 12-1:30pm), please let me or Dave Weller know of your interest. We are holding our meetings in person again from now on. No more Zoom Board meetings! Many of us relish the comradery and mixing in a live setting and that is that!

What makes a good Director? Someone who believes in this organization, its history of accomplishment, and its promise of continued influence in our industry, community, and governance of local issues that affect your businesses.

Although problems need to be solved, a good Board member does not shirk from understanding the issue and using his/her experience to make sound decisions that represent all of our Association in setting the track for our journey.

It is good Board members who choose the topics staff is to address, and forums for staff to share what is happening and why. It is staff’s job to attend the outside meetings, continue to be the face of the organization (along with our board members) to other associations and to the public and electeds and their staffs. I believe with all my heart that the ECA does great and relevant work that is very necessary. If you do too, maybe you will consider the small price of involvement and PARTICIPATION necessary to be a Board member? We hope so! And thank you for allowing me to lead this group since April of 2010. It is and has been, a rewarding ride. Let’s keep it going everyone! Keep the SPIRIT!

Happy 4th of July!

That’s all folks

John

Quarterly General Membership Meeting

We have a General Membership Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 29, from 12-2pm. State Senator Mike McGuire, Sonoma County Supervisors David Rabbitt and James Gore, Sonoma County Transportation Authority ED Suzanne Smith, and the head of the Sonoma County Transportation and Public Works Department Johannes Hoevertsz. If you have questions for any of them, this is the opportunity to ask them!

In order to continue to be a “player” as an “influencer” in local road and infrastructure funding, we need to show these speakers that we support their advocacy on our behalf. Their efforts have allowed us to keep working as “essential” businesses and allowed us to receive an unprecedented amount of public funding for work that ECA firms do. Be sure to sign up today by emailing mary@nceca.org!

Thank you to Canyon Rock Co. Inc. for sponsoring!!!

Flyer is attached here. We hope we see your smiling faces on Tuesday!

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Golf Tournament Time!

The Annual ECA Golf Tournament is back on Monday, July 26 from 11am to around 6pm. We have 108 golfers signed up so far, and we will not take any more than 124 golfers. So please get your 4-somes in to Mary ASAP. Flyer is attached here

Sponsorships are lagging at a time when there is an unprecedented amount of work out there. We need to pick it up please! sponsor flyer

Thank you to Troy and Dawn and team at NorthGate Ready Mix for being our premiere sponsor! Thanks to all the others that have stepped up so far to sponsor. Go to the Events section in the newsletter to see all of the golf sponsors! The ECA depends on events like the golf tourney to cover our costs, so we are pleading with our members to step up and sponsor any of the items that Mary still needs a sponsor for. Please!

Here is the “lineup” of the golf tournament festivities at the Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club:

1. Format is a 4-person scramble.
2. There are two flights to consider for your 4-some-one is competitive, the other is fun. The prize for winning the competitive open flight is the one-of-a-kind die cast tractor donated each year by Peterson Cat. Your office needs one of these! The other prize for winning the “fun” division, is a Growler with the ECA logo and a special fun caption on it. You get to fill the Growler up with your favorite ale!
3. We have a GMC Truck for our Hole in One prize donated by Silveira Auto Group. Thanks Scott! This will be on the 4^thhole.
4. We have a Women’s Long Drive Contest on the 11^thHole, and a Men’s Long Drive Contest on the same hole. Look for the pink balloon on the clipboard for the women, and the blue balloon on the clipboard for the men. You MUST BE IN THE FAIRWAY TO COUNT! The prize for winning the Women’s Long Drive is a $50 Gift Certificate from the Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club Pro Shop, and for the Men it will be the same prize.
5. There are four par 3’s on this course. Holes 4, 6, 15, 17 are the Par 3’s. On the 6^thHole and the 17^th Hole, the Women will have a Closest to the Pin contest, and on the 4^th Hole and the 15^th Hole, the Men will have a Closest to the Pin contest. The prizes for winning each of the holes is a Gift Certificate from the Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club Pro Shop for $50!
6. The Putting Contest will be held before we tee off. Your entry registration pays for entering and participating in the putting contest. There will be three prizes awarded for the putting contest: 1^st Place gets $150 Gift Certificate, 2^nd Place gets $100 Gift Certificate, and 3^rd Place gets a $50 Gift Certificate from the Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club Proshop.
7. With your registration entry, you will get one Super Raffle Ticket to the Grand Prize Raffle, which is the top-of-the-line Traeger Pellet Grill! You can purchase more of the special $5 Super Raffle Tickets to enhance your chances to win. We will also have smaller Raffle prizes that you can purchase raffle tickets for at time of check in and during your round. Those are also nice prizes which will include Golf 4 somes, a Go Pro Camera, and some other nice prizes. Winners will be announced after the round of golf when we gather for a beer and the traditional announcements of the winning teams, Long Drive and Closest to the Pin winners, and raffle award winners.
8. We will sell Mulligans at the check in tables, but Mulligans cannot be used on the putting surfaces as we are giving everyone a two-putt maximum score on each green already (this will help speed of play tremendously).
9. We will have lunch served before the tournament, as well as “finger foods” after. Those are paid for as part of your registration price.
10. Out on the course, we will have six “Informational” Hole Sponsors (Aaction Rents, Jim Persons Safety Pride, West Coast Diesel, Stevenson Supply, Road Machinery, West Coast Diesels, Sound Ideas, and the Housing Land Trust for Jamie Lane Community Relations Project.
11. We will have three food and beverage Hospitality Holes out on the course: The traditional George Peterson Oyster hole, the traditional BoDean Taco and Margarita Hole, and the traditional ice cream Hole sponsored by Stony Point Rock Quarry.

All in all, this is shaping up to be one of our best Golf Tournaments ever. Please sign up for the last few golfers 4 somes, and PLEASE sponsor one of the opportunities to support the ECA for us!

That’s all folks!

John

Our ECA President, Josh Cleaver of BoDean Company, led our Executive Committee on Tuesday, June 15, to several important discussions and subsequent decisions.

Number 1: The ECA will go back to LIVE Board of Director Meetings starting with our July 20^th meeting. Meetings will be held at Noon-1:30 PM at the Training Center room at 1000 Apollo Way, Santa Rosa, CA. Lunch will be served for our hard working and generous Board of Directors. For a list of current Directors and Officers, click on this link—

Number 2: The ECA will hold our postponed Auction Live at the Hilton in Rohnert Park on September 25, 2021.

Number 3: The ECA will hold our postponed Public Officials Night outdoors at a casual barbecue in the Windsor Golf Course area that we usually have our golf tournament wrap-up at on October 21, 2021.

Flyers are being created right now for these events so getting sponsorships in so you can be recognized is now very time sensitive! The flyers do go out to hundreds of people so your sponsorship will be seen by a lot of folks-including public officials, contractors, suppliers, engineers, and our friends at the Builders Exchange, Farm Bureau, NORBAR, Sonoma County Alliance, NorthBay Leadership Council, AGC, and the Santa Rosa and Petaluma Chamber of Commerce. Our existence depends on events and participation at these very fun opportunities to mix, mingle, and share in honoring those folks that have accomplished so much for our community and our industry. We hope you will be very pleased that we can now meet, eat, drink, and share stories in person again! I know Mary and I and President Josh are very excited about seeing all of you in person soon!

That’s all folks!

John

News That Affects Your Businesses:

1. From the Marin IJ, a good (in my opinion) Editorial on what SMART needs to do. Click here-Editorial: Need to build long-term ridership should guide SMART train changes – Marin Independent Journal (marinij.com)
2. Congrats to the Northbay Biz magazine for recognizing Ghilotti Construction Company as the BEST! Click here-BEST Contractor/Builder Company: Ghilotti Construction Company | NorthBay biz
3. More applause for Northbay Biz for honoring Ghilotti Brothers Inc. as the Best!- Best Company To Do Business With In Marin County: Ghilotti Bros., Inc. | NorthBay biz
4. From Northbay Biz magazine-San Rafael mixed use project. Click here-San Rafael Considers an Ambitious Downtown Mixed-Use Project | NorthBay biz
5. From the Northbay Business Journal-Marin County small businesses must pay extended sick leave-click here-Marin County requires small businesses to offer extended COVID-19 sick leave (northbaybusinessjournal.com)
6. Our good friend Keith Woods announces retirement from the North Coast Builders Exchange, who selected Lisa Wittke Schaffner as his replacement, click here- North Bay Business Journal

7.     From the San Francisco Business Times, OSHA unveils new Covid rules for businesses-click here-OSHA unveils long-awaited guidance for employers on Covid-19 issues – San Francisco Business Times (bizjournals.com)

My usual disclaimer-the words and thoughts expressed in the Soapbox are my own-they have no reflection on what the ECA Board, Officers, or the ECA Members believe. If you hate what I write and express, then focus your hatred on me, not the ECA. This Soapbox is intended to be a provocative editorial piece that hopefully, generates thought amongst you.

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So, as a leader in your firm, I ask you-“what is your company really good at?”

I ask the question right up front, as to what your firm is really good at because we are going to be competing for more and more work, with less and less skilled workers to do that work. If you are an owner or a corporate leader, you better know the answer.

Advantage-it goes to those that can offer workers a position that pays decently, gives them a chance to feel good about helping the community, allows them to get better training, enables them to be more skilled at their core duties, and when they do something solid-they are noticed and complimented on that accomplishment.  The companies that can do that best in the General Engineering Contracting arena, are the ones that will continue to flourish and expand their workforce.

The last few winters we have had the misfortune of dealing with fires and their destructiveness. With that misfortune, came opportunity. Cleaning up and rebuilding homes, roads, and businesses that burned down has been a Godsend to many or our firms. It gave many owners an opportunity to gain some security and reward their employees with continuous employment, more training, and expanded opportunities to enrich themselves.

As we all know, there will be lean times ahead. But one of the reasons you belong to the ECA is because we have worked so damn hard to smooth out those lean times with funding opportunities.

We as an industry, are well insulated from much of the lean times I speak of. There is so much money flowing into Northern California from the Feds, from the State, and from PG & E settlement deals that our ability to keep working does not seem to be limited by funding.

I think the limiters will be finding, retaining, and training your own work force.

Rarely did our leadership at my old firm, Kirkwood Bly, have to pass on bidding jobs because we simply got too “full”. But it did happen. I suspect some of you are seeing it right now in your own firms.

These are the “good times”.

So, when you catch your collective breath from your regular workload, make some time for your senior leaders to confer with your young people and find out what you are doing right, and what you need to do a little better so that you do not miss out on these extended good times. Give up a little security by letting some of those talented young people take a bigger leadership role-it might sting a little because they will make some mistakes-just as we all did when we were learning! But the payoff will be enormous. People want to be a part of something, and they want to know they are appreciated and can make a difference in the daily company production. So, let them. Listen to them, and do not just give the youngsters the easy “non-leadership” positions. Challenge them, train them, appreciate them, and pay them. Allow them the time to give back to the community in some manner. They won’t forget it.

And let the good times roll!

That’s all folks!

John

With an early fire season upon us, drought conditions everywhere, and lots of dollars being available for vegetation management, it seems a Soapbox on wildfire issues is appropriate.

*From Governor Newsom’s Office, his recent press conference demonstrated a renewed focus and much expanded quantity of dollars is being spent on wildfire prevention. I won’t list all of the $2 Billion that Newsom is making available, but within this article are a few links you may want to click on to learn specifics-At McClellan Air Force Base, Governor Newsom Highlights New Firefighting Aircraft, $2 Billion in Wildfire and Emergency Preparedness Investments | California Governor

*CalFire has some information that you might find useful as well, and I recall reading about a firefighter who regularly rehearsed evacuation of his home with his wife and two small children before the Tubbs Fire broke out. Adopting some renewed consciousness about best practices at your home and evacuation protocol might just save your life-Exit Drills in The Home (ca.gov)

*Also, from CalFire, is some “Preparedness” pointers for your land and your home. It is easy to put things off-maybe we shouldn’t postpone some of these tips-Home – Ready for Wildfire

*And Finally-one of the absolute most poignant videos the ECA has ever produced, features my late great friend Glen Ghilotti prominently, and some of our heroes in the ECA that helped so many folks during the fires of 2017. Please enjoy watching this wonderful video produced by the good folks at Sound Ideas! Link

Fire season is here folks-whether we want to acknowledge it, or not-let’s be as safe and ready as

possible! And thank you to all of those heroes who stepped up in 2017, 2018, and 2020 to put their water trucks, dozers, and yards up to house the National Guard. The ECA Member’s response to wildfires was amazing and we should never forget a lot of that energy came from big Glen!

That’s all folks!

John