2-14-19

John’s Soapbox

Pulling the Plug On A Boondoggle of Epic Proportions!

In the 10 years since the high-speed rail project has been “alive”, I have often mused as to why Sacramento pushed for it so hard. Their claims that our airports were at capacity and roads were bottle-necked to the breaking point, although there is some truth to both, did not totally explain to me the need for a high-speed rail from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Los Angeles area.

Yesterday, in his State of the State address, new Governor Gavin Newsom declared the high-speed rail project was being “scaled back” dramatically. Apparently, Governor Newsom is only supporting completing the rail project from Merced to Bakersfield. The reasons the Governor cited were that the overall project had experienced delays and cost overruns and a lack of transparency along with the overall project revised estimate of costs being too expensive. Newsom vowed to quickly replace the head of the state board that oversees the project and pledged more accountability for contractors that run over on costs.

Yours truly was never in favor of this ridiculous project and I always took the position that it would not get built as the voters approved because it was physically impossible to maintain the promised speeds over the terrain and corners it needed to follow. If it did get built, my point was that the voters approved a high-speed train and it was going to be anything but “high-speed”.

How did this (in my humble opinion) boondoggle ever get to this point?

The California High-Speed Rail Authority was established in 1996 after decades of discussion about high speed rail system in California. In 2008, Proposition 1A was passed by the voters and that was quickly followed by the award of “federal stimulus” funds in 2010. The federal stimulus funds were the initial funding source and the California High-Speed Rail System was “on its way”. Construction contracts were awarded in 2013 and ground-breaking was held on January 6, 2015.

The “original” financing for the first construction segment (Madera to Bakersfield) was $6.302 billion ($2.6 billion from Prop 1A, $3.2 billion in federal stimulus money, $252 million for designing and planning Phase 1 and Phase 2-this money was coming from Prop 1A and Federal stimulus money, and $250 million was added in 2014 from “Cap and Trade” funds.

In 2008, the original estimate of the route from Anaheim to San Francisco was $33 billion-that was in 2006 dollars but was actually $65 billion in “year of expenditure” dollars. Upon further investigation, the Authority revised their estimate for an exclusive trackage along its entire length to $96 billion. They thought this was a bit of a stretch, so they “morphed” the design into a “blended” shared track route that would not require as expensive construction costs as a single new trackage. That revised and “blended” design was estimated to cost $91.4 billion with a completion date of 2033.

All of these estimates failed to take into account the difficulty of tunneling and the Authority never has received qualified estimates for the needed tunneling to get over the Tehachapi Pass. Some experts believe the tunneling alone would have increased costs by another $50 billion from the bogus estimated costs the Authority has been reporting on.

This might be the first and last time I compliment Gavin Newsom. Good job pulling the plug.

A match made in heaven! Thank you, Governor, for pulling the plug on this crazy idea that Schwarzenegger and Brown backed. Brown’s legacy should be how much money he wasted on this crappy concept. It is a lot.

That’s All Folks!:

ECA Newsletter 1-31-19

John’s Soapbox

Don’t Outrun Your Coverage!

Jake Mackenzie has served on the Sonoma County Transportation Authority Board for 20 years. Jake has also served on the SMART Board for 15 years. Jake also just finished a 2 year stint as the Chair of the powerful Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). He has had an incredible “run” of influence on our transportation system and vision for the future in the North Bay.

That “run” is now over.

If you remember, two weeks ago I wrote about a new regional effort to stimulate and regulate much needed housing construction by an initiative called the “CASA Compact”. The “CASA Compact”, is a new 15 year “plan” that is intended to address the Bay Area housing crisis. Some of the elements in the CASA Compact include state-imposed rental caps, tenant evictions to require just cause to be evicted, and measures that could remove local controls over land use and zoning provisions. The CASA Compact did not get created overnight. It has been “in the works” for several years under the guidance of its Steering Committee. Recently, the Steering Committee brought their “finished” product to the MTC for a vote that would “ratify” the CASA Compact and start the ball rolling for State sponsored Bills and Measures to enact the Compact. Jake, as part of that MTC Board, recently (December of 2018) voted to support the CASA Compact.

Jake then proceeded to report on his support and vote at the January 8, 2019 Rohnert Park Council meeting. To say that the other Council Members were pissed that Jake did not come to them for their consent prior to his MTC vote, would be an understatement. The other 4 Council Members did not think the CASA Compact was in the best interest of the city of Rohnert Park. Jake admitted that not letting them have a say was a mistake. But the hour long tongue lashing he received on January 8 was “shrugged off” by Jake even though Vice Mayor Joe Callinan was quoted saying “ I really think somebody has lost their way. I think maybe you’ve been on these committees way too long and it’s time for a change”.

At the next Rohnert Park Council Meeting (1-22-19), the Rohnert Park City Council voted 3-2 to appoint Vice Mayor Joe Callinan, and not Jake Mackenzie, to the Sonoma County Transportation Authority which in effect, disabled Jake Mackenzie’s qualifications to continue to be the SMART Board representative.  This shocker took a lot of transportation veterans by surprise, not the least of which was the rest of the SMART Board who, days before, had just voted Jake (unanimously) as Vice Chair of the SMART Board.

OOPS.

How does all of this affect the ECA and its member? I am not sure yet. I will say that I know Jake quite well and have a lot of respect for his abilities to represent the North Bay Area in securing grants and funding for our bike paths, bridges and road work. I do not know Joe Callinan as well but rest assured, I will be meeting with him soon to correct that fact. Maybe Joe will be as effective as Jake-we do not know. But words of “warning” came from David Rabbitt and other transportation leaders that hints at a real loss for our influence up here by not having Jake on the SCTA and SMART Boards.

We shall see what the outcome of Jake’s faux pau in “outrunning his cover” previously supplied by his fellow Rohnert Park Council Members—-

To read the Press Democrat article about this click on the following link—

That’s All Folks!

ECA NEWSLETTER

1-24-19

The Newsletter will come out via email on Thursday morning each week (first thing!).

We also want to let everyone know that if you miss a Newsletter, you can always find back copies on our website at

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Editorial Section:

John’s Soapbox

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Although we do not involve ourselves in National debates, the longest Government shutdown in our Country’s history is promoting this opinion piece by yours truly.  Our businesses also need workers.  We all need housing.  There is a large supply of workers who are being affected by the lack of clarity in our immigration policies and the debate over whether to build a wall or not.  I find the debate to build a wall is a very ineffective way to deal with the problem of illegal immigration.

For those who do not believe there is an immigration “problem”, let me assure you that there is.  We all came to this Country and were immigrants.  I think we all feel that people who want to make a better life for themselves and their families should be able to do so.  Most, if not all of us, personally know friends and sometimes co workers who are in this Country on work visas or are working without having obtained US citizenship (yet).

The positive impact of these folks cannot be denied.  However, our systems are being strained by having to administer judges, border security, healthcare and if those folks get a temporary visa, other entitlements.  Also, there are many stories of immigrants who have been deported and returned that commit crimes within the US.  None of us want to see bad guys allowed into our Country.  How do we reconcile keeping our citizens safe from those that should not be here, and yet remain a Country that allows people to come here and work hard and make a better life for themselves?  And how do we juggle our workforce needs with a more orderly migration of workers into this Country?

When Obama issued an executive order allowing “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals”, or DACA, in 2012, there was a tremendous increase in immigrants illegally trying to cross our border.  This is because, in my mind, the folks who would consider leaving their country for the USA felt that they were being welcomed.  These folks may not be “Harvard Smart”, but they are street smart and they hear the stories from friends and relatives that are already in the US.

When Trump first took office and talked very “tough” about immigration, there was a tremendous decrease in border crossings.  What that tells me is that these folks from Central America and Mexico listen to which way the political winds are blowing before they decide to spend the time, effort and money to cross the border illegally.  If they feel there is a good chance for employment and for not getting deported, they will come.  If not, they will stay at home.

Some would say we need to “build a wall” to discourage illegal immigration.  The problem I see with just relying on a wall is that the facts show 50% of the illegal immigrants in this Country actually entered the Country legally and have overstayed their Visas.  A Wall would only theoretically deter or affect 50% of the “problem”.  We need to be comprehensive about locating and returning, or legally extending the work visas of those that have allowed them to expire.  One aside-with a work visa, there are entitlements that go along with that temporary status to that worker.

I have little problem with adding some effective border security that would help our Border Patrol handle the many illegal border crossings more efficiently.  The best idea I have heard is for a double fence with a road that is sandwiched in between the two fences that allow Border Agents to spot crossers with drones and cameras and quickly deploy to those crossings.  Drug cartels have gotten smart and sometimes use crossings of groups of aliens to occupy the Border Agents as they send their drugs across nearby.  I think we all would agree that increasing our equipment and manpower would be a first choice for securing our Borders.

With drugs, the cartels smuggle them across the border for one main reason-supply and demand.  I know if Americans were to stop using drugs if the cartels cease to smuggle drugs into our Country.  So the best way to stop drugs from crossing the border is to go to the source and make sure that Americans get treated for, and stop using the drugs that are illegally smuggled into the USA.  Put our money there.

With people, it is a similar story of supply and demand.  Illegals come across the border in hopes of better working pay and conditions than their own countries or origin, and they find that.  If you were serious about stopping illegal immigration, the President should immediately declare a State of Emergency and enforce E-Verify as the Law of the Land.  Heavy enforcement and heavy penalties would await employers who did not comply.  Deportations would occur and some industries would suffer from a constricted worker shortage until the legal system of issuing work visas were to become effective using E Verify.  That way we could allow the workers we need in our businesses to enter the US legally while allowing folks to improve their way of life.

Look folks, this will be affecting us for a long time.  The politics are obvious.  The Democrats want to entitle all illegal aliens the right to vote (11 million new democrats would be created overnight!), while the Republicans do not want that.  What can we do?  Read through the nonsense that is being broadcast on every news channel including Fox and CNN.  If you want to stop illegal immigration, make E Verify the law of the land.  Do our elected have the courage to do that?  Will businesses support that?  If not, we do not effectively deal with the supply and demand issue and no wall is going to solve that dilemma.

That’s All Folks!:

Board of Director Meetings are held the 3^rd Tuesday of each month at 1000 Apollo Way in the Training Room from Noon – 1:30 pm.  If you would like to attend, you are welcome to do so, just RSVP ahead of time so we have enough food!  We want your input!

1-15-19 Meeting Highlights:  At the Annual Retreat, Keith Woods was kind enough to facilitate our meeting and we “looked back, looked around, and did a look ahead” with our 2019 Officers and Board Members.  We reviewed our original creation in 1972 as a local group of contractors and affiliates, how we filed with the State of California on May 5, 1976 with our original Founders:  Mario Ghilotti, Henry Ghilotti, Stephen Tyler, Arthur Siri, Jr., and Alfred Dalecio.  The filed “specific and primary” purposes were:

1. To establish and maintain high professional standards among construction contractors,
2. To encourage sound business methods, efficient harmony and cooperation between construction contractors, tending to raise the standard of construction workers generally in the business world,
3. To oppose unfair business practices,
4. To promote better relations between all the individuals and organizations with which construction contractors have business dealings,
5. To advocate, foster and promote constructive legislation which will insure the sound development of our State,
6. To make membership in this Association an assurance to the public of the skill, integrity and responsibility of its members, by requiring that those admitted to membership shall have established an honorable reputation on these fundamental points, and by making continuance of such membership in this Association depend upon the maintenance of such reputation, and upon fair dealings with its members and with the public and with the employees,
7. To promote and defend equitable labor practices between Management and Labor throughout the industry.

The Board felt that these principles written in 1976 are still relevant to the Association today.  The Board further chose to “audit” our Committees to make certain they all are functioning to support and enhance the primary purposes of the Association now and into the future.

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EVENT CALENDAR

ECA INSTALLATION DINNER– Saturday, Feb 2, 5:30pm-9:30pm at the Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club.  Dressy

ECA PUBLIC OFFICIALS NIGHT– Thursday, 4-18-19.  5:30-9pm at the Rohnert Park Community Center.  Casual/field attire.

FATHER’S DAY SHOW AND SHINE CAR SHOW– Julliard Park in Santa Rosa, Sunday, 6-16-19. 9am to 3:30pm.

ECA GOLF TOURNAMENT– 11am-7pm at the Windsor Golf Course, Friday, 7-26-19.

DAYS OF WINE AND DOZERS ANNUAL AUCTION-Saturday, September 28, 5:30pm – 11pm at the Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club.

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COUNTY BOARD OF SUPES CONSTRUCTION, PROJECT AND ENGINEERING AGENDA ITEMS!

This is a new section where I have culled construction and engineering info from the local County Supervisor Meetings (this week only Sonoma and Marin Counties as a trial) and regurgitated them here.  Let me know if this is useful to you!  I can do it for Lake, Mendo, Solano, and Napa Counties as well.

Mendo County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors

1-22-19 meeting of the Board of Supervisors-

They considered using private roads as emergency access/evacuation routes in the future.  Status-under further review.  Impact to ECA members-could result in future work upgrading these routes to accommodate fire engines and public evacuation vehicles.

file:///C:/Users/John/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/Agenda%20(1).pdf

Solano County Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission Agendas in January yielded nothing of interest to ECA membership

Lake County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors-very little-one item in the 1-15-19 BOS meeting agenda, Item 7.4 award to True North Constructors for Lower Lake Parks Maintenance Facility Project for $723,737. link

https://countyoflake.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=647330&GUID=E14478F9-6C95-4B43-839C-7E2C60F9CFE7

Napa County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors Meetings:

Planning Commission Mtg 1-16-19 had two items of interest to ECA Members:

Item 7A-Anthem Winery proposed new work including caves, tasting room, driveway (650 lf), bridge, parking, etc. at 3454 Redwood Road near Browns Valley Road.

Item 7B considered new Gateway Speculative Industrial Building of 68,677 sf at East Side of Gateway Road and West Side of State Route 29.  link

http://services.countyofnapa.org/AgendaNet/GranicusMeetingDocuments.aspx?id=5719

Seminar and Workshop News

*Safety “Kickoff” class is being scheduled soon for end of February-date TBA

*Safety Classes Considered:  Family First Aid and CPR.  Kids are encouraged to come to this Saturday workshop while parents can get their certifications renewed family members younger than 15 are free.  Ensure your entire family safety by joining this unique opportunity.

Traffic Control Class:

ECA COMMITTEE NEWS

Specification Committee-Chair is Dave Weller of RCX.  Meets the 3^rd Thursday of each month at 1000 Apollo Way in the Training Room from 4pm-5:30pm.  Accomplishments:  1.  The Santa Rosa City Council now allows the Board of Public Utilities to make decisions on City Standards rather than the City Council.  2.  Fire lines installed on private lands used to require specialty design professionals to deal with cathodic protection design as well as installation.  This proved expensive and cumbersome and the Fire Marshall worked with the Spec Committee to simplify those requirements.  3.  Fire line bedding was required to be pea gravel and the ECA Spec Committee worked with City of SR officials and the Fire Marshall to change the requirement to a more standardly available bedding mix.  4.  Bottom dumps were not allowed for asphalt delivery and the City of Santa Rosa has agreed to consider allowing the less expensive delivery method on a case by case basis.  5.  The City of Santa Rosa has always had a “tighter” sand equivalent for base rock and the Spec Committee is working with the Materials and Testing Lab as well as quarries to standardize the base rock spec to align with Caltrans requirements.

Workforce Development Committee-Chair is open.  Meeting times TBD.  If you are interested in this Committee, please contact John at 707-483-0859

Community Relations Committee-Chair is Lacey Torkelson Smith of USI Insurance.  Meeting was held on 1-18-19 and the Committee decided to consider a preschool project that was destroyed in the Tubbs Fire and the owners need some help to rebuild near the Cricklewood restaurant site in Larkfield.  A full presentation will be made to the Board at the February Board meeting.

Government Affairs Committee-Chair is John Bly.  The Committee met (via email) on 1-10-19 and recommended endorsing and contributing $1,000 to Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins for her 2020 re election campaign.  The Board approved this recommendation on 1-15-19.  If you have any questions about this endorsement or the expenditure, please contact John at 707-483-0859.

Father’s Day Car Show Committee-Chair is Walt Turner.  Meetings are held the 3^rd Tuesday of each month at 1000 Apollo Way, 1:30 pm-2:30pm.

1-15-19 meeting was held and next meeting is scheduled for the 3^rd Tuesday of February at 1:30pm.

Passings:

With regret and condolences to the family, it is noted that Greg Soiland recently passed due to a tragic accident.  Much too young.  Greg will be missed.

ECA Newsletter

1-11-19

Making Granny Sexy?

Sonoma County lost over 5,000 homes in October of 2017 and there was already a housing shortage. Where is the “rebuild” almost 18 months later?

1525 permits have been issued

113 units have been completed

920 are under construction

200 more are approved to begin construction

430 lots have been sold

330 lots are listed for sale

The estimate is that 800 homes will be completed in 2019. Add those 800 to the 113 already completed, and we would be at 913 homes rebuilt. In December of 2019, that would be well over 2 years since the fires destroyed over 5,300 homes. Less than 20% rebuilt.

Both Sonoma County and the City of Santa Rosa have tried to encourage homeowners and contractors to include more Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU’s) in their plans. Although I do not have the numbers on the ADU’s currently under construction or approved, the word is from both the City and the County that ADU’s are not “catching on” as they had hoped.

Why not?

Although nobody is saying this publicly, I believe the “unsexiness” of ADU’s (also known as Granny units) has a great deal to do with the initial cost of building the ADU which makes for a long time for the homeowner/investor to recoup their capital outlay through the extra rent. Also, it is a tough choice for many to consider having someone, or some other family, living on their property in the ADU. With the uncertainty raised by some zealots trying to have rent control measures passed, that lends uncertainty to how much rent the homeowner/investor can charge in the future.

So how do we look as a community if this pace of rebuilding continues? Will it really take 10-12 years to just rebuild what we lost in the fires? Certainly, the pace in Coffey Park is moving along pretty nicely, but the pace of reconstructing in Fountaingrove has been delayed for a number of reasons. First-the extreme fire heat chemically changed the water service piping and left a dangerous byproduct, a carcinogen called benzene behind in the water distribution piping. Not only did this create anxiety amongst homeowners trying to decide whether to rebuild or not, but mortgage companies would not even lend on those properties until the City of Santa Rosa “cleaned up” the problem. Adding to those delays and uncertainties, the difficulties in building in Fountaingrove far exceed the level of building difficulty in the much more level Coffey Park area. Permit approval takes longer in the Fountaingrove area because homeowners are not as apt to rebuild the exact same house as before (which is more often the case in Coffey Park).

So, if it is going to take 10 years to rebuild Sonoma County fire damaged or destroyed homes, where are the folks going to live that we need for our businesses? Believe me, there are a lot of negotiations going on to build high density housing in many areas of Santa Rosa these days. The City realized their budget is trashed and they need housing and residents first and foremost to get fiscally healthy again.  There are plans to pre-approve projects in certain areas to streamline and provide a “time certain” approval date so investors and developers can fix their costs and their timing of starting an income stream.  Needless to say, this is a complex issue that has a lot of moving parts and our elected have a lot of hard work in front of them. What can we do? Be ready to provide estimates to those that are getting entitlements and consider adding an ADU to your existing home. Rental prices are high and loan rates are still relatively low. The City and County will try to accommodate an ADU right now more than ever before.

Make Granny sexy again! Build Granny units!

That’s All Folks!

John

ECA Newsletter

12-5-18

John’s Soapbox-

Housing and Workforce Development

As we close out 2018 and look forward to 2019, we have survived the fires, beat back the attempt to repeal SB1, and have a whole slew of very progressive new electeds taking office in California, and in our local areas. It seems as if a “Progressive Wave” of ballots came in and created some changes that some will applaud, and some will fear as we await the new Governor Newsom agenda. From the ECA’s perspective, I will try to keep you all tuned in to many of the subcategories that will affect your businesses in the future (like safety, disaster preparedness and the opportunities presented to ECA members regarding doing emergency work, air quality, storm water regs, permitting issues for grading and building, funding for road repairs, infrastructure upgrades, etc. etc. The one thing that is not much of an issue, is the dollars that will be supplying our roadwork for the foreseeable future. We have dollars coming in from Regional Measure 3 and Senate Bill 1 and we will be on the last few years of the Measure M funding that helped widen Highway 101 to this point. There will be discussion regarding the extension and modification of Measure M soon, but that is for another Newsletter.

One thing is becoming very clear locally-we cannot separate our housing crisis from our workforce development crisis. In my humble opinion, housing and workforce development have become the topics of most importance to ECA Membership. In attending the various workshops and meetings I go to, I continue to hear stories about bigger companies not being able to retain their employees due to the high cost of housing, or the short supply of housing, or both. When we find our main companies having trouble retaining employees, much less attracting new employees to come and work in this area, we have a real crisis on our hands. We kind of knew that prior to the fires of 2017, and those fires destroying some 5,300 homes only brought the problems into sharper focus for us.

When we talk about workforce development, we all know what that means. Companies like yours have to infuse their workforce with young and talented workers that will eventually replace the baby boomers who are aging. When your firm is signatory to the various trade unions, the problem is slightly less than the problem that faces those companies that do not have a ready-made list of potential workers to come in when you hit that big project. Even those firms that are signatory need to keep hiring office and professional staff that are not going to be supplied by the labor organizations. In order to retain what you have, and attract what you need, companies have to really look hard at themselves to recognize how their firm is a standout from the other firms that are all seeking the same talent pool of young people to keep sustaining their operation. In the coming months, I think we need to be looking at some workshops that do just that-help firms evaluate their core culture and how young “prospects” view those core cultures as a possible career choice.

Along with a company’s core culture, comes the decisions by young people and young families as to the economics of living in Sonoma County, Marin County, Napa County or Solano County and working where they live. Many will opt to live in less expensive Lake or Mendo Counties and commute in to work. Quality of life issues then arise for that worker as the commute is wearing on a young father or mother. Their decision might be quite different if relatively affordable housing existed for them in Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Solano Counties. That is why I link the two issues together and they can hardly be separated.

To develop or even retain your workforce, those folks need a place to live. I believe it is our task at the ECA to become even more involved in both of those areas of interest, and support or lead as best we can, our members to a better solution than exists in 2018.

We will be holding our Strategic Planning Meeting to set our path for the next year on January 15 with our new President Kevin Ghilotti and our new Board of Directors. I (and they), welcome any feedback you might have as to what you think the relevant issues are that we should be focused on in 2019 moving forward. Please send me or Kevin and email or pick up the phone and let us know what is important to you. After all, this is simply one man’s opinion that housing and workforce development should be front and center for the ECA firms. This is your organization-we are only here on your behalf.

Let us know so we can have a spirited discussion on January 15. Please.

That’s All Folks

John Bly

ECA Newsletter

11-9-18

Now that the elections are over (almost-several races too close to call, including the City of SR 4^th District between Fleming and Beattie), I get to write about other things than politics.

Traffic and Roads:

Annual GMM:

On Tuesday, at the ECA’s Annual General Membership Meeting being held at Epicenter on Coffey Lane, 12-1:30pm, we will have the Director of Transportation and Roads for the County of Sonoma, Johannes Hoevertsz, discussing the future of Sonoma County’s 1384 miles of roads. I would imagine this presentation will be specific as to what roads will be addressed first and when. Following Johannes’s presentation, we will hear from Jason Nutt, the Director of Transportation and Public Works for the City of Santa Rosa. Jason will also talk specifically about what we can expect with the funding streams in place as we move forward from our devastating fires of last year and the uncertainty of funding due to the Prop 6 effort to do away with SB1 taxes. This should be a very informative presentation and I hope you all can join us. Also, keep in mind, at the Annual GMM, the one-time members get to vote is on Tuesday as Members vote on the 2019 Board of Directors.

Highway 37 Update:

Although the Highway 37 process has taken a lot of time (I started attending meetings on the future of Hwy 37 eight years ago!), the State Route 37 Policy Committee (consisting of MTC and Caltrans as well as Sonoma, Marin, Solano, and Napa County and their respective Transportation Authorities) is getting quite close to “action”. I attended the meeting in Vallejo on Thursday, 11-8-18, and was able to see a vote to spend some of the first real funding from RM3 (the bridge toll hike) for Planning and Design of some important upcoming projects. Suzanne Smith of Sonoma County Transportation Authority prepared and got approved the following spending plan:

Solano Transportation Authority-$15 million for the Segment C-Fairgrounds Interchange improvements

Sonoma County Transportation Authority-$20 million for the Interim Segment B PAED and PS&E work for Highway 37 (Segment B is the stretch from Highway 121 to Mare Island)

Sonoma County Transportation Authority-$4 million for the PAED for Highway 37/121 Intersection Improvements

Transportation Authority of Marin-$3 million for Segments A1 and A2 Levee Study on Hwy 37

Sonoma County Transportation Authority and Transportation Authority of Marin jointly-$58 million for Segments A & B Improvements for Hwy 37

This is a huge step forward. If you recall, when MTC Regional Measure 3 was passed, it had allocated some $100 million for studies and design work to fix Highway 37. This action taken on 11-8-18 is the first allocation of funding from those RM3 dollars. Things will not move “quickly” in Contractor time now, but they will move forward with the needed design for both an interim fix (construction estimated to start in 2022) to the most congested 10 mile segment (from Sonoma Raceway to Mare Island) and also work on design and studies to do the ultimate fix to Highway 37 moving forward over the next 25 years.

The Committee also heard reports on the considered interim approach to the 10 mile Segment B (from Sonoma Raceway to Mare Island) which is construction of a 3^rd lane and a movable barrier that would allow 2 lanes heading west in the morning commute, then the movable barrier would switch in late morning so there would be 2 lanes heading east in the afternoon commute. This interim fix is estimated to cut 80 of the 100 minutes out of a typical commuter’s drive time on Hwy 37.

I would be remiss if I did not talk briefly about how complex this Hwy 37 “solution” is. No less than 5 different alignments have had to be studied and vetted in order to determine the best route and the best way to design the final roadway. To refresh your memories, not only is the commute from Mare island to Hwy 121 (the 10 mile stretch referred to as Segment B) a 2-lane nightmare for traffic congestion, but the presumed sea level rise anticipated to be some 55” over the next 40-50 years puts large segments of the existing road under water. Private land is farmed on either side of Hwy 37 and levees are maintained by a wide variety of folks including the Sonoma Land Trust, private owners, Marin County, Sonoma County, and Caltrans. The five different alignment studied were:

1. The existing alignment-just raise the road with fill and widen the road. Estimated cost $2.4 Billion
2. The existing alignment-parts get raised, and part would be built as a causeway or bridge. Estimated cost $2.9Billion
3. Move existing road to the North along the railroad tracks which would be a circuitous route but would bypass (inland) much of the sea level problems. Estimated cost $3.3 Billion
4. Move the alignment to along the San Pablo Shoreline and build it as a causeway the whole way. Estimated cost $2.9 Billion
5. Finally, move the alignment into San Pablo Bay, a direct line from San Rafael to Mare Island that would all be a causeway. Estimated cost $3.3 Billion.

Although a formal decision has not yet been made on the 5 alternatives, there was a motion to not spend any more money considering the Northern Alignment (#3 above). I would guess the preferred solution will be #1 or #2 above as they each would involve procuring less acreage than the other alternatives considered.

There was also a study presented on who the commuters were. This was very interesting, and I am not going to waste your time going over it, but the detail was impressive, and the bottom line is that commuters start and end in diverse locations which will make it very difficult to provide public transit that would work for the bulk of the commuters. The idea considered was to understand the commuter trips, so dollars would not be spent unnecessarily to try and publicly move these drivers if not feasible.

It may have taken a few years to get here, but this group deserves accolades for working together amongst themselves and also with the various environmental stakeholders along Hwy 37. Everyone seems to be getting along and the Chairperson of the Committee is none other than David Rabbitt from Petaluma-a staunch friend to the ECA.

If anybody is interested in looking at the staff reports and consultant reports that went into this or other meetings on Hwy 37, contact me please.

That is all for now-next week I can start writing some more opinionated columns as we move towards the end of 2018.

That’s All Folks

John’s Soapbox

John’s Soapbox

11-5-18

Enough Already!

I promise I will do good things for my family

I promise I will treat my employees well

I promise I will give back to my Community

I promise to Vote-

That’s It! I knew I had a final reminder to send out. Tomorrow is November 6, 2018. We need to do the following: urge our kids to vote, urge our wives/hubbies to vote, make sure our employees have time and are urged to vote, and make sure we vote to best benefit our community!

With that reminder out of the way, this is the last time (I promise) I will remind everyone who and what the ECA has endorsed for tomorrow:

State Propositions:

ECA Endorses a No on Prop 6 Position

No other endorsements for State Propositions

State Electeds:

ECA does not endorse any other State candidates

City of Santa Rosa Measures:

ECA Endorses a Yes on Measure N

ECA does not endorse any other City of Santa Rosa Measures

City and Town Council Races:

 Cloverdale: ECA Endorses Gus Woltor (incumbent), Jason Turner and Marta Cruz for City Council

Cotati: ECA Endorses Mark Landman (Incumbent) for City Council

Healdsburg: ECA Endorses Evelyn Mitchell for City Council

Petaluma: ECA Endorses Mike Harris for Mayor and ECA Endorses David King (Incumbent), Michael Regan, and Kevin McDonnell for City Council

Rohnert Park: ECA Endorses Pam Stafford (Incumbent), and Susan Adams for City Council

Santa Rosa: ECA Endorses Tom Schwedhelm (Incumbent) (District 6), John Sawyer (Incumbent) (District 2), Dorothy Beattie (District 4) for City Council

Sebastopol: ECA Endorses Patrick Slayter (Incumbent), and Una Glass (Incumbent) for City Council

Sonoma: ECA has no endorsements

Windsor: ECA Endorses Dominic Foppoli (Incumbent), Mark Millan (Incumbent), and Ester Lemus for Town Council.

Marin County Supervisor:

ECA Endorses Damon Connally

Santa Rosa Junior College Trustees:

ECA Endorses Jeff Kunde for Trustee

That’s All Folks!

I promise to write something more interesting after November 6!!!

John Bly

ECA Newsletter

10-25-18

John’s Soapbox

Public Policy Institute Latest Polling

Are you sick of polling yet? One of the most highly respected and accurate (traditionally) polling groups just came out with the results of many of the State Measures that could affect our ECA members dramatically. In the interest of “knowledge is power”, I am providing the polling information to you with some “editorializing” liberty as this is an opinion piece!

From the San Jose Mercury News, there is “breaking news” on several of the “big-issues” on the State Ballot:

1. Gavin Newsom vs Cox-Newsom holds an 11-point lead over Cox with only 2 weeks to go. This does not look good for anybody in the State concerned about the cost of providing health care to everybody in the State, regardless of whether they are here legally or illegally. Gavin has come out in the past touting health care for all even at the cost of $10,000 additional for all State taxpayers. Watch for increases in business taxes to pay for Newsom’s generous efforts.
2. Dianne Feinstein is 16 points ahead of Kevin de Leon. At 85 years old, Feinstein is the oldest Senator. Folks obviously do not care about her husband’s real estate company being handed a multi billion “no-bid” contract to sell off post office real estate lands and buildings. I guess nobody cares because it is obvious that the decision to give her hubby the biz was totally fair under Obama’s watch. Right—
3. Prop 6 shows 41% favoring, and 48% opposing the repeal of the 12 cents per gallon fuel tax which was passed by the Legislator in June of 2017. With 11% listed as “undecided”, there is still cause for hope or concern depending on your perspective. I would point folks in the direction of acknowledging the projects that are being funded by those tax dollars and what good will come from those projects in relieving traffic congestion, improving safety of our roads and bridges, and the employment of local workers that continue to fuel the economy. With Prop 69 passed that prevents the State from diverting our tax dollars, this is about the best bet we can ever hope for for a fair user tax to fix roads and bridges.
4. Rent Control-Prop 10 is the biggest mover in the latest polling-36% favor it, while 60% oppose it. In my humble opinion the repeal of Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995 (which prohibits California cities from limiting how much landlords can charge for rent for units built after 1995, failing to pass is a good thing for our economy and our industry. Prop 10 is an ill-advised attempt at social engineering that the voters seem too smart to have rammed down their throats. Hope the results hold!

This latest poll asked 1704 Californians by both land and mobile phone calls, in both English and in Spanish, how they would vote. The sampling error is plus or minus 3.3%. To access the article, click here.

To access an op-ed piece about the polling by Dan Walters, click here.

That’s All Folks

John Bly

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Local Races:

In Santa Rosa, Dorothy Beattie would make a great City Council person. Please support Dorothy if you live in the Fountain Grove, Chanate, Montecito Hts areas.

For SRJC Trustee, Jeff Kunde is really running hard and Is the ECA choice for your vote.

In Santa Rosa, despite the opposition from Jack Buckhorn and Greg Sarris from the Graton Federaton Tribe, Measure N would do a lot of good for housing without costing too much. ECA recommends a Yes Vote on Meaure N

Mike Harris for Mayor of Petaluma. He is a good friend of business and construction.

ECA also Endorses David King (Incumbent), Michael Regan, and Kevin McDonnell for City Council.