Greetings!

7-7-15

Jobs Available-Are there Workers to Fill Them?

As this Country and our region continue to crawl out of the economic downturn we had for several years, one thing is becoming very apparent-we cannot continue to grow without adding more workers to our workforce.

This is an obvious problem. But it is also one that the construction industry is not vigorously recognizing nor acting on. Construction unemployment is at an all-time low right now, and I continue to get phone calls and emails asking if I know of workers with some sort of skills or another. Construction companies are struggling to find enough workers to fulfill the work they are currently obligated or under contract to perform. Yet bidding opportunities continue to present themselves. What is a company to do? It is getting to a point where the amount of dollars you offer a new employee is a moot point. Poaching of skilled workers is getting epidemic and overpaying is routine.

It used to be that public agencies were the only recourse for a few years during the downturn. Now, however, public agencies are scrambling to fill positions being made available because of the swollen General Fund budgets. Attrition of baby boomers hitting retirement age without a corresponding number of young people entering the market is causing a shortage of workers on top of an already existing shortage of workers.

The AGC recently published an article you may find of interest-it is available here–

So what is the solution? The solution was to expose high school students to the options available to them in the construction industry about 5-8 years ago. It is compelling to understand that many students decide to not pursue the construction industry because the options are not well known to students, and the work is generally thought of as too hard, too dirty, too dangerous, too low paying, or some combination of all of the above reasons to not go in that direction for most high schoolers.

The ECA would like to try and help our members find employees. In order to have this as a possibility, we need some more information. Please consider accessing a short survey that you can find by clicking this link—

Perhaps we can help by getting information out to high schools, Job Links, and other areas that are not your traditional means of finding employees.

We are here to help-please help us by filling out the survey!

That’s All Folks!

John Bly

6-11-15

Do We Need To Speak Louder To Our Electeds As To What Most Important Issues?

With $423 million dollars of General Fund expenditures earmarked to be spent from the County annual budget of $1.43 billion for fiscal year 2015-2016, there is a battle brewing over ideology of how to prioritize many of those millions of taxpayer dollars. Do the Supervisors prioritize in a pragmatic manner and pay down pension obligations and repair roads that will cost a lot more if not repaired now, or do they opt to spend in an ideological manner to ostensibly improve people’s lives in Sonoma County? Supervisors need to maintain core functions such as public safety, street and road maintenance, sanitation and water service. True enough. But the County Supervisors also have the ear of many that want to improve the lives of those that are disadvantaged in some way by spending more on homeless services, subsidizing affordable housing, raising the minimum wage, creating a separate coroner’s office from the Sheriff’s office and installing a system of auditing the decisions made by the Sheriff’s department, and by creating preschool programs for all 3-4 year olds in the County. Although I am certain you share my thoughts that these are all admirable and desirable, pragmatism rules in my “real world”. If the Supes are not helping create jobs and opportunities for those firms that are “job creators”, I do not think they should be diverting funds to those causes until they have taken care of the core responsibilities of the County services. Many of the areas the County will be debating expenditures; have long been the domain of Federal and State programs. We will see spirited discussions about this next week.

How can we affect the outcome? By talking to the Supes (that is what you pay me for!). Also, by letting your voice be heard-I suggest you access the Press Democrat poll at the end of this article and take the 1 minute poll that will let the Supes know how thousands of people feel about how their tax monies will be spent. link

My opinion, which I am entitled to write here in this little “soapbox” column, is that the Supervisors are trying to be too many things to too many special interest groups at the expense of keeping up with their core responsibilities. Now that Measure A has failed, I want to see the Supervisors concentrate on spending more on roads and less on homelessness and minimum wage increases. As for increasing their staff by expanding fire services in the County-Nope! As far as hiring folks to administer to a separate County Coroner’s office and an auditor system to rule over the Sheriff’s Department-I say NOPE! As to subsidizing affordable housing-I cautiously say “I AM WILLING TO LET YOU TRY SPENDING A LITTLE TO SEE IF YOU CAN HELP JUMPSTART THE HOUSING MARKET”. As for universal preschool care-I say NICE IDEA BUT NOPE!. As for increasing the minimum wage for thousands of workers-I SAY NICE IDEA BUT NOPE! As for increasing pension obligation payments and increasing funds for road repair – I SAY LOUDLY AND CLEARLY -HELL YES!

So you know how I took the survey, now you can be counted too. Click on the link above and let your voice be heard!

You can say what you like by taking the poll. The other fun thing is that you can see how the polling progress is going-what are the other voters thinking?

Enjoy being heard!

That’s All Folks!

John Bly

Greetings!

Measure A Wrap-up

Although I am thoroughly disappointed and frustrated that the voters took their anti-pension anger out on Measure A on Tuesday, I also have another emotion that dominates my thinking today-

Pride.

I could not be prouder of our organization. I was hired 5 ½ years ago to bring the ECA to the table on local issues, and to have a voice that advocated for our industry. My marching orders were that they wanted local politicians to recognize the ECA and what we stood for upon sight. I was paid to make certain ECA member interests were represented and known to local electeds.

There was no other group that did more to promote and support the effort to get Measure A passed than the ECA. We were asked to participate at every step of the way on Measure A, and we responded. Our membership raised a ton of money, helped organize a “hot laps” at Sonoma Raceway, and we hosted several lunch meetings to discuss, educate, and support a way to get our roads fixed before they completely crumble.

Although we were not successful, we were THERE. You hired me so ECA would be a PLAYER, and the ECA was the major PLAYER. But here we are in the “backwash” of the resounding smack down by the voters on the proposed tax Measure A-Where do we go from here?

I have a few thoughts. First and foremost, I think you ECA members deserve a short version of lessons learned from Measure A:

When first approached, myself and about 20 other “leaders” were asked how to best fund the County Long Range Transportation Plan the County adopted.

Nearly unanimously, the “leaders” recommended to the County that they proceed with a specific tax measure that clearly and safely, put the tax revenues in a “lock box” for road repairs only-no bus passes, no nothing else.

Once the County decided to ignore we “leaders” and proceed with a “general tax”, utilizing a very creative “Measure A + Measure B” approach, I felt strongly that was the wrong approach. I appealed to our membership and raised money for a poll in September of 2014 that showed the County was wrong with their approach. The “A + B” approach was dropped. If you ever want to see this poll just ask. The County chose to go with a more simple general tax measure in October of 2014, and decided a special election was a better opportunity for the voters to understand and react favorably to the measure so it was decided to move forward in the Spring of 2015 with a general tax measure (despite the leader’s warnings that the public did not trust the County with a general tax measure). We were “along for the ride” at this point.Inclusion of “Public Safety” in the ballot language was, in retrospect, a huge mistake.  Although inclusion of the words was innocent and had nothing to do with public pensions, it was a “lightning rod” for those folks pissed off about publicly guaranteed pensions. Again-the opinion was voiced that the inclusion of “public safety” was a wrong move and the County decided to include it anyway. The lack of early reach out to City Council members by our Supes hurt Measure A as well. We needed to have the Cities on board, and the Cities needed the Supes to talk to them. Despite continuous pressure put on me to the County Supes, they did not reach out to the Cities until March or April of 2015. By that point, the Cities felt the County was trying to shove the tax measure down their throats rather than collaborate and get support from City Councils. The private side is pissed they get asked to pay more, while they see no real concessions from police, fire, and other publicly funded and guaranteed pensions.

So here we are with no additional funding for road repair forthcoming. What is the County going to do? Alarmingly, I see where the County Supes are already clamoring for their “special interest” projects that all cost money. I fear that the increase in general fund revenue the County is getting will quickly be earmarked for the following “wish list” items for the Supes:

1. Shirlee Zane wants “Affordable Housing subsidies for homeless and lower income folks,
2. Susan Gorin wants to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour,
3. James Gore continues to say he is supportive of road repair,
4. David Rabbitt continues to say he is supportive of road repair, and
5. Efren Carrillo wants to see the County subsidize preschool education programs.
6. All seem to want to implement the task force measures recommended by the Andy Lopez tragedy and those measures cost money and need new hires.

Bottom line-we should be very concerned about the direction the Supes seem to be heading in. More programs which will cost more money while the roads problem still exists.

While we are not going to be promoting another sales tax measure anytime soon, we should take some action to insure the Supes do not forget the fact that there was no argument from the voters on June 2 that our roads need work. The voters simply said “you Supes have enough money to fix the roads, manage it better”. If you feel, as I do, that the Supes are about to create even more programs that cost money while not dealing properly with road repairs, then you should join me in a continuous letter writing campaign to our Supes. I urge you to write them once a month! Remind them our roads are turning to gravel and they should not be spending money on new programs unless and until they deal with the roads problem they have been lacking in dealing with for the last 20 years.

Please join me in advocating for local jobs and repair of our roads. Write often to your Supervisor:

1st District, Susan Gorin – Susan.Gorin@sonoma-county.org

2nd District, David Rabbitt – David.Rabbitt@snoma-county.org

3rd District, Shirlee Zane – Shirlee.Zane@sonoma-county.org

4th District, James Gore – James.Gore@sonoma-county.org

5th District, Efren Carrillo – Efren.Carrillo@sonoma-county.org

I take away from this disappointing voting result on Measure A tremendous gratitude for the firms and our ECA Board of Directors who supported Measure A and gave me the marching orders to make it happen. The Measure failed but it was not the fault of the ECA that we failed. We did a lot and we gained a ton of respect from everyone for stepping up.

That’s All Folks!

John Bly

John’s Soapbox:

5-26-15

Measure A News:

As of May 20, 2015, the County of Sonoma had received over 35,000 ballots. This indicates that this special election will have around a 40% voter response. That is about what we on the “steering committee” have always believed. Despite numerous “Letters to the Editor” that were negative to Measure A, City Councils (Santa Rosa and Petaluma), have endorsed the measure. Many Business Associations have endorsed Measure A including NorthBay Leadership Council, Sonoma County Alliance, NORBAR, North Coast Builders Exchange, Engineering Contractors Association, and the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce. Several Environmental Groups have endorsed Measure A including Sonoma County Conservation Action. Several Labor Groups have endorsed Measure A including Operating Engineers Local 3, IBEW, and the NorthBay Labor Council. Several other groups of note that have endorsed the Measure include California Alliance For Jobs, United Contractors, SEIU, Santa Rosa Fire Fighters Association, and SOS Roads. We have also received endorsements from several newspapers including the Press Democrat.

Although none of us like taxes, the ECA membership and their employees, families, and friends, should turn out strongly in favor of Measure A. Although it is listed as a General Tax, it has been discussed that should it pass, all of the Supervisors individually favor signing a contract with the Sonoma County Transportation Authority to administer the tax revenues. The Supes have also indicated their willingness to undergo an annual audit, and have a citizens oversight committee review and verify that the tax revenues are going where the Supes say they are going-to fix our roads!

Many of our members have stepped up and contributed to the campaign which has costs for mailers, media and campaign consultants, canvassers and phone bank labor, and polling costs.

With all of those groups backing Measure A, how can this Measure fail? If we do not support it with our votes. If you do not trust the statements I have made to you, I urge you to call your Supervisor and discuss this with him/her.

Here are some recent articles for your reading pleasure:

From the North Bay Business Journal-click here for article-

From the Argus Courier-click here for argument in favor of Measure A
From the Press Democrat-click here for editorial

From the Healdsburg Tribune-click here for several op ed pieces
From the Sonoma Tribune-click here for op ed piece

Throughout this Measure A journey, your ECA has been a part of the process and that is what the Board of Directors hired me to do. I have been at the table the entire way.  Some of what the ECA and myself has done over the past year:

1. a)      Attended every Measure A meeting since June of 2014
2. b)      Been on weekly Measure A steering committee calls since December of 2014
3. c)       Been interviewed in two newspapers (Sonoma and Press Democrat)
4. d)      Had individual meetings with every Santa Rosa Council member to lobby for their endorsement of Measure A.
5. e)      Attended several County Supervisor Hearings and City Council meetings in Petaluma, Cloverdale, and Santa Rosa to support Measure A
6. f)       Attended numerous meetings in person
7. g)      Made several hundred fundraising and support phone calls in the last few weeks.
8. h)      Written Letters to the Editor in several newspapers
9. i)        Promoted Measure A on social media on numerous occasions

I want to thank all of those firms that have contributed dollars to this campaign.

I want to thank ECA members BoDean, Ghilotti Construction, Ghilotti Brothers, Team Ghilotti, Dutra Construction, R & S Trucking, Toby’s Trucking, Argonaut Construction, American Asphalt, Industrial Carting, Peterson, and Mike Brown Electric for all contributing dollars to the campaign.

I want to thank Sonoma Raceway and Syar for hosting the “Hot Laps” on Tuesday, 5-19-15.

The ECA has worked very hard on this measure, and now, it is all over but the final vote. Please make sure that all of the hard earned dollars and hours that many firms and individuals have expended do not go to waste-please turn out and Vote Yes on Measure A!

That’s all folks!

John Bly

John’s Soapbox:

Water Rights

So-are you in the camp that feels that as long as you can pay for your water that you are entitled to use as much as you want? Or are you in the camp that puts the 5 gallon bucket under the shower head and responsibly waters your plants with the “getting warm” shower supply?

Either way, there is a Change a Coming!

Your ECA is part of a group of folks that just met to discuss ways to conserve water in various sectors of our County. From manufacturing, housing, construction, agriculture, and landscaping-there is a passionate group of leaders that are going to agree on a contract to promote measurable savings in water usage. Why are we doing this? Several reasons:

1. If you recall, Petaluma came out with “Moratorium” knee jerk reaction to the drought recently.
2. Sonoma County Water Agency recently spoke publicly about how housing starts should not be held hostage by the claim there is not enough water in our area.
3. Agriculture and wine industry interests have been hard hit over their use of water from folks that are letting their lawns die to conserve and save money on their water bill.
4. Amy’s kitchen ran into a problem with water consumption and it may yet cost Sonoma County several hundred jobs and lots of General Fund revenues as they focus their expansion elsewhere.
5. Environmentalists want more water to flow to the Eel River rather than allow Sonoma County to continue diverting through the Potter Valley system to the Russian River.
6. Marin County folks who seem to think their reservoirs are full so they do not care much about water use right now, may be in for a big surprise when they need water from Sonoma County in the future due to biological restraints curtailing any more water coming out of the Dry Creek area to the Russian River.
7. Much needed housing starts are seeing protests from people who say we should not build any more housing while we are in a drought.

For all of these reasons, we have joined in a common alliance (unprecedented in anyone’s knowledge) consisting of leaders and electeds in Sonoma County. What we eventually accomplish will be a direct result of some of your feedback on water conservation efforts in the construction industry as well as “case stories” of water conservation measures like a recycled facility that washes trucks like Kadon Trucking.

More to come in mid-June!

That’s All Folks!

John Bly

4-30-15

John’s Soapbox:

Measure A Sales Tax Update:

Some of you may be tiring of news about the Measure A sales tax going before the voters in a few weeks. To those that are weary of it, I apologize.

Behind the scenes is an all-out effort by a lot of people to see that this Measure is passed and is administered properly. What is happening right now? Various Supervisors are meeting with local groups, debating with the Sonoma County Taxpayers Association (last night in Petaluma), and presenting information to various City Councils in Windsor, Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Sebastopol, Sonoma, and Cotati.

Supervisor Rabbitt has been a champion from the start. Chairwoman Gorin has been tirelessly working on this tax measure. We have precinct walkers going door to door, meetings with Newspaper editorial boards, and interviews being done on radio. Mailers have been sent out to prospective voters. Phone banks are active and are calling likely voters three times a week.

A MAJOR FUNDRAISER IS SCHEDULED FOR SONOMA RACEWAY FOR MAY 19 FROM 4:30-6:30PM. Through your campaign donation, you will be given the rare opportunity to ride the same track as legendary race car drivers!  See flyer for more information.

The ECA is asking for your help. Some firms have stepped up and written checks but the campaign “sprint” is in danger of being halted due to lack of funding. WE NEED YOU TO HELP OUT! Better roads are in everyone’s best interest, but none more so than our membership. The lack of our members stepping up and writing checks is causing other non-construction firms to sit on their wallets.

I CANNOT STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT RIGHT NOW. Others will follow. It is time to lead!

Please go to the Measure A website and write a check today.

That’s All Folks!

John Bly

Safety Classes

Competent Person – Trenching & Excavation

Wednesday, May 6
3-7 pm
flyer

Traffic Control / Flagger Training

Thursday, May 7
3-7 pm

flyer

CPR / First Aid

Wednesday, May 27
4 pm-7 pm

flyer

Father’s Day Car Show

Don’t miss the Father’s Day “Show & Shine” Car Show on Sunday, June 21 at Juilliard Park.  Free Admission!
Thank you Sponsors:

Premier – Advanced Auto Glass & Detail

DJ Sponsor – Westside Mechanical
Refreshment – Siri Grading & Paving
Bronze – R&B Company

To register a car click here!  To Sponsor here!

4-17-15

John’s Soapbox:

As the Measure A Sales Tax Initiative campaign enters the last few weeks, I felt it critical to get the most up to date information out to all of the ECA membership this week. Here are some very critical links/facts:

1. Measure A Ballot Language-

Shall the people of Sonoma County enact a one-quarter percent sales tax for general governmental purposes such as public safety, local roads and pothole repair, senior, student and veterans transit and other essential services within the nine cities and unincorporated area for 5 years with annual audits made available to the public showing how all revenue was spent the previous year?

2. Absentee Ballots Mailed Out: May 4, 2015
3. Voting Day:June 2, 2015
4. Ballot Argument In Favor Of Measure A –  Link
5. Ballot Argument Against Measure A – Link
6. Rebuttal to Argument Against Measure A – Link
7. Supports: Link
8. Vote on Measure A website
   9.  Paycheck Envelope Stuffers For Your Employees
   10.  Newspaper Articles:
   a.  SR Council:Link
   b.  Vets: Link
   c.  County Spends On Roads: Link
   d.  Supes Better Do What they Say: Link
   e.  Petaluma Council Endorses: Link
9. Sonoma County Long Range Road Plan- Link
10. Contribute To Passage Of Measure A Sales Tax Initiative: link

Campaign Status:

Voters likely to vote have been identified. Walkers have started walking precincts. Mailers are being reviewed currently and a series of six mailers are planned to be sent out to those likely to vote. Phone banks have been set up, and callers have been hired to make campaign calls. We currently have two consultants (Rob Muelrath, and Grant Martin) working on the campaign. We have hired a campaign manager, Maddy Hirschfield and she is working full time on the campaign. Polling has been completed with over 600 respondents and the polling results have been used in crafting the campaign messaging. Various organizations have been contacting their membership and urging support and urging them to get their employees out to vote.

To My ECA Brothers and Sisters-I have been working hand in hand with the Supervisors and many City Council members for a long time on this issue. This is our BEST chance of getting funding for our roads. It is a fact that when the taxpayers step up and tax themselves to fix roads, the State and Fed funding agencies take notice and are much more likely to allocate funding for our area. You either trust me or you do not-I am telling you that the taxes collected WILL go towards roads and a small amount towards public transit as promised. If the ECA members do not step up and support and vote for this Measure, they will be hard pressed to find support by business and electeds to try this again. There is a massive effort going on that you may not see, and I have tried to include enough information for you to see the effort, but that effort does not come free. I want to thank those that have already donated, and urge all of you to get your voters to the polls and support this Measure. If you are able, we need your checks to fund the effort. Please send your contributions in ASAP to:

YES ON SONOMA COUNTY MEASURE A 2015

P.O. BOX 8249

SANTA ROSA, CA 95407

CAMPAIGN I.D. 1375382

CONTRIBUTIONS ARE NOT TAX DEDUCTIBLE

Thanks for reading my soapbox!

That’s All Folks!

John Bly

4-8-15

John’s Soapbox:

ECA NEEDS CONSTRUCTION WATER CONSERVATION IDEAS!

Recently, Governor Brown was on the news channels standing in a parched mountain meadow proclaiming emergency drought conditions are present in California and he is issuing an executive order to reduce water consumption by 25% immediately. Brown’s executive order is linked here for your convenience as it is far more intrusive than just cutting water consumption by 25%. There are 31 paragraphs included in the executive order, and here it is—

The local newspapers have had several articles in response to the Governor’s order, and local governments have had additional discussion, and Petaluma even floated the “moratorium on construction” concept for inclusion in their agenda for 4-6-15 (since moved to 4-27-15).

There are many ongoing discussions relating to water rights that have been taking place for years, and are currently getting some traction from the drought situation we are experiencing.   I will just list a few of them to get your attention:

1. A recent proposal to grant all of the Russian River water rights to the State for allocation and management, 2. Closing of the Potter Valley diversion through PG & E’s hydroelectric system (we get roughly 3% of the Eel River water through this diversion to the Russian River-not insignificant, but also not the draconian environmental disaster that the environmentalists have claimed for many years-the 3% water diversion is critical to Sonoma and Marin County water supplies). 3. Claims that wineries need to stop using water to frost protect and irrigate their grapes. 4. Halting new construction on all levels (moratoriums) that would increase water service connections.

I WOULD LIKE TO HEAD SOME OF THE WATER RIGHTS ISSUES OFF AT THE PASS BY PROPOSING NEW CONSTRUCTION CONSERVATION MEASURES REGARDING WATER USAGE.

We will continue to oppose (vigorously) any notion of a construction moratorium that might be supported by local municipalities. We also need to be leaders in conservation of water through construction methods being adopted.

Here is my ask: Can you provide me with a list of ideas that can be brought before local public officials that can be included into conservation efforts? For example, perhaps there is a better way to test water pipelines and chlorinate the same without having to use thousands of gallons of water to pressure test, then to do a chlorine injection method. Maybe testing of sewer manholes is required to be done by vacuum testing rather than an option of water testing. I am looking for these ideas to consolidate into a proposal by the ECA to local officials to consider. If all bidders and constructors are using the new methods, it does not create an undue hardship on we local ECA members-quite the opposite-the more local rules and regulations that are adopted that we ECA members understand thoroughly, the less outside contractors will feel comfortable coming in to bid our work!

Let the ECA lead by proposing conservation measures not currently required. Let us lead. I need your input. Please forward this newsletter soapbox to your estimators and project managers and crews and see if they can identify areas where the construction industry can conserve our water!

Thanks for reading my soapbox!

That’s All Folks!

John Bly

4-1-15

John’s Soapbox:

The Competitive Edge?

I spent an entire career chasing Public Works Projects. Finding out about them, bidding them, building them, and trying to find out how my competition built them when I was not low bidder. I thought I was pretty smart, and I had very good folks working with me to figure out how to comply with the local conditions and the requirements of the Contract Documents, but I did not always have the low number. I always had a sense I could have done better if I had had more time to bid the project.

Well the ECA is doing its best to give you Public Works estimators a “leg up” on the competition. We are hosting (along with our generous Event Sponsor Adobe Associates!), the “Capital Improvement Projects Outlook” seminar for our General Membership Meeting this Thursday, 4-2-15, 12 noon-1:30pm at Foxtail Golf Club banquet room. We have the City of Santa Rosa and the City of Petaluma presenting their outlooks on upcoming projects and how to get the best information in the quickest manner on all information related to Public Works projects in their Cities. This is not just for contractors-service suppliers are going to get information from this seminar as well!

Do you know if the Hearn Avenue overpass project will come out in 2015? Will Kawana Springs be extended to Farmers Lane? What is Petaluma expecting to do as to their Waterfront project for infrastructure work?

We all know how dangerous it is to bank too much on a singular project in an open bidding forum, but if you get to go to a lunch and find out something that a non-attendee does not know, and that knowledge puts you on to a track to gain a competitive bidding edge, do you think the $30 lunch might have value?

Here it is folks! If this is well received, we will hold other Capital Improvement lunches in Marin, Napa, and other areas to give our ECA brothers and sisters every advantage we can. Let’s retain our local tax dollars for our local contractors and suppliers!

Thanks!

Thanks for reading my soapbox!

That’s All Folks!

John Bly

General Membership Meeting

Capital Improvement Projects Outlook for City of Santa Rosa & City of Petaluma

Sponsor: Adobe & Associates

Wedgewood Wedding & Banquet Center at Foxtail Golf Club
100 Golf Course Drive, Rohnert Park, CA

Join us for lunch on
Thursday, April 2
noon-1:30 pm

Guests Speakers:

Jason Nutt, City of Santa Rosa
Director of Transportation & Public Works

Larry Zimmer P.E., City of Petaluma
Deputy Director, Public Works & Utilities

Flyer

3-9-15

John’s Soapbox:

Affordable Housing-Who Should Pay? My Spoapbox, My Opinion-The Cities and County Should Pay!

I attended a seminar last Thursday on Affordable Housing Incentives For Builders Workshop. No adopted incentives were presented, just a big question as to “who will subsidize affordable housing (defined as housing that requires less than 30% of your gross income) . Oh-by the way, subsidizing housing is estimated to cost between $80,000 and $100,000 per UNIT!

I understand that it costs a lot to live in Sonoma County. I also understand that wages in Sonoma County are not keeping pace with the cost of living here. To “punctuate” that problem, Linda Mandolini (guest speaker from Eden Housing), put up a slide that showed what percentage of gross income was needed for transportation plus housing costs. Check these numbers out:

Sonoma County 83%

Washington D.C. 78%

San Francisco 59%

Los Angeles 56%

New York City 43%

Now, admittedly, we are skewed because salaries in Sonoma County are woefully short of salaries in any of the other locales. But the illustration is provocative, alarming, and horrifying all at once. Is Sonoma County becoming, or has it become, a place where you can only make it if you are already owning a residence? If so, that is not healthy for any of us.

We all have heard that our young people graduating from Marin County Colleges and Sonoma County Colleges are choosing to live elsewhere (this phenomenon is referred to as “brain drain”). Let’s say you are starting a business or own a firm that has a chance to operate in Sonoma or Marin County, and you need young talent to fill your employee needs. Will you choose Sonoma County? Why would you?

In today’s (3-9-15) local paper, there is an article on a long dormant housing project on Sebastopol Road Link

that is now approved to start building houses. Yet-the planning department approved it as did the City Council, by allowing the developer to eliminate nearly all of the affordable housing units in an earlier design, and allowing the developer to pay “in lieu” fees of some $700,000 instead. Based on this development, just how committed the City of Santa Rosa is in developing “Affordable Housing” units? Not!

At last week’s seminar, our friend Tennis Wick at Sonoma County PRMD asked why builders were not building the 10,058 “Approved But Not Yet Built” housing starts? The answer my friend, is that housing developers are not going to build something that they will lose money on.

Here is my 2 cents worth. Instead of the Cities and Counties looking for a revenue source to fund affordable housing subsidies, how about cutting the fees to build those affordable housing units PLUS giving the developer the land to build on? Now you are talking! And here is my rhetorical question to our City officials-“WHY ARE YOU NOT DOING THAT?”

And my ECA friends, this is important to all of you for several reasons:

1. Businesses need workers to be available in order to want to move or stay here
2. We need entry level housing starts so those buyers can then move up and buy better housing in several years
3. We need to do something about homelessness rather than adding to the problem
4. Healthy communities have housing available for all sectors-we do not have that.

Thanks for reading my soapbox!

That’s All Folks!

John Bly