Partnership Air Quality Work Group seeks fair,
equitable Prop 1B funding for Valley
Expressing disappointment with the California Air Resources Board (ARB) staff’s recommended guidelines for implementation of the Goods Movement Emission Reduction Program, the Partnership’s Air Quality Work Group has written to ARB Chair Mary Nichols seeking a fair and equitable allocation of Proposition 1B trade corridor funding for the Valley.
“The Governor, ARB, the Air District, and the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley are all in agreement that 2024 is an unacceptable time line for attainment of 24-hour ozone standards in the Valley,” Partnership Board Chair Connie Conway wrote in the letter to Nichols. “Attainment by 2017 is one of the most important pledges Valley stakeholders have taken to date, and it was our understanding that you had joined us in that pledge. We hope it will be reflected in your Board’s decision on the allocation of this [Proposition 1B] funding.”
The San Joaquin Valley is one of four major “trade corridors” designated in Prop 1B. ARB staff has recommended that the state should allocate 25 percent of the funds in Prop 1B to the Valley. However, the Partnership’s Air Quality Work Group recommends that the San Joaquin Valley receives an allocation of at least 37 percent of the Prop 1B trade corridor funding based on the following information: 45 percent of all truck emissions in the four major corridors occur in the Valley, 14 percent of locomotive emissions occur in the Valley, and the unique challenges faced by the Valley and the South Coast.
The ARB meeting to consider the Proposition 1B: Goods Movement Emission Reduction Program has been scheduled for Feb. 28-29 in Sacramento.
The Air Quality Work Group’s calculations are included in the Prop 1B: Proposed Guidelines, ARB Letter to Chair Nichols, located on the Partnership Web site.
Partnership sustainability bill moves forward
Legislation authorizing the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley through 2019 on Jan. 8 passed the Assembly Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy Committee by a unanimous vote and now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 27, sponsored by Assemblymember Nicole Parra (D-Hanford), maintains the Partnership in statute until January 1, 2020, to allow it to carry out the 10-year Strategic Action Proposal. The Partnership will sunset on Dec. 31, 2008, without further action.
“The California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley has a track record of success. Placing the Partnership in statute would allow it to carry out the many goals in the Strategic Action Proposal, which outlines a 10-year time frame for action,” said Assemblymember Parra. “The longevity of the Partnership is important for many reasons, including the fact that it would allow the Partnership to leverage private for-profit and non-profit monies to improve the economic condition of the region and peoples of the San Joaquin Valley, a goal we can all agree on."
San Joaquin Valley Housing Trust selects officers
The San Joaquin Valley Housing Trust, a new organization designed to help Valley jurisdictions achieve their housing goals, has selected Merced County Supervisor Deidre Kelsey to serve as chair of the organization’s board of directors.
Other officials for the Trust are Carol Ornelas of Visionary Home Builders, vice chair; Michael Lane of Self-Help Enterprises Inc., secretary; and Sara Hedgpeth Harris of the Fresno Housing Alliance, treasurer. The board also made recommendations for the bylaws regarding structure of board, mission and role of the organization, and established a bylaw committee to revise the bylaws accordingly.
The Partnership’s Board of Directors in November approved in concept the formation of the Trust. At its quarterly meeting in November, the Partnership board invited the Trust’s planning group to form the board, approve the bylaws, and return to the Partnership Board with the bylaws and board roster at its February meeting.
The Trust’s board will be made up of representatives of all participating Councils of Governments, city staff professionals from each county, representatives of the Partnership work groups, and local housing industry and advocate organizations, and housing specialists. It will be supported through the California Coalition for Rural Housing.
The Trust is envisioned as a fund in which local jurisdictions that participate will build up and receive flexible funds that help them achieve their housing goals. The funds could be used for acquiring land, providing incentives to private developers, leveraging government programs and private loans, front-end master planning, and many more uses that would provide incentives for affordable housing to people who live and work in the Valley.
The Trust will work to obtain the Valley’s share of funding resulting from SB 586 (Dutton), which reserves $37 million of Prop 1C funds for housing trusts and $18.5 million for new housing trusts. Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB 586 into law on Oct. 13.
The organization will be the principal vehicle for implementing the values and goals of the Valley Blueprint process and the Partnership’s Land Use, Agriculture and Housing Work Group. The housing recommendations of the Partnership’s Strategic Action Proposal called for the formation of the regional housing trust.
Get more information on the work of the Partnership’s Land Use, Agriculture and Housing Work Group.
Governor appoints Andersen, Harper to Partnership board
Governor Schwarzenegger has appointed Lee Anderson, PhD, superintendent of schools for Merced County, and Corwin Harper, senior vice president and area manager for the Kaiser Foundation Hospital & Health Plan in the Central Valley, to the California Partnership for the San Joaquin County Board of Directors.
Andersen, 61, of Merced, has served as superintendent of schools for Merced County since 2002. He started with the Merced County Office of Education as a special education coordinator in 1978 and subsequently served as school principal at Schelby School from 1981 to 1984, special education principal/coordinator from 1984 to 1995 and special education department director from 1995 to 2000. He also served as assistant superintendent of schools for Merced County from 2000 to 2002. Prior to that, he served as an evaluation specialist for the Contra Costa County Office of Education from 1977 to 1978 and a school psychologist for the Orinda Union Elementary School District from 1973 to 1977.
Andersen is designated as the co-convener of the K-12 Education Work Group along with California Secretary of Education David Long. “Under the auspices of the Partnership, county offices and school districts are already working together to improve the achievement of students from non-English-speaking families, one of our most educationally challenged groups. We are also working together on increasing college going rates and closing the achievement gap for our students,” Andersen said.
Harper, 43, of Stockton, has served as senior vice president and area manager for the Kaiser Foundation Hospital & Health Plan in the Central Valley, which encompasses all of San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties, since 2005. From 1996 to 2005, Harper worked at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Fresno, where he held the positions of senior vice president/area manager, medical group administrator and director of hospital operations. He previously served as vice president of professional services at the Mount Sinai Hospital Medical Center in Chicago from 1994 to 1996.
From 1990 to 1994, Harper worked for the U.S. Army Medical Department at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where he held the positions of healthcare systems planner and student/administrative resident. Prior to that, he served as company commander for the Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon, Georgia, from 1987 to 1990. Harper serves on the executive committee of the Stanislaus Alliance and is a member of the Hospital Council of Central California, the San Joaquin Business Council and the National Association of Health Services Executives. He is an America College of Healthcare Executives fellow.
Traffic congestion, highway safety
and air quality conference set for Fresno
The City of Fresno, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, and Operation Clean Air will sponsor “Traffic Congestion, Highway Safety and Air Quality Conference: Short Sea Shipping in California and the West Coast,” on Monday, Jan. 28, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., in Fresno. The event will be held at the Fresno Convention Center, Exhibit Hall, 700 M. St.
In short sea shipping, cargo now being transported between two or more ports by truck would be transferred to seagoing vessels. The concept is specifically designed to reduce the diesel emissions from trucks transporting cargo between the Log Angeles and San Francisco basins and the Sacramento to Modesto corridor to southern California.
The conference will include panels on: preliminary feasibility assessment of short sea shipping on the West Coast, moderated by Seyed Sadredin of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District; air quality, moderated by Hal Bolen of Operation Clean Air; ports, moderated by Eric Neanbros of Gladstein, Neandros & Associates; traffic congestion, moderated by Jim Bourgart of the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency; current models, moderated by Ron Silva of Westar Transport; and next steps, moderated by Pete Weber of the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. Partnership Board member Sunne McPeak also will be a member of the next steps panel. .
Deputy Secretary John Hummer of the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency will be the guest speaker at lunch.
The conference is free, but all attendees must register. For more information or to register for the conference, visit Operation Clean Air - The San Joaquin Valley Air Initiative.
Partnership Board to hold quarterly
meeting in Fresno on Feb. 8
The California Partnership Board of Directors will hold its quarterly meeting at the Downtown Club, 2120 Kern St., Fresno, on Friday, Feb. 8, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The meeting agenda and other information will be available soon on the Partnership Web site at www.sjvpartnership.org.
Future 2008 Partnership Board meetings will be held May 16 in Madera County, Sept. 12 in Merced County, and Dec. 12 in Stanislaus County.
Partnership launches new, improved Web site
The new Partnership Web site is built in a content management system that will allow individual work groups more access and control to communicate their work and events.
The individual work group sections have been expanded from one page to several pages, including action plan, announcements, and document library pages. Other sections have been expanded as well. An event calendar has been added, and the overview chart is now interactive. On the home page, individual work group animations load randomly, so visitors are exposed to a different work group each time they visit.p>
Visit the Web site at www.sjvpartnership.org to check out the improvements.
Meet the Board:
Leroy Ornellas, true son of San Joaquin County
Football star Keena Turner was born there. Hip-hop musician MC Hammer lives there. Leroy Ornellas was born and still lives there. Where? Tracy, Calif., home to 79,000 residents, located in the southwest portion of San Joaquin County. That’s where three generations of Ornellases have been dairy farmers since the 1930s.
Ornellas is in his fifth year as supervisor of San Joaquin County’s fifth district. He is the board’s representative to the San Joaquin County Agricultural Advisory Board of which he also was a member.
In 2008, Ornellas begins his rotation as chair of the San Joaquin Air Pollution Control District after one year on its board.
He is founding member of the San Joaquin County Citizens Land Alliance, which advocates for rights of private property owners. Ornellas was honored in 1995 as Agriculturist of the Year by the city of Tracy and the Tracy Chamber of Commerce.
In January 2007, Ornellas was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, which supports his efforts on behalf of agriculture.
As an agriculturist, Ornellas is concerned that our natural resources are “handled with care.” As a member of the Partnership, he has the opportunity to be involved in its six initiatives, particularly to implement an integrated framework for sustainable growth which includes water issues.
“I have taken particular interest in the care of our water supply and hope the Partnership can have an impact on a good-quality and fair-balanced water supply for all Californians,” Ornellas said. “This is a complex and difficult issue; yet I believe it can be resolved as long as each region’s concerns are treated with mutual respect.”
Ornellas has other high hopes for the Valley’s future as a result of Partnership actions.
“I would like to see increased educational opportunities for a better-educated Valley population as well as good-paying jobs for our residents,” he said, “and cleaner air but with policies that are not detrimental to the Valley economy.
“I hope we can help continue the Valley’s world dominance in agriculture production, at all levels.”
As a member of the first Tracy Tomorrow Task Force, Ornellas has presented testimony to various legislative bodies which decide outcomes of land use plans and agricultural issues. Now, as a Partnership board member, he joins others with the same purpose and the chance to impact the Valley’s future.
“Getting to know the leaders of other California regions and the issues they face has been most rewarding,” Ornellas said. “As we get better acquainted and educated on each other’s issues, I hope we can come together as ‘one voice’ to exert the Valley’s influence.”
Ornellas and his wife Jennie have three sons. All of them continue the farming operation for the next generation.
Sign up for the Partnership News Briefing
The California Partnership of the San Joaquin Valley produces a daily news briefing containing articles related to issues of importance to the eight-county region. The Partnership News Briefing includes articles from major newspapers throughout the Valley and the state presented in an easy-to-read format. It also includes information on Partnership-related events and activities.
The Partnership News Briefing is sent by e-mail to recipients. Please send an e-mail to mlukens@csufresno.edu to be put on the mailing list.
Legislative Update
Legislation Consistent with the Partnership’s Strategic Action Proposal
STATE ISSUES
AB 575 (Arambula) - Prop 1B AQ Mitigation Criteria/Funding
A bill to require that $1 billion to mitigate air pollution from goods movement, approved by voters under the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006 (Proposition 1B), be appropriated to the highest priority projects according to a set of region-neutral criteria.
Status: Bill held in Assembly Appropriations Committee. However, the allocation of Proposition 1B “Goods Movement Emission Reduction” (AQ Mitigation) Program funding has been determined by criteria passed as part of the 2007-08 Budget, through trailer bill SB 88.
Related, the Air Quality Work Group has sent letters in support of Prop 1B funding and criteria for allocation of funds as efforts transition in the legislature.
On January 3, ARB released its proposed guidelines for allocation of the Prop 1B Goods Movement Emission Reduction Program. The ARB board was scheduled to consider approval of these guidelines in January, but have delayed consideration one month to take place on Feb 28-29.
AB 1223 (Arambula) - Net Energy Metering
A bill to permit an agricultural customer who uses solar or wind generation to offset the customer's own electrical needs to aggregate the electricity use of properties adjacent or contiguous to the generator that are under the same ownership to its full electricity usage over a 12-month cycle at the retail rate.
The Partnership Board and Executive Committee have sent letters in support of the bill.
Status: Assemblymember Arambula says the bill will now be two-year bill. The Assembly will take it back up in January.
AB 1129 (Arambula) - Housing Trust Fund
A bill to establish the San Joaquin Valley Rural Regional Affordable Housing Trust Fund as a voluntary organization to foster the regional collaboration of San Joaquin Valley cities, counties, developers, financial institutions, and community-based organizations to meet affordable housing needs in the region.
Status: Bill passed by the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development on Jan. 16 and is headed to Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 1403 (Arambula) – Education
A bill to establish an innovative, five-year Central Valley School District Improvement Pilot Program. This legislation is consistent with the goals and objectives of the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley toward the implementation of “a school and school district support system through the County Offices of Education.” Specifically, this bill would allow two County Superintendents (Fresno and Tulare) to opt to assume additional responsibility for ensuring the academic success of those struggling school districts within their jurisdiction that are both identified for program improvement or corrective action under the federal No Child Left Behind and have 50% or more of their schools ranked in deciles 1 and 2 of the state Academic Performance Index.
Partnership Board and Executive Committee have sent letters in support of the bill.
Status: Placed on the Suspense File in Senate Appropriations, and did not pass out of committee.
AB 1455 (Arambula, Villines) – Air Quality Zones
The bill as most recently amended would authorize the State Air Resources Board to designate “California Air Quality Zones” for the purpose of providing incentives for owners of mobile and stationary sources of air pollution to invest in air pollution control equipment that produce surplus emission reductions, and for owners of stationary sources of air pollution to invest in the production and utilization of renewable energy technologies. Areas eligible include those that: 1) have been in nonattainment for PM 2.5 and in serious, severe, or extreme nonattainment for ozone using the 8-hour rule, and 2) have countywide unemployment rate at least 50 % higher than the statewide average for at least two of the last three years.
The bill’s goal is to improve air quality in the state’s dirtiest air basins and generate jobs in the most disadvantaged communities.
Status: Placed on the Suspense File in Senate Appropriations, and did not pass out of committee.
FEDERAL ISSUES
Energy Bill
On December 19, 2007, the President signed the Energy bill (HR 6). The bill included a number of provisions important to the Energy Work Group and the San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization, including the following:
- Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program</b> – This measure authorizes $2 billion in each of fiscal years FY 2008 through FY 2012 for a new Energy Efficiency Block Grant Program, in which the Energy Department would award grants to state and local governments for an array of activities to improve energy efficiency. The grants would go to cities with a population of at least 50,000, or counties with a population of at least 200,000. Specifically, local governments could use the grants to develop energy-efficiency strategies, hire technical consultants, conduct energy audits, and develop conservation programs.
- Green Jobs – This measure authorizes $125 million in each fiscal year for the Labor Department to administer a new grant program for training programs for workers in the renewable energy and energy-efficiency sectors — such as solar panel manufacturers and "green" building construction. Under the program, to be created within six months of enactment, grants would be awarded to programs that target workers who need updated training related to the energy industry, veterans, the unemployed, formerly incarcerated non-violent offenders, and at-risk youth. Grants could go to public-private partnerships, states, and programs designed to assist poor communities.
- Short Sea Shipping – This provision requires the Transportation Department to establish a short-sea transportation program and designate short-sea transportation projects to be conducted under the program to mitigate landside congestion. The measure authorizes the department, subject to the availability of appropriations, to provide loan guarantees to construct vessels for the projects.
- 25x'25 – The bill includes a Sense of Congress statement that 25% of renewable energy should be produced from the agricultural, forestry, and working land in the United States by 2025.
Dates to Know
January 28
Traffic Congestion, Highway Safety and Air Quality Conference: Short Sea Shipping in California and the West Coast
7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fresno Convention Center
Exhibit Hall
700 M St.
Fresno
January 31
Bakersfield Energy and Clean Air Expo
11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Bakersfield Convention Center
Holiday Inn Select
801 Truxtun Ave.
Bakersfield
Information: www.valley-can.org.
February 8
California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley Board of Directors meeting
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Downtown Club
2120 Kern St.
Fresno
Information: www.sjvpartnership.org
March 4
Anytime Anywhere Learning Leadership Summit
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Craig School of Business
Alice Peters Auditorium
California State University, Fresno
Information: 2008 AALF Leadership Summit - California