MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

by Polly Armstrong and John DeClercq, Co-CEOs

 Great News for Downtown Berkeley!   

After seven years of a thorough and often tedious effort, including a very successful referendum (Measure R), it looks like we will be moving our core downtown into the 21st century!   

The new zoning changes and plan will allow for a new hotel, several multiple-story buildings for housing and business and a speedy permit process for developers providing environmental amenities,  below market rate housing, prevailing wages etc.  

Your Chamber generated a substantial crowd to support the Downtown Plan, giving out green signs for folks to wave to show support for the changes.  Both CEOs and several members spoke during the public hearing and attended follow up Council actions.

-John and Polly

 DAVLIN COATINGS LLC 

We are the Pioneers in Elastomeric Waterproof Coatings. Davlin Coatings is a California business established in 1968. We manufacture a complete line of coatings - architectural and industrial - as well as many specialty coatings including the ACRYLASTIC line of waterproof elastomerics.  

KUK SOOL WON  

 MCKEVITT FIAT 

Looking for a New or Used Fiat in Berkeley? You've come to the right dealership! At McKevitt FIAT we provide everything automotive, with great prices and customer service. With new or used Fiat cars from Berkeley's McKevitt FIAT you'll get a reliable and stylish new car at a price you can afford.   

 AMY LOEBL - COLLEGE ADMISSION ADVISOR  

 Amy Loebl is an Independent College Admission Advisor. Her goal is to help students find the right college learning environment. A good college "fit" where the student can be happy and successful. She works with students to provide guidance and keep reasonable timelines. The one-on-one advising helps to reduce the stress often experienced during the application process by both the student and the parents.   

New Members at  

Sunrise Networking Breakfasts  

Full Contact and Unanticipated Consequences   

There is a prevalent, but naïve and ultimately self-destructive, notion that regular contact with elected officials is pointless or  a waste of time.  So often, I have heard comments like "They don't care what I think; why should I bother?" Or, "I haven't seen any results in my coming to these meetings."  The simple fact is elected officials certainly will not know our concerns and issues if we don't tell them.   One of the truly gratifying things that has ensued from my return as interim chair of government affairs is the large turnouts we have had at our monthly meetings.  If nothing else, turnout tells elected officials and department heads that we have issues and concerns!  And here they are...!! 

We have had Assemblymember Nancy Skinner  and Mayor's Aide Calvin Fong at recent meetings.  Nancy Skinner told us in detail about much of the struggles we as a state are facing.  Calvin Fong told us about many of the issues in the current draft of the Downtown Plan.  (By the time you read this, it may be approved.)  Both of these guests outlined issues all of us will face in one way or another, whether it is higher taxes, reduced services, or new construction in the downtown.  

On both occasions, the Chamber conference room was filled with attendees.  Lively, inquisitive, and engaged question-and-answer sessions were parts of these meetings.  These questions are the "full contact" I was referring to; they say clearly to our guests what is important to the Berkeley business community.   

On April 2nd we had Interim City Manager Christine Daniel as our guest.  It was mainly in the context of questions and answers that she learned what issues are most important to our business community.  And it was in the context of her answers that we  learned what is important and the priorities of the city. 

One more of those cliches, really in this case just a phrase, is the law of unanticipated consequences.  I have seen numerous times when draft laws or regulations are written with good intentions in mind, often presumably to correct some apparent wrong.  But, when those who it will most affect finally become aware of it, the impacts far exceed the writer's intentions. Assemblymember Skinner certainly demonstrated how that has happened in various ways with the state budget and how those impacts are now being felt far beyond what was first envisioned.  This highlights the value of this Chamber committee-- we can alert our elected officials and department heads of the impacts of their proposals and draft legislation.  I am not suggesting all of them are misguided-- far from it-- but no legislation is drafted in a vacuum.  Bills and regulations are written in response to what has been articulated to our elected officials and department heads.  We need to be doing the articulating! 

Therefore, I write with gratitude at the excellent turnout for recent government affairs meetings, and encourage others who are "on the fence" to join us.  It is in your own interest to do so!   

And to whet your appetite further, the Mayor's new Chief of Staff Judith Iglehart will be our guest on May 7, and she has had extensive economic development experience in many, varied other places.  Then on June 4, we will have the pleasure of hosting County Supervisor Keith Carson, who will tell us what is happening and what we might expect from the county. 

Full contact-- what we are having and what we will continue to have.     

Learn more about GA and upcoming events 

The Tax Relief Act of 2012 temporarily extends the two percentage point payroll tax cut for employees, continuing the reduction of their Social Security tax withholding rate from 6.2 % to 4.2 % of wages paid through December 31, 2012. Extending the 2 % point cut saves around $80 monthly for someone earning $50,000 a year and gives a maximum cut of $2,200 to high-end earners. This reduced Social Security withholding will have no effect on employees' future Social Security benefits.

As part of the extension of the legislation throughout 2012, the number of weeks an individual may receive unemployment benefits was reduced from 99 weeks to 73 weeks for those living in states with an unemployment rate higher than the 8.3 % national average. California has an unemployment rate under the national average, and an individual may receive unemployment benefits for as few as 40 weeks.  

Employers should implement the new payroll tax rate as soon as possible in 2012. For any Social Security tax over-withheld during January, employers should make an offsetting adjustment in workers' pay as soon as possible but no later than March 31, 2012.

Visit the Paychex website at

http://www.paychex.com/resources/business/regulations.aspx  

for the latest on regulatory legislation

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