Grants Funded:
California Consulting grant writers have been notified that the following grant applications they have written were recently funded:

City of Huron/$2,500; PG & E (4/2010)

 

City of Huron/$90,000; 40 Per Capita (4/2010)

 

KingsCanyon Unified School District/$200,000; Fresno Co First 5 Family Strengthening (4/2010)

 

City of Avenal/$13,426; Baseball Tomorrow (5/2010)

 

City of Parlier/$54,000; PTA General Allocation (5/2010)

 
This brings our total to 211 grant applications written by our team that have been funded for clients. California Consulting has also generated nearly $1.4 billion for our clients through various federal, state, and private foundation avenues.
 
Upcoming Grants:
California Consulting, LLC grant writers are working on the following grant applications for our clients:

 Lobbying Updates:
 
One Voice: California Consulting, LLC organized the Fresno COG annual "One Voice" trip. The delegation of approximately 25 local elected officials, city managers, and community leaders, had 17 meetings in two days with several State Legislators, 4 senior members of the Governor's staff, State Agencies, key staff members. A number of issues emerged as key issues for Fresno COG during the 2010 year in Sacramento, including preservation of HUTA funding, a delay in SB 375, and preserving the funding for enterprise zones among several other major issues. The dinner on Tuesday evening was highlighted by keynote speaker, Senator Alan Lowenthal (architect of the gas tax swap package in the senate), the Chairman of the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee, and a key member of Senate President Pro-Tem Steinberg's leadership team. The Chairman for the two-day long lobbying trip was Clovis Mayor Harry Armstrong, who superbly moderated and facilitated the meetings on behalf of the entire delegation. A special thank you is necessary to Mayor Armstrong for his leadership on this important trip.  
 
SB 375: During the various meetings on the One Voice trip, it became apparent that our push for delay in implementation of SB 375 was gaining some traction with our guests. Clovis City Manager Kathy Millison, and others led the discussion on this important issue. The request has been submitted and Kathy and Barbara Steck did an outstanding job composing the letter. We were asked to put together a formal request asking for the delay of SB 375. California Consulting will organize follow up visits to Sacramento for a delegation of Valley leaders to meet with key representatives of ARB, Cal-EPA, the Governor's office, and others to advocate for a delay in SB 375. Our goal is to assemble a broad-based coalition of local cities, counties, COGs, and interest groups to advocate for this delay in SB 375. We anticipate organizing a conference call in the next two weeks. 
 
CMIA Savings: California Consulting has held several meetings with CTC staff regarding the CMIA savings issue. California Consulting also sent out an e-mail detailing the CMIA savings issue, money that was available, the tier rankings, the amount of requests, and the process for funding. We are working with CTC Commissioner Assemi, among others, on this important issue. Steve has met two times with the CTC Executive Director regarding this issue and has had several discussions with CTC Commissioner Assemi regarding this topic. California Consulting held a meeting with CTC Executive Director and her staff in Sacramento on April 21, 2010. Meeting attendees included Steve Samuelian, Tony Boren, Cal-TRANS District 6 Director, Malcom Dougherty, along with three CTC staff members. On April 22, 2010, California Consulting organized a conference call with stakeholders, such as the Office of the Fresno Mayor and the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, to discuss this important issue. 
 
Transportation/Budget Update: On March 23, 2010, California Consulting sent out a summary outlining the budget the Governor has signed and how it impacts local cities, counties, governments, and transportation. 
 
HUTA: We continue to hear that HUTA funding could possibly be in jeopardy later in the Legislative session. California Consulting will continue to monitor this issue closely and meet with Senate and Assembly Transportation leaders to ensure that cities are well positioned on this important issue.
 
Capitol Meetings: Steve continues his weekly meetings with Valley Legislators, Legislative staff, Committee staff, the Governor's office, ARB, Cal-EPA, Cal-TRANS, and others. Steven recently met with Senate Majority Leader Florez, the Chief of Staff for Assembly members, Arambula and Villines, as well as the Cal-EPA Deputy Secretary, and the Governor's Deputy Legislative Secretary, regarding a variety of issues. 
 
Water Bond: California Consulting has been contacted by the campaign to pass the Water Bond. The California Latino Water Coalition and Mayors Victor Lopez, Armando Lopez, Robert Silva, Ruby Dhaliwal, Dennis Lujan, Ramon Dominguez, and others, have done an excellent job leading this issue.
 
$55 Million for Fresno COG Project: To receive $55 million from the state during these lean budget times is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of Cal-TRANS District 6 Director Malcolm Dougherty and his staff, as well as Tony Boren and the Fresno COG team. As well, the leadership of CTC Comissioner Darius Assemi was greatlTo receive $55 million from the state during these lean budget times is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of Cal-TRANS District 6 Director Malcolm Dougherty and his staff, as well as Tony Boren and the Fresno COG team. As well, the leadership of CTC Comissioner Darius Assemi was greatly appreciated.
 
California Consulting organized a meeting a few weeks ago in Sacramento with the California Transportation Commission Executive Director and staff. The meeting was attended by myself, Tony Boren, and Malcom Dougherty, to discuss the 180 raided ramps project.
 
Malcolm and Tony did a wonderful job to secure this very important funding for the Fresno area. Even during a major state budget crisis much can be achieved by working together as a team!
 
Meeting with CTC Commissioner Assemi:
California Consulting arranged for a meeting with our clients, the Kern COG and CTC Commissioner, Darius Assemi, to discuss various important projects in Kern County. Several attendees from the City of Bakersfield, Kern COG Executive Director Ron Brummet, Steven Samuelian of California Consulting, as well as Cal-TRANS District Director Malcom Dougherty and Deputy Director Sharri Ehlert, also attended the meeting. The next day, California Consulting held a conference call with CTC Director Rhinehart, Kern COG, Cal-TRANS District Director Dougherty, and Steve Samuelian.
 
Meeting with CTC Executive Director Rhinehart in Sacramento:
California Consulting arranged a meeting in Sacramento recently with CTC Executive Director, Bimla Rhinehart. Attendees at the meeting included Mrs. Rhinehart, other CTC staff members, as well as Tony Borent from Fresno COG, Steven Samuelian from California Consulting, and Malcom Dougherty, Cal-TRANS District 6 Director. 
 
Enterprise Zone Funding:
California Consulting has been at the forefront of working to preserve the funding for Enterprise Zones across the state. California Consulting has secured letters of support from Fresno area State Legislators, Salinas Valley State Legislators, and taken other advocacy steps to preserve this funding. California Consulting C.O.O. and Lobbyist, Juan Garza, II, recently testified at an Assembly Hearing at the State Capitol urging the Committee to preserve and protect EZ funding.
 
The Legislature is currently reviewing enterprise zones statewide and discussing the
possibility of reducing, or completely eliminating funding. Fresno County has a strong
and productive enterprise zone and the Fresno EDC has done a great job with the
implementation of the program. California Consulting has outlined a strategy to combat
any attempts to cut enterprise zone funding. This strategy has been shared with
key interest groups in the Fresno area, and we have convened a conference call to discuss the possibly strategies. We are coordinating with the League of Cities, Fresno EDC, Fresno Chamber, County of Fresno, Cities in Fresno County, Fresno Workforce
Investment Board, California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, and others, to
present a united front. Additionally, we have spoken to the League of Cities and the
South San Joaquin Valley Division regarding their assistance to coordinate our efforts.
 
We recently hosted a conference call to coordinate the efforts and divide up the duties. Participants in the call included representatives from Fresno WIB, Fresno Chamber, Fresno COG, Office of the Fresno Mayor, and others. We have sent out sample resolutions and followed up with all of the fifteen cities. Many have passed these resolutions supporting the EZ. California Consulting is having discussions with the Committee staff regarding the proposals surrounding EZ funding. Furthermore, during
the April 20 hearing, we presented the Resolutions passed by COG, the county, and
cities, to the Committee.
 
Moreover, California Consulting recently drafted a letter of support address to the Assembly Committee from our Fresno area State Legislative Delegation. Assemblyman Villines took lead on gathering signatures on the letter. The letter was sent on April 13 to the Committee and was signed by Senators Cogdill and Florez, as well as Assembly members Arambula, Gilmore and Villines. Juan Garza, II, from California Consulting, testified at the Assembly Jobs and Economic Development Committee hearing on April 20, at the State Capitol, and presented the resolutions passed by Fresno COG, in conjunction with Fresno County, and cities in the area.
 
On May 12, 2010 California Consulting held a conference call with SalinasValleyarea Enterprise Zone stakeholders.  We have been actively engaged in theEZ issue for several months meeting with Legislators, Staff, CommitteeStaff, testifying at a hearing, etc.   There have been numerous newdevelopments over the last few days relative to the EZ program.  We havesummarized the latest developments as follows:

 

AB 2476: This bill is the vehicle for "consensus" changes to the EZprogram.  Mr. Perez has done an excellent job as has the Jobs andEconomic Development staff developing proposed changes to the EZprogram. The bill passed the Committee on April 20 and CaliforniaConsulting testified in support of the bill on behalf of many of ourclients. Discussions and negotiations are ongoing with stakeholders. Thediscussions are centering around proposed changes to the EZ program butdoes NOT include any discussion of eliminating or reducting EZ funding.Some proposed changes include a new tax credit for businesses that aredoing "substantial rehabilitation" and for businesses that are investingin facilities.  There may also be some alterations to existing tax credits. 

 

Unfortunately, on May, 12, 2010, AB 2476 was sent to the Assembly Appropriations"suspense" file.  In order to pass the bill needs to be removed from the"suspense" file at the Assembly Appropriations Committee hearing on May27.  An overwhelming majority of bills that are sent to "suspense" neverget removed from the file and are therefore dead.  We need to ensurethat AB 2476 passes Assembly Appropriations Committee. 

 

ACTION: We need cities, counties, and others to send letters to the AssemblyAppropriations Committee asking them to remove AB 2476 from the suspensefile at their May 27 hearing and vote to pass it out of Committee.California Consulting will be sending out a sample letter as well ascontact information for the Committee very shortly. 

 

SB 974: Significantly alters the EZ program.  

 

ACTION: California Consulting will be arranging for meetings and conferencecalls with Senate President Pro-Tem Steinberg to discuss SB 974 and seekamendments. Letters similar to the SalinasValley letter are welcome atthis time. 

 

PRESERVING EZ FUNDING IN THE BUDGET: Unfortunately, on May 11, 2010, at an Assembly Budget Committee meeting, the LAO representative testified and recommended elimination of funding for the $400 million Enterprise Zone program. 

 

As the budget discussions begin in earnest after the Governor's May revise this will be a time for us to actively and strongly advocate or preservation of EZ funding in the budget. 

 

ACTION: Many of you and your cities/counties have passed resolutions supportingEZ funding. If you have not already done so, please pass a resolution supporting EZ funding and send it to the Senate and Assembly Budget Committees.  As well, if you have already passed a resolution or sent a letter please send a copy of your resolution to the Senate and Assembly Budget Committees.  

New Staff Member:
California Consulting is pleased to announce that Sundy Sosavanh has joined the firm as a full-time Project Manager at the Fresno office.
 
Sundy is a first-generation college graduate having earned her B.A. from California State University, Monterey Bay, in Liberal Studies. Sundy will continue her education by working on a Master of Arts degree in Education while attending California State University, Fresno.
 
Sundy has experience in the Monterey County area, having previously served as a Staff Assistant at the Panetta Institute at CSU Monterey Bay, and later as the Project Assistant for Project Highly-Qualified Avenue for the Education Department at CSU Monterey Bay.
 
Sundy enjoys spending time outdoors with her dog, Gracie Lou, playing rugby, reading, golfing, traveling, and attending art shows.
 
New Clients:
We are very pleased to welcome several new clients that have signed contracts with California Consulting including: the City of Farmersville, TravisUnifiedSchool District (SolanoCounty), Westside Elementary District (FresnoCounty), and WestParkSchool District (FresnoCounty). Welcome aboard!