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On a bright Tuesday morning, the Santa Cruz County Chamber kicked off 2020 in grand style at the Dream Inn. To a sold out audience the Chamber board of directors were introduced to the attendees (2020 Chamber Board of Directors). Each year the Chamber starts off the New Year by bringing together our chamber board with our members and community leaders to reflect on the past year’s accomplishments and focus our attention on the year ahead. The who’s who of Santa Cruz County were in attendance where the stunning view of the Monterey Bay was seconded by the Dream Inn’s buffet breakfast. Attending the yearly event were Supervisors Bruce McPherson, Ryan Coonerty and John Leopold. Santa Cruz Mayor Justin Cummings, Vice Mayor Donna Meyers, Council members Cynthia Mathews and Martine Watkins. Santa Cruz Office of Education members Jane Barr and Rose Filicetti, Watsonville Councilmember Felipe Hernandez and former Secretary of Natural Resources John Laird. This year’s keynote speaker was California Treasurer Fiona Ma who engaged the attendees with her personal stories about her public sector career. First as a staffer to a state senator and her rise in public office elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, then to the state assembly where she served as Speaker pro Tempore from 2010 to 2012. She built a reputation as a solution-oriented public servant and was adept at building unlikely coalitions to overcome California's most complex problems. Prior to serving as Speaker pro Tempore, she was Assembly Majority Whip and built coalitions during a state budget crisis to pass groundbreaking legislation that protected public education and the environment while also expanding access to health care. And she completed a term at Board of Equalization before being elected as California’s 34th Treasurer in November 2018. You can read more about her career here: https://www.treasurer.ca.gov/bio.asp. The Treasurer’s conversation flowed as she discussed many of the state programs run out of the Treasurer’s office — CalSavers, California Capital Access Program, GoGreen Financing and the California Hub for Energy Efficiency Financing to name a few. Later this spring, the Treasurer and the Chamber will host a Small Business Seminar on April 8th. This free seminar is geared to offer access to and educate the community on these programs. More information and registration to the seminar can be found here: http://bit.ly/SCSmallBiz2020. A couple quick take aways from her comments: She noted that being Treasurer of California, with the 5th largest economy in the world, is the best job in California. The State’s coffers are overflowing with tax dollars as the state has successfully rebounded from the Great Recession. It is great to be Treasurer when you have resources at your disposal. The audience threw numerous personal and policy questions at her and she responded candidly with a display of knowledge on issues that were not under the purview of the Treasurer - such as how to handle the PG&E public safety shut offs, addressing homeless and related state urgency issues such as housing and transportation funding sources. She noted that small communities like Santa Cruz need to ‘get the votes’ in Sacramento to seek state dollars through various funding formulas. She candidly stated, one clear action is through the upcoming 2020 Census count which establishes not only how elected districts for federal, state and local jurisdictions are aligned, the Census Count is the primary tool used in the allocation of federal dollars to each state and local government, so fill out the census form and make sure every person is correctly counted in Santa Cruz County. When asked about whether the state — with an abundance of tax dollars — might consider tax cuts or reductions she did not waste time with a politically correct approach to the question — she boldly said No, it is not in the playbook in Sacramento. There were other questions tossed at her about state programs vs. local control, whether there would ever be a state banking system for the cannabis industry. She noted that there has been some movement on this in the state, but essentially the decision is in the hands of Congress (federal matter). The best response came after a UCSC student asked the question about how she balances work and life. Treasurer Ma made no bones with her reply - I have no work/life balance. “My work is my life and my life is my work.” She noted that her husband — a fireman in Ventura County while she lives in San Francisco — and that is how it works. The Annual Breakfast was a hit for the attendees who enjoyed the view, had a wonderful breakfast, time for networking and were engaged in conversation with the Treasurer of California. And we are off on a high note as we jumpstart 2020. Please consider joining us at one of the many Chamber events throughout the year. A link to our event’s page is here: 2020 Chamber Events. Onward!
On a bright Tuesday morning, the Santa Cruz County Chamber kicked off 2020 in grand style at the Dream Inn. To a sold out audience the Chamber board of directors were introduced to the attendees (2020 Chamber Board of Directors).
Each year the Chamber starts off the New Year by bringing together our chamber board with our members and community leaders to reflect on the past year’s accomplishments and focus our attention on the year ahead.
The who’s who of Santa Cruz County were in attendance where the stunning view of the Monterey Bay was seconded by the Dream Inn’s buffet breakfast. Attending the yearly event were Supervisors Bruce McPherson, Ryan Coonerty and John Leopold. Santa Cruz Mayor Justin Cummings, Vice Mayor Donna Meyers, Council members Cynthia Mathews and Martine Watkins. Santa Cruz Office of Education members Jane Barr and Rose Filicetti, Watsonville Councilmember Felipe Hernandez and former Secretary of Natural Resources John Laird.
This year’s keynote speaker was California Treasurer Fiona Ma who engaged the attendees with her personal stories about her public sector career. First as a staffer to a state senator and her rise in public office elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, then to the state assembly where she served as Speaker pro Tempore from 2010 to 2012. She built a reputation as a solution-oriented public servant and was adept at building unlikely coalitions to overcome California's most complex problems. Prior to serving as Speaker pro Tempore, she was Assembly Majority Whip and built coalitions during a state budget crisis to pass groundbreaking legislation that protected public education and the environment while also expanding access to health care. And she completed a term at Board of Equalization before being elected as California’s 34th Treasurer in November 2018. You can read more about her career here: https://www.treasurer.ca.gov/bio.asp.
The Treasurer’s conversation flowed as she discussed many of the state programs run out of the Treasurer’s office — CalSavers, California Capital Access Program, GoGreen Financing and the California Hub for Energy Efficiency Financing to name a few. Later this spring, the Treasurer and the Chamber will host a Small Business Seminar on April 8th. This free seminar is geared to offer access to and educate the community on these programs. More information and registration to the seminar can be found here: http://bit.ly/SCSmallBiz2020.
A couple quick take aways from her comments: She noted that being Treasurer of California, with the 5th largest economy in the world, is the best job in California. The State’s coffers are overflowing with tax dollars as the state has successfully rebounded from the Great Recession. It is great to be Treasurer when you have resources at your disposal.
The audience threw numerous personal and policy questions at her and she responded candidly with a display of knowledge on issues that were not under the purview of the Treasurer - such as how to handle the PG&E public safety shut offs, addressing homeless and related state urgency issues such as housing and transportation funding sources. She noted that small communities like Santa Cruz need to ‘get the votes’ in Sacramento to seek state dollars through various funding formulas. She candidly stated, one clear action is through the upcoming 2020 Census count which establishes not only how elected districts for federal, state and local jurisdictions are aligned, the Census Count is the primary tool used in the allocation of federal dollars to each state and local government, so fill out the census form and make sure every person is correctly counted in Santa Cruz County.
When asked about whether the state — with an abundance of tax dollars — might consider tax cuts or reductions she did not waste time with a politically correct approach to the question — she boldly said No, it is not in the playbook in Sacramento. There were other questions tossed at her about state programs vs. local control, whether there would ever be a state banking system for the cannabis industry. She noted that there has been some movement on this in the state, but essentially the decision is in the hands of Congress (federal matter).
The best response came after a UCSC student asked the question about how she balances work and life. Treasurer Ma made no bones with her reply - I have no work/life balance. “My work is my life and my life is my work.” She noted that her husband — a fireman in Ventura County while she lives in San Francisco — and that is how it works. The Annual Breakfast was a hit for the attendees who enjoyed the view, had a wonderful breakfast, time for networking and were engaged in conversation with the Treasurer of California. And we are off on a high note as we jumpstart 2020. Please consider joining us at one of the many Chamber events throughout the year. A link to our event’s page is here: 2020 Chamber Events. Onward!