540 E. Betteravia Road, #D234, Santa Maria, CA 93454 | www.EconAlliance.org | [email protected]
EconAlliance Board
Sam Cohen, President
Gov’t & Legal Affairs
Santa Ynez Band Chumash Indians
Patrice Mosby, VP Governance
VP/SR Relationship Manager
Wells Fargo
Philip Adam, VP Finance
Chief Operations Officer
Innovative Produce
Phil Tabyanan, VP
Fund Development
General Manager
Plus Property Management
Steve A. Greig, Secretary
Consultant
Laurie Tamura, Treasurer
Principal Planner/ President
Urban Planning Concepts
Directors:
Maribel Aguilera
Attorney
Mark Allen
Chief Operations Officer
Dignity Health/Marian RMC
Dustin Cheney, MBA
Chief Financial Officer
Lompoc Valley Medical Center
Eric Daniels
External Affairs, Pub Policy Manager
Pacific Gas & Electric Company
Katie Gorndt
VP/Director of Nursing
Santa Ynez Cottage Hospital
Tim Mahoney
Public Affairs Manager
Southern California Gas Company
Paul Murphy, PhD
VP, Institutional Effectiveness
Allan Hancock College
Ben Oakley
Manager, CA Coastal Region
Western States Petroleum
Association
Martin Pehl
General Manager
Santa Maria Public Airport District
MISSION
Building Awareness, Advocacy, Support and Appreciation for Northern Santa Barbara County Industries and Communities
November 1, 2023
Honorable Mayor and Santa Maria City Councilmembers:
EconAlliance much appreciates the attention that the City of Santa Maria puts on economic development and jobs for our community. We also recognize the important role you play in deciding whether to support specific projects.
We thank you for your consideration of the Forefront Energy Services Agreements.
As we all work to ensure economic vitality and good jobs for local workers, EconAlliance is pleased to see that the Forefront projects promise:
Local construction jobs stimulating our local economy Savins on City’s operating costs with zero upfront capital expenditure from the City
Implementation of clean energy projects
Innovative and proven procurement vehicles that will expedite the development of these resources for our community
We also understand that ForeFront Power has been recognized as a first-class developer by its win of a competitive statewide RFP conducted by the Joint Powers Authority, SPURR, a program utilized by over 40 cities, counties and districts. Some of these are here in California (e.g. Bakersfield City School District, Kern Community College, and Taft College).
Leveraging programs such as these potentially saves the City both time and money, and seemingly, risk.
We ask that on November 7th you give consideration to these projects because of their potential to provide great value to the community through cost savings, job creation, and environmental benefits.
Respectfully,
Sam Cohen
Board President