*** FLEX YOUR POWER ALERT ***

BOMA has worked in conjunction with the State of California to make sure that members were aware of, and participated in, the “Flex Your Power” alert over the past few days. Due to the hot weather, we are not out of the energy crunch yet and you are asked to continue to conserve power. Flex Your Power continued the alert today with the following note:

Thanks to the remarkable conservation efforts of California residents and businesses yesterday, more than 1,000 megawatts of forecast usage was off-loaded from the grid, helping avoid any electrical emergencies.

View energy demand graph: http://fypower.org/news/?p=1598

Because high temperatures are forecast to continue throughout the state and region, California ISO has extended its declaration of a Flex Alert into today (August 31), and it asks consumers to conserve one more day, especially during the late afternoon peak demand period.

For continuing coverage, visit the Power Plug Blog: http://www.fypower.org/news/

View the full California ISO press release: http://www.caiso.com/1c4a/1c4af13c2c080.pdf

Please take action to conserve energy:

- Turn off all unnecessary lights
- If you must use an air conditioner, turn it up to 78 degrees or higher
- Postpone using major appliances until after 7:00 PM

Thank you for continuing to flex your power!

- Flex Your Power

HOMESTRETCH – LESS THAN TWO WEEKS LEFT OF SESSION

The California State Legislature has less than two weeks to go before it adjourns for Interim Recess, not to return until early January. In the short amount of time that is left there are huge issues looming, with no tenable agreements in sight. Eminent Domain, Health Care, Redistricting Reform, Term Limits, and “Fixing” the Environment, are among some of the major issues we know legislative leaders and the Governor will be discussing.

SO MANY BILLS, SO LITTLE TIME

In addition to the “global” discussions in the issues above, there are a couple hundred legislative measures that will be acted upon in the next 11 days. In January, CBPA identified over 500 bills impacting the commercial retain industrial real estate industry. Currently, 151 of those bills are still moving through the process. 

Of those bills that are still alive, forty-four (44) of them directly impact BOMA California members. Through the past eight months, sixty-four (64) bills that impacted BOMA are now either signed, dead, or fixed.

ARE ALL THESE LAWS NEEDED ANYWAYS? WHAT ARE YOUR IDEAS?

These bills represent a lot of major changes in law that legislators think are needed for our industry, a vast majority of which would not be good for your operations. In fact, can you name three changes in law you think are needed? Actually, if you have any ideas for changes in statute that you think should be pursued on behalf of the industry, please email your thoughts to us so we can begin the vetting process for next year’s legislative package. Simply reply to this email.

EMINENT DOMAIN REFORM WOULD SINK WATER PROJECTS

Just one year after voters rejected a similar scheme (Prop. 90), another initiative aimed at supposed eminent domain reform called the "California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act" (CPOFPA) has run into rough waters. A Sacramento Bee article has exposed a potentially fatal flaw in the measure, which is quickly being labeled as the "water bomb." The Bee note that , "A proposed initiative limiting how governments seize private property has drawn concerns from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a Republican state senator that it could block construction of dams and a Delta canal... A legal analysis issued this week by Richard Martland, a former state attorney general official, argues that the eminent domain initiative would prevent government from taking private land 'for the consumption of natural resources,' including water storage." Click here to view a fact sheet for more details about this flaw in the measure.

ACA 8 - EMINENT DOMAIN REFORM BACKED BY INDUSTRY

The alternative eminent domain measure, backed by a broad coalition of local government and business groups, was recently amended to include new prohibitions against using eminent domain to take churches/houses of worship to convey to another private party. Read the press release here. With this amendment, ACA 8 now contains strong, constitutional protections against the use of eminent domain to take homes, small businesses and churches. We believe that this is a strong eminent domain reform package that deserves to be put before the voters in 2008. If you would like more information about this measure, or if you are willing to call your legislator to urge them to support this reform, please let us know by replying to this email.

GREEN BUILDING MANDATES ALL PASS APPROPRIATIONS

On a straight party line vote in Senate Appropriations with all Democrats voting “aye” and all Republicans voting “no,” the trio of bills that would fundamentally change the way that building codes are written in this state, under the guise of enhancing “green building” programs, continue to move despite the vocal opposition of a large coalition led by BOMA. AB 1058 (Laird; D-Santa Cruz), AB 888 (Lieu; D-Torrance) and AB 35 (Ruskin; D-Redwood City) make the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) the lead entity responsible for developing “green building” standards. By shifting the development of these standards from the Building Standards Commission, which considers cost impact in its development of standards, the bills place on businesses the burden of these unregulated costs, and set an unrealistic goal for developing sustainable buildings. Click here for more information.

ANTI-TRANSPORTATION/GROWTH MEASURE, SB 375, STALLED

In a bit of good news, SB 375 (Steinberg; D-Sacramento), a bill that would have stopped “growth inducing” projects, such as new mass transit rail and roadway improvement projects, has been made a two-year bill, which means the Legislature will delay any further action on the measure until 2008. A large coalition of local government, transportation groups, and business entities including BOMA, formed to urge more careful thought about this measure. Although the groups are very concerned with reducing greenhouse gas emissions, SB 375, as drafted, is not a solution the coalition can support. Cities, counties and councils of government throughout California already adhere to some form of a regional planning effort with the stated goal of more effectively connecting regional/local land use with transportation planning and policies, focusing on environmental preservation efforts and reducing green house gas emissions as stated in AB 32.

We would like to thank all the members of BOMA, who made calls to their local legislators to help stop this measure.

PORT TAX CONTINUES TO STEAM AHEAD

SB 974 (Lowenthal; D-Long Beach), the bill that assesses a tax on containerized cargo coming and going through the state’s three largest ports passed, passed another major hurdle on a party line vote. The bill came out of Assembly Appropriations with all Democrats voting “aye” and all Republicans voting “no.” This bill seeks to impose a "container tax" of $30 or more per each container shipped into a major port in the state to pay for pollution mitigation without any guarantee of where the money would be spent. Such a tax would severely impact goods movement in and out of our state, and could damage the economy as shippers could choose to utilize other West Coast ports. The business community has proposed ideas which address the core issues of transportation infrastructure and emission reduction in California through a collaborative process that identifies important projects as well as appropriate sources of funding. Container fees called for in this bill simply puts the cart before the horse and will embroil the state in costly court battles.

PERATA HOLDS UP TWO APPOINTEES

In an effort to send a political message to the Governor to “get tougher” on clean water laws, the appointments of Arthur G. Baggett Jr. and Frances Spivy-Weber to the Water Resources Control Board were stalled by Senate pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland). The two nominees must be confirmed by Jan. 15 or they will lose their posts. In a letter to the Governor, Perata said the state's water quality program is failing and there's no way to ensure that water quality appointees are doing their jobs. Perata said it's nearly impossible to access basic information about drinking water quality on the board's Web site and that, "we need to come to grips with this problem and get serious about fixing an antiquated, ineffective water quality enforcement system." Watch the political jockeying to continue, even in this age of post-partisanship.

REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS BY DRIVING YOUR CAR AND WATCHING TV

In a case of illustrating absurdity by being absurd, although this study was done with serious intent, a leading environmentalist from the U.K.’s Green Party has used “life-cycle” analyses to contend that walking to do your shopping does more than driving to induce global warming. His claims stem from the notion that food production is now so energy-intensive that more carbon is emitted providing a person with enough calories to walk to the shops than a car would emit over the same distance. In fact, taking global warming claims to their logical extreme, the climate could benefit if people avoided exercise, ate less and became couch potatoes. “The troubling fact is that taking a lot of exercise and then eating a bit more food is not good for the global atmosphere. Eating less and driving to save energy would be better.” Click here to read the full story.

STRATEGIC ISSUES CONFERENCE: GLOBAL WARMING AND THE BUSINESS OF REAL ESTATE

Four major industry groups are combining forces to sponsor a high level discussion regarding the impacts of “global warming” policy on our industry. From AB 32 greenhouse gas regulations to the legislative focus on “green building” mandates, this conference promises to deliver the most up to date thinking about the politics driving these policies and will offer strategic discussion to set the course on how we can proactively be at the table and positively influence policy.

Click here to see the Strategic Issues Conference Website.

Joint sponsors for this event include: California Business Properties Association (CBPA), California Building Industry Association (CBIA), Building Owners and Managers Association of California (BOMA California), and Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA),

The event will be held November 1-2, 2007, at the Meritage Resort in Napa Valley. A stellar line-up of policy and decision-makers from Industry, the Schwarzenegger Administration and Legislature, as well as a respected member of the political press corps, is coalescing for the conference. Until we can announce confirmed names of speakers, here is the framework agenda:

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2007
4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Kick-off Reception in the Wine Caves
6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Dinner with Special Guest Speaker

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2007
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Breakfast with Special Guest Speaker
9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Panel Presentations
* Building Green/Green Building Policies
* CEQA / AB 32
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Luncheon with Special Guest Speaker

For early-bird registration information and special room rates, please contact Tracy Fujii at CBPA, 916-443-4676, or tfujii@cbpa.com.

Don’t just react – be a leader – participate in this conference and shape important issues that will affect your businesses.

BOMA CALENDAR 2007/2008

November 1 & 2 – BOMA Cal/CBIA/CBPA Fall Joint Legislative Conference
BOMA Cal Annual Meeting
Napa Valley (Meritage Resort)

January 15 – BOMA Cal Board Meeting
Los Angeles
In conjunction with IREM/BOMA GLA Forecast Breakfast

March/April (date TBD) – BOMA Cal Board Meeting
Location TBD

June 10-11 – CA Commercial Real Estate Summit – BOMA Cal Board Meeting
Sacramento (Hyatt Regency)

October/November (date TBD) - BOMA Cal Annual Meeting/20th Anniversary Event
Location TBD