Connecting Californians for Reform summit offered at the Great Valley Center via Skype

The American Leadership Forum and Reviving California invite you to the 4th Annual Community Summit - Connecting Californians for Reform.  Join regional leaders, community members, students, journalist and elected officials across the state on Friday, October 5, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in on of seven locations statewide that are hosting the Summit simultaneously via Skype.

In Modesto, participants will gather in the Community Room at the Great Valley Center, 201 Needham Street, to hear topic experts discuss specific ballot measures and how their outcomes will affect democracy in California. Presentations will be followed by interactive small group dialogues with the opportunity to share highlights between venues. Dejeune Shelton, Senior Fellow with the Great Valley Chapter of the American Leadership Forum, will moderate the Modesto session.
“This is the second year we’ve incorporated Skype technology to connect disparate regions around the state,” said Anu Natarajan, Program Director for Reviving California. “Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype in the past year has enabled us to not only harness Skype technology, but also Microsoft’s evolving technology platforms for civic engagement.”

Featured Summit presenters include:

• Betty Yee, Board member, California Board of Equalization
• Joe Mathews, Contributing Writer, LA Times; Editor, Zócalo Public Square; Senior Fellow, New American Foundation; Co-author, California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It
• Yolie Flores, President & CEO, Communities for Teaching Excellence & former board member of the Los Angeles Unified School District
• Mike Genest, Chairman, Capitol Matrix Consulting & former Director,
• California Department of Finance
• Bob Brownstein, Policy Director, Working Partnerships USA & ALF Senior Fellow
• Michele Siqueiros, Executive Director, Campaign for College Opportunity

The Summit is free and open to the public. Although there is no charge, space is limited, so participants must pre-register. To register for the Modesto location, contact Linda Hoile at the Great Valley Center, 209-522-5103 ext. 140 or email linda@greatvalley.org. Check-in is at 8:30 a.m. and the program starts promptly at 9 a.m.

This year’s event features a social media sharing section in which the public is encouraged to use the Twitter hashtag #CALReform to Tweet questions and comments prior to the Summit. Day-of participants will be asked to do the same, in addition to sharing photos and highlights via twitter.com/revivingca and facebook.com/revivingca. For more information go to www.alfsv.org

Reviving California is a project of the Common Good Collaborative, powered by American Leadership Forum – Silicon Valley. Since 2008, Reviving California has played an active role in the state’s fiscal and governance reform efforts by focusing on educating and engaging the diverse population of Silicon Valley. The goal is to replace political rhetoric with authentic conversations, move beyond the blame game, reward integrity in the political process and create the conditions for individuals, networks and communities to engage in democracy. For more information, visit www.alfsv.org/revivingca

Summit Partners include the three American Leadership Forum chapters - Silicon Valley, Mountain Valley (Sacramento region) and Great Valley (Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties); Coro Center for Civic Leadership-San Francisco and University of San Francisco; Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good; Inland Empire Economic Partnership; San Diego Foundation and UC San Diego, and Southern California Leadership Network.

Great Valley Center and UC Merced release new environmental indicators report

Report reveals some progress in the Central Valley, though many environmental challenges remain

The Central Valley environment is getting healthier, but not fast enough. Its air quality is still among the worst in the nation, according to a report released today.

The Great Valley Center and the Sierra Nevada Research Institute at the University of California, Merced, jointly produced "The State ofthe Great CentralValley: Assessing the Region Via Indicators – The Environment2006-2011.” The report tracks a variety of environmental indicators within the Central Valley and shows mixed results.

The good news is there has been a reduction in the level of a number of key air quality indicators, a recharge of watersheds to near normal levels, a slowing in the loss of prime agricultural land to urbanization and an increased restoration of wetland habitats.

The Central Valley's depressed economy has dramatically slowed the use of prime land for new homes and commercial space. It has also given local and regional governments time to prepare and begin using blueprints to improve urban housing density and transportation choices.

However, the Central Valley has many red flags when it comes to the environment.

The number of days ozone levels were above state and federal air quality standards has increased overall since 2005, and almost all counties in the region are not meeting the one-hour and eight-hour air quality standards for many days each year. The percentage of the Valley’s population at risk for respiratory problems because of poor air quality outpaces other California regions.

The level of nitrates in drinking water has increased because farmers are using nitrogen-based fertilizers and planting nitrogen-fixing cover crops. Poor soil drainage has caused damage to fragile ecosystems. A great deal of energy is being used to move waste materials to landfills, presenting an opportunity for more recycling. Many counties have not reduced their waste production or energy consumption. In some cases, the numbers have increased beyond the proportional rise in population.

Gathering the data for this year’s report was challenging because of state and local budget cuts that limited the collection of information and the monitoring of air, water, species diversity, habitat conservation and resource management. Among the five recommendations for future action: Increase data gathering and improve sharing information, and support renewable energy sources for sustainable growth.

The report tracks environmental indicators as they relate to carbon monoxide, ozone and particulate matter; water quality and levels in our watersheds; pesticide use, soil drainage and land use; species of concern, fish, birds and wetland habitats; and waste production and energy consumption. The data sets, which underlie and correlate with many of the other assessments of regional well-being, are grouped in sections describing air, water, land use, species and habitat, and resources and energy.

Included in the report are profiles of half a dozen successful efforts to conserve and build capacity for the future.

“We included stories of environmental best practices to show that there are organizations and individuals working hard to make a positive impact in our Valley,” Great Valley Center Executive Director Dejeuné Shelton said. “Some of these successful programs could serve as models for similar environmental initiatives in other areas of our Valley.”

A highlight of the report is a public policy essay by UC Merced engineering Professor Roger Bales, director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute, on the need for a sustainable water supply to meet the growing needs of the expanding Central Valley population with the additional stresses of climate change.

"The State of the Great Central Valley: The Environment (Third Edition)" is part of an ongoing regional initiative of the Great Valley Center (GVC) to track conditions in one of California’s fastest growing regions: the 19-county Great Central Valley. The data presented in the report were gathered by the Sierra Nevada Research Institute, and present a snapshot of information providing tools for measuring the community well-being of the Valley. This third edition revisits indicators introduced by the GVC in 2001 and revised in 2005, and includes several new ones. Past reports can be viewed on the GVC'sIndicators Report Series website.

Top 11 Good Things for the Central Valley in 2009

1. Water Package of 2009
   
2. San Joaquin Valley Blueprint
   
3. Shasta Forward
   
4. Regional Waste Water Agreement between Modesto & Ceres
   
5. Altamont Corridor Partnership Work Group
   
6. California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley
   
7. Project Inspire
   
8. Grants to bring broadband internet to underserved areas
   
9. Ag Vision 2030
   
10. Rural-Urban Connection
    
11. Ag Biomass Council

The Great Valley Center's December 2009 media advisory is now available. This monthly resource for members of the media and others in the community features information on what's happening with the Great Valley Center and throughout the Central Valley during the month.

December's advisory includes briefs on:

* Top 11 Good Things That Have Happened in 2009 in the Central Valley
* GVC and regional events during the month
* Reports, Publications, and Resources Currently Available

Download the December 2009 Media Advisory

Great Valley Center September Media Advisory

The Great Valley Center's September 2009 media advisory is now available. This monthly resource for members of the media and others in the community features information on what's happening with the Great Valley Center and throughout the Central Valley during the month.

September's advisory includes briefs on:

* Regional story ideas
* GVC and regional events during the month
* Ongoing GVC projects
* Reports, Publications, and Resources Available

→Download the September 2009 Media Advisory

Great Valley Center August Media Advisory

The Great Valley Center's August 2009 media advisory is now available. This monthly resource for members of the media and others in the community features information on what's happening with the Great Valley and throughout the Central Valley during the month.

August's advisory includes briefs on:

* Events throughout the region
* What's new at the Great Valley Center
* Reports, publications, and other resources available now
* Regional story ideas

→Download the August 2009 Media Advisory

Great Valley Center July Media Advisory

The Great Valley Center's July 2009 media advisory is now available. This monthly resource for members of the media and others in the community features information on what's happening with the Great Valley and throughout the Central Valley during the month.

July's advisory includes briefs on:

* Events throughout the region
* What's new at the Great Valley Center
* Reports, publications, and other resources available now
* Regional story ideas

→Download the July 2009 Media Advisory

June 2009 Media Advisory

The Great Valley Center's June 2009 media advisory is now available. This monthly resource for members of the media and others in the community features information on what's happening with the Great Valley and throughout the Central Valley during the month.

June's advisory includes briefs on:

• Significant reports available in June
  
• An upcoming Land Conservation Easement Celebration
• IDEAL class of 2009 graduation information
• Much more happening around the region
  

Materials & Resources

→Download the June 2009 Media Advisory

May 2009 Media Advisory

Our monthly media advisories are chock-full of information about what's coming up for GVC this month as well as other interesting happenings and trends in the region.

Highlights in our May advisory include briefs on:

• SB 375 Regional Targets Advisory Committee Meeting: May 5
• Great Valley Center’s 12th Annual Conference: May 6 and 7
• First Lady Michelle Obama at UC Merced: May 16
• New Publication: Energy Primer
• New Publication: Transportation Challenges and Opportunities for Connecting Young People to the Great Outdoors

Materials & Resources

→Read the full Great Valley Center May 2009 Media Advisory