Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:02 Good planet. It's a hot song. The TRO
Speaker 0 00:00:08 Climbs through
Speaker 1 00:00:10 Thriving sea wind blowing trees. So good. Planets are hard
Speaker 0 00:00:22 To find. Yeah. Good planet.
Speaker 2 00:00:29 Hello. K squid listeners. It's every other Sunday, again, and time for sustainability. Now, a bike biweekly Ks QD radio show focused on the environment, sustainability and social justice in the Monterey bay region, California and the world. We are your hosts, Brooke Wright and Ronnie Lipshitz. Our guest today is Tara GU the new president and CEO of the TriCounty Monterey bay economic partnership. Also known as MBE MBE works on housing, broadband access, workforce development, renewable energy and climate policy, water conservation, and housing needs regional recycling transportation, and believe it or not more <laugh> we will be speaking with Tara about her journey into this role and about what MBE is and what it is getting done to address climate change and other environmental issues. Terah, welcome to the sustainability. Now show.
Speaker 3 00:01:24 Happy to be here. Thank you for having me, Brooke and Ronnie.
Speaker 2 00:01:27 Yes. Thank you. Looking
Speaker 3 00:01:28 Forward to it.
Speaker 2 00:01:29 Great. Well, for starters, could you just share a little bit about yourself and how you came to live here in, in Monterey county, right.
Speaker 3 00:01:38 That's right. Absolutely. Uh, we've been here. Um, again, my name is Tara Tara Gora and, uh, my family and I moved here in January, uh, coming up close to six months here and absolutely enjoying it. How could you not enjoy the greater Monterey bay region for its beauty and splendor that it offers? Right. I always, uh, uh, say that it's kind of like the American Rivi, right? Be, you know, all the way from Santa Cruz all the way up to, down to Santa Barbara. It's absolutely gorgeous. I have two little girls, my husband and I moved here, um, directly from Boston, although we are both native Californians and it's happy to be home. Uh, we are really happy to be here, um, in California's home. So we are currently in Montey county, specifically in marina.
Speaker 2 00:02:23 Nice, nice. And tell us a little bit about the work you're doing and um, how, what other work you've done before that's also similar or different?
Speaker 3 00:02:33 Absolutely. So, you know, I'm a generalist in that. I have done a great number of things in my lifetime thus far, but I would say the common thread really is about how can I make an impact? How can I be part of organizations that are making a difference, almost every organization that I've been with, whether it was in DC or in Los Angeles or, um, you know, Sacramento government affiliated organizations. It's always been about building cross sector, um, alliances and partnerships that are diverse and inclusive. There's not a single experience. I can think of whether I was working the harm reduction or early childhood policy. I also dabbled in civil liberties issues, especially post nine 11 on American Muslims, civil Liberty specifically. And that was also about building alliances and coalitions of, uh, diverse stakeholders, uh, to accomplish what we needed to do together. So I, I think that's pretty much a common thread.
Speaker 3 00:03:33 I've, I've engaged in similar work and that again, building together or bringing together different sectors, uh, different industries, different groups of people who normally are not, you know, at the table breaking bread together, or having conversations together, figuring out what is the art of possible of working together. So I think in many ways, um, I've had a similar common thread throughout my career. Um, I think what's probably a different is the region that I'm in and the economic developmental lens specifically, um, in that it's, uh, you know, as a native California, I would often come to Monterey county specifically to the aquarium. Our, my parents used to bring us out here and we would enjoy coming out. It was a wonderful day trip or a weekend trip. Um, so we, we have often known it known obviously the region for it. Beauty. I, I think what we don't know is the underlying other issues that are very much present. So I think that's, what's different learning about that to getting a more deeply engaged and learning of all the people in places that make this region. So a rich in culture and language and, uh, how, how beautiful it is beyond what we see, uh, and the depth of culture that is here. So that's, you know, I'd say in some respects different in other ways, very similar to other places that I've, um, worked in.
Speaker 2 00:05:00 Okay. And tell us a little bit, so you said it was a day trip here. Can you tell us a little bit about where exactly you're from and also richen culture, you are also richen culture? I think so. Can you share a little bit about that as well?
Speaker 3 00:05:12 Well, I, I I've been, yeah. I, I find, I feel like my background in who I am is a huge blessing and, and sort of defining, um, what I do as both a person and as a professional, um, day trip, meaning I, I am from Bakersfield, California. Okay. So I was born in Sacramento. My parents are Punjabi Pakistani, and they immigrated here. Um, originally to the greater Sacramento area. My father, um, was looking to go to school as pursue his doctorate at UC Davis. I'm the eldest of five. Um, and soon after I came along, they made the Trek to Bakersfield and they are still in Bakersfield. Um, that's where I was raised, um, since I was six months of age. And so that's a home base mm-hmm so to speak. Mm-hmm, <affirmative> where, you know, mom and dad now grandma and grandpa to my two little girls.
Speaker 3 00:06:02 And so, yeah, we would drive out, gosh, you know, three between three and a half to four and a half hours with a carload of, you know, five kids, total and mom and dad. And we would come out here and it was a rare treat, you know, uh, born to immigrant parents. And we were not always, um, had the means to have the vacations in their traditional sense of the word, but my parents were very creative. They were very innovative, whether it was a day trip or a hike or just a drive. I, it was through those experiences that I really fell in love with California and appreciated the great terrain and the great beauty, you know, living in Bakersfield within two hours, we could be at the beach in Pismo. We could be in the mountains, uh, skiing somewhere or in the Moha desert or in LA south of us.
Speaker 3 00:06:52 And north of us was Fresno two hours away. So I, I just grew up with great appreciation. I'm not afraid of, you know, the drive, so to speak. I just feel like, and then through that, I think we met and other people, uh, and growing up, there were not very many Muslims, for example, uh, um, where I was mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so it, uh, my parents from the very beginning fostered this sort of, uh, love of knowing the other, uh, because I think we were always so othered <laugh> mm. You know, the appreciation of learning to know, um, other cultures, other races, other languages. Um, so yeah, I grew with that lens and my father is an agronomist. And so that also gave me a great appreciation for the agriculture, the agribusiness, the folks who, you know, put food on our tables. I, I kind of learned all of that from a very early age mm-hmm <affirmative> so, but then again, coming from a Bakersfield, we kind of knew it as a cool breezy ocean <laugh> life that we knew about Salinas. You know, we knew about the lettuce curtain, but now as of course, you know, as of much later in my life, as an adult who follows a lot of the, um, issues, uh, SOC that impact us economically and socially it's a, it is definitely through a different lens at this point. So, but I, I remember coming here and having fond memories of that.
Speaker 2 00:08:15 Nice, nice. So, and you just mentioned this, this appreciation for the otherness. And I think that that's certainly when I looked up some data of this area, there's not a lot of a Muslim presence in this area. So how has that re how has that been coming to this area where it may even be less than where you were coming from in Bakersfield? I'm not sure.
Speaker 3 00:08:34 Uh, so, you know, very good question. I think I took it. Um, so growing up in Bakersfield, um, there were growing up not many Muslims at all. I, I think I could probably count on two hands sort of the number of families. Oh, wow. And my father is, um, one of the founders of the mosque there, one of the original founding members of the, uh, American Muslim community in Bakersfield, you know, fast forward now. Um, it's a vastly different experience with a lot of mosques and a lot of diverse Muslim too, from Yemen and Mexican American Muslims, to people from Pakistan and Bangladesh and, um, a large African American Muslim community. It's, it's very, very diverse. Mm-hmm, <affirmative> in it's, um, ethnic and racial sort of makeup. And therefore it has also many places of worship where it didn't when, again, for me growing up, we would drive, you know, two hours, south to LA or two hours north to Fresno, where there was a sizeable American Muslim community, uh, in which we could plug in and, and attend our religious, um, events like either aha or practice Ramada with other families.
Speaker 3 00:09:43 It wasn't until I was much later in my life, uh, as a child, probably closer to high school age when there was an establishment, like, you know, where there was a mosque. And now, like I said, fast forward, there were several offerings and opportunities. Um, I would liken it. I mean, there are, uh, American Muslim, like community here. There are mosques. I, I, you know, I know I've visited one in Santa Cruz. There is one in seaside, Watsonville Catroville I believe, and one is Salinas. Those three have not visited. Uh, but I am not as yet plugged in. I'm still in some ways searching for that aspect of community. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Um, but you're right. There is not as sizable community as Los Angeles, where I spent, uh, great number of years, both as an undergrad and as a professional or in DC, where I also was professionally living in Boston, where I most recently am moving from.
Speaker 3 00:10:37 So it is a very, um, different experience, but I'm eager to meet and know people in that space. Uh, and I, you know, I, I see folks, uh, but I don't know a lot of folks mm-hmm <affirmative> and it, it is interesting. It, it reminds me of Bakersfield in that growing up. I, I didn't have that sense of community. There were very few of us. So I, that has been noticeable, uh, as you make note, um, that there at some level, I think because the bay area does have a very sizable and organized community, I assumed, um, that because we're the south of Silicon valley that there would be, uh, but I, I probably not Uhhuh, so I'm still learning in my short five to six months here, still learning the, you know, the landscape mm-hmm <affirmative>. Um, but it is, uh, obvious that there aren't many of us in the way I show up and I'm in present in rooms. And, uh, you can, you can sense and pick up that vibe. And generally, I must say the reception has been very positive and warm and welcoming. Uh, I think people are curious, um, and at the same time, it shatters their whatever their mental model they may have or stereotypes that may be, um, I've been, you know, in the professional realm for 15, 20 years. So you can sense that, right. You can sense when you walk into a room <laugh> mm-hmm <affirmative>, um, but it's been good thus far. I can't, I can't really complain. Right.
Speaker 2 00:12:05 Well, I, I wanna hear more, a little bit about, like what got you here. Um, but let's first make sure anybody listening learns a little bit more about MBE. So can you just share a little bit about MBE and then yeah. What drew you to, um, come join it?
Speaker 3 00:12:21 Absolutely. So, you know, MBE is a, uh, Monterey bay economic partnership. When we, for sure call it MBE is a TriCounty, um, entity, a, a nonprofit that serves the county of Monterey Santa Cruz and San bonito, and this footprint, um, serves to improve the economic health and quality of life in their region. And the founders had this vision that it would be a thriving region for all residents, right? Mm-hmm <affirmative> so we're relatively young in that we're seven years old. I am the second CEO and president. So this is, uh, sort of part two or second chapter the evolution or growth of M B, um, in terms of the various areas over the overarching vision. I mean, it's to provide regional leadership, try to be a catalyst for change, look for innovative and regional solutions with the bottom line of what we call the triple bottom line of equity, economic vitality, and the environment.
Speaker 3 00:13:25 And what that means is bringing together diverse stakeholders across a tri county region to look at housing, broadband, access, economic and workforce development, and also policy and undergirding, or what's sort of the intersection between those four major initiatives that we have is looking at it through the lens of also simultaneously climate, water, transportation, and education. And what I mean, education is the cradle to career sort of the entire spectrum and health. So for example, if we're looking at broadband access to reduce the digital divide and inequity in our tri county region, that dovetails very clearly in our mind around access to health, especially telehealth as we are still in the midst of the pandemic and that shed light very clearly about the access to healthcare for, for some communities, right? Same goes for education. I think we have read and seen and experienced so many stories, um, nationwide and in our region where students needed assistance to go back. And a lot of that required an active, strong broadband access, which a lot of our communities did not have. Right. And are slowly coming online.
Speaker 2 00:14:46 Let, let's actually, let's take a really quick break and then let's come back to that. Cause that's really interesting how they all come together. So let's do that. Thank you. All right, listeners, you are listening to Ks QD, 90.7 FM and also Ks qd.org streaming on the internet. This is sustainability now and our guest today is Tara GOIA. And Tara, tell me how to say your last name properly. I'm sorry if I've butchered it twice now. <laugh> Tara that's okay.
Speaker 3 00:15:14 It's Tarara and last name is Goh. I always tell folks it's like Mariah, but with a G.
Speaker 2 00:15:20 Nice. Okay. That's helpful. <laugh> thank you. Tarara Goh. And she is the new president and CEO of the TriCounty organization, the Monterey bay economic partnership, also known as MBE. So you were just sharing a little bit about how the different areas of, um, the focuses of MBE kind of interconnect and mm-hmm <affirmative> um, yeah, if you wanna tell a little bit more about that with the broadband and how that came to the light.
Speaker 3 00:15:46 A absolutely. Um, as I mentioned previously, so with COVID I think that really shed light in a lot of the inequities, right? Uh, not just nationally, but definitely here regionally in the Monterey bay area, um, you know, connectivity and having access to broadband, we saw like as a critical need, because without internet, it was difficult for kids to truly attend school remotely, right. Or to be able to access their homework or turn things in, and that became a real need. Um, so we sort of, how should I say, uh, did a quick sort of COVID response and a couple of fronts, one of which was around broadband access, um, partnering with local ISPs, um, and others trying to bring them together to see, okay, so how do we truly get internet and broadband connectivity to provide access to those families and to those youth? And we launched what was called equal access Monterey bay, uh, and essentially, uh, it was to bring these, uh, folks together and also look for funding and other projects and other avenues and connections.
Speaker 3 00:16:54 Sometimes I can, I, I liken, uh, what EP does kind of as a matchmaking service in some respects where we are matching private public partnerships or others, um, to engage in getting some actionable work happen. So whether it's infrastructure dollars or talking to local municipalities or county infrastructures, or county office of education, how do we connect them with maybe charitable giving and others to make, you know, launch programs where there could be connectivities, right. Um, so it's engaging a broad spectrum of industry stakeholders across sectors, jurisdictions, socioeconomic status from grassroots to the grass tops, right? And this is large, small hybrid everything. And we learned quickly, even with the work we were doing, how, how nimble we were required to be in order to have virtual or hybrid sort of thing. So that's kind of where it was, we were working on broadband, but it, I think the pandemic really forced us in that space.
Speaker 3 00:17:56 Mm-hmm <affirmative> and recognized that there were certainly some communities in our region. And just to use Monterey county as a, a quick example, um, our cities in the south Salinas valley, for example, you know, needed greater connectivity and coming together under the leadership of former city manager at Gonzalez, Renee Mendez and others, bringing them together, having those conversations and looking at what's the art of the possible of leveraging fundings and resources to bring connectivity, uh, in, uh, and, you know, sort of forming that alliances and, and how, and, you know, and I think the MBE, um, also quickly also figured out in addition to sort of broadband, um, challenges during the pandemic, there was all clearly the housing challenges that we are facing true, right? With, um, evictions moratoriums happening to, um, how can we quickly advocate with our, um, partners, municipalities, and various jurisdictions to, uh, you know, ease those, um, you know, the moratorium when expired, you know, what could the cities do locally? How can we provide rental assistance and vouchers and partner with folks? So it, some of this, especially with the pandemic forest, our team, the housing team, and our, our broadband team to quickly sort of respond, put programs together, write recommendations, write papers, uh, right. And, and really that's kind of the function we serve in the TriCounty region is to be attempted to be as agile as possible to address the need at hand.
Speaker 2 00:19:36 Yeah. And those seem like those directly would then tie into climate as well. So I can see where you were talking about that interconnection with the broadband mm-hmm <affirmative>, but this is also a climate issue. If people can live in lower cost housing in south county, they can, you know, if they have good broadband, they don't have to be driving as far. And, um, so you're taking care of a few issues all at once. <laugh>
Speaker 3 00:19:58 Absolutely everything, all of this is connected. Um, it's like it's very difficult, or I, I think impossible to divorce oneself, so to speak from one issue and just solely focus on one issue, they're all interconnected. Right. Um, you know, we can't talk about housing without talking about water supply. Right. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and how many units can go up, um, where the vehicle miles traveled and making sure there are transportation hubs nearby. I mean, everything is absolutely interconnected, right. Uh, broadband is directly connected to, um, you know, all the issues we have mentioned and specifically to education and health. Right. And it has a, more of a clearer access, whereas of course it aids and everything else.
Speaker 2 00:20:42 Right, right. Um, so yeah, with that in mind, you did mention that there's, you know, a lot of different members for EP, um, cities and counties are members, right. Mm-hmm <affirmative> but so are businesses. And are there other kind of stakeholder groups that are also members?
Speaker 3 00:20:59 Is that actually, so, so it's pretty much the door is open to anybody who would like to be a member. Okay. Uh, uh, MPE began as a member, um, organization. We are currently, I believe at 86 members strong. Um, we continue to grow and, and luckily did not see a reduction during the pandemic. I think folks understood the value we bring, uh, because we're bringing research and data and other advocacy, um, to the table and conversations are bringing diverse stakeholders to have the necessary conversations. So yes, we have counties to local municipalities. We have a large, um, organizations like large, you know, for example, ag uh, to smaller organizations. Uh, we also have nonprofits who are members so large or small, um, there's room for everybody. Mm-hmm <affirmative> we have environmental groups to, um, you know, like I said, municipalities, uh, we have folks in the energy fo area, like three CE and thinking off the top of my head. And as I think of some members of, on our board, for example, we have several banks, um, hospitals, um, Driscoll Taylor, you know, so, so those are some of not only the founders, but also current members of the board. Um, so it's pretty diverse. Right. And we continue to, um, look for that. And, um, and we continue to look for diversity, not just in the sectors they represent, but the issues they're interested in.
Speaker 2 00:22:26 Um, right. That was actually a question I wanted to get to is what, like what kind of role do they play in the issues that end up ends up focusing on and how do you navigate that? Cause I imagine some stakeholders might really want you to focus on one thing and, or some members I should say rather than stakeholders, but how do you, um, how does that process work?
Speaker 3 00:22:47 Well, I think it's never easy mm-hmm <affirmative> but I think what, what helps is that we have a strong reputation of being bipartisan data driven, artisan data driven and focused on the greater good of the community. Right? So we, we are really, truly, the vision is of a thriving region and thriving region for everybody. Certainly there, there are going to be times where not all members will agree or there may be sort of, um, the organizational, uh, maybe, you know, our frame may be at odds with certain members or in policies or bills that we would wanna help endorse or promote. But we try to, our north star really is about the triple bottom line of equity environment and economics and our four major initiatives around housing for all mm-hmm <affirmative>. And that means all income levels are affordable to market rate. Um, and you know, and also looking at employer assisted housing and how do we get employers engaged and have attract the right labor to the region?
Speaker 3 00:23:49 Uh, we're looking at farm worker housing. We also have a Monterey bay housing trust that supports, uh, housing development, um, through that funds. And then with broadband access, that's really to reduce the digital inequity, the economic and workforce development. Gosh, that's that runs a gamut from, um, bringing strong partnerships with our educational institutions, with career pathways and tech support to, you know, what kind of pipeline of new workers do we need and how do we upscale existing workers? How do we make sure and advocate for, um, livable wages, especially in this region? Mm-hmm <affirmative> um, so it's, it's a myriad of conversations around that frame of economic and workforce development, monitoring the trends and, and our sectors, and being in active communication with our partners to see what their workforce needs are as well. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And the fourth major one is around policy education and awareness, because I think part of, uh, being, I think strong in this region is to truly partner with not just the legislative bodies or policy makers or the electeds, but it's also the education and awareness that their grassroots partnering with community based organizations to help really educate communities.
Speaker 3 00:25:06 And also from the grass tops have an active engagement with our electeds about what policies make sense. And of course the, the sort of the glue in the middle <laugh> is the, through the looking at all of their, through the lens of equity mm-hmm <affirmative> and the environment, um, and water and transportation and health and education, cuz they're all interconnected. Um, so it's there's space for everybody in my mind to be at the table and to become a member mm-hmm <affirmative> a membership helps support our initiatives, um, and helps support that, the work that we do have, and it's been the, uh, essentially what we call the bread and butter of how MBE is and came to be and, uh, wants to support the work now to your question about, is it driven just from members? We do, um, conduct an annual membership survey. We are an active attempt at all times, uh, to be in active communication with our members by highlighting the great work that they do.
Speaker 3 00:26:08 We put out, um, you know, a, uh, regional report every two weeks that mainly focuses on the great work of our partners and friends and stakeholders in the tri county region. Mm. Um, that's one avenue, the other avenue in the pre pandemic. We used to host a lot of in person gatherings and conversations, uh, critical conversations of whether that was on water or housing, um, or equity. So, um, and now that we're quasi sort of coming through it and people are a little bit more comfortable with in person or hybrid, uh, we hope to, uh, bring those programs back up, hopefully by the summer or at the end of the summer. Uh, because when I started, I came in at the height of the Amicon, uh, variant, January
Speaker 2 00:26:56 Mm-hmm
Speaker 3 00:26:56 <affirmative> yeah, January, uh, February, my family and I came down with COVID ourselves. We were out for two weeks. Right. So as a new leader coming in it's, uh, in some ways specs was a little bit challenging. And for folks to really get to know me and started doing the in person gathering. So we are really hoping that by the end of the summer that we can reengage our members in the, in person is something that they look forward to doing something that's a value add for their membership to have those conversation. And also again, yeah. Learn about what they want and need for their particular sector of work and how can we help introduce them to folks that they would need introductions to. Right. Um, so it's a myriad of things. Um, certainly our board members are also members, um, you know, paying
Speaker 2 00:27:45 Membership as individuals. Okay. Got it. Yeah. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 3 00:27:48 Yeah. They, their organizations are members of the, uh <inaudible>.
Speaker 2 00:27:52 Okay, great. Well, let's, let's take another break. And when we get back, I wanna ask you just for a little bit of some highlights of some programs, um, or, you know, policy issues that EP has worked on to date, and then we'll go into specifically environment and climate. All right. Thank you, listeners. You are listening to sustainability now and I am your host book, right with my co-host Ronnie Lipshitz and our guest today is Tara GU the new president and CEO of the TriCounty Monterey bay economic partnership, AKA MBE. So thank you, Tara. We've been hearing about what the organization is at large and its biggest goals around equity and environment and, um, transportation, all sorts of things. Um, what are some key, uh, highlights of things that MBE has accomplished today? And I wanna point out those events you were just talking about were definitely a highlight cause I attended several of them and just absolutely gave the feeling of this whole region working together towards great goals. So I know those as a highlight <laugh> yeah. But what else, what are some of the policy issues or, um, specific, you know, broadband access you talked about what are, what are some things that MBE has accomplished?
Speaker 3 00:29:08 Wow. I, I would say like quite a few things, um, much of which I I'm probably, how should I say, um, I, my, my kudos to the team and my predecessor for bringing together just amazing sort of work on a number of levels. One of which is the, uh, housing, um, white paper that we wrote back in, I believe is 2018 or so now it's currently being updated as we speak. Um, that's one of the seminal pieces of work that we were able to sort of do in the, for the tri county region that informed the policies at the, uh, local county level and many of our partners, even some members of our partners across the state. We're also part of, um, statewide network of similar like organizations, sister, organizations, so to speak, could use similar work in other regions have also used as a, uh, a blueprint, um, so to speak or an example. And it really highlighted some key recommendations around housing. Uh, the other is for broadband. Um, I think, uh, if you know, there's a central,
Speaker 2 00:30:13 No, we can't, we can't move on from that. If, so you said <laugh> it highlighted some key things about housing? Do you know what any of those key things are really interested?
Speaker 3 00:30:23 Absolutely. There, I mean, quite a few, uh, I mean there's a set of, uh, nine or so recommendations about how to approach housing from the climate point of view for, um, also the, um, the number of units, how to meet our goals as a region, as a city, uh, why, um, housing, first of all, the paper is really about why it matters and every city is, and the state has mandated that there should be a certain number of housing units for cities and counties are cities and counties meeting those regional housing need goals. And how does one go about doing that? Um, how do we make incentives for folks to be engaged in those conversations? So, you know, so it's, again, the grassroots and the grass tops approach, um, you know, recommending more transit oriented, transit, friendly, um, sort of housing mixed use housing, where it could be, uh, affordable for wide number of folks, uh, recommending employers to be also more engaged in those conversations.
Speaker 3 00:31:29 Right? What can, uh, um, whether you're in the hospitality industry, ag health, um, tourism, other, how, how can they be part of also the conversation around driving housing? I know, um, you know, most recently I believe it was a Monterey county office of education has started engaging in what conver those conversations about how, what part can they play, for example, in sec, securing or developing, uh, housing for the, the teachers in the region to attract high quality teachers to sustain and keep them here. And part of that equation is housing, right? Uh, there's not a single conversation. I feel like I can have throughout the, at least not in my time that I've been here that I can have without housing coming up, no matter what sector, what industry, what field you're in. Right. Um, as a, you know, a personal side note, I, I am one of those individuals, technically a C-suite, um, executive, right?
Speaker 3 00:32:29 Mm-hmm, <affirmative>, who's been recruited from Boston, but currently in temporary housing waiting to see where we can a afford to buy B what aligns with our needs of ours, you know, with our young ones, I have two little girls, six and seven, you know, then school districts, mm-hmm <affirmative> um, so, you know, and I'm of a privileged class, right? So, you know, I'm part of a, uh, two member sort of adult household where my spouse earns and he, and I both can afford to be in this situation and take the time to make the right choice for us. Right. But most of the individuals in this region cannot do that at
Speaker 2 00:33:08 All. Right. And what that does for business too. Right. Absolutely. So stabilizing to have your staff kind of running around, looking for housing,
Speaker 3 00:33:15 Same goes for exactly same goes for the healthcare industry. How do you attract and keep physicians mm-hmm <affirmative> um, same thing, same goes for the teachers. Same goes for farm workers. You know, farm working community has largely in the past been very migrant and can still move, but in order to retain, uh, farm workers for the very, very valuable work that they do in our community to put the food on our tables, their families, you know, their children need safe, affordable quality housing, so they can, you know, study and live and support, you know, and the parents can support the children. So there's a myriad of issues when we housing is just so huge. Right. Right. I feel like, you know, and I don't feel, I'm not the subject matter expert on this either. I've got an entire team who does this work that, that I feel like whether you're looking at it from an purely economic point of view of the dollars that come in and out of our region to shifting to the purely environmental sort of lens of the needs of water and land and infills and transportation, and, you know, reducing our carbon footprint, there's so many different angles to housing policy and it's just, um, endless.
Speaker 3 00:34:35 Right. And, uh, you know, how do we invest smarter? How do we make it less difficult for developers and less difficult for communities municipality at the same time advance like green, you know, green economy and safe, um, living spaces for all right. Um, you know, our population is, you know, is not going to, we are not gonna be able to retain our population and support the sectors and the way we need it to be supported if we can't have, um, our housing supply increase.
Speaker 2 00:35:09 Right. And are there any specific housing projects that MBE is working on now?
Speaker 3 00:35:15 There are quite a few. The one that I'm, I think most recently I was at a groundbreaking, um, and very proud of it's, uh, 1482 freedom, uh, on freedom Boulevard in Watsonville. And what I really am, uh, excited about around for that. It just, we, we broke ground a couple weeks ago and Eden housing is taking the lead is, it was a truly, it was absolutely beautiful thing for me to witness in my time here in that you had municipalities, you've got nonprofit housing developer, you have an organization like ours, you know, sort of shepherding this. You've got, uh, legislators, federal, state, and local, uh, and community organizers. Um, I mean, you had banks there who helped, you know, with the capital. There was just so many individuals who touched this project. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, it was beautiful to witness and it would provide affordable housing.
Speaker 3 00:36:12 Um, it was mixed use affordable housing for a great number of people. Um, farm workers set aside for farm worker housing, um, and others and other vulnerable communities and transitional housing as well. So it wasn't just, um, and then you had an organization, for example, like three CE who's gonna put in solar panels and other things. Um, um, so I, for me, that was a really beautiful thing to witness and a victory to see the art of the possible, like it is possible to do. Mm-hmm, <affirmative> some of these things do, however, take time and patience. Um, and it's just often a test of patients. I was thinking in our staff have been working on it for years, and now it's finally, you know, we broke ground, but part of it is also SB 35, uh, that went into effect, I think in January of 2018 where we did advocate for that.
Speaker 3 00:37:04 Um, not, you know, it provided local a little bit more local control to streamline, for example, the permitting process. And to make some of these projects go, go online quicker than they do traditionally. So there's gotta be a right balance of local control and sort of state mandates at the same time, you know, how can we quickly make things happen? Um, because our, our folks need housing, our residents, meanwhile, waiting for this, that was 2018. Right. And we're in 2022. Right. Um, that's a long time in my mind. Uh, but it's longer for somebody who needs that critical housing or, um, you know, a family who's got little ones that they need housed.
Speaker 2 00:37:47 Right. And that's an argument sort of against having much local control. Right. Yeah. I mean, there's some tension there cause there's, there's always tension and you have local control things move too slowly to meet the need. Yeah. But <laugh>, you get a lot of resentment mm-hmm <affirmative> yeah, I
Speaker 3 00:38:01 Absolutely. We, and we live in that space of constant need to balance and pivot, cuz we will not always be able to make all of our members and stakeholders hundred percent happy,
Speaker 2 00:38:13 Which I don't understand how you like that job then. Cause <laugh>, that sounds really, you know, hard to be around when you're always gonna have somebody unhappy, but <laugh>
Speaker 3 00:38:24 Well, you know what I I'm attracted and I thrive in environments that are challenging in that it forces me to learn as a, as a person and as a professional it forces, I think when you have challenging conversations and a challenging environment or an issue like that, it forces all of us, not just Ambe to be innovative, to be creative and to learn, to not be so entrenched in our positions. I think, which is why that project was just so beautiful for me to witness as a newcomer to the region and that, um, yes, when we work together and put aside our ideological and political differences and truly look for what needs to happen, it can, it is
Speaker 2 00:39:04 Possible. Right, right.
Speaker 3 00:39:06 It is
Speaker 2 00:39:06 Possible. And maybe yeah. Not being too attached to one outcome <laugh> yeah, exactly. Um, I wanted, I, I feel like I'm saying switch topics, but it really isn't, to me, housing is so critical when you talk about climate at all. But, um, I do wanna switch to talk about specifically any climate initiatives that MBE has right now. Can you share anything on that?
Speaker 3 00:39:27 So for climate, we have opted to not necessarily have our own specific climate initiatives in that we feel we are good as supporters of those who are the experts in this space. Okay. For example, you know, there's a lot of great work that's being done by ecology action or umhe a out of Watsonville. There are folks in the TriCounty regional climate collaborative. And if you were to look from Santa Cruz down to Santa Barbara and Ventura, there is an entire, you know, coastal community that's working on collaborative issues, climate collaborative issues, whether that's going after state and federal funding to actual actually bringing, uh, projects on our role is board to be supportive, whether it's looking for funding, adding, supportive, voice, convening, those conversations, um, especially when it comes to again, the issues of housing. Right? So, so we cannot, like I said, we can't divorce ourselves out of that conversation.
Speaker 3 00:40:29 So that's probably our quickest and direct link. Um, and the rest is more, how would I say as a convener rule or more of a regional convener or, or having con conversations and okay. Advocacy around transportation, water. We did also partner with a researcher locally to do, for example, a white paper on water. And what does that look like and where can we insert ourselves in that conversations? Or how can we be supportive? I think in that space, there are a lot of people doing fabulous work. The question is how can it <inaudible> either bring to bear ideas happening at other parts of, of the state or help leverage resources. For example, right now we're at one of the lead applicants on what's called a community economic resilience fund application to the state of California that asks folks to apply through the lens of, um, inclusive economics and climate resilience. And so we're partnering intentionally with our, uh, climate collaborative in the region and our advocates in the region who know have better pulse on that as well as supporting the work they're doing for the funds that they're going after.
Speaker 2 00:41:44 Okay. Do you, so do you do the actual fund, like grant writing and such for the whole coalition or mission or
Speaker 3 00:41:52 Not the grant writing? I think that fabulous grant writers ly, okay. Mm-hmm, <affirmative>, it's, it's a playing a supportive role, whether it's a letter of support pulling data, um, providing other regional stats that they may need and building inclusive tables once funded, all of us need to make sure that the tables are inclusive, that are representative our entire tri county region and the, these new set of fundings that are, um, are, are really looking at it from that lens is everybody at the table are the various sectors at the table. And how can we make sure that if they're not, how do we get them there?
Speaker 2 00:42:27 Okay. All right. When we're back, let's hear a little bit more about that and what the aims are of that funding that you're going after. Okay. All right. You are listening to case good sustainability now. And we are your hosts, Brooke. Right. And Ronnie Lipshitz and we have our guest today, Tara Gora from Monterey bay economic partnership. Thank you again, Tara, for being here. Um, so, okay. Yeah, we are getting towards the end of the show. And I wanna just find out if you can share anything else really specific that MBE has been working on, um, in our region or is trying to work on right now. Oh, and I wanna finish finding out about that climate grant. You were talking about <laugh> and what the goals are. Let's start with that. Let's start where we left off.
Speaker 3 00:43:10 So there's, I, I would say there's several opportunities. I think that the state is presenting in terms of, um, funding in the climate justice space. One is, um, you know, it's called a climate regional climate collaborative. It's being headed by ecology action, for example, and we are proud to support those efforts. Uh, there's another opportunity called the, um, surf opportunity. I think it's community economic resilience fund for short people call it surf. And the state of California is looking at funding 13 regions across the state. They've sort of cut up the state at California. We fall into the central coast. So from Santa Cruz all the way to Ventura. So our TriCounty region, plus the TriCounty region of St. Lu Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura are all part of this so-called central coast region mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so MBE and our sister organization called reach out in San Lu Obispo and Ventura EDC economic development corporation.
Speaker 3 00:44:12 The three of us will be going after this surf dollars. And we're in the midst of, uh, actually writing that application is due in July and hope to be the lead for our six counties. And essentially the purpose of serve is to promote a sustainable and equitable recovery from the economic distress of COVID 19, right by supporting new plans and strategies to diversify local economies, develop sustainable industries, the whole purpose to create high quality broadly accessible jobs in California. That's kind of the overarching sort of essence of serve, um, is, you know, to attune of like 600 million or so. Uh, and again, wow, sustainable economies across this diverse region, but, and over, and at some point, figuring out ways that how do we foster long term economic resilience and overall transition to like a car neutral economy. So before we get to that long term vision of a carbon neutral economy, we're applying for a one year planning grant, which is 5 million across six counties.
Speaker 3 00:45:17 Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So across six boundaries counties, 5 million doesn't sound like a whole lot. Right. Um, and the whole purpose is for us to build a very large and inclusive table from community based organizations, folks, you know, on the ground, you know, our, uh, uh, employees and our workers all the way up to the grass tops of like whether they're CEO of organizations, municipalities, um, counties, we have boards EDCs and everyone in between making intentional effort also of communities that are historically not part of these economic development plans like next community or African American and API community or native community communities that historically may not have been present. How do we build a table large and inclusive enough? So over a course of one year or planning grant of 5 million, we could have those conversations. What is impacting for example, communities in Pao valley or Salinas versus, uh, San Lu OB bipo, or what are the needs in Ventura?
Speaker 3 00:46:22 What are the similarities, what are the differences? Where do we align, which industries are common, which are not, and how do we, uh, have those conversations, um, across sort of again, the grass tops to the grassroots and how can everyone be part of those conversations? Uh, that's the crux of the application. That's the hope that we, uh, so the three entities we call ourselves uplift central coast, mm-hmm <affirmative> MBE reach and Ventura, EDC are the three leads on that. And our job really is more of a project management and building out that table. And then one year of like economic plans that are reflect San bonito and Monterey and Santa Cruz and San Louis, OB bipo and Santa Barbara Ventura, um, and all six counties. Interesting, because what's, what's unique is that, you know, in some ways we're very similar because we are central coast communities and central coast communities ha you know, are just not just in landscape, but just even in our economies are vastly different than the, you know, accounting in the central valley, right.
Speaker 3 00:47:32 Or the inland empire or north of us Sacramento, uh, counties. So I think that the state's thought and all of this is being sort of very regionally focused on how those economic plans are developed and how do those communities look at economic resilience and the overall transition to our carbon neutral economy. So that's the biggest thing on our table right now, or on our plate as we try to figure out, um, how do we do that? I think MBE has really great experience in the TriCounty region, in, in building those tables and bringing diverse stakeholders to the table. We've done some tremendous work in Salinas valley around region's rights together, which was a project of California forward MBE and the Irvine foundation. We, we did that during the pandemic as a matter of fact, over a course of two years, which is a mini version of this mm-hmm <affirmative> in some ways. Um, so I think we, we bring to bear a lot of, um, expertise and we're hoping we can leverage these funds to really put the central coast on the map and truly advocate for our unique needs on the central coast.
Speaker 2 00:48:43 Right. And is, um, like climate resiliency part of that too. Is it something looking at, cause this is in response to the sort of lack of pandemic resiliency, right. Is where this funding has come from. So
Speaker 3 00:48:55 Absolutely. So it's all of that connected mm-hmm <affirmative> right. It's, what's equitable, what's sustainable economy. Those are the questions that we're being asked to address. Um, how do we foster that? Um, given that the regions are so diverse and then within the regions, the diversity of people, the diversity of culture, the diversity of sectors and industry mm-hmm <affirmative> and how can we create high quality jobs that are accessible for folks? And part of that conversation is, you know, climate resilience and jobs that feed into that. And what are those green jobs or how do we foster that? Um, and then how do we work in partnership with other opportunities like the regional collaborative they're working on one mm-hmm <affirmative> and the K through 16 is also working on one and yet, and all of those frames are through a six county lens
Speaker 2 00:49:48 Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Speaker 3 00:49:49 So it's, I think really for the first time the state is kind of lumping regions and counties together to work together in a more intentional way mm-hmm <affirmative> and figure out what's common and yet what's different. What can be aligned, what cannot be aligned and what can happen then regionally. And it also provides a great platform in my mind, uh, for advocacy as someone who's worked, um, I've worked for a state legislator as a district director in LA, and I've worked for other organizations that were headquartered or based out of Los Angeles, you know, the larger, uh, metropolitan areas or the demographics are larger. Um, you know, I've seen a tremendous sort of collaboration of organizations coming together with, um, very robust legislative agendas or advocacy agendas. And I, I don't see the same level of organization here. I think there are efforts, but they're not as cohesive.
Speaker 3 00:50:49 And I think this also provides that opportunity for us with one voice across the central coast, to say, we're more than a flyover mm-hmm <affirmative> region. We're more than a drive through beautiful region, but we, we have real needs and where there's a lot of also amazing things happening, whether it's ag tech or the aviation space, right. Or, um, you know, our, our hospitality and tourism industry being more intentional or of their sustainable practices and being more intentional, even in the housing conversation now more than ever, that there's a really, a lot of amazing things happening. And how can we highlight that? And then also leverage support from whether it's the state of California or the federal government or other private philanthropies. A lot of it is making that noise <laugh> mm-hmm <affirmative> and, uh, letting folks know that we're more than a beautiful place.
Speaker 2 00:51:42 Right, right. Uh, so we're getting towards the end of the time here, is there anything that you want to add? Anything that we missed and, um, that you want the listeners to know?
Speaker 3 00:51:55 I, I just think it's, you know, I am just super excited to be here as the, a new leader of M B. Um, I'm eager to, I think, know folks and the various collaborative, certainly the last five months, I, uh, uh, it's like, you know, drinking through the proverbial fire hose a lot happening, but in a good way. I think my major takeaway in the short time that I've been here is, you know, like all communities that I've lived in, there's certainly political challenges or a number of challenges. Right. But what I have witnessed also is the beauty in collaboration and partnerships. I, I, I in, uh, I've not seen it to the level that is present here. I know when once we like anything, once, once you start living in a, in a place and you get really close to an issue, it's hard to see the positive mm-hmm <affirmative> as an outsider coming in.
Speaker 3 00:52:53 I've seen so many positives and so many wins that, um, I think collectively we take for granted, um, I think there's a lot of great hardworking people who are passionate and committed to the region from all walks of life, from all different sectors. Um, who mean, well, who truly have that sort of, I, I think fire in the belly to, to do what's right, because they want everyone to, um, thrive and do wealth. I mean, certainly even businesses who, you know, oftentimes get a bad reputation of, oh, they're just all about the bottom line. And, um, but I think they too have been just not very good at probably sharing their story of how they, they want their, their employees to thrive their families to thrive. And when they're thriving, so is the company, right? You don't have high turnover and absenteeism and labor challenges when you're where employees are also, um, feeling safe and feeling like the environment in, in which they work is fosters equity and inclusivity and their voice matters.
Speaker 3 00:53:58 Do we have a lot of work to do absolutely a lot of work to do, but no more than other communities and other parts of the nation that I've lived in and worked in. Right. So I, I'm very happy to be here. Um, that's great. I think it's a beautiful place. I'm eager to know folks and see how we can work together. I'm not coming in knowing or pretending to have all the answers so much. I love to work with folks and figure out how can we come up with answers together. Great. Um, so that's kind of what I'm looking forward to. And, you know, I, we invite folks to learn about us, uh, call me, email me, uh, learn about becoming a member. If you're interested, uh, more voices. I think more, uh, opinions and ideas only make us stronger as an organization and definitely, uh, stronger as a region. Great. As stewards of all that we hold here.
Speaker 2 00:54:50 Thank, thank you so much, Tara, for being our guest on sustainability now and yes. Listeners Absolut. Yeah. You can find out more about the Monterey bay economic partnership and Tara at M B E P dot B I Z. And if you'd like to listen to previous shows, you can find them at kwid.org/sustainability now, and Spotify pocket podcasts and other podcast sites. Thanks for listening and thanks to all the staff and volunteers who make case good, your community radio station and keep it going.
Speaker 1 00:55:21 Good planets, a hot TRO wind blowing, breathing trees strong. Good.
