LAKEPORT
City launches Business Walk program
The Business Walk program in Lakeport is designed to familiarize the business community with city and other resources available to them. City staff and members of the Lakeport Economic Development Advisory Committee (LEDAC) contact local owners and managers, providing them with the opportunity to speak with representatives about issues of concern. The goal is to help local businesses thrive and grow.
Sixteen teams of staff and volunteers, totaling 29 individuals, will cover the city and begin conducting their visits in early October, with completion anticipated by late in the month. Findings from the visit will be compiled by LEDAC and presented to the City Council in December.
The City’s Economic Development Strategic Plan identified annual in-person visits as an important element in the support and retention of existing local businesses. The walks were put on hold during the Covid pandemic and are being resumed now to engage with and hear from the business community.
The Guide to Doing Business in Lakeport has been updated and will be made available during the visits. The publication includes information and contacts for services aimed at assisting new businesses, along with business loan programs offered by the City of Lakeport and other agencies. The guide will be available on the City’s website, www.cityoflakeport.com, at City Hall, and through the Lakeport Main Street Association and the Lake County Chamber of Commerce.
LEDAC is an advocate for a strong and positive Lakeport business community, and serves as a conduit between the City and the community for communicating the goals, activities and progress of Lakeport’s economic and business programs. The Committee meets bi-monthly on the second Wednesday, 7:30 to 9 a.m. The next meeting is on November 9; all meetings are open to the public.
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SACRAMENTO
Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry legislation to support local efforts to combat climate change signed by Governor
Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) announced today that AB 1902, her legislation to update the authority of Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs) to fight climate change, has been signed into law by Governor Newsom.
RCDs are special districts created in the 1930s to serve as the local connection to state and federal conservation programs in response to the dust bowl. Over the decades since RCDs have evolved into a network of 95 districts across the state to meet the natural resource needs of rural, urban, and suburban communities. As California’s natural resource challenges have evolved, so has the role of RCDs.
“RCDs are doing incredibly important work, including growing efforts to address climate change,” said Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters). “In my district, RCDs are reforesting areas hurt by wildfires, supporting water conservation, controlling erosion, managing soil health, and so much more. Many of these RCDs, however, are located in rural communities and have small budgets and few resources to do the work they’re responsible for. We have a responsibility to make it easier for RCDs to receive grants from the state and to make sure that the law is updated to reflect the work that these resources professionals are already doing.”
The last meaningful update to Division 9 occurred in the 1970s, and the statute currently is out of step with the types of projects RCDS can undertake.
AB 1902 adds a number of conservation activities that RCDs may be formed to address. In addition to their current authorization to control runoff, prevent or control soil erosion, the development and distribution of water, and the improvement of land capabilities, RCDs would have statutory authority in line with their current work.
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