Daily Business Report-Sept. 26, 2019
Cubic’s GATR antenna system was used as part of its disaster relief efforts in the Bahamas.(Photo: Business Wire)
Cubic and Help.NGO partner to support
Hurrican Dorian recovery efforts
Cubic Corporation’s Cubic Mission Solutions business division in partnership with Help.NGO deployed its GATR satellite communication (SATCOM) antennas and DTECH rugged Internet of Things solutions to assist in Hurricane Dorian disaster recovery efforts in the Bahamas. Together, San Diego-based Cubic and Help.NGO were able to establish five SATCOM links to restore connectivity within 72 hours of arrival.
Help.NGO’s Global Disaster Immediate Response Team (DIRT) has successfully used Cubic’s GATR antenna systems as part of its ongoing disaster relief missions around the world. Cubic assisted the organization’s Hurricane Dorian relief efforts by supplying antennas and rugged IoT solutions, as well as training for the response team operators on the equipment.
The first successful link was established with a 1.2-meter GATR antenna in Winding Bay at Team Rubicon’s forward operating base on Abaco Island. The internet connection was via Intelsat’s FlexGound network, which allowed Team Rubicon, another nonprofit organization supporting the relief efforts, to better coordinate aid for supplies and personnel.
Since 2005, GATR antennas have been deployed to support 15 natural disasters worldwide such as Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi; Hurricane Ike in Texas; Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico; Typhoon Idai in Mozambique; Typhoon Hiyan in the Philippines; as well as earth quakes in Haiti and Nepal.
____________________
Walden Family Services’ COO elected chair of
California Alliance Foster Family Committee
Sue Evans, chief operating officer of Walden Family Services, has been elected chair of the California Alliance for Child and Family Services’ Foster Family Agency (FFA) Committee.
Evans has over 30 years of experience in social work and foster care. She joined Walden as a social worker in 2000 and has held various positions including interim CEO before becoming COO in 2010.
Under her leadership, Walden expanded its foster care program to care for teens with developmental disabilities and started a program for children and teens with special health care needs. Evans also established and launched Walden’s successful Transitional Housing Plus Foster Care program as well as its Nurturing Parenting and Visitation programs.
Evans’ work has led to Walden’s 2018 designation as one of the first agencies licensed by the State of California to provide Intensive Services Foster Care, allowing children and youth with significant medical, therapeutic and behavioral needs to remain in a home-based setting for care.
____________________
County to boost efforts to attract,
retain mental health clinicians
The Board of Supervisors voted to launch an initiative to attract and retain mental health clinicians to work in the Psychiatric Emergency Response Teams (PERT) across the region.
First launched in 1995, the PERT program is a cornerstone of the local behavioral health crisis response capability. PERT is a County-contracted program that pairs specially trained law enforcement officers and deputies with licensed mental health professionals, who respond to incidents involving people with mental illness.
“We want to have that continuum of care and not just for the immediate crisis response,” said Board Chairwoman Dianne Jacob. “The board has supported the PERT teams, but we need the clinicians as part of the team along with law enforcement. So, this is a great initiative to do this.”
As part of the new initiative, the county Health and Human Services Agency will amend its contract with the Community Research Foundation, which runs the PERT program, to strengthen the pipeline of contracted mental health clinicians for PERT services.
The goal is to increase PERT employment by increasing clinicians’ compensation. This will support the county’s ongoing effort to address the larger behavioral health workforce challenges in the region.
____________________
Supervisors receive San Diego
County 5-year strategic plan
San Diego County supervisors received a five-year strategic plan Tuesday to continue improving firefighting and emergency medical services in unincorporated areas, provided by San Diego County Fire, the County Fire Authority-CAL FIRE entity the County has supported with more than $500 million since 2008. Read more…
____________________
County unveils regional plan to handle
increasing population of older adults
By 2025, there will be more than 1 million San Diegans over the age of 55, so the county has unveiled a regional plan to handle that increasing population and ensure older adults can age safely in our communities.
The San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency’s Aging & Independence Services presented the Aging Roadmap to the Board of Supervisors at its meeting Tuesday.
“This roadmap takes all the current partnerships between government and community partners and presents a vision for the future where we can build on existing programs to attain the Live Well San Diego vision of a region that is healthy, safe and thriving for everyone including older adults,” said Kimberly Gallo, Aging & Independence Services director.
“San Diego County is a region with a high cost of living, and finding ways to ensure older adults are able to maintain a good standard of living will be essential.”
The plan highlights the work currently being done on behalf of older adults and looks at several new areas of opportunity in the years ahead.
“This is an effort to bring everything together not just in the County government, but the other partners we have out in the community,” said Chairwoman Dianne Jacob, San Diego County Board of Supervisors. “We need to do all we can to help seniors stay in their homes as long as possible.”
Click here to learn the five focus areas that have been added to the plan, as well as the five existing focus areas.
____________________
San Diego Foundation awards more than
$52 million in grants during fiscal 2019
The San Diego Foundation said it awarded more than $52 million in grants to the nonprofit community in fiscal year 2019.
During fiscal year 2019, grantmaking supported 1,740 nonprofit organizations with 5,667 individual grants to a variety of social impact areas, including: $16.7 million for Health & Human Services, $14.5 million for Education, $7.8 million for Arts & Culture, $4.8 million for Civil Society, $3.6 million for the Environment, and $1.9 million for Youth Development.
“San Diego County is a region rich with generous philanthropists and changemakers, as well as unique challenges that require strong leadership.” said Mark Stuart, president and CEO of The San Diego Foundation. “As we look toward the future, we are focused on how we can further increase joy for the donors we support and the communities we serve.”
Click here for the foundation’s annual report.
____________________
Officials to hold groundbreaking ceremonies for first
major projects in the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan
The Port of San Diego, the city of Chula Vista and Sun Communities Inc. are holding a groundbreaking celebration today for two projects on the Chula Vista Bayfront – the Costa Vista RV Resort and the Sweetwater Bicycle Path and Promenade. These are the first major projects in the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan to break ground.
The Costa Vista RV Resort by Sun Communities, Inc. is a $55 million RV Park to be built at E Street and Bay Boulevard and will include panoramic views of the bayfront.
The second project, Sweetwater Path, will wind through the future Sweetwater Park in the northern portion of the Chula Vista Bayfront, connecting the existing Bayside Park (site of the future Harbor Park) to Bay Boulevard at E Street.
____________________
Fish & Richardson principal Juanita Brooks
named California Patent Litigator of the Year
Juanita Brooks, an intellectual property litigator and principal at Fish & Richardson’s San Diego office, was named Patent Litigator of the Year – California, at the seventh annual Life Science Awards sponsored by LMG Life Sciences. The awards are presented to individuals behind the most innovative and challenging life sciences work of the past year, as well as those driving the international market.
Award Citation
“Brooks has an impressive trial and appellate record for life sciences clients regarding the infringement of patented inventions. She has protected billions of dollars in sales for her clients and has helped define the ever-evolving landscape of patent and IP law. Her life science clients include medical device and pharmaceutical companies and range from start-ups to Fortune 10 companies.
“Companies turn to Brooks with high-stakes matters as she is nationally recognized as an innovative and formidable trial attorney with a winning record in complex matters that few trial attorneys can match. Brooks has an inherent ability to translate complex technical jargon into relatable conversational terms that resonate with both judges and juries.”
____________________
Commentary:
2020 may see tax battle royal
By Dan Walters | CalMatters Commentary
Although the state is enjoying multibillion-dollar budget surpluses, thanks largely to a vibrant economy, California voters may face a bewildering array of tax increase proposals next year.
This seemingly contradictory situation is being driven by an assumption — probably accurate — that the November 2020 election will see a massive turnout of voters eager to oppose President Donald Trump’s re-election.
Those anti-Trump voters, it’s also assumed, would likely be willing to impose new taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals. So tax advocates see it as a golden, even unique, opportunity.
One measure, which would remove some of Proposition 13’s property-tax barriers, has already qualified.
However, the union-led backers of that “split roll” measure, which would raise taxes on warehouses, hotels, office buildings and other commercial properties by an estimated $11 billion a year for schools and local governments, set it aside after spending several million dollars to qualify it. They are now proposing a substitute.
Their initiative had drawn sharp criticism from county property-tax assessors about its workability and opposition from small-business owners who said it would raise their rents.
So the backers, the “Schools and Communities First” coalition, made several revisions to quiet the critics before launching a new signature-gathering effort, although it’s uncertain the group will succeed.
Meanwhile, the California School Boards Association wants to place another tax measure on the same ballot. It would raise income taxes on large corporations and the state’s highest-income residents by about $15 billion a year, with proceeds going to schools.
“Since the judiciary and Legislature have declined to provide the resources needed for student success, the next step is an electoral remedy,” Troy Flint, a spokesman for the school boards, told EdSource, an education website.
If the measure succeeds and generates the assumed $15 billion, it would raise per-pupil spending by roughly $2,500 a year. The advocates’ longer-term goal is to match the highest-spending states, which would cost at least $30 billion a year.
Finally, state Sen. Bob Hertzberg, a Van Nuys Democrat, is proposing some kind of sales-tax overhaul, perhaps applying it to services, and hopes the Legislature will place it on the 2020 ballot.
Obviously, those who would be hit with the new taxes, particularly business groups, will resist mightily.
The commercial real estate industry and its allies have pledged to spend $100 million to defeat the split roll measure. The California Taxpayers Association and others have formed “Californians Against Higher Taxes” to marshal opposition. And the California Chamber of Commerce has created the “California Tax and Budget Project” to block extension of sales taxes to services.
If the proposals make the ballot, the conflict, backed by many millions of campaign dollars on both sides, will be reduced to two arguments:
- Pro-tax groups will contend that schools and local governments are being starved of money for vital public services, with education — very popular among voters — leading the drive.
- Anti-tax forces will argue that new taxes aren’t needed with big state surpluses, that they would be passed on to consumers and undermine the economy and that runaway costs for public-employee pensions are the real driving factor.
There may be an effort next year to draft one big tax overhaul in the Legislature to replace the pending ballot measures.
If that doesn’t happen and several competing measures make the ballot — plus hundreds of local tax increases — they could so confuse voters that all would fail, thus tarnishing the golden moment tax advocates cherish.
CalMatters is a public-interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.
