Quorum Approves 2024-25 Budget & Work Program
On Friday, June 21, a quorum of representatives from the Bay Area’s nine counties and 101 member cities convened to pass the 2024-2025 ABAG budget. Delegates attended the meeting in person at the Oakland Museum of California.
The business meeting was followed by the conference, Resilience: Innovative Governance for Regional Challenges.
Shalini Vajjhala, Executive Director of PRE Collective, set the stage by highlighting how creative predevelopment and governance models can help build resilience. Her keynote was followed by a brief presentation from Larry Goldzband, Executive Director of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). Mr. Goldzband provided an overview of how BCDC is implementing Senate Bill 272 (Laird, 2023). The new law requires all local governments within the Commission’s jurisdiction to develop rising sea level adaptation plans, which must be approved by BCDC based on the guidelines it will promulgate later this year.
The conference closed with an engaging panel discussion among local resilience leaders. Panelists included Anne Crealock, Planning and Program Manager for the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority; East Palo Alto City Council member Lisa Gauthier; and Caitlin Sweeney, Director of ABAG’s San Francisco Estuary Partnership affiliate. Allison Brooks, Executive Director of the Bay Area Regional Collaborative, served as moderator.