Thank you for joining us | An evening of celebration for EBLC and community leaders

Thank you for joining us in celebration at our Installation Awards dinner last week.

The sold out event featured inspiring words from our honorees — Chadi Chazbek, Bielle Moore, and Kaiser Permanente — who have all been influential in fostering a thriving East Bay community.

In his opening remarks, EBLC's President & CEO, Mark Orcutt, shared what is at the heart of the EBLC community, "You would not be here tonight if you were hopeless and disinterested in taking on the challenges we face as a region. You are here because you believe as I do that a group of well-informed and driven leaders can change the world."

Past Chair Leo Scott passed the baton to Peggy White, who expressed why she is excited to take on the role of Chair of the Board, "The hallmark of my career has been putting my passion and energy into causes that I care deeply about. And I care deeply about the Council's mission to make the region a better place to live and work."

It was an inspiring and heartwarming evening, full of appreciation and recognition for the important work being done to make the East Bay a place where businesses and residents thrive.

Thank you to our sponsors for making this uplifting event possible, and thank you to our board and community members for your ongoing commitment to EBLC. We are excited for the year ahead!

Event Photo Gallery

An additional thank you goes out to our wonderful photographer Lisa Chow for capturing special memories from the evening. Please see the full photo gallery on our Facebook page.

Task Force Meeting | Informative Presentation on Sea Level Rise

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Water, Energy, and Environment task force meeting this week. We had the opportunity to hear from Dana Brechwald, Assistant Planning Director for Climate Adaption with the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC).

Brechwald discussed the severe impacts that rising sea levels will have in the Bay, including the flooding of housing units, businesses, and major roadways. She detailed that 70,000 planned housing units on top of 13,000 existing ones will be flooded, and 5 million commuters will be affected by road closures.

Considering the immense flood risk in the decades to come, BCDC is helping to develop research-based guidelines for adaptation projects and coordinate a regional response to the impending issue. They are especially focused on educating the public, prioritizing science and nature-based solutions, removing roadblocks to permitting, and encouraging collaboration among all the jurisdictions in the Bay Area.

We are grateful for BCDC and other Bay Area agencies' combined efforts to address the effects of sea level rise.

Must Read | Hercules mayor leading city's revamp as its population grows

CBS News — A Bay Area mayor has just received an invitation to the White House, and they're one of the youngest mayors in the country. Alexander Walker-Griffin grew up in Hercules. At the age of 13, he got interested in politics. Back in November, at the age of 25, he was elected mayor, and now he's leading a city that's changing fast.

Hercules has added about 1,000 new residents in just the past year as Bay Area residents look for more space.

The mayor said a question he gets all the time is what is the status of the Hercules Hub, a plan to bring a Capitol Corridor train station and a ferry terminal to the city's waterfront. It's a game-changing project, and Hercules is charging ahead on that with state and federal partners. They just picked up another $30 million in funding. The mayor said he is hopeful it could all be taking shape here by 2026 or 2027.

As for the White House trip, the mayor has been working with the Biden Administration on that Hercules Hub. Next week's event will mark the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, which does include money for cutting carbon emissions, with transit funding.

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