Telecommute mandate is too extreme

A Letter to the Director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission

On behalf of the East Bay Leadership Council, a regional public policy and advocacy organization representing hundreds of employers across Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, I write in strong opposition to an employer mandate to require 60% of workers at major office‐based employers to telecommute on a particular schedule as proposed in Item (8)a at the September 23, 2020 Metropolitan Transportation Commission Meeting as part of the Plan Bay Area 2050 strategy.

It is my understanding that this recommendation came from input received this summer through public engagement. With all the challenges facing Bay Area employers resulting from the COVID‐19 pandemic, this is not the time to be considering an employer mandate that would have lasting and detrimental impacts on our region’s economic recovery.

While the EBLC and our member companies support a variety of effective employer strategies to reduce greenhouse gas reductions reductions including the promotion of telecommuting by employees, the mandate proposed in Item (8)a is an extreme strategy with significant detrimental impacts to Bay Area transit agencies and to the vibrancy of the Bay Area’s employment centers. Supporting such an extreme response without consulting employers could not possibly be more ill‐timed.

Having only just learned about the inclusion of this item on tomorrow’s agenda, I ask that EBLC’s objection be included in the meeting record along with those raised by my counterparts at other Bay Area business organizations including Cynthia Murray (North Bay Leadership Council) and Jim Wunderman (Bay Area Council).

Sincerely,
Kristin Connelly
President & CEO
East Bay Leadership Council