A blog about Marinwood-Lucas Valley and the Marin Housing Element, politics, economics and social policy. The MOST DANGEROUS BLOG in Marinwood-Lucas Valley.
Hamilton Pool chose solar hot water heating for their recent renovation.
A qualified Solar Hot Water contractor, SolarCraft is located in Bel Marin Keys, CA. I understand solar hot water heating is paid for in less than five years and has years of profitable service life beyond a comparable investment in Solar Photo Voltaics.
Marin County recommended that Marinwood consider Solar hot water heating instead of Solar PV in 2008, The Marinwood CSD ignored this practical solution for our energy needs.
In case you did not see it on our home page or social media channels, here is the exciting press release concerning SLP’s partnership with SolEd. Together, we provide low-cost clean energy for schools, municipalities and public service organizations.
SUN LIGHT & POWER CEMENTS PARTNERSHIP WITH SOLED BENEFIT CORPORATION
Investment in San Rafael-based solar electric finance specialist unites two California Benefit Corporations to provide low-cost clean energy for schools, municipalities and public service organizations
Berkeley, CA:Berkeley-based Sun Light & Power, a leading California solar contractor established in 1976, has acquired a significant stake inSolEd Benefit Corporation., a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) provider and energy finance firm headquartered in San Rafael.
The acquisition marks the beginning of a nonexclusive partnership between two California Benefit Corporations dedicated to providing practical and affordable energy solutions to schools, municipalities and public service organizations.
Gary Gerber, founder and president of Sun Light & Power, says the arrangement will give his customers better access to a full range of financing options, including PPA contracts that allow customers to pay only for the energy they use, while the developer owns and maintains the system and takes the renewable energy tax credits. SolEd’s PPA approach leverages cost-effective energy efficiency measures and sophisticated financial models to lock in significantly lower energy costs over the long term, with little or no up-front cost to the customer, and increasing savings over time. “We wanted to enhance our ability to help our clients navigate the complexities of solar energy financing and incentives,” Gerber says. “A strategic partnership was clearly the best way to achieve that goal, but we took our time finding the right match, with people who truly share our customer-centered values.”
As California Benefit Corporations, both firms are committed to harnessing the power of business for the public good, facilitating reduced costs for solar power installations while maintaining a healthy and sustainable bottom line. “Our mission is to provide host customers with the lowest lifetime cost of energy,” said David Kunhardt, CEO of SolEd. “Sun Light & Power has been delivering quality for repeat customers for decades, and is also a B Corporation, the perfect partner for SolEd.”
While both firms will continue to work with other partners in their respective areas, the close relationship between SolEd and Sun Light & Power will support a more integrated customer experience encompassing all phases of project development and implementation. The two firms are poised to function as co-developers on major projects, fusing SolEd’s considerable expertise in resource assessment, financing and reporting mechanisms with engineering, procurement and construction services backed by one of California’s oldest and most respected solar energy contractors.
Update: SEED Fund Nominated for 2015 IREC 3iAward. Click here to vote for this project!
In July 2014, the first solar contract through the SEED Fund program was signed between the Sonoma County Employees’ Retirement Association and solar developer Sunetric. At the same time, several other participants, including the Cities of San Rafael and Mill Valley, have presented projects before their City Councils and are close to reaching approval. All participants, including the new member City of Cloverdale, are working to execute contracts before September 30, 2014, in order to receive a significant discount on their proposed solar pricing.
In March 2012, the California Solar Initiative’s RD&D program issued a grant to Strategic Energy Innovations and Optony Inc. to develop a solar/renewables revolving fund in the North Bay. Grant funds served to enable regional public agencies to participate in a collaborative solar procurement without needing to contribute funds or make cash outlays in order to review sites, prepare competitive bid documents, and contract with responsible vendors. Successfully-constructed solar projects will return a portion of project costs to the SEED Fund for development of future green initiatives.
The City of San Rafael has taken the role of Coordinating Agency, and issued an RFP on behalf of all participants in September 2013. Proposals were evaluated and a short-list of approved vendors was selected. Contract negotiations have been underway for several months, with the City of San Rafael leading efforts to develop a template Power Purchase Agreement for use by all participants seeking that form of project financing.
Project Scope
Current region: North Bay area — Sonoma, Napa and Marin counties
Public agency participants: Includes cities, towns, special districts, counties and schools
Solar Electric PV: Rooftop, Carport, Ground-mounted systems
Target Goal: 5MW of installed capacity in 2014
Project Status
13 public agencies participated in the RFP issued by the City of San Rafael
County of Marin
City of San Rafael
City of Mill Valley
City of Novato
Marin Healthcare District
Marinwood Community Services District
Southern Marin Fire Protection District
County of Sonoma
City of Cotati
County of Sonoma
Sonoma County Employees’ Retirement Association
Sonoma County Water Agency
The City of Cloverdale also recently joined the program, with 2 sites featuring over 1.2MW of solar capacity
County of Napa
City of St. Helena
Napa County Office of Education
Town of Yountville
Editor's Note: Due to Sol-Eds Non-compliance, the City of St Helena terminated the contract. Other agencies withdrew and to date, we cannot find any documentation of any municipality having finished projects.
Above is the portion of the November 10, 2015 Council Meeting where they terminated Sol-Ed The staff in St. Helena was on top of the Sol-Ed SEED contract just like the one Marinwood CSD signed and recommended termination for non performance. The staff report reports serious problems and it is a RED FLAG for Marinwood CSD which approved an estoppel at the December 8. 2015 meeting.
I am very saddened that Marinwood CSD did notdo its due diligence. Apparently, a lawyer never looked at the Estoppel agreement and did not look into C2 Beta Holdings who Sol-Ed assigned the contract. Jeff Naylor was the only CSD board member who voted against the contract.
I suggest that the Marinwood CSD make every effort contain the potential loss immediately and at the appropriate time consider a solar project with a leading solar company with a proven performance record. See the staff report from St. Helena about Sol-Ed HERE Sol-Ed has made contracts with Mill Valley and San Rafael too. I do not think any of the systems have been built to date. Editors Note 12/20: The video stream has been blocked after posting this. Is this merely a coincidence? Check back.
Kat Ryan, left, and Tracey Ruiz are among the Novato residents upset about a solar carport going up in their Hamilton neighborhood. Ruiz said the structure is too big and its materials look “cheap.” (Robert Tong/Marin Independent Journal) See the story about the Hamilton Pool Solar project HERE
Hamilton residents are unhappy with the massive solar carport that took them by surprise. Check out the article in the Marin IJ HERE .
Just this month, Marinwood CSD directors voted 4-1 (Jeff Naylor opposed) to approve the construction of a similar structure for the Marinwood pool deck.It is about the footprint of a small house at 22 x 39' and replace the picnic table shade structure next to the showers. It is 9' to 12' high and roughly half the width of the structure in Hamilton above. The dubious project has citizens concerned because of the custom engineering needed and the aesthetic concerns of placing an industrial structure in the natural setting.
An industrial carport 22' x 39' will consume much of the deck area in place of the much smaller existing structure at Marinwood Pool.
A more practical location outside the Community center classroom would have created a patio room that could be used for an additional classroom and performance space. This was rejected.
While Novato anticipates its solar project will pay back in 10-12 years, the Marinwood CSD entered into a 25 year commitment with the solar PPA provider (Sol-Ed or our new partner C2 Beta Holdings). While solar energy is worthy of consideration, this particular solar deal has many objectionable elements, political insider dealings, high costs, long term commitment and a mysterious newly formed Delaware corporation (May 2015) brought in at the 11th hour to provide financing.
Why is the Marinwood CSD doing business with an untested, inexperienced company over the leaders in the Solar Industry like Solar City? A previous board signed an EXCLUSIVE consulting contract with a sitting CSD board member, Cyane Dandrige who in turn awarded the financing to David Kunhardt, a housing activist who has advocated for more housing projects for Marinwood Lucas Valley.
Shouldn't directors Justin Kai, Bill Shea, Leah Green and Izabela Perry be more careful with committing to a twenty five year contract ?
By Bob Egelko Published 9:57 pm, Tuesday, December 15, 2015
The former director of financial services for the Association of Bay Area Governments pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing nearly $3.9 million in bond funds — three times the amount with which he was originally charged — that were intended for developments in San Francisco and Contra Costa County.
Clarke Howatt entered a guilty plea in federal court to a felony charge of wire fraud. Prosecutors have recommended a prison sentence of three years and five months, at the low end of federal sentencing guidelines, because of Howatt’s cooperation with investigators, said his attorney, Mary McNamara.
Howatt has already repaid nearly $3.5 million to ABAG, with the help of $1.5 million provided by his parents, lawyers told U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer. He is to be sentenced in March and remains free on bail.
Howatt, 56, worked at financial services companies before being hired in 1995 by ABAG, the regional planning agency for nine Bay Area counties and 100 cities. Colleagues described him as a conservative steward of public funds who regularly turned down deals that failed to meet his standards. He was paid $149,294 a year in salary and $233,375 overall, including benefits.
Last December, a routine audit discovered $1.3 million missing from the South of Market Stabilization Fund, a pool of bond money and developer contributions used for neighborhood improvements. Howatt resigned in January after prosecutors charged him with obtaining the money in August 2014 by posing as the developer of the One Rincon Hill housing complex and claiming reimbursements for nonexistent streetscape improvements.
Three days after the money changed hands, according to public records, Howatt closed a deal to buy a $1.53 million, five-bedroom beach house on the Oregon coast that he named Rincon Hill.
His admissions multiplied in Tuesday’s plea agreement, which calculated the losses at $3.876 million.
The additional thefts, Howatt said in the plea agreement, came from bonds designated for the Windemere Ranch residential development in San Ramon in 2011, 2014 and January 2015.
“Mr. Howatt is deeply sorry for his conduct,” McNamara said in a written statement. She said her client’s depression and bipolar disorder, which he mentioned at the court hearing, were among the causes of his wrongdoing, but “we’re not looking to excuse the conduct.”
The initial reports of embezzlement prompted state Treasurer John Chiang to convene a task force of finance and securities experts in February to propose new safeguards against theft and misuse of state and local bond funds in California. The panel issued its report on Tuesday, calling for local governments and districts to adopt new practices for monitoring the spending and accounting of bond money and make records available to the public.
Chiang said voluntary measures may not be enough, however, and the Legislature should consider a law that would require local officials to oversee and certify controls on bond funds and issue annual reports on the funds’ uses, balances and debts.
PACIFIC CITY, Ore. – A former high-ranking San Francisco Bay Area government official accused of embezzling more than $1 million recently purchased a home in this beach community.
Clarke Howatt (http://bit.ly/18KXoPn)
Clarke Howatt, who until he resigned on Friday, Jan. 30, served for 20 years as public finance director for the Association of Bay Area Governments, in Oakland, allegedly concocted an elaborate scheme, posing as a developer, to pilfer $1.3 million from a San Francisco community fund, according toan article in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Three days later, he closed on a $1.5 million, 5,100-square-foot five-bedroom, five-bathroom house operated as a vacation rental on Rip Tide Drive, in Pacific City, the Chronicle reported, noting he named the home Rincon Hill, which is a neighborhood in San Francisco. The home previously belonged to Duane Sorenson, founder of Portland’s Stumptown Coffee Roasters.
A Craigslist ad (deleted as of this morning) for the property indicated it rents for $799 per night and features an ocean view, hot tub and boat house.
Rip Tide Drive neighbor Garry Link said he never met Howatt, but was aware of him and knew he was from the Bay Area and involved in government there.
The Chronicle reports that authorities do not know where Howatt is, nor whether or not he will cooperate with investigators, who will likely include the FBI. He wrote in his resignation letter to ABAG that he will “make every attempt to get the funds restored.”
Claudia Ramirez of San Rafael addresses the Marin Board of Supervisors as others wait to speak during a forum about affordable housing at the Civic Center in San Rafael on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015. (County of Marin photo)
Marin county staff advised supervisors Tuesday that rent control has the potential to have the “most immediate and significant positive impact” toward preserving housing affordability in Marin.
County supervisors held their third in a series of informational workshops examining the affordable housing crisis gripping the county and exploring possible solutions. Nearly 200 people turned out for the 5 p.m. meeting at the Civic Center, and more than two dozen people, renters and landlords, provided comments.
Dave Coury of San Rafael chided the supervisors for not addressing the housing issue sooner. “I am a landlord and I feel we must have rent control,” Coury said. “We are in an emergency.”
Kiki La Porte urged the supervisors to “transcend politics and summon the leadership and vision to accept staff’s recommendation” on rent control.
Sue Tracy, a retired teacher living on a pension, said, “ We need to stabilize our rental rates in Marin County; if we don’t retired teachers like me won’t be able to live near our churches and friends.”
Wendi Kallins said, “Right now tenants really don’t have any rights. We have to do something.”
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San Francisco has become the cautionary tale for how not to develop a city in the 21st Century. Frequently derided as the most expensive housing market in the US, skyrocketing rents and mass evictions are forcibly displacing residents as the gap between the rich and the poor is growing faster than anywhere else in the US.
Artists, working class families and longtime residents have declared that San Francisco is “losing its soul.” At the helm of this sinking luxury liner, overlooking the City’s planning and developments is the Director of the SF Planning Department, John Raiham, who has been in this role since January 2008. Raiham is now facing evaluation before the people at a public comment session on Thursday December 10 at the Planning Commission. [people. power. media] has compiled some statistics that show what it’s been like to live in San Francisco during this time.
1) Soaring rents- The rental cost to live in the city has become one of the main factors driving people away from the area. Based on San Francisco Planning Department’s 2008 and 2014 housing inventory reports, the rental price for a two bedroom apartment in San Francisco has spiked from $2,650 in 2008 to $4,580 in 2014.
2) Way more luxury than affordable built- While rental prices have been increasing, the amount of affordable housing constructed has lagged far behind. According to inventory reports, 4,550 affordable housing units were built in the past six years, while 15,805 of market rate units were built at the same period of time, This means that over 70 percent of housing that has been built for the luxury market.
3) Thousands of evictions- Since 2008, there have been over 3,000 no-fault evictions (i.e. Ellis, owner move-ins, demolition, condo conversions) recorded by the Rent Board. While tenants activists always say there are many more no-fault evictions that go unreported, that's at least 3,000 households that have been forcibly displaced since 2008.
4) Losing rent control units- Rent control has played a key role in the City’s rental market to ensure landlords can only raise a tenant’s rent by a fixed amount each year. However, rent-controlled housing units (built before 1979) are disappearing quickly. The total number of rent-controlled housing removed from the City’s housing stock since 2005 is 4,258, according the City’s 10-year Housing Balance Report.
5) New affordable can't keep with rent-control lost- Compare the 4,550 new affordable units against the 4,258 rent stabilized units lost. As the Housing Balance Report shows, over the past decade, San Francisco has gained only 292 new price controlled units.
6) Thousands of established businesses closing- Based on the 2014’s Budget and Legislative Analyst report, 70,118 businesses had been closed down between 2008 and 2011. Of these, 14,123 businesses were considered established businesses, which means they had been operating for at least five years. When we dig a little deeper, we see that this is due to commercial real estate prices jumping from $374.7 per square foot in 2008 to a jaw-dropping price of $675.1 per square foot.
7) Non-profits paying more for rent-A May 2014 City report showed that nonprofits are facing on average an over 30% increase in rent. Rent increases are threatening these organizations’ existence because many need to stay at their current locations to fulfill their missions. Increased rent payments also means less resources available for their services.
8) Losing diversity- According to a 2015 report by PolicyLink, the Bay Area is the second most diverse region in the nation. However because of ever-increasing rent, more people are forced to move out of the City. The result is that “The people-of-color population is expected to grow over the next few decades in every county except San Francisco County, where it will decline.”
9) Losing artists- The arts are a critical component to any vibrant, creative city. According to a 2015 report from the San Francisco Arts Commission, artists are facing alarming displacement from San Francisco. Based on the SFAC survey, 72 percent of artists are facing displacement from SF due to affordability issues and unstable living situations.
10) Losing blue collar jobs- One of the essential job creators in San Francisco is light industry, also known as “Production Distribution and Repair” or “PDR,” such as auto mechanic shops, printers and wholesale contruction. According to a 2002 SF Planning report about PDR, “A healthy and vibrant city has a variety of economic activities,” and PDR is essential for maintaining this diversity. TheEastern Neighborhoods land use plan which was approved by the City at the end of 2008 set goals for keeping PDR businesses which support blue collar jobs and the arts. PDR conversions and demolitions-- both legal and illegal-- have accelerated, and Planning has not produced any statistics on how much PDR space has been lost and is in the pipeline for being destroyed.
