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Still Supporting Desalination After All These Years
Your Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce has submitted a letter to the California Coastal Commission in support of the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project, the now-downsized California American Water Company (Cal Am) desalination plant. Cal Am applied for a permit to build this plant in 2012. For ten years, various groups for various reasons - sometimes shifting reasons - have tried to stop it. While your Chamber understands why some residents oppose this particular desalination plant (or desalination in general), we believe desalination is a necessary and prudent component of the region’s future water supply, and frankly this proposed plant is the only credible opportunity for desalination for the next decade.
As always, we remain opposed to strategies to limit water supply in order to prevent new housing construction, school enrollment increases, economic development, and job creation. If you disagree with the Chamber positions, you’re welcome to contact President & CEO Monica Lal at 831.648.5350 or monica@montereychamber.com with your input.
Business Involvement in Your Local School District
In 2018, a ballot measure for construction of buildings at Monterey Peninsula Unified School District (MPUSD) was approved by 70.19% of voters. Your Chamber of Commerce supported it. As a check and balance to ensure the borrowed money approved by voters is spent properly, California law required the school board to establish and appoint an active independent Citizens Bond Oversight Committee. There is now a vacancy for the legally-designated Business Representative on this committee, and we encourage you to consider applying for it.
This is a way to serve your community and get to know the school district that educates 9,275 students in our region. The Chamber’s Government Affairs Liaison has been oversight committee chair for the past three years and can vouch for its effectiveness. For more information and assistance in applying for the vacant position, contact President & CEO Monica Lal at 831.648.5350 or monica@montereychamber.com.
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