South Placer leaders attend conference in Washington D.C.

South Placer leaders attend conference in Washington D.C. By Dana Harrison From six area counties, 375 regional leaders, city officials and city staff attended the Cap to Cap Conference in Washington, D.C. from April 30 to May 4. The representatives from Placer, Sacramento, El Dorado, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties met with federal legislators and their staff. Roseville Mayor Krista Bernasconi, Roseville Vice-Mayor Bruce Houdesheldt and Councilman Scott Alvord attended the national "Cap-to-Cap" conference. Loomis Mayor Jenny Knisley represented Loomis and Loomis Councilman Brian Baker represented the Placer County Transportation Planning Agency at the conference. Rocklin Mayor Bill Halldin, Vice Mayor Ken Broadway, and Councilwoman Jill Gayaldo attended the conference on behalf of the Rocklin City Council. "The Cap-to-Cap program was a great opportunity to connect with leaders in our federal government and to advocate for Rocklin's interests in a variety of areas," Rocklin Mayor Bill Halldin said. "Rocklin representatives participated on teams focused on transportation, economic development and homelessness and had the opportunity to build relationships with representatives in Washington as well as leaders around the region." Loomis representatives were just as excited to attend the conference. "It was inspiring going to Washington D.C. for Cap-to-Cap for the first time," Loomis Mayor Knisley said. "The opportunity to collaborate with elected and leaders from Northern California's six counties and speak with our federal officials and their senior staff in person regarding our region's issues is invaluable." According to Roseville Vice Mayor Bruce Houdesheldt, this year was the 50th annual "Cap-to-Cap" conference. "Cap-to-Cap is supposedly the largest annual delegation of electeds and others that descend on the Capitol annually," Roseville Councilman Alvord said. "It's full of meetings with national representatives and federal agencies as well as numerous events where we can learn and network with each other. The networking and relationship-building with other elected officials and government staff is priceless." Alvord noted that he has attended the conference every year since 2017. The officials were assigned to 12 teams that focused on a variety of issues, including air quality, workforce development, economic development, agriculture, transportation and water resources. Alvord shared that his main goals were to address economic development issues including rural broadband, broadband access for families in need and exporting goods from Roseville. "Broadband" is a generic term to describe "always-on access to an Internet device, and the idea of having high-speed Internet access", according to HealthIT.gov. Alvord also found an "excellent federal resource" for companies within Roseville that want to start exporting products or services. "This resource will evaluate the company and see if there's a foreign need for the product," Alvord said. "They (the resource) can do research and help connect the company to the right (and safe) foreign buyers and sometimes even provide funding to help. Exporting is great for the economy because it brings foreign dollars into the region." For Roseville Vice Mayor Bruce Houdesheldt, this was his first time attending in the last 20 years. Houdesheldt serves on the Placer County Transportation Planning Agency for Roseville, so he joined other city officials in meetings with the Federal Railroad Administration. "What these (meetings) provide us (regional leaders) is an opportunity to be physically present," Houdesheldt said. "Letters and communication between lobbyists and agencies are one thing. But when you have folks who, like myself who are actually there advocating, that carries significantly more weight." Houdesheldt also attended the United States Chamber of Commerce meeting with Roseville Chamber Chief Executive Officer Rana Ghadban. There, Houdesheldt and Ghadban learned about the Talent Pipeline Management Program introduced by the United States Chamber of Commerce. "This is a program that has been done throughout the United States where employers get together and talk about what their needs are and figure out solutions," Houdesheldt stated. "That's vitally important right now with the challenge of employers finding workforce." According to Houdesheldt, everything that he and his fellow council members learned from this conference will be directly applied to Roseville's strategic plan for 2022 to maintain Roseville's economy, safety, community, infrastructure, and city services. "I was hoping to work with other regional leaders to address issues that impact Roseville," added Roseville Mayor Krista Bernasconi. "The way I describe Cap-to-Cap is it provides more value in four days than being on the ground in Sacramento in terms of the access to elected and community leaders."