HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/16/2020 Item 11, Fairman
From:Nate Fairman <
To:E-mail Council Website
Cc:CityClerk
Subject:Public Comment - Agenda Item # 11 - June 16th 2020
Attachments:SLO letter - IBEW 465.pdf
Please see the attached letter that I would like to submit for tomorrows meeting. Please let me know if there is anything
else I need to do to finalize this submission.
Thank you,
Nate Fairman
Business Manager/ Financial Secretary
IBEW Local 465
858-531-9209
www.ibew465.org - https://twitter.com/ibew465 - https://www.facebook.com/ibew465 https://www.instagram.com/ibew465/
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1
Honorable Mayor Heidi Harmon June 15, 2020
City Administration
990 Palm Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-3249
Mayor Harmon and Councilmembers,
As Business Manager for our Union, IBEW LU 465, I represent 2,700 workers at
the following companies: SDG&E, Metropolitan Transit System, San Diego Trolley,
NRG, Imperial Irrigation District, Davey Tree, Utility Tree Service and our newest unit –
The New Children’s Museum! At SDG&E we represent all of the the gas workers,
welders and construction laborers who maintain the gas system, the customer service
employees who come to check on furnaces and water heaters, the linemen who maintain
the electric grid, the electricians who build the substations and everyone who is
responsible for keeping safe and reliable gas/electricity flowing to homes in San Diego
County.
I have recently been made aware of efforts from your city council to move
towards electrifying all new buildings. We wish we could be there in person today but
for obvious reasons this letter will have to serve as our STRONG OPPOSITION to your
proposed ordinance to ban Natural Gas and Union Jobs. While I appreciate those efforts
of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting our planet, electrifying buildings is
not the most effective way of reaching our carbon emission goals. Moving in this
direction will only cause hardships to your existing citizens and make it less affordable
for new residents to afford energy, and ultimately lead to loss of good paying blue collar
Union jobs in San Luis Obispo.
Encinitas, a city here in San Diego County, was considering a similar ban on
Union jobs and Natural Gas last year. With the assistance and Solidarity from the Utility
Workers Union of America Local 132, we were able to convince the city to do a closer
analysis of cost impacts to all the citizens of the local city, and the unintended
consequences of significant job loss. Fortunately for us, they listened. We hope you will
do the same and partner with the existing Unions in your area to study the impacts and
find other areas to partner on GHG reduction that are much more impactful.
Please reach out to me if you have any questions. Thank you for your consideration to
this matter.
Nate Fairman
Business Manager IBEW 465