The General Assembly & Leadership Address is the region's premiere event, drawing over 700 leaders from both the public and private sector to celebrate our collective success and inspire future progress.  Prime Minister Gillard offers a unique global perspective to the event, as she will be the first international speaker to address the General Assembly.  As the only woman in Australia's history to serve as Prime Minister, Gillard will share an unprecedented story of leadership to attendees, speaking on many issues that are relevant to our activities here in the United States, such as the challenges facing both our countries in the 21st century, how our political systems address them, and the economic and strategic agenda we face in a globalized world.  As Prime Minister, and in her previous role as Deputy Prime Minister, Gillard was central to the successful management of Australia's economy, the 12th biggest economy in the world, during the Global Financial Crisis.  Prime Minister Gillard delivered nation-changing policies including reforming Australian education at every level from early childhood to university education, creating an emissions trading scheme, improving the provision and sustainability of health care, restructuring the telecommunications sector and advanced a national broadband network, as well as strengthening Australia's long-standing alliance with the United States.

 

Since leaving office, Prime Minister Gillard was appointed a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, working with the Center for Universal Education, and in February 2014, Gillard was appointed Chair of the Board for the Global Partnership for Education, a leading organization for supporting education worldwide.  Julia Gillard recently authored a book on her service as Prime Minister, My Story, which was published in October 2014.  Signed copies of her book will be available for purchase at the WRCOG General Assembly & Leadership Address.

For more information on WRCOG's 25th Anniversary General Assembly & Leadership Address, download the Save the Date Flyer or Sponsorship Opportunities Flyer , visit  www.wrcog.cog.ca.us , or contact Rebekah Manning at (951) 955-8311 or [email protected]. 

Imagine for a moment you are walking at night, down a familiar street.  It's the same old routine.  You take the same old route, with the same old dog, with the same old leash. You have the same old shoes, same old sweats, same old flashlight, and carry the same old walking stick.  You pass by the same old houses and say hello to the same old people. However, something is different during this walk.  As you continue your stroll, you notice that oncoming cars are more easily recognizable, and overall you feel an enhanced sense of safety.  You take a break to sit down on the same old park bench and look up to the same old night sky.  And then you notice it; the same old streetlights are different on this evening.

This environmentally friendly, publically safe, more visually-appealing and cost-effective future streetscape is not far away.

WRCOG's Regional Streetlight Program aims to help member jurisdictions acquire the streetlights in its jurisdictional boundaries from Southern California Edison, and then retrofit the old lamps with publically approved (to be determined after implementation of a testbed), energy efficient, and dark sky-friendly technologies.  The transition to local streetlight ownership and energy efficient retrofit will likely lower utility and energy costs of these streetlights by over 50%, while producing a safe and healthy light for the community.

This month one more milestone has been met to support this illuminating subregional goal.  WRCOG released a "Request for Bid" soliciting financing solutions / options to fund the acquisition and retrofitting of streetlights throughout the subregion, in an amount totaling approximately $56 to $60 million.

Later this year, WRCOG will implement a local test bed, and invite community stakeholders to "see the light" by walking down and experiencing an environmentally friendly and visually enjoyable sample streetscape that will provide an opportunity to compare a wide variety of energy efficient technologies.  Stay tuned for more information on when the testbed will be ready!