NBBJ Insider

Occupy Santa Rosa vs. Exchange Bank: The wrong target

This is the time of year when news organizations pick their “best photo of the year.” My choice is a photo of Exchange Bank CEO Bill Schrader meeting Occupy Santa Rosa protesters who recently descended on the bank’s branch in Roseland.

Schools Plus needs our help

Schools Plus has been a huge contributor to sustaining arts, sports and other programs under funding pressure in our schools.

Now the organizers of the largest Schools Plus’ fundraiser need help. Please see the message below from Schools Plus’ Ted Grafe. It’s a call to action to support our kids.

City official calls Brown redevelopment plan ‘shell game’

Gov. Jerry Brown’s ears likely were burning early Wednesday morning.

That’s because his idea to end redevelopment funding for cities and counties – part of his plan to close a more than $26 billion California budget deficit – came in for a shellacking.

More public pension pain

The City of Santa Rosa last week became the latest public entity to declare a hole in its pension liabilities: $100 million.

Marin peers into its economic future and gets worried

One could have heard a pin drop as Marin County native Harry Thomas spoke passionately about the area he grew up in and where he spent a successful career in finance.

A warning on financial reform and community banks

The following piece appeared in today’s Wall Street Journal and does not bode well for how Washington’s zeal for financial reform will impact community banks that are the lifeblood of the North Bay economy.

Mortgage fraud and the financial crisis

Want to better understand the source of the financial crisis and the role mortgage fraud played in it? See this video interview conducted by Santa Rosa attorney Rachel Dollar of Smith Dollar, attorneys at law.

Future vs. past

The results in Tuesday’s primary elections for California governor and the U.S. Senate couldn’t have provided a more stark contrast.

The respective Republican winners, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina – both highly successful former high-tech executives – represent the future and the possible. Jerry Brown, who was governor three decades ago, and Sen. Barbara Boxer, a fixture in Congress for nearly as long, represent the past, way past.

Experts address future of commercial real estate

Being a glass-half-full kind of person, I am optimistic. Indeed, events seem to have conspired to create what could be the ideal climate for the North Bay to move ahead in a very positive way.

Honor Forty under 40

Will the people and leadership that are already here slam the door shut, content to keep what they perceive as theirs?