SAN JOSE, Calif., April 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, in
Transportation Secretary Pete
Buttigieg's first major talk with Silicon Valley since the
public unveiling of the historic infrastructure package, he talked
about the broad, bipartisan public support for the American Jobs
Plan. Secretary Buttigieg spoke with San
Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo at
the Silicon Valley Leadership Group's Cities Matter Summit in a
talk entitled Infrastructure In-Depth. Buttigieg cited the
need to expand broadband as fundamental to both competitiveness and
American infrastructure needs.
Buttigieg says it's 'time to reckon with issues that are literally,
physically built into our transportation'
"It is just as important to have a connection to the Internet,
as it is to have a connection to the interstate highway system if
you want to survive and thrive in today's economy," said Secretary
Buttigieg.
Building on his recent online comments, Buttigieg also talked
about the role of 'encoded racism in the form of highways' in the
work of famed city planner Robert
Moses. Buttigieg pointed out Moses designed highway
overpasses too short to accommodate buses 'containing largely black
and Puerto Rican New Yorkers.' But he offered that his comments
weren't just about the past but the future of infrastructure – and
the Biden-Harris plan to address previous issues.
"Not only do we need to make sure that our future highway
choices and transportation choices are equitable," said Secretary
Buttigieg. "we can also reverse some of the harms of the past with
dedicated funds to look at communities that were divided often with
federal dollars and reconnect them."
In the other federal visit of the summit, Nuria Fernandez, Deputy Federal Transit
Administration Commissioner, spoke to the need to build more
equitable transit systems as well as money in the American Jobs
Plan to help current mass transit maintenance and fixes. She
detailed the local 'state of good repair' backlogs including a
$4 billion dollar gap at BART and a
$600 million 'state of good repair'
backlog for priority projects at Caltrain. Fernandez offered that
the new infrastructure plan was 'addressing these unmet needs, and
while doing so creating jobs.'
The virtual visit by Fernandez marked her first return talk with
Silicon Valley since leaving the Valley Transportation Authority to
take a job with the Biden-Harris administration. Fernandez also
spoke in depth about equity in transportation issues in an engaging
Q & A with SVLG CEO Ahmad
Thomas.
"Hosting leaders like Secretary Buttigieg and Deputy
Administrator Fernandez as they drive these important national
conversations is criticial for Silicon Valley right now," said
Ahmad Thomas, SVLG CEO. "Planning
for the next generation of infrastructure will require a level of
bold action and innovation – two things Silicon Valley is never in
short supply of. We stand ready to engage and be a partner on
solutions."
The other major content at the Summit was in affordable housing.
In her closing keynote speech, California Senate President Pro Tempore,
Senator Toni Atkins tied her own
story of growing up in Virginia
and moving to a land of greater opportunity in California to the 2021 Senate housing package.
Bills featured in the keynote included SB9 which gives more
homeowners the option to create small scale developments on their
property, SB7 which would speed up the time it takes to process and
approve environmental mixed use projects. SB6 which eases
transformation of office and retail spaces into housing and SB10
which would allow cities to up zone to 10 units in existing urban
and job rich areas that are near transit.
Alexa Arena, Senior Director of
Real Estate Development for Google – the presenting sponsor of the
summit – talked with SVLG's Vince
Rocha about the community development aspects of Google's
new Downtown West project. In a fireside chat, 'Developing a New
Way Forward,' Arena talked about the process involved in working
with stakeholders as well as the Downtown West project's long-term
community benefits initiatives.
The summit also hosted a panel, 'Increasing Equity For Stronger
Cities' with Terese McMillan -
Executive Director, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, State
Senator Scott Wiener, Walter Wilson - CA NAACP California State
Conference Exec Committee Member and moderated by Teresa Alvarado - Chair of the CA Water
Commission. As well as a dual interview with Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez and Republic Urban Properties
President Michael Van Every on the
post-covid state of housing in Silicon Valley.
The full conference will be available for rebroadcast on Monday
at Silicon Valley Leadership Group's website, SVLG.org/Watch. Clips
for media use are available HERE.
About Silicon Valley Leadership Group
The Leadership
Group is a business organization of hundreds of Silicon Valley's
most dynamic companies working to shape the innovation economy of
California and the nation. Founded
by David Packard of Hewlett-Packard,
for over 40 years the SVLG has worked to address issues that affect
the region's economic health and quality of life. Today the SVLG Is
focused on economic competitiveness with a special focus on
diversity & inclusion, climate change and infrastructure. SVLG
members collectively provide nearly one of every three private
sector jobs in Silicon Valley and contribute more than $3 trillion to the worldwide economy. For more
information, visit svlg.org.
Riley Robbins, SVP
Media & Communications
Silicon Valley Leadership
Group
408.200.2330
Press@SVLG.org
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SOURCE Silicon Valley Leadership Group