The 415
County of Marin looks to an electric future
The County of Marin had some electrifying news last month—its board of supervisors just adopted an “electrification roadmap.” The document is meant as a guide to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel use. The Marin County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Oct. 15 to approve the Marin County Electrification Roadmap, developed by the county Community Development Agency’s Sustainability Team. “If completed over time, key actions mentioned in the roadmap will equitably transition Marin’s buildings to be less reliant on fossil fuels and help the county adapt to science-backed climate change,” the county said in a press release about the plan.
Actions in the plan include development of new building codes to encourage electrifying new construction and existing structures, creation of a central hub to assist residents in such projects and promotion of stakeholder engagement. Sustainability Planning Manager Dana Armanino said, “Transitioning to an all-electric future is a long-term endeavor that requires planning and thoughtful implementation over the next six to seven years.” Next, the county will encourage towns and cities in the county to adopt the roadmap to ensure policies are countywide, said Armanino. The Board’s action is directly tied to adjusting local practices in the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and water-heating industries, according to the county’s announcement. For more information on the roadmap, visit the Electrify Marin webpage at marincounty.gov. — JW Marin’s Electrification Roadmap Steering Committee discusses recommendations at a recent meeting.
Few people feel their paycheck stretches as far as they’d like it to, but there seems to be a bit more elasticity in the North Bay, according to a recent study. Both Marin and Sonoma counties rank among the 58 counties in California with the highest “paycheck friendliness,” according to a survey from financial website SmartAsset . Marin ranked No. 4 overall, with Sonoma County checking in at 6. San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties were the top three, respectively, despite their high costs of housing. Napa County finished at 14. The company’s annual study looked at four factors: semi-monthly paycheck, purchasing power, unemployment rate and income growth. To best compare paycheck-friendliness across counties, the methodology used the median household income in the U.S. ($74,580) as a base annual salary—and then indexed the paycheck amount for each county to reflect the counties with the lowest withholding burden, or greatest take-home pay. Researchers then created a purchasing power index for each county. “This reflects the counties with the highest ratio of household income to cost of living,” according to a review of the results at smartasset.com . The final rankings folded in unemployment rates and income growth, which calculated the annual growth in median income throughout a five year period for each county.— JW Marin third-most ‘paycheck friendly’ in state, study says
Local Safeways settle suit over ‘tipping the scales’ at checkout
Albertsons Companies, Inc, which operates nine markets in Marin, agreed last month to pay $3.96 million to settle a civil suit regarding false advertising and unfair competition, the Marin County District Attorney’s Office announced. The litigation against Albertsons—whose subsidiaries include Safeway—was filed in Marin in partnership with district attorneys offices of Alameda, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Sonoma and Ventura counties. The seven counties will split the settlement. The district attorneys’ complaint alleges Albertsons (ACI) made false and misleading representations regarding some commodities sold based on weight. According to the complaint, ACI was responsible for determining the net weight of the products—which means the weight of a product not including the weight of any packaging. According to the County of Marin, “the ACI products at issue were sold either by weight, such as the net weight of the product multiplied by an advertised unit price (such as $1 per pound) or by a fixed price for a fixed net weight (such as $2.99 for a 16-ounce bag of tortilla chips).” Commodities included produce, meat and baked goods. But ACI failed to maintain adequate procedures and conduct employee training to ensure net weights determined and advertised by ACI were accurate, according to the complaint. As a result, consumers were overcharged based on inaccurate weights and also received less product by weight than represented by ACI. As part of the agreement, ACI is enjoined from making any false or misleading statements regarding the price of any item offered for sale; charging an amount greater than the lowest advertised price; unlawfully selling products by gross weight; and selling commodities in less quantity than represented.— JW
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November 2024
NorthBaybiz 13
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