Rachel Strausman:
Thank you so much for joining us today Chairman of the Board Mendez! For the past 10 years or so, and even now more recently, there's been an increasing focus on middle income families. Historically a nation's middle-income has been representative of its overall economic health, signaling higher levels of health and well-being, higher levels of education, increased economic development, and a more skilled workforce which is why we are so grateful to have the Chairman of the Board of the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, Bob Mendez, here with us today to talk about policies surrounding middle-income families. So with that, thank you so much for joining us today, Mr. Mendez. Thank you, it's my pleasure. All right, getting right into it, can you please take a moment to explain why middle-income families are so important and why they haven't for so long and policy experts still are focusing on them?

Bob Mendez:
Yeah, definitely. When we look at middle-income families as a whole in our society, they provide us with a source of economic stability in that they generally make up the largest portion of the workforce so they can provide a steady stream of local income and taxes as well. And it's critical, especially for any local economy like here in Riverside, which, you know, the city from time to time again will have to borrow funds in order to support different entities or different types of engagements that they're involved in, so forth. So in order to be able to effectively borrow, they need to be able to demonstrate that they have a stable workforce within our community. And that's where the middle income families do come into play. Plus, they provide consumer spending, which is critical, obviously, for our local businesses. They even provide social mobility in the sense that if you think of a middle-income family, maybe they are continuing in improving their education so that they can increase their level of income, maybe become a higher level of earned income family and even provide education support for their children who may then ultimately become maybe a higher income earner. Typically, middle income families are civically engaged so they get involved in the community that they're involved in. And I think probably the most important thing is that a striving middle class, middle income, is associated with a lower crime rate in most cases, as well as health outcomes and overall social cohesiveness. So there's just so many reasons why to have a strong middle income base in our community is so critical.

Pia Prashanth:
Thank you. So building off on what you were saying on the importance of middle income families, are there any specific policies that directly help or hinder the growth of the middle income families?

Bob Mendez:
Yeah, that's a good question. There are so many that actually both help and hinder the middle income families. First, I would say in the area of helping middle income families, it's critical to have affordable education, affordable higher education to be more specific. And in our area, we're blessed to have both UCR, Las Sierra University, Cal State, as well as Riverside Community College District. And so we have access to a lot of not only higher education but affordable higher education. And I think that is critical. Workplace benefits, we have to make sure that we do provide adequate amount of workplace benefits for our middle income families. This is only gonna promote fair labor practices as well as, you know, providing them with like paid family leaves, affordable health care, flexible work arrangements and basically provided with a well-balanced life, you know, because it can't be all about work, you know, we have to have balance in our lives. And it puts them in a position to be able to afford to purchase a home. That's the American dream. Everyone, you know, seeks to like own a home someday. And, you know, if we have a strong middle-income base here in our area, then that usually will translate into more homeowners as well. And I think an area that since I'm in the financial industry, I think one other area that we could, I probably do a better job of, is providing financial literacy, you know, so that these families can make wise decisions with things such as their retirement accounts, make better decisions as far as budgeting, saving and investing. So I think that all these things are things that can help or that are in place right now that do help middle income families. But, you know, then areas that hinder the middle-income families are limited access to education. While we do have all these higher education facilities in our area, sometimes the cost of tuition can maybe make it so that it's not affordable to them. And that's something that we definitely need to work at. A lack of workplace protection, you know, where the middle income worker can feel that they are safe and know that if, you know, that there was anything that was done incorrectly to them that they would be provided some form of protection that they they do have a they can count on their job being available to them I think it's so critical for the for middle income families so for all families really inflation and cost of living you know that's been a real big hamper for a lot of middle income families. I hear from a lot of people who are talking about how the cost of, you know, things such as groceries, cost of gasoline, those kind of things are certainly making it very tough for them to make ends meet. And And when we have a lack of consumer protection for not just the middle income families, but all families, I think that's also another area that can hinder our overall economy.

Rachel Strausman:
And you mentioned so many of these different policy areas in which they can impact middle income families. Would you say that because there's so many different ways to create a more stable base for middle-income families or do the opposite, that it would make policy change easier or more complicated?

Bob Mendez:
Well, I think that sometimes we have a tendency to get in our own way, where things can really be just as simple as making certain adjustments to existing laws that are in place that maybe had unintended consequences. And as a result of that, it's not where we just need to throw out a particular bill or anything of that nature, but sometimes it's just a matter of tweaking it. So I think that in some ways it is a matter of where it is a little bit easier, I think, in some respects to make these changes, especially now that In a lot of cases, some of these policies have been in effect for years now. And we're seeing the unintended consequences and these are things that we do need to make sure that we do adjust.

Rachel Strausman:
Thank you. And you bring up a very important point that public policy shouldn't be a one and done kind of thing. It's cyclical. You should even past implementation still consistently review and revise and re-implement because of all of these unintended consequences, which with that being said, most policies unfortunately do have unintended consequences because not everything can be taken into consideration even when you're anticipating so much. So with that being said, what policies most surprisingly affect middle-income families?

Bob Mendez:
Well, I think that one that comes to mind, or well, several that come to mind, but one in particular is the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA for short. So the intent of CEQA, which was I think passed back in 1970, I believe, the whole purpose of it was to basically protect our environment in a nutshell, which, you know, my wife and and I, we're avid hikers, so we really enjoy the fact that California, our state is just so beautiful and there's just so many places to go and hike that, you know, and it just looks like, even though, you know, you think of California, you think of it all the hustle and bustle, but sometimes when you go to these places that you can hike, it just looks like you've stepped into a whole different world. So, you know, I understand the need for CEQA and I like some aspects of it, but there are certain things that could, I think, easily be tweaked in order to help, especially suffering middle income families. Like, it's my understanding, you know, I'm not a developer or anything of that nature, but it's my understanding that, you know, when a developer is looking to basically build a housing unit, there is approximately $40,000 to $50,000 of cost associated with just regulations that go into the building of, you know, that's just for one unit. And we could make simple, I think, adjustments there. One of the things that one particular developer had conveyed to me was the fact that if a lawsuit is brought upon them for a project they're working upon, they do not have the right to countersuit that person who is suing them. Now, don't get me wrong. If there's a bad actor out there, that individual should be sued and they should be held accountable, especially if they're not following all the rules and regulations. But as we know, sometimes we're in a state, unfortunately, where there's a lot of frivolous lawsuits. So these frivolous lawsuits are brought upon these developers, and the only thing the developer can do is just defend themselves at the cost of whatever it takes. You know, their attorney costs and so forth, and they have no way of recouping that cost. So they can't counter sue the individual. So I think if we could just make some little tweaks like that, that would help. It would keep the people who are just out there trying to launch these frivolous lawsuits against developers, but yet have the still the means by which if there are bad actors out there, they can be held accountable for that. Another one that I'm thinking of is the SB1, which is the Road and Repair Accountability Act. This is the one where we're seeing July 1st of every year, we have an increase in our gasoline tax. Now, I understand there's the need for infrastructure. California does need to improve its infrastructure. But I don't think that when this was passed, they had thought that gasoline prices were going to move up as much as they have. And, and that is like a huge blow to middle income families. So, you know, now middle income families are debating between, okay, you know, we have to pay more for me to get back and forward to work. So maybe we have to cut back over here. So they're making tough budget decisions. But I think if, if we could just again, tweak that law to say that if gasoline prices go beyond a certain percentage, that we can cap them, you know, so that we're not creating an environment where middle income families are struggling, you know, just to get back and forth to work. I mean, it's really tough out there for them. So that would be two examples that I would definitely say that we could do.

Pia Prashanth:
I know you mentioned policies like the Road and Repair Accountability Act that negatively affect middle income families. So looking from a different perspective, there are many proposed policies that help bolster middle income families, you know, from supplementing income to providing more paid leave for new parents, giving first time homeowners a tax credit, and even developing asset building programs for low income children. These are all big ideas that require a lot of funding and support and thus are most often viewed as a policy challenge for the federal government or Congress to overcome. So how can state and even local governments make effective change in regards to bolstering middle-income families?

Bob Mendez:
Well, I think that if we created more of like a family-friendly workplace, you know, again, where we promote work and life balance, you know, such as paid leaves, I think those are certainly things that can help create more of a friendlier environment for middle-income people where they're, again, not forced to work even at times where maybe there's a loved one that needs care and so they have to make that choice in their life. So I think, again, a family-friendly workplace would be one area that I think is something that we need to work on. Small business support. Even though you think of small businesses, not all of them are in the higher income levels. There are a lot of small businesses that are generating enough income for that business owner to be categorized as middle income. And as such, we need to create an environment that supports small businesses, not hinder them. And even for those small businesses is that maybe we're fortunate and they're successful and they're generating a lot of income, they, quite often, they provide or employ a lot of middle-income workers. So again, there's this effect of where we do have to try to create more of a business-friendly environment here. I think if we do that, one takes care of the other in terms of creating good, decent jobs for individuals and families and so forth. Also infrastructure. We need to make sure that we're again providing infrastructure so that people can get from point A to point B, maybe providing some form of mobility for them to be able to get to their job. financial education programs. I think those are things that we need to create as well. Again, because, you know, being a financial advisor, I think, you know, we could do a much better job in promoting financial literacy for our people in our community. And also utilize data driven policies, if you will, you know, we're using the use of technology to determine like all these strategies and all these things that we're looking to incorporate to make sure that they are being, you know, without that they're effective, you know, I'm, you know, I'm 60 years old. So, I mean, I'm always tech challenged and so forth. But I understand that there are so many different things that we could do to basically utilize technology and utilize it in a way to make sure that whatever policies and so forth that we're incorporating are really being effective. So I think that's an important thing too as well.

Pia Prashanth:
Yeah. And just like mentioned, you know, in terms of making effective change in policies, you mentioned, you know, infrastructure and financial education programs. So in your view, should state and local governments focus on tailoring existing federal policies to their specific needs or developing entirely new initiatives for little income family support?

Bob Mendez:
Well, I think it's a combination of both, because, you know, who knows the Riverside area better than Riverside residents, not people in Sacramento or in Washington, D.C. So we know our community better than anyone, you know, outside who's, you know, creating these particular policies. So I think that's where it can be a combination of policies that are coming from Sacramento, Washington, D.C., but also it should be policies that we create from the ground up that are more directly impacting our community in the way that we want our community to be impacted. So we're all moving in the right direction in terms of growth and economic prosperity.

Rachel Strausman:
And that's really valuable that you bring up focusing on the data because in a world where it's so easy to get large amounts of data, it's important to really consider it and think about what stories it telling us about the policies that are being implemented. So moving forward to a slightly different topic, given your experience as chairman of the board for the public-private partnerships play out for this policy issue? And how can collaboration such as with government and private entities create effective change?

Bob Mendez:
Oh, yeah. I always say it comes down to three things, and it's jobs, jobs, and jobs. You know, we really need to come together, you know, in terms of being able to all move in the right direction to produce good paying jobs for individuals. You know, we just really have to break down all these silos between the city, the county, even our institutions of higher education, and the chamber, you know, where we all work collectively together for the betterment of our community. A good example of that is the California Air Resources Board, or CARB for short. CARB was looking to relocate and there was two primary locations that were up for bid. One of them was Riverside. And what happened there was that led by the Chamber of Commerce, they brought together both UCR, the city of Riverside, the county of Riverside, and we all work collectively together to help lure the car to Riverside and it was a great victory. So we've done it before and we should be able to do it again. I'm of the mindset that while this whole thing was created where we collaborated all together we should continue to work like that. Maybe it It means that we have to have like an ongoing type of – the right word I'm looking for is a type of board of some sorts that is made up of representatives from all of these entities. And we're constantly looking for opportunities out there because they're out there and we need to be in the forefront. We need to tell our story here in Riverside, how we've got a city that's made up of 50,000 students of higher education. You know, we have CARB here, so we're leading the way in terms of the environment and so forth. Well, right now we may have a lot of the... Oh, gosh, what word I'm looking for. We have a lot of, geez, I'm drawing a blank. We have like a lot of logistics centers. So we know that going forward, we're probably going to see a creation of other types of services for the logistics. logistics, these logistic companies that are here in our area, such as, for example, robotics. So why can't we make those types of devices here? And this would be great jobs for people coming out of, for example, UCR with an engineering degree. So we need to do things like that to try to capture more of the individuals coming out of our great institutions of higher learning to try to keep them here in our local economy. And I think the other thing that we need to do, as I mentioned, I'm probably a good 40 years older than the both of you. And so I'm not even going to begin to pretend that what it is that you're looking for as far as a career. Yes, obviously a good paying job, but there's more to it than that, I'm sure. And this is where I think we need to establish like a type of board, again, consisting of a few representatives from UCR, from Cal Baptist, from last year University, from RCCD, to basically provide us with the input of, you know, this is what we want in our community. this is what we're looking for when we're looking to establish, you know, take root in a community. It's not just about the job, it's about all these other factors as well. And who better to like convey that message than individuals such as yourself. So I think these are the kind of things that we need to do is we need to break down all the barriers between the city, the county, the chamber and so forth, and all work collectively together. And also we need to receive the input from individuals such as yourself to really see what it is that you're looking for in a community and really develop that here in Riverside. So we can basically create a community where people want to come. Come here for our parks, come here for, you know, our downtown experience, come here because of the higher education, so on and so forth. We just need to continue to build on our story.

Rachel Strausman:
That is very well said and it kind of ties into a little bit of what you were saying earlier, how you were mentioning policies that talk about job retention and now you were discussing policies that foster job growth. Would you say that there should be a balance between the two or one that should be focused on more retention or growth?

Bob Mendez:
Yeah, I think it's a balance because to me it's like playing offense and defense to use a football analogy. So it's important that we do protect the jobs that we have here. We need to continue not just assume because of like Collins Aerospace which is here in Riverside, we can't just assume that they're always going to be here five, ten years from now. We need to check in on them every once in a I'll see what's going on, see where we can help them, and do that with all of our employers. And that's a form of defense, making sure that they stay here, and then play that form of offense of where we're going out, trying to capture more jobs like Collins Aerospace that provide great paying jobs for individuals, especially individuals graduating from institutions such as yours.

Rachel Strausman:
And I think that that's a great place to end, this balance that you describe between reducing barriers to middle-income families to prosper and thrive while acknowledging and fixing these unintended consequences in existing policies can be so impactful because you can maximize your effort focusing on tweaking well-intentioned policies like CEQA to have less unintended consequences and then focusing efforts on building up policies that haven't already been created or policies that focus on issues that haven't already been addressed. And I think that that's why it's so important to have partners like the Greater Riverside the workforce but also businesses and the community. So with that thank you so much for joining us today chairman of the board Mendez. It truly has been an honor to speak with you and we really appreciate you sharing your insights with us.

Bob Mendez:
Well the pleasure has been all mine. I again I feel honored that you've asked me to participate in this so thank you.