Second Statement

My Sea Ranch private life – 50 years visiting, 30 years owning a home, and 4 years living here full-time – created my connection to our landscape and our community.  

My Sea Ranch public life – Planning Committee (now Chair) and its Ecology Subcommittee and Hedgerow Working Group and the Finance Committee – has shown me how TSRA actually operates. We must recognize that transparent meetings, open dialogue, rigorous analysis, lead to informed decisions.

I always have had a deep appreciation for Sea Ranch’s original covenant – environmental stewardship and commitment to an egalitarian community – but I understand better how we might timely consider and properly decide the most polarizing issues. They challenge us to find solutions that stay true to our legacy while embracing change.  

We need to preserve what has made Sea Ranch unique. 

Our topography has created a special place: forests, meadows, ocean. The founders clustered lots to create open spaces and preserve expanses of forests. This arrangement promotes community and communal decisions that benefit all members, not a select few, but still allows freedom and choice. 

Our delicate interplay of ecology and safety is primary. As our climate changes, preserving what is valuable and wild about our lands as we safeguard people and property is critical. Wind throws accelerate when trees are old, weak, or diseased. I call for prompt assessment and a streamlined process to swiftly remove trees that weaken Commons’ resiliency and compromise member safety.

I support the retention of redwoods and other native trees unless good forestry science says their health, or our safety, requires a different approach. The Board needs a stable of true experts who know our lands. We need decisions about storms, winds, and fire that account for our forests’ unique characteristics. 

I didn’t support the 2015 Board of Directors' resolution to obtain a permit to harvest up to 40% of our mature redwood trees for commercial gain. I endorsed, along with over 69% of members voting, the 2022 Amendment to the Restrictions permitting removal of redwoods for safety and health but not for profit.

Forests start below ground and rise to the tops of the redwoods creating a symbiotic ecosystem that must be protected for forests to flourish. Each component – mushrooms, flora, fauna – plays a crucial role in maintaining a delicate balance. Thinning and limbing-up trees, removing the understory in the Central Forest, could have detrimental effects on this balanced ecosystem and ultimately harm the forest’s biodiversity. 

The Hedgerow Working Group has taught me that each hedgerow has its own microclimate and neighborhood; our decisions must be scientific, nuanced, and reflect history but be mindful of sustainability and safety. After thorough study, we should plant trees taking into account ecosystem services and what can be managed sustainably by our next generation. Perhaps iconic Sea Ranch must allow for beneficial change rather than staying rooted in the past. 

As stewards of our environment, it’s imperative to consider the long-term consequences of any protective action. We should understand to what extent any such action influences third parties in their evaluation of their alternatives. We need leaders who will analyze our neighbor lumber company’s plans and accept the challenge of protecting our interests.

We should work towards energy independence.

I strongly support TSRA’s becoming more energy independent. However, I publicly opposed the last two solar project proposals. 

The airport solar project failed because TSRA initially ignored Sonoma’s protection of ecological wetlands. The three-site solar project failed for multiple reasons including serious flaws in the financing, premature equipment procurement, and TSRA’s failure to factor expensive Coastal permits into its calculations.

I support innovative solar. The Board should consider alternatives that avoid degradation of lands and promote distributed solar. We want to avoid costly mistakes. I believe my background in tax-advantaged solar-backed financing will be helpful in this endeavor.

On major projects, the Board, setting policy, must establish comprehensive guidelines encompassing planning, permitting, cost, funding sources, and use diligent oversight. Establishing strategic partnerships and proactively working with regulatory bodies will enhance our collective impact and highlight the significance of unified action in safeguarding TSR for future generations.

A stable community requires an excellent Community Manager (CM). 

The Board’s selection and retention of an excellent CM certainly are critical tasks. We have learned in recent years: a bad CM can produce chaos; a good CM can promote calm.

Our CM, Menka Sethi, tackled historical accounting and financial issues and improved workforce morale. Her actions during challenges showcased leadership, transparency, and empathy. Her zero-based budgeting approach, coupled with judicious engagement of lawyers and out-sourcing. stabilized fees and reduced ongoing costs. 

Menka’s recognition of our interdependence with surrounding communities and her knowledge of low-income housing is invaluable.

A Director’s fiduciary duty is to set policy, exercise oversight of TSR affairs, but not to interfere in the CM’s execution of those policies. I support Menka’s tenure and have ideas on how to be helpful to her such as with respect to efficient funding approaches for our future infrastructure needs with less drain on members’ pocketbooks. 

We need to increase the financial and legal expertise on our Board. 

My professional financial and legal background has been developing workable solutions to complex problems. I led financial structuring and risk analysis teams and oversaw large-scale capital investments. I listened to clients and articulated risk-reward benefits, designed models that accounted for economic, social, and legal variables, and worked with bankers, accountants, experts, regulatory agencies, and external lawyers to reach successful closure. 

These financial and legal skills translate into being a successful Director where issues of finance, including capitalization, financing, cost-benefit analysis, investing, and legal implications, are the backbone of TSR affairs. My experience in finance has been practical – addressing real-time problems and achieving long-term financial objectives and structuring cost-efficient sources of funding. My legal experience also has been practical – determining the efficacy and potential pitfalls of proposed solutions.

I, though, am adamant that environment and ecology must be taken into account at the start of the assessment of any major action, otherwise, they may be ignored or subverted at the end. 

Conclusion

All members under our Restrictions are equal inheritors of TSR. The special interests of the few should never injure the interests of all. TSR has been a part of my life since I was 12, and I believe my understanding of its founding principles and my love for its egalitarian precepts will help us continue our unique legacy.

We are a residential community, a haven for full-time owners, part-time owners, and ‘time to time’ renters. We are protectors of ocean, forests, meadows, and wildlife as well as our own lives.

Our selection of Sea Ranch – with its coast-hugging Highway 1 isolation – represents an opportunity to live in an ecology and a community that we can only find here that we are determined to preserve.

Walk 'n Talk with Gina & Bingley, daily at TSR. You choose the topic; Bingley chooses the trail. Canine companions welcome. Text (917) 302-5902.

4/13 and 5/5 Meet Gina Hubbell, 4:30 pm, Del Mar House. Enjoy appetizers and beverages.