Page 2 February 25, 2016 TORRANCE TRIBUNE She’s Everywhere… Continental Development Corporation’s Sherry Kramer By Brian Simon It may feel like Sherry Kramer has been working at Continental Development Corporation (CDC) forever and yet she only started 10 years ago for the well-known commercial real estate company. And some folks will swear she must have been cloned because she seemingly appears at every notable event and sits on just about every non-profit board imaginable in the South Bay. Asked how she fits everything into her schedule, CDC’s Community Affairs Director said she just finds a way to get it done. “My joke is that I say I will get back to you after I talk to my staff—which consists of me, myself and I,” she quipped. In her role with CDC, Kramer is proud to serve as “the face of the company” by sitting on boards for chambers of commerce and other non-profits, promoting and working closely with tenants situated on the company’s South Bay properties (El Segundo, Torrance and Palos Verdes), and helping coordinate major events such as the annual El Segundo Education Foundation Gala and this weekend’s Dancing With the South Bay Stars at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center. For the latter program, Kramer will not only attend but serve as emcee. “I will throw myself out there and relax the participants,” she explained. “I believe in going the extra mile by stepping up and truly being part of it rather than just showing up.” The concept of “being part of it” has been a prime motivator over the course of Kramer’s career. Born in Whittier, she never really had the chance to settle in one place for very long growing up. Her father worked for Kaiser Steel and the family moved seven times during her youth, culminating with a period in Arizona after she finished high school in Upland. Kramer ultimately returned to California to study at El Camino College and then went on to earn a degree in Communications from Cal State Long Beach. Early jobs included stints at Bank of America in the marketing division and at Centinela Hospital working in administration. It was there she met her husband of now almost 30 years, Dr. Ian Kramer, who is an emergency room physician. In addition, he was a volunteer medical director at a local free clinic where they together gave their time to fundraising events. The couple raised three children, now grown. “Coincidentally, Ian has been working in the emergency room for the last 25 years and been director the past 12 of the same hospital I was born in—and although he is several years older, we also used to hang out at the same In ‘N Out Burger back in the day,” she noted. “Guess it was meant to be.” Kramer’s experience with fundraising goes back to her time at Centinela in the early ‘80s. She “did it on the side” for many years, but ramped up those activities after joining the Manhattan Beach Unified School District overseeing business partnerships. It was in that capacity that she met CDC President Richard Lundquist in 2005. “He was a donor, but no one knew much about him or his company,” Kramer explained. “When he and his partners did a designation of funds from Plaza El Segundo for local schools, he made a pitch that was so impressive that I thought to myself, ‘I have to work for this guy.’” Despite no real estate background, Kramer approached Lundquist with the idea of creating a new position that would put her skill set to best use. Several months later, she joined CDC as Community Affairs Director. “It has made a real difference to help bring awareness to our company as a whole and the good we do,” Kramer said of her job. “Richard is such a humble, generous man. People don’t often get the opportunity to meet with him and talk with him--but when you look at the number of organizations he supports, so many non-profits have benefited from his generosity. His number one thing is education and he has given millions to foundations and school districts. We are huge believers and want everyone to have access to quality education.” Lundquist and his wife Melanie were also the primary donors and led the overall fundraising campaign for the new tower at Torrance Memorial Medical Center named after the couple. For Kramer, fundraising is second nature. “The organizations we’re involved with all have events of some sort, but it’s easy for me,” she said. “I am just as happy with a $5 gift certificate as a $50,000 check. It’s all about giving whatever you can.” To keep CDC’s ongoing efforts at the public and business forefronts, Kramer has been arguably the most visible chamber of commerce board member in the South Bay Rooftop Solar Touches Off a Power Struggle By Rob McCarthy If solar work trucks seem to be everywhere on the road and in South Bay neighborhoods, it’s not your imagination. California is ground zero for the rooftop-solar revolution. Half of the nation’s homes that produce some or all of their electricity from the sun’s rays are in the state. California has the sunshine, the abundant population, and an environmentally friendly Gov. Jerry Brown. Sacramento favors clean energy, and state officials want 1 million solar rooftops by 2018. The federal government offers a home-solar tax credit, which it extended to the delight of the installation companies that feared losing a tax break that homeowners find attractive. Residential solar’s future isn’t crystal clear because of opposition from public-owned utilities. Southern California Edison and their investors stand to lose if California electric customers offset their lower monthly bills using solar power. Households that generate electricity and swap it for bill credit receive preferential treatment, the state’s big utilities argue. They asked the Public Utilities Commission to rewrite the rules so that solar-powered outliers pay more to Edison. The two-year deliberation ended last month in a 3-2 vote, which exposed the friction building between the old guard utilities and the new kid-on-the-block solar. The commissioners in a Solomonic decision gave each side something it wanted, but denied anyone a clear victory. “Our course is not for the rooftop solar industry or for the utilities,” Commission President Michael Picker said after the Jan. 28 meeting. The public utilities asked for and were granted a $75-$150 hookup fee from solarconversion homes in the future, plus additional monthly costs - known as non-bypassable charges - that assist low-income households and fund development programs. The home-solar industry conceded that the additional fees imposed on new and existing home-solar customers were fair. The average power bill for a solar household is expected to jump by $9 per month, up from $82. “We agree that all customers should pay the Public Purpose Program Charges (which fund low-income and clean energy programs), nuclear decommissioning and DWR bond charges,” wrote Sean Gallagher, vice president of state affairs for the Solar Energy Institutes Association, in the days leading up to the Public Utilities Commission vote in San Francisco. The Public Utilities Commission explained that being users of the grid made it only right that home-solar customers pay charges borne by other customers. The commission decided to levy new costs, but not to charge solar customers for the upkeep of transmission lines. The solar industry cheered that change, even as it prompted two commissioners to vote against a decision they said they otherwise would have supported. The non-bypassable charges were small potatoes compared to net-metering. The fears were so great that California might end net-metering in 2016 that 130,000 petitions were delivered in wheelbarrows to the commission’s San Francisco offices in favor of continuing net-metering. By the narrowest of margins, the Public Utilities Commission extended net-metering until 2019, when it will reconsider the contentious payment system consumers favor and utilities dislike. The Jan. 28 decision required Southern California Edison and other utilities to keep paying solar-powered homes and businesses the retail rate that Edison charges its customers. Net-energy is important to home-solar companies because it defrays the costs of buying or leasing a rooftop system. Net-metering households use the electric utility grid like a bank account. They can deposit electricity they don’t use immediately withdraw the same amount later (such as at night) at no net cost. It’s a year-round system, which allows households to build energy credit in summer when days are longer to compensate for shorter, winter days. The three-year reprieve saved Californians who’ve installed rooftop solar panels $4.8 billion and kept the renewable-energy option affordable, according to the Solar Energy Institutes Association. The industry lobbied California utility regulators to retain netmetering, as Colorado, New Mexico, New York and New Jersey have done, to keep rooftop systems affordable. The number of solar homes in the United States is fast approaching 1 million, with 65 percent of residential solar being installed in communities with median incomes below $70,000, according to industry figures. California leads the nation with 479,000 solar homes, and is nearly halfway to the goal of 1 million solar rooftops by 2018 . The utilities lobbied equally hard to sway the commission and its President Michael Picker, even introducing an 11th-hour proposal that critics said would jeopardize the federal tax credit for home solar conversions. The solar industry, which faced an uphill battle with Big Utilities despite strong political support from the governor, criticized the late changes and Big Utility’s tactics. Picker said it had been a “very difficult task” for the agency to keep solar affordable without burdening most Californians with significantly higher costs. He characterized the net-metering program as “a big step See Rooftop Solar, page 7 Sherry Kramer. Call Now 800-409-2420 Call Now 800-918-4172 Are You Still Paying Too Much For Your Medications? You can save up to 93% when you fi ll your prescriptions with our Canadian and International prescription service. Their Price CelebrexTM $832.60 Typical US Brand Price for 200mg x 100 Our Price Celecoxib* $75.56 Generic equivalent of CelebrexTM Generic price for 200mg x 100 ViagraTM $4,287.27 Typical US Brand Price for 100mg x 40 vs Sildenafi l* $132.00 Generic Price for 100mg x 40 Get An Extra $15 Off & Free Shipping On Your 1st Order! Call the number below and save an additional $15 plus get free shipping on your fi rst prescription order with Canada Drug Center. Expires December 31, 2015. Offer is valid for prescription orders only and can not be used in conjunction with any other offers. Valid for new customers only. One time use per household. Use code 15FREE to receive this special offer. Call Now! 800-409-2420 Please note that we do not carry controlled substances and a valid prescription is required for all prescription medication orders. Use of these services is subject to the Terms of Use and accompanying policies at www.canadadrugcenter.com. See Sherry Kramer, page 7
Torrance_022516_FNL_lorez
To see the actual publication please follow the link above