What does the commercial real estate market have to do with the place we call home? Keynote speaker Jim Wunderman, in an address to the reception honorees and those in attendance, including myself, at the May 13, 2009 twilight commercial real estate networking reception, made it clear this has everything to do with not only our home but the very place we call California. For those of us living in the Bay Area, we are responsible for 20 percent of the state’s population yet we generate over 30 percent of the state’s economy and we are one of the most productive work forces in the United States, according to Wunderman.

Yet with the innovation, leadership, and entrepreneurial spirit that has made the Bay Area one of the top economic engines in the state of California, we are currently saddled with one of the largest state budget deficits. According to the official voter information guide for the California statewide special election being held this Tuesday, May 19, we are $6 billion short between revenues and spending to cover a year-end deficit in 2008-09. This is even after the big assumption for the assumed receipt of more than $8 billion in federal funds from the recent economic stimulus law to help balance the California budget.

Mr. Wunderman concluded in his keynote address that if the measures are not passed after next Tuesday’s voting, “there will be a gun to your head.” What would happen if the Propositions are rejected? Will future budgets need more solutions and higher tax rates? If you are a registered California voter, please remember to vote. The official voter guide can be found by clicking here. More information about the state budget can be reviewed here before you vote.

Posted by:Ernie Basoco