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TRI VALLEY CITIES VALUES STATEMENT The Tri -Valley Cities of Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton, San Ramon, and Town of Danville value regional leadership, collaboration, and problem solving to maintain and improve the quality of life for Tri -Valley residents and businesses, and enable continued opportunities for public and private investment within the region. Each City or Town provides a unique perspective on how to best meet the needs of their residents. The Cities and Town agree to respect the individuality of each community while focusing on collaboration towards common efforts and regional solutions. The Cities and Town are committed to open and honest communication with a goal of building consensus and a united approach to advocacy for solutions that will serve the residents and businesses of the Tri -Valley. LEGISLATIVE ACTION FRAMEWORK The current political landscape has required the Cities and Town to develop a different legislative framework in order to create positive outcomes for the region. Historically, the practice has been to advocate at the federal level for funding of local projects by meeting with federal legislators and seeking direct funding through federal "earmarks." The elimination of federal "earmarks" by the Obama Administration as a funding mechanism for local projects and initiatives has severely limited the region's legislative advocacy efforts. The new reality is that Federal funding is now primarily distributed by Federal Agencies via grant programs. While these grants are available to cities, in practice local and regional governmental entities apply to respective federal agencies for these funds through a competitive application process. To be successful in this environment, the Cities and Town must be strategically focused and rely on relationship building and other public private partnerships to achieve successful outcomes. The Legislative Action Framework provides a mechanism to better equip the Cities and Town to work together on issues of joint interest. The process includes the following objectives: • Identifying and prioritizing Focus Areas; Identifying and prioritizing specific projects and/or initiatives within each Focus Area; Developing the Tri -Valley Legislative Platform that highlights project leads, regional partnerships, timelines and specific outcomes; and Developing atwo-year Action Plan Framework which serves to implement the aforementioned objectives.