The Latest News from TPA

Desert Recreation District

TPA is proud and honored to announce it has been hired by the Desert Recreation District to provide legislative and funding advocacy services.

Established by the State Legislature in 1950, the District is the largest of its kind in California and serves communities spanning 1,800 square miles from Thermal, Coachella, and Indio to La Quinta and Palm Desert.

The District provides and maintains quality park and recreation facilities, programs and service, and leisure opportunities for the personal, social, and economic benefits of its residents.

TPA looks forward to helping the District transform its vision for parks and recreation in the community into legacies!

To learn more about the innovative programs of the District, please visit its website: http://www.myrecreationdistrict.com/

City of Oakland

TPA is honored that the City of Oakland has asked us to continue to provide state and federal advocacy and grant funding services.

TPA has been proud to serve the City for several years to promote its priority legislation and funding needs, and we look forward to our continued work and collaboration with the City and Mayor Libby Schaaf to transform their vision into legacy!

TPA Welcomes Senior Associate Sharon Gonsalves

Townsend Public Affairs is very pleased to announce that Sharon Gonsalves has joined the Firm as a Senior Associate in the TPA State Capitol Office in Sacramento!

Sharon Gonsalves joined Townsend Public Affairs, Inc. after a decade of service with the California Legislature working in the State Capitol. Sharon has focused on major policy issues throughout her career including water policy and infrastructure, energy, agriculture, transportation, and housing. While Sharon has developed and maintained an extensive bi-partisan network of relationships with Members of the Legislature throughout the State, her assignments allowed her to place particular emphasis on the County of Orange, the Central Valley, and the Imperial Valley.

During her tenure working with the California Legislature, Sharon developed Statewide policy, drafted bill language, reviewed, tracked, and analyzed legislative measures, public laws, and agency relations. In addition, Sharon monitored legislative committee and agency hearings and testified at regulatory and policy hearings on a multitude of key public policy matters. Sharon’s key accomplishments include, but are not limited to:

• Assisted with the development and adoption of the historic Statewide Groundwater Management Act in 2014, which represented the first-ever effort by California to manage groundwater basins on a Statewide level .

• Navigated affected cities through the redevelopment dissolution process, serving as a liaison between the cities and the Department of Finance, after the elimination of redevelopment.

• Organized the opposition to a proposal from the State Water Resources Control Board regarding flows on the Stanislaus, Merced, and Tuolumne Rivers. Increased flows, coupled with the drought and groundwater challenges, would have negatively impacted the economic and agricultural future in the Central Valley.

• Assisted with the development and adoption of the Desalination Amendment, which established a uniform and consistent process for the permitting of desalination facilities in California.

In addition to her previous work in the State Capitol, Sharon is a member of Capitol Network and California Women in Energy.

A graduate of California State University Monterey Bay, Sharon resides in West Sacramento with her husband John and two sons.

City of San Pablo

TPA congratulates long-time client City of San Pablo, CA for their recognition by the California Department of Parks and Recreation for the successful completion of the new Rumrill Sports Park funded by a $3 million grant from the Proposition 84 Statewide Parks Program. And kudos to TPA Northern California Senior Director Niccolo DeLuca and TPA Associate Alex Gibbs for their great work in support of the City.

Please click here for more information about the Rumrill Sports Park and the successful funding secured from the Department of Parks and Recreation.

City of Dinuba

TPA congratulates long-time client City of Dinuba for their recognition by the California Department of Parks and Recreation for the successful completion of their new Sportsplex funded by a $822,300 grant from the Proposition 84 Statewide Parks Program. And kudos to TPA Central Valley Director Richard Harmon and TPA Associate Sophia Sadaat for their great work in support of the City.

Please click here for more information about the Sportsplex and the successful funding secured from the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Discovery Cube Orange County

TPA congratulates long-time client Discovery Cube Orange County for their recognition by the California Department of Parks and Recreation for the successful completion of their new Natural Resources Pavilion funded by a $7 million grant from the Proposition 84 Nature Education Facilities Program. And kudos to TPA Senior Associate Cori Williams for her great work in support of the Cube.

Please click here for more information about the Natural Resources Pavilion and the successful funding secured from the Department of Parks and Recreation.