The San Francisco Airport Commission refunds $110 million in fixed-rate revenue bonds with new variable-rate bonds to lower its overall interest cost.  •  The San Dieguito Union High School District responds to the turbulent auction-rate market by converting $90 million in ARS bonds to fixed-rate securities.  •  De La Rosa & Co. generates $41 million of retail orders to reduce yields and save the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority significant interest costs on a $25-million Sales Tax Revenue Bond issue.  •  The L.A. Community Redevelopment Agency obtains a strong investment-grade rating on a $12.5-million Taxable Tax-Allocation Bond issue for the Westlake Recovery Project.  •  Despite a tough market, Beverly Hills successfully refunds $31 million in water revenue bonds and $17 million in wastewater revenue bonds for economic savings.  •  The Gridley Redevelopment Agency clears various hurdles caused by tightening credit in the municipal market to successfully execute its first tax-allocation bond financing.  •  Riverside issues unenhanced Bond Anticipation Notes to mute the effects of the collapse of auction-rate securities and prudently control interest costs.  •  The Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District restructures $50 million in auction rate securities with better performing, direct pay variable-rate bonds backed by letters of credit.  • 
 
Judges review hundreds of
Fabric of Society essays


High school seniors across California have submitted essays in the third annual Fabric of Society competition. De La Rosa & Co. received hundreds of entries from 25 participating schools before the deadline at midnight Feb. 28. DLR will award at least one $2,000 scholarship at each school.

The winning essays will be chosen by four guest judges: Neal Keny-Guyer, CEO of
nonprofit MercyCorps; Rabbi Joel Thal Simonds of University Synagogue in West
Los Angeles; actress Kathy Baker, perhaps best known for her
Emmy-winning work on Picket Fences; and journalism professor Gabriel
Kahn of the Annenberg School of Communication at USC.

“This competition allows young Californians to reflect on their lives and
their vision for the future. And it offers the rest of us the opportunity
to take stock and listen,” said Kahn, the former L.A. bureau chief
for the Wall Street Journal.

Founder and President Edward J. De La Rosa created the
competition in 2009 to mark the firm’s twentieth anniversary.
This year, essayists reflected on President Theodore
Roosevelt’s observation that, “In a moment of decision,
the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst
thing you can do is nothing.”
 
Twenty-Two Winners
in 2010 Competition

De La Rosa & Co. awarded $2,000 scholarships to 22 high school seniors across California in 2010. Seniors from participating public schools submitted nearly 200 essays to this year’s Fabric of Society essay competition based on Lance Armstrong’s observation that, “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.”

DLR President Edward J. De La Rosa said the responses reflect the broad range of challenges, from launching new technologies to helping an illiterate parent navigate urban life, a new generation of Californians is facing. “Students wrote about the vision and perseverance that they, their parents, or others in their communities have shown when facing adversity,” De La Rosa said.



Mattie Maloney
Corning Union High School
Corning

  Rosa Meza
Arroyo Valley High School
San Bernardino

Sheta Chatterjee
San Dieguito Academy
Encinitas
  Lorenzo Thompson
Mission High School
San Francisco
Juli Sorenson
Grossmont High School
El Cajon
  Brenda Marin
San Fernando High School
San Fernando
Brandi Hervey
Skyline High School
Oakland
  Matthew Plummer
Grossmont High School
El Cajon
Ana Tapia
Fowler High School
Fowler
  Hannah McNeil
San Rafael High School
San Rafael
Monica Hernandez
Hawthorne High School
Hawthorne
  Kimberly Wong
Burlingame High School
Burlingame
Jessica Leary
Luther Burbank High School
Sacramento
  Kevin McAtee
Buena High School
Ventura
Kelsey Smith
South Tahoe High School
Fowler
  Denise Nguyen
Saddleback High School
Santa Ana
Zeve Sanderson
Franklin High School
Los Angeles
  Paula Sainz
Corning Union High School
Corning
Anna Tiglao
Pittsburg High School
Pittsburg
  Breanne Haeger
Grossmont High School
El Cajon
Angela Muñoz
Bret Harte High School
Angels Camp
  Maria Medina
Santa Paula High School
Santa Paula
The 25 high schools participating in the 2011 Fabric of Society competition are:
  1. Arlington High School
    Riverside
  2. Arroyo Valley High School
    San Bernardino
  3. Bret Harte High School
    Angels Camp
  4. Buena High School
    Ventura
  5. Carpinteria Senior High School
    Carpinteria
  6. Centennial High School
    Bakersfield
  7. Corning Union High School
    Corning
  8. Downey High School
    Modesto
  9. Fowler High School
    Fowler
  10. Franklin High School
    Los Angeles
  11. Hoover High School
    Glendale
  12. Mission High School
    San Francisco
  13. Mission Hills High School
    San Marcos
  14. North High School
    Torrance
  15. Novato High School
    Novato
  16. Saddleback High School
    Santa Ana
  17. San Fernando High School
    San Fernando
  18. San Juan High School
    Citrus Heights
  19. San Lorenzo Valley High School
    Felton
  20. Serra High School
    San Diego
  21. Silver Creek High School
    San Jose
  22. Skyline High School
    Oakland
  23. Sonoma Valley High School
    Sonoma
  24. Westminster High School
    Westminster
  25. Ygnacio Valley High School
    Concord