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Proposal for State Legislative Advocacy Services | City of Santa Ana Page 12 <br />EXPERIENCE <br />Niccolo De Luca, Vice President: Niccolo brings 24 years of legislative <br />and public policy experience to TPA. Niccolo has expertise in the policy <br />sectors of local governance, parks and recreation, public safety, natural <br />resources, cultural resources, cannabis, and consumer affairs. <br />Townsend Public Affairs, Inc. <br />Vice President 2008-Present <br />Throughout his tenure at TPA, Niccolo has been responsible for dozens of legislative proposals <br />that have been signed into law and secured millions in competitive grant funds for local public <br />agency clients. In addition to his public policy expertise, Niccolo has widespread bi-partisan <br />relationships with Members and staff of the State Legislature, Governor Newsom Administration, <br />and relevant agencies. Some of Niccolo’s accomplishments include: <br />Niccolo led the TPA efforts to secure $33.1 million in critically needed park funding for <br />cities and nonprofits in the Bay Area, Central Valley, and Southern California. These <br />efforts included working on the funding guidelines, drafting the applications, lobbying for <br />the applications, and working hand in hand with the funding agency. Niccolo was the team <br />lead and instrumental in the many victories of our clients. <br />Niccolo, in recognizing the need for additional tools to protect public and private <br />infrastructure from natural disasters such as earthquakes, championed legislation to allow <br />cities to create a special assessment district to provide low-cost earthquake retrofit loans <br />in areas with vulnerable housing stock. In addition, Niccolo worked with the City of Oakland <br />and the City of Los Angeles to create the first ever state loan program for seismic retrofits <br />of multi-unit buildings. <br />Niccolo was a major part of the coalition to help pass the state’s first ever medicinal <br />cannabis regulatory framework legislation. A comprehensive, thorough approach to <br />statewide medicinal cannabis guidelines has been needed for several years. Niccolo <br />served as an instrumental member of the statewide coalition that supported the views of <br />both local government and the industry. Niccolo actively drafted language and advocated <br />with legislators and staff to ensure statewide regulations would be in the best interest of <br />cities. Due to these efforts, Niccolo has been recognized as a policy expert on cannabis <br />policy and has testified before numerous legislative committees on issues related to the <br />statewide implementation of cannabis regulations. <br />Niccolo assisted the City of Oakland in securing $2.2 million in State Budget earmarks in <br />FY14 and FY16. Niccolo coordinated with the Oakland Mayor, State Legislature, <br />Governor’s Office, and appropriate Administration officials to draft the language for <br />inclusion into both budgets. Niccolo’s strategy and execution led to two significant financial <br />wins for the City and their various public safety efforts. <br />Niccolo worked closely with the City of Oakland to secure four grants in the combined <br />amount of $18.9 million from the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring <br />Program. Niccolo developed the applications and shepherded them through the grant