6/2- Dave Fleming, Tracy Rafter,

The Biz-Fed Report    "Water and the State of California"

David W. Fleming -  Founding Chair

An attorney with Latham and Watkins, was the instigator of the successful charter reform movement in the City of Los Angeles. In 1997, he and then LA Mayor Richard Riordan co-chaired a voters' initiative to reform LA City government, culminating in creation of an elected citizens' Charter Reform Commission that drafted a new charter adopted by voters in 1999. He currently serves on the board of the Southern California Metropolitan Water District, covering all of Southern California, representing the City of Los Angeles. In 2003 he was appointed by President George W. Bush as a trustee of the James Madison Foundation, which bestows scholarships on high school teachers to promote teaching the founding of our nation.

Tracy Rafter -  CEO

As the first female publisher in the nearly 100 year history of the Los Angeles Daily News, Tracy Rafter brought strategic vision, unbridled passion, fearless innovation, and dynamic leadership at a time of unprecedented challenge and change in the news media industry. She is now the principal of her own next level media company IMPOWER, LLC, and also owns a business advisory, Rafter Group, Inc. which provided management and leadership to organize, launch, and operate BizFed. As a 25 year veteran of the newspaper business, she has held chief executive positions in a variety of major markets across the country, including over a decade with the Journal Register Company of Trenton, New Jersey, where she served as Publisher and CEO of four award winning newspapers in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.