Jonathan Bradhurst

Jonathan Bradhurst is a Senior Vice President of Development with Westfield Corporation, the largest retail property group in the world with interests in more than 121 shopping centers valued at more than $47 billion.

 

In this role, Mr. Bradhurst is responsible for managing the redevelopment and revitalization of the company's seven regional shopping centers in San Diego County. These centers, valued at more than $2 billion, provide jobs for more than 15,000 employees in San Diego County and generate in excess of $150 million annually in sales tax revenue for local cities.

 

As Westfield's business leader in the region, Mr. Bradhurst develops and manages the company's development pipeline, designs long-term strategic visions for each center, negotiates lease agreements with
anchor tenants, and serves as the principle spokesperson for the company in the region. Projected further investment by Westfield in San Diego County exceed $2 billion over the next 10 years. 

 

Prior to his current role, Mr. Bradhurst managed the company's development portfolio in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory from Westfield's headquarters in Sydney, Australia. During his tenure in Australia, Mr. Bradhurst's portfolio included 17 centers worth more than $9 billion. He oversaw the successful redevelopment of five of these centers, valued in excess of $1.2 billion.

 

Mr. Bradhurst has worked for Westfield for nearly 14 years. Prior to his positions within the company, he worked for Lend Lease, an Australian-based global property development and investment company.

 

An architect by trade, Mr. Bradhurst earned his Bachelors in Architecture from the University of Sydney. Currently, Mr. Bradhurst lives in La Jolla with his wife Julie and four children.

 

Aaron Contorer, Secretary

Aaron is president of the Contorer Foundation, which focuses on environmental sustainability and wealth studies. He is a partner and board member of San Diego Social Venture Partners, working to increase regional philanthropy, and is cofounder and chair of SDSVP's Environment Accelerator Fund.

 

He is a board member of Equinox Center, a new environmental policy center for the San Diego region. He served for eight years on the board of Northwest Environment Watch (now Sightline Institute), focusing on sprawl and sustainable economic development, and also helped to build the Kirkland (Wash.) Teen Center.

 

Aaron is a former executive of Microsoft Corporation, where he helped to build products including Windows, MSN, Visual Studio, and in-house engineering tools. He served on the CEO's staff, and founded the Microsoft Big Gift Club for new philanthropists. He was also an inventor, named in several patents in computer networking and security, and was an executive of three other small software companies.

 

Aaron holds degrees in computer science and psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

 

Jay Corrales, Treasurer

Jay Corrales is Manager of Turner Real Estate, a California independent real estate brokerage with offices in Carlsbad and San Francisco.  Jay is an advocate of green real estate practices and pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods.  He also serves on the board of directors for the U.S. Green Building Council San Diego Chapter.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Marcela Escobar-Eck, Chair

Marcela has over 21 years of experience in the land use and development field with various government agencies and elected officials, and is now President of her own land use consulting firm, The Atlantis Group.

 

In her role as Director for the Development Services Department for the City of San Diego, she oversaw all operations of a complex, regulatory department with a $68.9 million dollar budget and 655 budgeted staff.

 

Marcela holds a Bachelor of Science degree in landscape architecture with an emphasis in urban and regional planning from the University of California at Davis. Her career with the City of San Diego began as a planner, and she also held the positions of Council Liaison for the office of the City Manager, and private development manager and fiscal development manager for the Community and Economic Development Department. She served as the Planning Director for the City of Carlsbad from September 2005 through September 2006, overseeing daily operations and the implementation of the General Plan, Growth Management Plan, Local Coastal Program, Habitat Management Plan and the California Environmental Quality Act.

 

Marcela is fluent in Spanish and a trained and seasoned mediator, with extensive experience in conflict resolution. She is also certified by the National Charrette Institute as a Complete Charrette Manager. 

 

Keely Halsey

Keely Halsey serves as the Director of Legislative Affairs for the City of San Diego. Working with Council President Ben Hueso, she is responsible for managing the City's legislative agenda and performing policy analysis regarding Citywide land use, regional planning, and local governance matters.

 

Keely's background includes experience in environmental policy and resource management, sustainability and climate change initiatives, as well as elections, ethics, and intergovernmental affairs. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and the University of San Diego School of Law, and is a member of the State Bar of California.

 

Keely's interest in transit planning stems from her involvement in long-range land use planning and smart growth initiatives. She promotes the development of safe and convenient transit in order to improve the quality of neighborhoods and help the region meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.

 

Sarah Kruer Jager

Sarah Kruer Jager is a Principal, Investment & Development of Monarch Group, a private real estate investment and development firm. Sarah joined Monarch in 2005 and is responsible for the identification, evaluation, and management of investments as well as various investor relations activities. Sarah is also a founding member of the Monarch Investment Funds real estate private equity funds family.

 

Prior to Monarch, Sarah worked at UBS Investment Bank in Chicago as an analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions and Diversified Industrials Groups. In this capacity, Sarah executed financing and advisory assignments across a range of industries, including the diversified industrials, engineering and construction services, consumer / retail, and business services sectors.

 

Sarah attended University of Michigan, where she was awarded a four-year full tuition athletic scholarship as a member of the Division I Varsity Women’s Golf Team. Sarah’s academic and athletic honors include being named by the National Golf Coaches Association to the Division I All-American Scholar Golf Team and receiving Academic All-Big Ten Conference Honors. Sarah graduated from the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with High Distinction.

 

Sarah is currently involved in the following civic, charitable, and industry organizations: Founding Advisory Board and Membership Committee Member, Run Women Run; Committee Member, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce Land Use & Transportation Committee; Steering Committee nMember, Herb Klein Leadership Series; Golf Program Volunteer, Pro Kids Golf Academy & Learningn Center; Member, Urban Land Institute (ULI) and ULI Young Leaders; Member, Pension Real EstatenAssociation (PREA). In addition, Sarah was appointed by California State Assembly Speaker Karen Bassnin 2009 to serve as a member of the California Task Force on Youth and Workplace Wellness.

Fredric Maas

Fred is the CEO of Pacific Eco Communities, and former CEO of Black Mountain Ranch LLC. With more than 20 years of development experience, Maas was a principal in a firm which developed several Tournament Player Club communities with the PGA TOUR, Inc. In addition, he has served in a variety of capacities in national, state and local politics, including senior positions at the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Presidential campaign of Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole. An attorney and graduate of Hobart College and Syracuse University College of Law,

   

Fred is the current Chairman of CCDC (Centre City Development Corporation), San Diego's downtown redevelopment agency. He has also served as chairman of the board of Americans for Job Security, and has served in board positions at the Washington Legal Foundation and B'nai B'rith International. Fred is an active member of the San Diego Gas & Electric Community Advisory Committee.

 

Humberto Peraza

Humberto Peraza is Policy Advisor to San Diego City Council President Ben Hueso. Prior to working for President Hueso, Humberto was the District Chief of Staff to U.S. Congressman Bob Filner and served as Statewide Latino Director and San Diego-Imperial Counties Area Director for U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer. He also worked for U.S. Congressman Xavier Becerra in Washington DC as his Hispanic Caucus Liaison and Executive Assistant.

 

Humberto currently serves on the boards of League of Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood and is Chairman of the Chula Vista Charter Review Commission. Humberto is lifelong San Diegan and proud graduate of San Diego State University. He holds a bachelors degree in Political Science from SDSU. Humberto lives in Chula Vista with his wife Lisa and his two sons, Ben and Dylan.
 
 

John Ponder

 Mr. Ponder specializes in the representation of clients involved in real estate development. His practice focuses on advising and representing major residential, industrial and commercial developers through all phases of the land use regulatory process and environmental compliance. His land use experience includes real estate due diligence investigations, negotiating and drafting development agreements, processing land use entitlements, and appearing before governmental agencies and commissions. Mr. Ponder's practice includes strong ties to the local, state and national Building Industry Associations.

 

Mr. Ponder has been active in a variety of civic committee meetings regarding natural resources, employment and real estate development. He has participated in the preparation and implementation of local legislation regarding the Multiple Species Conservation Plan, revisions to the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Regulations to allow impacts to wetlands, updates to the City of San Diego Zoning Code and the Equal Employment Opportunity Ordinance. Mr. Ponder worked with the San Diego Association of Governments Employment Lands Inventory Committee to examine issues surrounding the supply and demand of land that will be available for development of office, industrial and research and development facilities. Mr. Ponder has been appointed by the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority to the Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan Technical Advisory Group. His education includes a J.D. from California Western School of Law, and a B.A. from San Diego State University. He is a registered lobbyist with the City of San Diego, and the San Diego County Airport Authority.

 

Thomas W. Sudberry, Jr.

As the founder of Sudberry Properties, Inc., Thomas Sudberry has a vision for the ever-changing and developing San Diego area and beyond.

 

Over the past 25 years, he has led Sudberry in being a trusted creator of many of the finest real estate developments in the San Diego area and in Nevada. In recent years, successful projects have given Sudberry the reputation as the leader of the 'new urbanism' movement; creating high quality, sustainable, multi-use developments. Under his leadership, Sudberry Properties has developed over 6 million square feet of commercial and residential property, with a market value exceeding $1 billion.

 

Mr. Sudberry's educational background includes an MBA from Stanford University, a Mechanical Engineering degree from Rice University, and a recently completed AMD Executive Program from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He also was a U.S. Naval Aviator and served on two Vietnam combat cruises in light attack A-7 Corsair II aboard the U.S.S. Constellation.

 

Tom's involvement in the community in which he lives and works is emphasized in the varied list of organizations that he is affiliated with. He has been very active in the International Council of Shopping Centers, the Urban Land Institute, the Congress of New Urbanism, and the National Council for Urban Economic Development. Tom is also a Board Member of San Diego River Park Foundation, Impact Urban America, Father Joe's Villages and is involved in the San Diego President's Council of the BIA and the NAIOP.

   

Reed Lewis Vickerman, Jr.

Reed has served as Vice President, Corporate Operations for Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. since May of 2007. He previously served as Amylin's Vice President of Information Technology, Facilities and Community Affairs, joining the Company in 2001. Prior to Amylin, Mr. Vickerman was Vice President of IT and Facilities at Copper Mountain Networks, Senior Director of IT at Dura Pharmaceuticals, and Director of IT at Advanced Tissue Sciences. Mr. Vickerman was a Management Consultant with PriceWaterhouse and began his career at Hewlett-Packard where he held positions in Finance and IT. He received his B.S. in Managerial Economics from Carnegie Mellon University and is a graduate of UCLA's Director Certification program.

 

Reed serves on the biotechnology manufacturing advisory board for UCSD Extension, the UCSD Undergraduate Scholarship Council (Chancellor's Challenge 5K co-chair), the board of San Diego Voices for Children and was a founding board member of the Life Sciences Information Technology Institute (LSIT). He is a member of the San Diego County Taxpayers Assoc., San Diego EDC, San Diego Chamber of Commerce, CoreNet, the Urban Land Institute, ISPE, IFMA, San Diego Social Venture Partners and is a graduate of the LEAD San Diego community leadership development program.

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, Pro Bono Counsel
Represented by John Ponder, Donna Jones, and Mike Hansen

Sheppard Mullin is a full service international law firm with more than 500 attorneys practicing in eleven offices located in California, New York, Washington D.C. and Shanghai. The California offices are located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego/Downtown, San Diego/Del Mar Heights, Century City, Santa Barbara, Silicon Valley, and Orange County.

Founded in 1927, Sheppard Mullin represents both start-up companies and Fortune 500 companies in a broad range of industries, including 55 of the Fortune 100 companies. It has a team of 60 attorneys throughout California with specialized knowledge and experience in land use, real estate, and environmental law, and an interdisciplinary team of attorneys specializing in global climate change and renewable energy law in California and other jurisdictions. California Real Estate Journal ranked Sheppard Mullin #3 among "California's Major Real Estate Law Firms" in 2007 and Best Lawyers ranked Sheppard Mullin #1 for "Land Use & Zoning Law" in California in 2007.

John E. Ponder and Donna D. Jones are partners in the Real Estate, Land Use, and Environmental Practice Group in the firm's San Diego/Downtown office, and each have many years of practice representing landowners and developers in a full range of real estate, land use and environmental issues, from permitting through litigation. Michael S. Hansen is an associate in the Real Estate, Land Use, and Environmental Practice Group in the firm's San Diego/Downtown office.

Jim Baross, Jr.
Carolyn Chase
Andy Hamilton
Marla Hollander
Craig Jones
Scott Peters, Former San Diego City Council President
Chris Schmidt