LandWatch Monterey County Adds Elizabeth Panetta To Staff

Press Release

Post Office Box 1876, Salinas, CA 93902
Telephone: 831-422-9390 / FAX: 831-422-9391
Website: www.landwatch.org

LandWatch Monterey County Adds Elizabeth Panetta To Staff

LandWatch Monterey County is delighted to announce the addition of a new staff member. Beginning on October 1st, Elizabeth Panetta will be working on the LandWatch staff as a Community Action Advocate.

Elizabeth Panetta

Ms. Panetta will focus on affordable housing and related land use policy issues, with particular attention to the Monterey Peninsula and the lands of the former Fort Ord.

“I am thrilled to be able to have someone of Elizabeth Panetta’s talents working on critically important housing and land use issues,” said Gary Patton, LandWatch Executive Director.

Ms. Panetta has a strong background in labor and community organizing. She rose from the rank and file of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union to become a Field Representative for over one thousand restaurant workers in Los Angeles. She prepared workers for negotiations, planned educational programs, and participated in labor actions. She also organized and recruited academic faculty at UCLA with the American Federation of Teachers. Later, Ms. Panetta joined the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education, a labor “think tank” and research organization.

“Elizabeth Panetta has both research skills and organizing skills,” said LandWatch Deputy Director Chris Fitz. She will really help Monterey Peninsula communities and the Fort Ord Reuse Authority maximize housing opportunities for the working families of the community. “I know what Elizabeth Panetta can do,” said Fitz, “because I saw her demonstrate her abilities through outstanding work on the County General Plan Update, advocating for the community of Spreckles, where she lives.”

Most recently, Elizabeth Panetta organized the Save Spreckles community organization, and led residents in a fight for the agricultural and historic preservation of the land in her home town. Ms. Panetta can be contacted at LandWatch at 831-422-9390, Ext. 14, and at .

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Posted 10/01/02