Santa Fe Springs and three neighboring cities sign "Big 4" charter to jointly advocate for industry

At the Clark Estate luncheon, Santa Fe Springs City Manager Rene Bobadilla announced and then led an on‑stage signing of the Big 4 charter, a memorandum of understanding among Santa Fe Springs, Commerce, the City of Industry and Vernon to coordinate industrial economic development and advocacy.

Bobadilla said the coalition aims to create a unified voice in Sacramento and Washington that represents industrial cities’ interests, including a push for more equitable transportation funding. “On a transportation measure, let’s say Measure M, we probably contribute about $14,000,000 of sales tax that comes from this region… and we get probably $300,000 in return,” Bobadilla said, arguing the cities receive a small share relative to their industrial infrastructure burdens.

The charter commits the four cities to collaborate on streamlining permitting, infrastructure investment, tax and incentive policies and workforce pipeline partnerships. Bobadilla said the group is in talks to add Irwindale and would become a "Big 5" if that city approves an MOU.

Officials framed the coalition as a strategy to protect and grow industrial jobs, support goods movement and strengthen the region’s role in clean energy and manufacturing supply chains. The charter signing was followed by remarks urging the coalition to pursue state and federal support for infrastructure and to press for adjustments to funding formulas that cities said disadvantage industrial jurisdictions.