Craig Hill
Managing Principal
Office: 415.785.2025 x 2001
Cell: 415.518.4130
Fax: 415.506.3401
craig@NHAadvisors.com
Craig Hill
Mr. Hill has been a public finance professional since 1989 and is a founding partner of NHA Advisors, LLC. His clients include California cities, special districts, counties, K-12 school districts and former redevelopment agencies throughout the State. In addition to providing traditional financial advisory expertise on public finance, Mr. Hill provides guidance and expertise on other financial matters, public policy recommendations and appropriate capital finance strategies. His understanding of local government and the operational components (public safety, water, sewer, marinas, airports, golf courses and other enterprise funds) provides a professional basis to assist public agencies in developing sound financial planning practices.
Mr. Hill’s technical experience includes advising on the issuance of water and sewer revenue bonds, general obligation bonds, tax allocation bonds, certificates of participation, tax and revenue anticipation notes, land-secured improvement bonds, and bond anticipation notes. In addition to traditional projects, Mr. Hill is also active in energy efficiency and renewable energy project financing including power purchase agreements.
Mr. Hill regularly speaks on public finance, renewable and energy efficiency project finance and public policy matters to professional associations including the League of California Cities, the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers, California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission, Municipal Management Association of Northern California (MMANC), the Milken Institute and Carbon War Room.
Prior to founding NHA Advisors, Mr. Hill began his public finance career as a financial analyst for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) to evaluate the financial and economic feasibility of the Rancho Seco Nuclear Power Plant Plan. In addition to working for the SMUD, Mr. Hill worked for the State of California (Office of Energy Assessments) to develop financing programs for statewide facility upgrades mandated by the governor. Since joining the private practice, he managed the financial services group of Jones Hall Hill & White, a premier bond counsel firm in San Francisco. Mr. Hill began his own municipal advisory practice with Mark Northcross in 1996 after working for Kelling, Northcross & Nobriga.
In addition to working as a municipal advisor, Mr. Hill serves as a board member for the HdL Companies and the NorCal Lacrosse Foundation. He has also served as a member of the Novato Park & Recreation Commission, Novato Investment Committee and Novato Budget Committee as well as the board of directors for the Novato Youth Soccer Association and President of the Novato Lacrosse Club. He is enjoying the fruits of his parental labor with four kids in college having played competitive lacrosse at the highest level.
Mark Northcross
Principal
Office: 415.785.2025 x 2002
Cell: 415.309.4171
Fax: 415.506.3401
mark@NHAadvisors.com
Mark Northcross
During a California public finance career that spans back to 1981, Mark Northcross has structured debt for many issuer types using various legally available revenue sources.
Mr. Northcross is experienced in utility revenue financings, particularly for water and sewer utilities. He has structured about 80 sewer and water revenue bond issues for over 30 water districts, sewer districts and cities since 1983, including private placements with commercial banks. Most recently he secured funding for severely drought impacted water utility on the central coast for a desalination plant and for the City of Napa’s water utility in the immediate aftermath of the South Napa Earthquake. He has also arranged financing for two major public utilities in the midst of major litigation regarding Proposition 218 and the legality of their water rates. Projects financed include the acquisition of new water supply, water treatment plants and upgrades to newly acquired service area infrastructure. Mr. Northcross is active in water policy issues for the State, serving on the Water Committee of the Bay Area Council and the SRF committee of the California Association of Sanitation Agencies.
Mr. Northcross leads the firm’s Climate Change Infrastructure Group and has provided financial advisory services to groups such as Resilient by Design Bay Area Challenge, a collaboration to strengthen the Bay Area’s resilience to climate change, as well as on the Bay Conservation and Development Commissions Financing the Future committee.
Mr. Northcross’s career has also been focused on the interface between public finance and land development. His experience includes negotiating public-private partnerships for development including the use of land-secured financing structures. He has negotiated public-private partnerships for the successful development of major mixed use projects throughout the State. Since the early-1990s, Mr. Northcross has negotiated the restructuring and workout of nearly $200 million in either defaulted or highly stressed municipal bond issues. He also has experience in negotiating joint ventures between different public agencies – with notable success in putting together bond funded risk sharing programs for cities, counties, and school districts in California.
When not working on solutions to tough problems for his clients, Mr. Northcross serves on a variety of non-profit corporation boards. He is also a proud recipient of the Norman Bright trophy in the annual Dipsea Race, the oldest cross country foot race in the nation. Mr. Northcross is also the Treasurer of the West Point Inn Association, a non-profit that runs a 115 year old hike-in lodging in the parklands of Mt. Tamalpais. He graduated from the University of California at Irvine in 1973.
Eric Scriven
Principal
Office: 415.785.2025 x 2003
Cell: 707.312.2000
Fax: 415.506.3401
eric@NHAadvisors.com
Eric Scriven
Since 1990, Mr. Scriven has developed a generalist background and common-sense approach to solving problems and “going the extra mile” to serve his municipal and special district clients. He provides a high level of due diligence, always developing the widest array of strategic options, using his skills (and his fiduciary ethos towards his clients) to be their agent and energetic advocate during negotiations with other parties, and an efficient and effective project manager when called upon to act in a municipal advisory or investment banking (at prior firms) role. Additionally, Mr. Scriven used his years of experience to efficiently manage the bond sale process to the benefit of his clients.
Mr. Scriven has experience in lease, utility revenue, land-secured and pension obligation restructuring financing structures. His assignments have ranged from large, AAA metropolitan city credits to non-rated, “story bond” financings in remote locations. As banker and advisor, he has successfully structured and closed, variable rate notes, interest rate swaps and caps, forward closing bonds, anticipation notes, transactions with extraordinary redemption flexibility, as well as many long-term fixed rate bonds. Mr. Scriven draws upon his years as an investment banker to advise his clients on how they may best match their goals and objectives with feasible solutions that will be accepted by underwriters and investors. Additionally, he uses this years of experience to assist his clients during the bond sale process to be an active participant to help secure optimal results.
Between virtual visits to city halls and time spent in the office, Eric actively seeks out outdoor adventures. Kings Canyon, Colorado’s Crested Buttes, Half Dome, Glacier NP, the Mt. Shasta summit and the Grand Canyon—and always the Pacific Ocean—are recent and very memorable destinations!
Mr. Scriven earned his MBA from the Haas School of Busines and his B.S. in Finance and Urban Land Economics from UC Berkeley. He holds Series 50 (Registered Municipal Advisor) and Series 54 (Municipal Principal) licenses.
Mike Meyer
Vice President
Office: 415.785.2025 x 2004
Cell: 650.766.7081
Fax: 415.506.3401
mike@NHAadvisors.com
Mike Meyer
Since 2003, Mr. Meyer has been providing a high level of support to California municipalities as an advisor, consultant, and an investment banker. He manages NHA’s San Diego office and the firm’s Pension and Fiscal Sustainability Group.
Mr. Meyer has executed all types of financings available to California municipalities, including pension obligation bonds, utility revenue (water/wastewater/storm drain), general fund backed leases, tax increment, general obligation, transportation, land secured, housing and sales tax transactions. Mike’s clients range from medium/large cities like Oxnard, Riverside, Chula Vista and Berkeley to smaller cities like Corcoran, Riverbank and Ukiah, to special district’s such the Novato Sanitary District and North County Fire Protection District.
Mr. Meyer also manages NHA’s Pension and Fiscal Sustainability Group, which has advised over 45 California local agencies on topics ranging from basic CalPERS education, to UAL cost management strategies (Section 115 Trusts, Additional Discretionary Payments, etc.), to UAL restructuring projects. In 2015, he led the firm’s efforts to pioneer some of the first UAL “smoothing” transactions, which were executed as privately placed lease revenue bonds given that POBs were not feasible at that time. As the POB market re-emerged in 2018 and 2019, Mike has recently worked on over $1.5 billion of pension bond transactions for cities, utilities districts and fire districts. This experience includes all types of UAL financing structures: both privately placed debt as well as publicly offered, validated and non-validated POBs, as well as alternative structured like lease revenue bonds and utility revenue bonds. Notable transactions include the $450 million City of Riverside POB (closed 2020), $120M El Monte Tax Override Secured POB, $350 million City of Torrance Lease (closed 2020) and the $350 million Chula Vista POB (January 2021 expected pricing).
Mike and the Pension Group pride itself on delivering an agnostic, comprehensive process to evaluate cost management strategies, including (1) comprehensive staff and stakeholder education, (2) agnostic evaluation of all options available and the pros/cons, and (3) stress testing to assess the downside risks (reinvestment and market timing) of pension bonds. Mike has spoken on this topic in several public forums, including CSMFO chapter meetings.
Prior to NHA Advisors, Mike served as a Principal with Eric Scriven (NHA partner) at p2 Capital Advisors (2012 to 2014), providing independent consulting and advisory work to numerous California public agencies. Prior to that, he served as a Vice President at De La Rosa Investment Bankers. Mike has also worked on several unique financing programs in his career including the 2004 Vehicle License Fee (VLF) pooled financing (>100 different city participants), 2009 Beverly Hills OPEB Buyout, 2016 Berkeley Parking Revenue Bonds for a new downtown garage, transportation revenue secured financings (gas tax and local sales tax return) for Oxnard and Lancaster, and lease bonds to fund CalPERS UAL in the cities of Torrance, Ukiah, West Covina, Lakeport and Arcata.
From 2013 to 2017, Mike also helped coach the Division I UC Davis Men’s Tennis team and obtain the program’s first national ranking and NCAA tournament berth. Mike enjoys being active and in nature, spending his free time backpacking, hiking, surfing, playing sports and is a dedicated practitioner of yoga and meditation.
Rob Schmidt
Vice President
Office: 415.785.2025 x 2006
Cell: 415.994.6391
Fax: 415.506.3401
rob@NHAadvisors.com
Rob Schmidt
Rob Schmidt is a founding member of NHA Advisors, LLC. He has served as a municipal advisor and consultant to cities, special districts, school districts, and counties on hundreds of financial transactions and consulting assignments. His clients have come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from small rural farming communities to the largest cities and counties in the California.
Mr. Schmidt’s experience spans a variety of financing structures, including general fund lease obligations, utility revenue bonds (water, wastewater, etc.), general obligation bonds, short-term notes (TRANs, BANs, etc.), special tax and assessment bonds, tax allocation bonds, sales tax revenue bonds, and pensions obligations bonds. His experience also includes state and federal loan and tax credit programs.
Mr. Schmidt manages the firm’s Continuing Disclosure Compliance Group and consults with many public agencies on the complexity of the SEC and CDIAC compliance reporting requirements.
While Mr. Schmidt’s financial and analytical acumen serves as a key benefit to his clients, he believes the most important attribute of any advisor is integrity, which drives Mr. Schmidt to serve his clients to the utmost of his ability. His willingness to listen and learn allows him to gain a full understanding of a client’s objectives and needs, creating an opportunity to develop a wide spectrum of funding options and deliver a successful solution.
Mr. Schmidt strives to provide impartial, financially sound, and creative solutions to meet their long-term objectives and ensure integrity and accountability throughout the financial process.
Prior to beginning his career as a municipal advisor, Mr. Schmidt served as a Senior Associate and Northern California manager for a public finance consulting firm, for which he formed and administered dozens of public financing districts throughout California.
Mr. Schmidt earned a B.A. in Economics and a Specialization in Computing from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Leslie Bloom
Vice President
Office: 415.785.2025 x 2009
Cell: 760.846.5150
Fax: 415.506.3401
Leslie@NHAadvisors.com
Leslie Bloom
Bio coming soon!