MINUTES
FEBRUARY13th,
2006 MEETING OF THE
CITY OF SANTA MONICA
SUSTAINABLE CITY TASK FORCE
The meeting was convened at
7:20pm.
SCTF members in attendance:
Genevieve Bertone, Christina Erickson, Sandy Grant, Mark Olson, Jim Ries,
Jennifer Wolch and Dennis Woods.
City staff: Dean Kubani
Others: David Hertz (Environmental
Task Force liaison), Shannon Clements Parry and Jerry Rubin.
Public
Input on Agenda Items
Jerry Rubin made a statement requesting the SCTF comment
on increasing height limits for building in the city especially in relation to
facilitating the development of affordable housing.
Approval of
Minutes from the January 9, 2006 meeting
The minutes of the January
meeting were unanimously approved.
Discussion
and Recommendations Regarding Approval of Santa Monica College
Academic Senate Resolution
Genevieve Bertone provided background on an
environmental audit of Santa
Monica College
conducted by SMC’s Center for Environmental and Urban Studies in 1993. She then
presented a resolution of SMC’s Academic Senate calling for the creation of a
joint task force to review and update the environmental audit and draft a plan
to steer SMC towards sustainability, and noted that the Academic Senate had
asked for an endorsement of this resolution by the SCTF. Following discussion,
the SCTF unanimously approved a motion endorsing the SMC Academic Senates
resolution (attached).
Discussion
and Recommendations Regarding Draft Sustainable City Plan Implementation Plan
SCTF members discussed draft text for section 4c
(Economic Development) of the Implementation Plan drafted by Jennifer Wolch
(with input from Leonard Mitchell) and by Sandy Grant. Following discussion,
the SCTF approved the following motion:
The SCTF recommends that Sandy Grant, Jennifer Wolch
and Dennis Woods prepare a final draft of the text for 4c and forward it to
staff to send via email to the entire SCTF prior to the March 13th,
2006 meeting. The draft will be
discussed for possible adoption at that meeting.
This motion was adopted by a vote of 6 to 1. Dennis
Woods opposed the motion because he did not feel comfortable commenting and
voting on the same date.
There was a point of order discussion about how the
SCTF quorum is defined. The discussion centered on whether the quorum was defined
as a percentage or a strict number. The group discussed clarifying the
requirements for a quorum for SCTF meetings due to the resignation of three
previous members and agreed that the minimum number of members required for a
quorum would be 5. This reflects half of
the current members (8) plus 1.
Genevieve Bertone and Jennifer Wolch left at 8:00pm.
Quorum was kept at 5. (Half of 8 plus 1)
Subcommittee
Reports
1.
POI Subcommittee
a.
Sandy Grant
reported on the SMMUSD Facilities Master Plan meeting she attended on January
28th, 2006. She reported that the draft plan is consistent with the SCP and
noted that she will recommend that the SMMUSD Master Plan and the City’s Land
Use and Circulation Element update processes be linked to better realize the
goals of both.
2.
LUCE
Subcommittee
a.
Sandy Grant
reported that there is nothing for SCTF to give input on currently because Council
sent the 4 LUCE alternatives back to staff to clarify the goals.
b.
Dennis Woods spoke
about zoning code recommendations he made under his own name, but reflecting
SCTF discussions. These included better integration of zoning codes with the SCP.
3.
Discussion and
Recommendations Regarding Restructuring and Renaming Subcommittees
a.
Renaming: A Motion was made to rename the subcommittees
to reflect the areas defined in the SCP IP Model.
Motion 1
The POI subcommittee shall be renamed the Community
Engagement subcommittee and the Expert subcommittee shall be renamed the Policy
subcommittee.
The motion was unanimously approved.
b.
Restructuring:
The group discussed waiting to restructure the subcommittees until after the
vacant positions on the SCTF are filled.
Motion 1
To postpone discussion of the restructuring of the
subcommittees until the new SCTF members are appointed.
The motion was unanimously
approved.
Discussion
Regarding Scheduling Meeting between SCTF and New City Manager
After discussion, the SCTF unanimously adopted the
following motion:
The SCTF proposes to write a letter inviting the City
Manager to one of the regularly scheduled SCTF meetings for the purpose of
familiarizing him with the goals and mission of the SCTF and SCP.
The group discussed a possible 6:30pm start time for the
SCTF meeting with the City Manager and suggested the presentation to the City
Manger be the first thing on the agenda.
Action item: Sandy Grant agreed to write the letter
inviting the City Manager to a future SCTF meeting and the group agreed she did
not need to send it out for approval. It was suggested she request a meeting
date sometime after the March meeting.
Update
Regarding Filling SCTF Vacancies
Dean Kubani updated the group on the SCTF vacancies. There
are now 3 vacant seats. Terry O’Day, Euri
DeOliveira and Roe Johnston have all submitted their resignation,
pending identification of replacements. The announcement about vacancies on the
SCTF has gone out to past applicants, has been posted on the city website and
ads have been placed in local papers. The deadline for applications in March 6th,
2006. All the applications will be put
in the March meeting packet.
Action item: Staff will forward the vacancy announcement
and application to the Chamber of Commerce for distribution.
The SCTF will review the applications at their March
13th, 2006 meeting and make recommendations to Council on who should
be appointed.
Public
Input on Non-Agendized Matters Within the Jurisdiction of the Sustainable City
Task Force
Jerry Rubin said all involved with the SCTF were doing
a good job and should be commended.
Jim Ries discussed a recent CCSM meeting he attended
and asked the SCTF to support development of affordable home ownership
opportunities in the Pico neighborhood. He
suggested a future agenda item might include scheduling to meet with Joan Ling
and other housing staff and commissioners.
Christina Erickson announced an NRDC entrepreneurial
business event this Thursday, February 16th, and invited all SCTF
members to attend.
The SCTF decided to add
Comments and Announcements to the end of future agendas.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45pm.
