CITY OF SANTA MONICA

TASK FORCE ON THE ENVIRONMENT

The meeting was convened at 7:15 p.m. Task Force members in attendance: Bill Selby, Mark Gold, Tim Carmichael, and Sandy Grant. Santa Monica City staff in attendance: Craig Perkins, Brian Johnson, and Dean Kubani. Others: Mayor Mike Feinstein, City Council members Kevin McKeown and Pam O’Connor, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Lori Nafshun, Maureen Hart, Chris Paterson, Barbara Filet, Laurel Roennau, Carmen Joseph, Esther Zabin, Chantel Zimmerman, Goli Gabbay, Genevieve Bertone, and Susie Borlido.

Minutes

The minutes from the meeting of December 17, 2001 were unanimously approved.

Sustainable City Update Process

Maureen Hart and Chris Paterson of Sustainable Measures presented a summary of the Sustainable City Program update process to date and discussed the goals and indicators proposed by the Sustainable City Working Group. System level goals have been proposed in eight goal areas; Resource Conservation, Transportation, Environmental and Public Health, Economic Development, Housing, Open Space and Land Use, Community Education and Civic Partnership, and Human Dignity. For each goal area indicators have been proposed. Remaining steps in the update process include: obtaining preliminary Task Force approval of the proposed goals; have small groups of experts in each goal area review data availability; finalize the indicators and propose indicator targets; complete a report listing goals, indicators and targets including baseline data for the indicators; conduct a public review/input process; forward final Task Force recommendations to City council for adoption. Recommendations from Sustainable Measures included the following:

Task Force should review the existing SCP Guiding Principles to ensure that they are consistent with the revised goals
Task Force should continue it’s role providing oversight of the SCP but should expand to include areas of new expertise and consider changing it’s name to the Sustainability Task Force
Programmatic goals for City operations should be developed that support the proposed system level goals
Task Force and City staff should work to develop or expand partnerships within the city, the region and beyond to foster ownership of the goals and buy-in to solutions

Task Force members briefly discussed the future governance/oversight structure for the SCP and agreed to agendize it for further discussion at the February 11, 2002 Task Force meeting. The Task Force approved a motion adopting the proposed goals and goal areas with the following amendments:

Resource Conservation: OK as proposed
Transportation: change “reduces” to “minimizing, and where possible eliminating”; add “and reduces congestion” after “pollution”
Environmental and Public Health: OK as proposed. Recommended including a measure of biking and walking as an indicator under this goal
Economic Development: OK as proposed
Open Space/Land Use: OK as proposed. Recommended including a measure of impermeable surface in the city as an indicator
Housing: OK as proposed
Community Education and Civic Partnership: OK as proposed
Human Dignity: change “equal” to “equitable” and “residents” to “community members”.

Report by Sustainable Works on Green Team and Business Greening Programs

Chantel Zimmerman and Goli Gabbay of Sustainable Works reported on progress to date of the Green Team program and the pilot Business Greening program. These programs are intended to facilitate the adoption of sustainable practices by local residents and businesses. The Green Team program has been very successful over the past year – 72 teams of 6 to 8 people were completed, resulting in significant environmental and cost savings among participants. Past participants in the program have been kept involved through bi-weekly emails, a quarterly newsletter, social hours and volunteer opportunities. The Business Greening program operates like an environmental consulting service which is free to Santa Monica businesses. Sustainable Works staff work with participating companies to identify opportunities and implement measures to reduce resource use and waste generation and cut operating costs. The program was piloted with four businesses (YWCA, Library Alehouse, Ten Music, and the Chamber of Commerce) during the past year. Sustainable Works goal is to work with ten additional companies by June 30, 2002. Sustainable Works is also working with the Chamber of Commerce Environmental Affairs Committee to develop a “green” business rating and certification system. Chantel and Goli distributed a draft Environmental Continuum to Task Force members for review and comment. They requested that the Task Force designate a representative to attend the March 6 meeting of the Environmental Affairs Committee at the Chamber to present Task Force feedback on the continuum.

Discussion of 2002-03 City Budget Process

Craig Perkins provided a summary of the City’s annual budget process. Budget proposals must be submitted by each department to the Finance Department and City Manager by mid-February. This year the City Manager is also asking all departments to submit two additional budget proposals reflecting 2.5% and 5% reductions by April. The City Manager will decide which budget proposal to submit to Council based on review of revenue forecasts later in the year. Budget adoption is scheduled for the June 18 Council meeting. The Environmental Programs division is in the process of completing a comprehensive strategic plan that will help with the division’s long and short term planning and budget allocations. The Task force asked to see the EPD budget proposal at the March meeting. In order for Task Force budget recommendations to have more impact at the city council level, Council members recommended that the Task Force submit their recommendations to the Council in bullet-pointed executive summary form and to spend time discussing the recommendations with Council members. The Task Force agendized a discussion for their February meeting to develop formal budget recommendations to Council.

Santa Monica College “Project Engagement” Update

Bill Selby provided the update. He reviewed the schedule for SMC’s Environmental Studies course and noted that the class is already full. He asked for input for speakers for the class scheduled for next fall.

Metropolitan Water District Update

MWD Board member Judy Abdo was absent – item deferred until February meeting.

Public Input

Mike Feinstein noted that City Council supported his application to sit on the South Coast Air Quality Management District board.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:00pm