Across the nation, across party lines the people are pushing the leaders from the ground up to prioritize the health of the people and the natural world. Clean air, clean and abundant water, less waste, eliminating pesticides, safe food, less carbon and so many other things have touched households - often starting with the children.
It is a myth that doing the bare minimum as a leader means you can call yourself an advocate for the environment. Case in point is Kristin Gaspar who championed the council majority vote to decimate the environmental work plan that had been created by the Environmental Commission over two years, voted along with the majority for crony on the Environmental Commission over highly qualified applicants, argued for the downtown Farmer's Market to pay higher fees, overturned staff's plans to have General Plan update plans available at the Leucadia Farmer's Market and had a good laugh over safe food issues with her kids drinking juice. For all her proselytizing from the dais, she has yet to mention climate change realities behind the General Plan Update. By politicizing density as the only issue, she fosters confusion and fear. This is a smattering of how anti-leadership works with constituents who are misinformed, afraid or simply unaware.
We offer this more recent summary from last Wednesday's meeting:
Agenda item 4 has this in the staff report as background: "On July 20, 2011, the City Council approved the City’s first Environmental Action Plan designating sixteen key environmental enhancement areas on which to focus. One specific work area was: “Seek recognition through the Institute for Local Government’s Beacon Awards for Encinitas’ current and ongoing efforts to promote sustainability, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve resources and save energy.”"
Staff was doing what Council had asked, and following through on the Environmental Action Plan. Unfortunately, Donna Westbrook pulled the item from the consent agenda and made a speech about property rights and how participation in this program means forcing people to all live close together and give up their cars and ride bikes everywhere (said very disparagingly) and eliminate parking and follow an international conspiracy, etc. etc. etc.
Instead of dismissing her comments, there were questions from Council about why we are doing this. Kristin said that she doesn't hear from people that they want sustainability principles applied and she asked why we are "forcing this" upon our community - people like Encinitas the way it is so why do we need to change.
In a later discussion, Kristin squashed a resolution that would ask the Encinitas rep to the California League of Cities (Jim Bond) to go along with the League's recommended position "The fourth proposed resolution requests consideration of suspension or revision of the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32 of 2006). The City Council has adopted an Environmental Policy and a Climate Action Plan that are both responsive to and consistent with AB 32 goals of greenhouse gas reduction. Staff recommends a “Disapprove” vote on this resolution." and instead gives Bond instruction to "vote his conscience". We can only assume what his conscience will tell him!Again there were comments from the Council that they don't hear from citizens about environmental issues or a desire to address sustainability. So if we want our elected officials to represent us and our views, we need to speak up and hold them accountable. How shameful to have us backing down from an already weak Environmental Action plan.
