Speaker 4: Motion carries.
Speaker 8: Let's have item number eight that was pulled from concert.
Speaker 4: A report from Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications I'm sorry, report from a Development Services recommendation to approve the 2017 Office of Sustainability Work Plan and receive and file the Sustainable City Commission Policy Priorities for 2017 city wide.
Speaker 8: Thank you, Elizabeth. Staff report, please.
Speaker 5: Jim Fisk will give this report.
Speaker 8: Larry Rich, I believe.
Speaker 5: I'm sorry, it's Larry Rich. Sustainability. Sorry, Jim.
Speaker 3: Don't have a heart attack. Good evening, honorable mayor and members of the City Council. Thank you for the opportunity to give a brief overview of the Office of Sustainability Work for 2017. In 2008, the City Council created the Sustainable City Commission to serve as an advisory body on issues related to sustainability and charged it with the development and implementation of a Sustainable City Action Plan. The Office of Sustainability was also created at the time to administer and support the Commission. Each year, the office works with the Commission to develop an annual work plan to provide focus to the staff work for the coming year. This year at the Commission's request, staff organize a special public input meeting to collect sustainability related community priorities for consideration. In addition, the commission and the staff held a half day work plan retreat to discuss and finalize the work plan as a result of discussions at the retreat. Commission members opted to craft their own statement of policy priorities to capture community sentiments that were not feasible to include in the work plan. As immediate action items, both the work plan and a letter from the Commission are part of your package. The workPlan itself contains three sections. The first details program management projects that will be pursued by the Office of Sustainability in partnership with other city departments or community organizations. An example of this is the forthcoming Electric Vehicle Charger Giveaway Program. The second section lists ongoing field green greenfield work activities that the office conducts to provide green services to residents and businesses such as the mulch delivery and parkway tree planting programs. Finally, the third section lists informational presentations at the office, plans to schedule for commission meetings held over the course of 2017. The letter from the Commission on Policy Priorities includes a summary of public input and a listing of high level policy recommendations based on that input. We feel that the combination of staff, work plan and commission policy priorities successfully captured the community's interest in next steps for a more sustainable city. Thank you for your consideration of these items and I stand ready to respond to any questions or comments you may have.
Speaker 8: Thank you, Councilmember Pearce.
Speaker 9: I wanted to thank our Sustainability Commission for their hard work, their diligence and their vision, and pushing our city to be as bold as we can be. And so I want to thank you also to our staff for all of your work. And I just wanted to highlight that great work. And hopefully as we move forward, we can put the steps in place we need to get to a zero waste city.
Speaker 8: Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 2: Great work. I like the work plan. Just looking over it again right now, it's got great information on how we can continue being collaborative. So kudos to the commission as well as to Larry. You ran a great department and I love all of the creative ideas that have come out from this. And I know a lot of it has already been done, but still a lot of more a lot more work to do. So congratulations.
Speaker 8: Thank you. Is there any public comment on this item saying nonmembers cast your vote? There's. Okay. Come on, now. I thought I was going to get away.
Speaker 0: I'm sorry. Oh, you're not getting away. Yeah. You got opinionated community members here today, right?
Speaker 8: Go ahead and state your name. And you have 3 minutes, Gabrielle.
Speaker 2: Weeks.
Speaker 1: You've been to my house. You know where I live. I'm in the second district.
Speaker 2: Like your shirt today, Janine?
Speaker 1: I'm speaking on behalf of the Sierra Club and our 40,000 members in the area. A couple of us were able to attend this Sustainable City Commission meeting they're talking about. This is going to be great to have our city be a real leader in this area. We can you know, there's so much we can do here because we're a big enough city that we really matter, but we're not so big and unwieldy. We're like Los Angeles. I don't know how the L.A. thing done up there, but, you know, we are our mulch program. I tell my friends about this with the other Sierra Club cities and they just don't believe me. And so I've driven a number of people over to show them where.
Speaker 0: You can get it over in cities, district, by the fire station. And, you know, people, you know, we can.
Speaker 1: We have a real opportunity here to do some awesome stuff. And I hope we we dig deep and really support some some robust ideas and not just go with like the easy top two or three. So please support some some really far reaching stuff so we can really be proud of our city. Thank you.
Speaker 8: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 4: Good evening. My name is Patricia Chen, and I'm here on behalf of Long Beach 350. We are concerned about the climate because currently there is more than much more than a safe level of 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. So that's where our name is. 350 We are speaking on the Sustainable City Commission Plan and policy item tonight because they contained many items that will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And two in particular that we were interested in are the transition from fossil fuels to affordable, clean energy through community choice aggregation. I think that's one of the most effective things that we could do, and it's pretty painless financially. And the other is the zero waste goal. Long Beach 350 strongly supports the Don't Waste Long Beach campaign that would reorganize the trash and recycling system in a way that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions very, very, very significantly. And the zero waste goal is a key part of the concept. And I like to say, when you throw things away, there really isn't any such thing as a way you're throwing it towards someone or something else so that don't waste. And that zero waste goal is very important to us. And we ask that you join us in supporting it. Thank you.
Speaker 8: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 5: Good evening, Vice Mayor Richardson and members of council. My name is Tony Demicco. I'm the co-director of Long Beach Fresh, the local Food Policy Council and a member of the Don't Waste Long Beach Coalition. I want to take a moment to thank Larry and his staff and our commissioners for their hard work on this wonderful work plan . And want to come before you today to encourage you to move forward with the recommendations established in the workPlan that include setting a zero waste goal. Moreover, as the city is figuring out how to roll out AB 1826 locally, I also want to urge the city to think of a comprehensive, citywide, exclusive franchise system that is, dare I say it, robust and meets high standards of recycling and composting and ensures that all Long Beach residents have access to organics collection. Now, at Long Beach Fresh, we believe that everyone in Long Beach should have access to healthy and affordable food. But meanwhile, nationwide, more than 50% of the food that we produce is actually wasted. And while we have a lot of great organizations that work on food recovery and Long Beach, like food finders, who are also part of our coalition, we think it's very important to have a good concrete plan for green beans and compost collection as we move forward. It's also striking to me that Long Beach is the only city in the ten largest cities in the state of California that actually does not have a green bean service for his resident for their for our residents. So in setting a zero waste goal, this is a very important thing to consider as we try to get to zero waste and implement AB 1826, we must set clear goals that can keep us on course to ensure that Long Beach is a city that is nationally recognized for innovation. And as we look at compost, you know, we see it as a valuable resource to our many community gardeners and urban farmers, and also part of a larger infrastructure that's being developed within the region for large scale composting. We want to be part of that and we want to do it in a way that's not environmentally harmful, since simply composting food at the local level can save up to 86 tons of carbon emissions as opposed to landfilling that organic matter and food. So we think these are very important things to consider as we continue to innovate as a city and create new opportunities for local gardens, restaurants and residents providing healthy meals to everyone. Thank you.
Speaker 8: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 2: Good afternoon. My name is Linda Serafin. I currently sit on the board of the Element Speech Neighborhood Association, which is a member of the Don't Waste Land Beach Coalition. And I'd like to thank the Sustainability Commission for their leadership in looking at how the city of Long Beach can protect our local environment and being open to public comment and public input in the last few months and developing their work plan that you guys have in front of you today. So I encourage you today to adopt the recommendations made in the Sustainability Commission's work plan and move forward with creating a local zero waste goal and change our current waste system. As through my involvement in my neighborhood association, I've seen a need for a change in our current waste system. One of the complaints that I get the most is overfill trash bins. And not only does that make our streets look dirty and unappealing, but it also increases the chances of waste being washed into our storm drains and into our oceans. And a simple solution to this would be to increase the number of recycling bins residents have access to and potentially organic compost bins in the future as well. And this can be achieved through implementing an exclusive franchise system for waste hauling with an exclusive franchise system. Our city could set specific requirements for haulers that could include guaranteed access to recycling and quality customer service for residents. This will ensure this is a mechanism that will ensure accountability in our city when it comes to setting benchmarks to exceed or reach our state school of 75% recycling by 2020. So I encourage you to be bold tonight and move forward with the Sustainability Commission's recommendations and create a local zero waste school and adopt an exclusive franchise system in order to ensure that Long Beach reaches its full potential. Thank you for your time.
Speaker 8: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 3: Okay. Okay. Yes. I live in a landfill. I have a mobile home park that lives in a landfill. I am paying rent out there for an a landfill sick about 15 or now. So fucking excuse my angers me. I checks balance for the rent and also I couldn't take my outside on the landfill. You talk about recycling. Good. We could do it because we have to develop alternative fuels for this country, too. We have to get away from oil to the world and end. The era of the end of the era will come because no jail to control? No, the oil companies don't control geology. Gerald, who controls the oil companies? Because oil can run out. If if we do not develop alternate fuels and recycling all that and especially I live on a landfill. My home friendly village mobile home park and a peanut outrageous front for something in a landfill. Alternate fuel. I'd rather have rent control for the city and for the city alone, because if you weren't able to have like for housing, especially some of the land for getting rent control and also been recycling alternate fuels, well, get the country free for oil. But reality is going to do it for us. When is it going to come? A come a day that is going to come. It's going to get it's gone. It's going to come like the end of the world, being able to, you know, let go of gasoline station and say, sir, ma'am, I'll pull on the money. Well, no, no, no gasoline. I'm sorry, sir. Will be no gasoline. You'll be rioting. What will happen? It'll be rioting. I mean, rioting there. I mean, 1873, 1970s, a picnic. And now I live on a mobile friendly village, mobile home park. And we've done a PR outrageous rent. I wrote a rent control for this city. Well, it was like going away from us while we get away from oil. Well, Charles, who's going to do it for us for owning village, the prototype for alternate fuel? Question is, who could have allowed something like this people to leave for special alternate fuels to eat oil? That's like beyond me and beyond because it's the oil companies that have done this. Well, the oil companies are going to wake up the end of the world. Withdrawal is coming. But you understand the oil. You understand about your energy. You understand about geology. That's I mean, ultra fuels and in front of a control place, it's really no control. We're so out of control. You cannot believe it. It's basically something that's on alternate fuel. Give me a break. The end of the world is coming. Oil's going. Gonna run out. Wake up. Because you know what you're going to do for us. That's why we need recycling, fuel, energy efficiency and alternate fuels and geology. Because wake up. One of these days, for example, how you shouldn't be built about stuff on landfills from the village mobile home park up on. That's why I think that's living on a landfill. Pretty outrageous. Hotel rates rent control for the city of Long Beach City where it's like 600 a month.
Speaker 8: Sir. Thank you, sir. That's that's 3 minutes.
Speaker 3: Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Speaker 8: I appreciate your time. Thank you. Next next speaker, please.
Speaker 4: Good evening. Excuse me. Good evening, counsel. My name is Desiree Uterus, and I am proud to serve as one of the sustainable city commissioners representing District nine. I excuse me. I miss my voice. I want to thank you for reviewing the Sustainable City Action Plan that Larry and his staff have put together. And I want to acknowledge the hard work of that team. I also would like to really draw your attention to the extensive amount of public comment that our commission has been experiencing over the last several months. It wasn't just one meeting, which it may have sounded like in previous comment. We have seen a substantial increase in the public coming together representing diverse environmental issues, but coming together to make their voices heard and known. And in particular, they have drawn very strong attention, as you've heard a bit here tonight, to the establishment of a zero waste goal for the city of Long Beach. But as well as a commitment to 100% renewable energy and increased walkability and public transit. So I'd ask that in addition to moving forward, the action plan that Larry's office will execute that in your own work in developing policies for this city, that you really do take some time to consider the amount of public comment and expression of interest that we are hearing from the public and that you really take a look at. I believe it's the fourth attachment in your packet tonight that, you know, has very extensive breakdown of what people have asked for by subject area, and also to serve as a reminder that the commission is happy to serve and support you in moving a policy forward that can advance these issues. And so please do not hesitate to call upon us so that we may support your work and support our city. Thank you.
Speaker 8: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 4: Good evening, everybody. My name is Karen Reside, and I'm here tonight on behalf of the Long Beach Gray Panthers. We're a participant in the Doe's Don't Waste Long Beach Coalition, and we're participants in the community workshops that were held by the Sustainability Commission. And I just want to commend the city staff lanreath and established an excellent job on the plan. Never seen a plan that's been so understandable in terms of what a city department is going to accomplish. And the Elliot Gonzalez also for holding a very open discussion about what the community wanted in terms of sustainability. And the Long Beach Gray Panthers are separate reporting the movement to renewable energy and the green waste collection and effective public transportation that services everybody in our community, including our seniors, have been cut off from the system. And we, going forward, will be working closely with these groups on these issues. Thank you.
Speaker 8: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 3: I thank you. My name's Ellie Gonzalez. I'm the current chair of the Sustainability Commission. I'll speak briefly. I think everything that. That I wanted to say was already mentioned, but I did want to just echo my fellow commissioners comment that we want to be a body which aids this council in its decision making. And one thing that didn't make it into the work plan, but was something that we were planning on reviewing, was our oil and gas operations. And I know that there is an item tonight, so I'll go ahead and wait to extend my comments until that time. But I did want to let this council know that our commission is becoming increasingly active as climate change becomes more of an accepted reality. We we're getting a lot of a lot of input from the public for a zero waste goal, for a plan to transition off of fossil fuels towards clean energy, for a plan that creates jobs, green jobs, good paying jobs. This is a vision that we have had in our in our city for well over a decade. You know, I think our current president campaigned on it. This is something that we have a lot of excitement for in our city, and it's something that I know the community wants to implement. So I did want to ask for your approval of this year's plan. And again, I'll speak to the oil and gas later when that time comes up. Thank you.
Speaker 8: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 3: Hi, my name is Spencer Sabo. I'm in fourth district. I want to talk about just a couple of issues and echoing some of the stuff that's been said, I'd like to cover those regarding trash. I live in a big apartment complex and we have less trash than recycling. However, I recycling bins are smaller than our trash. And so what happens people put their recycling is stuff in the trash. So I have to go and I'm not a manager, I'm just a concerned citizen and a citizen of planet Earth. So I would like to keep the place clean. So I go through the trash doing the the recycling pickup, so I take all the stuff and put them in there. So I think what I'm driving at is the education that we need to have for the big business and big apartment owners that we need to have fliers sent to people living in a big complexes or even small apartment buildings to be educated to. What does the city vision is for the future and how can they participate? Number two, I want to talk about I think we sort of like emphasizing us citizens doing more than what the business is supposed to do. I realized was a two years ago that the city fined McDonald's for wasting water and the only business in the whole entire country got fined for wasting water. So we have a lot of waste going on in the businesses then local homes and apartment buildings. So please educate people that we can do things better to go for the zero emissions. And and that's. Thank you very much. That's it.
Speaker 8: Thank you. Our next speaker, please.
Speaker 3: Good evening, counsel. Thank you very much for having this forum or advocacy for everyone's issues. My name is Tony Taylor. I live two months every year in Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and ten months here in Long Beach. I'm a singer, songwriter, artist and investigative journalist for various magazines, The Nation Intercept magazine. And I belong to collectives or collectively see in Spanish in Argentina, indigenous groups and African-American groups and anyone in the diaspora. My point is, in Long Beach there is great artistic collectives here, and we have a beautiful gentrification, positive and negative in the in the city. And with the amount of investment that needs to be in this city, it's a beautiful thing to attract people. We have to find that fine line between those who are indigent, poor, who are being pushed out at the same time attract business. So that's always a tough, fine line. What what happened in Oakland recently with the horrible tragedy of the collective building that caught on fire? I want to put this on the record in the event we're talking about blight, okay. In the event that that tragedy, whatever happened in Long Beach, because we have a lot of artistic collectives here, make sure that no developer would like to use any tragedy for development to push people out to build condos or destroy the the collective. If that happens, make sure if we could police a consensus vote, consensus vote that you'd build another collective, have it affordable for people. That way you can increase the business. Keep the artistic community alive. Take care of people of color who are poor, poor, white people who cannot afford. And we're here to honor the indigenous rights of people and all humanity. So thank you very much for your time and to stay conscious of the issues, please.
Speaker 8: Thank you. I was I was waiting on the sustainability tie. I think you were going to speak on the next item. So seeing no more public comment members, please cast your vote.
Speaker 4: Councilwoman Pryce. Well, I'm sorry. Richardson okay. Bush and Kerry's.
Speaker 8: Thank you. So at this point, we're going to go ahead and take care of public comment. So we're going to. So the people we have are Bill Shorten, Ronald Morse, Larry Goodhew, Bob Joy, Ray Gavlak, Latoya Marshall and Laurie Smith.
Recommendation to approve the 2017 Office of Sustainability Work Plan; and receive and file the Sustainable City Commission Policy Priorities for 2017. (Citywide)