Speaker 2: Step three is a proclamation declaring April 1220 second at the Almeida, and April 26 is Arbor Day.
Speaker 0: All right. And do we have anyone? Yes, we do. So come on. Whereas April 22nd, 2019, marks the 49th anniversary of the first Earth Day celebration, when events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. And April 28, 2019, marks the 147th anniversary of the first Arbor Day celebration to encourage Americans to maintain and replenish our country's vast forests, orchards and woodlands. And. Whereas, both Earth Day and Arbor Day are observed throughout the world and have become an annual reminder of the constant need for environmental stewardship and sustainability efforts. And since the first Earth Day in 1970, more than 1 billion people from over 192 countries now participate in Earth Day activities, making it the largest civic observation in the world. And. WHEREAS, The City of Alameda is helping protect our planet by planting trees that provide an essential habitat for much of California's wildlife are a valuable economic asset for both residents and businesses and play an important role in energy conservation, greenhouse gas emissions, sequestration and pollutant removal. And. Whereas, the city of Alameda and our residents, organizations and businesses have shown committed leadership to a sustainable environment and green economy, as expressed through the management of Alameda Urban Forest, as well as the goals of the general plan, climate action and Resiliency Plan Transportation Choices, plan a zero waste plan, various ordinances and policies. And. WHEREAS, the city's Public Works Department. Recreation and Parks Department. Alameda Free Library. Alameda Municipal Power. Alameda County Industries. Community Action for Sustainable Alameda and East Bay Regional Parks District are jointly sponsoring Alameda Earth Day Festival on Saturday, April 20, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Upper Washington Park and invite all residents to attend. This year's theme is Access for our Island. Now, therefore, be it resolved that I Maryland as he Ashcraft, mayor of the city of Alameda, do hereby proclaim April 22nd, 2019 as Earth Day, Alameda 2019 and April 26, 2019 as Arbor Day Alameda 2019. And encourage all Alameda residents, businesses, civic groups, government agencies, and other organizations to participate in Earth Day and Arbor Day celebratory and educational activities. Thank you so much. And would you like to introduce yourself and say a few words.
Speaker 8: Madam Mayor and members of the Council? My name is Morgan Gunther, and I am a naturalist with the East Bay Regional Park District based at the Crab Cove Visitor Center right here in Alameda. And we are extraordinarily thankful for this community because not only on Earth Day, but throughout the year, we see this community come behind our park and really support it throughout all of the rainstorms and everything. This winter, we made a lot of calls for the community to come out to help clean our beaches because they were ravaged. And it was remarkable to see we had hundreds of people come out and that wasn't even just on Earth Day. And so it means a lot to us, the commitment of the city and the community to these important open spaces and also encourage the community to come out not only on Earth Day, but we have lots of volunteer opportunities as well, and opportunities to help support habitats and pollinators in the community. We have native plant gardens and volunteer days every third Thursday, so we encourage you to continue supporting this wonderful community in these parks.
Speaker 1: So thank you so much.
Speaker 0: We love our parks, too. Larrabee Yeah. You can clap.
Speaker 1: Every.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
Speaker 3: Thank.
Speaker 2: And we do have four speakers under oral communications. The first one is Eric Strimling, followed by Bonnie Duncan, Catherine Pauling and Denise Trippier.
Speaker 3: Good evening. Thank you. This is going to be a first. So I am here to talk about rising housing prices, but I want to talk about it from a different point of view. I want to talk about it from a homeowner homeowner's point of view. Back in 1995, I bought my house, my total payments, mortgage and interest and fire insurance were around 1500 dollars a month. And 24 years later, those payments are still 1500 dollars a month after refinancing and after taking about $100,000 out of my house. Right. So any renters in the audience paying the same rent they were paying 20 years?
Speaker 0: Mr. Strimling, you need to speak into the microphone or.
Speaker 1: Will.
Speaker 0: Be able to hear you.
Speaker 3: So I plugged some numbers into an inflation calculator had I rented my house back then, and I really should have I and just only raised the rents by the rates of inflation. So I am making $0 at all.
Proclamation Declaring April 22, 2019 as Earth Day Alameda 2019 and April 26, 2019 as Arbor Day Alameda 2019. (City Manager 2110)