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It could have been the dumbest City Council meeting ever. And think of just how much competition would have be to overcome to earn that honor. Almost a full hour discussion was held on how many people would sit on a new Commission that hasn't really been defined yet, and not a single minute was spent explaining to the residents of this city what exactly they would do. Seemingly endless amounts of verbiage was spent on whether there should be six, or seven, or nine, or even 12 members on this commission, yet absolutely nothing at all was said about what they will actually be doing. A sobering display of an almost total absence of leadership and transparency.
How exactly can a City Council form a new Commission and not spend at least some time discussing with the people of Sierra Madre what it is going to do? Instead choosing to limit the entire discussion to how many bodies will be on that commission? I'm not sure I can say. It certainly had to have taken focus.
I did get the opportunity to discuss this matter with Mayor Pro Tem* John Harabedian during the break, and he informed me that he did not agree with my assessment. In his mind the EENER Commission is actually about "a lot of things." "Is it about enforcing state development mandates, John?" I asked. "No, not really." "But it will cover issues involving SB 375. That at least you can admit is a part of it," I prodded. "Yes, SB 375 is part of it," he replied. "SB 375 is all about state development mandates, though. So how can you say the EENER Commission is not about state development mandates? And why aren't you discussing any of that with the people of Sierra Madre?"
The Mayor Pro Tem* chose not to answer that one, at least not directly, and asked my pardon to depart for other business. But before he left he did want to inform me that none of this was a secret, and even though neither he or his compatriots on the Council cared to share any of their vision on the EENER Commission with anyone last evening, it is all spelled out in the staff report. Which made it all OK, I guess. All I needed to do was go look there.
So I did. And though this language was never actually directed by the City Council in any public meeting (a possible explanation of why the four possibly Brown Act shy EENER enablers dared not to discuss the matter with the likes of you), and therefore has the legal standing of a cereal box, here is what this special paperwork had to say:
The Commission shall serve as an advisory panel to the City Council, Planning Commission, and the city staff on matters pertaining to water, water conservation, energy efficiency, State and Federal environmental mandates, urban forest management, and public outreach regarding the same.
Though the somewhat naive John Capoccia did claim that the EENER Commission was, at least for this moment, about water restrictors (a miserable and narc-ish job if ever there was one), I have bolded the part of this vague and open ended statement that alludes to State and Federal environmental mandates. Because when you are talking about California environmental mandates, you are doubtlessly talking about development and SB 375. What else would EENERs have to talk to the Planning Commission about?
Darrell Steinberg, the Fruitvale advocate who runs the California State Senate, is often credited with being the Godfather of SB 375. Along with now reformed steroid abuser Arnold Schwarzenegger. It calls for packing as much development into cities such as ours because, somehow, that will curb greenhouse gases. Yes, Darrell believes that buses and condos will save the world. He also believes that the experience will cause people to magically abandon automobiles like cripples throw down their crutches at Lourdes. And so, apparently, does 80% of our City Council.
CalWatchdog has a great article up today called "Darrell Steinberg wants you in an ant farm" (link). Here is some of what they have to say:
The second most powerful politician in California is Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento; after Gov. Jerry Brown. Steinberg’s background is with labor unions. And he represents the state capitol — that is, state workers whose jobs, wealth, perks, pensions and power depend on having the biggest, highest-taxing, most-regulating and most-bullying government possible.
Today he detailed his political philosophy in a letter to the Wall Street Journal. He was responding to a Journal article attacking SB 375, the 2008 bill that he sponsored, and which then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law. According to a summary by the Southern California Association of Governments, which implements much of the bill, SB 375:
“SB 375 (Steinberg) is California state law that became effective January 1, 2009. This new law requires California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop regional reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and prompts the creation of regional plans to reduce emissions from vehicle use throughout the state. California’s 18 Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) have been tasked with creating ‘Sustainable Community Strategies’ (SCS). The MPOs are required to develop the SCS through integrated land use and transportation planning and demonstrate an ability to attain the proposed reduction targets by 2020 and 2035.”
Steinberg began his letter:
“More unmitigated sprawl, more smog, more cars on our already congested freeways—is that tarnish what Californians really want to see for the future of the Golden State?”
What contempt he has for regular, middle-class families:
* By “More unmitigated sprawl” he means nice suburbs in which to raise families, instead of the high-rise projects he want to shove us into like ants.
* “more smog” is a red herring. Smog from cars has dropped more than 95 percent in 50 years, and keeps declining as cars get cleaner.
* “more cars” means individual freedom of transporation, instead of being squeezed into uncomfortable buses or mass transit that takes three or four times the minutes to get someplace. In any case, cars are here to stay. SB 375 won’t change that much. And does Steinberg take mass transit?
Suburban sprawl, which is how Darrell (and apparently 80% of our non-public transportation riding City Council) would describe a nice low density suburban town like Sierra Madre, can only be cured of its planning insolence by stacking and packing in a lot of new development. If you want an example, a town that embraced this cockamamy notion would be Pasadena. Head on down into Old Town sometime and see how crowded and congested that neighborhood has become. Check out the massive blocks long bank of apartment structures lined up along the 210 Freeway. Somehow that was supposed to help make people take up walking and curb global warming. If the actual number of cars there is any indication, it isn't working.
Apparently that is what 80% of our City Council wants for Sierra Madre. To make those same kinds of planning errors, only ten years later than everyone else. And now they have formed a Commission that will help to bring it all about. Just don't ask any of them to discuss it.
On that topic they are quite secretive.
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