CCMIN082305 - Laserfiche WebLink

Mayor Hosterman believed it made sense to establish a commission on Energy and the Environment, particularly after having moved through an environmental ad-hoc committee, which evolved into the two-year Pleasanton Energy Committee. This Committee produced an energy plan and element, and she believed it made sense to continue with this process. It made sense to her to have additional individuals of their own commission who would be interested in looking at these issues and figuring out how best to implement policy and forward it to Council for its consideration. She has received numerous requests in asking Council to tackle environmental issues such as particulate matter. Given the direction of sustainability, she believed it made sense for Pleasanton to join the ranks of other communities and establish the same type of commission. Mr. Sullivan concurred with Mayor Hosterman's comments. He pointed out that Council has a priority goal heading of environmental awareness which includes an energy element to the General Plan that Council will be adopting sometime in the near future. The vision statement for the General Plan includes a sustainability element. He concurred with Mr. Thorne's comments and believed this commission needed some type of structure; however, a commission on Energy and the Environment can be the mechanism to make this occur. Ms. McGovern did not believe it was the appropriate time for Council to discuss this until it adopted a General Plan, which included an energy policy. She concurred with Mr. Thorne's comments and believed it was important for this type of commission to have structure because without some type of structure, this type of commission could be costly. She requested that this goal be tabled until Council adopted an energy policy, which would then provide some structure to a commission on Energy and the Environment. Mr. Thorne suggested that he be involved in drawing up some ISO 14,000 type structure which would provide guidelines to a five-member standing advisory commission to the Council and charter it for several years to see how this commission performs. If the Commission cannot perform and is not adding value to what Council is trying to do, he would not support the continuation of this type of commission. Mr. Brozosky believed one of the problems was that Council terminated the Energy Committee prematurely, which he opposed and the Commission did not finish its goals. He agreed with Ms. McGovern and suggested that Council finalize its goals for the General Plan and from that, Council could consider whether the establishment of a commission on Energy and the Environment would be applicable. Mayor Hosterman generally believed that members to various commissions are advocates and have a particular interest in providing recommendations and policy implementation regarding its overall duties and responsibilities. She believed it was important to give the community an opportunity to air and vent issues that are of importance. This commission would be the focal point and catch all for a wide variety of issues that are facing this community. She asked Mr. Thorne if his suggestion included establishing a commission comprised of five individuals for the short-term, monitor its work, get an idea as to whether it is being sensitive to community needs and accomplishing work that is of value, and then determine whether or not to turn this group into a full commission? Mr. Thorne said the term "adding value" is of concern to him because he did not want Council to begin throwing everything over the wall to this Commission that has anything to do with environmental issues. If Council could agree to establish a five-member advisory commission for two-years and see if this Commission adds any value to what Council is trying to City Council Priorities Workshop 16 08/23/05 Minutes