Dear Council Members,
I’m not able to join you for the March 21 priority setting workshop, so please accept these comments in lieu of in-person comments.
As you review and discuss City priorities for the coming fiscal year, I’d like to share some observations and ideas. I’ve been a resident of Menlo Park, living in District 2, for the past 31 years and I served on the Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) for 8 years. I co-founded Menlo Spark in 2014.
Going back to 2007 (the year I joined the EQC) some of your predecessors expressed a desire for Menlo Park to be among the leading communities in addressing climate change. This expression followed the work and vision of the Council-convened Green Ribbon Citizens’ Committee (GRCC), which recognized that as a center of innovation Menlo Park has an opportunity to be among the leaders in addressing climate change. At the same time, there was a recognition that the investment in climate action measures foreseen by the GRCC would also represent a long-term investment in the prosperity, vibrancy, and health of our communities and within our homes and businesses.
In 2011 Council adopted community-wide greenhouse gas reduction targets (27% by 2020) that were among the most aggressive in the country and then went ahead and attained those targets. Some of you were already on the City Council when the groundbreaking target of climate neutrality by 2030 was subsequently adopted.
While some may question the importance of such targets given Menlo Park’s relatively small greenhouse gas footprint, there has been a broad recognition in our community that substantial progress at the local level will necessitate collaboration with other communities and, in turn, inspire significant change among our regional neighbors. This has proven to be the case as Menlo Park’s advocacy was instrumental in Peninsula Clean Energy delivering carbon-free power for all communities in San Mateo County with the electrification Reach Codes that so many cities have adopted. Regional change, in turn, informs and empowers change at the statewide level.
Indeed, congratulations are due to each of you for exerting the leadership from the dais that has resulted in the Sustainability Award that will be presented to Menlo Park next week at the annual Sustainable San Mateo County awards event. I’m so grateful to you for persevering with climate action as a priority over the past years, as our actions are inspiring comparable and even more aggressive actions by other cities (see below).
These local and regional breakthroughs are particularly important during times like these when federal action has dried up and rolled back many national gains, and when state action is slowing down.
Given the above, I urge you to continue prioritizing Climate Action in the coming year. This prioritization should be aimed at continuing to accelerate implementation of Menlo Park’s Climate Action Plan. Key initiatives can include:
1) Adding air conditioning replacement by heat pump as a requirement for commercial renovations (as it now is for residential)
2) Reviewing Menlo Park’s Reach Codes for a mid-cycle update. This update can include a comparison to nearby communities such as San Mateo and East Palo Alto which were inspired by Menlo Park’s Reach Codes and have leapfrogged past our city with more comprehensive ordinances. This review can aim to return Menlo Park to a leadership role in climate action.
3) Adopting renter protections for environmental-related renovations that prevent evictions or onerous rent increases.
One more thought here is a realization that climate action and the cities other top priorities will not be the ONLY areas in which city staff and Council are putting their attention in the coming year. For example, one comment in your email blog is from a fellow resident who is understandably concerned about a crime wave (I believe in District 5), yet discusses this as if having the police department effectively address crime is somehow mutually exclusive with continued climate action. I trust you understand that this is simply not so, as an effective city government oversees a multitude of areas that impact the lives of its residents and businesses.
Many thanks for your service to our community and continued support for community-wide climate action,
Mitch Slomiak
