The Northeast Valley Green Alliance met last night. Here are the Minutes from that meeting: NORTHEAST VALLEY GREEN ALLIANCE (NVGA) Susan B. Anthony Building, Sylmar Recreation and Parks Parking next to Fire Station 91 13109 Borden Avenue, Sylmar, CA 91342 nvgreenalliance@aol or wrfjenkins@aol Contact: Rosemary Jenkins, Chair/Secretary (818) 667-3280 MINUTES for June 18, 2013, 6:30 p.m. [Please bring a copy of the Minutes and the new Agenda to the next meeting. Thank you.] 1. Call to Order: 6:48 p.m. 2. In attendance: Nadine Cano, Norberto Pablo Martinez, Maria Castillo, Amanda Bringas, Johanna Martinez, Amanda Martinez, Rogelio Mateos, Juan Ortiz, Leonor Ortiz, Gabriela Marquez, Alfredo Martinez, Francisco Bringas, Maria Martinez, Mayra Zavala, Desiree Izaquirre, Kent Minault, and Rosemary Jenkins 3. Introductions 4. Adoption of Minutes: Motion by Nadine Cano and seconded by Pablo Martinez to approve as read; passed unanimously. 5. Presentation of Certificates of Recognition for community individuals and companies that have contributed so much to our region. The following presentations were made: Gabriela Marquez, representing Congressman Tony Cárdenas Rosemary Jenkins, representing State Senator Alex Padilla Rosemary Jenkins, representing State Assemlymember Raul Bocanegra Ms. Marquez shared with us what responsibilities the Congressmembers’ office covers: --constituent information at the Federal level --immigration issues --veterans’ concerns --social security, health care programs --the post office --and more She also indicated that small businesses in the USA are the backbone of our economy, responsible for about 70% of its output! Photos were taken and will be posted at a later time on our Facebook page. 6. Announcements and Old Business: a. A brief discussion about what “fracking” is and how dangerous the effects are to the environment and the individuals who live in it: tainted water with all its ramifications: drinking, bathing, cooking, irrigating, and so forth b. A recap about the decision by Los Angeles to be off coal and eventually the natural gases that come from it. We shall be off coal with one partner by 2015 and the other by 2025 (if not sooner). We are trying to work out agreements to discourage our partners from developing natural gas but encouraging them to develop reusable, sustainable energy efficiencies such as solar, wind, geo-thermal, and so forth. c. A brief discussion about why we should not support the Keystone XL pipeline. d. A recap about the Walmart boycott. Many Walmart workers and supporters from all over the country converged on Bentonville, Arkansas, for the annual Walmart Shareholders meeting for the purpose of presenting their grievances. Walmart got an injunction to prevent them from gathering there and making the presentations (more to follow on that). Rosemary Jenkins stated that she wished there were legal advisors with the boycotters to let Walmart know that according to the U.S. Supreme Court Pruneyard Ruling with its subsequent modifications, people are allowed to march in public parking lots, on sidewalks, etc. as long as entrances and exits are not blocked and people are not harassed. She further gave examples of the horrendous conditions to which Walmart workers are subjected. Rosemary added that we should be part of this boycott and share the information with friends, neighbors, and family to encourage them to do the same. Lower prices are at the expense of workers here and outsourced workers abroad (consider the collapse of the building in India during which 1200 workers were killed). Again, more to follow. e. Rosemary Jenkins was eager to share the huge success of the Ban on Single-Use Plastic Bags Campaign. The Los Angeles City Council today (June 18, 2013) passed nearly unanimously the ban which will take effect on January 1, 2014. The City will distribute more than one million reusable canvas-type bags for free to those in poorer communities. People in the WIC (Women/Infants/Children) Program will not have to purchase these bags as well as those who are financially disadvantaged. The rest of us will be charged 10 cents per reusable bag. Some stores may give them away. This ban will affect the chain supermarkets and big-box stores first with mom-and-pop stores given slightly more time to accommodate the changes. As for the effect on jobs, facts show that more jobs will be created as a result of this rule. The Green Vets organization is recycling materials right now and turning them into reusable bags.—a perfect example of how the overall economy can not only benefit but in a green way! (See Rosemary’s article on The Frying Pan Blog News Feed dated June 19, 2013, on this subject). State Senator Alex Padilla introduced a similar ban earlier this year that would be state-wide. The bill passed out of his committee but, unfortunately, failed by about 3 votes in the Senate as a whole. The state-wide ban is not over yet as it will be pursued again in the near future. f. A discussion about Floating Wind Turbines was held. Rosemary Jenkins mentioned that the state of Maine (with the blessing of U. S. Senator Susan Collins) will be launching a number of these structures off the coast of Maine. They are designed in a way not to interfere with marine life. The effect will be that the entire state of Maine will receive its electricity from this method. Rosemary Jenkins indicated that she has discussed (or will soon discuss) this method with Congressmember Tony Cárdenas, State Senator Alex Padilla, and State Assemblymember Raul Bocanegra in the hope that they will consider introducing legislation to create such a system for California with its very long coastline. Former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (present Lieutenant Governor) had an earlier idea about using the power of the ocean currents but environmentalists were rightly concerned with the effect on marine life and their environment. This new method, to the contrary, can produce a win-win total effect. More to come. . . g. A discussion was held be Rosemary Jenkins and Kent Minault about the U.S.Supreme Court decision regarding the Port of Los Angeles ban on high-emission trucks. The Court upheld the major part that stated that these trucks must be low-emission only. They can, however, park in the nearby neighborhoods and not carry a plaque which would indicate how to contact agencies to complain about them. The suit included those two points—perhaps further negotiations can modify that judgement in a more favorable way. Pablo Martinez brought up a very good point about the impact on small trucking companies—that the competition from big companies (which can afford retrofits or new purchases) cannot be met by the smaller companies. This is a very valid and sad point. However, as Rosemary indicated, we must move forward with low-emission rules if we are to save our planet. She further mentioned that small companies have had years to plan for this change. h. Green-the-Block Program: Rosemary Jenkins spoke about this ongoing project. She mentioned that she is encouraging RePower LA to come to the Northeast Valley with this program. In the meantime, there are two upcoming events that we can attend to get the information we need about free weatherization for our homes and small businesses: 1. SCOPE Saturday, June 29, 2013, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 1715 W. Florence Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90047 RSVP: 323-789-7920 x 101 2. Puente Learning Center Saturday, July 27, 2013, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 501 S. Boyle Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90033 For more information, contact the following at LAANE/RePower LA: Laura Nieto: 213-977-9400 x 131 Jessica Goodheart: 213-977-9400 x 135 i. Painting Fire Station #91: Hurray and kudos for Pablo Martinez (Adopt-a-Project) and his crew for finishing the painting at this fire station, an effort that was begun two (2) years ago! They painted the inside fence walls and the exterior side and back fences on Saturday, June 15, 2013. They spent 12 hours!! on Saturday and returned on Sunday, Fathers’ Day, to finish the work. They will return to do some touch-up work but the Fire Fighters are thrilled and so is the community for the hard work and dedication displayed by these fine workers. Pablo’s goal is not only to improve the community visibly but to educate people, young and old, and particularly work with at-risk people to help every aspect of our region. We are truly blessed to have someone like Pablo and his family and co-workers working with us. He is our backbone!! j. We are planning to finish up the landscaping at the Sylmar Public Library, probably sometime in October when the temperature is cooler and it is more conducive for planting native and drought-resistant plants. k. Nadine Cano of Mission College reminded us of the urban garden she wants to create there. We shall be assisting her with that project in the near future. 7. New Business: none 8. The meeting was adjourned at 8:32 p.m. The motion was made by Nadine Cano and seconded by Maria Martinez and passed unanimously. 8. The next meeting will be Tuesday, July 16, 2013, at 6:30 p.m.—same location. Please note in the letterhead the exact location of our meeting place. Respectfully submitted, Rosemary Jenkins, NVGA, Chair/Secretary
Posted on: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:47:57 +0000