OB Town Council Pushed to Join Climate Action Campaign

All eyes were on Nicole Capretz last night at the monthly Ocean Beach Town Council meeting. She was proposing that the Council join the Climate Action Campaign that she helped found and ensure that the City of San Diego lives up to its commitments under the Mayor’s new climate action plan.

Capretz addressed the Board and the audience of near 60 people on the topic of climate change, the City’s plan, and her group’s efforts to hold local government to be responsive, in terms of creating a viable, legally-binding roadmap for San Diego to follow.

“There is no greater risk to the human race,” she said, “than climate change.” Capretz has been a veteran of City Hall. She years ago, worked for Councilwoman Donna Frye, and more recently for interim Mayor Todd Gloria. She added:

The quality of life will be okay for current generations, but not for the next generations.

As Capretz delivered her points, how safe CO2 levels have been pushed out – and are not dropping, how we’re at 400 parts per million now, and how the city must deal with these problems, she gave repeating, “I shouldn’t be talking to you about this, it should be the mayor, the politicians”.

Dirty energy, she said, coal, oil, natural gas create 87% of the worlds carbon dioxide. And nothing has changed since the 1990s. Sea levels are rising, and for OBceans the concerns are more immediate, as beaches will shrink, fragile cliffs will crumble and there will more flooding.

Today, 87% of people drive to work. The group’s goal is by 2035 make it 50% with 18% bicycling. They also want to achieve 100% renewable energy by that year – 2035.

Nicole discussed the monopoly that San Diegans face for their energy, how that people, consumers, ought to make decisions as to what is in our energy portfolio, and just what our grid should be. There are alternatives, and some cities around the country are having success in a program called Community Choice. Marin and Sonoma Counties for example have both made great strides in renewable energy sources, and driving the cost of energy down.

On a positive note, Capretz cited San Diego’s green energy statistics. Within the SDG&E coverage area, there are 12,000 electric vehicles, with 677 public charge stations in 199 locations. Also, San Diego is the number city in the nation for solar installations.

Summing up, Nicole said the city’s plan is going through an 8 month environmental review process, and she expects the City Council to take a vote on it in late 2015. She reiterated that the group supports the Mayor’s plan, and that they want community groups to be engaged on these issues. “Now is the time,” she said, “to register  your opinion of the plan.”

Capretz advocated that the OBTC do more than write letters, but to buttonhole the mayor, our council reps and other politicians everytime they are seen, and pressed to do something on the climate action plan. “It’s legally binding,” she said for the umpteenth time, to much applause.

Other News From the OBTC Meeting

• There will be an opening on the Board very soon, as a member is resigning. People interested are urged to send the OBTC a letter of intent by April 12th to be considered.

• Also, Prez Gretchen called CVS Pharmacy to see if they were in compliance with the “Community Benefits Package” she helped to draw up and had CVS sign it before they moved in. She’ll report on it at the next meeting in April

• Stacey Houg made an emotional plea to the Council to support her idea of having the Robb Field skate park named after her brother, Marc Shockus DeLellis, as  he was killed there, and was well known within the skate board community.  She said they have 800 signatures on a petition to rename the park.

• Zapf’s rep, Conrad Wear, told the crowd of about 60 that we’d know in April the status of the OB Library being on the priority lists of the city.

• There’s a meeting for the Neighborhood Watch being set up on April 9th, 6 to 9pm at Tetcars.
• If you see a stranded, washed up or stressed sea lion, don’t try to handle them yourselves, call for rescue : 1-800-541-SEAL.

• Ron and his spouse are organizing “Sundowner” clean-ups which are happening every Sunday at sun-down at the OB Pier.
• The 26th Annual Earth Fair takes place on April 19th.

• There were several complaints about the homeless. Jim Musgrove feared that vigilante groups would appear again as they have in the past to take care of some miscreants. “Call your politician,” he said. An older woman complained that homeless were on the Library bench in the morning “scaring the children”.
• Officer David Surwilo reassured the crowd. Police are addressing the “travelers’ vs homeless’ issue.  Surwilo did add some info on the recent stabbing at Saratoga Park. It was a dispute between homeless people, he said. The suspect has been arrested and will be charged, and the victim is being fined. Also, the community relations officer reminded the crowd that if they see a problem, don’t just call the OB Mainstreet Association or the OB Rag, call the police. He has seen a spike in complaint calls to the HQ. But there are some complaints that the calls to HQ are not always answered. He’s looking into that, he said.

• There’s also an Egg Hunt on March 28 at Robb Field.