City Council Proposes Solar Ballot Initiative

The Los Angeles City Council is proposing a new initiative that is tentatively being called the Los Angeles Basin Solar Power, Green Energy and Jobs Development Mandate for Los Angeles Initiative. The motion for the initiative passed handily in the October 15 council meeting and is being looked at by the Rules and Government committee.

The initiative would mandate that the DWP produce 3 percent of its energy demand from solar power; create a solar jobs recruitment and training program; and offer bid preferences and other incentives to support the creation and expansion of solar-related industry in the City.

But they're going to have to come up with a snappy acronym if the thing is ever going to go anywhere! LABSPGEJDMLAI is just not going to cut it.

No mention of how this initiative might be duplicating mandates set forth in AB32.

Heal the Bay Founder Dies

Dorothy Green, founder of Heal the Bay, died Oct. 13 at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 79.

From her first gathering Santa Monica residents concerned about the health of the ocean in 1985, Green created Heal the Bay, an organization that became one of the leading water quality watchdogs in California.

Heal the Bay first successfully advocated to have the Los Angeles Hyperion and Carson sewage treatment plants comply with the federal Clean Water Act. The group also devised the Beach Report Card, providing water quality grades for more than 500 beaches statewide.

“Dorothy Green was simply the most influential water quality activist in California for the last 30 years,” said Mark Gold, her protégé and current president of Heal the Bay. More of Gold's thoughts about Dorothy can be read in his blog.

A public memorial service will be held Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 2 p.m. at Mount Sinai Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to Heal the Bay, the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council or California Water Impact Network.

Valley Bicycle Concept Plan

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition is working with the Metropolitan Transit District to develop a Concept Access Plan to improve bicycle and pedestrian access to six transit hubs in LA County.

The LACBC website a new "Current Projects" tab, which has the history of the program, updates and powerpoint presentations of the Newhall and Van Nuys stations' existing conditions and recommendations. You can also find a link to an email so any comments you have on the plan may be included in the final report.