Q&A: environmental leadership

By Yoriko Kishimoto

Questionnaire:

1. Historically, the club considers your past record as the best indicator of your future concern for the environment. What have you done to protect natural resources and the environment?

I have had a life-long commitment to environmental protection and restoration. It was a top priority for the past 4 years and will be for the term I am running for. Besides my public service, it is integral to my personal life. My family is a one-car family (with three drivers), we compost, etc. -- and we are grateful to the Sierra Club and other environmental groups since we just returned from another spectacular backpacking trip in the Eastern Sierras.

As a city council member for the past four years, here are some of the accomplishments I have made together with my colleagues:

• Traffic. Creating a walkable, bike-able community in Palo Alto and a sustainable transportation network in our Valley has been one of my top priorities. Transportation uses about half the energy (and causes corresponding pollution) in our country. I have been active on Valley Transportation Authority Policy Advisory Committee (VTA PAC) for all four years and was elected to serve as chair this year. I have led the North County and other cities in advocating for a sensible and cost-effective transit spending plan for Measure A to serve the entire county. VTA has trimmed its staff and costs, added useful services such as Rapid Bus 522 to serve El Camino, community buses, and maintained its commitment to bicycle and Caltrain services. As a member of the County Expressway Task Force, I was also able to affirm their role as important regional bicycle routes. In Palo Alto, I carefully review each development project that comes to us and insist on as full a mitigation as possible through shuttles, bike/ped facilities and TDM measures + or project size reduction. I have helped to champion the Charleston-Arastradero corridor plan to make that important school and commute corridor safer for bicyclists and pedestrians while still able to carry the necessary automobile traffic. As the chair of the transportation committee of the Comprehensive Plan committee more than ten years ago, I helped to craft many of Palo Alto's policies which I am proud to help implement as a council member.

• Energy. Since Palo Alto has its own utilities, we are able to formulate our own energy policy to a degree. Through the finance committee, we recommended and ultimately adopted a goal to have 20% renewables by 2017 and have signed some long term contracts to get us there. We have a progressive Architectural Review Board which promotes Green Buildings and using a LEED checklist as much as possible with gratifying response from many applicants. We have worked with the schools to promote both Safe Routes to School and greater use of solar energy.]

• leaf blowers: led vote to uphold prior decision to ban gas-fired blowers for their noise and air quality impact
• open space: saved ranger position for foothills, led vote to honor Enid Pearson for her park dedication ordinance efforts by renaming Arastradero Preserve
• zero waste: see below
• construction and demolition ordinance: supported city's first step. Hope to see more.
• sustainability indicators: supported city's commitment to maintain these indicators for city operations, leading to Green Business award for city. I would support city adopting Kyoto protocol goals.

There will continue to be huge pressures on Bay Area to accommodate both more jobs and housing and we will definitely see some growth continuing. The challenge is to control the pace and location of growth and to finance and build the new infrastructure to accommodate the growth we decide we want. That includes planning for public transportation, well-placed schools, retail and community amenities so residents can walk to them if possible, etc. I was proud to vote in development impact fees so new developments pay for at least some of the new costs. I have voted down projects and rezoning applications if I thought they were not appropriately mitigated or in right locations for city services.

The growth also puts huge pressure on open space. In Palo Alto, that has manifested itself in power plants, recycling centers, auto malls, and other "essential" uses seeking a location in the less-developed areas away from residences -- and open space is always a tempting target. We need to keep the vision of our Comprehensive Plan and our commitment to dedicated open space and parkland in front of us to maintain the balance we treasure. To the degree we add housing and development, we also need to keep adding parkland, land for schools and retail, and land for other public facilities as well.

I will also continue to apply my experience and expertise in transportation issues to help our region improve its public transportation and its link to land use decisions.

3. What is your plan to help Palo Alto reduce its greenhouse gas emissions? Does Palo Alto have a baseline measurement of the CO2 emissions?

As noted above, I did propose we add CO2 emissions to our sustainability indicators, but budget constraints have slowed down staff efforts. We do not yet have a baseline measurement in Palo Alto. My plan to help Palo Alto reduce greenhouse gas emissions includes my continuing commitment to alternative transportation, walkable neighborhoods, ban on gas blowers, renewable energy in our energy portfolio.

4. Tell us about your philosophy of land use planning. How should Palo Alto guide development to meet future needs of new job opportunities, market rate and affordable housing, shopping, and parks and public spaces?

I was part of the Comprehensive Plan advisory committee + the process where we hammered out a plan with its balance between all these uses in the early 1990s. My vision of Palo Alto is that it is a great network of many walkable neighborhoods with their own character, a vibrant downtown, strong California Avenue, neighborhood retail centers scattered around town and a variety of interesting and high-value added technology and other jobs. In our small city of about 60,000 residents, we have a strong commitment to diversity in housing (rental, owner-occupied, condos and detached houses), diversity in retail and commercial, and diversity in city revenues and services. It takes hard work and creativity to constantly calibrate ourselves to see if we are keeping the balance. My vision is that we can densify incrementally in some areas and neighborhoods but with the right infrastructure and service investments. Other areas of town cannot support a significant increase in intensity without a major change in character and the need for a broad new consensus for that change.

5. Recycling for residents and businesses in Palo Alto has been available since the early 1980s and yet many residents and businesses are not yet recycling or reducing the waste they generate. Palo Alto staff will be bringing a Zero Waste Policy and Strategic Plan for Council adoption this Fall (tentatively September 12, 2005). Adoption of this plan could include recommendations mandating certain recycling behaviors and/or banning materials from being placed in garbage containers or brought to the Palo Alto landfill. How do you feel about the Zero Waste Policy and Strategic Plan and will you actively work for zero waste for Palo Alto? And would you support the City becoming a state and national leader on advocating for extended producer responsibility the way the City of San Francisco has become?

Mayor Jim Burch and I were the two council members who attended a great Zero Waste conference last year and helped to bring this new policy framework and goal to our colleagues on the council. It is very important to go the next step beyond the state goal of 50% diversion. There is a limit to what one city can do; on the other hand, if the state or federal government does not take the leadership role, the city has a very exciting opportunity to move the ball forward. Yes, I support the Zero Waste policy and will actively work for its implementation. Yes, I support the City becoming a state and national leader in this field.

6. The Police Department is proposing to build a new facility. What Green Building attributes do you think should be included in the plans? For example, solar power is one element that might be added. Do you support the installation of PV in a new Police Department building? 15a) What about retrofilling other City properties with solar generating systems ?

PV is a good feature to add, especially with use of public benefit funds or rebates. Passive solar design to use natural lighting and heating, selection of material, energy efficient control systems, operable windows, etc. are all other possible features.