Environmental Issues

By Marnie Sheehan Carter

A significant part of planning the future development of the City of Concord is to ensure that development occurs in places where it maximizes growth opportunities for the City as a whole. Carter for Concord's campaign position statement as to why environmental issues must be a priority for the economic recovery of the City of Concord follows.

As the Planning Commission works to develop policies and practices for the City of Concord, they should do so with a reduced impact on the environment in mind. By giving City Departments information and tools, and facilitating the development and implementation of annual "Green Plans," the City Council can work to leverage results in the areas of energy efficiency, procurement, recycling, and vehicle purchases and management. Sustainability can be a hard sell due to the fact that citizens may recycle bottles or change their bed linens and bath towels less frequently when at home; but these habits do not necessarily translate into green habits outside of the home. The City of Concord has recognized this by working with area businesses to assist with their ability to achieve sustainability. For example, Hilton Concord was recently selected to integrate sustainability into their overall hotel operation. The hotel received $47,000 in rebates from the Contra Costa Water District to offset the cost to install low-flow toilets which is expected to save 900,000 gallons annually. We need to continue to adhere to overall objectives of those that we lead by enhancing the business environment and quality of life in the City through promoting "green" investment.

This sort of program by the City aids the Bay Area and the City of Concord in leading the fight against climate change and allows people to live closer to where they work. We need to continue to commit to resource conservation initiatives and efforts to find new ways to use our City's resources - and taxpayer dollars - more wisely. For example, thanks to feedback from community residents, business owners and environmental organizations, eight square miles of land in Concord, CA (which was previously the Concord Naval Weapons Station which closed in 2005), will become a transit-oriented and walkable neighborhood with protected open space. For this development to be successful in Concord, we need to ensure economic vitality. The City's handling of the transformation of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station could easily result in an economically beneficial and tight-knit neighborhood with plenty of open space and a denser cluster of housing options near the transit line.

Most cities are recycling, and are tracking the volumes of materials that they're recycling -important steps in decreasing the amount of materials going to landfills and conserving resources. However, our City Council and the Commissions that advise our council members need to work to expand participation in resource conservation and energy efficiency strategies. The City of Concord needs to make the technical skills and experience of its employees available to the public and to local agencies in order to transform the work of the City into a better educational resource for our City's future + our youth. One of my greatest environmental achievements was my work on the Recycled Art Contest for Bay Area Middle School Students. To coincide with Earth Day, I led an initiative that teamed Bay Area students with business leaders to emphasize the importance of "going green". The program was co-sponsored by local merchants, who then displayed the students' works of art. This partnered two issues that I am passionate about + youth in the community and to raise awareness of Earth Day and the positive impact that community service can have on reducing waste and improving the environment.

The children of Concord need to see a connection between the actions of City leadership and the health of the planet. The way to involve children is to start early and lead by example. Last year, the Contra Costa Association of Realtors in cooperation with the City of Concord sponsored GreenFEST, an exhibition of green products and services, in partnership with the City of Concord. The festival highlighting green businesses and their products and services was held in Walnut Creek this year. I would like to see the event return to Concord with support from the Todos Santos Business Association. Environmentally friendly products and recycling need to be a part of everyday family life. The key to environmental awareness is education and involvement.

Marnie Sheehan Carter will work as a council member with the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Commission to encourage development and marketing of our community facilities to encourage growth and development in such a way that protects the environment and youth athletic opportunities in Concord. Not only will enhanced development and expansion of the City of Concord's parks and recreation facilities improve the lives of all of us, it is absolutely necessary to our economic vitality. Our City strategy needs to keep pace with the surge in interest in outdoor activities, particularly among younger people. Well planned and controlled sprawl of existing partially developed land encourages environmental quality and should include development of space dedicated to popular community activities like biking and rock climbing challenges, to name a few. Our schools and youth athletic foundations spend considerable dollars outside the City of Concord to utilize facilities - for baseball, basketball, football, soccer, softball, just to name a few - in other towns in the Bay Area because of a lack of resources. We can maximize the "reuse" of the land at the Concord Naval Weapons Station to develop tournament level athletic facilities which will provide for coordination of local involvement in decisions that impact and promote local land use. As Council member, Marnie Sheehan Carter will utilize her prior experience as a business manager and involvement in community youth athletic programs to provide assistance and encourage economic incentives for businesses to engage in cooperative land use planning at the Concord Naval Weapons Station. We will work to attract and promote community sporting activities as well as focus new development that will revive our City while targeting a positive impact on the local economy in terms of already developed lodging, dining and small business.

As Council member, Marnie Sheehan Carter will encourage the City of Concord to continue to develop City projects in a manner that encourages eligibility for state grants earmarked for sustainability and natural resource recreation. These projects are an important part of an integrated strategy to reviving the City of Concord while putting environmental issues at the forefront. Marnie Sheehan Carter and the Carter for Concord Campaign recognizes the importance of focusing on positive and effective ways to maintain a healthy environment that also affords each Concord business owner the capacity to remain competitive and profitable in today's changing and challenging world. It is the position of Marnie Sheehan Carter and the Carter for Concord Campaign that the City of Concord should promote collaborative approaches among individuals and organizations to strengthen awareness of the environment as the City moves forward with planned future development.

Thank you for your time and consideration to this important issue.