Christmas is behind us, and next year is coming quick, but until 2015 actually arrives there aren’t going to be many meetings to send you to. Regular listeners know that one of my specialties is to tell you about a meeting or two that you might like to attend. In fact, my suggestion is almost always that you both attend and participate!

The only meeting announcement I have this week is about a meeting this evening. The Board of Directors of the Marina Coast Water District is having a special meeting today, starting at 6:30 p.m. This is not a meeting in which you’ll be allowed to participate. It’s a “closed session” meeting, with participation reserved for the elected members of the Board of Directors. There is a published agenda, indicating that the Board is going to be considering the appointment of a “public employee,” namely a “General Manager.” The next regular meeting of the Marina Coast Water District will take place on January 5th. You could plan to attend that meeting, and you’ll be allowed fully to participate if you do!

The California Constitution and California state law both require that the public’s business be done in public. Decisions made at the local government level, in City Council meetings, meetings of Boards of Supervisors, and in meetings of water district and transportation agency boards of directors will have a profound impact on your future. Anyone want to think about a New Year’s resolution?

More Information

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Marina Coast Water District Website
• Meeting Information, MCWD

Land use decisions made at the local government level have a significant impact on the future of our local communities, and these impacts can be neatly summarized as “The Three E’s.” In short, land use affects our local economy, our environment, and our success (or not) in achieving our social equity goals. I was not really joking, yesterday, in suggesting that listeners might want to make a New Year’s resolution to get more personally involved in local government land use decision making during the coming year.

Ryan Coonerty, who will assume office as the Santa Cruz County Third District Supervisor on January 6th, is definitely someone who will be personally involved. The Good Times newspaper did a very nice article on Ryan in its most recent issue, and I was pleased to see that he will be making the future of the Santa Cruz County North Coast a personal priority. Having been a County Supervisor myself, I know that it’s a great job, and what makes it one of the best jobs around is public participation and public involvement. When I was on the Board of Supervisors I really tried to stimulate public participation, and here I am, twenty years later, still trying to do that!

You can find a link to the story on Ryan Coonerty at kusp.org/landuse. And you can find a link to my “Five Simple Rules” for elected officials, too.

And there is still time to formulate one of those New Year’s resolutions!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Good Times Story
• Five Simple Rules

Here is an announcement that should be of special interest to K-12 Teachers. I think a few teachers do listen in to the Land Use Report, and if you happen to be one of them, I want to alert you to a series of Teacher Training Workshops that will be offered (for free) during the upcoming year. Specifically, the workshops are intended to prepare teachers to lead field trips at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve, which might well be thought of as a unique outdoor classroom. I hope teachers throughout the Monterey Bay Region will take advantage of this opportunity – and then take the opportunity to get their students out into the natural world in such an exceptional environment.

One-day workshops will be held on the following Saturdays in March 2015: March 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th. The workshops will run from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and the workshop sessions will take place at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve, located at 1700 Elkhorn Road in North Monterey County. Again, there is no charge for the workshop, and one Continuing Education Unit (or CEU) is available through CSU Monterey Bay. Registration is required, and as you can see, I am giving you lots of lead-time. You can get more information by tracking down today’s blog transcript at kusp.org/landuse. I hope that K-12 teachers out there will follow up!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
• Elkhorn Slough Estuarine Research Reserve Website
• Elkhorn Slough Foundation Website

Description:
A one-day, 8-hour workshop that combines informative presentations with topical field walks in order to prepare teachers to lead content and experientially rich field trips at Elkhorn Slough. Teachers will get an opportunity to deepen their understanding of estuaries, wetlands, watersheds, and conservation issues, such as coastal resiliency and greenhouse gas sequestration; experience life from the salt marsh and mudflats to the grasslands and oak woodlands; and observe the plants and animals that depend upon these habitats. Elkhorn Slough Reserve Education team will model grade appropriate curricula. Workshop participants will receive background and activity materials. After the course – Teachers will be certified to bring classes to the Reserve. They will have year round access to the trails, field research tools, and the microscope teaching lab as well as teaching kits for use at the Reserve and in their classroom. For more information and an application, visit the Elkhorn Slough Foundation website, or call the Education staff at (831) 728-2822.

Happy New Year to those who have survived the celebrations held last night and are actually listening in on this New Year morning. If you have ever tracked down one of the KUSP blog transcripts, to follow up on the links I mention, you may have noticed that I have a personal blog, and publish one entry each day. It’s called “Two Worlds,” and I am trying, in this blog, to make people aware that the World of Nature is a different kind of world from the human world that we create through our (mostly political) actions. My “Two Worlds” blog, in other words, is where I get “philosophical,” and share my personal thoughts about life and the world (or worlds) in which we live. As usual, you can get the link at kusp.org/landuse.

Today’s entry in my “Two Worlds” blog is titled “Strike Another Match,” referring to a Bob Dylan song called “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” I will have to say that I’ve always thought of that song as a “hopeful” song. The lyrics are mostly about what is being left behind, but it’s that next to the last line that sticks with me: “Strike another match; go start anew.”

We do have that privilege. We can always begin something new. New Year’s Day is a good day to remember that, and of course that is what New Year’s resolutions are all about. Think about putting a little land use public participation in your future!

More Information:

• Land Use Links
• Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog

The state’s Strategic Growth Council has issued a memo outlining staff-proposed revisions to the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Grant program guidelines. I have a link to the memo at kusp.org/landuse.

It would be hard to overstate how important it is that our local communities find more effective ways to stimulate the production of affordable housing. The state of California is trying to help through its Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grant program, and that program is what is being discussed in the memo I mention.

On January 20th, the Strategic Growth Council will be meeting, and taking action, so there is time for interested persons to weigh in. Most pertinent will the comments made by local government officials, so if you care about affordable housing, and about the promotion of more compact communities that will reduce the need for residents to drive everywhere, you might want to check out the memo, and then consult with your elected City Council and Board of Supervisors representatives.

Proposed changes include changes to project sponsorship requirements, elimination of a minimum number of units for affordable housing developments, and a switch to housing element default densities for the minimum densities of affordable housing developments funded by the program. I think that these changes might help. I encourage your own review!

More Information:
Land Use Links
Gary Patton’s Two Worlds Blog
California Strategic Growth Council
Summary of Current Affordable Housing Guidelines Revisions