Claremont Insider: Towards a Sustainable Claremont

Monday, July 21, 2008

Towards a Sustainable Claremont

Claremont's draft Sustainable City Plan is posted on the city's website, for anyone interested in reading it.

The city's Sustainability Task Force came up with the plan, led by folks like former city Planning Commissioner and former Claremont League of Women Voters (LWV) president Sharon Hightower. Former Claremont Traffic and Transportation commissioner Tim Worley is also on the task force and, with Hightower, was a task force co-Vice Chair.

Worley works for the San Gabriel and Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy (RMC) as their director of water policy. He also used to work for the Metropolitan Water District and for Three Valleys Municipal Water District. RMC, his current employer, is a quasi-public state agency in a position to toss a good deal of money over to Claremont and to Three Valleys as well.

Hightower was also chair of the city's Affordable Housing Task Force. Apparently, the Claremont 400's bench is getting a bit thin. Should they be the Claremont 40? The Claremont 4?

As with most of these sorts of things, there are a number of good ideas, along with some self-interest and a dash of hypocrisy built in. And blindness. A good deal of hubris-driven blindness as well. Can you find those things?

The city is taking public comment on the draft plan over the next few months. The city informs us:

The public is invited to review and comment on the draft plan at any of the following six City commission meetings:

July 23, Architectural Commission
July 24, Traffic and Transportation Commission
September 2, Planning Commission

September 3, Human Services Commission
September 4, Police Commission

September 11, Community Services Commission

All meetings will begin at 7 p.m. and are located in the City of Claremont Council Chamber, 225 Second Street. A copy of the document is available for review at the City Hall public counter at 207 Harvard Avenue, and may be downloaded by clicking on the link below. For additional information, contact the City's Senior Planner, Christopher Veirs at (909) 399-5486.

http://www.claremontonline.net/download.cfm?ID=25468