PALM STREET PERSPECTIVE  July 7 2010

Mitchell Park was ablaze with red white and blue and crowded with people on the Fourth of July.  As I wandered through the sunny park to the tune of the County Band’s rendition of “God Bless America,” I felt swept away with love for our city and our country.
The City has rencently made heartening progress lately in stewarding its resources. Council approved a new Water Element, the first to include water from Lake Nacimento, which we will draw from later this year. Coupled with our success in conserving water, this means that  for the first time San Luis has a secure and sufficient supply to last until build-out.  The Element establishes a reliability reserve, consistent with our City Charter. The Naci pipeline is finishing early and under budget. I have been working with a Monterey County Supervisor to promote a bi-county educational campaign to keep the reservoir free from contamination of Quaaga Mussels.
We are also adding to our Open Space resources. The City just approved an offer from the Bureau of Land Management to manage 78 acres, access to which will allow people to climb to the ridge of the Irish Hills for an outstanding ocean view.  On July 28, 2010 escrow will close on the City’s purchase of 310 acres of Froom Ranch open space from the Madonna family. Thanks to the generosity of San Luis Obispo citizens, who donated over $60,000, and the gracious agreement of the sellers to an appraisal which lowered the price of the land, we were able to swing the deal.
Of course, we also need to prepare, proactively to threats to those resources, City-wide and on the regional level. Serving as the City’s representative on the boards of the SLO Council of Governments, SLO Regional Transit Agency and Air Pollution Control District has made me increasingly aware of the importance of regional planning.  This is especially true as it relates to planning for reduction of green house gases and adapting to climate change. I started wondering exactly how climate change will affect our region.
I was spurred to work with the Local Government Commission (which developed the Ahwahnee Principles), the National Center for Conservation Science and Policy, and Supervisor Jim Patterson to bring a series of conferences here, focusing on climate change as it will specifically affect San Luis Obispo County. What will happen? What should we do now to prepare ourselves?  Ours is one of only two counties in the whole state funded by the Kresge Foundation to study and help develop local climate change response strategies.
Conserving our financial resources is also crucial, given the shortfalls in sales tax and transit occupancy tax and generalized economic uncertainty. With the skillful guidance of Katie Lichtig, City Manager, Council recently balanced the budget by making mid-cycle budget cuts of $3 million. Challenges lie ahead, like dealing with predicted structural deficits, negotiating labor contracts and deciding how to deal with rising PERS pension costs.  These challenges will best be met by residents, businesses and city staff working together through our goal-setting and budget process, which starts in January 2011.  As always, I look forward to hearing your ideas and concerns. Please feel free to call 541-2716 or email jmarx@slocity.org