March 9, 2009

City Council postpones plastic grocery bag discussion

By Carol Rosen
Editor

Although initially there was a segment on the City Council’s Feb. 24 meeting to discuss banning plastic grocery bags, the item was dropped and referred back to the Transportation & Environ-ment Committee.

The idea, which already has been passed into law in several other Bay Area cities, is to reduce or stop the use of plastic bags, which clog landfills and have an extremely slow rate of decomposition. Parts of the agenda item recommended that city staff continue supporting the Santa Clara County Recycling and Waste Reduction Commission to develop a regional approach and to provide feedback to the commission on the county’s draft model ordinance language.

It further suggested more study into implementation, cost and stakeholder outreach plans to ban plastic bags as well as supporting legislation to implement a statewide program.

Salary meetings
In other city news, San Jose’s Council Salary Setting Commission has set up a number of meetings for residents to voice their ideas about pay for the mayor and council members.

The Council Salary Setting Commission is appointed by the Civil Service Commission and meets in odd-numbered years to establish compensation for the city’s elected officials. The commission makes recommendations to the City Council regarding its compensation, which the City Council must either accept or reject. The Commission will issue a report by April 30 that will set compensation levels for the mayor and city council beginning July 1 through June 30, 2011.

As a part of its process, the commission invites comments from current and former mayors and council members, past candidates who have run for city office, other public officials and members of the public. The meetings begin with one at City Hall on Wednesday, March 4 at 5:30 p.m. at the City Clerk’s office, room wing-242. A second meeting will be held on Thursday, March 5 at 7 p.m. at the West Valley Branch Library’s Community Room, 1243 San Tomas Aquino Road.

A third meeting is planned for Monday, March 9 at 7 p.m. at City Hall in the City Clerk’s office. The final two meetings are scheduled for Wednesday, March 18 at 6 p.m. at the Cambrian Branch Library Community Room, 1780 Hillsdale Ave; and Saturday, March 21 at 10 a.m. at the Evergreen Branch Library Community Room, 2635 Aborn Road.

Dire weight news
It’s being reported that San Jose placed 15th in the list of fattest cities for 2009.

“Men’s Fitness” released its11th annual survey of the Fittest and Fattest Cities in The United States. The survey takes many health predictors into consideration, including amount of fitness centers and sports stores, number of fast food restaurants, nutrition, sports participation, TV viewing, air quality, access to health care, state and local initiatives, and more.

According to the survey, which breaks down health predictors like a report card, San Jose received an “F” in fitness and sports centers, parks and open space, city recreational facilities and access to health care. The city did score high in terms of state initiatives and geography, which most likely reflects Gov. Schwarzenegger’s California Obesity Prevention Plan.

Other “fat cities” in California are San Diego and L.A.-Long Beach. Miami, Fla. is number one on the list. California also has three cities in the “fittest city” list: San Francisco, Sacramento, and Fresno, according to the magazine.

Reed is getting around
Mayor Chuck Reed left for Washington, D.C. on March 1 and will spend five days meeting with members of the Obama Administration, Senate and Congress, as well as with think tanks and other organizations working on clean technology and other issues critical to San Jose ’s agenda.

On Friday, Feb. 27, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, co-chairs of Building America’s Future, announced that Reed has joined its bipartisan and national infrastructure coalition comprised of state and locally elected officials to help secure a renewed federal commitment to infrastructure.