SC 02-16-2017ROLL CALL
CITY OF CUPERTINO SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION
Environmental Education Center 22221 McClellan Road
Thursday February 16, 2017 4:00 PM
MINUTES
The meeting convened at 4:07 pm
Commissioners Present: Meera Ramanathan, Angela Chen, Anna Weber,
and Vignesh Swaminathan (arrived @4:09)
Commissioner Absent: Gary Latshaw
Staff: Misty Mersich, Sustainability Manager; Cheri Donnelly, Environmental Programs
Manager; Lauren Dickinson, Environmental Outreach Coordinator
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Draft minutes of January 19, 2017 meeting approved with minor edit to change the year
to 2017. Motion by Commissioner Chen, 2"d by Commissioner Weber. Motion passes 3-
0-2 with Latshaw and Swaminathan absent.
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
None.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Subject: Earth Day & Arbor Day Update and Planning
Lauren Dickinson gave an update on the plans for Earth Day & Arbor Day celebration
held at the Civic Center on Saturday April 22, 2017. So far, 54 partners have registered
to table and 123 volunteers have signed up for the day. Registration for partners closes
on March 24th. This year the committee decided to recruit lead volunteers to help run
the event. There are 5 positions; Lead Volunteer Coordinator, Registration Coordinator,
Community Bike Ride Assistant, Entertainment Coordinator, and Zero Waste Event
Specialist. Recruitment has been sent to De Anza College & SJSU contacts; shared with
high schools career centers, and posted on City's website. Fun new activities this year
include; Pedal 4 the Planet Bike Ride; Yoga Class; Bike valet service by SVBC;
Neighborhood Tree Walk led by City arborists; Art & Innovation Exhibit-recycled art
and inventions by K-12 students. There is interest in showing films in community hall
as an ECO-film Fest. Currently thinking about showing the Story of Shi££ series, which
are about 25 minutes each. Staff did look into showing The Lorax, but copyright costs
$135 each film from Swank Motion Pictures, which is high considering this is just a
small side show of the entire event. The Commissioners talked about the possibility of
showing Before the Flood, because it is also free. Commissioners also discussed the
possibility of having a Sustainability table at the event, staffed by Commissioners. Ideas
for the table: update on GHG emissions; An easel which people can write an answer to
the question" What are your sustainability priorities?"; a suggestion box; and showcase
GreenBiz' s in Cupertino. Each commissioner could staff the table for about one hour.
This item will be discussed in March to confirm the details .
2. Subject: Earth Day Update and Planning
Cheri Donnelly, Environmental Program Manager, passed out a draft Zero Waste
policy. This policy is based off a similar policy adopted by the City of Sunnyvale.
Commissioners are encouraged to provide any comments or suggestions to Cheri on
any improvements they would like to see. Commissioners asked Cheri to give them a
list of ideas for zero waste projects the division is currently working on and would like
to work on, including the challenges.
STAFF AND COMMISSION REPORTS
3. Subject: Silicon Valley Clean Energy
Misty Mersich gave a power point presentation on Silicon Valley Clean Energy, starting
service April 2017.
4. Subject: Report out from Speaker Series committee
Commissioners Chen reported that she and Commissioner Latshaw met with the
Library commission. They are working on a Hackathon. They are interested in
partnering with the Sustainability commission. They would need access to city data.
Commissioner Chen expressed interest in having the kids develop a video on the
Climate Action Plan. The Library commission also sponsors a 6 week camp called S4.
The kids develop a product, and they have different speakers talk to them. There is also
interest in partnering with the Master Gardeners, for a speaker. Commissioner Chen
also met a Library commissioner who works at NASA, and can help us with speakers.
Commissioners discussed the possibility of holding the speaker series focused on the
schools or DeAnza.
5. Commission Reports
Commissioner Ramanathan reported that she and Commissioner Latshaw attended
Stanford Energy Speaker series.
Commissioner Weber and Ramanathan reported that they have an interest in
outreaching to the schools on waste reduction. They will be meeting with Misty and
Cheri to discuss their ideas.
6 . Staff Updates
Staff is working on many projects. This includes a GHG inventory update, releasing an
RFQ for Community Based Social Marketing campaign focused on energy and water.
Staff is also working on collecting data to prepare a progress report on the Climate
Action Plan, which is slated to be completed by the end of the April. PACE passed the
City Council on February 7th, and so staff is working on updating a webpage.
ADJOURNMENT-6:00pm.