City of El Monte Health & Wellness Technical Advisory Group
Recently, MDLT was invited by Veronica Dolleschel, Deputy City Manager, El Monte Community Services and Marian Last, Manager, El Monte Community and Senior Services to serve as a member of their Health and Wellness Technical Advisory Group (TAG).  The City will develop a Health and Wellness Element for the El Monte General Plan, with proposed components addressing healthy lifestyles and physical activity, access to healthy food, public safety and security, and access to recreation.  As a member of the Health and Wellness TAG team, MDLT will have the opportunity to shape policies for creating healthy communities.

Green LA Urban Ecosystems Work Group
(co-chair)
The Green LA Coalition is comprised of over 100 environmental, environmental justice and community-based organizations whose purpose is to guide Los Angeles toward a just and sustainable future.

Alianza de los Pueblos del Rio (co-founder)
The Alianza formed in 2005 when its leaders decided that the development of the L.A. River was a symbolic and literal convergence of a myriad of issues confronting L.A.’s Latino population. To be left out of the discussion was to be left high and dry, as the river shifts directions into the future. Instead, the Alianza, which includes The City Project at the Center for Law in the Public Interest, the Anahuak Youth Soccer Association, Mujeres de la Tierra, Re-mapping L.A., and the William C. Velásquez Institute, has spearheaded river meetings and community outreach that is growing into a comprehensive new platform of urban Latino environmentalism. Part legal strategy, part organizing principle, this “green movement en español” has put people--immigrants and poor people, mostly--at the center of an issue traditionally focused on flora and fauna.

Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance
The Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance (GBHA) was formed to raise awareness about the health issues surrounding the Baldwin Hills Oil Field in central Los Angeles and engage residents in community action to shape environmental standards.  The GBHA is ensuring that the Baldwin Hills are clean and green for all for generations to come. The Alliance has prepared a draft Community Standards District to regulate oil drilling in the Baldwin Hills.  The GBHA continues to advocate for regulations that will put people, homes, and parks before oil company profits. http://www.cityprojectca.org/ourwork/baldwinhills.html#csd

Baldwin Hills Community Advisory Panel
Baldwin Hills Community Advisory Panel (CAP), instituted by the Baldwin Hills Community Standards District (CSD) and chosen by the staff of the Department of Regional Planning, is made up of community members who represent homeowners associations, community groups, school districts, Culver City, LA City, etc. and is facilitated by staff from the Department of Regional Planning.

The The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Vote 5-0 to Support the Following Motion introduced by Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas

Direct the Acting Planning Director to initiate a study to consider amendments to the Baldwin Hills Community Standard District (CSD) ordinance which include enhancements or modifications of regulations for the benefit of the community related to aesthetics, the intensity of drilling at the site and health impacts, through measures which may include, but are not limited to the following:

a) revising the number of new wells allowed per year and over all;

b) imposing controls regarding the abandonment of wells per year and over all;

c) consider establishing an end date for drilling;

d) the possibility of under-grounding electrical service;

e) the possibility of under - grounding all piping;

f) providing for additional visual screening of drilling and pumping activities;

g) providing for immediate restoration of vegetation and topography;

h) and ensuring the adequacy of the required health studies; and direct the Acting Planning Director, after completion of the study, to provide preliminary recommendations to the Multiple-Agency Coordination Committee and the Community Advisory Panel for review and comment; and Convene a public hearing before the Regional Planning Commission to consider possible amendments to the CSD and that the Planning Commission make a recommendation to the Board regarding possible amendments or modifications to the CSD for the Board's consideration.

LOS ANGELES – Responding to concerns raised by residents near the Baldwin Hills oil field, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas introduced a motion on Tuesday, July 28, calling on County officials to consider amending the ordinance that regulates drilling at the site.

The proposal, scheduled to come before the Board of Supervisors next week, calls for looking into the possibility of revising the number of new wells allowed per year, imposing controls regarding the abandonment of wells and consideration and establishing an end date for drilling.

“Over the past two years, numerous stakeholders have raised concerns about the sufficiency of land use regulation and the protection of the safety and welfare of the surrounding community,” the Supervisor said in his motion.

Despite the regulations imposed last year by the Baldwin Hills Community Standards District (CSD), the Supervisor said, “concerns remain regarding potential health impacts, the aesthetics of the oil field, and the number of new, allowable wells.”

He noted these concerns have been raised in four pending lawsuits which challenge the approval of the CSD and its related environmental impact report.

The Supervisor’s motion directs the acting director of the Department of Regional Planning to initiate a study that could include "enhancements or modifications of regulations for the benefit of the community related to aesthetics, the intensity of drilling at the site and health impacts."

Upon completion of the study, the acting director would provide preliminary recommendations to the Multiple-Agency Coordination Committee and the Community Advisory Panel for review and comment, and convene a public hearing before the Regional Planning Commission to consider possible amendments to the CSD.

The Planning Commission also would make a recommendation to the Board regarding possible amendments or modifications to the CSD.

“In light of the continuing concerns raised by the community, a zoning ordinance that regulates the long-term use of oil extraction on this land should ensure that the county prioritizes the health, safety and well-being of the community,” the Supervisor said. 

For more information, please visit http://ridley-thomas.lacounty.gov/Pages/Issues/baldwin_hills_drill.htm.

Los Angeles County Single Use Bag Work Group
The County of Los Angeles’ Single Use Bag Reduction and Recycling Program provides the framework for implementing voluntary single use bag reduction and recycling by the County, and large supermarkets and retail stores, the Program includes specific goals for the reduction of carryout plastic bags and preparation of an ordinance to ban such plastic bags in Los Angeles County unincorporated areas if reduction goals are not met by prescribed deadlines.  The voluntary Program is in partnership with the Los Angeles County Directors of Public Works, Internal Services, Public Health, and the Sanitation Districts, and key stakeholders, including large supermarkets and retail stores, the plastic bag industry, environmental organizations, and recyclers.  It reduces the use of disposable plastic bags; increases at-store recycling of plastic bags; increases post-consumer recycled content of paper bags; and promotes public awareness of litter impacts and consumer responsibility.

Coalition for an Active South Los Angeles