SOUNDING OFF: Wish list for the new City Council

I suspect we all have our own wish lists ready for the new City Council, and so I will stand in line with the rest of you thinking about mine.

The first thing that I want more than anything is that Tom Osborne, a champion of the environment, be reappointed to the Environmental Committee.

His dismissal was a travesty of justice, and everyone knows it. The U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement that City Council unanimously adopted on Feb. 6, 2007, and the council’s agreement to adopt and implement the plan earlier this year is an empty agenda if not pursued.

Given the serious and manifold environmental challenges facing our city I ask that the council expand the size of the Environmental Committee from seven to nine members. The plan will be further along if we get Tom back.

My list for 2009 is long, but I suspect so is yours.

I wish that Montage at the very least will change out their incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent lights (even better LED’s) in our beautiful Treasure Island Park, that Caltrans will clean up their act in the Canyon, that we pay a penny or more in our stores for a plastic bag, that we take seriously our ban on leaf blowers and edgers that affect our health, that we adopt a return policy on bottles and cans, conserve water, work on light and air pollution, get off the [energy] grid and on and on.

The awful sewage spill that occurred a few weeks ago has been speedily fixed (thank you, Mr. Frank), but it exhorts us to hasten the slow work of cleaning our beaches and ocean, diverting and re-cycling Aliso Creek.

Watching the un-green Senior Center take shape, we must be charged with constructing energy-efficient buildings in the future both in the public and private sector. We pride ourselves on being a pedestrian-friendly community, so let’s have more public walkways and walk more.

These are the issues that the Environmental Committee is charged with and together with City Council can work to implement. This is why it is imperative to have Tom Osborne back on board, leading us forward by adopting our environmental needs and being better stewards of our world. It is time to reclaim the environmental leadership that once was ours.

See you all at city hall with your lists in hand.

The City Council is waiting for us and a new day is dawning bright and green.

CHARLOTTE MASARIK lives in Laguna Beach.