FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2011
Volume 10 Issue 304
Santa Monica Daily Press
CLOWNS ON PARADE SEE PAGE 4
We have you covered
SM City Council embraces strategy for green economy BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD
THE JUST A SUGGESTION ISSUE
Merchants make their voices heard at City Hall
Daily Press Staff Writer
BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD CITY HALL The City Council signed off on a plan to walk its sustainability talk Tuesday when it accepted the Strategy for a Sustainable Local Economy, a policy meant to “green” all aspects of the business environment in the city by the sea. The plan attacks sustainability in every sense of the word, calling for policies that reduce the environmental footprint of Santa Monica businesses while also encouraging economic vitality and the corresponding benefits to the city’s tax base. “Sustainable” is a broad term, said Dean Kubani, director of the Office of Sustainability and the Environment tasked with coordinating the plan. “It’s not just about companies that produce sustainable products or operate in a sustainable manner, but also those that give back to the community,” Kubani said. Different businesses and industries give back in different ways, either in terms of high wage jobs, products or services the community wants to use or even the amount of tax revenue funneled back into city services. Much of the strategy presented Tuesday was aimed at bringing in the right mix of businesses and then providing incentives and programs that allowed them to be as eco-friendly as possible while also able to make a living. The plan promotes attracting and retaining a sustainable array of businesses, working with new and existing businesses to make their processes and buildings less resource-intensive and supporting those businesses through marketing and a commitment to buy local. Council members embraced the presentation with an eye to plug holes in the business community that lead Santa Monicans to big box stores outside of city limits. “We need something between the 99Cent Store and Bloomingdales,” said Councilmember Kevin McKeown. There’s a lot of work left to do, staff said. The city lacks a sustainable business hub to support the development of green busi-
Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL Lighting. Traffic. Parking. It sounds like a laundry list of resident concerns, but a presentation by Santa Monica’s four Business Improvement
Districts before the City Council Tuesday hit all of the same notes, underscoring the tight relationship between quality of life for citizens and the businesses that serve them. Leaders of the BIDs from Downtown, Main Street, Pico Boulevard and Montana Avenue came to speak to the council with a
united voice, asking for help with common goals like streamlining processes and help navigating the requirements of City Hall, but also for support for ideas individual to each of the BIDs. SEE MERCHANTS PAGE 10
SWEET DEAL
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com Kindergarten students from John Muir Elementary School Thursday inspect five 19-gallon barrels full of candy before being shipped off to United States troops overseas. PTA members collected 300 lbs. of Halloween candy from students from both SMASH and John Muir.
SEE COUNCIL PAGE 9
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