Important meetings and announcements week of May 28th

[Bruce England]

Notices

• Comment letters in development for this week:
  No comment letters in play right now that I'm aware of, though verbal comments are anticipated for some of the agenda items listed below as red text as applicable.
  For Sustainability Action Plan 4 Progress Update and Recommended Modifications at the Council Transportation Committee meeting, under Develop a Fleet Electrification Plan (T8.3), I'd like to see exploration of vehicle width options  included in plan development To help us narrow roadways without having to accommodate emergency vehicle widths that we do today. And support in general for the in-development Active Transportation Plan (ATP) and green complete streets infrastructure.
  If you have comments/suggestions for any of those, please share them by replying to this email and/or posting to the related Mountain View Advocacy Slack channels here.
  
• Bookmobile stop location suggestions?:
  From Brandon Whyte, City of Mountain View active transportation planner:
  Not really our field of expertise but I’m being asked anyway and I’m happy to help out the Library folks.
  I need your help.
  Where should the bookmobile go in MV?
  Ideas that come to mind:
  - Mobile home parks
  - Assisted living centers
  - Neighborhood meetings
  - Little league events
  - Schools – but when I suggested this in person it was met with resistance for reasons I can’t remember…sorry
  - City events like monster bash
  - Rengstorff park on a regular basis?
  Let Brandon know your thoughts at Brando...@mountainview.gov.

Continued Notices

• Next City meeting on Bernardo undercrossing project:
  From Angela Obeso with Sunnyvale Public Works:
  it was scheduled for tonight’s Council meeting [5/16] but it got bumped due to other items and schedules.  I was unaware until the agenda came out, so we are working with the City Clerk’s and City Manager’s offices to figure out when it will get rescheduled.  As of right now, we’re thinking it will either be next week (5/23) or the following meeting (6/6).
  We are working to get the webpage updated, but due to the tight timeline it may not get done in time.  As soon as we have a rescheduled date, we will update the website and also send out an email blast to the Bernardo UC subscription list.
• June 15, Bridging the Climate/Housing Gap - How to Move Forward Together:
  From Amie Ashton, Executive Director, Palo Alto Forward:
  Event Name: Bridging the Climate/Housing Gap - How to Move Forward Together
  Purpose: Help climate activists and housing activists understand the connections between their mutual goals so they can be better advocates for anti-sprawl housing policies and infill development projects.
  Date, Location and Format: June 15, 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Stanford Research Park - The Hub and on Zoom. Format is an In-person/Hybrid Webinar
  Links to Sign Up: Eventbrite requires different links for in-person versus on zoom.
  - Here is the in-person event (limited to 80 attendees): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bridging-the-climatehousing-gap-how-to-move-forward-together-tickets-634253257567
  - Here is the Zoom event (up to 500 attendees): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/online-bridging-the-climatehousing-gap-how-to-move-forward-together-tickets-634961205057
  Speakers: Each speaker will have a 10 to 15 minute presentation, then we can have Q&A with the audience.
  - Liz O‘donoghue - The Nature Conservancy
  - Alice Kaufman - Green Foothills
  - Jordan Grimes - Greenbelt Alliance
  To reduce greenhouse gas emissions during the critical next 10 years in the Bay Area, we need a regional vision that is resilient to climate change, protects open space and biodiversity, and advances infill housing development. Many climate activists are unaware, however, that focusing housing growth in walkable, bikeable communities is one of the biggest opportunities we have to reduce Bay Area GHGs. Join The Nature Conservancy, Greenbelt Alliance, and Green Foothills on Thursday, June 15, from 6 to 8 pm,  to learn how smart planning for housing can reduce emissions and protect our open space and biodiversity. Join the event in person at the Stanford Hub or join via Zoom.
• Active Transportation Plan survey now available:
  From Brandon Whyte, City of Mountain View active transportation planner:
  I welcome you to take the Active Transportation Plan survey at www.MountainViewATP.com. Now is the best time to be heard and make lasting change.
  Do you have a:
  - Policy improvement you want?
  - Big project you want prioritized?
  - A small project?
  - Maybe a complaint without a solution?
  - Maybe a solution without a complaint? (I’ll be happy with either)
  - A bike rack you want ?
  ANYTHING BIKE OR PEDESTRIAN-RELATED?
  Please click the link above and use the survey. There is a handy mapping function that will allow you to show us exactly where to fix it. You can also see what other people have requested by turning on a layer of the map. That said, just because one person requested it does not mean you should not. The more requests we have for one thing, the more likely we are to prioritize it.
  The survey is open until 30 calendar days after the launch, which was May 18th.
  
• April Webster green complete streets comment letter:
  You can read her draft and add comments to it here.
  From Sandhya Laddha (san...@bikesiliconvalley.org) at SVBC: These are some comments SVBC will be sharing on the draft DIB-94. If you have any suggestions, let me know by 5pm on 5/15. Or feel free to send your comments directly to "Complete...@dot.ca.gov"  They are accepting comments until Wed 5/17.
  April says: In order for your comments to be "accepted," you must use the spreadsheet Caltrans shared. I've uploaded it to a Google drive for convenient sharing: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1roC7WpTjvGNho8FNuZ-LoktvLj7wiEnm/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=111799708366841777475&rtpof=true&sd=true
• VTA/county BPAC update to the county-wide active transportation plan:
  From Brandon Whyte:
  I just wanted to share the opportunity to learn more about the County’s on-going update to their Active Transportation Plan.
  This is the detailed presentation given to the VTA/county BPAC on the update to the county-wide active transportation plan: http://santaclaravta.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=4&ID=11633&MeetingID=3834
  The website with more information and the opportunity to submit feedback is: https://activesantaclaracounty.org/
• The City still doesn't fully have a public-facing hybrid meeting process in place 😢:
  For example, the Parks and Recreation Commission, Public Safety Advisory Board, Senior Advisory Committee, and Youth Advisory Committee, and the DRC and Administrative Zoning hearings have not been doing this so far.
  If you care about this, please contact City Council to urge them to expedite the solution. Adequate public access is being compromised through this until it's fixed.
  Similarly, you can sign this petition to tell the county to reinstate virtual public comment.
  What the City is saying on delays to public-facing hybrid meetings:
  Thank you for your inquiry regarding hybrid public meetings. This email was forwarded to me for a response on behalf of the City Council. The Council is blind copied on this response.
  Meetings of the City Council and the Environmental Planning Commission are currently accessible in person, on Zoom, and on the City’s YouTube page. Additionally, meetings of the Rental Housing Committee will also be accessible in person or on Zoom beginning with the Committee’s next meeting on March 27. Members of the public who wish to participate in these meetings can choose between attending and commenting in person or via Zoom.
  The City is committed to community engagement, including enhanced access to public meetings, and recognizes the importance of remote participation options to our community. City staff is working on enabling remote public participation at Council subcommittee meetings and all other Council Advisory Body meetings. This includes upgrading meeting rooms, identifying and assigning additional staff members to attend advisory body meetings to manage the expanded tasks associated with supporting both in-person and remote meeting elements,  writing policies and procedures, and training staff to ensure consistent and effective meetings.
  Recent upgrades at City Hall will allow us to begin piloting remote public participation for in-person meetings next month with a small number of meeting bodies in which community members have expressed particular interest for a hybrid option. Staff is continuing work on upgrading meeting rooms throughout the City, though this work is taking longer than expected due to delayed receipt of equipment orders and a need to integrate the new technology with existing AV systems and room configurations.
  Staff will be testing the technology and building capacity to run meetings that support meaningful and organized participation for in-person and virtual attendees to pave the way for the increased adoption of remote participation through June and widespread adoption in Fall 2023, following the summer hiatus. This phased approach is intended to minimize technological errors, facilitate consistency between meeting bodies, and ensure sufficient staffing and staff training for effective hybrid public meetings.

Meetings and events this week

• Tuesday, May 30th, 6:00 PM: Council Sustainability Committee meeting. City Hall, Plaza conference room (2nd floor), 500 Castro Street and see remote access details in the agenda file.
  For information on the City website:
  https://mountainview.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=1101736&GUID=83D08EFE-4718-4F18-ADC5-D9CC53364AE4
  Including:

  6. NEW BUSINESS
  6.1 Final 2020 and Preliminary 2021 Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories
  6.2 Sustainability Action Plan 4 Progress Update and Recommended Modifications