SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA ITEM #1
TOWN OF FAIRFAX
SPECIAL MEETING STAFF REPORT
June 7, 2023
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: Michele Gardner, Town Clerk
SUBJECT: Interview and consider appointment of applicants to the Climate Action Committee and the Community Emergency Preparedness Committee; appoint a Council liaison to the Community Emergency Preparedness Committee __________________________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Interview applicant Liz Gottlieb for the Climate Action Committee to fill a vacancy term to May 31, 2025, and make appointment as appropriate.
2. Interview applicants Guy Norenius and Jeremy Nieuwenhuijs for the Community Emergency Preparedness Committee, each for a three-year term, and make appointments as appropriate.
Staff recommends Mr. Norenius be appointed to the at-large community member position and Mr. Nieuwenhuijs be appointed to the Neighborhood Response Group category.
3. Appoint Mayor Cutrano Town Council liaison on the Community Emergency Preparedness Committee.
DISCUSSION
Climate Action Committee
There are currently three (3) vacancies for the Climate Action Committee, each with a term of two (2) years. There is one applicant for the position, Fairfax resident Liz Gottlieb, who has attended at least one meeting of the Committee.
The Climate Action Committee (“CAC”) was established to implement the Climate Action Plan, adopted by the Town Council on February 5, 2014. Its mission is to mitigate the production of greenhouse gas and compile existing and potential strategies to address climate change.
Initially it was a subcommittee of the General Plan Implementation Committee (“GPIC”); in July 2015, CAC was established as a separate Town Committee.
CAC develops an annual action plan as well as any recommended amendments to the Climate Action Plan. In addition, the committee keeps a scorecard to track greenhouse gas reduction actions taken.
SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA ITEM #1
Community Emergency Preparedness Committee
There are currently two (2) at-large community member vacancies on the Community Emergency Preparedness Committee (“CEPC”). The seven members of the committee are to represent specific stakeholders, according to the CEPC establishment resolution. Additionally, there is one vacancy for the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce category, one for the Neighborhood Response Group (“NRG”). When making appointments, the Council will need to state which stakeholder group the member will represent.
The applications for the CEPC before the Council tonight are from two Fairfax residents:
• Guy Norenius
• Jeremy Nieuwenhuijs
Mr. Norenius is eligible for the community member-at-large position.
Mr. Nieuwenhuijs is eligible for the Community Emergency Response Team (“CERT”) category and the NRG category; we recommend appointing him to the NRG category since the CERT category is filled.
As a reminder, on March 1, 2023 the Council appointed the first two members to CEPC, one representing Age Friendly category, and one representing the Firewise category. The Community Emergency Preparedness Committee was formed in 2021 by resolution of the Town Council (attached for background) and includes 7 members. Appointing the two applicants would complete the quorum (4) for this committee, allowing them to determine a meeting cadence and begin gathering.
Finally, the Council needs to assign its own liaison to the Committee. Mayor Cutrano has expressed an interest in this role, as he worked with former Fairfax Councilmember Renée Goddard to develop the CEPC and has a clear understanding of the committee’s purpose and structure.
ATTACHMENTS
A. Liz Gottlieb
B. Guy Norenius
C. Jeremy Nieuwenhuijs
D. Resolution 21-11
Date
04/24/2023
Fairfax Boards and Commissions Application
Please select the board/committee/commission to which you are applying:
• Climate Action Committee
Name
Liz Gottlieb
Address
Fairfax, California 94930
Phone
Email
Please explain your interest in serving on this Board, Commission, or Committee.
I am very interested in applying my academic studies as a biologist/naturalist and my professional work as an educator to local action. I care deeply about our environment including people and planet. I am eager to learn from community members and contribute my skills toward a common goal to help move toward a sustainable, equitable and just future for communities and planet.
Please describe your relevant work/life experience or background for the board/commission you are applying for:
I am a passionate science educator who has spent a large portion of my career engaging students in local events and policies. Over the years my classes have debated and explored the Streamside Ordinance in West Marin, Restoration vs Development in the San Francisco South Bay, the state of salmon in California via a mock trial "Salmon vs. the State of California" and most recently the Reusable Foodware Ordinance in Marin.
Since childhood, I have been an enthusiastic learner and naturalist, born an identical twin and the 7th of 8 children in an east coast Irish Catholic family. Since earning my science degree and entering the teaching profession 26 years ago, my life has blended the personal and professional with my passion as a runner and coach, high-school science educator and naturalist, avid mycologist, and parent of two teen daughters. I teach a senior elective called, "Climate Justice: Science, Culture and The Stories we Tell about Climate".
Through writings, videos, guest lectures, place-based activities and concurrent service projects students develop skills and leadership abilities to spend the last 5 weeks of the course addressing the needs of a local organization.
What is your vision for the Town of Fairfax?
I am interested in supporting efforts to make Fairfax a more sustainable community through electrification, carbon sequestration programs, water conservation efforts, sustainable and active transportation arteries
ATTACHMENT A
for all. (to name a few). I would absolutely love to help involve more students in Fairfax's climate action goals. I am also interested in engaging with more people on local issues.
Please describe possible areas of conflict of interest.
NA
Please enter the date of the meeting you attended:
April 18, 2023 (CAC)
Electronic Signature
• By printing your name below and checking this box you agree that represents your electronic signature on the application.
Please type your full name here.
Elizabeth Gottlieb
ATTACHMENT B
ATTACHMENT C
1 RESOLUTION 21-11
A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OFFAIRFAX
ESTABLISHING A COMMUNITY EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE WHEREAS the Town Council desires to form a Community Emergency Preparedness Committee (Committee) to support and help coordinate collaborative town-wide efforts to prepare residents to respond to emergencies of all kinds; and WHEREAS the Town Council will follow its standard practice of interviewing and appointing members to the Committee; consider the ratification of appointments from the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce and Age Friendly Fairfax via the Parks and Recreation Commission; assign a Council representative; and request a liaison from the Ross Valley Fire Department; and
WHEREAS the general focus of the Committee would be on tangible, practical, costeffective actions regarding emergency preparedness that can be implemented at the local level, including but not limited to the following:
a. increase community awareness about the full spectrum of potential disasters and the need for emergency preparedness;
b. consolidate, develop, and distribute emergency preparedness information and educational materials;
c. facilitate communication and coordination between existing emergency preparedness programs;
d. develop, recommend, and implement new community outreach and education activities;
e. promote and develop volunteer opportunities to encourage community participation in local efforts, such as Firewise and Neighborhood Response Groups (NRG);
f. collaborate with other governmental agencies focused on emergency preparedness (via coordination of community presentations and regular preparedness updates from Town Council representatives, Town staff, and other local/regional emergency preparedness personnel).
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED by the Town Council of the Town of Fairfax that the Fairfax Community Emergency Preparedness Committee shall be established as follows:
1. The Committee shall consist of one (1) liaison from the Fairfax Town Council, one (1) liaison from the Ross Valley Fire Department (RVFD), and (7) members appointed by the Town Council and representing the following Town stakeholders:
a. Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
b. Firewise
ATTACHMENT D
2 c. Neighborhood Response Group (NRG)
d. The Fairfax Chamber of Commerce
e. Age Friendly Fairfax
f. Community members-at-large (2)
2. Each appointed member shall serve for a three-year term, with the initial terms staggered to avoid complete turnover in year three.
The foregoing Resolution was duly passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Town Council of the Town of Fairfax held in said Town on the 5th day of May 2021, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: ACKERMAN, COLER, CUTRANO, GODDARD, HELLMAN
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
/s/
________________________________
BRUCE ACKERMAN, Mayor
/s/
Attest: ________________________
Michele Gardner, Town Clerk