Upcoming Sponsorship Opportunities with ECOS

The Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) requests your support for our two annual fall events: the Environmentalist of the Year Awards and the Wild and Scenic Film Festival on Tour in Sacramento. Your sponsorship allows us to successfully present these landmark events, provides you with significant recognition, and is an investment in the ongoing success of ECOS.

As you may know, ECOS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization comprised of a broad range of organizations and individuals who unite to create a single voice for local environmental concerns. Our mission is to achieve regional and community sustainability and a healthy environment for existing and future residents. ECOS works proactively with our members, member organizations, local government, and community groups to energize and create positive change in the Sacramento region as we work to develop thriving communities.

In addition to our day-to-day work as the region’s primary watch dog of land use and transportation project development, ECOS and Habitat 2020 (our Habitat and Conservation committee), operates with five overarching policy objectives:

  1. Promote and reinforce Smart Growth principles
  2. Improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow climate change
  3. Establish a regionally coordinated conservation strategy
  4. Establish a sustainable regional water supply for both ecological and municipal needs
  5. Achieve equity in housing, public health, and economic opportunity

43rd Annual Environmentalist of the Year Awards

ECOS has been hosting the Environmentalist of the Year awards since the early 1970’s. The awards ceremony is a time to celebrate and recognize the past year’s regional champions and community sustainability successes. It is also a time to reflect on the work we still have in front of us in the year ahead. We are currently considering nominations for this year’s awards. The 2015 award categories and honorees included: Richard Guerrero (Environmentalist of the Year), Veronica Beaty (Housing Advocacy), Sacramento Urban Agriculture Coalition (Environmental Justice) Michael O’Sullivan (Volunteer of the Year) and Dana Gray (Artist Recognition). All profits from this event will directly support the operations of the Environmental Council of Sacramento.

Environmentalist of the Year Awards Sponsorship Levels

John Muir – $2,500

  • Your name, logo and a link to your website on the ECOS website
  • A listing in the event program in the largest sponsor font size
  • Your logo on event signage
  • 10 tickets
  • Verbal recognition during the awards ceremony

Rachel Carson – $1,000

  • Your name and a link (if applicable) on the ECOS website
  • A special listing in the event program
  • 6 tickets
  • Verbal recognition during the awards ceremony

George Washington Carver – $500

  • Your name and a link (if applicable) on the ECOS website
  • A special listing in the event program
  • 4 tickets
  • Verbal recognition during the awards ceremony

Ansel Adams – $250

  • Your name and a link (if applicable) on the ECOS website
  • A special listing in the event program
  • 2 tickets
  • Verbal recognition during the awards ceremony

7th Annual Wild and Scenic Film Festival on Tour in Sacramento

The great Central Valley of California has been identified by the World Wildlife Fund as one of North America’s most endangered eco-regions. Preserving its remaining open space and agricultural land is essential for sustaining native plants and wildlife, and ensuring a high quality of life for ourselves and future generations. Habitat 2020 is the Habitat & Conservation committee for ECOS, and a coalition that works to protect the lands, waters, wildlife and native plants in the Sacramento region. Habitat 2020 has designed a conservation vision for our region called the California Heartland Project; and through it, we seek to create a connected network of parks, preserves and conservation easements on working farms and ranches. The main goals of the California Heartland Project include increasing access to open space for education and recreation, protecting the unique biological diversity found in the Sacramento Valley and conserving our agricultural heritage. The beneficiary of the Wild and Scenic Film Festival on Tour in Sacramento is the California Heartland Project.

The Wild and Scenic Film Festival stands out as a film festival that inspires and motivates community members to go out and make a difference locally and beyond. ECOS specially designs the Sacramento festival program to address issues that are relevant to our local community, featuring short films that look at themes of water conservation, sustainable development and energy, food and local agriculture, wildlife protection, environmental activism, and outdoor recreation. We continue to make this film festival a lasting and rewarding annual event to inspire communities in Sacramento to enjoy and protect wild and scenic places close to home. Over the years, the festival has become an important event in our community’s calendar and we aspire to continue bringing this service to our local residents and neighbors.

Wild and Scenic Film Festival on Tour Sponsorship Levels

Executive Sponsorship – $500

  • Recognition at the annual film festival
  • Logo on our website and Facebook page with a link to your site
  • Logo and link to your website inserted in our pre-festival e-blasts
  • Name in all of our press releases
  • Logo on the film festival poster
  • Prime location of your logo in the film festival program
  • 10 second onscreen slide in our sponsor reel, played on loop before the film program
  • Personal acknowledgment from stage prior to the film screening
  • Your own table at the event for your organization (limited space)
  • Two passes to the film festival
  • 20 raffle tickets

Associate Sponsorship – $350

  • Recognition at the annual film festival
  • Logo on our website and Facebook page with link to your site
  • Logo and link to your website inserted in our pre-festival e-blasts
  • Logo on the film festival poster and program
  • 5 second onscreen slide in our sponsor reel, played on loop before the film program
  • Personal acknowledgment from stage prior to the film screening
  • The ability to have promotional materials on a table at the event
  • Two passes to the film festival
  • 10 raffle tickets

Supporter Sponsorship – $200

  • Recognition at the annual film festival
  • Logo on our website and Facebook page with link to your site
  • Logo and link to your website inserted in our pre-festival e-blasts
  • 5 second onscreen slide in our sponsor reel, played on loop before the film program
  • Two passes to film festival
  • 5 raffle tickets

In-Kind Sponsorship

Benefits depend on the value of your donation. These may include:

  • Logo on the website and Facebook page with a link to your site
  • Recognition on the poster
  • On-screen slide credit prior to the film program
  • Personal acknowledgment from stage prior to the film screening
  • Pass(es) to the film festival

How to Sponsor

To donate online, just go to our website at www.ecosacramento.net, and click on the ‘Donate’ button on our homepage, or in the menu bar at the top. Please indicate the intent of the check (Environmentalist of the Year award and/or Film Festival and sponsorship level).

Alternatively, you can mail a check to Environmental Council of Sacramento, P.O. Box 1526, Sacramento, California 95812-1526. Please indicate the intent of the check (Environmentalist of the Year award and/or Film Festival and sponsorship level). Since we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, your donation is tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Thank you very much for your consideration and please remember that your generous support makes a significant difference in our day to day operations. Please feel free to contact us with any questions at office[at]ecosacramento[dot]net.

ECOS Comments on Sacramento Railyards Specific Plan Update, KP Medical Center, MLS Stadium, & Stormwater Outfall SEIR

July 27, 2016

These are comments from the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS), with dozens of individual members and organizational members in the tens of thousands. ECOS has a history of over 4 decades of advocacy to limit sprawl, preserve agriculture, habitat and open space, and improve the quality of life while supporting growth with a vibrant and equitable economy.

Alternatives to the Proposed Projects

The glaring deficiency in this SEIR is the lack of an Increased Density/Intensity Alternative.

Land Use, Transportation, Air Quality, Climate Change

ECOS believes that the requested zoning should include a minimum as well as a maximum number of housing units. Virtually all of the mitigations for Transportation, Air Quality and Climate change involve the enrichment of alternatives to automobile travel to, from and within the project. Other than automobile travel, all the other modes of transportation benefit from higher densities and more residential development, irrespective of the correction of any jobs/housing mismatch. Furthermore, the expensive infrastructure improvements necessitated by the project will not be as efficient at the proposed densities as they would at increased densities.

The addition of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center (KP) provides ample basis on which to create plans for all-income housing development that would be synchronized with the creation of jobs in the project. Projects of this nature often favor early scheduling of commercial development, followed later, much later or never, by commensurate housing development. This pattern fosters the creation of undesirable patterns of housing, transportation, land speculation and delayed creation of public amenities that collectively depress the success of the integrated and holistic downtown desired by the City and by ECOS. An employer like KP includes one of the widest ranges of salaries imaginable, from low-skilled to some of the highest-skilled in society today. Of all the ways to bring a wide variety of income levels to the project, this has to be one of the most effective. This is an opportunity that should not be squandered by timidity.

At its current capacity for growth, RT is struggling to figure out how to keep up with the proposed growth in the region. Much of this struggle is exacerbated by the relatively timid densities being proposed, including this project. As is often proposed as part of other projects in the region, ECOS would like to see the development of an aggressive Transportation Services District as part of this project. We believe that a fee assessment on a dwelling unit equivalent basis would provide support to RT, or a private shuttle provider, as well as support the functions of the Transportation Management Association.

A further boon to the mode share for RT for trips to, from and within the project would result from a program to make every ticket sold for an event at large venues in the project (e.g., the soccer stadium, major events in public spaces at the Railroad Museum, etc.) also serve as a day pass for unlimited rides on RT. We understand this is being considered by the Golden 1 Center and should also be a part of this project.

To this end the following mitigation steps are presented:

  1. Establish a minimum residential density, say 75% of zoned maximum density, for buildout of the residential and mixed use zones
  2. Require project phasing that requires timely construction of housing units in conjunction with construction of employment producing development
  3. Require establishment of a fee assessment on a dwelling unit equivalent basis to provide enhanced transit support as recommended above
  4. Require that agreements are in place prior to building permit approval that enable all tickets sold at large venues within the project area to be used as transit day passes.

Growth-inducing Effects

For this project, ECOS has no qualms about inducing growth in the vicinity of the project. In fact, the more growth induced near the project, the better. We believe the developers and the City agree with us. All the more reason why there should be a robust Increased Density/Intensity Alternative.

Conclusion

The efficacy of an Increased Density/Intensity Alternative should not be underestimated. A vast array of desirable outcomes accompanies higher densities than are proposed by the project, a location already zoned for the highest densities in the City, but one that could be painfully underutilized by the project as proposed. Smart growth is most successfully enabled when the residential and transportation infrastructure development occur prior to the successive stages of build-out, and thereby structure and guide them. Without this, we will suffer from substantial pressure to put these essential features in parts of the City that are not currently zoned for them, further weakening the excellent General Plan.

Sincerely,

Alex Kelter MD, Co-Chair

Land Use Committee

Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS)

Click here to see the letter in PDF.

ECOS Endorses Fair Oaks EcoHousing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 25, 2016

Marty Maskall, Project Manager, and Brandon Rose, ECOS president, at the Fair Oaks EcoHousing site

Marty Maskall, Project Manager, and Brandon Rose, ECOS president, at the Fair Oaks EcoHousing site

Contact:
Alexandra Reagan, Dir. of Operations, ECOS, at office[at]ecosacramento[dot]net or (916) 444-0022
Marty Maskall, Project Mgr, FO EcoHousing, at mmaskall[at]pacbell[dot]net or (916) 967-2472

ECOS Endorses Fair Oaks EcoHousing

Sacramento, CA – The Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) voted unanimously on July 18, 2016 to endorse Fair Oaks EcoHousing. According to Brandon Rose, ECOS Board President, “One of the key objectives of ECOS is to promote and reinforce Smart Growth principles. We are pleased to endorse Fair Oaks EcoHousing as an example of a sustainable infill project that will enhance the Fair Oaks Community.”

Fair Oaks EcoHousing, soon to be built on New York Avenue near Fair Oaks Boulevard, will be a cohousing community. Cohousing neighborhoods are composed of privately-owned homes clustered around shared open space and common facilities. A central clubhouse is the heart of the neighborhood for a variety of activities and typically includes a dining room, kitchen, lounge, workshop space, kids’ playroom and guest rooms. Cars are kept to the edge of the site, thus making the neighborhood pedestrian-friendly and safe for children. Future residents are involved in the design and development so that it reflects their needs and priorities, creating a truly custom neighborhood. Marty Maskall, Project Manager & Future Resident, says: “I’m looking forward to living in a friendly and sustainable neighborhood close to Fair Oaks Village. We plan to break ground in early 2017, with move-in scheduled for Spring 2018.”

Architects and authors Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett introduced cohousing to North America in the 1980’s after studying the movement in Denmark. They are the authors of “Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities.” There are now more than 160 cohousing communities in the United States, including 32 in California. McCamant and Durrett, a husband and wife team, have worked together on over fifty cohousing projects. They live in Nevada City Cohousing. McCamant says: “Cohousing neighborhoods across America are proving that we can live a more sustainable lifestyle that is healthier and more fun for people of all ages, as well as good for the environment.”

Cohousing neighborhoods in the Sacramento Region include Southside Park Cohousing in Sacramento, Nevada City Cohousing, Wolf Creek Lodge in Grass Valley, and three communities in Davis. A new community called Renaissance Village Homes is being formed in West Sacramento, close to Raley field. According to Dr. Alex Kelter, Co-Chair of the ECOS Land Use Committee, “I am excited to see cohousing coming to West Sacramento, and I have joined forces with the group to do my part to help create this special neighborhood.”

Environmental sustainability is a core value in cohousing neighborhoods, which combine Smart Growth, Green Design, and Quality of Life. Community is the secret ingredient of sustainability because people help each other learn to be good stewards of the land. On-site activities enable residents to socialize close to home and reduce their need to drive as much for day-to-day activities. The Fair Oaks property offers close proximity to the American River Parkway, Fair Oaks Village, Bannister Park, the Sacramento Waldorf School, and Rudolf Steiner College.

Fair Oaks EcoHousing is welcoming prospective residents at free site tours, offered twice a month. For more information , visit www.FairOaksEcoHousing.org, www.cohousing-solutions.com, www.cohousingco.com, www.cohousing.org, and www.RenaissanceVillageHomes.org.

Future Residents of Fair Oaks EcoHousing celebrating approval by Sacramento County in April 2015

Future Residents of Fair Oaks EcoHousing celebrating approval by Sacramento County in April 2015