How special interests exploited a loophole and put a Sacramento County tax hike on the ballot, SacBee, October 19, 2022

By The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board | October 19, 2022 | The Sacramento Bee

In their purest form, citizens’ initiatives are supposed to represent grassroots democracy, rallying a wide range of people behind a single cause. Measure A is the antithesis of that. It’s democracy purchased by a select few citizens who are spending money to make even more in the decades to come, heedless of the cost to the public.

In this case, the grassroots response is the opposition to the citizens’ initiative. And it’s wide-ranging, including anti-tax conservatives, environmentalists, climate activists and good government advocates. They just need 50.01% to stop it.

Click here to read the full article.

ECOS Board Elections

Nov. 29, 2022 at ECOS MTG/Board, 6:00 pm start

Link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6656164155, or phone: 669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 665 616 4155

Should I attend?

  • Yes! ECOS Board Directors will vote for officers including chairs of standing committees; and ECOS individual members to vote for at-large board members

What positions are open starting Jan. 1, 2023?

  • Treasurer
  • Chair of Organizational Development Committee
  • A number of At-Large Board Member spots

May I nominate someone?

Who is already nominated?

  • Treasurer:
    • Sherry Rice, director at Solidigm Technology, Sacramento; experienced in finance, business planning, customer service management
  • Chair of Organizational Development Committee:
    • Jon Ellison, attorney; experienced in non-profit law; former president of the ECOS Board of Directors
  • At-Large Board Member:
    • Nancy Hughett, writer, urban gardener; former Chair of the ECOS Organizational Development Committee; retired staffer California Air Resources Board
  • At-Large Board Members: Nominations being accepted

Why ECOS is opposed to Measure A

October 18, 2022

ECOS’ Executive Committee has voted to oppose Measure A, the Sacramento County sales tax initiative on next month’s ballot. Here are some reasons to vote NO on Measure A:

Measure A is designed to circumvent the Sacramento BLUEPRINT, California’s climate targets, and federal transportation planning law. Its highway projects are not included in our region’s long-range plan, the Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (MTP/SCS). They have not gone through any public process or analysis against accepted smart growth planning principles, goals, and laws. Why? Because these projects would not pass the test. So, the measure’s proponents have skirted the process, and spent over a million dollars for a “citizens’ initiative” to make us pay for projects that enable their sprawl developments.

Measure A is full of roadway capacity expansion projects and a new rural expressway. These projects will induce more car travel and sprawling housing development. This will pull resources from infill development, with its attendant economic revitalization, better transit access, affordable and energy efficient housing, and community enhancements.

Being anti-planning has another serious dollars and cents impact for our region. SACOG, our metropolitan planning organization, has shown that the measure’s projects would cause our region to exceed federal air quality standards and greenhouse gas targets, making us unable to receive State and federal transportation and housing funds.

Measure A will mean a dismal and economically disastrous step backward; a forty-year prospect of regional decline and a worsening climate. So, can we consider and pursue other options?

We admire cities in Europe because they have many layers of development, making the character of the streets inviting, alive, and culturally valuable. In Sacramento, we have just an initial layer of built form, and in many places the buildings are dilapidated and no longer work economically. We are ripe for another layer of development to fill in. Sacramento should take this moment in its history to flex forward, to turn away from the automobile as the primary means of getting around. This is what the climate challenge demands and what future generations will need.

Let’s work together to write an initiative for 2024 that puts local transportation funding where it needs to go: locate higher capacity transit where more people live and where bus ridership is high; create new accessible public plazas and parks, connected by boulevards and promenades; and provide housing for people of all income levels within walking distance to transit, food, and schools. And, let’s show the federal and State government that Sacramento can be a reliable partner for funding by uniting around a vision.

On Thursday, the SACOG Board meeting will feature an example of coalescing behind a vision with a workshop/case study of the Salt Lake City region, Envision Utah. October 20, Agenda Item 18: https://sacog.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=3358

Below is SACOG’s map of the Measure A proposed projects and their estimated effect on vehicle miles traveled (VMT.)

Please vote NO on Measure A.

Click here to read our full statement, including footnotes.

Environmentalist of the Year Awards

Click here to go to the main Environmentalist of the Year Awards webpage.

Join us for a memorable 2022 Environmentalist of the Year Awards. Attend and enjoy, have refreshments and wine, talk with friends and colleagues, and learn more about the important work of the award recipients, our partner organizations, and ECOS.

Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at Curtis Hall, Sierra 2 Center, Sacramento 95818

  • 5:30 pm Social and Refreshments
  • 6:45 pm Award Presentations

ECOS has been hosting the Environmentalist of the Year Awards since 1973. Through the Environmentalist of the Year Awards, ECOS honors local leaders who have had noteworthy success in achieving action on climate change, preserving habitat, promoting transit-oriented development, and advocating for clean air and against sprawl.

TICKETS: Online ticket sales have ended. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door.


Help good work to continue through Sponsorship

$250 Ansel Adams
$500 George Washington Carver
$1000 Rachel Carson
$2500+ John Muir

Your support of ECOS means so much! Please sponsor the 2022 Environmentalist of the Year event and join us on November 15 evening to celebrate the awardees:

  • Chris Brown, Sacramento Climate Coalition
  • Mackenzie Wieser, Sacramento Splash
  • Mark Berry, American River/Rancho Cordova
  • Ralph Propper, ECOS Climate Committee

Through the EOY Awards, ECOS honors local leaders who have had noteworthy success in achieving action on climate change, preserving habitat, promoting transit-oriented development, and advocating for clean air and against sprawl.

Past EOY awardees have been citizen activists, professors, students, elected officials, governmental and agency staff, business and labor leaders, scientists, lawyers, developers, planners, and architects.

Your sponsorship recognizes the awardees’ good work and supports the future work of ECOS. See the sponsorship levels and tickets, tax-deductible as ECOS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit organization.
Thank you very much for your generosity.

Susan Herre
President of the ECOS Board of Directors

Researchers Report a Staggering Decline in Wildlife. Here’s How to Understand It. NYTimes, Oct 12, 2022

October 12, 2022 | By Catrin Einhorn | The New York Times

“Scientists know what’s causing biodiversity loss. On land, the top driver is agriculture, as people turn forests and other ecosystems into farmland for cattle or palm oil. At sea, it’s fishing. There are ways to do both more sustainably.”

Click here to read the article in full: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/12/climate/living-planet-index-wildlife-declines.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Sacramento Transportation Authority Meeting Nov 10

Update: these two items of interest are postponed until November 10, 2022.

The STA Governing Board Meeting Agenda Packet for October 13, 2022 at 1:30 pm: https://www.sacta.org/calendar/bl7btgymcz858x5

Item 9 discusses a strategy for using Measure A Smart Growth Incentive Program (SGIP) funds as a local match for the 2022-2023 SACOG Community Design Grant Program. The SACOG Community Design Grant Program focuses in on infill development and reducing VMT.

Item 10 provides a draft work plan for implementation of the Citizens’ Initiative should it pass in November. The draft work plan discusses among other things the need for policy development in the following areas:

  • Federal Air Quality, Metropolitan Transportation Plan and GHG Reduction Targets (Program Wide Policy)
  • Geographic and Social Equity (Program Wide Policy)
  • Complete Streets