Meeting notes by Lola Sherman
The Surfrider Foundation is hoping the City of Oceanside will pass an ordinance asking restaurants to stop providing, unless requested, the kind of plastics, like straws and tableware, that litter the ocean. It’s called the Ocean Friendly Restaurants Initiative. Three representatives – Vicki Conlon, Janis Jones and Mitch Silverstein – representing the Surfrider Foundation spoke Tuesday at MainStreet’s Monthly Morning Meeting.
Both major subject matters at the meeting involved the environment as another speaker, Mike Bullock, showed charts detailing the major climate-change threats to the planet being presented by increased carbon-dioxide caused by modern industrialization, especially from motor vehicles. His charts showed a steady increase in hot weather and carbon-dioxide emissions starting with the Industrial Revolution and spiking now.
Although his talk was billed about parking, that was not his main issue. Bullock did say parking fees could be used as a deterrent to single-occupant vehicle use, but his main point was the need to reduce the number of vehicle miles altogether. Burning a gallon of gas, he said, releases 19 pounds of carbon dioxide. In the early 1900s, Bullock said, there was a concentration of 310 pounds of carbon dioxide and now there are 420 pounds.
We need some greenhouse gases, he said “Otherwise, we are under 15 feet of snow.” But, he said, “there needs to be a balance.” He quoted “Gov. Brown to the Pope,” saying “humanity must reverse course or face extinction”.
To solve the climate crisis, Bullock said, we must reduce the (average) number of vehicle miles one car travels by 30 percent, to 17 per day by 2045. Bullock was a strong supporter of a tax for miles traveled, rather than the gas tax.
Rick Wright, MainStreet chief executive officer, commented that there was ”a lot of food for thought” in Bullock’s serious presentation. “Everybody take a deep breath,” Wright advised before introducing the Surfrider representatives.
The Surfrider presentation pictured a quart jar of detritus taken from the stomach of a sea lion that died in Laguna Beach. It included sandwich bags and balloons. Jones said that many cities in the county already have banned single-use distribution, unless requested, of plastic ware by restaurants. They included Carlsbad, Del Mar, San Diego, San Marcos, Solana Beach and Vista. Now. she said, it’s Oceanside’s turn. One hundred restaurants in the county, including six in Oceanside, have taken the ocean-friendly pledge, Conlon said. Surveys, including in Oceanside, have shown that residents especially the younger generation, agree that “sustainability does matter,” the group said.
The object, Conlon said, is “to reduce waste one restaurant, one customer at a time. ” “We’re not here to bully you,” she said. But, she said, for instance. customers can take their own containers to restaurants for take-out food, negating the need for single-use plastic ware. It's not just plastic, but foam containers that should be discouraged, the group said, because they break up into tiny pieces on the beach, and are therefore almost impossible to clean up. Silverstein showed a picture of residue left on Buccaneer Beach in Oceanside “every time it rains.”
A cleanup in 2022, Silverstein said, yielded 8,500 food-serving products and 3,000 plastic bags. But, Conlon said, by employing new ocean-friendly standards, restaurants “can be successful and sustainable at the same time.” The group was sorry there were not more restaurant owners in the audience, and Wright said they are not frequent attendees.
Conlon had high praise for Oceanside’s revitalization. She said, as a San Diego resident of 40 years, she used to defer coming up here, but “you’ve done an amazing job.” “I love coming up here now, she said.”
In other business:
–Cathy Nykiel, MainStreet director of events and Sunset Market manager said attendance has been high at both the Sunset and morning Farmers Market. “Thank you for all your support,” she said. Nykiel said that Mary Jo Canaletti, MainStreet volunteer coordinator, has been running the Ambassadors Program. And she mentioned the upcoming annual Dia de los Muertos celebration on Oct. 22.
–Esmeralda Gonzalez Jimenez, aide to City Councilman Eric Joyce told of a community housing forum that he was hosting the next evening.
–Tom DeMooy, a MainStreet board member and leader of a Neighborhood Watch program, noted that evening was National Night Out, a community-awareness program sponsored by local police.
–Kristal Jabara, director of community relations for County Supervisor Jim Desmond, announced he is sponsoring a program to deliver pet-evacuation kits free to the public from 9 a.m. to noon Aug. 19 at Buena Vista Park in Vista.
–Linda Piña of Carla & Linda’s Walking Food Tours gave out its new postcards, and Wright said how much the MainStreet board and staff had enjoyed one of the tours.
–Steve Burrell announced that the North County LGBTQ Resource Center’s “most- important fundraising event” (usually held in October) will take place on Sept. 3.
–Jan Borson, an original MainStreet board member, expressed concern about people gathering around construction sites near the pier, and Wright said he will look into it.
The meeting adjourned on time at 9:30 am sharp. The next meeting will be at 8:30 am on September 5, 2023 at the MainStreet office.
The MainStreet Morning Meeting is held on the first Tuesday of each month at 8:30 a.m.
We welcome all parties interested in the progress of Downtown Oceanside, including businesspeople, residents, and City staff.
This informative one-hour meeting is held in an informal discussion format. The general public is always welcome! Come meet your city officials, MainStreet Oceanside staff and members and find out about upcoming events and changes to YOUR downtown and city.
The MainStreet Morning Meeting is held at the MainStreet Oceanside meeting room at 701 Mission Avenue. Call our office for more information or directions at (760) 754-4512.
