Deadline for applications: Friday, May 31! Here you will find the Job Description and Application Form.

PLEASE RSVP BY CLICKING HERE

The purpose of the Public Hearing is to have public discussion on the proposed Title VI policy prior to potential adoption by the Board of Directors, subject to any modifications they may direct as a result of the public hearing. Click here to learn more about the proposed policy.

We are asking our allies to attend this hearing as we will be there to support the following topics:

Please give whatever you can and help us spread the word! All donations are tax deductible.

• Give us your oral comments at one of the public hearings listed on the Meetings & Events page.
• Submit your comments via e-mail to info@OneBayArea.org, or to comment on the draft EIR, eircomments@mtc.ca.gov.
• Comment via our online forum – Plan Bay Area Town Hall.
• Send your comments via mail to MTC, Plan Bay Area Public Comment, 101 Eighth Street, Oakland, CA 94607

More information at: www.onebayarea.org

Are you not sure what to say? Join us in supporting the Equity, Environment and Jobs (EEJ) scenario. This is the environmentally superior choice. For example, the EEJ scenario will:

1. Spend 5 percent more on running transit service.
2. Move 5 percent of the housing growth from low-income communities (mainly in San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose) to transit-connected suburban job centers, so more families can live close to work.
3. Add protections against displacement pressures that are pushing struggling families to the distant edges of the region and beyond.

For more information visit the Public Advocates blog here: http://www.publicadvocates.org/2013-05-02/a-better-bay-area-by-the-numbers

CLICK HERE TO SIGN OUR PETITION FOR THE EEJ SCENARIO

The Rocky Graham Park Community Advisory Committee will work with the Park Construction Project Team and the Marin City Community Services District (CSD) by giving input, making comments, and providing feedback on different aspects related to the Park construction and maintenance. Together, we will ensure the Park meets the community’s needs and interests and plan how to make Park facilities safe, clean, and welcoming. Community Advisory Committee members will also offer guidance and assistance on programming and fundraising.

Click here to fill out the online application form. For more information about this exciting opportunity, click here. Application Deadline:  Monday June 17, 2013 at 6:00 pm

10th AD Democrats Honor Latino Community Leaders

This is a non-partisan gathering and the first event sponsored by Marin Democrats to honor our Latino leaders.
Honorees:
Dr. Juan Carlos Arauz
Executive Director, E3 (Education, Excellence& Equality)
Former Director of Youth Education Programs, Canal Alliance
Adjunct Professor, Dominican University

Claudia Asprer
Founder “Movin’ On Up”
(provides housing and educational support for foster children)

Ericka Omena Erickson
Marin County Planning Commissioner
Associate Director, Marin Grassroots

David Escobar
Aide to Supervisor Steve Kinsey

Maria Raquel Gramajo
E3 (Education, Excellence& Equality) Program Director

Gilbert Mejia
Immigration Activist
Marin Organizing Committee

Marina Rivera Palma
Senior Eligibility Worker, San Rafael Canal community
Graduate Marin Equal Voice Leadership Academy

Juan Rodrieguez
Principal, Venetia Valley Elementary School, San Rafael

 The public is welcome to the celebration.
Come salute the movers and shakers in education, politics, health care, and social justice…these are the leaders of today and tomorrow!

 Saturday, May 4th (Pre-Cinco de Mayo Party)
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Las Guitarras Mexican Restaurant
Patio Area
1017 Reichert Ave., Downtown Novato

  $25/person (includes entrée)

Be a sponsor:
$100
$75
$50

Sponsors:
Democratic Central Committee of Marin
Supervisor Judy Arnold, President, Marin County Board of Supervisors
Greg Knell, Trustee San Rafael City School Board
Greg Brockbank, Brockbank for City Council 2013
Dr. Eva Long, College of Marin Board of Trustee
Evelyn Woo
Ralph Miller
Eric and Gail Overholt
Richard Foldenauer

RSVP required: https://secure.actblue.com/page/4demayo
or email: evelyn@addem.org

1) Creating more housing opportunities, including affordable homes, in all of the region’s job centers. This means increasing housing not only in places that volunteered to be Priority Development Areas (PDAs), but also in other job-rich, transit-connected, high-opportunity communities that did not volunteer for growth;

2) Investing an additional $8 billion in increased transit service, which would be tailored to fit our more equitable housing distribution plan; and

3) Adding more incentives for affordable housing and anti-displacement policies via the One Bay Area Grant (OBAG) program for local cities.

Think globally, act locally!  Click here to join our group on Monday, April 29 and get prepared to participate in shaping the future of Marin, the Bay Area, and the world!

OneBayArea seeks to coordinate efforts among the Bay Area’s nine counties and 101 towns and cities to create a more sustainable future. It builds upon the joint missions of each agency to protect and preserve our quality of life for current and future generations. Whether it is working to clean the air we breathe or to restore the health of San Francisco Bay, whether it is building an efficient and climate-friendly transportation infrastructure or developing sufficient housing for our growing population, the goals are interrelated. (http://onebayarea.org/about.html)

Plan Bay Area charts a course for accommodating needed housing growth within our nine counties while at the same time decreasing greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks. By laying out the Bay Area’s first-ever Sustainable Communities Strategy, Plan Bay Area seeks to meet these challenges without compromising local control of land-use decisions.

Please attend one of the nine Plan Bay Area Open Houses listed on the Plan Bay Area Meetings & Events page: view displays/ask questions about the Draft Plan Bay Area; stay to offer comments at the Public Hearing held the same evening, adjacent to the Open House. Or leave your comments at the comment station at the Open House. No registration is needed.

The Public Hearing is your opportunity to provide oral comments on several documents related to the Draft Plan Bay Area:

• Comment on the Draft Plan Bay Area (release date Friday, March 22, 2013; close of comment period, 4 p.m., Thursday, May 16, 2013).
• Comment on the Draft EIR, which examines the proposed plan and four alternatives and analyzes the range of potential environmental impacts that could result from the implementation of Plan Bay Area (release date Friday, March 29, 2013; close of comment period, 4 p.m., Thursday, May 16, 2013).

What are some ideas about what to say when you attend the meetings?

We encourage the support of Public Advocates’ sixth option: The Equity, Environment and Jobs scenario. From their website:

What is the Equity, Environment and Jobs Scenario?

The EEJ Scenario improves on MTC/ABAG’s draft Regional Plan (or Preferred Alternative) by:

• Creating more housing opportunities, including affordable homes, in all of the region’s job centers. This means increasing housing not only in places that volunteered to be Priority Development Areas (PDAs), but also in other job-rich, transit-connected, high-opportunity communities that did not volunteer for growth;
• Investing an additional $8 billion in increased transit service, which would be tailored to fit our more equitable housing distribution plan; and
• Adding more incentives for affordable housing and anti-displacement policies via the One Bay Area Grant (OBAG) program for local cities.

What’s so great about the EEJ Scenario? 

According to analysis from MTC/ABAG, it’s best for the climate because it will result in:

• The greatest reduction in total GHG emissions, the primary goal of Senate Bill 375;
• The strongest shift from cars to transit, walking, biking and other alternative means of transportation;
• Keeping 100 percent of new development within the current urban footprint; and
• Twelve percent fewer residents living in homes that will be at risk of flooding from expected sea-level rise by 2050.

It’s best for health because it will result in:

• The lowest levels of the polluting emissions that lead to asthma and other respiratory diseases;
• The highest levels of walking and biking, which decrease the prevalence of conditions like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease; and
• Lower increases in Bay Area residents’ injuries and fatalities from collisions.

It’s best for struggling families because it results in:

• Substantially less displacement pressure on renters, showing 42 percent fewer low-income families at risk of being priced out of their neighborhoods than the Preferred Alternative; and
• The lowest combined housing and transportation costs for low-income households, making it the scenario best for working families’ pocketbooks.

What’s next?

The draft Preferred Alternative and extensive environmental review documents have just been released. There’s still a lot of work required to understand the technical analyses they contain. And there’s even more work to do to persuade MTC/ABAG officials to adopt the EEJ’s strongest elements in the final Regional Plan. But our case is strong.

We need your help. Contact your locally-elected official that serves on MTC/ABAG. Tell them you want them to incorporate the strongest elements of the EEJ Scenario into the final Regional Plan they adopt in July.

After all, regional planning, when done properly, can map a better future for all Bay Area residents. So let’s each do our part to ensure the Bay Area adopts a regional plan that makes us proud, and leads the way for California and the nation to grow toward a greener, more prosperous and more equitable future.

Additional resources:

• Come to the 6 Wins meeting on April 15 at 3:30pm. We will discuss strategies and provide information on how to reach elected officials. For more details and to RSVP, email pfatehi@publicadvocates.org
• Check out MTC/ABAG’s schedule for upcoming Plan Bay Area public workshops and hearings. If you plan to attend, email pfatehi@publicadvocates.org for help preparing or feel free to use the talking points above.
• Send your comments to MTC/ABAG at info@onebayarea.org or go to the Plan Bay Area Town Hall, which invites comments from residents on each chapter of the draft document.
• Draft Plan Bay Area
• Draft EIR 
• Draft Equity Analysis
• See the 6 Wins Network’s April 25, 2012 comment letter on Plan Bay Area or view the Report Card we issued in May 2012.

http://www.publicadvocates.org/2013-04-08/equity-environment-and-jobs-scenario-leads-the-plan-bay-area-pack