Hometown Hero: Joel Reynolds

Say Joel Reynolds; think music, family and the environment.It was his family, especially his generous mother, who taught him a sense of service but it was Bobby Kennedy who most influenced his political beliefs.“He conveyed values and a sense of purpose with a charisma that reached across barriers.I admired him and planned to work for his election when I returned from our family’s sabbatical year in Copenhagen.” Landing at LAX, Joel learned of the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. It was 1968.Joel was in high school.He still knew what he believed but he no longer knew what he was going to do.

College was at UC Riverside where his father was a founding member of the Music Department. Joel majored in music and political science. It was when he interned at EPA that he decided to become a lawyer. "I wanted to be able to pursue my own ideological agenda and the practice of law would enable me to act on the issues I cared about.”

After graduation from Columbia Law School he soon focused on environmental law and his work at the Center for Law in the Public Interest and the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant case.In 1989 he joined the National Resources Defense Counsel (NRDC). www.nrdc.org He is currently Director of its Southern California program and one of eleven lawyers working at the Robert Redford NRDC Headquarters Building in Santa Monica.

He didn’t win the victory he wanted in the Diablo Canyon case but when NRDC joined the international campaign, started by the Mexican poet Homero Aridjis, to defend the breeding ground of the California Gray Whale at Laguna San Ignacio in Baja California, it was an all out win.

At NRDC he sued the US Navy to block a five-year underwater explosives program near the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Joel successfully argued that the “Navy could test and train in an environmentally responsible way that would both protect our national security and the environment.”

He also won when he sued the Los Angeles County Sanitation Department.In a case that marked the beginning of an ongoing series of legal and political battles to clean and protect Southern California coastal waters, County Sanitation was required to meet secondary treatment standards before discharging to the ocean.

The Cornfield and Taylor Yards, located between downtown and East Los Angeles, are part of US Government land grants given to Union Pacific to support the development of the railroad and were recently proposed for industrial development. The proposed development would have further divided Los Angeles and caused environmental harm. NRDC sued the City of Los Angeles and the Yards are now 72 acres of dedicated parkland.

Continuing the land conservation strategy, NRDC and other environmental groups negotiated the largest conservation agreement in California with the Tejon Ranch Partnership. Its importance comes not only from its scale but from the fact that four major ecosystems, the southern Sierras, the Coastal Range, San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave Desert, come together in Tejon Ranch.

“Having a child often opens up your creativity,” is how Joel introduces the songs he wrote for his children, Sam, Ellie and Amelia.He and his five siblings and all eleven of the cousins get together often and making music is a continuing family tradition.

But he fears for the future. “Scientists disagree about how much time remains to prevent an irreversible shift in our global climate. We have no time to lose and we know where to begin. “From the mundane to the grand, act as if the environment matters.From choosing a job, to raising your children, to joining an environmental group, to buying a fuel efficient car, to voting for candidates who take the environment seriously, act as if the environment matters.”

What Say You? City Budget Uncertainty

“We’re responding every day to new information,” said Santa Monica City Manager, Lamont Ewell, about the economic uncertainty that surrounds this year’s budget. “We’re building wings as we jump off the cliff.” The budget will be a clear expression of our values. It goes without saying that there will be difficult decisions. There could also be potential opportunities and benefits.

Hard facts. Fewer tourists are staying in hotels. The transit occupancy tax was minus18 percent in December and minus 28 percent in January. Fewer people are eating in restaurants. Receipts from auto sales and leases, which account for over 20 percent of our sales tax revenues, are down. Business incomes are down and so business fees are down. Only 40 percent of homes on the market have sold, many at reduced prices, and so the property transfer tax is down. Unemployment rates in Santa Monica were at 4.3 percent one year ago and are now at 7.2 percent. Budget problems at the State Government level mean reduced funds for Santa Monica.

City response. The City Manager required departments to reduce budgets by 3 percent in 08-09 and by an additional 5 percent in 09-10. 70 percent of the city budget goes to salaries and benefits. Cuts will come in hiring freezes, except for sworn personnel (fire, police) with exceptions made on a case-by-case basis and the same holds for hiring consultants. City employees aren’t traveling to conferences. Building inspectors are on contract and, if there is less building, there will be a reduction in building inspection staff. Cuts will also come from deferring maintenance and deferring projects that are funded through City funds.

New income. The City is working with Senator Feinstein, Senator Boxer and Congressman Waxman to aggressively pursue Federal Economic Stimulus Package funds. Eligible Santa Monica projects include the California Incline and the Palisades Park bluff stabilization. These projects would bring jobs and income to Santa Monica.

Opportunities. We have talented staff supervising the work of consultants. Now is their opportunity to show their skills and expertise. We have places in City Hall where there is too much bureaucracy. Cleaning up the process of applications and decision-making could result in a financial savings and in making life easier for a lot of people – both in and out of City Hall.

Benefits. An unexplored, at least publicly, set of possibilities might exist in opening up City Staff benefits to the community as long as it doesn’t add an expense line to the City budget. One thought is to open the City fiber optic system, where possible, to residents. This was done in Vermont, which provides free access in many areas. Another possibility is to allow residents to buy into the health care the City offers employees, such as the City contract with Saint Johns. And more.

Opportunities. The Community could take care of their own street trees and parkways, with advice from the City Forester. Neighborhood Watch Groups could find out what to do to be helpful to the Police and Fire Departments. Volunteer more in the schools and at the library and hospitals and the animal shelter. And more

Benefit. We’ve had a tension between City Hall and City residents that a lot of folks would like to see mended. Finding ways to help each other and working together to keep the City whole and healthy during difficult times might just be a good start.