Printer-friendly version

By Miriam Raftery

Mayor Madrid (R) with Shane Shaw of E-Village Beneath solar panel display at “Sustain La Mesa” festival

Crowds flocked to view cooking demonstrations on solar ovens, visit with solar energy experts, get tips on water-saving landscaping and more at Sustain La Mesa, the City’s first annual Environmental Awareness Festival on September 13th in Harry Griffith Park.

“It took me almost a year to get this event,” Mayor Art Madrid told East County Magazine, then shared  his vision for a greener La Mesa in the future. 

La Mesa’s Council voted 3-2 to create the festival. Councilmembers David Allan and Mark Arapostathos voted in favor,  Ruth Stirling and Ernie Ewin voted against.   “We have a good cross section of people here.” 

Displays by 21 vendors included private companies selling everything from earthworms to solar panels, environmental organizations such as Sierra Club, agencies such as Helix Water District and even Sempra Energy (parent company of SDG&E) – all touting energy sustainability.  The festival’s initial aim was to show the public how much can be accomplished to reduce energy consumption and decrease global warming through simple measures such as changing to low-energy light bulbs and planting trees.

A maverick who parts company from the Republican Party platform on key environmental issues, Madrid became the first East County mayor to sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Change agreement and led efforts to create an eleven member Environmental/Sustainable Committee in June 2007. Comprised of six residents and five members from the private and public sectors, the committee’s mission is to advise La Mesa’s City Council and residents on effective means to reduce or eliminate causes that contribute to climate change and reduce their impacts on the environment.

Madrid pointed to a cluster of solar panels displayed at the festival.  He hopes to persuade E-Village or another solar vendor to donate panels for permanent public demonstration in the park.  “If these were in your yard, you could have your meter go backwards,” the Mayor says. “We want to teach people that this is something that could

Solar oven

happen.”

The panels on display can generate 165 watts each.  An average house would need about 12 panels to generate 3,500 watts, Shane
Shaw of E-Village said.

La Mesa’s soon-to-open new police station will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, the Mayor disclosed.  The green building rating, created by the U.S. Green Building Council to certify structures that meet energy efficiency criteria, has now been awarded to more than 14,000 building projects in 50 states and 30 countries.

A new La Mesa City Hall, still several years away from construction and completion, will go even further.  “It will be totally sustainable,” said Madrid, who aims to have the new civic building powered by solar energy.

“California’s Attorney General (Jerry Brown) is on full court press to get all the cities to have general plans that embrace environmental issues,” said Madrid, noting that Brown has sued the City of San Bernadino for failing to meet state-mandated sustainability goals.  Madrid, who supports Brown’s efforts, said La Mesa will be revamping its general plan and updating the City’s permitting process to encourage new developments and remodeling projects to be environmentally sustainable.

Madrid would also like to see the City create a community garden, similar to what some communities in the South Bay and North County have already done.  But La Mesa is fully built out and unlike more rural communities, lacks public land that is both available and not contaminated with hazardous substances from prior usages.  But if a private property owner would allow the City to use private land for creation of a public garden for residents to grow fruits and vegetables, Madrid concluded, “We would embrace it.”

Miriam Raftery, editor of East County Magazine,  is a 25-year journalist who has won national and local awards for her investigative reporting and community journalism.  If you are indicated in syndicating or reprinting this column, please contact editor@eastcountymagazine.org.