CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

Committee Meeting Minutes - Final

Sustainability Committee

Supervisor Ken Carlson, Chair

Supervisor John Gioia, Vice Chair

1:00 PM

Monday, February 10, 2025

|| SPECIAL MEETING ||

11780 San Pablo Ave., Ste. D,

El Cerrito, CA 94530 |

2255 Contra Costa Blvd., Ste. 202

Pleasant Hill, CA 94523

ZOOM LINK

https://cccounty-us.zoom.us/j/86061197524

| Dial: 888-278-0254 |

ACCESS CODE: 841892

The public may attend this meeting in person at either above locations and/or remotely via call-in or

ZOOM.

AGENDA ITEMS may be taken out of order based on the business of the day and preference of the

Committee.

INTRODUCTIONS Call to order and roll call.

Chair Carlson called the meeting to order at 1:01pm.

Staff Present: Jody London, Sustainability Coordinator, Dept. of Conservation and Development;

Demian Hardman-Saldana, Principal Planner, Dept. of Conservation and Development;

Emily Groth, Planner, Dept. of Conservation and Development;

Adam Scarbrough, Planner, Dept. of Conservation and Development;

Raquel De La Torre, Secretary, Dept. of Conservation and Development;

Vivian Lee, Glover Office Administrator, Office of the Board of Supervisors;

Arianna Aguilera, DER Specialist Fellow, Dept. of Public Works;

Wade Finlinson, Integrated Pest Management Coordinator, Dept. of Public Health;

Danielle Pellegrini, Executive Secretary, Dept. of Conservation and Development;

Sonia Bustamante, Chief of Staff to Supervisor Gioia;

Lia Bristol, Deputy Chief of Staff to Supervisor Carlson

Attendees: Solomon Bellette

Jamie Duran

Sarah Foster

Kim Jones

Devin Jackson

Gunkeshari Shrestha

Reilly Kent

Denice Dennis

Cheryl Sudduth

Kim Jones

Nadine Peyrucain

Kathleen Wimer

Andrea Bailey

Betty Lobos

District I Supervisor John Gioia and District IV Supervisor Ken

Carlson

Present:

PUBLIC COMMENT on any item under the jurisdiction of the Committee and not on this

agenda (speakers may be limited to two (2) minutes).

There was no Public Comment.

INTERVIEW applicants for the four (4) expiring At-Large Seats on the Contra Costa

County Sustainability Commission.

Attachment A - Member Roster

Attachments:

Attachment B -Applicants Sorted by Interest Group

Attachment C - Summary of Applications

Attachment D - Applications Received

The Committee interviewed the following individuals for the At-Large, Community Group seat:

Luz Gomez, Solomon Belette, and Reilly Kent. One additional applicant, Xiping Yang, did not

attend the interview.

The Committee interviewed the following individuals for the At-Large, Education or Research

Institution seat: Devin Jackson and Kim Jones.

The Committee interviewed the following individuals for the At-Large, Commercial Business

seat: Jamie Duran and Gunkeshari Shrestha. One additional applicant, Chirag Kathrani, did

not attend the interview.

The Committee interviewed the following individual for the At-Large, Environmental Justice

seat: Sarah Foster.

There was no public comment.

RECEIVE presentation on 2024 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan.

2024 CAAP Strategies and Actions Table

2025_02_10 Contra Costa County CAAP Overview - Sustainability

Committee

Attachments:

Jody London, Sustainability Coordinator for Contra Costa County, gave a presentation on the

2024 Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP). The presentation included a background and

overview of the CAAP development as well as an overview of the work that County staff are

engaged in, both community-facing and for County operations, within each of the CAAP focus

areas.

These focus areas include:

Clean and Efficient Built Environment

No Waste Contra Costa

Clean Transportation Network

Resilient Communities and Natural Infrastructure

Climate Equity

Leadership

Committee Discussion:

The Committee inquired about the challenges experienced at the Federal level around funding

and whether California will continue to be supportive of climate action goals by continuing to

provide funding for this work. London replied that the State provides funding for which local

governments compete, except when there is a block (aka formula) grant. Another way the State

could distribute funds to local governments is to simply make funding available for each

jurisdiction in the State with a list of allowable activities. This would reduce the administrative

burden local governments face when pursuing State funds. London added that the State has

been facing a budget deficit and has recently been redirecting funds from various climate

programs.

The Committee asked whether County departments are working together to apply for grant

funding. London replied, stating that the Sustainability Team works across departments on

funding opportunities. The PITCH meeting is a standing meeting which includes The Contra

Costa County Department of Conservation and Development (DCD), flood control and

transportation engineers from the Public Works Department, and the Department of Public

Health. Recently the DCD team has been working with the Contra Costa Office of Emergency

Services (OES) to plan around resilience centers in the County.

Public Comment:

A member of the public provided written public comments to the Committee about the CAAP

goals and funding sources citing that the County cannot rely on the Federal Government for

funding and should be relying on alternative funding sources. Another member of the public

shared his appreciation to Jody London for sharing updates about the CAAP and mentioned

that the full document is very long and presentations like the one given by London will be

integral in communicating these issues to the public.

DISCUSS Priority Topics for Sustainability Committee Meetings in 2025.

2025_02_10 Sust. Cmte. Calendar - working document

Attachments:

This agenda item was reordered and addressed as Item 6.

Committee Discussion:

The Committee discussed topics to cover for 2025 and landed on a few topics of interest which

include: exploring how the County can support residents around the Bay Area Air District’s

(BAAD) upcoming rule changes for water and space heating; the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office

Fleet - whether the State fleet rule applies; and a general presentation on transitioning existing

buildings to all-electric. London shared that for the next meeting in March staff will be bringing

a draft of the County’s Clean Energy Roadmap and that the all-electric buildings topic could be

discussed there.

Public Comment:

A member of the public, Denice Dennis, suggested the County should provide periodic updates

on the CAAP implementation progress.

DISCUSS and RECOMMEND to the Board of Supervisors candidates for at-large seats on

the Contra Costa County Sustainability Commission.

This agenda item was reordered and addressed as Item 5.

Committee Discussion:

The Committee highlighted the interest, historically, in the community to serve on the

Sustainability Commission and that this year is no different. The Committee nominated the two

incumbents, Luz Gomez and Sarah Foster, to the Community Group seat to the Environmental

Justice seat respectively. For the Education seat the Committee nominated Devin Jackson and

for the Commercial Business seat, the Committee nominated Jamie Duran.

Supervisor Gioia shared that he plans to reach out to Kim Jones to discuss the

Supervisor-appointed seat in District 1and encouraged other applicants that were not nominated

for the Sustainability Commission to explore appointment by Supervisors who have openings

right now.

There was no public comment.

The motion to nominate the candidates discussed above was moved by Carlson, second by Gioia,

unanimously approved.

ADJOURN until the next Sustainability Committee Meeting to be held on, Monday, March

10, 2025 at 1:00pm.

Meeting adjourned at 2:27pm

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