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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 06122007 - SD.1 SD.1 THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Date: June 12, 2007 Public Comment On this date, the Chair called for public comment. The following people presented testimony: The following person spoke before the Board: ■ Charles Evans, resident of Richmond, spoke regarding his family being afflicted by the County on February 14, 2002 and requested the Board to resolve the matter; ■ Roland Katz, Business Manager, Public Employees Union, Local 1, spoke of disturbing information done by a survey showing men in America make less than they made 30 years ago. The following people sent their comments via electronic mail: ■ Douglas W. Raymond, resident of Orinda, informed the Board regarding distortion trouble on NPR station KQUED FM 88.5 which caused COMCAST to shut off the FM system in Lamorinda; ■ Michael F. Sarabia, resident of Bay Point, wrote about global warming and suggested tailoring initial reduction of Greenhouse Gases to local needs. THIS IS A MATTER FOR RECORD PURPOSES ONLY NO ACTION WAS TAKEN PUBLIC COMMENT: Agenda item SD.1 June 12, 2007 Board of Supervisors Meetina S�- "Douglas W. To: comments@ cob.cccounty.us Raymond" cc: <douray@comcast.net Subject: BOS Agenda Comments from Website > 06/10/2007 07:28 AM Please respond to "Douglas W. Raymond" This message was sent from: http://www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/depart/cao/agendacomments_form.htm ------------------------------------------------------------ Name of sender: Douglas W. Raymond Address of sender: 23 Martha Road, Orinda 94563 Phone of sender: 925-254-3787 Email of sender: douray@comcast.net Agenda Date: unknown Agenda. Iteml: Agenda Item2: D.1 ------------------------- COMMENTS ------------------------- A Monopoly in Need of Regulation: In 30 years of subscribing to Comcast. cable and its predecessors, I have enjoyed good FM reception through the cable. FM via cable is vital in Lamorinda due to hilly terrain and poor signal levels. Recently, distortion trouble on NPR station KQED FM 88.5 prompted me to submit three service calls. I still don't have a clear signal. What IS clear is that Comcast has stopped maintaining the FM system that we have enjoyed, and paid for, for decades. After the third service call, I was told that Comcast plans to remove NPR from its FM service "within the next month or two" and may in fact shut off the entire FM band from its Lamorinda network. This is very distressing. It is difficult for me to find out what authority regulates this out-of-control monopoly: Once, I was told it is the FCC, but I found the FCC unresponsive. Can the Board of Supervisors take an interest in this trouble? All Lamorinda residents who receive NPR through the cable on FM are affected. Please fix this if you can. Time is of the essence. ------------------------------------------------------------ r "Michael F.Sarabia" To: comments@ cob.cccounty.us ^t` 1 <mchlsrrb@aol.com> cc: 06/10/2007 04:35 PM Subject: BOS Agenda Comments from Website Please respond to "Michael F. Sarabia" This message was sent from: http: //www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/depart/cao`/agendacomments_form.htm ------------------------------------------------------------ Name of sender: Michael F. Sarabia Address of sender: 55 Pacifica Av #140 Bay Point Phone of sender: (925) 709-0751 Email of sender: mchlsrrb@aol.com Agenda Date: 06/12/07 Agenda Iteml: Agenda Item2: D.1 ------------------------- COMMENTS ------------------------- We Need Contra Costa County Emission Control Standards There are 522 cities with 65 million people committed to Kyoto Treaty Protocol and cut "Greenhouse Gases" by seven percent below 1990 level by 2012. A nationwide poll found that two in six Americans call Global Warming the "World's single largest environmental problem" , up from one in six in 2006 -proportion doubled in one year. One may expect that in the run up to the February, 2008, California Presidential Primaries, candidates will compete to become the most "Green" . The European Goal is to cut in half emissions by 2050. One may expect greater reductions proposed' in the competing Primary Campaign. But, there is something amiss when 522 different cities have their own emission goals .that affect businesses in different ways. The obvious national standards must be ruled out until 2009. The next option is State or County standards, which are more likely to gain public awareness, involvement, support and acceptance. What may be a reasonable and feasible goal for San Francisco County will likely be unreachable in San Joaquin County. This makes the notion of County Emission .Goals by 2020 practical. The goal is far enough away in time to make sure there is time to study, public participation and decide what may be feasible and acceptable for each county. And, it is soon enough to allow a new goal to be defined for 2040 or 2050 after predicted improvements are proven and unmet development goals and promises recognized and taken into account. Two goals in the far future are the total end of ALL Carbon Emissions and the end of of gasoline sales by a date certain. As soon as these goals are announced to be met by, say, 2090, auto makers will know what to do and, how fast to proceed. Our Governor Schwarzenegger advocates Hydrogen fuel for personal cars. All auto makers are testing Hydrogen fueled cars but the fuel is found in only a handful of places in California. A proposal, mentioned at a recent Metropolitan Transit Commission Meeting, is the use of Hydrogen made in local gas stations -which also compensates for the loss in gasoline sales. This will also help the use of Hydrogen-fueled busses which, no doubt, will reduce in price as the market expands. Such busses will provide a seamless "All-Green" transportation system with all-electric BART. Such a transportation system is i the most timely foundation for the future growth of "All-Green" pollution-free transportation. Just imagine the distant goal of an "A11-Green" transportation system to Yosemite Park. T took relatives three times in the Amtrak version and everyone was thrilled with the day-trip. A BART system would be much faster and compatible with Yosemite Park. The technology exists to allow PG&E to remotely control and monitor the production of Hydrogen gas at selected gasolinestations using pure water and electricity. Hydrogen production would be during hours when there is surplus energy with priority given to the stations most in need of fuel. The use of surplus electricity means the big powerplants can continue to run at their peak energy conversion rate, which lowers production costs -a win-win situation. The H2 process monitored with safety safeguards(one should note that the natural tendency of Hydrogen to dissolve and float up, means it is nowhere as bad as its reputation, based mostly on one photo of the Hindenburg 1936 explosion) . The use of renwable energy in California, currently around 30%, could be promoted with subsidies for solar cell panels -which recently increased in efficiency; a funding source is gasoline sale taxes. The higher the price of gas, after taxes, the sooner people will see that moving far away to buy "cheap land" was a dream turned into a costly unending nightmare. The subsidy for electric windmills will increase the state renewable energy resources. By tailoring the intial reduction of Greenhouse Gases to local needs, the introduction pain will be less. The more drastic steps that will later be needed to actually stop warming the planet, are best made by the state which will have an easier transition in technology from the greater awareness by most of the people (voters) in California becausse of County Standards. ------------------------------------------------------------ REQUEST TO SPEAK FORM (3.Minute Limit) I wish to speak on Agenda Item M I Complete this form and place it in the upright box near the Date: speaker's podium, and wait to be called by the Chair. My comments will be: Genera Personal information is optional. This speaker's card will be incorporated into the public record of this meeting. ❑ For Name (PRINT): �l( � lL � ❑ Against To ensure your name is am o inced correctly,you may want to include its phonetic spelling �g m ❑ l wish to spec subject of. 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