Thank You to the Environmental Task Force!

The City would like to congratulate its inaugural 18-member Environmental Task Force on a highly successful program. This dedicated group of community volunteers has served for 18 months, and has assisted the City in addressing several issue areas that are particularly important to our community.  

The Task Force was organized into four subcommittees, and they made recommendations to City Council in each of the following areas:

• the Development of a Climate Action Plan;
• Water Conservation and Storm Water Management Issues;
• Waste Reduction and Recycling; and
• Sustainable ("Green") Design

City Council and the School Board appointed 19 residents to the Task Force, including three elected officials. Mayor Mitch Ward and Councilmember Portia Cohen co-chaired the Task Force. Amy Howorth, School Board Member, also served on the Task Force representing the School Board.

Task Force Members by Subcommittee

Climate Action Plan	Green Building	Solid Waste and Recycling	Water and Storm Water
Todd Dipaola	Casey Beyer	Suzanne Kretschmer	Heather George
Adam Gerard	Ben Burkhalter	Wendy Phillips	Jack Kirkpatrick
Lillian Light	Christopher Conaway	Andrea Zislis	Jeffrey Neu
Bob Scott			David Pedersen
Lani Lapidus Zaun			Bob Siemak

To research the identified priority environmental issue areas and make recommendations to City Council, the Task Force members were organized into the four subcommittees listed above. City Staff from the City Manager's Office, and the Community Development and Public Works departments, assisted the Task Force in their efforts to green the City of Manhattan Beach. The Task Force subcommittees met in small working group sessions to develop project proposals, and then met as a group once a month in public community meetings.

The City looks forward to continuing our work with this amazing group of volunteers. If you are interested in becoming an Environmental Task Force member in the future, or if you have any questions about the City's Environmental Programs, you can contact Sona Kalapura, the Environmental Programs Manager.