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Monitor Notes: Wildfire Resilience, Racism Discussion, Water Service, Park Survey, and VTA Appointment

Welcome to Monitor Notes, a weekly roundup of news items, event announcements, and updates on past Bay Area Monitor articles.

 

Building Climate Resilience

The League of Women Voters of North and Central San Mateo County and LWV South San Mateo County continue their climate resilience series on June 3 by looking at wildfire risk. The 7 p.m. forum will focus on the county’s vulnerability to wildfire and what’s being done by agencies, neighborhoods, and individuals to lower the risk. The event is part of a partnership with OneShoreline, San Mateo County’s flood and sea-level rise resiliency district. Click here to read the complete list of panelists and to register. 

Speaking of climate, it’s one of many topics on the agenda at the LWV California Convention from June 7 to 13. You don’t have to be a member to attend some events and workshops, but there is a $25 registration fee.  

 

Confronting Racism

The LWV Solano County invites the community to a June 1 online event at 7:15 p.m. called “Asian-American Racism: One Woman’s Journey.” Telling this story about racism and violence directed at the Asian-American community is presenter Claudine Wong (pictured), a KTVU anchor. Wong was born in Oakland, attended elementary school in San Francisco, and went to middle and high school in Benicia. “I have a great love for the complexity and diversity of the Bay Area, and I’m passionate about the role journalists play in society’s conversations,” she said in an event announcement. 

 

Non-Streaming Service?

Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) officials are considering options to contend with the statewide drought, including a temporary ban on new water service connections. According to a May 20 San Francisco Business Times article explaining the proposed suspension, such a move could impact new housing developments. More information could be shared when the MMWD board of directors meets on June 1. MMWD has twice enacted temporary prohibitions — in the early 1970s and late 1980s — on new service connections in its history, according to May 18 board meeting materials. In response to the current drought, Marin County has already put in place water use restrictions. It gets much of its water supply from reservoirs in Sonoma County, where officials proclaimed a local drought emergency in late April. What drought measures are officials in your county considering?

 

Park Surveys Underway

Officials at East Bay Regional Park District want to hear about your park and trail experiences in a new survey that’ll help inform future decisions, community programs, and investments. The survey includes questions about feeling welcome at regional parks and trails, barriers to visiting, and new programs and events you’d like to see. It takes about 8 to 10 minutes to complete.

 

 

New VTA General Manager

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s (VTA) board of directors named Carolyn Gonot (pictured) general manager and CEO. She joins VTA from the Utah Transit Authority, where she was executive director since 2019. Before that, she held multiple leadership roles during a 23-year tenure with VTA. Gonot will begin her new position on July 12. She replaces VTA General Counsel Evelynn Tran, who temporarily filled the GM/CEO role after Nuria Fernandez left in January to join the Biden Administration as acting administrator of the Federal Transit Administration. Coming back to Silicon Valley to fill the role will be both “challenging and rewarding,” Gonot said in a news release. Separately, VTA announced it’s adding capacity to bus and light rail vehicles now that Santa Clara County has entered the less restrictive yellow tier. 

 

 

Monitor Notes is produced by Cecily O’Connor. To receive it by email, scroll to the bottom of this page, enter your email address in the box under “RECEIVE EMAIL UPDATES,” and click the red “SIGN UP” button.

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