[img]1154|right|Meghan Sahli-Wells||no_popup[/img]Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells said this morning that the City Council’s decision to bifurcate its vote on a new Specific Plan for a corner of the Inglewood Oil Field was a correct deliberation.
With only four members present Monday night while Councilman Jeff Cooper was in San Francisco with his ailing father, they agreed to start working on the plan – not a head-scratching call. But they held off on a decision to fund the company that conducts the environmental impact review for the Inglewood Oil Field for, some would say, a technical but valid reason: Failure to post on its website the Aspen Environmental Group’s contract with the city.
As a committed populist, Ms. Sahli-Wells believes in immediate action/reaction on the dais when there is a public complaint.
‘Aspen Is Not a Problem’
“If somebody in the public says ‘I did not get enough documentation, I’d like to know more before you move forward,’ it is perfectly acceptable to provide it for them,” she said. “It’s a good practice.”
Drawing on her experience on the Oil Drilling Subcommittee and with approving work permits in the past, Ms. Sahli-Wells said she does not find any inherent problems with Aspen’s operation.
“As people have seen,” she said, “we are being deliberate in moving forward both with the ordinance and with the Specific Plan.
“Because (fracking) is such a sensitive issue, we want to err on the side of caution.
“We want to make sure all of the information is out there, and that the public feels comfortable with the way we are moving forward because the stakes are high.
“In the past, there has been a lot of litigation with the oil field. We need to be extra careful. I have no problem with taking extra time to get information out to the public.”
You Only Have to Ask
On another hand, the mayor added:
“We already have a lot of information publicly available on our website (www.culvercity.org).
But if the public feels they need more, I am perfectly fine with that.”
Meanwhile, “we are moving forward with the Specific Plan, a good planning tool.”
Ms. Sahli-Wells was asked if she had laid out her own set of markers before she would approve of the revised Specific Plan.
“If you look at the (year and a half) timeline, those points are set out,” she said. “There is ample time for public input, for making sure everybody is able to read and understand what we are putting forward.
“This is a collaborative process with the community because it pertains to the community’s health and well-being. That is what we are setting out to protect. It is natural and desirable to make sure we are doing this closely with the community. That is my main focus.
“As for the technical part,” said Ms. Sahli-Wells, “this is what makes it so difficult for a lay person to understand. Lots of details. That is why people need to be able to not only read and understand but research a lot of these needs. My threshold is, let’s make sure we have all the time we need to move forward.”
