Sierra Club’s Environmental Scale Runs From O’Connor to Struiksma

Mayor Maureen O’Connor and Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer ranked as the San Diego City Council’s top environmentalists in 45 “key” votes over the last 32 months, while Councilman Ed Struiksma had the lowest pro-environment score in the first-ever legislative analysis released by the local Sierra Club chapter Thursday.

The survey found a council divided into three distinct tiers. O’Connor and Wolfsheimer were joined by Councilman Bob Filner in the environmentally conscious category, and council members Judy McCarty and Bruce Henderson were lumped with Struiksma in the bottom tier, dubbed the “Steamshovel Brigade” by Sierra Club leaders.

Council members Wes Pratt, Ron Roberts and Gloria McColl formed a cadre of swing votes that often provided the margin of decision on issues facing the nine-member council.

Fodder for Campaigns

With Wolfsheimer, McColl, Struiksma and McCarty facing reelection this September, the analysis is almost certain to provide fodder for campaigns in the city’s first-only district elections.

“Every member of the council proclaims to be environmentally sensitive, and historically neither the public nor the media have had the statistics to explore or challenge their proclamations,” Barbara Bamberger, the Sierra Club’s conservation coordinator, said at a news conference Thursday.

Henderson, who placed eighth in the survey, said the analysis was a “political” effort carefully devised to exclude some issues that would have raised the scores of long-time Sierra Club foes such as he

“The timing of this, the nature of it, the choice of what they call issues, is clearly political,” Henderson said.

O’Connor voted the Sierra Club position on 37 of 38 issues included in the rankings to rack up a score of 97.37 out of 100. But she was absent for seven environmental votes, more than any other council member. Struiksma missed six votes, and no other council member missed more than four.

O’Connor drew strong praise for hard work “on a number of issues, including growth management, sensitive lands protection, secondary sewage treatment and opposition to the SANDER (trash-to-energy) project.”

Mayor’s Efforts ‘Frustrated’

The Sierra Club noted, however, that “the mayor’s efforts have often been frustrated by the council’s pro-development wing,” and that “many of her goals remain unfulfilled.”

Paul Downey, O’Connor’s press secretary, said that “we’re very pleased that the Sierra Club has singled her out as the top environmentalist on the council. That’s great news.” Downey said the mayor deserved the praise for her longstanding attention to growth management and concern for the environment.

After O’Connor came Wolfsheimer with a score of 95.12; Filner at 85.19; Pratt at 65.38; Roberts at 57.69; McColl at 51.22; McCarty at 42.22; Henderson at 39.29; and Struiksma at 33.33.

Struiksma, who “earned himself a special place in the Sierra Club Hall of Shame,” was given the major blame for “gutting” the slow-growth Interim Development Ordinance, which capped home construction from August, 1987, to May of this year, as well as a zoning ordinance designed to protect environmentally sensitive lands.

Struiksma, who contended that the survey was timed to hurt his reelection bid, said: “We know through our own polling that the people of my district know me and know me well. I’m not going to run away from anything, and I don’t have to.”

He said his votes on the Resource Protection Overlay Zone were consistent with community plans adopted by his constituents in District 5.

McCarty drew praise from the Sierra Club for never missing a key environmental vote, despite her score of 42.22 and a seventh-place finish. McCarty also drew plaudits for her strong support of recycling, water reclamation and efforts to contain ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons.

The Sierra Club claimed that the analysis shows that substantial power is wielded by McColl, who was described as “the key vote” on the council because “it is difficult for Struiksma to assemble a pro-development majority of five votes without her support.”

McColl participated in 15 votes decided by the minimum five-vote majority and voted against the Sierra Club position on 11 of those occasions, Bamberger claimed.

Covers Wide Range of Topics

Conducted by environmental activist and Sierra Club member Jackie Sanders, the analysis includes 45 votes cast between Sept. 13, 1986 and May 4, 1989, with 43 of them coming during 1987 and 1988. The topics included growth management, sewage, development projects, water reclamation, the now defunct proposal to build the SANDER trash-to-energy plant and many more.

A number of important decisions concerning the environment were not included for various reasons. For example, the draining of water from Lake Morena, an action the Sierra Club opposes, was not included in the survey because the council has never formally voted to order the move. City Manager John Lockwood’s office has the authority to transfer water from Lake Morena to other reservoirs without council direction.

Wolfsheimer also did not receive credit for being the only council member to support Citizen for Limited Growth’s slow-growth Proposition J on last November’s ballot, an initiative also backed by the Sierra Club.