For the first time ever, the Local Government Commission is making PowerPoint presentations from the Fourteenth Annual Building Livable Sustainable Communities Conference in Yosemite National Park available on the Internet. This year’s conference was attended by Richmond City Council members Gayle McLaughlin, Mindell Penn and me.

The full conference agenda can be viewed by visiting http://www.lgc.org/events1/land_use/past/yosemite2005_agenda.html, and

PDF files of speaker¹s PowerPoint presentations can be downloaded by visiting:

http://www.lgc.org/freepub/land_use/presentations/index.html

You miss a lot by not hearing the entire presentations, but just viewing the PowerPoints provides a sense of the highly interesting and sometimes provocative content. Of particular interest was the introduction by Rick Cole, City Manager, Ventura, CA, of form based zoning at http://www.lgc.org/freepub/PDF/Land_Use/presentations/yosemite2005/cole_yosemite05.pdf and the discussion by Dr. Richard Joseph Jackson, State Public Health Officer of how the health of American is declining rapidly due to the lifestyle engendered by decades of city planning based around automobile transportation at http://www.lgc.org/freepub/PDF/Land_Use/presentations/yosemite2005/jackson_yosemite05.pdf. Finally, Patrick Siegman makes a case that we don’t need more parking; we actually need less (take note Point Richmond business people) at http://www.lgc.org/freepub/PDF/Land_Use/presentations/yosemite2005/siegman_yosemite05.pdf

"The Local Government Commission is a non-partisan membership organization that provides inspiration, technical assistance, and networking to local elected officials and other dedicated community leaders who are working to create healthy, walkable, and resource-efficient communities." All members of the Richmond City Council are also members of the Local Government Commission.

The next LGC-sponsored event will be 5th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, January 26-28, 2006 in Denver, Colorado. It is open to anyone.