SAVE THE DATE: Wednesday, August 4 at Oceanside City Hall (or on ZOOM)
IMPORTANT: If you would like to speak on an agenda item via Zoom during this City Council meeting, you must email the City Clerk (CityClerk@OceansideCA.org) by 4 PM on August 4, 2021. Our item is #18.
In March, the Oceanside City Council rejected a draft plastic reduction ordinance written by city staff that would have prohibited food establishments from using EPS foam foodware by June 2022, and required them to distribute single-use plastic straws, utensils and other food accessories upon request only by July 2023.
They instead instructed staff to turn the ordinance into a “resolution” that requires zero action, merely encourages restaurants to be better stewards, and supports statewide action against plastic pollution in theory. In other words, the resolution accomplishes nothing despite documented widespread support from Oceanside residents that they’d like the City to address plastic pollution.
While we agree with the council that the city’s draft ordinance was far from perfect, we are disappointed that they’ve decided to take zero action locally to reduce the scourge of plastic pollution along their incredibly popular stretch of coastline.
Therefore, we are urging the City Council to direct staff to draft a simpler #SkipTheStuff ordinance that will require all food establishments to distribute single-use plastic straws, utensils and other food accessories upon request only by January 1, 2022 (rather than by July 2023, which was the date on the rejected draft ordinance).
Chapter Manager Mitch Silverstein “reframes the ask” to a #SkipTheStuff ordinance during non-agenda public comment at the June 16 City Council meeting.
We are looking for Oceanside residents, businesses, and organizations who would like to add their voice to ours and demand the City Council take this simple step to reduce unnecessary plastic waste on our streets, beaches and in the ocean.
Please SAVE THE DATE for the August 4 Council meeting, share with Oceanside residents and businesses, and direct anyone interested in helping achieve this victory to email RAP@surfridersd.org. We intend to make public comments during discussion of the resultion, Item 18 on the city council meeting agenda and encourage YOU to do the same!
Support Letter Templates
Please use these templates as a starting point to email or send to the Oceanside City Council. It’s of utmost importance that they hear from their constituents!
The links below open up a Google doc in letter format. They can be emailed to Council@oceansideca.org or printed and sent to: Honorable Mayor and City Council, Third Floor, City Hall North, 300 N. Coast Highway, Oceanside, CA 92054
These links will set up a pre-written email version instead of the letters above.
A Simple #SkipTheStuff Ordinance for the City of Oceanside to Consider
We did the legwork and drafted an ordinance for them to model, based on language from a similar ordinance the City of Vista passed last month. Plug n’ play!
To learn more about our chapter’s history around working with Oceanside on plastic pollution, check out our Campaign page