Third in a series. 

Re: “Small Promises a Painless Transition” 

City Councilman Thomas Small said that both a “yes” and a “no” answer are appropriate to Mayor Jim Clarke’s pertinent observation about the looming citywide ban on Styrofoam food containers.

Mr. Small last week was the only person on the dais who voted against sending the raw proposal generated by the Ballona Creek Renaissance to the Sustainability Subcommittee rather than straight to the city staff professionals.

As for the mayor’s reasoning, Mr. Clarke has contended that banning Styrofoam food containers – just the start of a wider prohibition – is such a complex, research-heavy matter that going to the subcommittee rather than straight to city staff professionals is preferable. “There are so many models to choose from,” Mr. Clarke has said, “it will be difficult to figure out which ones fit our community best.”

Mr. Small said yes and no to Mr. Clarke’s view. “Exactly what the best approach is, and then polystyrene itself – all of that is one challenge,” he said, acknowledging “there is some complexity to it.

“The most important part is to study what other cities have done. Santa Monica did it years ago,” said the former Santa Monica resident. “Manhattan Beach has done it more comprehensively more recently. San Francisco,” near Mr. Small’s hometown, “has done something very comprehensive.”

Staff, he said, could study the details of the routes California communities have chosen and plumb their reasoning.

“Staff is better situated to study that than the Sustainability Subcommittee,” Mr. Small said

Here is why: “With the Subcommittee, it is going to be more of a debate (between Councilmembers Goran Eriksson and Meghan Sahli-Wells), and maybe less of an analysis.”