Rosendahl Deputy Aims to Paint District Green

Councilman Bill Rosendahl represents what might be L.A.’s most ecologically paradoxical district. At its southern edge in areas like Playa del Rey and Westchester, loud jets at LAX compete for airspace with herons at Ballona Creek. Large and congested streets like Lincoln and Venice Boulevard cut through dense populations in Venice, Marina del Rey and Palms. And at the district’s northern border, suburbia meets the expansive Santa Monica Mountains and Santa Monica Bay in Pacific Palisades. Enter Deborah Weinstein, Rosendahl’s new environmental deputy. Perhaps as a testament to the district’s environmental complexity, Rosendahl has chosen as his deputy a 34-year-old who has spent the past decade navigating national and international environmental politics in Washington, D.C. Although city council members have dozens of staff members, only a handful have full-time environmental deputies. Weinstein began working for Rosendahl last May after six years of work at the Department of the Interior, which manages nearly 20 percent of all U.S. land, including its environmental resources. From its policy office, she helped design environmental policies with long time frames and global implications. She analyzed the environmental impact of international trade agreements with Central America, Singapore and Australia. And she studied other countries’ enforcement of environmental laws. Although she appreciated the scope of her work at the department, the slow pace of change and the politicization of science motivated her to look for a job outside Washington. ‘My job was to present neutral policies to protect our trusts’ resources,’ Weinstein said in an interview with the Palisadian-Post in the district’s Westside office. ‘But it was incredibly frustrating to present those policies and often have them overlooked because of a political bent.’ The department’s culture during the Bush Administration meant not openly discussing major issues like climate change and often meant working to undo popular environmental protections. ‘We [civil servants] were tasked with coming up with recommendations to modify the Endangered Species Act, mostly via regulations because it’s up to Congress to do legislatively,’ she said. ‘The direction we were given was pretty clear from the political appointees.’ Raised in Southern California, Weinstein developed an appreciation of the environment hiking and camping in its mountains and swimming on its beaches. But it wasn’t until college at UC Santa Barbara that she decided to dedicate her career to the environment. ‘When I was growing up, I always thought the environment would be there,’ she said. ‘But in college, I started to realize there were real threats against the environment.’ Weinstein worked as an intern at the White House Council on Environmental Quality during the Clinton Administration. From there, she worked for an environmental law firm in D.C. and then received a master’s degree in public policy with a focus on environmental policy at UCLA. After graduating with her master’s, Weinstein won the competitive Presidential Management Fellowship, which prepares 500 future managers of government by placing them in jobs with the federal government. She began her fellowship in 2000 during the transition from the Clinton to the Bush presidency at the Department of the Interior, where she worked until May 2006. Not surprisingly, Weinstein brings the big-picture view that she cultivated at the department to Councilman Rosendahl’s district. ‘I feel lucky because Bill [Rosendahl] has empowered me to go to him with the biggest environmental issues and challenges,’ she said. In the absence of a federal approach to curb global warming, she imagines crafting a local solution to greenhouse emissions. Weinstein wants L.A.-based climate change policy to start with ‘greener’ city-owned buildings. ‘I don’t think many people realize how many emissions come from the building sector,’ she said. ‘Green buildings and sustainable designs are a great way of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.’ To that end, Weinstein has advocated redesigning LAX and city office buildings with energy-efficiency at their core. Rosendahl has recently sponsored a motion requiring the airport’s commissioners to come up with a 10-year plan to make LAX ‘the greenest airport in the world.’ In addition to her focus on climate change, Weinstein is actively focused on ways to clean up Santa Monica Bay. She staffs the councilman on the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, an independent state organization that crafts solutions to the long-term health of the bay. She is overseeing the city’s development and implementation of storm-water diversion in areas like Santa Monica Canyon and Temescal Canyon. And she wants to ‘strengthen the teeth’ of the city to prevent urban runoff from entering Santa Monica Bay. Weinstein and Rosendahl have proposed ways to decrease septic-tank leakage in areas like Mandeville Canyon. And Weinstein is working on ways to preserve the district’s naturally-flowing streams, which can help to reduce harmful urban runoff better than concrete storm drains. A new cycle of state funding for parks begins early this year, and Weinstein wants to direct those funds toward increasing open space by building more parks within the district. She would like to create greenways along Ballona Creek in Playa del Rey by acquiring land along the creek. And she would like to hear input about capital improvements in the Palisades. ‘We live in such an urban city, and we’re park poor,’ Weinstein said. ‘Hopefully, in the future, we’ll have more and more open space. I think it allows people to escape their hectic, busy lives.’ Weinstein divides her time between working at City Hall and Rosendahl’s Westchester and West L.A. offices. She encourages constituents to help shape the district’s environmental agenda. ‘I would love to hear ideas from the community,’ she said. ‘Everything is on the table to make our district more sustainable.’ Reporting by Staff Writer Max Taves. To contact, e-mail: reporter@palipost.com