The Stakeholder Forum is the principal public advisory body to the Restoration Project. It is comprised of stakeholders with long-term, ongoing interest in the restoration plan and South Bay shoreline. The Forum meets when there is new information to discuss, ideally every year or two, and most often in the fall. The Project's three geographic working groups, which advised on pond complex-specific design, construction and science during Phase 1, are now invited to continue to participate via Stakeholder Forum meetings.
The Stakeholder Forum includes a broad coalition of organizations and members of the public who are interested in the restoration project. The Forum played a critical role in developing the current restoration plan. Forum members now meet in geographically based Working Groups and come together as a larger group roughly once a year.
STAKEHOLDER FORUM MISSION
The purpose of the Stakeholder Forum is to provide ongoing, high level, publicly derived input to the Project Management Team on the restoration plan. Managers use this input as the basis to provide feasible and substantive design and plan management direction to the Consultant Design Team. The Forum also assists managers in gaining a broader understanding of public and interest group perspectives.
COMPOSITION
The Stakeholder Forum is comprised of core stakeholders representing the following categories:
Local Business and Adjacent landowners;
Environmental organizations;
Public Access /Recreation Interests;
Public Infrastructure;
Community advocates and institutions;
Flood management;
Public Works/Public Health; and
Local or State Elected officials.
Central to the selection process was the effort to obtain broad geographic and interest-based diversity, as well as participants with a demonstrated commitment to inclusive, collaborative solutions.
Stakeholder Forum Members, 2023
Garnetta Annable, Santa Clara Open Space Authority
Marilou Ayupan, City of Union City
Don Brown, Cargill Salt
Jennifer Brown, City of San Jose Environmental Services
Margaret Bruce, San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority
Donald Chuck, NASA Ames Research Center
John Coleman, Bay Planning Coalition
Sarah Crowe, Senator Diane Feinstein's office
Gita Dev, Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter
Arthur Feinstein, Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge
Lee Huo, San Francisco Bay Trail
Ralph Johnson, Alameda County Flood Control District (retired)
Shani Kleinhaus, Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
Jane Lavelle, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
David Lewis, Save The Bay
Mariano Mandler, Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
Russ Melton, City of Sunnyvale
Anne Morkill, USFWS (retired)
Richard Santos, Santa Clara Valley Water District
Pat Showalter, City of Mountain View
Charles Taylor, Alviso community
Karine Tokatlian, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
Dennis Waespi, East Bay Regional Park District and Hayward Area Shoreline Planning Agency
Brian Weber, San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District
Kristine Zortman, Port of Redwood City
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
In the early years of the Project, the Stakeholder Forum provided focused review, discussion and consensus-seeking on several key issues in the development of the Long-Term Restoration Plan. Now that the Project is in its implementation phase, the Stakeholder Forum provides focused review, discussion and input on the following key restoration and planning issues:
Review and input on the final objectives of additional restoration plan phases
Development and discussion of possible trade-offs across planning and implementation objectives
Discussion and consensus-seeking on design opportunities and constraints and integration of the habitat, public access, and flood management objectives
Review and consensus-seeking on restoration concepts
Public access/recreational components
Floodplain, tidal flood and sea level rise protection integral to the restoration effort
Water quality effects, including mercury methylation
Opportunities for South Bay water quality improvement
Habitat mosaics and location
Dredge material use/placement
Vector management and predation control
Funding partnerships and opportunities
The Restoration Project Management Team may periodically assign specific tasks or directives to be undertaken by the Forum.
More than 70 members of the Stakeholder Forum and the public participated in this periodic public meeting to inform and dialogue about the Restoration Project's latest construction work and science.
The event began with a half-hour pre-meeting mixer for casual conversation. The formal portion of the meeting took place from 9:30 a.m. to Noon, ending with an optional open house to allow time for remaining questions and comments.
This November virtual public meeting of the Stakeholder Forum provided an opportunity for members of the Forum and the public to learn and dialogue about Project progress, science, funding, and other restoration-related topics.
Here you can access records from Stakeholder Forum and early Project planning meetings, from 2003 to 2017. The Stakeholder Forum is the principal public advisory body to the Restoration Project.