Title
Authorizing the City of Saint Paul to accept a gift of no more than $3,500 from the McKnight Foundation via HOURCAR, to cover the costs of airfare, lodging, and food for Russ Stark (Mayor’s Office), Councilmember Mitra Jalali Nelson, and Chris Belair (Public Works) to attend a series of meetings in Los Angeles, CA April 24-26, 2019.
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul is planning to create an electric vehicle carshare program in partnership with HOURCAR, Xcel Energy, and the City of Minneapolis; and
WHEREAS, a series of meetings will be held in Los Angeles, California to gather information from City officials, transit officials, and carshare operator Blue Solutions about the electric vehicle carshare program known as Blue LA, and
WHEREAS, these meetings will help the City design Saint Paul’s planned electric vehicle carshare program; and
WHEREAS, the McKnight Foundation has generously agreed to cover the costs of the trip for city officials and HOURCAR representatives to visit Los Angeles in order that the partners may glean as much information as possible about community engagement, program design, infrastructure design, and city/provider partnerships in order to bolster the chances of a successful launch of EV carshare in Saint Paul and Minneapolis in 2020; and
WHEREAS, the planned EV carshare program in Saint Paul is a major undertaking that can have many benefits for people who live, work, and visit Saint Paul, including providing more mobility options in more neighborhoods, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, and making it easier for Saint Paul residents to own fewer vehicles; and
WHEREAS, the Council finds that there is a public purpose for the expenditure of funds; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the Saint Paul City Council hereby authorizes the City of Saint Paul to accept the gift of up to $3,500 from the McKnight Foundation (via HOURCAR) for lodging, airfare, and food expenses for Russ Stark, Mitra Jalali Nelson, and Chris Belair to travel to Los Angeles April 24-26, 2019.