(photo of Mayor Blakespear at the press conference celebrating the passage of the Encinitas Green Building Ordinance in September 2021)

The San Diego Building Electrification Coalition will present the story of the City of Encinitas passing its all-electric new construction reach code from start to finish. This discussion will include conversations with various stakeholders including the Mayor of Encinitas Catherine Blakespear, City staffer Crystal Najera and citizen advocacy volunteer James Wang regarding their roles, responsibilities, and thoughts on this successful process.

This is presented as part of The San Diego Green Building Council’s Sustainable Building Week.  

Zoom link

Speakers

• Catherine Blakespear: Mayor of Encinitas
• Crystal Najera: Sustainability Manager, City of Encinitas
• James Wang: Former Chair, Encinitas Environmental Commission
• Robert Carr: Education and Project Manager, San Diego Green Building Council
• Kelly Lyndon: Volunteer, San Diego Building Electrification Coalition

Speaker Bios

Catherine Blakespear

Mayor Catherine S. Blakespear was re-elected to her third term as mayor of the City of Encinitas in November 2020.

Catherine was first elected to serve on the Encinitas City Council in 2014 and became the City of Encinitas’ second directly elected mayor in 2016.

The mayors of the North County coastal cities appointed Mayor Blakespear to the Airport Authority Board in January 2020. In addition to the Airport Authority Board, she serves on several outside boards, including those of regional water and wastewater districts. In 2018 she was chosen by her elected peers on the county’s largest regional transportation agency, SANDAG, to serve in leadership as vice-chair. In 2020 she was unanimously chosen by the board of directors to lead the agency as chair for the 2021-2022 term.

Catherine has been a practicing attorney since 2006 and before law school worked as a journalism reporter.

Crystal Najera

Crystal Najera is the Sustainability Manager for the City of Encinitas.  

She has worked for the City in an environmental capacity for fourteen years, protecting ocean water quality, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and implementing associated stormwater and climate action programs. Her recent work includes developing green building policy, implementing micromobility programs, and ensuring Encinitas infrastructure projects are sustainably-minded.  

She has a B.S. in Environmental Biology and Management and an M.S. in Water Resources Management.  

James Wang

James Wang is an Encinitas resident concerned about protecting our environment, our communities, and our future.

While serving on Encinitas Environmental Commission, he introduced initiatives to reduce plastic waste, to adopt Community Choice Energy, to update the Climate Action Plan to CEQA standards, to create a citywide Environmental Award Program, to declare a Climate Emergency, and to consider Building Electrification.

His academic background includes degrees in engineering and geoscience from MIT and UC/Berkeley.

Robert Carr

Robert Carr is the Education and Project Manager for the San Diego Green Building Council

Robert is a green building professional who specializes in working with regional municipal and non-profit organizations to make our region’s built environment more sustainable.

Robert has used his experience to participate in variety of local green building and sustainability based projects, including the LEED certification 10 Balboa Park buildings and the San Diego Food Bank. He has also participated in the City of San Diego’s SD ZN3 project discussed during this webinar.

Robert’s credentials include a Masters in Sustainability Leadership, LEED AP for Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance, and a ILFI Living Future Accreditation.

Robert is an active volunteer in the San Diego community. He is a Board member for Tree San Diego, Co-Chair for the San Diego Building Electrification Coalition Messaging Working Group, and member of the SD350.