Host: City of Monterey Park
Region: Southern California
Openings: 1
Project Focus: Affordable Housing, Climate Adaptation, Climate Mitigation, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Waste Management
Skills Needed: Facilitation, Project Management, Technical Writing, Volunteer Management, Communication, Self-Motivated

Service Needs & Plans

In 2021, the Monterey Park City Council identified climate change in a set of priorities to be accomplished within the City. This effort will help develop a process and provide direction to the Staff on how to address climate change. For the city to adequately address climate change, and allocate appropriate resources towards achieving that goal, it is important to create a roadmap that is comprehensive, understandable, and attainable. The 2022-23 service year has provided the opportunity to reach out to the community and gathered input related to climate change, health and sustainability and form the plan, with adoption towards the end of the service year. The new service year will focus on the implementation of the plan.

Project Description

Going Green:

1. Overarching Goal: to make a dramatic impact on the reduction of greenhouse gases within the City of Monterey Park through the actions of residents, business owners, visitors, and City staff.
2. Role of the Fellow: CivicSpark Fellow will be a key member implementing the sustainability plan. Work may include updating changes to the sustainability plan as requested by Council, implementing new programs identified in the plan, monitoring progress in the reduction of Green House Gases.
3. Desired project outcomes: the start of a role or program that looks at City functions and programs related to sustainability, both internally and community wide, tracking progress, and reporting back to decision makers.
4. The CivicSpark Fellow will help increase our City’s capacity to tackle climate change by providing dedicated staffing to ensure that this campaign continues to be successful. Existing City staff is limited and is already juggling various responsibilities.

Desired Skills

Fellow should have the following traits/skills:
– communication and writing skills
– ability to work well with others
– analytical skills
– research skills
– resourceful
– ability to use various computer programs
– organized
– strong work ethic
– website design skills

Organization & Community Highlights

Monterey Park City Hall is an excellent workplace where staff is respected, all necessary resources are provided, and City staff members are friendly and professional. The City is committed to to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Working here will provide an opportunity to learn about how local government works. The CivicSpark fellow will be placed in the Community Development Department, Planning Division. Opportunities to interact with other Departments/Divisions will be abundant.

Remote or On-Site Placement

Hybrid or On-site preferred, Remote possible