By Gary Walker

The Aug. 31 defeat in the California State Senate of Assembly Bill 1998, which would have prohibited the use of plastic bags at stores, has dismayed environmental advocates across the state. But the setback is also galvanizing Culver City residents who want to support the legislation to push for a municipal prohibition on plastic.

Meghan Sahli-Wells, an environmental advocate, says the time is now for Culver City to join other municipalities in banning the use of plastic bags. “We have to recognize the fact that ‘free bags’ are not really free,’” Sahli-Wells told the News the day after the Senate bill was defeated 21-14. “Not only do we pay a price to the degrading of our watershed, but also because we’re very quickly filling our landfills and our residents are paying a price for that as well.”

Culver City residents recently received a hike in their refuse bills, Sahli-Wells pointed out, because the landfill used by the city is rapidly becoming unusable to its being filled to capacity and the decision to relocate the city’s waste to another site.

AB 1998 would have eliminated the distribution of approximately 19 billion plastic bags in California by prohibiting grocery stores, pharmacies, convenience stores and similar stores from distributing single-use plastic bags.

Tim Shestek, senior director of state Affairs for the American Chemistry Council, applauded the defeat on AB 1998, which he said 1,000 well-paying manufacturing jobs in California would be lost. “We congratulate Senate members for discarding a costly bill that provides no real solutions to California’s litter problem and would have further jeopardized California’s already strained economy,” Shestek said in a statement.

State Sen. Curren Price (D- Culver City) was one of the 14 senators who chose not to support the ban. He was considered one of the crucial swing votes whom proponents of AB 1998 believed was necessary for the proposed bill’s passage.

Ballona Creek Renaissance President James Lamm is disheartened that the bill did not garner the necessary votes for passage. “It’s very disappointing that the ban is not statewide,” he said.

Sahli-Wells was also taken aback by Price’s vote. “I’m very surprised that Sen. Price did not take the lead on this,” she said. “I was told that he received a number of calls from his constituents in Culver City and I thought that he would be more supportive.”

Heal The Bay President Mark Gold, the Santa Monica-based environmental organization that was one of the bill’s most enthusiastic backers, criticized Price and his Senate colleague Gloria Romero, whom he says were crucial swing votes. “Support should have been easy for them because it is well known that bag bans are likely to move forward in their districts at the regional level,” Gold asserted. “A level playing field statewide would have helped businesses in their district[s].”

Ballona Creek, which runs through Culver City, has its share of refuse, including plastic. A few years ago, Lamm was being interviewed for a documentary near the mouth of the creek when he noticed a number of plastic refuse underneath the catch basin, which is designed to keep debris out of storm drains. “They were just floating there — like jellyfish,” he recalled.

While she is a proponent of other municipalities taking the lead and enacting their own ordinances against plastic bags, Sahli-Wells thinks the failure to pass AB 1998 could create legislative confusion. “What this means is now we could have a hodgepodge of legislation that can make it more difficult for businesses to get behind,” Sahli-Wells said.

Several coastal cities in California, including nearby Santa Monica, have begun to enact or already have a plastic bag ban in place.

Second District County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas indicated prior to the vote that he would seek a countywide prohibition on plastic bags if the Senate did not pass the proposed bill.

“Although we believe strongly that a uniform statewide policy on plastic bags is preferable, we cannot wait another year for Sacramento to act,” county supervisors Ridley-Thomas, who represents Culver City, and Zev Yaroslavsky of the Third District said in a statement before the vote was taken. “If AB 1998 does not pass, Los Angeles county will not only consider passing an ordinance, but will strongly encourage each of the 88 cities within Los Angeles County to enact similar bans.”

Sahli-Wells said she is pleased that Ridley-Thomas is taking the lead at the county level to try to ban plastic, but she would like to see her city government act before the county. “I applaud [Ridley-Thomas and Yaroslavsky] wholeheartedly,” she said. “But let’s not wait until the county moves. Let’s do it in conjunction with our business leaders.”

Lamm also commended the two supervisors. “The county has progressed very well on this,” he said. “I’m very pleased that they are being supportive of a ban on plastic.”

The Ballona Creek Renaissance president said he would soon begin to engage individual councilmen to lobby for a citywide ban on plastic.

Gold thinks the Senate vote illustrates what he and others feel is wrong with Sacramento.

“To me, the whole debacle demonstrates just how dysfunctional the state legislature has become. The fact that the governor, [Assembly] speaker and [speaker] pro-tem couldn’t deliver a win on an issue that’s garnered global attention demonstrates the level of gridlock in the legislature,” Heal the Bay’s president wrote on Spouting Off, an online blog for water-related and environmental topics. “Bold innovation is not rewarded. Leadership is ineffective.

“The days of [former Assembly speakers] Willie Brown and John Burton successfully imposing their will on legislative votes are but a distant memory,” Gold lamented. “Laws that protect the special interests at the expense of the public pass routinely. No wonder we still don’t have a state budget in September.”

Lamm’s organization, which will be taking part in the countywide Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept. 25, is also promoting the use of reusable bags. “[A citywide ban] would certainly go a long way to reducing the number of bags that get into the creek and into the ocean,” he said.

Sahli-Wells dismissed the notion that small businesses would not support an ordinance to outlaw plastic. “The fact of the matter is Culver City is fairly enlightened about the environment,” she asserted. “We often look to our businesses to be leaders and this is an opportunity for them to join those of us who want to see our city join other cities [in banning plastic.]”

A community organizer, Sahli-Wells, suggested holding a town hall or community meeting in Culver City to discuss the possibility of a municipal ordinance outlawing plastic. “It’s too late in terms of our environment to be cowardly,” she implored. “We have to take a stand now.”

Sandrine Cassidy Schmitt, the proprietor of June Fifteenth, a Culver City business specializing in reusable shopping bags, said while she supports AB 1998, she does not think that a ban is the best approach to weaning the public away from plastic.

“My goal is to get people off plastic,” Schmitt, who lives near Ballona Creek, acknowledged. “But I think there is another alternative to legislation.”

The business owner believes charging customers who wish to use plastic shopping bags would be more successful that an outright ban. “That way, it would not be such a burden on businesses that already have a supply of these bags, as well as on the plastic bag manufacturers,” she said.

Jay Handal agrees with Sahli- Wells, but for a different reason.

A former president of the Culver City Downtown Business Association, Handal is concerned that a citywide ban in Culver City could create a situation in which local grocers would be required to purchase reusable bags instead of their competitors in nearby Los Angeles, putting them at a disadvantage during a recession.

“Sometimes the burden on businesses gets tough,” he said. The restaurateur, who once owned San Gennaro’s Italian Restaurant in downtown Culver City, did support AB 1998.

“Environmentally, it’s the right thing to do,” he reiterated. “But passing a ban on a city-to-city basis could be a mistake.”

Mayor Christopher Armenta could not be reached for comment. Vice Mayor Micheál “Mehaul”O’Leary did not return phone calls for comment.