Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAppointment - J.D. GarciaCITY OF PALM DESERT COMMUNITY SERVICES DIVISION CITY CLERK OPERATIONS STAFF REPORT REQUEST: APPOINTMENT TO THE PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION SUBMITTED BY: City Clerk on behalf of Councilman Robert A. Spiegel DATE: April 13, 2006 CONTENTS: I. Staff Report II. Application of J. David Garcia Recommendation: By Minute Motion, appoint J. David Garcia to the position of Alternate Member on the Parks & Recreation Commission fora four-year term (1/1/06- 12/31 /09). Background: The Parks & Recreation Commission currently has vacancies for up to two alternate members. Mr. Garcia made application for Committee/Commission Service in October 2005 and was interviewed by City Council on December 8, 2005. He is very interested in giving back to his community, and after attending the Commission's April 5 Meeting, conveyed his desire to serve the City in this capacity. As Vice Chair Julie Munson is currently taking a leave of absence from the Commission, Mr. Garcia's appointment will be timely for maintaining full membership. Respectfully submitted, �1 COUNCILMAN ROBERT A. SPIEGEL RAS:rdk Attachment (as noted) r • COMMITTEE/COMMISSION APPLICATIOMI r r Ii `-i `parr V ;;:c. .. a _'0© `••;' 0 -n v-0 CO rn CITY OF PALM DESERT 73-510 Fred Waring Drive Palm Desert, California 92260-2578 1. Indicate which of the following committees or commissions on which you are most interested in serving. Please mark no more than three. and number them in order of your first, second. and third choices only (#1 for first choice, #2 for second choice, #3 for third choice). Architectural Review Commission Art In Public Places Commission Building Board of Appeals El Paseo Business Association Historic Preservation Committee Housing Commission Investment and Finance Committee Library Promotion Committee -2' Marketing Committee /•.� Parks and Recreation Commission • Planning Commission Project Area Committee Public Safety Commission Rent Review Commission Sister Cities Committee 2. Name. JA �^ 5 Last First 3. Residence Address: 75 / D I Se�L Pi R Street No. City aNes ()ICI Middle Rel. PpLo. (�ascR r Zip Code Telephone No. 9 z, 4. Business Address '3 /e/ a<<- 134z Ra its.. bor (12260 SG?' _ 6crcp Street No. City Zip Code Telephone No. 5. Education: ? C -(/ oa tA4,: ifr: t t/ 6. Current Occupation - r vaRA) 7. Job Experience (beginning with present or last position): X,r1 tic --TV (L,_A) J rag/�,/c if�,p Firm & Address Title /(77 - _--r i. (LA) 04bA G'Ae�a,JCM0/I Firm & Address TM „I- LJAJ : c-( G.,4,42 c- : ya,,,Ac72,A /6"es ,-//•,..,1"- Firm & Address The Employment at :d 194 Z. oe z Employ nt Dates 4,249z — Employment Dates 8. Members of the Planning Commission and Rent Review Commission must be registered voters in Palm Desert. I have been a Palm Desert resident since: c'p s� I have been a registered voter in Palm Desert since. oa �" 9. Local residents who are qualified to comment on my capabilities (preferably not someone connected with the City of Palm Desert). ,&f'.LL e 1p_,ve. i ,lam "AA, s (tc) 302 - t,3p Name Addfess Telephone No. 4 0-40 .4/ - a / C Name Address Telephone No. 10. YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS (add attachments if necessary): / 11. Have you ever served on any City committee or commission before? If yes, describe: .t /D This application will remain on file fora period of one year. FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Date Received: Date Reaffirmed- Comments- City of Palm Desert Committee/Commission Membership Questionnaire 1. Please provide your name, address, and telephone number(s): A r . J JtD 2r A - I r t i1 A t 2 ca t (2 cji.2- n 2. I attended meetings of the t 4s M oeJ (miss I 01, f (Name of Committee/Commission) on the following dates: 3. I am still interested in serving on this committee/commission: des — No a) If yes, please go to #4. b) If no, please go to #5. 4. Please give your general impression of the committee/commission after attending its meetings: (over) City of Palm Desert Committee/Commission Membership Questionnaire Page Two 5. Is there another committee/commission in which you are interested? Yes No a) If yes, please indicate the dates of the meetings for this committee/commission that you 'attended and give your general impression of the committee/commission: b) If no, the City of Palm Desert thanks you for taking time to apply for membership on the various committees and commissions. If you decide in the future that you would again like to be considered for membership, please contact us for a new application form. 6. After attending meetings and completing this questionnaire, please return it along with your Application for Committee/Commission Service to: Office of the City Clerk Community Services Division City of Palm Desert 73-510 Fred Waring Drive Palm Desert, CA 92260-2578 If you have any questions, please call Assistant City Manager Sheila Gilligan or City Clerk Rachelle Klassen at (760)346-0611. H:.rklassen1WPdata\WPDOCS\Cmtes\questionnaire.wpd 5/13/03 a. Davit) przoauctloris David Garcia 73 101 Bel Air Palm Desert, CA 92260 (760) 568-5688 For forty years David Garcia has traveled the world as a journalist making bad stories good and good stories spectacular. It has always been his belief that good journalism is a tool to inform and educate the public. It has always been his goal as a journalist to educate the public about the environment. Now he wishes to channel his energy, vast experience, and considerable talent into teaching people about environment issues. David Garcia is considered Southern Califomia's only full-time environmental reporter, and is widely known as the "Earthman". Among his outstanding achievements in the field of environmental reporting is a five part news series titled "Beryllium: Deadly Wonder', an investigation of a metal that is lighter than aluminum yet stronger than steel. Beryllium first gained modem headlines as a critical component of atomic bombs and has evolved into everyday applications from golf clubs to computers. There's a fatal flaw in this space age metal. Unless milled property, the beryllium dust is poison when inhaled and causes a slow death to anyone that handles or even touches the toxic material. It is now known that thousands of unsuspecting factory workers have died from handling this material which causes respiratory failure. The federal govemment covered up this health disaster for years. The series won a nomination for a Peabody award as well as an Emmy and a Golden Mike. The transcript from the thirty -minute special was read aloud in the House of Representatives into the minutes of the Congressional Record. Among other award winning news segments and documentaries concerning the environment is a unique underwater video depicting the everyday life of the giant Manta. The Mantas frequent the Revillagigedo Islands, 250 miles off the southem tip of Baja. The television audience was given an unparalleled view of a marine creature we know almost nothing about. It was one of the first times that digital cameras were used in underwater television photography, This five part series was made into a thirty minute special. From the ocean to the tropical rain forest David Garcia traveled to the Amazon in Suriname near the jungle border with Brazil. There he documented the life of a small village of 600 native people considered among the healthiest populations in the world. The focus of this award winning news special was on how these supposedly primitive people used the plants around them from the bark of various trees, to vines, and berries as medicine. This special shows how today's pharmaceutical giants are searching the rainforests of the planet for tomorrow's `miracle". The special called Ancient Medicine; Modern Cures won an Emmy Award in the Health and Science/Environment category and a Golden Mike Award for the best documentary. David Garcia has also won recognition as the premiere earthquake joumalist. It was during the Northridge earthquake, the worst modem earthquake in Southern California's history, that he earned the reputation as California's outstanding earthquake reporter. His researching and interviewing of scientists at CALTECH and U. S. Geological Survey gave him the insight to help calm a frightened and desperate public. Later, those reports took him to Japan for a half-hour special on earthquakes around the world and, in particular, the pacific region known as the "Ring of Fire". He won an Emmy for Best News Writer and for Best Health and Science/Environmental special for this earthquake education series. David Garcia has traveled to the capitol cities and backwater regions of Europe, Africa, Asia, the South Pacific and Central and South America covering a variety of stories. For example, a news assignment in Egypt focused on the mysteries of the Pyramids and the Temples of the Nile. He also visited the Blue Mountains of Australia on another assignment. His series on Alaska's wilderness environment won and Emmy for Best Light News. When he is not traveling, he has been covering environmental news stories in Southern California. He has filed extensive reports on El Nino related stories from rainstorms and mudslides to wildfires. He has also extensively covered the impact of environmental pollution on the Santa Monica Bay as well as other areas of California's fragile coastline. David Garcia was also an ABC Network White House correspondent during one of the most tumultuous fimes in American history. He covered Richard Nixon's impeachment, the Watergate trials, and President Nixon's departure form the Oval Office. He also covered the administrations of President Gerald Ford and President Jimmy Carter as a White House.Cor espondent. His reporting ran the gamut from the easing of the cold war to the Camp David Accords. While assigned in Washington, D. C., he covered the Supreme Court, the House, and the Senate. He was also the South American Bureau chief for ABC stationed in Miami Florida. From Miami, David Garcia covered war and politics throughout Central and South America. Despite such a rigorous news schedule, David Garcia still found time for lectures and panel discussions concerning the environment and politics in schools and universities across the nation. David Garcia lectured at the Edward R. Murrow School of Communications, Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. He has been a panel member at the Museum of Tolerance on racial tolerance and religious harmony. It is this kind of commitment and expertise that David Garcia brings to environmental understanding. David worked with the PBS.broadcast "California Connected° a television newsmagazine that is broadcast simultaneously by all PBS stations in California. He contributed environmental features to the broadcast. His premiere report ww§ on the Salton Sea and the 4.4 Plan regarding California's future water supply and its impact on the Coachella Valley. In addition David has reported on environmental issues for the broadcast series "Life and Times° for the PBS flagship television station KCET-TV in Los Angeles. David Garcia worked with the new CBS 2 television station located in the Coachella Valley. He covered the environment and aired a half-hour news show every Sunday dealing with Riverside County issues. David and his wife Susie Garcia now produce a copyrighted show, "Go West with David Garcia", through their production company, J. David Productions. The one- half hour show airs weekly on Time Wamer in the Coachella Valley and on Time Warner "on demand" in San Diego. The show also airs weekly on KVCR-TV, the PBS station in San Bernardino, California. KVCR-TV regular viewing audience is 2.3 million viewers. J. David Productions produces "Dr. Reese's Planet" with host Dr. Reese Halter. "Dr. Reese's Planet" airs on Time Warner Channel 10 and will air on KVCr-TV in the fall of 2005. J. David Productions also produces H2Oasis sponsored by the Coachella Valley Water District and airs on Time Warner Channel 10. In addition beginning this Fall season J. David Productions will begin a new series "Healthy Living" in association with the Eisenhower Medical center which has just been named one of the 'Top 100 Hospitals in America". David will also host this medical series. David Garcia's commitment to the highest level of integrity in journalism is total. That same standard also applies in David's efforts to inform the public about environmental issues. He refuses to make issues political and makes every effort to offer solutions to issues. The simple truth always speaks for itself David Garcia