Monrovia Plastic Bag Ban Returns

After being adopted, then rejected, the proposed plastic grocery carry-out bag ban is back again. The Monrovia City Council voted 3-2 tonight to put the proposed ban back on the council agenda for reconsideration. Voting in favor of reconsidering the ban were council members Alexander Blackburn, Larry Spicer, and Mayor Mary Ann Lutz. Council members Tom Adams and Becky Shevlin voted against.

If you haven't been following, the council first voted in favor of the ban (with Blackburn, Spicer and Lutz voting in favor and Adams and Shevlin voting against). Then, at the next meeting, when the measure came up for 'second reading' - a normally routine confirming vote - Blackburn and Spicer were absent, so Adams and Shevlin voted the ban down, with Lutz voting against them.

At tonight's meeting, Blackburn called the vote at the previous council meeting "surreptitious." Adams said it was not surreptitious because it was right there on the agenda and was voted on by those council members who were present. All council members had the opportunity to show up, he said, and if you don't show up your vote doesn't count.

Anyway, the result is that the ban will be reconsidered by the council. If you would like to contribute your thoughts, here is email contact information for the council members: http://goo.gl/XhKYcN . Also, when the issue is rescheduled, residents will be able to address the issue when it comes up at council meetings.

- Brad Haugaard