Posted in
Sustainability Alliance of Southwest Colorado
Policy Committee Update from Dick White
June 26, 2008
The Policy Committee did not meet in June.
There are a number of encouraging developments, but none that seems to warrant urgent policy action.
- County Commissioner Wally White, Planning Director (and former SASCO Board member) Erick Aune, and Sustainability Coordinator Walt Serfoss attended the mid-May Albuquerque meeting of ICLEI: Communities for Sustainability. Kim Herb and I also attended, as did Kris Holstrom, Executive Director of the New Community Coalition in Telluride. The program for the ICLEI meeting, including most of the presentations, are available at http://www.icleiactionsummit.org/index.php?id=7487. The dinner address by former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson was a galvanizing call for people to be “upstanders” for climate protection and sustainability, in contrast to the failure of both presidential and congressional leadership in Washington. Following the meeting Dick shared his notes with the Durango City Council, urging them to join ICLEI.
- Following the ICLEI meeting, the County Planning Department convened a meeting of planners from Durango, Bayfield, Ignacio, and the Southern Ute Tribe. I also attended. The goal was to develop a framework for joint sustainability planning that might eventually be extended across Southwest Colorado. At the meeting Durango Planning Department head Greg Hoch indicated that he expected the City to join ICLEI. He suggested that the County might contribute ICLEI dues (about $600 each) which might be too costly for the smaller towns; Erick said that he would investigate the possibility.
- I have spoken at some length with 3 City Councilors and briefly with a fourth about City sustainability efforts. (Bliss Bruen was contacting Greg Hoch and Ron LeBlanc, but I don’t know the outcomes.) All are in favor of sustainability efforts. Scott Graham, in particular, related the process that they are using to develop budget priorities for 2009. At the Council retreat, they identified their top priorities, which include sustainability efforts. A staff retreat would then filter these priorities through the various City Departments as a prelude for formulating the 2009 budget. This appears to be somewhat analogous to the process the County is undertaking for implementing the Compass strategies. It seems likely to provide a more systemic approach to implementing sustainability initiatives than in the past. It is desirable for us to keep tabs on this process as it develops. Another significant note from these conversations is deep concern voiced by Mayor Parsons about food security. This may provide an opportunity for SASCO to partner with the City on a public education effort.
- Erick Aune invited me (subbing for Lisa Mastny) to represent SASCO in a series of interviews for two positions in the CountyPlanning and Development Department. The Department has numerous vacancies and its work will be compromised for several months as new staff members come up to speed. The new department head, Erick Aune, aims to build a team that will work effectively toward a systemic and proactive approach to planning, in contrast to the reactive approval process that has prevailed in the past.
- Aileen Tracy, the new Executive Director of 4CORE, has been at work since the end of May. At a final meeting of the 4CORE Steering Committee on June 26, she outlined an ambitious program and issued a call for volunteers to help move the organization along. SASCO, especially through the SEC, should be proactive in supporting this effort. Aileen attended the June 18 Green Drinks meeting and made clear her broader understanding of sustainability, in particular that the climate action plan that forms part of the 4CORE agenda should not develop independently of larger sustainability efforts. She was unaware of the efforts of the Grassroots Visioning Project and broadly supportive of the notion that 4CORE and SASCO might collaborate to develop a community summit around sustainability. This might form the basis for a SASCO request for funding from the City and County.
- There are discussions going on between the City and the County about expanding recycling efforts, particularly with collection sites at rural schools. The space limits on the City transfer station in the TechCenter are prompting a search for a larger facility on County property. A number of people, both inside and outside local government, have been talking about a plastic bag campaign. I have repeatedly stressed the desirability of embedding this effort in a larger vision of a zero waste campaign. Telluride has just received a zero-waste report it commissioned from my ZERI colleague Gary Liss, who also has received a commission for a similar study for the City of Albuquerque. Since he will be in the region, we might consider trying to cobble together support to bring him to Durango for a day or two.
- The Parks and Recreation bond issue proposed by City Councilor Scott Graham seems to hold considerable promise. It broadly addresses issues related to social sustainability and might deserve our public support. Discussion and amendment of the proposal will take place over a period of months, so immediate response is not necessary. Werner Heiber raised the relevant concern of operating budget commitments that would follow from the capital expenditures. This underscores the importance of systemic thinking in public decision-making.
All of these developments are promising, but movement toward a sustainability action plan is likely to unfold slowly for a variety of reasons. We need to keep track of how these efforts develop, perhaps through routine contact with elected officials and key staff members, and be alert for opportunities to leverage our input for maximum impact.