TACOMA, Wash. – The City Council passed an ordinance to amend Title 1 of the Municipal Code to include a Climate and Sustainability Commission. This ordinance is the culmination of the hard work of many people this past year, including the City’s Charter Review Committee and the Council’s Infrastructure, Planning and Sustainability Committee. The Climate and Sustainability Commission will replace the current Sustainable Tacoma Commission but will maintain the same vital mission of bringing community accountability, transparency, and vigilance to the long-term implementation of Tacoma’s Climate Action Plan and sustainability initiatives. All Commissioners currently serving on the Sustainable Tacoma Commission will continue their terms without interruption.
“Our Sustainable Tacoma Commission was created by resolution in 2008 and has been doing exceptional work for our city ever since,” said Council Member Kristina Walker. “Following discussions with the Charter Review Committee and community members during the past year, I was thrilled to see a huge outpouring of community support for protecting and enhancing the work of this commission. We are in a climate emergency, and I agree with our residents that we need to do all we can to advance the goals in our Climate Action Plan. This is especially important for historically underserved areas in our city that experience disproportionate impacts on their health and well-being from climate change.
I’m proud to have brought this ordinance forward with my Infrastructure, Planning and Sustainability Committee members and that our City Council is choosing to prioritize climate and sustainability work. This step comes on top of a variety of other legislative actions that I have helped to champion this year with my Council colleagues to address climate and sustainability issues, including most recently:
- Launching the development of an urban wood reuse program assessment and action strategy to help divert wood from the landfill for its highest and best use;
- Adopting an ordinance to implement a new tiered recycling tax deduction for solid waste businesses to incentivize greater recycling when possible;
- Enacting the strongest legal protections for trees in the right of way in nearly 100 years, including updating permit requirements and related regulations for pruning, removal and planting of street trees, creating a provision for enforcement and imposition of monetary penalties for violations, and establishing a heritage tree program;
- Providing new funding for Planning and Development Services to advance work on deconstruction and salvage so that we can decrease construction waste in our landfill and enhance our local circular economy; and
- Transforming our investment in pedestrian infrastructure by mandating at least 15 percent of the revenue garnered through the Transportation Benefit District be invested in safety improvements like enhancing sidewalks, street lighting, and traffic calming measures that we know are vital for advancing our Vision Zero and multimodal transportation goals.
There is a lot more work to do and I hope all our community members who are eager to help steer the City’s approach to our climate emergency will apply for a position on the Climate and Sustainability Commission when we have open seats. It is especially critical that our young people are represented on this commission and I’m very pleased that our ordinance take steps to ensure a dedicated youth seat is maintained.”
The City of Tacoma has a number of volunteer Committees, Boards, and Commissions that advise and make recommendations to the City Council and/or City staff. More information on the volunteer Committees, Boards, and Commissions can be found here.
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