TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Councilor Tom Anderson, Ward 2
SUBJECT:
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Motion from Councilor Tom Andersen regarding holding a public hearing on the City’s Climate Action Plan.
Ward(s): All Wards
Councilor(s): All Councilors
Neighborhood(s): All Neighborhoods
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MOTION:
I move that City Council, at the earliest possible date, hold a public hearing on the draft Salem Climate Action Plan (CAP) followed by Council deliberation on the Plan.
DISCUSSION:
A report to the Council on December 6th stated that “the final draft CAP will come to Council for consideration after the beginning of 2022,” but no such action has been scheduled. The current proposed plan is completely backward. It does not consider the actual final draft but rather proposes to move forward on some selected aspects of the plan. Why is the CAP, a policy plan, being rolled out this administrative way as opposed to first adopting the plan and then phasing in its recommendations, exactly as contemplated in the plan?
The final draft of the Salem Climate Action Plan, released in November, was the result of a year of work by a 42-person Task Force appointed by the Mayor. The draft plan is far more than just a list of short-term suggestions, but is a comprehensive plan to address climate change. Without Council approval, the draft plan won’t have official status in future City discussions. Once approved, Council will reevaluate the plan every few years to assess progress on the Council’s emission reduction goals.
We need a public hearing to receive any additional staff report, public testimony on the proposed plan and then to deliberate on the proposed plan as a whole.
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Attachments:
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