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At last night's sustainability workshop, our City Manager, Amy Chan, announced that Sunnyvale will hire our own full-time sustainability officer in September.  The budget adopted in June funded a part- time position.  The plan was to share a full-time sustainability coordinator with Cupertino.  However, when Cupertino decided at the last minute to hire their own full-time coordinator, we were left with just a part-time position.  The ability to conduct a community wide carbon inventory was in jeopardy.  However, staff has decided to redirect some marketing dollars (I

 
This Saturday and Sunday De Anza College presents a one unit class on green building with the architect of the LEED Silver Kirsch Building at De Anza.

From: "Flex Your Power" <flexalert@fypower.org>
Date: July 7, 2008 6:20:23 PM PDT

Honorable Mayor and Vice Mayor, Council, Madame City Manager and Staff:

Thank you so much for working together to put some needed resources behind the solid environmental policies (Visioning Statement, Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement, pledging partnership in Sustainable Silicon Valley) you adopted last year. Funding the sustainability coordinator allows us to organize our efforts, maximize efficiency, and free grant monies for the community greenhouse gas audit.

Sunnyvale Cool During Year One:  Learning, Advocating, Acting June 2007-May 2008

At least one of our members has participated in each of the following activities.

Budgets are a true indication of priorities.  Sunnyvale's budget is now under consideration.  In this time of multiple environmental challenges, will the Sunnyvale Council choose decisive action to accelerate our progress toward its vision of sustainable city or will Council settle for incremental change?

Forecasters predict high temperatures throughout Northern and Central California over the next several days. As demand for electricity rises during extended periods of hot weather, voluntary conservation will be an important part of balancing the supply and demand for electricity.

During this budget cycle, Sunnyvale's Council must decide whether our oft-stated environmental aspirations are to be backed up with a few more resources or a more substantial increase.  Council must determine how important--and how urgent--its sustainability goals are.    

Since 2005, three successive Sunnyvale Mayors have signed the Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement, pledging to strive to meet Kyoto greenhouse gas reduction goals--7% below 1990 levels by 2012--in our community. In September, 2007, the City Council voted to join over 700 cities across the nation and formally adopt the Mayors' Agreement, making it official city policy. But how will Sunnyvale know whether the goal is being met without determining how much greenhouse gas pollution our community currently produces?

In numerous policy documents Sunnyvale government has stated the intent of becoming a sustainable city. The desire for a truly sustainable city was also expressed repeatedly by our citizens in the Visioning Festival, hosted by the city in the fall of 2006. Sustainability is important enough to our residents that a citizen group has established the Charles Street Community Gardens (organic) on City land and the Full Circle Farm (also organic) on school district land in Sunnyvale.