Orange County NC Website
16 <br /> <br />reasonable request to stress the importance Orange County places on protecting the <br />environment. He said there is a re-entry forum tomorrow, and he was going to share that <br />Orange County was one of the first counties in the country to adopt a social justice goal. He <br />said changes like this are symbolically important. <br />Commissioner Burroughs said she does not read the social justice goal either, but she <br />would not oppose this proposal. She said she is not sure how many people read the abstracts, <br />but agrees with the sentiment of this being a symbolic gesture. <br />Commissioner Price said she skips over the social justice goal, but as she reads the <br />abstracts she does look for social justice and environment impacts. She said she would not <br />oppose this proposal. <br />Commissioner Marcoplos said he looks at the impact statements on the current <br />abstracts, which seem to atrophy. He said the goals could be made more specific and useful <br />with salient points. He said climate change is the biggest crisis in human history, and this point <br />should be made apparent any chance possible. He said if the BOCC makes policy, it should <br />understand how the policy affects the environment in very specific ways. He said it is of <br />paramount importance. <br />Commissioner Price said noting specific, measurable impacts makes sense, but just <br />making a general statement of commitment seems to have no measurable impact. She <br />suggested putting all of the Board’s goals at the front of every abstract. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said repeating the goal does nothing, and he would rather see a <br />relationship between these impacts and the abstract substance. <br />Commissioner McKee said if the abstracts became more specific, then he would read <br />them more closely, but the Board needs to be respectful of staff time in compiling these goal <br />statements. <br />Commissioner Marcoplos agreed with that, but if the BOCC is going to have the goals, <br />then adequate effort should be put in to define the impact of a particular policy. He said the <br />financial impact is always very specifically stated, and the other goals are no less important <br />than finances, and warrant specific impacts as well. <br />Bonnie Hammersley said she has talked with some staff about this, and they would <br />bring back some criteria for the environmental goals. She said staff considers the social justice <br />goals with each abstract, and the BOCC has been clear on what it values pertaining to social <br />justice, and this is not a cumbersome task for the staff. She said a similar practice could be <br />followed with environmental goals. <br />Chair Dorosin said he is not sure how useful the goals are currently, nor is he sure how <br />easy it would be to do this at the level that Commissioner Marcoplos is thinking. He said it <br />would be helpful to make these goals more effective, and he is not sure that just tasking it to <br />staff is the best way to do it. He said each item in the agenda abstract could state which goals <br />it hits, and the Board could flesh out details in discussion. He said he was a big supporter of <br />including the social justice goal, and it has become a bit rote. He said specific information <br />would be helpful, but there needs to be a practical way to accomplish this. He said the BOCC <br />receives the agendas on a Friday, and could task itself with looking at an agenda item and <br />requesting more information if a particular item has more environmental or and social justice <br />implications. He said he wants to optimize these goals, while being mindful of giving open- <br />ended work to staff. He said he liked Commissioner Price’s idea of having all six goals at the <br />front of each agenda. <br />Commissioner Burroughs said she also liked Commissioner Price’s idea of putting the <br />goals on the front of the agenda. She said if an issue has a clear impact on the environment, <br />and the BOCC would like this specific information, then the staff should feel empowered to <br />highlight such significance to the Board.