Agenda - 06-07-2022; 8-a - Minutes

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47 1 notified when these recommendations were released. She said that the Chapel Hill elected 2 representative asked for a delay in the presentation and she was told no. She said that the 3 Climate Council spent a better part of a year discussing these issues that are in the 4 recommendations. She said that along with the draft bylaws that addressed the issues, there 5 was also a background document that explained how they settled on them. She said that does 6 not appear to have been considered at all. She said that the subcommittee shows a lack of 7 recognition at what the council has done. She said that the Climate Council brings together a 8 group of diverse and very invested people. She said it needs input by so many in the 9 community and that these perspectives are represented on the council. She said that with the 10 recommendations, she believes that the subcommittee is stepping back from climate urgency. 11 She said that she believes that the recommendations neither solve the issues nor give climate 12 action the attention that it warrants. She suggested that they accept the Climate Council's 13 recommendation from 2021. She said that the group could draft an MOU formed by those that 14 have been involved in the process and that it would be more practical and effective. 15 16 Commissioner McKee said he appreciated the work of the sub-committee, and the 17 direction of the recommendations are correct. He said he has had concerns with the group and 18 that they were going out of scope. He said that he supported the recommendations. 19 Commissioner Greene said she has been outside of the subcommittee discussions and 20 that she was troubled by Melissa McCullough's comments and the disappointment that she 21 expressed. She said she knows that the people on the subcommittee are good people but that 22 she does not know what she thinks. She said that she wants to hear more about how the sub- 23 committee made their recommendations. She said it is not obvious as to why the public is 24 shutout. She said that they have a tiered process in mind. She said she agrees the Food 25 Council and Partnership to End Homelessness are not good models, but that they do both have 26 a structured way of reaching out into the community and getting input. She said that she is not 27 satisfied that they have reached the right answer and would like to hear from the subcommittee 28 members. 29 Commissioner Bedford said she started attending Climate Council meetings after former 30 Commissioner Dorosin left. She said that he had not been attending meetings for a while. She 31 said that there was sporadic attendance and that it was hard to achieve a quorum. She said 32 that it was an all-white, all retired, and not diverse group. She said that she does not think the 33 input has been anything other than erratic. She said they are interested in being more like a 34 non-profit or a department. She said that our own representative said that if changes were not 35 made, he would resign in December. She said that is one of the reasons she petitioned to 36 investigate the group. She said that another reason is the redundancy with the Commission for 37 the Environment. She said that it caused confusion to the public with why there are two and 38 which group is doing what. She said that some things that they do is hard to explain. She said 39 that it is also odd that they will allow a former commissioner to speak the whole time but not 40 allow any time for public comment. She said it is almost so functionally bad that it needs to be 41 reorganized. She said that they presented last May and the County Attorney said they do not 42 have the ability to appoint people. She said the few times that she attended there were not 43 appointments made, but that she watched a meeting during which they were making 44 appointments without any input from elected bodies. She said the fact only twelve members 45 filled out a survey supports that this is not a functional council. She said when they looked at 46 other models, the Intergovernmental Parks Work Group seemed workable. She also said they 47 determined that they need a county climate action plan. She said they were not fulfilling any 48 need to collaborate. She said that sometimes a member would bring something in and only to 49 present it to the council before they released it as a council document. She said the meetings 50 were a waste of time. She said that one of their own planners said her biggest fear was that 51 one of their subcommittees would actually bring back "big hairy ideas" that would require her