Human Resources And Information Technology Committee Reviews Environmental Education Resolution – Votes To Hold It At Committee Indefinitely

The Human Resources and Information Technology Committee met 06/12/2024. One of the items they took up was the Environmental Education Resolution. This resolution was authored by former Alderperson Israel Del Toro (formerly District 4) as well as current Alderpersons Vered Meltzer (District 2) and Alex Schultz (District 9) and called for the Resiliency, Climate Mitigation, and Adaptation task force to work with the IT Department and the Sustainability Coordinator to develop content for the city’s website to provide environmental outreach and education.

The committee spent less than 2 minutes discussing the item and unanimously voted to hold the resolution indefinitely at the committee.

I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion, such as it was, for download:

Mayor Woodford submitted a memo to the committee recommending that the resolution be either held indefinitely or denied.

In that memo he noted that little if any communication and coordination with staff occurred by the authors of this resolution prior to its introduction and Public Engagement Coordinator Anaam was never contacted about the request.

He indicated that plans were already in place since the beginning of the project to update the website with information regarding sustainability and resiliency, and he reminded the alderpersons that their input on the website had been sought and would continue to be sought.

He concluded by stating the resolution “proposes to compel action that is already planned by the Administration and might be read as little more than a political statement on the part of the Council,” and asked for it to be held indefinitely or denied.

In light of that memo, Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) made a motion to hold the resolution indefinitely. Alderperson Patrick Hayden (District 7) mentioned that, as someone who works in the IT space, he was concerned about the ability to manage such an educational resource in the long-term. IT was one thing to create the language, but it was another thing to maintain it year over year.

The committee voted unanimously to hold the resolution indefinitely.

View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1204120&GUID=5A34B70A-A555-4AAA-A951-17771D2DE07D

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