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REGULAR MEETING April 22, 2019
<br /> solar last year as a result of our Sustainability Director's program Solarize South Bend. That was
<br /> rolled out to build solar in the South Bend area. I can say wholeheartedly, if anybody tells you that
<br /> we don't have enough sun in Indiana, I can tell you today, April 22nd, I completed and produced
<br /> enough power for all of my consumption for the month of April, and from now on I'm banking
<br /> that power to save for the winter so that over the course of the year, I have a net-zero (0) home.
<br /> The City can do the same. I think we need to look at the upcoming budget as an investment in our
<br /> future. It is going to cost money. You're going to need a site in the City government which I think
<br /> has been staffed by Therese Dorau. We need a Sustainability Office that can drive some of the
<br /> initiatives forward and throughout the next dozen years or twenty(20) years we need to tackle this
<br /> problem. Think of any money that you spend in energy efficiency and retrofitting buildings,
<br /> building solar on all of our municipal buildings on top of the parking garages, as an investment in
<br /> the future and a triple-bottom-line return. That will reduce energy costs and it will reduce operation
<br /> costs. So, thank you for your support. I hope you all vote in favor of it. I hope we get resounding
<br /> support for it tonight and I thank everybody showing up to show that the citizens of South Bend
<br /> care about our future. We want our City to be forward-thinking and to show it is on the cutting
<br /> edge of new technologies. That will also bring those green technology businesses to our City in
<br /> the future and produce a solid tax base and a green economy for South Bend. So, thank you very
<br /> much.
<br /> Phil Sakimoto,offices located at the Main Building of the University of Notre Dame,Notre Dame,
<br /> IN, stated, I teach in the first (15t) year studies program, the Sustainability Minor. On the basis of
<br /> a decade and a half, the Executive branch of the Federal Government, I used to be a Program
<br /> Manger for NASA, I have a sense of what you're going through here in getting this together. First
<br /> (1St) of all, I really want to commend the Council, Ms. Dorau, Councilmember Broden and former
<br /> Councilmember Kelly,because it is clear you have all put a tremendous amount of effort into this.
<br /> You didn't just write a barebones resolution and toss it out there.You thought it through extremely
<br /> carefully. You put in specific things to do which I think would be great. I really commend you for
<br /> doing that. Secondly, as you go into your budget deliberations this week, I ask you to please bear
<br /> in mind the fact that the City of South Bend has a tremendous resource in Therese Dorau. She
<br /> can't do this alone. Let's give her the resources she needs to have a support staff, so she can carry
<br /> out this mandate. The third thing is, we've been hearing about, over and over, the biggest impacts
<br /> of climate change are on the poor, the low-income residents of the City and the people of color.
<br /> And we keep hearing about the fact that when we do the right thing for climate,we invariably also
<br /> do the right thing for improving our economy and creating new jobs. Communities throughout this
<br /> county and the world have experienced this. When they really start to invest in climate mitigation,
<br /> their economy booms. Invariably, we make for a healthier community because we reduce air
<br /> pollution, we eat healthier, we reduce our transportation by walking and bicycling. So, everybody
<br /> wins. But, what I haven't seen and which I'm really looking forward to South Bend showing the
<br /> world how to do, is to make sure these benefits of taking care of our climate accrue to the people
<br /> who need them the most. I'm really glad to see there is a representative from the local labor unions
<br /> in the room tonight because that is another piece of this puzzle that needs to be here. As we shift
<br /> to a renewable energy economy, we see that the new jobs created take care of the people who are
<br /> leaving the old jobs and economy, to see the economic benefits accrue to the people who really
<br /> need in them in this community. If South Bend can pull this off, which I really think it can, it is
<br /> going to set an agenda for cities all over this country and all over the world. I haven't seen before
<br /> a blueprint coming out of any community that shows how benefits of mitigating climate change
<br /> come to the people who need them the most. We have an opportunity in this community to make
<br /> this happen and I think that is the big challenge going forward. Thank you.
<br /> Jay Paul,2930 Bonds Avenue, South Bend, IN, stated,The resolution is written pretty well. At the
<br /> beginning it states how human activity contributes to global warming. But, why don't we start out
<br /> right from the beginning, the number one(1) cause of climate change? This number one(1) cause
<br /> causes more climate change on our planet than every single automobile, airplane, train and boat
<br /> combined on the entire globe.This number one(1)cause is factory farming of animals and growing
<br /> animals for human consumption.This factory farming of animals creates up to thirty percent(30%)
<br /> more climate change than all of the automobiles, airplanes, trains and boats on the globe. So, if
<br /> that can be factored in, South Bend would be a little bit more ahead of these other communities
<br /> and bring a little bit more honor to us. Also, today is Earth Day, so, to honor the Earth, perhaps in
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