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REGULAR MEETING April 22, 2019
<br /> CITY OF SOUTH BEND AND TO SUPPORT
<br /> OTHER CLIMATE RELATED INITIATIVES.
<br /> Councilmember Jo M.Broden,chair of the Health and Public Safety Committee,reported that they
<br /> met this afternoon and send this bill forward with a favorable recommendation.
<br /> Councilmember Jo M. Broden,201 West North Shore Drive,South Bend, IN,served as a presenter
<br /> for this bill. Councilmember Jo M. Broden stated, Members of the Council, South Bend
<br /> community members gathered here today, first (1st) and foremost, Happy Earth Day! As part of
<br /> our presentation, we thought it might be helpful to give a high-level overview of the flow of the
<br /> legislation we are considering tonight as a Council, on your behalf as a community. However,
<br /> before I go into that, the folks who will help me with that are the two (2) Council Members that
<br /> are co-sponsors. I do want to acknowledge it has been truly collaborative, on behalf of the Council
<br /> and the community as a whole. Within the public record, here forever more, for the City of South
<br /> Bend, on the cover of this resolution is a cover letter that actually expressly calls out individuals
<br /> who were very instrumental in the process. So, you know who you are. In the interest of time, I'm
<br /> not going to read all of those out, but I would ask you to stand up if you have been part of the
<br /> collaborative effort to bring this forward to the Council tonight. Thank you very much. Without
<br /> your support and input, we would not be here at this point tonight.
<br /> Councilmember Jo M. Broden continued, Also, just a couple things to point out, the resolution
<br /> itself is very long. It is considerably long for most resolutions this Council passes. It is so because
<br /> we wanted it to be educational as to the science of climate change, the impacts for our community
<br /> and in response to lifting up the global call to action in reducing carbon emissions. Secondly, we
<br /> wanted to recognize the various efforts that have happened already in our community relative to
<br /> this issue and the pathway has been rich in terms of the Administration's leadership, both under
<br /> Mayor Pete Buttigieg and also Mayor Steve Luecke, as noted in the resolution, and then most
<br /> actively under the Office of Sustainability. Therese Dorau,please stand up.Thank you,very much.
<br /> One (1) of our primary hopes as sponsors, co-sponsors, and as we support this tonight, we want
<br /> this to be a model and a pathway for other communities throughout Indiana and the region to look
<br /> to our process. The educational process frontloaded this. There was also an informed collaborative
<br /> effort between our science community, institutions, our academic institutions, the work of the
<br /> Council and the work of the Administration. Working together, we can make change. In response
<br /> to the young individuals, working together, we can drive and make change. So, thank you very
<br /> much.
<br /> Councilmember Jo M. Broden went on, So, just a very high-level road trip, very briefly, if you
<br /> would indulge me. The first (1st) two (2) sections of this resolution, the Whereas statements, first
<br /> (1st) deal with the science of climate change. The third (31'1) and fourth (4th) deal with the impacts
<br /> of climate change. Those are both global and then also here at the South Bend level, informed by
<br /> Indiana University, Purdue University and the University of Notre Dame. So, our local experts
<br /> helping us and informing us as a Council and working with us as a community to move this
<br /> forward. The fifth(5th) section, I do want to emphasize this,this will be the only section that I will
<br /> read from the Whereas statements. Later on, my co-sponsors will be reading the Resolve sections
<br /> but the fifth (5th) section: Whereas, these and other impacts will not be equally distributed;
<br /> communities that already face socioeconomic and health inequities, whether around the world or
<br /> here in our community, will be most severely impacted, including youth, seniors, people of color,
<br /> and low-income populations.
<br /> Councilmember Jo M. Broden continued, I wanted to highlight that. As a Council, we are aware
<br /> of that and, as we move forward on subsequent actions, that will be foremost in our mind. The
<br /> sixth (6th) and seventh (7th) sections address the primary duties of cities and their primary role in
<br /> ensuring public health, safety and welfare of our residents, both now and in future generations.
<br /> Cities are uniquely empowered with our ability to directly influence activities that impact climate
<br /> such as energy use in homes, our buildings, transportation network and promoting sustainable
<br /> development. I'm going to go back,just quickly,the resolution,the next section deals with the two
<br /> (2) joint Committee hearings. I want to expressly thank Councilmember Teshka who chairs the
<br /> Utilities Committee, he had a willingness to get on this early and really lift this up. In my tenure,
<br /> that is the first (1st) time we really ever had a joint Committee. I think in some ways we elevated
<br /> it by looking at it both from a Health and Public Safety standpoint but also from a Utilities
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