Town CAO Jamie Burke at an earlier council meeting
It appears that the Mayor’s Rountable on Climate Change will not be getting the $25,000 next year that it requested from Sackville Town Council to help hire a full-time, professional co-ordinator.
During Monday’s council meeting, CAO Jamie Burke explained why that money is not included in the 2021 draft budget.
“We’re not quite ready to do that yet,” Burke said referring to the town’s overall economic position.
He added, however, that the budget does fulfill other Roundtable requests including the allocation of money for climate change projects as well as funds for another full-time summer student position similar to the one the town funded this year.
“We think that’s a reasonable way to approach a new initiative,” Burke said. “That still gives us the money in our operational budget where we can also…go out and look for additional money through other federal-provincial programs.”
The draft 2021 budget allocates $25,000 for climate change projects that Burke said could include an additional electric vehicle charger in the downtown core, the development of climate change training materials for new councillors, a youth town council similar to the one in Amherst and a “dark sky” initiative to eliminate excessive, night-time light pollution.
All of those ideas were discussed at a climate change forum that the Mayor’s Roundtable held in February.
Next year’s draft budget allocates $10,000 for a full-time, 18 week student summer position to co-ordinate climate change projects with town staff and outside agencies such as EOS Eco-Energy.
Roundtable spokesman Richard Elliot addressing council in August
During an online council meeting in August, Roundtable spokesman Richard Elliot asked for about $25,000 as seed money to hire a full-time co-ordinator.
He said the Roundtable planned to raise additional funds for the position from other sources such as the federal departments of environment and natural resources, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the New Brunswick Environmental Trust Fund.
Elliot explained that the Roundtable needs professional help to review existing municipal climate change plans, develop links with other municipalities and revise the climate change “lens” it uses to advise the town on its spending.
However, barring an unforeseen change in direction, town council appears set to approve the draft budget — without money for a climate change co-ordinator — at its regular monthly meeting on November 9th.
Good call Jamie Burke. Good call.
It’s interesting to note that Sackville Town Council donated $12,000 this summer to a for-profit entertainment business, for concerts that were available to a very limited audience, and yet it cannot afford $25,000 to support the funding for a full time co-ordinator who would be dealing with the global climate change issue, an existential threat that will eventually affect all of the citizens of Sackville.
Maybe instead of paying $25,000 for a weathervane, the climate change position should have been suggested!
Instead of setting up for an ongoing semi permanent position of a Climate Change Coordinator, perhaps a Request for Proposals could be issued for a thorough study of what we are doing, and what needs to be done, here in the Sackville area, in relation to climate change. Right now, instead of trying to raise $125,000 on an annual basis, perhaps a ‘one shot deal’ of $20,000 would go a long way towards guiding us sensibly into the future by a full study by a reputable climate change consulting company.
By the Town rejecting donating any funding whatsoever, then I believe it effectively kills any chance of raising any part of the remaining $100,000 that is needed to initiate a full time position. If our Town itself rejects kicking in funding then why the heck would the Feds, the Province, or the Federation of Canadian Municipalities ever want to send any money our way?
Sadly, with this funding rejection, the wind has undoubtedly been knocked out of the sails of our Mayors Roundtable on Climate Change.
Good, it would just end up being another make work project for EOS anyway. Nothing this town does will do anything for climate change. Let’s get real, symbolic projects are not going to change this trajectory, not with 2/3rds of the developing world still burning coal, heavy oil and clear cutting forest. Plant some trees, that’s good enough and would do more good than this wasteful spending on some make work project that has little impact.