History of the Sustainability Commission
In 1993, the City of Kent conducted a strategic planning project called Vision 2000. Many of the goals stated by the residents were environmental in nature. An Environmental Task Force 2000 was created as an extension of the Vision 2000 project. The Task Force produced a report with goals for environmental issues.
The main recommendation was the creation of an Environmental Commission. In 1995, Kent City Council passed an ordinance creating the Environmental Commission that shall be responsible for promotion, coordination and remedial activities directed toward increasing sustainable impact on community
. The Commission consists of five volunteers who serve for 3-year terms.
What the Sustainability Commission Does
The Environmental Commission began meeting in May of 1996. The main focus of the commission at that time was to draft a Mission Statement and a list of Goals for Sustainability. The Mission Statement and Goals were completed and adopted by Council in April 1999.
After approval of the Mission Statement and Goals, the Commission's responsibilities switched to reviewing plans to determine if there is compliance with the Sustainability Goals and drafting indicators by which to measure the success of the implementation of the goals.
Attending Meetings
The Environmental Commission meetings are open to the public and residents are encouraged to attend and offer comments during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Kent Codified Ordinance
(Ordinance Number 1995-103, passed November 15, 1995: The Environmental Commission shall be comprised of five citizens with some technical knowledge and/or strong understanding of environmental issues.
Members shall be capable of reviewing and assessing large volumes of written data and have strong public relations and public speaking skills, teamwork and coordination skills. Each member of the Commission shall be appointed for a three-year term. All meetings of the Commission shall be staffed by the Sustainability Planner.