20200304-005a: Future resilience planning in Austin Recommendation — original pdf

Recommendation

ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION MOTION 20200304 005a Date: March 4, 2020 Subject: Discuss and consider the future of Austin resilience planning Motion by: Katie Coyne Seconded by: Linda Guerrero RATIONALE: WHEREAS, the Environmental Commission recognizes that the future resilience of our City is a fundamental area of focus for this body; WHEREAS, the Environmental Commission recognizes that climate and other shocks and stressors to our environmental, social, and economic systems disproportionately impact low-income communities and people of color; WHEREAS, the Austin City Council passed Resolution No. 20190509-019 May 9th, 2019 directing the City Manager and Office of Sustainability to explore the best path forward for creating a comprehensive, community-wide climate resilience plan that is fair, just, and equitable; and, asked for recommendations for funding options for the hiring of a Chief Resilience Officer and a consultant to lead Resilience Planning efforts; WHEREAS, City staff delivered an interim memo on August 22, 2019 outlining no clear path forward for this work and did not meet an October 31, 2019 deadline for final recommendations; WHEREAS, many City departments and community leaders are actively working on projects and programs that positively impact resilience outcomes but there is not a comprehensive vision for that work city-wide or regionally; WHEREAS, the Rockefeller Foundation recently launched their Global Resilient Cities Network and is amenable to working collaboratively with the City of Austin on our future resilience planning work; WHEREAS, three other major cities in Texas (El Paso, Houston, and Dallas) have all completed resilience plans and have Resilience Officers in place working to implement their plans; WHEREAS, resilience experts are moving to convene cities across the state on these issues to present a united front in the face of statewide politics; WHEREAS, there has been disagreement between stakeholders on the path of our resilience work and the intent behind Council’s May 2019 resolution; and, 1 WHEREAS, the widely-held opinion of resilience practitioners statewide and globally is that resilience plans should look beyond climate shocks and thoughtfully weave together a plan of action that centers equity and holistically addresses economic, environmental, and social resilience to both shocks and stressors. Therefore, the Environmental Commission recommends the following action by our City leadership: 1. Clarify the intent of City Council’s Resolution No. 20190509-019 from May 9th, 2019. 2. Take steps to move forward a comprehensive resilience strategy for our City that looks beyond climate shocks and thoughtfully weaves together a plan of action that centers equity and holistically addresses economic, environmental, and social resilience to both shocks and stressors; 3. Further explore opportunities to work collaboratively with the Rockefeller Foundation, statewide resilience leaders, and the Global Resilient Cities Network on Austin’s Resilience Plan; 4. More rigorously explore other outside funding and partnerships for this work; and, 5. Allocate funding in the next fiscal year’s budget to hire a Chief Resilience Officer to lead both the development of Austin’s Resilience Plan and the implementation of this work. VOTE 6-0 Approved By: For: Bedford, Thompson, Ramberg, Guerrero, Coyne, and Maceo Against: None Abstain: None Recuse: None Absent: Creel, Smith, Nill, Neely, Gordon Linda Guerrero, Environmental Commission Chair 2