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MINUTES – State of the City Address January 3, 2019 Page 3 <br />Council set ambitious targets in the Climate Recovery Ordinance, and we are committed to the challenge of meeting them. There are direct and indirect ways of meeting those goals. Fundamental decisions about where and how to build housing and invest in public transit, biking and pedestrian pathways are direct ways -- we make public decisions and investments with tax dollars. But the outcome is indirect. If we create a landscape that allows people to live near transit, their everyday choices will reduce our carbon footprint because we have made it natural and easy for them to do so. It’s an excellent example of a drawdown project -- we need to do this work to serve our growing population, and the outcome will help us meet our climate goals. The premise of our climate work is that the city and large institutions lead the way in orchestrating major shifts in energy sources and use. The community engages at many levels -- from understanding the value of reducing food waste to taking advantage of public transit. In so many ways, the framework of our thinking about climate change, the infrastructure work we and our partners undertake, and the public’s adoption of climate-responsive actions are also a template for how we prepare the community for a major earthquake and other natural disasters. The two go hand-in-hand -- they are both about how we take care of ourselves and each other. If there is one message that should resonate with all of us, it is this: if we prepare ourselves so that we and our families can be safe, we’ll also be able to help our neighbors and others recover more quickly when any disaster occurs -- whether it is an ice storm, a wildfire, or a major earthquake. The sooner we are prepared for climate change and for any emergencies that may occur, the stronger our economy will be both now and in the future. With this urgency in mind, I will host a Mayor’s Emergency Preparedness Summit in March. The goal is to bring key partners together to publicly share their plans to coordinate their responses to an earthquake and to raise public awareness of this work. We will not succeed in reaching any of our goals if the public as a whole is not engaged. People need to agree with choices about land use and transportation, and they need to personally invest in solutions. Effective, public outreach reduces trauma and inspires hope. If the public can’t see the work, they assume nothing is happening. If you know that good work is being done on your behalf, you feel that your own efforts are worthwhile; that the future is promising. Which brings me to my third major priority: public engagement and government accountability. I have devoted a lot of conversation and thought to community involvement in meetings with neighborhood leaders, councilors and staff. When I took office in 2017, I created an online “dashboard” to help us track ongoing work. It was born out of a recognition that the array of decisions and the lag-time between discussions can lead to misunderstanding, confusion and distrust. It is right that the public should demand clarity, transparency and ease of access to information concerning the expenditure of public funds, and question the public benefit of programs that encourage economic development. I have three proposals to address these challenges. <br />January 28, 2019, Meeting - Item 2A