City Council initiated the evaluation of whether the City should create a sustainability committee to advise the Council on matters related to sustainability.  The Council discussed its vision for the committee at its April 12, 2022 Study Session.  This ordinance creates a sustainability committee and incorporates the discussion of April 12, 2022 except for the following:

1.     Term of Office.  It was suggested that the term of office for a member of the committee should be three years.  For consistency sake, this was increased to four years, which is what the majority of committees and commissions in the City of Yakima have for a term.

2.     Quarterly Reporting.  Quarterly reporting is to be done as determined by the City Council, with the additional language that the Council may reduce the frequency of reporting if it desires.

3.     Additional sections:

a.     Vacancies—this outlines how a vacancy on the committee is filled.

b.     Removal—this states that members can be removed on the majority vote of the Council.

c.     Expenditures—this section makes clear that there is no budget for this committee unless the City Council specifically allocates money to the committee for its work.  Currently there is no budget for the committee.

d.     Staff Assistance—this section outlines that there will be reasonable staff assistance as assigned by the city manager.  It should be noted that agendas are to be drafted by the chair and minutes are to be drafted by the appointed secretary.  This is consistent with other committees, such as the Community Integration Committee.