Another two Region communities are planning to form sustainability groups.
On Earth Day, Gary Mayor Eddie Melton signed an executive order establishing the Greater Gary Environment and Sustainability Advisory Council. Its key responsibilities will include reducing the city's carbon footprint, planning for climate resilience, finding grant opportunities and organizing educational initiatives. In a statement, the mayor's office says the council will be an important sounding board for citizen feedback.
The path to a sustainability group is more complicated in Valparaiso. Also on Earth Day, the city council presented an ordinance to establish a commission on sustainability.
While many of its duties would also be advisory or educational, the proposed language could potentially give it control over major projects. Specifically, all capital projects and developments are supposed to be reviewed by the sustainability commission, and other city boards and departments would be required to provide the necessary documents.
City Attorney Patrick Lyp felt that would require the mayor to give up some of his authority. "This is something different," Lyp told council members. "We've never had an ordinance where the city council directs a member of a department that 'Thou shalt do something.'"
He also worried that the ordinance doesn't set clear standards for developers.
Mayor Jon Costas argued that limiting the commission's role to a purely advisory one would be easier not just for the city but for prospective members, as well. "When you empower them by saying, 'You are advisory,' then they feel that they still have the influence but not a lot of statutory duties that they just have to grind out," Costas said.
But Council President Robert Cotton argued that sustainability deserved to be on the same level as the city's other commissions. "Putting something on the stature of an official committee/commission, if you will, adds a degree of accountability, I suppose, and additional cultural boost," Cotton said.
An informal subcommittee of council members plans to continue discussing the ordinance, before bringing it back to the full council for a final vote.
