Commission signals interest in community climate action plan; members ask for public progress indicators

City of Boise Public Works staff said the city’s community climate action plan will focus on engaging residents and community groups to accelerate actions that help meet the city's climate goals, and commissioners at the Oct. 1 meeting urged staff to publish clearer progress indicators the public can track.
Public Works staff described the plan as a community engagement effort—separate from internal city operations—to better understand how residents get information about climate actions and which approaches are most likely to prompt changes in behavior. Staff said the community committee includes up to 25 members and will meet through December, with an update to the commission at its November meeting.
“Now we're tracking how we're doing on those fronts,” a staff presenter said, describing the city's climate roadmap and the specific annual goals that underlie it. Commissioners said publishing accessible, itemized indicators would help the public understand and support those goals. Commissioner Morgan asked whether the city can display data on rooftop solar, EV adoption and other measures so residents can see progress against the glide path to 2050 carbon‑neutral targets. Commissioner Wirtz echoed the point, saying clear progress indicators “help build momentum” and recommended looking at existing indicator models used by other cities.
Staff responded that some high‑level greenhouse‑gas inventories and progress pages already exist on the city website and that staff will consider providing more specific datasets—such as EV counts and rooftop solar adoption—so residents can see tangible progress and concrete actions they can take.
Why this matters: Commissioners represent community perspectives on major cross‑cutting issues. Climate road maps embed quantified yearly targets (for EV adoption, rooftop solar and other measures) and commissioners said transparent metrics will help residents understand how to participate and whether the city's programs are working.
Discussion vs. action: the session was a planned discussion; no policy or budget decisions were made. Staff said it will present the community climate action plan update and any community‑engagement findings at the November meeting, when commissioners will have an opportunity to provide formal feedback.