Lake Forest Park committee urges council to use budget proviso to staff climate manager and mobilize public comment on draft climate element

Members of the Lake Forest Park Climate Action Committee pressed for council follow-through on a budget proviso that committee members say should fund a dedicated climate manager and discussed steps to broaden public engagement on the draft climate element of the city’s comprehensive plan.

Committee members described the funding context as follows: earlier this year the city enacted a 10% solid-waste utility tax intended in part to help the city’s fiscal position, and committee members said the Council is considering a levy-lid lift in an absolute dollar amount (a figure of $32.28 per $1,000 of assessed value was mentioned in committee discussion). Committee members said money that is not required to cover fiscal shortfalls could be allocated to hire a climate manager if the Council follows the proviso’s direction.

Tracy and other members described a growing regional infrastructure of climate managers and grant-writing networks formed after the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) began generating funds, saying cities that hire climate managers often rely on those staff to identify pots of CCA funding and to procure grants. Committee members said several cities in the region now share grant-writing resources and can turn around applications more quickly than individual cities contracting new work through an RFP process. Members noted that grants are often reimbursement-based and that administering grants requires staff capacity and recordkeeping.

City staff and committee members reported that the draft climate element is out for public comment and that advisory bodies will review it at several upcoming meetings: the Climate Action Committee on July 1, the Tree Board on July 2 and the Planning Commission beginning July 8. A committee member read an email from Mark Hoffman, director of community planning, listing those dates and noting the August comment timeline. Committee members said the public-comment deadline for the draft element is August 11.

To increase public input, the committee agreed to: post a prominent notice with a QR code at the Climate Hub linking to the draft element and survey; send targeted emails to residents who participated in the committee’s prior surveys; and ask committee and advisory-board members to remind neighbors and community groups about the comment period. Members also discussed asking the city or the grant-funded consultant team for a QR code and a public-facing poster the committee could distribute and pin on the Hub’s bulletin board.

Committee members discussed outreach strategies beyond the Hub, including short, 10–15 minute presentations to local civic groups, collaboration with neighboring cities (Shoreline, Kenmore) on joint events and using local printed notices for residents who do not read online outlets. Members suggested collecting examples of projects other small North King County cities have funded with CCA money as examples to present to Council.

Two formal housekeeping actions recorded during the meeting: the committee approved the April and June minutes (no objections were recorded) and agreed to cancel its August meeting because many members expect to be out of town; both items passed by consensus. The committee also scheduled two public outreach events: a farmers-market presence on Sept. 14 and a joint activity with the Tree Board on Oct. 5.

Members suggested meeting individually with council members, inviting them to informal coffee or Climate Hub visits, and asked committee members to sign up to speak at Council or to write letters reminding elected officials that the proviso anticipates staffing for a climate manager. Committee members said a half-million-dollar grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce was mentioned earlier in the year as an example of the scale of available funding when a city has capacity to administer large grants.

No formal City Council decisions were taken at this committee meeting; committee members focused on outreach, clarifying the timeline for public comment and developing examples and materials to present to Council should the proviso be reconsidered for staffing.