La Porte Sustainability Commission to draft questions, recruit members and plan workshop

The La Porte City Sustainability Commission used part of its meeting to organize internal work: commissioners agreed to draft questions for department heads, aim to invite departments to upcoming meetings, plan a focused workshop to set 12‑month goals and to pursue member recruitment and student involvement.

Commissioners said they will prepare a short questionnaire of about five to seven questions for city department heads so those officials can prepare responses in advance of scheduled meetings. One commissioner volunteered to assemble an initial draft and expected to circulate it to the group by Wednesday; commissioners agreed to use that draft to refine questions before sending them to departments.

The commission agreed on a tentative timeline: department heads would be invited to appear across June and July meetings, followed by a commission workshop before September to finalize priorities for the coming 12 months. Commissioners discussed focusing on one or two achievable goals, aligning some recommendations with department needs, and revisiting a sustainability plan produced earlier (an intern study) to determine whether the commission should recommend adoption to council.

Members also discussed internal matters such as officer roles and attendance. The chair asked whether members wanted to change officers and encouraged recruitment of new volunteers and possible college-affiliated interns to support the commission’s work. No formal elections or appointments were made during the meeting; members agreed to pursue recruitment and to confirm timelines for department invitations and the workshop.