Committee urges stronger outreach as Lake Forest Park updates comprehensive plan climate element; survey results prompt messaging concerns

Lake Forest Park’s Climate Action Committee reported progress with a consultant on a climate element for the city’s comprehensive plan and emphasized outreach and clearer messaging after a recent city survey appeared to understate support for the climate manager position.

Committee members said consultants will produce a public outreach plan, a website with a document library, updated emissions inventory work and a traffic study component tied to the comp‑plan update. The committee described the coming outreach as a chance to collect better community input; one member said “we have a funding source to help with this outreach,” referring to funds the committee expects will be available for outreach work.

At the meeting members questioned the representativeness of the city’s recent survey, noting it skewed older and toward residents already engaged in civic life. Committee members warned some city leaders might read those results as a sign that climate‑position funding is a low priority, even though the climate manager post is currently slated to be funded by a separate solid waste utility tax. Committee liaison Tracy Cortani said the tax funding for the climate manager is “baked into the sauce,” but other members urged ongoing messaging to ensure council and the public understand that the funding streams are separate.

The committee described concrete next steps: support the consultant’s outreach materials (surveys, open houses, interviews), review draft documents and help stage community events tied to the comp‑plan outreach. Committee members said the consultant has been responsive to review comments and will update the city‑specific emissions inventory, including parts drawn from the “k 4 c” emissions inventory referenced in committee discussion.

Members also discussed resilience and preparedness actions linked to outreach: workshops or neighborhood training for wildland‑urban interface preparedness, community emergency response training (CERT), drone teams and a planned wildfire preparedness training event; the committee listed May 3 as a national wildfire preparedness day the group wants to acknowledge. The committee proposed a Climate Action Block Leaders pilot to increase neighborhood outreach and suggested volunteers be trained to do quick legislative outreach (op‑eds, public-comment support) when state bills of interest arise.

Ending: The committee agreed to prioritize community outreach and education this year, work closely with the consultant on public engagement for the comp‑plan climate element and continue messaging to clarify that the climate manager funding and proposed property levy are separate.