Environmental Sustainability Board to form education and outreach working groups; plans Earth Day outreach and EV sign-ups

The Environmental Sustainability Board agreed to organize education and outreach working groups to produce targeted campaigns — including preparations for Earth Day and community EV sign-up events — and to use short, time-limited campaigns and a calendar to manage workload.

Board members discussed splitting working groups by audience (for example, adults vs. youth) or by topic (waste, energy, EVs) and emphasized avoiding duplication with county departments and other boards. Jesse Derringer and others recommended narrowing focus areas so small volunteer groups can produce deliverable outreach plans. Councilor Wrighty and staff recommended maintaining transparency and announcing group formation at board meetings to comply with open-meeting considerations.

Why it matters: The board is responsible for public education tied to multiple council-funded initiatives this year, including an education and outreach study and forthcoming municipal food-composting outreach. Members noted several time-sensitive events — Earth Day in late April and planned EV rebate sign-up sessions — that will require content development in the coming two months.

Decisions and next steps: The board instructed staff to circulate a calendar and timelines for upcoming events and to send a poll so members can indicate which working groups they’ll join. Members agreed that working groups should be small to avoid creating quorum issues and should aim to produce time-boxed campaigns with clear deliverables. Angelica said staff will circulate scopes for the outreach work and a poll of volunteers.