Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Climate Committee topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Skagit County adopts Climate Impact Advisory Committee and appoints 15-member slate
Summary
The Skagit County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 2 adopted an ordinance creating a 15-member Climate Impact Advisory Committee and appointed a recommended slate of scientific, tribal, district and community representatives to three-year terms ending Dec. 31, 2028.
Skagit County commissioners voted Feb. 2 to create a Climate Impact Advisory Committee and appointed a recommended slate of members to three-year terms that end Dec. 31, 2028.
Will Hony, who presented the resolution to the board, said the ordinance (Skagit County ordinance; Skagit County code chapter 2.22 referenced) directs the committee to “bring together scientific, local, and indigenous knowledge in collaborative, transparent dialogue” to deliver county-specific climate risk assessments and policy options within the county’s jurisdiction. “We wanted to seek really qualified and credentialed scientific individuals, and bring that together with folks that really have a lot of standing in the communities most impacted,” Hony said.
Hony told the board the committee will include four seats reserved for federally recognized Skagit tribes, a seat each for dike and drainage districts, eight general seats and one seat reserved for a climate-advocacy representative. He said tribes will appoint their own designees and that some tribal nominations were still pending confirmation by tribal leadership.
The board approved the recommended general-seat slate and the advocacy seat by voice vote. The slate named in the motion included John Riddell; Don McMoran; Patsy Martin; Joel Dryden; Robert Pavia; Jason Vanderkoy; Bob Carey; and Mark Radka. The recommended climate-advocacy seat went to Betty Carteret of the Citizens Climate Education Skagit chapter. Hony said the county received roughly 40 applications for the open seats.
Commissioner Peter Browning, who moved the resolution, said the committee’s work will “have huge impact” on planning and public-works decisions, including zoning and long-term responses to repeated flooding. Commissioners and staff discussed whether recent floods signal a “new normal” and agreed the committee should help frame the technical questions the county needs answered.
The ordinance sets an initial term schedule with the appointees’ terms ending Dec. 31, 2028; Hony and commissioners discussed staggering terms in future cycles to avoid all seats turning over at once. The committee’s work will focus initially on floodplain and marine-dike challenges the county faces.
The board adopted the ordinance and appointments on a voice vote with no recorded opposition. The presenter thanked the commissioners and the board moved on to other items.
