Lacey greenlights its involvement in Thurston Climate Mitigation Collaborative

The Lacey City Council officially voted to authorize its city manager to sign the interlocal agreement (ILA) for the coordinated implementation of the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan (TCMP).

Climate and Sustainability Coordinator Linsey Fields said the ILA with Thurston County and the cities of Olympia and Tumwater supports the new structure of the regionally coordinated implementation of the TCMP.

"We've been working on a new structure for the Thurston Climate Mitigation Collaborative, which includes having the jurisdictions, really, lead a lot of the work and kind of shape how we're going to move into the future," said Fields.

Under the newly established structure, the City of Lacey will take on a leadership role and hold an administrative contract for services to the collaborative.

Jurisdictions would serve as the policy-making bodies to decide what actions and strategies to implement and which resources to dedicate toward the TCMP under the new structure.

Fields added that each jurisdiction would send staff representatives who would coordinate at a staff level on behalf of their jurisdiction.

The staff team would then appoint community members who would be part of the Community Action Group. The group will then provide community perspectives to the jurisdiction parties and staff team.

Elected officials of the jurisdictions would comprise the Executive Committee. The committee would identify regional initiatives for consideration by jurisdictions and champion implementation by staff and partners.

Fields clarified that the financial expenses of TCMC will be shared equally among all participating jurisdictions. Initial estimates for the first two years are $47,500 per jurisdiction, resulting in a total cost of $190,000.

 "I think really well thought out and. they've arrived at a good solution that makes a lot of sense," said Councilmember Carolyn Cox, who initiated the motion to sign the ILA.

The rest of the council voted to approve the motion except for Councilmember Michael Steadman, who opted to abstain.