Healdsburg residents mull climate change and city's efforts to fight it - The Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Healdsburg residents mull climate change and city’s efforts to fight it

Healdsburg’s Climate Mobilization Strategy

For more information on Healdsburg’s Climate Mobilization Strategy and updates on upcoming events ahead of the September vote, visit https://ci.healdsburg.ca.us/730/Climate-Change-Sustainability

Should Healdsburg plant more trees?

What if the city took steps to divert 90% of its solid waste from landfills? Should the city pay for a study to see how it can decrease tourists’ car use?

These are some of the questions Healdsburg residents responded to during a July 26 workshop at the city’s community center. The answers officials collected will be used to develop the city’s strategy to combat climate change.

The measures presented to t he public included updates of previous versions of the city’s overall plan. They incorporated feedback from the community, staff and community partners, such as Zero Waste Sonoma and Recology, said Andrew Sturmfels, Healdsburg’s assistant city manager.

The final draft of the city’s mobilization strategy will include a “huge narrative” that describes community contacts, summarizes the city’s emissions, delves into the decision-making process and includes an implementation plan, he said.

“That entire document is going to come out in mid-August along with a survey for the entire community to give final feedback,” before it’s presented to City Council for a vote in September, Sturmfels said.

The city partnered with Rincon Consultants, an Oakland-based environmental consultancy firm, to develop its Climate Mobilization Strategy.

“It's so exciting. It's really thrilling to be in a town this size where a room is filled on a Wednesday night with people who deeply, deeply care about our climate emergency, and it gives me a lot of hope,” said Rosemary Jordan, a Healdsburg resident.

Attendees used green dots to identify ideas they liked and red dots to note their disapproval . The plans were posted on the community center’s walls. Translators were also present and walked around the room with a group of Spanish-speaking participants to read the measures written in English.

Most of the measures were marked with green dots, though there were some with notable red dots.

Measures were divided into six categories: building energy, transportation, water, solid waste, carbon sequestration and other. Each measure was then broken down by action type, and contained a detailed description of the action and cost estimates.

One of the most popular proposed actions was the development of a tree protection ordinance to increase the city’s carbon stock and carbon sequestration. Considered a low-cost measure with no city cost estimate posted, it received support from over 70 people.

In the realm of transportation, there was widespread support for continued infrastructural improvements to Healdsburg’s bike and pedestrian pathways.

Examples of improvements the city could make include adding protected bike lanes and reducing car lanes on Healdsburg Avenue. The costs were in the “high” category, estimated at upward of $18 million.

The cost estimates shown on each measure were added at the behest of the City Council, which made the request in June.

“Some of these measures will be expensive, yes. But in my opinion it’s important not to only look at the cost, but” to recognize “it will be more costly in the future,” said Walter Niederberger, a member of Climate Action Healdsburg, a nonprofit formed in 2022 by residents seeking to address the climate crisis.

The nonprofit partnered with the city earlier this year to host Healdsburg’s first-ever Climate Fest, which addresses climate change issues in honor of Earth Day.

The actions outlined by the city will support the Regional Climate Protection Authority’s climate goals, which include reaching carbon neutrality by 2030. However, one attendee wants the city to consider adopting its own climate goals.

“If we really want to reach aggressive targets, that’s something we definitely have to focus on. That’s where it’s important the City Council adopt greenhouse gas reduction targets,” said Anne Arquit Niederberger, a founding member of Climate Action Healdsburg, who coordinates the organization’s measures and actions working group.

Many members of the nonprofit attended the city-organized workshop, which also received support from Corazón Healdsburg, which helped promote the event to the city’s Spanish-speaking community.

“You see how polluted it is right now, how temperatures are rising and all of the fires … That is why I am very interested in this meeting,” said Dora Ortega. A Corazón Healdsburg volunteer, she called nearly 50 people ahead of the event.

Ortega said she supports measures to plant more trees and to encourage electric vehicle use, but she wonders how Healdsburg will encourage transportation alternatives for tourists who travel to the city by car.

A Healdsburg resident for nearly 30 years, Ortega said she is worried about the hotter temperatures, wildfires and other extreme changes that she didn’t see in years past.

“What I’m looking at is toward the future, for her,” Ortega said as she pointed at her daughter, who stood patiently waiting to play at a nearby park.

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Sawhney at 707-521-5346 or jennifer.sawhney@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @sawhney_media.

Healdsburg’s Climate Mobilization Strategy

For more information on Healdsburg’s Climate Mobilization Strategy and updates on upcoming events ahead of the September vote, visit https://ci.healdsburg.ca.us/730/Climate-Change-Sustainability