City Council

From: Dena Allen To: Mary Gourley; Sarah Glade Gurney; Diana Rich; Patrick Slayter; Neysa Hinton; una.glass.seb@sonic.net; City Council Subject: City Council Meeting Feb 1, 2022 items #9 and #12 Date: Tuesday, February 01, 2022 10:34:17 AM Hello Council Members, As part of the CAC Sequestration Working Group I am happy to hear that you will be looking to approve the next two Compost Give Aways for Saturday March 12 and for Sunday April 24 (Earth Day). Our first Compost Give Away last Sept. 25 was very successful, we were able to give away 40 cubic yards of compost in 3 hours to local gardeners and Brook Haven School Garden! We have been able to arrange for the deliveries of compost with Zero Waste Sonoma free of charge and be a part of improving the health of the soil in our area. The science shows us that healthy soil has more nutrients and life as well as the structure to absorb and retain more water. Holding and retaining water around our plants is extra important in these times of both heavy rain storms and long periods of drought. I want to also mention that I am in favor of the city finding a way to hire a grant writer for securing available funds for the local climate programs, initiatives, and actions that we are exploring with the Climate Action Framework and within the Climate Action Committee. I know that an experienced grant writer is worth their weight in gold when it comes to being awarded grant money. Sebastopol is a small city with few paid employees and it is not realistic to assume that the hard working employees and volunteers of Sebastopol have the time and skills to obtain the grant money needed to carry out the climate related actions that are needed for us to make a real difference in adapting and mitigating climate change. Thank you for your time, -- Dena Allen Climate Action Committee Member