ECAM hosted a Climate and Environment Forum for Bellevue City Council Candidates.
There were more than 110 in attendance on September 17 to hear from 9 of the 10 candidates running for Bellevue City Council. We spotted State Rep. Janice Zahn and Bellevue City Councilman Mo Malakoutin in the audience. Our MC, Paul Bruno, kept the evening running smoothly with panache. Mark Norelius started the evening off in his usual imaginative way—he donned his bicycling gear as a nod to the theme of the evening of ways to reduce our emissions. You can see from the photo the panelists enjoying Mark’s welcome.
Next up were three students from the Bellevue Sustainability Ambassadors who impressed us all with what they are doing at their schools for our environment and what they hope for the future.
The panelists, Paul Clark, Vishal Bhargava, Naren Briar, Conrad Lee, Pradnya Desh, Matthew Rish, Claire Sumadiwirya, Nicole Myers, and Lynne Robinson, then responded to two sets of preset questions.
Among Bellevue’s top priorities are growth and affordable housing while keeping Bellevue’s quality of life high for all families.
How does meeting our climate goals and achieving sustainability and climate resilience fit into this picture of our future? 2. If elected, will you honor and affirm the 2050 commitment to at least an 80% GHG emissions reduction and how would you get the city on track for success?
The evening concluded with some audience questions and a raffle for 4 -$100 gift certificates to vegetarian restaurants.
Court Olson of People for Climate Action Bellevue (PCA-Bellevue) was our co-host and there were 13 other environmental groups co-sponsors for the evening. ECAM is grateful for collaboration from with from the Indigenous Connection Team (Carrie Bowman, Sarah Berdahl) and AV (Ralph Lutz).
With appreciation to all volunteers, candidates ,and audience for coming together to address our concern about protecting our environment for future generations.
ECAM volunteers for the evening; Kristi Weir, Mark Norelius, Jenny Newell, John Chmaj, Marilyn Mayers
If you were unable to attend, you can watch on YouTube (warning 40 sec dead time at start) youtube.com/watch?v=_5paDUUhOjs
by Kristi Weir