Reinstate town sustainability director position

I would like to speak out regarding the recently announced decision to eliminate the sustainability director position in next year’s budget. 

If I understand correctly, this was not an indication of dissatisfaction with the person in the position, but rather a decision that eliminating the position was a good move to save money in an overstretched budget. Although I understand the need to keep the budget within certain guidelines set by the Finance Committee, I believe that eliminating this position is a bad decision which flies in the face of previous town commitments to strong sustainability goals. The position was originally created after an earlier Town Meeting vote on an article that contained those goals and called for the establishment of the position. That article had a lot of citizen support, and I believe that that support still exists. 

I would like to see a reversal of the decision or some really credible explanation of why our shared commitments to sustainability can be pursued effectively without the position. Perhaps there will be some opportunity at this spring’s Town Meeting to amend the budget to include it. Recent decisions by the federal government to reverse all previous commitments to climate action underline the need to prioritize such action at the local and state levels.

Robert Andrews

Staffordshire Lane