Dear Ecology Center Supporters,
Thank you so much for your engagement. Last night, the City Council Chambers were filled to capacity with Ecology Center supporters. Over 60 people had to wait in the hall because the seats in the Chamber were filled. We are enormously grateful that you took time out from your busy lives to show up, stand up, carry a sign, or speak to the Council about the importance of the Ecology Center’s recycling contract. Reporter Alan Wang from ABC Channel 7 submitted this report on the meeting.
We also want to thank the many citizens and organizations who called, emailed, and submitted letters to the Mayor and the City Council, including the Sierra Club, EarthTeam, Rising Sun Energy Center, Victory Garden Foundation, Movement Generation, Slow Food East Bay, Ella Baker Center, Green Chamber of Commerce and Bay Localize. Nearly every stakeholder present at the Council meeting concluded that the Sloan Vazquez report contained serious flaws and oversights. Yet, the fight for the Ecology Center’s recycling program has only just begun.
If you have not yet made your voice heard, please contact Mayor Bates and your City Council representative before the City Council meeting scheduled for March 29. It is critical that they hear from you before pursuing solutions that will not save money, and will dismantle the innovative recycling infrastructure of our City.
The Ecology Center has quickly begun compiling correct and realistic recycling operation figures to share with the City Manager and Council, which will counter the spurious cost-saving claims in the Sloan Vazquez report. Furthermore, we are assembling a cost-cutting plan that is based in reality and deep familiarity with our city’s streets, workers, policy goals, and values.
Please stay tuned. We will continue to communicate with our supporters as the situation unfolds. We will soon be circulating petitions online and at our three weekly Berkeley Farmers’ Markets.
Thank you again.
