Title
Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan - Consideration of Designation of Mayor Hanrahan to Represent the City of Gainesville as a Member of the Board of ICLEI-USA (NB)
explanation
Mayor Hanrahan has served as a member of the board of ICLEI-USA (www.iclei-usa.org) since 2009, and is currently the Secretary of the Board. Under ICLEI-USA's bylaws, a local government may designate a former elected official or other individual to act as their representative for purposes of board membership. This does not preclude any other elected official or staff member from being involved in ICLEI meetings or activities, in fact that would be very much welcome. For example, the City of Seattle had, until recently, designated a former City Council Member, Margaret Pageler, to serve as their representative for purposes of board membership, but Mayor Greg Nickels often participated in ICLEI meetings himself.
If Gainesville wishes to continue to have Mayor Hanrahan act as the city's representative for purposes of board membership, she will be eligible to serve out her term on the board of ICLEI-USA. Because ICLEI-USA has approximately 1100 member local governments, and typically has just 15 board members, it is unlikely that Gainesville will have a representative on the board in the immediate future if Mayor Hanrahan is not asked to continue in this role on behalf of the city.
Mayor Hanrahan's participation in ICLEI has led to substantial exposure for Gainesville's climate change mitigation efforts, including being an invited speaker by the White House at the COP15 Climate Summit in Copenhagen, and being included as an example in various ICLEI publications and videos, including "A Climate of Change," narrated by Robert Redford and shown on the Sundance Channel.
Fiscal Impact
None; ICLEI-USA covers travel expenses for board members to participate in meetings and other activities.
recommendation
Authorize a letter to be signed by the City Manager (or Mayor Pro-Tem or Mayor-Elect, as...
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