The Edmond Sun

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Discussion

December 17, 2010

City defines ICLEI ties

James Coburn The Edmond Sun

EDMOND — The word “sustainability” is not new to the City of Edmond with its effort to promote cost-saving energy conservation in the community.

Shannon Entz, community development manager, said the City of Edmond is a member of the International Council of Local Environmental Governments, which became a source of contention with some residents at a public forum Dec. 6.

“The reason we are, they have a lot of data and spreadsheets of databases we are able to use,” Entz said at a recent City Council workshop. “There are formulas in it that help us benchmark with information to use from a public standpoint of other cities.”

Entz told The Edmond Sun that the City of Edmond became a member of ICLEI USA in November 2009 and renewed this November. The dues are $1,200 per year, she said.

“Staff chose to join ICLEI primarily for the use of its software which calculates and converts data needed to determine energy savings, emissions and technology effectiveness,” she said.

Networking with other cities to learn of best practices and lessons learned has been helpful, Entz said.

“Overall, given our budgetary constraints, ICLEI seemed to be a good alternative to spending funds on additional software, travel and training,” she added.

The city has not decided on a date or format for the next Sustainability Forum, she said.

“This will take some thoughtful consideration given the outcome of the first forum,” Entz said.

That Dec. 6 forum ended abruptly after about 200 residents broke into arguments with city staff members about the definition of sustainability and concerns about individual property rights. Some attendees also contended that ICLEI is part of a United Nations program they referred to as Agenda 21.

The Planning Department better understands the opposing groups’ concerns and will keep them in mind as it moves forward with a sustainability plan for the city, Entz said.

“Ultimately the plan will reflect locally derived and accepted ideas and priorities, not anyone else’s, including ICLEI’s,” she added.

Entz said ICLEI is not listed as a U.N. partner in the Web site http://webapps01.un.org/dsd/

partnerships/public/partnerships/title_I_1.html

“And the ICLEI Charter does not mention Agenda 21,” Entz said.



jcoburn@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 114

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