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Posted on Nov 1, 2007
By Jeffrey M. Salem
Platte County Sun
Environmentally Friendly Northland Mayors Sign on Dotted Line
Five Northland mayors are expected to sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and be part of a total of at least 19 confirmed mayors from cities within 50 miles of the Kansas City area.
It is billed as the largest single-day signing since the initiative of the U.S. Conference of Mayors began in 2005.
The 19 signers will join 691 mayors from throughout the country whom have already signed the agreement, which closely follows the environmental stipulations outlined in the international agreement known as the Kyoto Protocol.
Mayors from Gladstone (Les Smith), North Kansas City (Gene Bruns), Parkville (Kathy Dusenbery), Riverside (Kathy Rose) and Liberty (Bob Steinkamp), and others will sign the agreement Friday, Nov. 2, at the Kansas City Area Mayors Sustainability & Climate Protection Conference at Rockhurst University.
The importance of signing the document centers on setting an example of environmental awareness for residents, said Mike Scanlon, a Mission, Kan., city administrator, who spoke to Gladstone officials last week.
"The point of this agreement is to educate the public," he said. "All residents are going to have to participate to make a difference."
The protection agreement entails 12 steps that signers agree to follow.
They include increasing recycling rates in city operations, promoting sustainable building practices and helping educate the public about reducing global warming pollution.
"It's a commitment to become aware," Smith said. "And it's a commitment to educate."
Gladstone officials did not discuss what could be implemented immediately at the city level after the signing Friday, but City Manager Kirk Davis said the city was already doing some of those things on the 12-step checklist.
North Kansas City officials did not wait for the conference to become environmentally aware, either. The City Council recently asked staff to form a committee to review possible environmentally friendly standards and guidelines for future development in the city. Fire Station No. 1 is currently being renovated with several environmentally sound guidelines.
Kansas City has actually signed the initiative twice in the past - former Mayor Kay Barnes signed and Mayor Mark Funkhouser already signed since taking office last spring, but was expected to be at the signing - but the nearest municipalities to the Northland to have accepted the agreement's terms are Shawnee, Kan., and Lawrence, Kan.
Staff writer Jeffrey M. Salem can be reached at 389-6653 or jeffsalem@npgco.com
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