With the Democratic Primaries for Charlottesville City Council fast approaching, Betty wanted to provide you with the important facts to make a well-informed decision for a cleaner, greener Charlottesville this Tuesday, June 9th!
Our Questions:
Energy
What plans do you have to take advantage of the state’s upcoming Green Community Program and Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds to invest in renewable energy technology or energy efficiency advancements in Charlottesville?
Innovation and the Local Economy
Innovation and new economic opportunities in the area of environmental sustainability are very important to our community for cost reduction, risk reduction, job creation, and long-range quality of life. Can you share with us examples of environmental innovations or economic innovations that you have seen around the U.S. or elsewhere in the world which you would like to bring to Charlottesville?
Water
We know from local non-profit Rivanna Conservation Society that 70% of the waterways here in Charlottesville don’t meet clean water standards. What do you think the City of Charlottesville’s role in improving this is? As a City council member, what specifically would be your plan for addressing this be?
Biking
Are you in support of the proposed West Main Street Action Plan, which would increase biker safety and green space? How might this plan impact the atmosphere and businesses on West Main Street?
Recycling
Given the mass confusion of single-stream vs. all-in-one bin recycling in recent years, what will you do to improve recycling in the City? More specifically, how will you, as a City Council member, promote quality recycling and consistency in messaging and collection within the city and regionally?
Plastics
In February, the Virginia state Senate passed a bill that would allow localities to ban disposable plastic shopping bags, though the House of Delegates later tabled it. Given that the Dillon Rule prevents Charlottesville from banning plastic bags entirely, how would you as a council member encourage or incentivize the reduction of plastic usage?
Procurement
We’ve heard from larger organizations and local governments that it can be a challenge for the environmental aspirations of top leadership to trickle down to the staff level, especially when it comes to procurement. For example, we know that the city puts out RFPs for bids to obtain products, but the result is that smaller local businesses cannot compete with the larger big box retailers. We’ve spoken to a local nursery, which grows plants locally without the use of pesticides who would gladly work with the City of Charlottesville’s procurement department to provide local and native plant-life for use in medians, parks, and municipal buildings. However, this family-fun business cannot compete with the larger big box stores who win the lowest bid. Additionally, this negatively impacts the environment when we learn that close to 50% of the plants and flowers at these big retailers contain neonicotinoids and other pesticides, which have been linked to the alarming decline of bee pollinators, which we humans rely on for our fruits and vegetables. What is your solution to this disconnect between goals and execution or this specific issue?
Everyone’s a Betty
We have a saying at Better World Betty that “Everyone’s a Betty” meaning everyone can help steward the environment because we all have a vested interest in it. Tell us your recent “Betty” moment.
(Please note the candidates are listed in alphabetical order)
Wes Bellamy
Energy
I would really like to see us use QECB funds to reduce energy consumption in publically owned buildings, and also launch campaigns to become more energy efficient in neighborhoods that are not as aware of the benefits of doing so. Places such as community centers can serve as both a place to look to reduce energy consumption and also host public meetings to educate our community about conserving energy.
Innovation and the Local Economy
Economic Innovations are important to any and every community. While I am interested in what I have seen elsewhere, to duplicate it in Charlottesville would require a lot of work, resources, and energy that could be placed on making what we already have better. For example, the Charlottesville Works program is one that I am particularly supportive and fond of. I think we need to work to make this program the best it can be, help get our local residents involved in the program, and look to expand the program in the future.
Water
I think we need to work closely with the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority Board to address this issue. We have boards, commissions, and staff in place to tackle difficult problems as the one stated in the question. I would initially look to get updated on why this is a problem, and solicit community input to address it. I will be honest, one thing that I do not do is lie. If I don’t know the answer to a question, I will research it, speak to others about it, and look to find a solution. Essentially, this is what I would do in this case.
Biking
At this point, I would like to see a new West Main Street action plan. I personally believe amendments need to be made to accommodate some of the historical sites on W. Main St. like First Baptist Church. While I am in favor of increasing biker safety and green space, I think we also have to be careful to maintain the integrity of the neighborhood. Charlottesville was not intended to be Washington DC or Atlanta, GA. We have to preserve our neighborhood and be cognizant of this fact when making decisions. That being said, I am not opposed to developing W. Main St., I just believe that we have to be careful and strategic in the way in which we go about doing so.
Recycling
I believe that recycling is something that needs to be promoted across the city. Specifically, I would like to see us implement a couple ideas that I saw in Fairfax. One being, focus on high impact audiences. Rebrand with fresh material. Opportunities include, Marketing program, such as “City of Charlottesville Recycles!” that would connect civic pride to act of recycling and waste reduction. Secondly, we could develop an incentive and encouragement program that will highlight the positive actions residents take to recycle and reduce waste. We could even possibly use friendly competitions (neighborhood vs neighborhood) to motivate increased recycling activities.
Plastics
If elected, I would look to use my position to positively encourage the reduction of plastic usage. However, I will be honest. I am not sure how much of my time I would allocate to this issue. I currently work with families and young people who live in substandard conditions, with families who don’t know where their next meal is going to come from, with people who have lived here for 30 years and now have nowhere to go because the city is too expensive to live in, and others with issues that stem from substance abuse, mental illness, and lack of educational resources. My priorities will be on bringing the city together, but also making sure that this city is inclusive for all. That being said, I am not sure how much of my time will be allocated to incentivizing the reduction of plastic usage, however, I will do my best.
Procurement
It is my belief that as the governing body for the city, we must set the tone for our staff. In order to set goals and accomplish them, we have to take on a persona that we are about action. We cannot drag our feet when it comes to decision-making. We cannot solicit studies to analyze studies that analyzed other studies from before. I plan to work with my fellow councilors and community constituents to look at issues, here from the public, work with the staff and provide a direction to get work done.
Everyone’s a Betty
Every year myself and a few others have a tradition of serving all of the students in Westhaven and S. 1st. breakfast during the last week of school. While the students were at the bus stop this year, a few asked me why was I picking up trash that surrounded them, because all that was going to happen was someone else would put more trash down later throughout the day. I explained to them the importance of taking care of your neighborhood, how trash hurts the environment, and how we all have a responsibility to keep the community clean. While it may not have been a huge event or effort, I believe that we planted a seed in the minds of the young people there. It is my hope that as time goes forward they will remember the talk that Mr. Wes gave them and will think twice before littering.
To learn more about Wes Bellamy, please visit his campaign site, here.
Kathy Galvin
Energy
I have always been focused on making Charlottesville as “green” a community as possible (it’s in my slogan!) consequently, I am proud that Charlottesville was chosen as one of 50 finalists (from among 8,000 eligible communities) competing for Georgetown University’s $5 million energy prize. Our city staff and the Local Energy Alliance Program (LEAP) are spearheading a community-wide effort to reduce energy consumption and increase renewable energy use over the next two years. In the face of devastating climate change and fluctuating energy prices, we can save the planet and save money by reducing the amount of energy we use. Improving the efficiency of our homes, businesses and public buildings, and switching to local renewable options like solar, often face a practical challenge: the short-term investment required to achieve long-term benefits. By lowering the cost of financing these upgrades, Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds will help us overcome this real-world challenge. The University of Virginia Community Credit Union’s PowerSaver loans address this need, and the Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds offer another source of low-cost capital to provide a power boost for those on-going efforts. For example, we could use Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds as a source of financing the construction of energy-efficient classrooms that we are likely to need to expand access to pre-Kindergarten education in our city.
Innovation and the Local Economy
GROUNDWORK USA PROVIDENCE, RI and the PROVIDENCE HOUSING AUTHORITY Groundwork Providence and their partners, including the University of Rhode Island, Gates Leighton Landscape Architects, and the Providence Housing Authority, worked with EPA Region 1 on an adult job training program that brought together a diverse group of community residents and industry professionals to install the city’s first rain garden located on a public housing site. http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs066/1102642116294/archive/1109602751904.html#LETTER.BLOCK66
http://www.epa.gov/region1/video/raingarden1/raingarden1.html?width=430&height=320
http://groundworkusa.org/2011/06/01/providence-groundcorps-epa/
One of the design goals of the Strategic Investment Area (SIA) master plan which I initiated, and was adopted in February 2014 is “[t]o identify and brand the SIA as an emerging urban “Eco-district” with the Pollocks Branch watershed as the catalyst of a green system of storm water management, utilizing cutting edge sustainable practices and strategies for new built interventions.” Charlottesville’s Office of Sustainability has received a grant to further identify projects to improve walkability and water quality in the lower Pollocks Branch watershed. (There will be a community input session on June 8, 2015 from 6-8 PM.) The other main thrust of the SIA is economic mobility through job creation and skilled jobs training. We are working right now with the Charlottesville Works Initiative and the Center for Watershed Protection to determine how best to get as many current, low-income residents of the SIA ready and qualified to build the Pollocks Branch Greenway.
Water
First of all, Charlottesville is now a leader in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed because it has a stormwater utility fee ordinance. I was one of the three votes that carried that ordinance. Second, I believe that “Green infrastructure” as an ecological engineering approach to managing our storm water challenges should be integrated with the design of our streets and alleys, plazas and parks. To that end, I have championed: Pollocks Branch Greenway in the Strategic Investment Area (a day-lighted stream that will work as a park and a storm water management facility), West Main Streetscape improvements that call for hundreds of more trees of varying species, the redesign of the East McIntire Park into a public garden of plant communities and the “Streets that Work” initiative which is a city-wide effort to make our streets more safe, comfortable and connected for cyclists and pedestrians and integrated with a city-wide “green infrastructure” plan. To that end, the Office of Sustainability is currently mapping all of the city’s green infrastructure assets from bio-filters to urban agriculture. All of the above initiatives have either been adopted by Council or are under review. They remain to be fully implemented however. The lessons that emerge from these projects will shape new standards for public space and green infrastructure.
I was also one of three members of city council who supported the community water supply plan, which is restoring the health of the Moorman’s River. As we implement the plan, we are increasing the amount of water we are releasing into that river, restoring the habitat of an animal, which we had pushed to the brink of extinction.
Biking
Since 1988, seven West Main Street studies have been conducted and shelved. We need to resolve, rather than merely discuss, the increasing conflicts between cars, bikes, pedestrians and buses that slow traffic and put our most vulnerable citizens at risk. We cannot wait for another tragedy. We need technical expertise, not available in-house, to help us develop a plan that we can implement that will promote public transportation, walking and biking, and more importantly that will save lives. I also supported the hiring of landscape architects Rhodeside-Harwell and creating a citizen steering committee to shepherd the city through a process to improve West Main Street. We are developing a managed parking strategy to account for the 33 on-street parking spaces lost to accommodate protected bike lanes, lowered building heights and new zoning standards that better align with the character of the surrounding built environment. The roughly $18 million of improvements, excluding the undergrounding of electrical lines (all of which can be phased) include upgrading streetscapes and replacing aging natural gas lines. Council will review the plan again, later in June 2015. This is another opportunity to explore low-cost financing through Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds.
I am pleased that more than 300 city residents participated in this process. Citizens have raised important issues that we are working to address, such as how best to balance the need for safe bike lanes with the concern about losing on-street parking spaces. For example, national studies have shown that replacing on-street parking with dedicated bike lanes could actually benefit local businesses. For instance, a recent study in Davis, CA found that “cyclists not only took slightly more trips than drivers did, but spent more per trip—leading to a monthly total spending of roughly $250 for cyclists to $180 for drivers.” http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2015/03/the-complete-business-case-for-converting-street-parking-into-bike-lanes/387595/.
The PLACE (Place-making, Livability and Community Engagement) Task Force (a task force that I initiated 3 years ago) has recommended a temporary installation of some of these improvements to test the plan’s recommendations at very low cost. We need to engage the community, especially our Midtown businesses, the African American church on West Main Street and the adjacent historic African American neighborhoods, about the temporary pilot proposed by the PLACE Design Task Force. We then need to gradually implement that pilot and monitor its impacts over a set timeframe. Last but not least we need to expedite the adoption of the proposed parking strategies (such as shared parking agreements, enforcement of parking violations and managing employee parking) so as to allay the legitimate concerns of the business community. Otherwise this will be the eighth plan to be shelved. We do not want a ruptured natural gas line or one more injury to be the catalyst for action. As city leaders, we need to listen to the concerns of citizens, find common ground where we can, and balance competing interests where we must. In the end, however, we must lead—we must act.
Recycling
Our community wants this (as demonstrated by the success of the Black Bear Composting pilot at the city market) and it makes sense for the environment. http://www.blackbearcomposting.com/ I will work with my fellow councilors to expand this effort.
Plastics
I love my work as a city councilor, but I must admit to a level of frustration with the General Assembly, which often at the request of special interests prevents us from embracing innovations that could protect our environment and improve our quality of life. For example, in November 2013, my fellow councilors and I requested that the 2014 General Assembly pass legislation that would allow us to create an incentive to use something other than plastic bags for our groceries and other goods. As you noted, the General Assembly refused to grant us that permission. I will continue to advocate for changes that allow our local government the freedom to act in the best interests of our local citizens, rather than be hamstrung by the special interests that seem to hold sway in Richmond.
Procurement
We recently attempted, without success, to change Virginia’s local procurement laws, to allow the city to award bids based on value, not just on price. Values-based procurement allows us to consider factors in addition to price, like environmental stewardship, local job creation and minority business participation. We were not successfull, which means we remain stuck with the requirement that we buy from the lowest responsible bidder. We must continually go back to the General Assembly to change procurement laws to allow all of our smaller local businesses (including minority businesses) to compete. That said, the idea of a “hub” or broker as proposed by the 2010 Orange Dot Study may apply in this case as well. Having an umbrella organization serve as a go between many small vendors and large institutions like the University of Virginia and our regional school systems and governments, might be a way to level the playing field, thereby letting smaller, more ecologically-minded and minority-owned businesses get in the game.
Everyone’s a Betty
Last January 2015, our oldest son got his first full-time job with benefits in Charlotte, NC. My husband and I sold him one of our two cars and we’ve been a one car family ever since. I now get around our 10 square mile city almost exclusively by bike and foot, (including canvassing for this political campaign!). Whenever I need the car for a day, I either drive my husband to work at JABA and he takes the Route 11 bus home or he rides his bike from our house off Park Street, down the great multi-use trail alongside the John Warner Parkway. We are both healthier (I lost 5 lbs. since January!), and we save about $5000-$10,000/year due to less fuel, insurance and maintenance costs. Most importantly, one less car on the road means we have reduced our family’s CO2 emissions and storm water run-off pollution considerably.
To learn more about Kathy Galvin, please visit her campaign site, here.
Lena Seville
Energy
Governor McAuliffe recently authorized the Green Community Program to allow local governments to participate in the Federal Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds. These can be used to increase the efficiency of our publicly owned buildings; expand support for LEAP, Energize Charlottesville and other ideas that include public education; improve the efficiency of street lighting; and address commuting in coordination with Albemarle County. I have proposed that the city hire someone to research and recommend proactive environmental practices and policies. We want to ensure that we are putting the majority of our efforts into areas that are likely to generate the maximum impact.
Innovation and the Local Economy
A thriving local economy translates into fewer travel miles, improved quality of life and overall stability. During this campaign, I have been advocating for micro-businesses. The concept has been very successful in other parts of this country and the world. It enables individuals to start their own business without the typically large debt and overhead that accompany the traditional business model. Success relies mainly on commitment, creativity and a quality product. Micro-businesses are a way to start rounding out our local economy with more than service sector jobs.
We can look a little closer to home for another innovative idea for environmental stability. The Albemarle County School System recently signed a contract with a private company to install leased solar panels on their buildings. The schools then receive electricity with no rate increase for twenty years. While I’d rather install our own solar technology, this is an option to generate solar electricity without upfront costs.
Water
The City of Charlottesville owns a lot of these waterways so we have a great deal of responsibility to make improvements. Problems usually occur from two main sources: pollutants and high volume rain events that scour the stream banks. For the problems associated with high volume water events, we must daylight streams and continue to improve riparian buffers. We need to increase our use of deep-rooted plants that absorb water and use our parks to showcase rain gardens. In regards to contaminants, street grates and other infrastructure should be used to remind the public that it’s part of a larger system.
To address pollutants, the City of Charlottesville should phase out its own use of chemical pesticides and educate the public about alternatives. I have been working with the local Sierra Club to encourage the City to stop using pesticides in parks, around schools, and in other places people frequent. We should plant more native perennials that tend to be disease and pest resistant in addition to being deep rooted and drought resistant. Finally, any new development that affects our waterways must be carefully scrutinized.
Biking
I have been an advocate for bicycle safety in my role as a member of the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC). The West Main Street Plan calls for placing bicycle lanes next to the pedestrian sidewalk instead of their current location, which is between moving traffic and parked cars. I was the first pedestrian member of BPAC to get on board with this concept and I convinced the other pedestrians to support it. The placement of the bike lanes in the West Main Street plan is obviously much safer and this concept should be implemented in other parts of the city. Improving the amenities for pedestrians and cyclists on West Main Street will create a vibrant space that benefits the entire community. In addition, it will increase the number of potential customers and result in a positive economic impact for our local businesses.
Recycling
Trash and recyclables should not be intermingled. We should make sure that the public is aware how effective it is to separate recyclables as compared to other methods. To support this regionally, the City should partner with Albemarle County to expand the City’s trash and recycling program into the County’s urban ring. We need to keep the McIntire Recycling Center open and encourage the county to open more satellite sites.
Plastics
City Council could include this in their legislative agenda that is sent yearly to the Commonwealth of Virginia. In addition, the City of Charlottesville should produce sturdy cloth bags that would be sold at cost. We could enter into an agreement with local businesses to have them available in a prominent location near the register. I am a good role model in this area as I have used cloth bags for more than twenty years. I would be happy to talk with local businesses that rely on single-use plastics about alternatives.
Procurement
The City should create a part-time position to coordinate environmental efforts in numerous areas, including procurement, new construction and public education. This person would be responsible for being proactive in researching and suggesting alternatives to the City Manager and City Council. As new information becomes available, we must be prepared to respond. In regards to the specific problem presented above, the Request For Proposal (RFP) should be written to clearly state that the use of neonicotinoids is unacceptable. Instead of using plants that are sold nationwide, we should focus on natives that are indigenous to our specific locale. I think these suggestions would enable a small business to compete. RFP’s should be written to value both quality and price.
Everyone’s a Betty
I give away beneficial plants. A few years ago, I donated Cup Plants to Farmer Todd and the Urban Agriculture Collective of Charlottesville. Cup Plants grow in such a way to provide little cups of water for beneficial insects during the heat of summer. I have some small fruit trees that I grew from seed that will be planted in the fall at the Haven’s garden plot. For the last few weeks, I have been giving out Milkweed at the Farmer’s Market. Last year, I saw a drastic decrease in the Monarch butterfly population. Milkweed plants are a necessary part of their lifecycle. It used to grow wild around the edges of farm fields. Unfortunately, wild flowers like milkweed have been negatively impacted by the increased use of herbicides applied to genetically engineered/modified food crops. I am encouraging people to plant milkweed for the monarchs and also to become more knowledgeable about the impacts of the current model for food production. A lot of people are familiar with pollen and nectar plants but I try to broaden that to include plants and landscaping practices for the entire lifecycle.
In addition, I pay close attention to my own energy footprint. I have been an effective advocate for public transit, which I use much more often than my car. I had an energy audit on my home by a LEAP contractor and continue to implement energy efficiency recommendations. I am switching all of my appliances to electric so that I can produce my energy on-site. In my own purchases, I prefer to have fewer high quality items that will last.
To learn more about Lena Seville, please visit her campaign site, here.
Mike Signer
Unfortunately, Mike Signer’s campaign manager, Maggie Thornton reported that Mike was unavailable for direct response to our questions due to his busy schedule on the campaign trail. She kindly provided us with some information about Mike’s environmental plan for Charlottesville.
“In Mike’s environmental plan, he focuses on several issues near and dear to my environmentalist heart: planting more trees, making the Rivanna an ecotourist destination, promoting financing to help commercial spaces become more green, include environmental concerns in planning and zoning, and increasing Charlottesville’s energy efficiency through partnerships with LEAP and UVA. You can read the entire plan here.
Mike has also come out with a plan to make Charlottesville both more bikeable and walkable by establishing a city-wide bike program and promoting bike safety. There’s lots more that’s good here. “
To learn more about Mike Signer, please visit his campaign site, here.
Dede Smith
Energy
Thank you for this opportunity to respond to questions from Better World Betty, one of my favorite local environmental advocates!
As a Board Member of LEAP, I am a strong supporter of making homes more energy efficient and increasing the uses of renewable energy, particularly in low income neighborhoods. I have also been the strongest supporter on the Council of AHIP, which provides home repairs, renovations, and energy upgrades to low income home owners.
Now that Charlottesville is a semi-finalist for the Georgetown University Energy Prize, I am hopeful that the Green Community Program, initiated by Governor McAuliffe, will facilitate our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint even more.
Innovation and the Local Economy
I will point to one such innovation in our very own city. I helped initiate job programs in Charlottesville that train unemployed and underemployed city residents for specific jobs. This began with GoDriver, which has already placed a dozen residents in living wage jobs as drivers with CAT and Jaunt. It has been extended to other areas, such as GoOffice, and GoElectric. There are plans to possibly extend this program further to GoGreen, which would train city residents for jobs installing solar energy panels, as part of LEAP’s Solarize Charlottesville
program, or conducting Energy Check Ups. This would combine environmental and economic innovations into one program and have the added benefit of reaching neighborhoods that are sometimes left out of energy conservation efforts.
Water
As the former Director of the Ivy Creek Natural Area, former member of the board of the Rivanna Trails Foundation, co-founder of the Rivanna chapter of the Virginia Master Naturalists, and current City Council member of the Rivanna River Basin Commission, I am keenly aware of the need to improve the quality of our local waterways, many if not all of which is substandard. The city has given annual financial support to StreamWatch, which monitors the health of our local streams, but my concern is that we are not monitoring enough sites to adequately address the serious pollution issues in our community. I am particularly worried about erosion that stems from weak environmental controls on development and in some cases ongoing development that was approved prior to newer and better regulations. I think we need to work with the state to enable localities to put greater requirements on developments that impact our waterways.
On a positive note, we know that one of the best ways to improve water quality is to protect and plant vegetation along our streams and rivers. I have been a strong advocate on City Council for acquiring more park land, and am pleased that more than 100 acres have been added in the past four years, much of which is indeed along streams, creeks, and the Rivanna River.
Biking
We need to improve bike safety and bike paths throughout the city, not just on West Main. I am particularly interested to see how the miles of off street multiuse trails that have been built recently function for bike and pedestrian shared space. If we truly want to increase biking as an alternative to cars, we need to focus on the “timid” biker and look for ways to create more bike infrastructure that is separated from cars by a physical barrier, not just a stripe. On sections of West Main, the designers have created what is a defacto multiuse trail by combining the bike path with the sidewalk. I find this an intriguing idea and would like to pilot it so that we can see if it is an effective tool for this important commuter route. As for green space along West Main, I think we need to be thinking of creating green space as biofilters.
Recycling
I supported the enhanced recycling program in which city residents receive large closed bins. In fact, I urged city staff to fully implement this program sooner than we did. My concern in this arena is that this city-funded free program is not available to everyone. We need to figure out how to better serve multifamily residences, for example, because that is the residential sector that is growing the fastest.
But ultimately the best way to improve recycling is to facilitate reuse. Even when I was young, growing up in Michigan, there was a bottle bill requiring that all beverage bottles be returnable with deposit. I find it astounding Virginia has not yet enabled this obvious reuse option.
Plastics
We should work with our state representatives to pass this bill in the next legislative session, so that we will have the option to implement such a change. However, one should always ask… “Does it work?”
We are a city of diverse incomes, backgrounds, cultures, and means. We cannot assume that something that seems logical to “us” will work in another household, or another context. Meanwhile, I believe in leading by example. I have a fine collection of cloth bags that I have been using when grocery shopping for the past 25 years. Perhaps the city could sell cloth bags at cost at city events.
Procurement
We should support local businesses whenever possible, and I would like to learn more about this specific issue to see what can be done. I supported a recent bill passed by City Council that limits the use of pesticides by the Parks and Recreation Department, including wording I suggested that required Parks and Rec to report on the use of pesticide by location and application. I will suggest that we include this category in what is monitored and reported. This is a matter of policy, and sounds like it has budgetary implications, all of which are within our duty to consider.
Everyone’s a Betty
A year or so ago my husband and I became a one car family for the first time in 20 years. One car and two bikes.
To learn more about Dede Smith, please visit her campaign site, here.
We greatly thank the candidates for their participation in our questionnaire.
And a big thanks goes to our Betty fans for choosing to vote for the environment at the upcoming polls!
And finally thanks to you for reading this and caring about a better community for us all.
“Betty” and the team
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