I met Shirley on July 30th for almost two hours and we could have talked all day. The first thing that made Shirley stand out was that when I asked for the meeting she candidly told me that she hadn’t been following our issues and asked if I could send her some reading materials. And she read them!
She did not show up with any preconceived judgements or dogmas about CforSE or sustainable energy policies or practices. Quite the opposite, she surprised me by stating that it was impossible for a Mayor to be an energy expert, and that input from the community was critical to balance the potentially biased input from City staff, or PRPA. She did jump out of the gate by asking if the 100% renewable electricity by 2030 goal could be adjusted. At first I thought she just wanted to kick the can down the road, but we had a conversation about goal setting. I saw my opinion reflected in her, that goals should be set based on adopting Best Available Technology (a conversation for another blog post).
Shirley is focused on improving the process of leadership in order to address specific issues. She is not a “natural ally” on sustainable energy, but she does recognize the problems and solutions. Most importantly, she understands the vital role of the dedicated and incredibly smart and well educated engineers, business leaders, and scientists of Fort Collins (and CSU) to help shape policy.
In follow-up, I asked Shirley if she would follow advise from the Citizen Energy Board (the current council does not). This her response.
Shirley’s quote to CforSE members:
I hope everyone in the community understands how I approached making decisions on council. I would always read all of the packet of information from staff which always included the recommendations from boards/commissions. I then would conduct my own research into the issues presented for another perspective so I wasn't relying totally on staff. I would then compile a list of questions for staff and anyone else I considered a reliable source on the issue and email them out or meet for coffee to discuss. I would also take notes at public comment so I could remember various concerns/opinions. So my answer to your question is that the recommendation of the boards and commissions were always weighted heavily in my consideration and approach to my ultimate vote. I can't recall an instance where I went against a BC recommendation but I would have to go back and look to be certain.