1. OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY:
The City Council directed the City Manager to establish an Office of Sustainability with a dedicated budget to cover staffing and operational costs. The direction was originally provided on March 10, 2020 and reinforced on April 27, 2021 by City Council action. Sustainability was presented as a triple bottom line approach based on: environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and economic prosperity. The Office would be organized into three teams, each team with a lead reporting to a Chief Sustainability Officer:
Currently, the City of Riverside has a distributed approach whereby projects, programs and services are completed within in a silo with occasional collaboration occurring between departments. No City team members are primarily tasked or focused on sustainability, instead team members working on sustainability do so part-time as moonlighters above and beyond typical duties – this approach cannot be sustained for the long-term. Specifically, OOS will facilitate:
1. Alignment of organizationa l structure and resources to develop organization -wide core competencies around sustainability and resiliency.
2. Integration of sustainability principles into the organizational DNA across departments, boards, commissions, and committees with respect to policies, plans, programs, projects, and metrics.
3. Support efforts resulting in outcomes that accomplish short, medium, and long-term triple-bottom- line priorities and goals across a diversity of city functions.
4. Internal silo -busting by fostering cross -department collaboration among the city team and stakeholders.
5. Stakeholder engagement and partnerships among community and regional collaborative efforts to strengthen sustainability efforts and outcomes across the City.
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF FUNCTIONS
The Office of Sustainability would systematically and intentionally drive a triple bottom line focus:
Environmental Stewardship – This team would align, collaborate and coordinate activities pertaining to: climate resiliency, carbon footprint, air quality; water quality, supply efficiency and reliability; usage, condition and quality of public lands; local food system vitality; environmental justice; renewable resources; and usage and waste reduction.
S ocial Responsibility - This team would align, collaborate and coordinate activities pertaining to:
advancing the fairness of treatment, recognition of rights, and equitable distribution of services to ensure every member of the community has equal access to share in the benefits of community progress; diversity, equity and inclusivity.
E
conomic Prosperity - This team would align, collaborate and coordinate activities pertaining to:
workforce development; business development and success; local investment; regional partnerships; and economic mobility.
ESTIMATE OF PERSONNEL BUDGETARY RESOURCES NEEDED
1. NEW Chief Sustainability Officer ($323,773) to lead the Office of Sustainability Social Responsibility Team
2. NEW Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer ($191,293.32) to lead the Social Responsibility Team1
3. (Note: 4 budgeted positions from CEDD to be reallocated) Environmental Stewardship Team
4. (Split costs 50/50 with PU) Environmental Services Manager ($83,098.98)
5. (Split costs 50/50 with PU) Carbon Neutrality Officer ($69,947)
6. NEW (Split costs 50/50 with PW) Principal Engineer ($93,555.91)
7. NEW (split costs 50/50 with PW) Project Coordinator ($59,398.80) Economic Opportunity
8. (Note: 4 budgeted positions from CEDD to be reallocated)
Total Estimated Personnel - $821,067.01 (not including transfers)
ESTIMATE OF NON-PERSONNEL BUDGETARY RESOURCES NEEDED
I. Programming ($100,000) - Hosting the Events and Summits, sponsorship for community events and booths/materials. Event examples include Clean Air Day in October, Earth Month in April, and at least one green summit conference/community event2 II. Professional Services ($100,000) – Matching grants for Tree Inventory; DEI and Sustainability Training, Triple Bottom Line project tools, support of Climate Action Plan, etc. Align with the City's training curriculum.2
III. Office Supplies, Equipment, Memberships ($115,000) – Cell phones, computers, training, memberships (i.e. Green Business Network, ICLEI, Green Cities (CAP Related - California), ISC3, Local Government Commission, GARE, Sustainability Director's Network, USGBC Total Estimated Non-Personnel - $315,000
1 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer is proposed as a Critical Unfunded Need for the FY 2022-23 & FY 2023-24 Budget to implement City Council direction.
2 $200,000 of nonpersonnel budget is proposed as a Critical Unfunded Need for the FY 2022 -23 & FY 2023-24 Budget to make progress implementing City Council direction.
IMPLEMENTING ENVISION RIVERSIDE 2025
The establishment of the Office of Sustainability will serve as a catalyst to embed sustainability tenets across the city organization to better accomplish City Council strategic priorities, goals, and desired outcomes.
Envision Riverside 2025 Strategic Plan includes a vision & mission, two cross-cutting threads and two strategic priorities that lend itself to an Office of Sustainability that would help coordinate, align and harness a triple bottom line approach (social responsibility, environmental stewardship and economic opportunity) throughout the City:
Vision & Mission - Riverside is a city where every person is respected and cherished, where equity is essential to community well-being, where residents support one another, and where opportunities exist for all to prosper. In Riverside, everyone comes together to help the community, economy and environment reach their fullest potential for the public good.
The cross-cutting threads include:
Sustainability and Resiliency – Riverside is committed to meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future and ensuring the City’s capacity to persevere, adapt and grow during good and difficult times alike.
Equity – Riverside is supportive of the City’s racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, identity, geographic, and other attributes of diversity and is committed to advancing the fairness of treatment, recognition of rights, and equitable distribution of services to ensure every member of the community has equal access to share in the benefits of community progress.
The strategic priorities include:
Economic Opportunity – Champion a thriving, enduring economy that provides opportunity for all.
Environmental Stewardship – Champion proactive and equitable climate solutions based in science to ensure clean air, safe water, a vibrant natural world, and a resilient green new economy for current and future generations.