The Natural and Cultural Resources Committee is slated to meet next Thursday, 25 February. I have checked EBRPD's "Public Meetings/Notices Page" regularly since early December, and they have always had the agendas for the following week's meetings posted before the weekend. That is not the case for next Thursday's meeting. After several emails, I was told today that the agenda for this particular meeting will not be posted until "72 hours in advance of the meeting - 3 days." Presumably they will request that all email and voicemail comments be submitted before the early afternoon on Wednesday, so this will leave a very short window during which members of the public will be able to submit their comments, questions and concerns via email or voicemail.
At the Board Meeting on 15 December, Ward 4 Director (and then President of the Board) Ellen Corbett spoke about this specific meeting and about the Board's commitment to letting the public know about it in advance. You can hear this for yourself if you go to the 33 minute 20 second mark of the Board Meeting, or if you prefer, you can read the transcript below:
You know, we are looking at a 25 year policy, which is an extremely important policy that was put into place in order to protect endangered species. It is time to revisit it and talk to all involved, make sure all experts are brought in as well, as we work together to make sure we do what we should be doing in the Park District. And I just do want to make a quick comment: we have very dedicated staff who care very much about the environment and all species, small and large, and I want to thank them for their work during this time, too. But we have heard the comments and we have received the letters. As already mentioned, there will be an internal investigation; this item will be placed on the agenda of the committee that is best to look into this issue, our Natural and Cultural Resources Committee will be reviewing this at their next meeting. And we will make sure, Madam Clerk, I think I can make this commitment, that we will let people know that we have addresses for that we’ve heard from when the meeting will be scheduled. And also please, we have a really great website that makes it really obvious as to when and where public meetings are held, so please take a look at that too, if you are listening in - but we will make that information available to you.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel like we are back where we started. On day one, in the petition itself, I asked you to join me in calling upon EBRPD to honor its own stated values. They claim that their "greatest strength lies in the trust, accountability, and teamwork [they] cultivate with...the public [they] serve." They say that they "communicate openly, honestly, and reliably." I believed Director Corbett when she said that the Board was committed to making information readily available to the public: information about this meeting in particular, no less. Honestly, when I watch it again, I can't help but feel that she herself thought she was telling the truth. (I know, I know, some of you will be rolling your eyes and thinking that I am hopelessly gullible. I promise that I am aware that I could be absolutely wrong. She just seems completely earnest to me.) She encouraged everyone to look at their "really great website," which spells out when their meetings will be held and what will be discussed. I have faithfully and regularly checked that website. There is no posted agenda. There is no mention of this issue whatsoever. We can't even be sure that EBRPD still plans to discuss their policy of murdering cats, as they previously pledged to do, because all information about that meeting is being withheld until Monday.
The final core value that EBRPD claims to honor is transparency. They say that they "hold the public's trust through... access to timely and reliable information." Where is our access to timely and reliable information? As a member of the public they purportedly serve, does EBRPD still hold your trust?
ADDENDUM: In the comments below, Holly Cuciz, co-founder of PAWSitively S.A.F.E. in Brentwood, offered an extremely helpful suggestion. Although we cannot follow the protocol of emailing the Clerk and citing the agenda and item number, there is nothing stopping us from reaching out directly to the members of the Board, and specifically to the Board members who sit on the Natural and Cultural Resources Committee. This petition is addressed to all seven members of the Board of Directors, as well as the Interim General Manager. Here are the email addresses for each of them:
Ward 1 Board Member, Director Elizabeth Echols: eechols@ebparks.org
Ward 2 Board Member, Director Dee Rosario: drosario@ebparks.org
Ward 3 Board Member, Director Dennis Waespi: dwaespi@ebparks.org
Ward 4 Board Member (whose Ward includes MLK Jr. Regional Shoreline) Director Ellen Corbett: ecorbett@ebparks.org
Ward 5 Board Member, Director Ayn Wieskamp: awieskamp@ebparks.org
Ward 6 Board Member, Director Beverly Lane: blane@ebparks.org
Ward 7 Board Member, Director Colin Coffey: ccoffey@ebparks.org
Interim General Manager (since Robert Doyle retired) Carol Victor: cvictor@ebparks.org
Ms. Cuciz wrote that the current members of the Natural and Cultural Resources Committee are Colin Coffey, Dennis Waespi and Beverly Lane. I am confident that she did her research and that those names are correct and current, but I'm going to add Elizabeth Echols just to be on the safe side, since I don't know how to contact Ms. Cuciz, and the Board members on that committee at its most recent meeting were Directors Lane, Coffey and Echols.
I can only make one update per day, and there is no reason for anyone who has already read this update to revisit it. I will post another update tomorrow, and give these email addresses again. (I apologize in advance to anyone who ends up receiving the list twice.) As I posted in the previous update, it is essential that we let EBRPD know that we are as adamant as ever that their temporary moratorium must be replaced with a change in policy that permanently bans shooting cats. It is absolutely possible to protect endangered birds and other wildlife without killing cats, and many rescue groups, animal advocacy organizations, and municipal shelters have volunteered their help and their resources to assist EBRPD in achieving that goal. For tomorrow's post, I will also write up the brief "template" I mentioned in the previous update, in case that proves helpful for anyone struggling with what to say or where to begin.
Many thanks to Ms. Cuciz for her wonderful suggestion and her help, and, as always, many thanks to all of you who are speaking up in support of compassionate conservation, and an end to killing cats!