Another Founding Member of Sustainability Advisory Board Calls it Quits / Letter of Resignation to Mayor Cates

Dear Mayor Cates,

Please accept my letter of resignation from the Key West Sustainability Advisory Board, effective immediately.

I originally wrote this letter the night the commission voted to return us to twice-weekly trash pickup (2-1-1), but then decided to give myself a cooling-off period to see if it would change my mind. It has not.

Having served Key West as chairman to the Sustainability Advisory Board since its inception in 2009 and as vice chair since 2013, I am proud of the many accomplishments we have achieved. Key West has changed quite a bit during this time.  “Going Green” is now considered a normal part of doing business in most city decision making. I am sorry to be leaving under such circumstances, but feel compelled to do so.

It is hard to convey to you how dispiriting it is that four commissions could so easily overturn the many years of hard work by so many people, and to do so with not one comment from the public requesting a return to 2-1-1 during the discussion period of the meeting.

At the core of sustainability is how we as a society deal with its solid waste, or to use a much better term “resources”. These are our earth’s finite resources that we so casually discard. Cities like San Francisco and Portland that are truly working towards sustainability no longer use terms like “waste, trash and garbage”. They are working towards “Zero waste”, as should we, but we are not.

Phase II of our Solid Waste Master plan, endorsed by this commission, was supposed to be moving us forward towards the most sustainable practice of a Pay-as-you-throw system. Pay-as-you-throw is the only system that rewards those that conserve more and charges more to those that waste more. This recent decision by the commission is dragging us backwards to a more wasteful time and has certainly set back our efforts by many years. It demonstrates a very low level of environmental consciousness.

This decision is not in line with industry best-practices and was made against the recommendations of Kessler Inc., city staff, the Sustainability Advisory Board and essentially all experts in the field of resource recovery and sustainability.

The 2-1-1 option, as you rightly pointed out, will almost certainly decrease recycling by increasing the ease of throwing recyclables and yard waste into the trash on trash only pick-up days.

Many of us only need trash pick-up every two or three weeks. Instead of rewarding our efforts, we will be paying more to subsidize those who have no interest, or incentive to reduce waste.

Perhaps someday, as the complexion of the commission changes, Key West will decide to take a more progressive leadship role in sustainable best practices. I look forward to that day.

Mr. Mayor I applaud your efforts and remain excited about the ongoing renovations at Glynn Archer. Our new LEED certified city hall will be a big part of your legacy and something we will all be very proud of for generations to come.

Sincerely,

Ross Williams