On the eve of Syracuse mayor Stephanie Miner’s State of the City address, a panel of community leaders met at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry to discuss the state of the city’s sustainability efforts.
Chuckie Holstein from the citizen action group F.O.C.U.S. Greater Syracuse was a featured panel member.
She says within the past year, the city has been taking greater strides to promote sustainability - way more than previous administrations.
Holstein says one problem she sees is that the idea of “sustainability” is too often lumped in with "green" ideas, when in practice it's much broader than that.
"We really need to have three things interacting with each other if we want this community to live from generation to generation,” says Holstein. “Those three things are economic vitality, social justice and social equity, and environmental stewardship.”
For sustainability to work, Holstein says the city needs to have to have all three, and can’t do one without the other.
Miner shares that three-pronged approach, according to a Syracuse director of planning and sustainability Andrew Maxwell, speaking on her behalf. Holstein says she's hoping that will be evident tonight when Miner
When she delivers her state of the city address Thursday night, Holstein says she hopes the mayor will highlight some of the city’s progress when it comes to sustainability.
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