Interview with Jonathan Wachtel, City of Lakewood Sustainability Planner

November 12, 2014***

http://s1266.photobucket.com/user/LakewoodSNP/slideshow/Eiber

How was idea hatched to engage citizens in developing their neighborhoods sustainably? Why not a city-down approach to sustainability?

“There were two motivations for engaging residents:

1. It was a way to take sustainability from the perpetual planning stage to actual implementation.” The City has a responsibility to ensure that its internal operations are working smoothly, but triggering behavior change in its citizens is the responsibility of engaged residents.

2. The City had been hearing “amazing ideas and suggestions from its citizens for a while,” but because of staff and resource limitations implementing them would take a long time. “That was frustrating to the City and the residents. So the SN program created a venue for the residents to take that great idea and implement it, but rather than going it alone, they would have the support of the city.” “The fluidity of the program allows neighborhoods to identify their own initiatives and is the hallmark of its success.”

What motivates a city to create a project like this?

The Sustainable Neighborhood Certification (SN) program was created to “build upon momentum already happening within neighborhoods and to allow for self-direction and autonomy.” It combines the “power of citizen-driven participation” with the tools and resources of the City of Lakewood.

Can residents take on projects by themselves or do they have to run everything through the City?

In order to remain certified, residents must apply for recertification through the city. But individual projects do not have to be run through the city, “nor do they always require city assistance. It’s up to the residents to ask for help if they want it.” Neighborhoods have autonomy. The SN program is “not geared toward big capital improvements like construction.” This is about making sustainable changes at the neighborhood and individual level.

What examples of community institutions and businesses getting involved are there?

The St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 10th & Garrison hosts promotional events for the SN program and resilience circles. The Eiber Elementary school has benefited from the Eiber Literacy program and offered its land for the community garden.

How have legislators gotten involved?

Max Tyler, State Representative- District 23, read a proclamation congratulating Eiber on its certification to the Colorado State House of Representatives.

What is the current status of the program?

The SN program has lead to “the incorporation of resident-lead initiatives and concepts back into citywide plans… Residents have taken a direct role in guiding the … effort that will result in the adoption of Lakewood’s first Sustainability Plan in 2015.”

Where do you see the program in five years?

“New neighborhoods will be added to the program, the infrastructure for assisting residents will be expanded, and the network will reach out and incompass other communities too.”

In fifty years?

“Oh, wow. The program will probably be its own entity separate from the City of Lakewood.”

***This information is drawn from a telephone interview with Jonathan Wachtel and from City of Lakewood documents written and provided by Mr. Wachtel. Direct quotes are in quotation marks; the rest is my summary of our conversation.