On Tuesday, May 14th, citizens of Montclair will elect members of the next town council. Voters will elect a mayor, two at-large council members, and one representative for each of the four wards. You can find a full list of candidates here, and a ward map (to determine which ward you are in) here.
Montclair Climate Action, the Gateway Group of the Sierra Club, and Sustainable Montclair have collaborated on a questionnaire for candidates for the upcoming election, to gauge their support for policies around sustainability.
Candidates were asked about their views on how the township can fight climate change, embed environmental policies throughout township departments, improve public transportation options, protect shade trees, manage storm water, and whether they oppose further use of artificial turf on the town’s athletic fields, among other questions.
MCA, the Gateway Group, and Sustainable Montclair will not be endorsing candidates in the election, but we wanted to share the candidates’ responses, so you can evaluate their policies on, and commitment to, climate action and sustainability.
Click HERE to see candidates’ responses to the questionnaire
As you read and evalute candidates’ responses, we encourage you to keep in mind key areas for local action around climate change:
- Promoting alternatives to cars, including biking, walking, and public transit
- Promoting electrification of transportation, including buying EVs for the town fleet and making it easier for residents to charge their own EVs
- Encouraging denser development near housing, e.g., Transit Oriented Development
- Facilitating access to renewable electricity, including installing solar power on municipal buildings, and promoting community solar and energy aggregation
- Promoting energy efficiency in buildings
- Promoting recycling and composting
- Mitigating the effects of climate change, for example through green infrastructure to manage flooding, or planting of trees to mitigate heat waves
If you have any questions about the questionnaires or the process of collecting candidates’ responses, please email MCA president David Korfhage at david@montclairclimateaction.org.
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash