Hello friends and neighbors,

We want to remind you that the deadline (June 16) to submit comments to the Kenai Peninsula Borough regarding the Resilience and Security Commission is fast approaching. If you are not already versed in what this advisory commission would do, please look into the many resources we have put together over the last several months, which I will share in the bottom of this post.

In a nutshell, this advisory commission, if approved by the Borough Assembly on June 16th, would serve as a bridge between our communities, administrators, and experts. This commission will improve the Borough’s ability to listen to stakeholders and to develop effective policies to protect our interests and those of future generations.
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The Resilience and Security Commission comes at almost no cost to the borough and, a primary purpose would be to help draft policies to generate savings and jobs for the borough. Given the enormous costs of poor resource planning—consider for example the losses associated with the 2019 Swan Lake Fire or the expenses associated with our landfills– we expect that the upsides from this small investment will far outpace any costs.

A team of dedicated borough residents, including several of KBCS' board members, have been working tirelessly for many months on this issue. On June 16th, the Borough Assembly will vote on the ordinance and we absolutely need your support.

We are asking you to take at least one of these actions, but the more you do the better chance we will have of getting the ordinance passed.

1. Submit a comment through Kenai Change's portal. Click HERE
2. Write or call your assembly member and or the Borough Mayor. Click HERE FOR CONTACT INFORMATION.
3. Call or write a friend or friends outside of the Homer area, but still within the Kenai Peninsula Borough, and encourage them to take one of these actions. This commission will affect and improve the lives of all Borough residents.
4. Call into the Borough Assembly meeting on June 16th. Although the information for this meeting has not yet been updated, you will be able to find all the pertinent information HERE once the clerk has filled it in. This meeting will be conducted by Zoom.
5. You will receive extreme bonus points if you shoot a short video saying why you support the Resilience and Security Commission and share it on your social media to encourage your friends to get involved.

We are currently living through troubling times, and Covid-19 has exposed some of our vulnerabilities. A commission that looks for ways to improve our food security, our energy security, looks for cost savings through energy efficiencies and studies our resilience against future droughts, wildfires, and warming salmon streams, for example, will all go a long way to becoming better prepared for the next disaster. We are currently at sea without a rudder and the forecast is calling for heavy seas. This commission will help us find our course as we venture into our climate disrupted future.

Here are some helpful resources to help you better understand what this commission is:

• The Ordinance (2020-25) that the Borough will be voting on on June 16th. Click HERE.
• The video series we have put together. Click HERE.
• Kachemak Bay Conservation Society's article about the commission. Click HERE.

With your help, this commission will implement common-sense solutions to common problems on the Kenai Peninsula.

We also entreat those of you who have not yet renewed your membership to Kachemak Bay Conservation Society to please do so. Our small and scrappy board works tirelessly on a myriad of projects to help protect Kachemak Bay and greater Alaska with very little financial support. Your membership renewal and or donation means more to us than you can imagine.

Please support Kachemak Bay Conservation Society by clicking HERE.