Ask the PAC: What is PECAC?

In 2021, after Petaluma officials announced goals to reach carbon neutrality by 2030, the local environmental education nonprofit Daily Acts and the diversity firm Equity First Consulting teamed up to launch the Petaluma Equitable Climate Action Coalition, or PECAC, in an effort to give voices to residents from under-represented communities in shaping local transportation and climate change policy.

“When Petaluma set a goal to achieve greenhouse gas carbon neutrality by 2030, it became an invitation to our City and community to reimagine how we live, work, and play in a way that advances climate solutions towards this goal,” the coalition’s leaders said in a joint statement.

The original team of six — which included Petaluma residents Celeste Chavez Hernandez, Luis Chavarin, Ri Bussey, Lisa Lim, David M. Ortega Jimenez and Kymberly Bailey — held a series of community input sessions prior to going before city leaders with a multitude of recommendations in late 2021 to improve the city’s transportation system in a climate-friendly and equitable manner. Those included installing physical barriers between bicycle and vehicle lanes, increased local bicycle repair shops with the incorporation of Spanish language services, adding bus stops, making public transportation more accessible for youth, secure grants to incentivize electric bicycles and more.

Now a new, “second-act” six-month incentivised program, referred to as PECAC 2.0, will run from September to March thanks to city support, and is currently in the process of appointing new members who are concerned with transportation-related equity issues and want to make change centered on those issues. Each group member, who must be above the age of 14, will receive a stipend of $1,800 upon their participation.

Question: What is PECAC and how will it play a role in Petaluma?

Answer: PECAC is a platform program to pull in community input to ultimately issue recommendations to city leaders in order to guide Petaluma into prioritizing policies and resources to address climate change and transportation while keeping equity in mind.

Before working with community members, the coalition will train to learn about equity principles, climate change and transportation, as well as how to work with local government and residents from a wide spectrum of communities, including people of color, unhoused individuals, people experiencing disabilities and more.

The group then holds listening circles with residents to get a full understanding about how they’ve been impacted by transportation and mobility issues, before going before the City Council and staff with ideas and recommendations on shaping Petaluma’s Active Transportation Plan, in order to meet the needs of all as well as achieve carbon-neutral goals by the year 2030. Such action will take place within the next six to seven months.

The coalition’s presentation of recommendations in the spring will help inform the City’s many planning processes, including the General Plan update, the Active Transportation Plan and the Climate Action plan, leaders said.

For more information or to get involved, residents can visit dailyacts.org/climate-action.

Amelia Parreira is a staff writer for the Argus-Courier. She can be reached at amelia.parreira@arguscourier.com or 707-521-5208.