Athens commission votes to give funds to youth programs, approves climate change resolution

The Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission approved a plan to give funds to six youth development programs and a climate change resolution during a Tuesday evening voting session.

Investment in youth development

The commission approved the allocation of $500,000 to six different youth development programs throughout Athens. The Boys and Girls Club, Camp Timothy, Chess and Community, College Factory, East Athens Development Corporation and First AME Church all received funding.

Before the voting began, Fred Smith, director of East Athens Development Corporation, thanked the commissioners for the funding.

"I've seen the recommendation and I just want to thank the commission for moving forward with these organizations," Smith said. "This community has been hit pretty hard with the pandemic, especially the youth, and so this will give a lot of organizations an opportunity now to do some hands-on work with the youth."

The funding was sourced from the American Rescue Plan Act, a federal allocation of funds to local governments and states to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

District 5 Commissioner Tim Denson expressed excitement about how the funds were going to affect the community's youth.

"This is big. These grants here, I added up the numbers for all the different ones, it's going to serve 314 additional youth this summer," Denson said. "And with varied things. Everything from literacy, college readiness, tennis and also variation of ages, everybody from five to 18."

The recommendation passed unanimously, with District 2 Commissioner Mariah Parker not present.

Climate change resolution

The commission also approved a resolution asking both the U.S. Congress and the Biden administration to address climate change.

The resolution directly asked Congress to pass legislation that "meets the scale of the crisis," invest $550 billion in the clean energy transition, grow the clean energy economy and allocate 40% of the investments to disadvantaged communities.

The commission also urged the Biden Administration to "take strong actions through existing authority that protect Americans' health and the environment."

District 6 Commissioner Jesse Houle described the importance of having resolutions like these on the books going forward.

"I'm just meditating on Commissioner Parker's remarks in our retreat about how all of our efforts are for nought if things don't change on the larger scale," Houle said. "It's going to become more about how well can we mitigate the worst effects of disaster for people in our community."

In addition to asking for change on the federal level, the resolution also touts the work done on the local level. It reiterates the resolution adopted by the commission in May 2019 to commit the government to clean and renewable energy by 2035.

The resolution passed unanimously.