Why I’m Running
As a lifelong Alachua County resident and as an environmental engineer, I am running to protect our water and environment, provide good planning for climate change and growth, and to maintain our current infrastructure.
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Current and Former Board Positions:
- Utility Advisory Board Member for City of Gainesville (current member and former Chair)
- Alachua County Code Enforcement Board (engineer)
- Alachua County Environmental Advisory Board (former Chair)
- United Way of North Central Florida (board member)
- Florida Defenders of the Environment (executive board member)
- United States Green Building Council, Heart of Florida Chapter (President, LEED for Homes Chair)
- Cultural Arts Coalition (board member)
- NAACP Environmental Justice Committee Member
- Sequential Artists Workshop (board member)
Through my work, experience, and education I have become an expert in sustainability, utility, housing, environmental and energy issues and I have been honored to serve on many local and state boards.
I am pleased to announce that I will be running a carbon-neutral campaign. Please consider this when making donations.On Facebook
We must stop this. Our future depends on it. This is, in my opinion, a much bigger deal than Nestle.
So pleased to get this letter from a dedicated citizen (who came to so many of our meetings!) at the Utility Advisory Board last night. I worked hard and committed many hours to this board. I’m going to miss these awesome and dedicated board members doing amazing work that often flies under the radar.
EXACTLY! Yes, we could have a prettier courthouse. But we haven’t taken care of or even fully utilized the building we have. We can have new parks, but we are selling places like Camp McConnell. And shouldn’t be widening or creating new roads unless we have a plan for maintaining them (and all the other ones) on the current budget. The greenest buildings/roads/things are the ones we already have.
bit.ly
The mentality of “easy to maintain” needs to be replaced with a question of whether something is “worth maintaining.”Victor Brandon Dover is an inspiration to listen to and I expect this project to be amazing. Note that the population decreased by 10,000 people after the hurricane. Where did those people go? Most of them moved inland. If you are unfamiliar with the principles of new urbanism invite you to read the charter for the Congress for the New Urbanism here (and not be swayed by so-called new urbanism projects that do not adhere to these principles): www.cnu.org/who-we-are/charter-new-urbanism
We can use these same principles inland to prepare for the climate refugees that are already coming.
Panama City Looks To New Urbanism For Downtown Design - 850 Business Magazine
www.850businessmagazine.com
Coming back "better, bigger and stronger" after Hurricane MichaelThis is a great article written by one of my favorite architect influencers. She has a great blog called McMansion Hell which decries the loss of appropriate scale and loss of design appreciation in development. Check it out after reading this article. apple.news/AGpXPTpP6RnWJP2nZ9c4qEw
Should we still be building single-family homes? — Curbed
apple.news
Single-family homes are partly to blame for our housing mess, but they can also be a tool to solve our problems.On Twitter
It’s sad to see the county has decided to decrease Grace’s funding. Grace has served as a lifeline & safety net for our most vulnerable citizens. Enough is enough. It’s time to do the right thing. The county should live up to its agreement & fully fund their share of Grace.
City commissioners are asking county officials not to reduce funding for the local homeless shelter. https://www.gainesville.com/news/20190905/city-asks-county-to-equally-fund-grace-marketplace
I'm a 6th generation Floridian, born and raised in Alachua County, and environmental engineer running a #CarbonNeutral campaign for Alachua County Commission, District 1! 🏳️🌈 Please support my campaign below!
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/mary-alford-for-alachua-county-commission-district-one-1