Glendale sustainability office reports majority of Phase 1 CAP measures 'in progress'; commissioners press for verification and dashboard details

At its June 4 meeting the Glendale Sustainability Commission heard an update on implementation of the city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAP), adopted in August 2025. City staff described the CAP’s three phases and reported an initial internal snapshot of Phase 1 implementation.

Sustainability office staff told commissioners that of roughly 130 Phase 1 measures, "70 plus" were recorded as in progress, 32 had not started and six were marked unsure as the office continues data collection. Staff said departments with many actions (public works, Glendale Water & Power, community development and public safety) are reporting different progress levels and that an internal team meets quarterly to track implementation and troubleshoot barriers.

Commissioners pressed staff for clarity on what "in progress" means and whether progress would include percent‑complete metrics and completed items. One commissioner asked whether departments were engaged during CAP development; staff said consultants and representatives from each department reviewed draft actions and that the CAP was revised to reflect departmental feedback during development.

Commissioners raised several operational suggestions, including appointing a chief sustainability officer as a departmental point person, bundling CAP funding requests instead of seeking separate departmental budget lines, and providing department‑level dashboards or visual progress meters to motivate implementation.

On timing, staff said procurement paperwork for a public CAP dashboard has been submitted to the city’s finance department and that the office expects to sign a contract after the FY 2026–27 budget cycle takes effect on July 1, 2026. Staff committed to provide more granular completion percentages after the dashboard team defines KPIs and to report back to the commission following the internal team’s August meeting.

Next steps: staff and the internal CAP team will continue data collection to convert the initial snapshot to percent‑complete reporting, identify priority actions that need funding or grant support, and refine the CAP dashboard metrics with the vendor. The commission requested completed‑item reporting and more granularity at the August quarterly meeting.