Many cities have adopted climate action plans in hopes of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating climate change, and more and more cities have an environmental commission making sure those goals are being met.
The city of Vista has now joined those ranks, but council member Corinna Contreras said they are late to the game.
"I'm seeing these other cities around us that have an environmental commission where folks are really passionate about what they can do in their community to make the environment better for today's generation and future generations. They were able to get together and set policies, make recommendations to the council," Contreras said. "We didn't have that here."
Last year, Contreras brought the idea of a commission to the council. She also had a candidate for the commission, who was not only passionate about her community and the environment, but brought something else to the table.
"We needed to bring someone who was Spanish-speaking and that also forces the city to move in a direction to be more inclusive," Contreras said. "She's going to be up there with the rest of the commissioners talking about really important things and there gets to be a bilingual environment of inclusive collaboration."
“She” is Jovita Serafin, who will represent District 1 on Vista’s first environmental commission, which holds its first meeting Wednesday evening. For the past five years, Serafin has spent her Wednesdays picking up trash in neighborhoods in Vista.
Her group is Guerreras en Acción por un Vista limpio, which means "Warriors in Action for a Clean Vista."
The group is mainly made up of other moms and grandmas wanting to see their neighborhoods free of trash.
Serafin said she does this — and other kinds of outreach — to give back to her community and set a good example for her children, locals, and nearby cities.
"Together we can be the difference, be the model for other cities," she said in Spanish.
Serafin speaks very little English, and she said she thinks she'll feel like a fish out of water during commission meetings because of that.
"I feel a little out of place because everyone speaks English, and I can understand it and speak it very little. But I do feel nervous just sitting there with my headphones listening to the translation," Serafin said in Spanish.
But she’s happy that she will be bringing the work she does in her community inside the council chambers.
"I feel happy and nervous at the same time because I don't know exactly what will happen in the city because what I do outside, is different. Although, its related. What I do with my group and the clean ups has to do with the environment," Serafin said.
She hopes her presence on the commission will encourage other Spanish-speaking residents to get involved as well.
