Making Springfield Green : slower than molasses

Every so often I give Springfield Mayoral Aide Darryl Moss a call to ask if a "Green Point Person" has been identified/hired yet. Just to refresh people's minds, here's what Domenic Sarno said at his inaugural address:

• We will designate a municipal official to coordinate and manage our "green" initiatives.
• We will consider the environmental impact in procuring goods and services.
• We will critically evaluate our use of energy of all types and institute measures to reduce energy consumption.
• We will develop and implement smart growth policies that encourage "green" design and sustainable development.
• And we will look at ways to reduce the city's carbon footprint and to remediate existing environmental issues.

On Friday, Darryl said he thought someone had been hired and he'd call me back with the name, which he did not do. Today when I finally got through to Darryl, he told me that the person I wanted to talk to was Brian Connors, and gave me a number. It turned out to be the Economic Development Office.

"So, I understand you're the new point person for green development."
"No, I'm not," he said.

Turns out that the city has just posted a job opening for a business development position which will include green development.

So let's say the position is advertised for a month. Then another month for interviews and picking a candidate. So now we're talking nine or ten months from the beginning of Sarno's term.

I suppose I shouldn't assume that just because no municipal official has yet been hired or appointed that no progress has been made on the other environmental goals Sarno set. I'm going to try to find out. But then again, who will I ask?