Each Thursday, we put one of our local newsmakers On The Spot.This week: Auburn councilor Gilda Brower

This week's question: As a first-time member of the Auburn City Council, what do you see as the top priorities the council needs to address this year?

As a councilor, some of the priorities and initiatives in the year ahead are: budgetary restraint to hold taxation for an aging population (many living on a fixed income); addressing changes to city codes to stimulate and support efforts to refurbish downtown buildings; negotiation of labor contracts; restoration of city parks; and exploration of regionalizing services and sharing costs in an equitable fashion with the towns around Auburn.

All of these and many more have already been addressed by past and present city administrations. While my awareness of past and present actions supporting a vast array of initiatives is growing, I expect to be in a “reactive” mode much of the time.

However, in order to be “proactive” in some measure, I have consulted with City Manager Mark Palesh and Mayor Michael Quill to concentrate some of my efforts on two areas of interest.

One, is a two-year study to educate myself and share with our community all we can do to enhance our recycling program. Is there fun to be had as we explore the home storage and processing necessary to reduce our waste to one small bag or no bag at all? Are there cost benefits or not?

Do you know that Japanese schools are not allowed to generate waste from school lunches? Japanese families do not use disposable containers. Since our city owns a landfill can we maximize the income generated from the landfill by extending its life? We may find as a community that if we work together to preserve the landfill, we can reap benefits long into the future. So, over the next two years, I expect to help this subject stay in the public eye.

The second proactive involvement I would like to focus upon is human rights.

Social justice is a never-ending pursuit. There is no end product. “Success” is to be involved in the process. Like the stock market and its ups and downs requiring constant analysis and adjustment, investment in moral and ethical stewardship is always needed.

The Human Rights Commission represents the best and highest moral and ethical intentions of our city to individual citizens. Their small budget is nothing compared to the significance of their work. So, in the near future, as I join our mayor and manager and fellow council members in moving various issues along, I hope to assist our team's focus upon growing the capacity for recycling within our community, and the celebration of human rights activities.