Host: City of Bothell
Region: Washington
Openings: 1
Project Focus: Climate Adaptation (e.g., sea level rise planning, environmental justice, climate migration planning), Climate Mitigation, Energy Efficiency, Urban Planning
Skills Needed: Project Management, Research, Data Analysis, Technical Writing,

Remote or On-Site Placement

Hybrid – The Fellow would be serving on-site the same number of days as departmental staff, which is two in-office and three at home at a minimum. There is flexibility as to which days and they can choose to come in more if so desired.

Service Needs & Plans

The overarching goal of the City of Bothell‘s Climate Action Plan will be to realize the goals and policies from the Comprehensive Plan in an actionable document that will implement projects. As a part of this work, we want to ensure we are meeting the needs of the community and implementing projects through a lens of climate and environmental justice and equity. The city needs the additional capacity that a Fellow can provide to supplement a small planning staff and a large work plan, and also that can provide some specialized knowledge in climate change and sustainability planning.

Project Description

Bothell will be developing its first Climate Action Plan as an implementing component of the 2024 Imagine Bothell Comprehensive Plan, which will be adopted by December 2024. The current draft scope of work for the project includes a comprehensive community engagement plan, which will aid in visioning for the project, top priorities for the community we have gathered, a discussion on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and an inventory, an updated GHG wedge analysis.

The plan will be organized into likely 5 sections: mobility/transportation/land use, buildings and energy, waste/recycling/consumption, natural systems/trees/water, and community resilience/adaptation. A key component will be the strategies developed for the next 2 to 5 years and continue to refine and update every few years. The Fellow would be assisting with all aspects of the CAP as we anticipate having a consultant on board by the Autumn.

Desired Skills

The Fellow will need to be able to coordinate between a number of stakeholders in the development of both projects, which will likely include consultants, other departmental staff, as well as working with the community and our City Council and Planning Commission. Any work that will need to be reviewed by Planning Commission or City Council will also potentially require work on developing materials for meetings and potentially contributing to presentations and discussions with those bodies.

Organization & Workplace Highlights

The City of Bothell is a city located in the Puget Sound Region of Washington State, straddling the King County and Snohomish County border on the north end of Lake Washington in the Greater Seattle Metro Area. We have roughly 400 members of city staff located between the City Hall building in Downtown Bothell, as well as the Bothell Operations Center located in Canyon Park. The Planning Division of the Community Development Department, located at City Hall, is the lead group working on the Climate Action Plan. The second project will be led by the Fleet and Facilities Division within the Public Works Department, working in concert with other applicable divisions and departments, such as Planning and Building in Community Development. We have a hybrid work environment with flexible schedule options.

Community Highlights

We serve a community of just under 50,000 residents within the city. The demographics of the community roughly match those of the surrounding greater Seattle area. The Bothell community is very environmentally minded, with a strong passion for the natural areas of the city, including our local fish-bearing waterways, and urban forests. As Bothell has grown, it has managed to maintain many elements of a small town feel, including many community events in the downtown area in the summertime, including various festivals and parades that close downtown city streets for celebrations.