Tamara Marcus resigns as Linn County’s first sustainability director

CEDAR RAPIDS — At the end of this year, Tamara Marcus will resign as Linn County’s first sustainability director to launch a new sustainability and equity consulting service to primarily serve Corridor-based local governments, businesses and nonprofits.

After about three years leading county sustainability efforts and building out the department, Marcus’ resignation takes effect Dec. 29. The majority-Democrat three-member Board of Supervisors is unlikely to restructure the department that has worked to advance sustainability practices to enhance resiliency to disasters.

Marcus said she was proud of collaboration across county departments to craft the first internal sustainability plan and to update to the county’s greenhouse gas inventory, among other initiatives.

“That’s a result of both a combination in some strong advocates, both historically and a few now, of the work, but I think it’s really a reflection of the incredible staff at Linn County who are so committed to serving the residents of Linn County,” said Marcus, whose salary is $75,254.40.

The Empowered Solutions Collective will be Marcus’ next venture with Sarah Blais. Marcus said she hopes to help entities take advantage of available federal funds to do sustainability projects.

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For instance, the county this week opened its second resiliency hub at the Wellington Heights Community Church, complete with an 8.1-kilowatt solar panel and battery storage system. The county has developed these hubs since the 2020 derecho to give residents access to critical resources such as food, electricity and information during and after disasters.

“There’s a huge potential for that concept to scale, and there are a lot of community organizations that would like to do that work but don’t have that staff expertise or know how to access federal money to do it,” Marcus said.

Marcus recently earned her Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire’s Natural Resources and Earth System Sciences program. That achievement prompted her to reflect on her next steps, and she said she wanted to work with people who want to communicate openly and build collaborative relationships to find solutions.

“Records will speak for themselves in where that has or has not happened,” Marcus said. “ … I don’t want to be blindsided by decisions that are being made by leadership,” which Marcus said she felt happened when Supervisor Chair Louie Zumbach — the board’s lone Republican — put the reversal of using federal American Rescue Plan Act funding for a new resiliency coordinator on a supervisors’ meeting agenda in January.

In the future, Marcus said she recommends the county retain the sustainability department as an entity with its own department head. In addition to the director, the department now employs a full-time resiliency coordinator and has Green Iowa AmeriCorps members.

“Unfortunately this work has been externally politicized, but I don’t think that inherently it is,” Marcus said. “I think it’s just something that if you’re intending to do this work … being aware that this is political is important and it helps to bring people together in the work.”

Supervisors Ben Rogers and Kirsten Running-Marquardt said they were proud of Marcus’ work to create a department framework that will continue into the future. Rogers acknowledged her efforts to build relationships with rural Linn County communities on sustainability practices and help the county be more prepared for future disasters.

Rogers said sustainability work is critical in an area that has experienced several major natural disasters, but noted that many board votes on sustainability initiatives and budget have been 2-1, with Zumbach opposed. That includes votes on tree replanting in Walker and Palo in September and the three already-approved utility-scale solar projects in Coggon and Palo in 2022.

“Louie has a philosophical and political difference of opinion than the previous and current Board of Supervisors on the existential threat of climate change and Linn County’s role in sustainability,” Rogers said.

While making $1.7 million proposed fiscal 2024 spending cuts earlier this year, Zumbach suggested “redesigning” the sustainability department. In his May State of the County speech, he said there is a need to collaborate with other local governments to save taxpayer money.

With Marcus’ departure, asked if he plans to pursue any redesigning of the department or consolidation of the county’s sustainability department with the city of Cedar Rapids’ sustainability manager role, Zumbach said he would need to gain support among his two other elected colleagues.

“With Tam deciding to move on, we’d be foolish to not at least look into working with the city on it since they already have this department,” Zumbach said. The city employs a program manager, but does not have a full sustainability department.

Zumbach said he had not “given that a lot of thought at this point” about expectations for the next director. He said the ARPA decision and other votes on sustainability projects were about the budget and ensuring the county can cover expenses for legally required functions.

Rogers and Running-Marquardt said they support hiring another director. Running-Marquardt said there are several county projects underway that will save the county money through energy efficiencies. Given that, she said it’s important to keep the department intact while working in greater partnership with Cedar Rapids.

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