Gardina: Conservation ahead of comfort
Last week several councilman grilled county school system officials on the subject of air conditioning in some schools, specifically Ridgely Middle School.
But not everyone felt the focus should be solely on comfort.
Councilman Vince Gardina, a 5th District Democrat who represents aan area that stretches from Perry Hall to Towson, is the council’s conscience when it comes to green issues, and last Thursday’s budget hearing with the schools system was no different. For about five minutes, Gardina turned the focus on sweltering classrooms into a discussion about energy conservation.
“Considering that we have global warming, global warming’s a real issue, you know, it’s not a made up issue like some people want to pretend, we should be conserving energy instead of consuming more energy,” Gardina said. “To put air conditioning into schools or any other buildings that have never had it for the last 60 or 70 years, how are we addressing that energy consumption issue?”
“You know, putting in air conditioning sounds great,” he continued. “The children are nice and comfortable for five or six days when it’s 95 degrees outside. and then we run these things all night, all day. We keep our computers running all night, all day. We keep lights on, in (the Old Courthouse) all night, all day.”
“We have it so cold in here the staff out there has to have heaters on in the summer and the windows open in the winter,” Gardina said. “We waste so much energy. What are we doing to deal with that rather than worrying about, you know, this trivial issue of air conditioning in schools? It’s trivial in the sense that it’s not absolutely necessary.”
Schools officials agreed the issue was important, and told Gardina they’ve hired an outside consultant to review buildings for high usage. Those buildings then undergo an energy audit. Energy efficient equipment and designs are also being incorporated into buildings as they are renovated, they said.
Gardina added that he wasn’t satisfied with the efforts of county government.
“I dont think … the county side has done enough on that energy conservation issue,” Gardina said. “We waste so much energy in county buildings, in county fleet, you know. (They’re) doing somethings, they’re not moving any where quickly enough. It should be a priority.”
“And with the school system having so many buildings, so many vehicles and consuming so much energy, that should be the priority, not worrying about whether Johnny’s going to be, you know. … It just drives me nuts when these people come in with the air conditioning issue,” Gardina said.
“I went to school when it was 95-degrees,” Gardina said. “It was uncomfortable but, you know, we had the windows open.”
Councilman John Olszewski Sr., a Democrat who represents the 7th district including Dundalk, part of Essex and Rosedale, spoke up for Ridgely Middle School parents who attended the hearing.
“We try to make the school system as comfortable and safe as possible for our children to have a learning environment,” Olszewski said.
“When I went to … public school, I enjoyed those days when the windows were open on those very hot days and you had a breeze coming in,” Olszewski said. “You said it was trivial. I don’t think it’s trivial.”
Gardina got the last word in just before Council Chairman Joseph Bartenfelder moved to the next issue.
“I’m not arguing that, Gardina said to Olszewski. “I’m just saying that our priority should be energy consumption first. That’s all I’m saying.”