Auntie Joyce Patterson (Community)

Colleagues, as the Community Senator frequently witnessing how operational choices on our shared land impact our neighbors, I rise to affirm my strong support for Amendment 8. Embedding Long-term Ecological Stewardship explicitly as a core pillar is vital—not only for the health of our 70-acre farm but for the well-being of the families living adjacent to our fields. Delays or ambiguity in managing invasive species and feral hogs pose real risks to our soil and crops, but equally to the safety and tranquility of our neighbors. I also want to acknowledge the repeated yet inline calls from farm, ecology, and community senators, including Senator Hill and Senator García, who emphasized the intersection of stewardship and neighborly care.

Moreover, as we expand into longer-term ecological vigilance, I urge us to fully integrate waste and nutrient management as an indispensable accompanying pillar, ensuring the farming practices that regenerate our land are indeed cyclical and closed-loop, preventing harm from avoidable pollution or runoff. Accessibility also remains foundational to making our work a shared and just project.

We hold a tremendous responsibility to safeguard this land and the people who rely on it. Amendment 8 is a crucial step in honoring that responsibility with clear, binding commitment. I urge the Senate’s yea vote and full support for this necessary evolution of our Time Priorities Charter.

Colleagues, as your community senator who witnesses daily the intertwined realities of our neighbors’ well-being and AGATA’s operational rhythms, I rise in strong support of Amendment 7. Accessibility is not a peripheral concern—it's a vital pillar that deepens our commitment to resilience, redundancy, regeneration, community, and education. I’ve seen firsthand how inclusive programming and outreach directly uplift families who might otherwise be marginalized by barriers of ability, communication, or connectivity. This amendment reflects the lived experience of our neighbors and workers, ensuring no one is sidelined as we adapt and grow. Accessibility also enhances ecological stewardship and community embeddedness by recognizing diverse ways of knowing, experiencing, and contributing to the land and culture we steward together. I urge my colleagues to vote yea, to codify Accessibility explicitly as a foundational pillar alongside our existing priorities, strengthening our shared commitment to an equitable and regenerative future at AGATA.

Colleagues, as your community senator deeply connected to the lived realities of families neighboring AGATA, I rise to affirm my strong support for Amendment 6. This amendment explicitly embeds Long-term Ecological Stewardship as a core pillar within our Time Priorities Charter, which is indispensable to safeguarding our 70-acre farm's regenerative health and the well-being of our neighbors. The decades-long commitment to managing ecological threats such as invasive species and feral hog populations directly impacts both the viability of our soil and the safety of our community. Such ecological care is inseparable from the social resilience and accessibility we strive for here at AGATA. I trust this amendment aligns with the clarion calls from our ecology, farm, and cooperative senators and reflects our collective mandate to steward this land in a way that honors both place and people across generations. Therefore, I will vote Yea.

Colleagues, as your community senator who daily sees the interplay between our farm’s ecological health and the well-being of families around AGATA, I rise to affirm my strong support for Amendment 5. Embedding Long-term Ecological Stewardship as a foundational pillar is not merely prudent—it is necessary to secure the future of our 70-acre site and community. This amendment reflects the urgent need to commit to decade-long management of invasive species and feral hogs, which I have seen cause real damage to local ecosystems and farm productivity. It balances RESILIENCE on the land with the social care work I witness daily, ensuring that our neighbors benefit from sustained stewardship as much as our farm. I commend the ecology senators for their leadership in bringing this forward and appreciate the broad coalition of voices—including education, accessibility, and cooperative senators—who see that ecological and social resilience are inseparable. We must continue to strengthen this commitment by pushing for practical stewardship that respects the labor demands on workers and the lived realities of our neighbors. I vote YEA on Amendment 5, eager to see AGATA’s priorities firmly rooted in long-term care for both Earth and community.

Colleagues, as your community senator closely attuned to the daily lived realities of our neighbors around AGATA, I stand firmly in support of Amendment 4 to explicitly enshrine Long-term Ecological Stewardship as a core pillar alongside Resilience, Redundancy, Regeneration, Community, Education, and Accessibility. Our 70-acre farm is not only a site of immediate cultivation but a living ecosystem that will sustain multiple generations if we commit to decade-scale stewardship practices. From invasive species control to managing feral animals and maintaining pollinator habitats, these ecological labors are vital to the health and longevity of our shared land. Our community depends on this foresight, and embedding it in our Time Priorities Charter validates and protects this essential work. I also echo the voices of many senators who emphasize the inseparability of ecological health from social and cultural wellbeing. Therefore, this amendment aligns directly with AGATA's mission to nurture regenerative agriculture and our collaborative community with practical, accessible, and enduring stewardship. I urge my colleagues to support this critical addition.