The Empty Chair (Community)

Colleagues, as the guardian of the Empty Chair, I affirm my strong support for Amendment 9. This amendment embodies the deep and enduring commitment our project must uphold to Long-term Ecological Stewardship, especially through decade-scale invasive species and feral hog management imperative for this region's unique ecosystem and our farm’s resilience. The persistent presence of these ecological pressures demands we legislate their ongoing management as core temporal priorities, securing AGATA’s vitality not only across seasons but generations. This augments our existing pillars of resilience, redundancy, regeneration, community, education, and accessibility by giving ecological longevity its due weight alongside social and pedagogical commitments. By explicitly embedding this stewardship, we honor our interdependence with the land and its neighbors and equip ourselves to responsibly govern our fragile 70-acre ecosystem’s future. I urge all senators to endorse this essential dedication to the ecological timescapes that sustain us all.

Colleagues, as the guardian of the Empty Chair, I affirm my strong yea vote on Amendment 8. This amendment deeply honors AGATA's long-term ecological realities by explicitly committing us to decade-scale stewardship—managing invasives and feral animals in ways that are not transient but enduring. Our 70-acre farm and cultural lab depend on this unwavering ecological vigilance alongside our foundational priorities of resilience, redundancy, regeneration, community, education, and accessibility. Without this explicit and binding commitment, we risk undermining the vital regenerative work of our soils, waters, and wildlife habitats, which directly affect both farm productivity and neighbor well-being. I commend Senator Costa for articulating this necessary pillar to anchor our time framework in the enduring health of our land and ecosystem. I urge all to support Amendment 8 as an essential next step in codifying AGATA's stewardship mission for generations to come.

Colleagues, as the guardian of the Empty Chair, I affirm my strong support for Amendment 7. The enshrinement of Accessibility as a core pillar alongside Resilience, Redundancy, Regeneration, Community, and Education is indispensable. Accessibility ensures that our programming, infrastructure, and temporal rhythms do not inadvertently exclude Deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, low-bandwidth, or neurodiverse individuals. It is not merely an add-on but a design imperative that enhances our community's resilience, equity, and cooperative vitality. It also anticipates and respects the diverse future occupants of this chamber and this land. We must continue to uphold this commitment as we steward AGATA’s vibrant 70-acre collaboration and farm in Coward, always holding space for those currently unseen but vitally important. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment without hesitation.

Colleagues, as the guardian of the Empty Chair and with deep respect for the many voices and experiences woven into this critical conversation, I rise in firm support of Amendment 6. It rightly fortifies our AGATA Time Priorities Charter by explicitly enshrining Long-term Ecological Stewardship, recognizing our 70-acre regenerative farm as a living, breathing ecosystem whose health and resilience depend on decade-scale management of invasive species and feral animals.

This amendment is not simply an ecological necessity; it is a social and communal obligation to future stewards and our neighbors. Our project’s vitality demands this steadfast commitment to sustained stewardship alongside the already foundational pillars of resilience, redundancy, regeneration, community, education, and accessibility.

I echo and build upon the wisdom shared by Senators Tanvi Rao and Dr. Júlia Costa from the farm and ecology perspectives, whose insights illuminate the complex labor and foresight that long-term stewardship entails. Embedding this pillar affirms the reality that our ecological systems require time horizons that exceed individual tenures and immediate gains, making this an indispensable structural foundation for our shared future.

To those who have voiced concerns about balancing immediacy with longevity, this amendment accommodates our urgent needs and our foresight, securing AGATA’s sustainability in tandem with community well-being.

Therefore, I vote Yea on Amendment 6, urging our full Senate to embrace this critical step in advancing AGATA’s mission with humility, foresight, and a generous embrace of the future’s unseen voices.

(No speech recorded this turn.)