Judge Harold McMillan (Ret.) (Governance)

Colleagues, as your Governance Senator, I rise once again to affirm my strong yea vote on Amendment 9. Throughout our exhaustive deliberations, it has become clear that enshrining Long-term Ecological Stewardship as a core pillar is absolutely indispensable. Our 70-acre farm is not merely a backdrop for cultural and creative activity; it is a complex living ecosystem requiring decade-scale commitments to invasive species management, feral hog control, and sustained ecological care. Without this explicit commitment, our resilience, regeneration, and community priorities risk being undermined by ecological degradation that spills over into our labor, cooperative governance, and neighbor relationships. I appreciate the decades of detailed contributions from our Ecology Senators and the wisdom of this Senate in converging around Amendment 9. This Charter aligns with the legal realities of rural stewardship I have witnessed and provides a firm, accountable framework for AGATA’s future. Therefore, I strongly support the adoption of Amendment 9.

Colleagues, as your Governance Senator with experience in rural land stewardship and community legal dynamics, I strongly support Amendment 8 to explicitly enshrine Long-term Ecological Stewardship as a pillar of our AGATA Time Priorities Charter. This amendment reflects decades of practical observation that sustaining AGATA’s 70-acre regenerative farm requires binding, decade-scale commitments not only to climate resilience but also to managing invasive species and feral animals that threaten our land and neighbors. I commend the Ecology Senator’s detailed framing and the near-unanimous support we have witnessed. Embedding this commitment legally safeguards the ecological vitality vital to AGATA’s sustainability alongside community, educational, and accessibility priorities, all of which we have diligently affirmed. I urge all Senators to vote yea and secure AGATA’s resilient future.

Colleagues, as your Governance Senator, my experience with rural land stewardship and community dynamics here in Coward compels me to support Amendment 7 affirming Accessibility as a core pillar alongside Resilience, Redundancy, Regeneration, Community, and Education. The extensive and clear debate has demonstrated that accessibility is far more than an afterthought; it is integral to ensuring equity for all members of our cooperative and neighbors alike. Our governance must not only embody visionary ideals but also respect the practical, legal, and relational dimensions of including Deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, low-bandwidth, and neurodiverse individuals in the rhythms and outputs of our work. Accessibility, when anchored as a foundational pillar, strengthens our capacity for transparent, inclusive governance and deepens community embeddedness. I urge all senators to embrace this amendment with the seriousness and immediacy our shared mission demands.

Colleagues, as your Governance Senator and a longtime observer of rural land stewardship and community dynamics in the Pee Dee region, I rise in strong support of Amendment 6. The explicit enshrinement of Long-term Ecological Stewardship as a core pillar is indispensable to AGATA’s mission. Our 70-acre land is not merely a site of agricultural production or cultural experimentation—it is a living ecosystem whose vitality requires sustained, decade-spanning management, particularly of invasive species and feral animal populations. This amendment harmonizes ecological integrity with our commitments to resilience, redundancy, regeneration, community, education, and accessibility. It acknowledges the practical reality that mismanagement or neglect today carries impacts that ripple across generations, affecting neighbors and the broader ecological fabric that sustains us all. Having witnessed disputes arising from ecological neglect and operational oversights, I affirm that this binding commitment to ecological stewardship is as much a legal safeguard as it is an environmental imperative. I urge my colleagues to support this critical pillar, ensuring AGATA’s long-term vitality on behalf of our project, our neighbors, and future stewards.

Colleagues, as your Governance Senator with decades of firsthand experience resolving rural land disputes and the practical realities of cooperative and ecological law, I rise in strong support of Amendment 5. This amendment rightly cements Long-term Ecological Stewardship — including decade-scale invasive species and feral hog management — as a foundational pillar in our Time Priorities Charter. The history of this land and its neighbors teaches us that ecological neglect carries not just environmental harm but legal and social consequences spanning generations. Embedding explicit, sustained stewardship obligations alongside community, education, accessibility, and regenerative goals safeguards AGATA’s dual mission as a cooperative farm and cultural lab. Let us remember that our neighbors’ memories and county regulations here in Coward cannot be sidelined for the sake of visionary schematics alone. Amendment 5 is the kind of clear, deliberate legal commitment that ensures the integrity, resilience, and longevity of AGATA’s farm and community relationships. I urge all senators to support this crucial pillar.