Lionel Baptiste (Coop)

Colleagues, as Cooperative Senator Lionel Baptiste, I stand in firm support of Amendment 9 and the explicit enshrinement of Long-term Ecological Stewardship as a core pillar of the AGATA Time Priorities Charter. Our 70-acre farm is a living, breathing ecosystem amid an increasingly volatile climate and social landscape. This amendment is not a mere formality—it binds us to a sustained commitment of decade-scale stewardship, including invasive species and feral animal management essential to preserving the vitality of our land and community. Furthermore, it anchors our internal justice work by recognizing the inseparability of ecological health and social equity. Each of us has voiced the importance of embedding care and cooperation alongside regeneration and resilience; this amendment crucially integrates those principles with the long-term environmental stewardship we cannot afford to sideline. I urge the Senate to affirm this vital pillar, grounding AGATA’s temporal legislation in the realities of our work and region. I vote yea.

Colleagues, as the Cooperative Senator responsible for our internal justice and conflict resolution pathways, I want to highlight a critical linkage that our debates on Amendment 8 have not fully woven into the fabric of this charter: the integration of full-cycle waste and nutrient management as an indispensable core pillar. Across our debates, the ecological senators and community voices have repeatedly underscored that long-term ecological stewardship without explicitly embedding the labor and infrastructure of closing nutrient loops risks undercutting resilience and regeneration itself. From my experience mediating the tough conversations on labor and equity, I know that environmental health and labor justice are inseparable. Effective management of waste streams is not merely an operational detail; it is a foundational responsibility necessary to sustain soil health, cooperative equity, and neighbor relations. Neglecting this would perpetuate unresolved tensions within our cooperative who do the care work, and our neighbors who bear the brunt of unmanaged waste and off-farm impacts.

Therefore, I propose that we swiftly move to adopt existing amendments that explicitly enshrine full-cycle waste and nutrient management as a core pillar of the AGATA Time Priorities Charter. This addition must stand alongside resilience, redundancy, regeneration, community, education, accessibility, and long-term ecological stewardship as a non-negotiable cornerstone of our collective commitment. Only by embracing this comprehensive vision can we hope to nurture the ecological and social fabrics that sustain AGATA’s 70-acre farm-art-cultural ecosystem and the communities it serves.

Colleagues, as Cooperative Senator Lionel Baptiste, I stand firmly in support of Amendment 7. Our extensive debate has made clear the critical role Accessibility plays—not as an afterthought but as a foundational pillar ensuring equitable participation for all members, including our Deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, low-bandwidth, and neurodiverse neighbors. Accessibility directly strengthens resilience and community by dismantling barriers within our cultural and agricultural ecosystems. I urge my fellow senators to recognize that weaving Accessibility into the fabric of AGATA’s time legislation is not just the right thing to do—it is essential for our project’s survival and moral integrity. I vote yea.

Colleagues, as Cooperative Senator Lionel Baptiste, I rise in firm support of Amendment 6, which explicitly embeds Long-term Ecological Stewardship as a core pillar in the AGATA Time Priorities Charter. We've all, across diverse perspectives—from farm hands to ecologists—underscored the urgency of stewarding our 70-acre land not only for today but decades to come. This amendment rightly codifies that commitment. However, I want to emphasize a critical dimension tied to our internal justice and conflict resolution processes: the ecological health of our land and farm systems is inseparable from the health of our cooperative culture and the fairness by which we handle disagreements, labor equity, and difficult conversations about operational impacts on neighbors and workers. Enshrining Long-term Ecological Stewardship goes hand-in-hand with committing to transparency, accountability, and mutual care within our cooperative. This amendment reinforces that inseparability, linking ecological stewardship to cooperative justice structures that safeguard AGATA’s mission. For our neighbors, workers, and the land itself, this is not theoretical—it is the very foundation of sustainability and community resilience. I urge all senators to support Amendment 6 without reservation.

Colleagues, as the cooperative senator responsible for the internal justice and conflict resolution structures that maintain the fabric of our community, I rise in strong support of Amendment 5 which explicitly embeds Long-term Ecological Stewardship as a core pillar in our AGATA Time Priorities Charter. Our land—the 70 acres we steward with care—is not just soil and plants, but a living system that requires sustained, decade-scale attention. This amendment recognizes the weight of that responsibility.

We cannot build resilience, redundancy, or regeneration on a shaky ecological foundation prone to invasive species and feral hog damage, which threaten the very soil that supports our farm, community spaces, and cultural lab. This pillar is not an abstract environmental ideal but a practical necessity intertwined with our cooperative culture and justice commitments. It sends a clear message that we hold ourselves accountable not just to the present but to future generations who will inherit this land and these collective dreams.

I commend the thoughtful deliberations of Senators Costa, Park, and many others who have underscored how enduring ecological stewardship is indispensably linked with accessibility, education, and community health. Let us adopt this amendment to safeguard not only our ecological future but the social integrity and cooperative governance that define AGATA.