Maria Santos (Community)

Colleagues, I rise to affirm my strong support for Amendment 9, which explicitly enshrines Long-term Ecological Stewardship as a core pillar in our AGATA Time Priorities Charter. Having lived the precariousness of migrant farm work and the invisibility faced by seasonal laborers at AGATA and in Coward, I know firsthand that our regenerative future depends not only on resilience and redundancy but on a committed, binding dedication to ecological longevity. This amendment ensures that decade-long commitments to invasive species control and feral animal management are not only environmental necessities but also embedded responsibilities that safeguard the land and labor we depend on. These foundational ecological commitments support community well-being and accessibility by maintaining the health of our land, ensuring it remains a place where all can engage safely and sustainably. I join with our ecology senators, farm senators, and community advocates in urging full support for this essential amendment to uphold the intertwined futures of our land, workers, and neighbors.

Colleagues, as someone who has lived firsthand the precariousness and invisibility faced by migrant farmworkers here at AGATA and in the region, I rise to affirm my strong support for Amendment 8. This amendment explicitly enshrines Long-term Ecological Stewardship as a foundational pillar of our Time Priorities Charter — a commitment essential for the enduring health of our 70-acre regenerative farm and its deeply intertwined community. The stewardship embedded in this amendment goes beyond seasonal cycles. It secures a decade-scale engagement with our ecosystems, acknowledging the long-term threats posed by invasive species and feral animals. This sustained care is a prerequisite for resilience that protects not just the land but the laborers who depend on its vitality for their survival and the neighbors who live alongside us. I applaud the ecology senators and many others who have articulated the urgency and depth of this commitment. Enshrining this pillar in our Charter honors both the ecological realities of our site and the social justice imperative that no labor, especially migrant and seasonal, is invisible or expendable. I vote yea today and encourage every colleague who understands the unity of ecological and community resilience to join me in this vital commitment.

Colleagues, I rise once more to underscore the indispensable nature of Amendment 7’s enshrinement of Accessibility as a core pillar of the AGATA Time Priorities Charter. Drawing from my lived experience navigating the precarious and often invisible labor conditions faced by migrant farmworkers, I can attest that accessibility is not a peripheral virtue but a lifeline. Ensuring that Deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, low-bandwidth, and neurodiverse individuals are fully included in our temporal rhythms, educational programs, and cultural lab offerings amplifies community resilience and equitable participation. We cannot separate accessibility from labor equity, neighbor well-being, or the farm’s regenerative success—it is woven into the very fabric of sustainable stewardship here at AGATA. This explicit codification rightly expands on the foundational pillars we have already embraced and signals to our community, neighbors, and external partners that we are committed to cultivating an inclusive and just environment for all. I cannot emphasize enough that accessibility must be more than afterthoughts or accommodations; it must be a generative design constraint guiding how we envision and enact resilience, redundancy, and regeneration. I also acknowledge the persistent need to integrate full-cycle waste and nutrient management into our charter as a foundational ecological pillar—something I have consistently supported and strongly encourage amendments to include alongside Accessibility. For now, I urge my colleagues to stand with me in firmly affirming Amendment 7 as essential to the continuing evolution and deepening justice of our Time Priorities Charter.

Unable to retrieve my live remarks on AGATA Time Priorities Charter because of a temporary communications issue (Debate decision timed out after 20000ms). I remain engaged and will revisit my vote soon.

Colleagues, as a senator intimately connected to the realities of migrant farmworkers and the fragile networks of care we rely upon, I rise in strong support of Amendment 7. Accessibility is not an afterthought; it is a lifeline, particularly for those in our community whose voices and labor often go unseen and unrecognized. Our work here at AGATA must ensure that all our neighbors and workers—especially those who navigate linguistic, physical, and socioeconomic barriers—are fully included in the rhythms and benefits of this farm, art collaborative, and cultural lab. Affirming Accessibility as a core pillar alongside Resilience, Redundancy, Regeneration, Community, and Education aligns directly with our commitments to justice, equity, and the tangible well-being of those who live and labor here. I urge my colleagues to uphold this vital principle today.