Jan. 30, 2026 — Washington, D.C. — Redmond Mayor Angela Birney joined Climate Mayors and other municipal leaders at the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ winter meeting this week.
She took part in a panel about how cities are turning climate commitments into concrete projects residents can see.
The session, led by Climate Mayors Vice Chair Barbara Buffaloe of Columbia, Missouri, featured mayors from several cities.
That session included Birney, Shawyn Patterson‑Howard of Mount Vernon, N.Y., and Indya Kincannon of Knoxville, who discussed deploying city-level solutions such as expanded electric-vehicle charging, building-efficiency retrofits, and nature‑based stormwater projects.
Panel organizers framed 2026 as a year for mayors to protect progress already made, scale innovations, and show measurable benefits in jobs, health, and household costs.
Birney, first elected mayor in 2019 and reelected in 2023 to a second term that runs through 2027, represented Redmond among the panelists.
Her participation signals the city’s ongoing engagement in national municipal climate networks and offers opportunities to bring home models and federal funding strategies that match Redmond’s priorities.
Speakers at the session repeatedly returned to the same theme: convert federal and state money into neighborhood-level projects that reduce emissions and improve resilience.
That means clearing administrative hurdles, forging public-private partnerships, and packaging projects so they are “shovel-ready” for grant programs.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors’ agenda lists environment and infrastructure sessions designed to help cities do exactly that.
City staff and elected officials in Redmond are watching for practical takeaways in thefuture.
This included faster permitting and match-funding approaches for electrifying municipal fleets, targeted programs to weatherize older housing, and coordinated stormwater upgrades that tie into parks and trails.
Officials say the work of converting ideas into funded projects often depends less on new policy and more on streamlining grant applications, aligning partners, and setting up clear implementation roles, points stressed during the panel
For residents, that means some of the ideas discussed in Washington could show up in Redmond’s near-term workplans and budget requests.
Else, as pilot programs aimed at lowering household energy costs and improving local resilience.
Sources: Climate Mayors communications and social posts; U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting materials; City of Redmond mayor’s office.
