Subject
title
Community Engagement and Outreach
end
Department
City Manager's Office (CMO)
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Mayor and Council's discuss community engagement and outreach and provide any desired direction to staff, especially on the draft interim community engagement plan in this agenda item.
Discussion
At the February 12th Mayor and Council meeting, the governing body requested this agenda item be brought before them at the February 26th meeting. Given the short turnaround time, staff did not have time to prepare a detailed agenda report. However, pending the forthcoming March 16 Mayor and Council retreat, staff has been working on an interim community engagement plan per the direction of Mayor and Council at the January 6 retreat. The draft interim community engagement plan is attached (Attachment A) for Mayor and Council review and to assist the Mayor and Council during discussion of this agenda item.
As an overview, it is important to note that currently, the city’s community engagement is decentralized, where each department plans and outlines how they will engage with the community on their respective project and/or initiatives. While engagement is decentralized, PIO plays a critical role as an advisor/consultant when the respective departments are developing an outreach plan but does not play an active role in developing the engagement plan(s). PIO advises on the outreach plan and how best to deploy the city’s outreach tools and platforms.
Mayor and Council History
This is the first time an agenda item has been brought forward before Mayor and Council.
Next Steps
Staff will finalize the interim community engagement plan per any direction from the Mayor and Council and work internally with various stakeholders on an implementation plan. At the March 16 retreat, staff recommends the Mayor and Council include further discussion on community engagement and outreach and consider development of a strategic community engagement and outreach plan, with assistance of a community engagement consultant, as they agree on a shared vision and desired outcome on community engagement.
Attachments:
Draft Interim Community Engagement Plan