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03/20/2019 - Minutes City of Tigard Committee for Community Engagement Agenda MEETING DATE/TIME: Wednesday, March 20, 2019; 7 — 8:30 p.m. MEETING LOCATION: Public Works, Sunrise Room (8777 SW Burnham St.) Present Excused Absent Basil Christopher Lauren Rowles Christine Rehse Bhushan Gupta Tamera Boring Connie Ramaekers Dave Hanna Dolly Specht Joseph Lyons Miranda Wood Norma Trujillo Taylor Sarman Council Liaison: Liz Newton Staff Liaison: Nadine Robinson Guest Speaker: Kent Wyatt, Communications Manager Guest Speaker: Dana Bennett, Human Resources Manager Elect 2019 Officers Dave Hanna commented that the Vice-Chair position is not arduous. He noted that the Chair and Vice- Chair positions have no access to information beyond what the whole committee gets. He added that the two positions provide input into the minutes. He sees the role as helping to smooth operations. Basil Christopher,the current Chair, agreed with Dave's comments and added that they also offer suggestions for the agenda. Basil nominated Dave as Chair. Connie Ramaekers seconded the motion.The committee voted unanimously in favor. No one indicated an interest in filling the Vice-Chair position. Basil recommended giving people time to think about it and at the next meeting the committee can vote to fill the position.The committee was in favor of the idea. Discussion of annual report to Tigard City Council Committee liaison Nadine Robinson will draft a 1 to 1% page summary of the committee's work in 2018 and the initiatives for 2019. Discussion of the 2019 report to council will be added to the agenda for November so it isn't missed. Councilor Newton is looking to the committee for assistance with council's communication goals. She would like the committee to have input into the plans. Kent Wyatt,Communications Manager—Strategic Plan refresh Kent gave background on the Strategic Plan and how it has evolved over the last five years. He indicated the current initiative is for staff and city leaders to get out of city hall and into the neighborhoods.The city has an ambitious goal to be the best in how we communicate with the public. To begin the refresh there have been two internal focus groups held: • City staff that live in Tigard and • Front line staff. The CCE meeting is the city's first public outreach on the plan. Kent asked the committee what they think of the goals and what is missing. Following is the feedback provided by the committee. • Dolly Specht feels more connected to the city now than when she started. She said the city's communication has improved leaps and bounds in the last five years. She didn't use to see Tigard as a vibrant community but she is beginning to now. She noted the city is growing very quickly. One downside to that is that traffic has become even more difficult. Dolly has seen improvements with walkability. She said she is seeing a lot more walk-through traffic in her neighborhood. She wondered if there has been an increase in crime as a result of the emphasis on walkability • Joseph Lyons said the city has become cool. Q He appreciates the responsiveness of the city on social media.That quick response makes the city more livable and vital. Kent told him we prioritize social media and respond within 24 hours. • Basil said he really likes the improvements that were done when the Walmart project was done. He said bus and walking accessibility was improved. It is an example of a project that was done very well. Basil said that about three years ago he also started noticing an increase in the number of people walking. He isn't sure why; maybe the public health message or could be the strategic plan. He likes that the city supports the message. He doesn't like that at the federal level they start a campaign and then change things. Kent assured him that council's new goals include a commitment to the strategic plan. • Connie really appreciates all the connection through social media. She said the City of Tigard "is out there." She likes that the posts not only cover what is going on but that the city is asking for feedback. • Dave said he has also seen the city take more steps to engage. He wondered if the average citizen is seeing it too. He noted the CCE might not be the right group to answer that question because of their high level of engagement. Dave questioned the city wanting to be the most walkable city. He said it is a valiant initiative but he finds it interesting that it rose to the top. He suggested replacing walkability with accessibility. Dolly noted that walkability has stuck with the community so it has been an effective message. Councilor Newton responded that walkability grew out of the comments the city was hearing over the years. A lot of the feedback the city received was that the lack of infrastructure made it difficult to walk to schools, buses, parks and other features that improve the quality of life for residents. • Kent mentioned that as the city refreshes the plan less emphasis will be given to walkability.The city will be trying to communicate around services rather than having departmental focuses. He also said he is looking for continuous feedback about how the city is doing. • Taylor Sarmon commented that the vision is not monolithic in all our messaging. For example, when the city advertised for Movie in the Park we could have shared the routes to walk, ride, or bike to the event. • Joseph asked if there are new trails that go into the subdivision at 76th south of Bonita. He knows the city is working on Fanno Creek Trail so was thinking the trail is supposed to go through the subdivision. He is an ultra-marathoner and has seen great improvements in the last ten years.The city has some great signage but we need more signage to help direct people. He also said it is hard to find information on website about the city's plans to expand the trails. • Basil spoke about the ice cream socials the city has put on in the summer. He thinks the events are a great way to reach the community. He liked seeing city staff in the neighborhood and would like to see it continue. Kent agreed that it is a good example of connecting informally. He said it takes time and effort but has a positive outcome. • Miranda Wood said the objectives appear to be outcomes not objectives. She asked if there is a way to convey them more clearly. Looking into the future, what is the city planning to accomplish? Miranda liked how the last newsletter tied Safe Routes to School to walkability. She said she wouldn't have thought about it that way. She did suggest we look at the jargon that is used on the website and get rid of it. The website needs to be easily understood by the public. She used the example of the mapping system and how many people wouldn't understand the terms used. Dana Bennett, Human Resources Director—Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Dana talked about being an active member of the city's Strategic Plan Implementation Team. She said that when the team started talking about refreshing the plan they started by reviewing the communications goal and then took a look at the whole vision statement. Dana shared that the city has started a sub-committee to address diversity, equity and inclusion.The city sees the sub-committee as supporting the interconnected part of the vision. One of the main things she has learned is that you don't have to have it figured out. It is more important to just get started.The city now has a web page for the DEI initiative.Additionally,the city is beginning to offer more information in other languages. We are hiring more staff that are bi-lingual. We also contract for interpreting and translating services to improve customer experiences. Another thing the city is doing related to DEI is participating on an interagency committee to put on a Multi-City Equity Summit. The summit, designed for the community, is being held Saturday, October 191h This is the committee's first effort to bring interested residents together to learn, share and identify ways to move DEI initiatives forward in their communities. Dolly asked if Beaverton is part of the summit. She said they have a very good program and the committee should take advantage of it. Beaverton is not represented at the committee. Dana said she isn't sure if Beaverton was approached about participating.Tigard was invited to participate in developing the summit but we aren't the lead agency. However,the planning committee is lifting ideas/info from other agencies.Tigard is also doing a lot with the Coalition for Color. The committee has identified a keynote speaker and now is looking for input on what should follow.The question the planning committee is asking now is, what do our communities want? Dana is looking for a sub-group to work with her to develop topics for the summit. She is also looking for input on how we talk to the Tigard community and invite them to join us at the summit.Joseph, Dolly, Norma Trujillo and Bhushan Gupta volunteered to work with Dana. REVIEW ADOPT DISCUSS JANUARY MINUTES Minutes were approved with correction to the spelling of Connie's name. Joseph said he was thrilled to see the city council meeting on YouTube. He asked if the city will allow comments. He said it is an interesting place to engage with people but it can also be really challenging. Kent said the city had not considered it yet. For now,the city's goal is to get the meetings on-line with captioning. Martin Luther King Day Basil asked what the response to the MLK Day event at the Library was. Nadine responded that there were 20—25 people who attended.There was some discussion about how the program was advertised. Kent said Facebook,Twitter, and a sign out front. Kent also indicated there may not have been as much lead time as there was in the past. It is something the city can look at doing better next year. Informational • Joseph said he had a really fantastic show. He also handed out magnets. • Dolly said she has made some videos called Gabbin with GaGa. In the videos she is teaching Filipino culture and language. Dolly also said she is now part of CP04M so can fill that role on the CCE. • Nadine asked that committee members encourage people to apply to serve on the CCE.The recruitment process is currently active. • Bhushan asked committee members if they could give him ideas on how to connect with people in his community. He would like to be more engaged with his area. • Councilor Newton said she would like help with ideas for getting the council engaged with the community. A few ideas she suggested were coffee talks, meetings with HOAs and knocking on doors. She said she really wants to know what the community wants to hear more about.She said when she was running for council she heard a number of people say they wanted more information on what the city is doing with their money. She said a couple of ideas to share information could be through a utility bill stuffer and a new feature on council's web page which will provide answers to the questions the mayor and council hear during their outreach. Councilor Newton asked if the committee would be willing to work with her to identify ways to reach the community and to develop a communications plan. Committee members were very interested in participating and agreed to meet April 17. • Taylor handed out invitations to attend a Town Hall with Rep. Doherty at the King City Clubhouse, Saturday March 23, 11:30—1 pm, and a constituent coffee March 30, 9:30 a.m.at Broder Soder. • Miranda thanked the city for all the good communications during the snow. • Connie works with Tigard Turns the Tide and they have expanded their mission to include enhanced trauma informed care.They are offering a series of 90-minute workshops in May.The speaker will be Dr. Amy Stoeber. Materials will offered in Spanish and English. • Norma gave the group kudos for being engaged this evening. • Basil thanked the city for getting council meetings going on YouTube. Adjourned at 8:34 pm