Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO-10-027 - Compass Kitchener 2007-2010 report card1 ~~ Report To: Mayor and Council Date of Meeting: June 28, 2010. Submitted By: Shelley Adams, Director, Community and Corporate Planning, Ext. 2476 Prepared By: Shelley Adams, Director, Community and Corporate Planning, Ext. 2476 Sarah Marsh, Co-Chair, Compass Kitchener Advisory Committee Ward(s) Involved: All Date of Report: June 23, 2010. Report No.: CAO-10-027 Subject: Compass Kitchener Report Card to Citizens (2007-2010) RECOMMENDATION: That Council receive report (CAO-10-027), Compass Kitchener Report Card to Citizens (2007- 2010). BACKGROUND: In October 2006, Council received and adopted "A Plan for a Healthy Kitchener, 2007-2027" (P4HK) as the community's vision for twenty years into the future. P4HK provided a unified strategic approach to key areas essential to the health and vitality of the City of Kitchener. It articulated priorities identified in consultation with the community -quality of life, leadership and community engagement, diversity, downtown, development, and the environment. It also provided high level recommendations for action in each of these areas to be completed over the next 4 years, 2007-2010, the term of the current Mayor and Council. In Spring, 2007, Compass Kitchener presented a detailed workplan (CAO-07-020, April 19/07) which included, amoung a number of major initiatives, the development of annual and term-by- term reports to Citizens regarding the City's progress on P4HK strategic priorities and recommendations. Subsequently, a report card sub-committee of Compass Kitchener undertook a process to create the inaugural Citizen's Report Card. The group reviewed A Plan for a Healthy Kitchener, 2007-2027 to better understand the strategic directions and recommendations, and to determine what the desired results or outcomes were. The group also reviewed any supporting documents that related to any of the recommendations in order to identify desired outcomes and/or potential metrics. The report card sub-committee spoke with City staff and advisory committees to get their input on what is already being measured or what they thought would comprise good measures. The sub-committee then brainstormed multiple metrics and narratives for each recommendation and 4(C)-1 narrowed the list based on a number of criteria including ease of collection, cost, relevance, clarity, and timeliness. The sub-committee further refined and confirmed the list of metrics with input from the larger Compass Kitchener team, then garnered Council endorsement of the metrics, grading process and reporting timelines (CAO-07-058). For the first report card, the report card sub-committee provided a draft structure, rationale and rating system to Compass Kitchener. In the spring of both 2008 and 2009, the group supported the full membership of Compass Kitchener in evaluating the results for the previous year (2007 and 2008) and assigning a grade to each of the six themes, based on a 5 point scale. The sub- committee organized and facilitated numerous sessions with the full Committee to review, revise and finally confirm the Report Card to Citizens reporting on both 2007 and 2008 work completed toward the strategic priorities in the six theme areas. REPORT: Late in 2009, asub-committee of Compass Kitchener was created once again to undertake the report card process. This year, the report card would measure progress made in the six theme areas during the four year council term 2007-2010, as per its Terms of Reference (I-77 - COMPASS KITCHENER TERMS OF REFERENCE, August 24, 2009). Based on input from staff and the full Compass Kitchener membership, the sub-committee revised their approach to grading by eliminating the use of some measures used in previous years. This achieved a more efficient grading process and a more relevant, accessible and useful report card. The sub- committee enlisted the help and guidance from the Director of Community and Corporate Planning as required. The goal of the group was to measure progress made from 2007 to 2010 for every recommendation within the Plan for a Healthy Kitchener, which now comprises a key component of the City of Kitchener Strategic Plan. The end result is a comprehensive consideration of progress made toward the community's vision for its health and well-being over Council's current term of office. . In late 2009 and early 2010 the group went through the following process to create the Citizen's Report Card (2007-2010): • Reviewed the Plan for a Healthy Kitchener, 2007-2027 to better understand the recommendations and confirm what the intended/desired outcomes were. • Reviewed any supporting documents related to any of the recommendations to look for desired outcomes and / or potential metrics (eg., updated Departmental Business Plans, Culture Plan II, Downtown Strategic Plan, etc). • Based on input from staff, arrived at consensus with members of Compass Kitchener to revise and simplify the reporting process. • Provided a revised report card structure, rationale and rating system to Compass Kitchener. • Supported Compass Kitchener in evaluating the results and assigning a grade to each of the six themes, based on a 5 point star rating scale, ranging from "met very few or no expectations" to "met expectations with excellence" • Held an information session with members of the City's Corporate Management Team to clarify and/or receive further information, and finally, • Drafted, reviewed, revised, and confirmed -with the full Compass Kitchener Committee - a Report Card to Citizens; 2007-2010. 4(c)-2 The final product is attached to this report; Compass Kitchener's third Report Card to Citizens (2007-2010). Much of the feedback contained in this document is positive, and it reflects the City's success in achieving most of the four-year strategic directions defined in P4HK. Since 2010 marks the end of the first four year window of Compass Kitchener's 20 year Plan for a Healthy Kitchener, Compass Kitchener completed an intensive community engagement process to gather citizen input about how well they think we have done in addressing priority areas -quality of life, the environment, diversity, downtown and so on -and what the priorities should be moving ahead. A community survey gathered input from almost 900 citizens in the fall of 2009. Then in early 2010, Compass Kitchener undertook the second Who-Are-You-Kitchener (WAYK2) process to seek additional feedback from citizens -face-to-face -throughout the city. An additional 500 people took part in World Cafes, participated in highschool classroom workshops, and visited us at information booths at public events and the Kitchener Market. Many residents took the time to complete a lengthy survey (N=186), sharing perspectives on the priority areas they identified and confirmed through successive Environics surveys. We also heard many creative ideas for addressing issues and building quality of life overall. The wealth of information gathered through WAYK2 will be used to draft a new set of strategic directions for Council's consideration moving forward. These are intended to provide potential areas of focus for the next term of Council, in the form of an updated community component to the City's Strategic Plan. They will be presented in draft form to Council in September 2010, and presented to the new Council in early 2011. Compass Kitchener will then report to citizens in 2011 on the newly adopted strategic directions for addressing community priorities. Subsequently, Compass Kitchener will continue to produce an annual Citizen's Report Card to communicate to Council and the public through a number of means, ensuring diverse formats and access. This initiative is linked soundly to the City's larger performance measurement activities. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Financial and staff resources are available as part of ongoing operating budgets associated with the activities of Compass Kitchener and Communications and Marketing division. COMMUNICATIONS: In the continued interest of access, openness and transparency, Compass Kitchener's Report Card to Citizens (2007-2010) will be published in an upcoming issue of Your Kitchener and posted on the City of Kitchener website. The draft strategic directions will provide a springboard for discussion at Compass Kitchener's "all advisory committee meeting", tentatively scheduled for early Fall 2010. CONCLUSION: Compass Kitchener's Report Card to Citizens (2007-2010) represents the first end-of-term report card. It was decided to produce this report card before the official end of the current term of office so that the current Council members would receive it in a timely way. The grading process was changed significantly this year, and it is anticipated to continue to evolve, based on accumulative learning about how to accurately and efficiently measure progress. Compass 4(c)-3 Kitchener remains committed to providing accessible and meaningful report cards to Council and citizens regarding the municipality's work on the community's priorities. The WAYK2 was an intensive community engagement process that produced a rich amount of input from citizens about how to keep up momentum and continue move toward this community's vision for itself - a safe, healthy and thriving city. This input, along with the 2009 Environics survey data will form the basis for the draft "new" strategic directions to be presented to Council in September of this year. ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Carla Ladd 4(C)-4