HomeMy WebLinkAboutCompass Kitchener - 04-06-11
COMPASS KITCHENER MINUTES
April 6, 2011 – 4:00-6:00
Conestoga Room, KITCHENER CITY HALL
Present: Theron Kramer Sam Charles Holly Duff James Howe
Chris Hyde Kim Knowles Sarah Marsh Hanan Mohamed
Tristan Wilkin
Staff: Shelley Adams Sarah Longstaff Tina Malone-Wright Brandon Sloan
Sue Weare
Regrets: Jasminka Klacar
The Compass Kitchener Advisory Committee met on this date, commencing at 4:05 p.m. Theron welcomed all
members to the meeting. An agenda item was added: a presentation on the Official Plan.
1. Approval of Minutes
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The minutes from March were approved.
2. Official Plan Presentation
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Sarah Longstaff, Tina Malone-Wright and Brandon Sloan presented on the Official Plan review.
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What is it? The Official Plan is primarily a land use document, but it also implements the City’s vision for
growth management and development.
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Why do we need a new Official Plan? There have been recent changes made to provincial and regional
planning legislation, which the City has to conform with. Also, we are at the verge of a new planning
horizon; official plans only last 20 years.
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The comprehensive process to develop the new Official Plan is being led in-house by a team from the
Planning division. We are currently entering Phase 1 of a 4 step process:
In Phase 1, they developed a communications plan, drafted the plan, did studies, issued a
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newsletter, and drafted policies and schedules.
Now, in Phase 2, they are seeking input from advisory committees, consulting with other
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stakeholders, doing an internal review, and releasing a draft of the plan. In engaging the
community, they are using primarily “inform” and “collaborate” approaches
In Phase 3, they will release a summary response and a new, revised draft of the plan.
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Finally, in Phase 4 they will seek approval from Council.
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The new plan has five sections: Community vision and goals, resources and components of a healthy
Kitchener, land use policies, implementation, and maps.
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The plan includes policies about walkability, integrated transportation, and an open system of parks and
trails. It will continue to protect lands, heritage features, energy conservation, cultural heritage, urban
design, and arts & culture.
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The plan incorporates the vision and guiding principles from Plan for a Healthy Kitchener and the
Strategic Plan, but adds a land use planning flavour.
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NEXT STEPS: They are expecting to pull together a draft this spring, which will be sent out to various
advisory committees for feedback, and then it will be sent out to the wider public. Some advisory
committees are developing subcommittees to review the document. It is important to note that there will
be more than just one opportunity to be involved.
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Committee members asked for clarification on how discrepancies between the Official Plan and zoning
laws will be addressed. An Official Plan must strike a balance between being prescriptive and flexible
because it will be applied to everything related to planning over the next 20 years. Ideally, zoning by
laws should match the Official Plan, but this is a huge exercise that will take time to complete. This is
the next initiative to be tackled once the Official Plan is complete. In the meantime, cases will be
decided on an individual basis.
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Committee members asked about what Kitchener will look like in 20+ years if the Official Plan is fully
implemented. Based on direction from the province, the plan calls for more dense intensification, more
compact urban form, mixed use, and a focus on a complete and walkable community form.
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Committee members asked about whether Kitchener is working with other municipalities as they
develop their Official Plans. All local municipalities have to comply with the Region, and the Region is
involved in all three cities. As well, the City of Kitchener is in contact with many of the working groups
from the other municipalities. After all, there is no wall along Union Street to separate us from Waterloo!
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Committee members asked about the impact of rapid transit on the Official Plan. The Region’s decision
about rapid transit may have an impact on the implementation of the plan, but an answer on that is not
required in order to move forward. The new plan is based on having more efficient transportation, in
whatever form.
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Committee members suggested completing an assessment of the old plan. It was explained that an
extensive review of the plan is not possible (there are 428 policies). However, they think the old plan
was successful overall because many if the policy recommendations from the plan have in fact been
implemented (e.g., trails master plan).
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The presenters explained there are plans to develop metrics and processes for monitoring the new
plan. Provincial legislation requires them to review the plan every 5 years. Committee members
recommended that Kitchener consider initiatives from the UK and San Diego regarding performance
indicators and best practices.
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Committee members recommended that in the public consultation stage, the differences between the
City and the Region be made very clear, particularly when it comes to discussions around
transportation. While the City does not design the transportation system, we do put input into it.
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If you would like to provide more input, please contact: officialplan@kitchener.ca
3. Diversity Strategy Update
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Sue Weare presented the City of Kitchener Corporate Commitment to Diversity and the Draft Diversity
Committee Work Plan (2011-2012)
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The Corporate Commitment to Diversity is nearly completed. All that is left is to include feedback from
the Diversity Committee, who asked that the background information be strengthened and added to.
Also, there has been a change in the language used; the document is no longer a “strategy” but a
“corporate commitment”.
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The Commitment outlines why Council needs to make a commitment to diversity and inclusion. It
details the City’s changing demographics, the need to change our approach to talent retention and
attraction, to the role of social cohesion in healthy communities, and the strategic fit with the
community’s priorities as detailed in the Strategic Plan.
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The document also identifies that the City is already undertaking many activities to support access,
equity and inclusion, and outlines what some of these are. It explains that the commitment formalizes
what is already in place and supports moving forward on additional diversity initiatives.
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With regard to the Work Plan, the Diversity Committee has adopted two goals: (1) have a workforce
which represents the diversity of the community and that works in an inclusive and respectful manner
with one another; and, (2) develop and support processes, policies, plans, practices, programs and
services that meet the diverse needs of those we serve.
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Each of the initiatives address one of four priority areas: (1) assessment; (2) training and awareness
building; (3) reducing barriers in operating divisions; and, (4) partnership and consultation with the
community. Major initiatives on the work plan include:
Conducting a gap analysis of the Diversity & Inclusion inventory that was completed last year
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Completing a self-identification survey of staff
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Working with the Corporate Learning and Development Committee to develop and offer further
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diversity training for staff
A series of monthly “awareness” events (e.g., Gospel performance for Black history month)
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Identifying and applying tools for evaluating diversity initiatives
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Developing and piloting of a series of “Diversity Lenses” to reduce barriers
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Membership on local boards (e.g., WRIEN, LIPC) and partnership with community organizations
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The Diversity Committee is an internal committee whose work is internally focused, but that the impact
of the work it undertakes affects the larger community as well. While the intent is to ensure the
organization is inclusive, it is also to ensure the accessibility of our programs and services.
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Committee members asked why community consultation isn’t a higher priority. It was explained that the
community has already given a great deal of input, and that the message has often been that the City
asks for feedback too often. We do not want to irritate by continuing to “ask rather than do”. However,
the Diversity Committee will consult the community at some point, likely as part of the gap analyses.
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Committee members supported the Work Plan’s focus on offering more training for staff to complement
the City’s inclusive hiring practices.
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Committee members asked why there is no community representation on the committee. It was
explained that this is due to it being an internal committee. Also, the committee regularly partners with
community organizations and informally consults with them. Members suggested dedicating some time
during Diversity Committee meetings to hear from community representatives, or even to have a
Compass Kitchener representative.
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Committee members also recommended re-organizing the Work Plan to clarify which strategic
directions line up with which goals.
4. Compass Kitchener Workplan
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The Committee discussed each item in the work plan, looked at the timing involved, and decided who
would lead each one.
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Annual and term-by-term report cards
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Tristan, Kim, Sam, Chris and Sarah volunteered to lead the annual and term-by-term report cards
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Civics 101
- Involves adding a component to the grade 5 and 10 curricula, and then work with school boards
about including municipal government and civic engagement in the civics class.
- A few councillors have expressed interest in this initiatives, and there is already a draft component
for grade 10. However, this item is not yet “crystal clear”.
- It is to the committee to design and deliver on this objective, and it is acceptable if the group wants
to decide to take 2 to 4 years to do so.
- It was suggested that the committee engage in innovative ways that go beyond a PowerPoint. For
example, presenting a “day in the life” of municipal services that would illustrate all the services
provided by the City just by asking students what they did all day and how they have used those
services without even knowing it.
- There is an organization called Junior Achievement, which Hanan worked with last year. They give
grades 3, 4 and 5 the basics of, for example, what the political, economic, and social frameworks of
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our community are like. The program starts 3 grade, but builds upon it. They have various highly
interactive tools involved.
- Committee members suggested considering Junior Achievement as a partner.
- It was explained that many of the Catholic schools have asked for this program. But, apparently, the
public schools are not interested; they say they don’t have the time to do it. Committee members
suggested it would be worth connecting with the public school board to talk about this initiative.
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Consider and plan to support youth engagement with CoK partners
- Hanan and Holly attended the youth engagement event, which they enjoyed. The event provided a
lot of information about what programs are out there. The focus was on intergenerational and cross-
cultural issues. The speakers gave some insight on their experiences working with youth.
- The first speaker is involved with a program where youth engage in fun activities with older people
from ages 18 to 82. The other speaker discussed policy formulation and their experience with a
change some youth wanted to make. They were encouraged to follow the process, and taught how
to write a recommendation, present it to the board, and get feedback.
- The event was held using an “Open Space” approach, and there was paper on the tables so all
people could write and draw on it. Youth need actions! Something artistic really helps them engage.
- In last hour there was a free space where people could go wherever they want – no rules! That was
good for everyone to come together, overlap, and start talking. A challenge when you want to
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engage youth is that there are many different services working with many different specific issues.
At this particular event, no athletic groups were represented, only social services.
- There is an alliance group or umbrella group for children and youth that might be a good
organization for us to partner with. Also discussed was We Day, who might also be a good partner.
- Compass Kitchener’s mandate is youth engagement in civic engagement and activity (e.g., decision
making, grooming youth voters). But the Youth Strategy also doing this. We should partner with the
groups that we’ve already put on the work plan (i.e., KYAC, CPS, EconDev)
- It was suggested that the same group working on this could provide some thinking and direction
around getting into the school boards.
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James and Holly volunteered to lead these two sections (Civics 101 and “Consider and plan to
support youth engagement”).
Strategic Plan for the City of Kitchener
- There is a meeting on April 18 about the strategic directions. That session will include Barry Watson
from Environics, and Theron will present on Compass Kitchener and WAYK2 as well. Committee
members were asked to attend, if they are available.
- Once council approves those directions (that came out of Who-Are-You-Kitchener2), they will then
ask for priority action areas. Those priorities will be put together with those of the organization in
general, then taken by operating divisions and used for business planning over the next 4 years.
- It was suggested that the first box in this section be combined with the last box, as the final draft of
the strategic plan would be taken forward to the community.
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James, Hanan and Kim volunteered to lead those two areas.
All Advisory Committee Gathering
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Theron will lead this area, as it is usually the chair who does.
ACTION:
Update work plan to include leads (Shelley)
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5. General Business - Advisory Committee Gathering
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Has been scheduled for Saturday May 28 from 9AM to 11AM at the Faculty of Social Work (120 Duke
St. W, Kitchener)
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This is open to ALL advisory committee members, not just chairs. Usually there is a fairly good turnout.
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We want to check in to see if they’ve actually connected with one another and ask them to report on
what they’ve been able to achieve so far.
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Not all committees will have completed work plans; they could discuss what they’ve done over the last
year. Also to be presented would be the new strategic directions; Council should have approved them
by then.
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Might be good to hand out the diagram of the overlap between committees
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Last year’s was very interesting. KYAC had 8 people at a table who were very enthusiastic. It was good
to have them involved in the process.
Meeting adjourned at 6:00.
Next meeting:
May 4, 2011
Conestoga Room – Kitchener City Hall
Attendance:
F:\Compass
Kitchener\Compass Kitchener Attendance.xls