HomeMy WebLinkAboutCompass Kitchener - 10-04-11COMPASS KITCHENER MINUTES
October 5, 2011 – 4:00-6:00
Conestoga Room, KITCHENER CITY HALL
Present: Theron Kramer Sarah Marsh Kim Knowles James Howe
Holly Duff Tristan Wilkin Hanan Mohamed
Staff: Shelley Adams Jenn Grein Mark Hildebrand Sue Weare
Heather McColman Janice Ouellette
Regrets: Chris Hyde Soha Elsayed
The Compass Kitchener Advisory Committee met on this date, commencing at 4:00 p.m. Theron welcomed all
members to the meeting.
1. Approval of Minutes
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The minutes from September 7th were approved.
Moved by Sarah, Second by Kim.
2. General Business
Heather McColman introduced herself to the committee. Heather is a student on placement with the city
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and hopes to work and learn with the group and assist the Civics101 subcommittee.
A slight adjustment was made to the agenda to include an update on the review of the City’s Official Plan,
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which Theron took as an action item from the last meeting. Also added was a quick review of what was
accomplished by subcommittees at the last meeting.
3. Draft Strategic Plan outline
Shelley began the conversation with a review of the Strategic Plan. From there Sue walked the group
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through the drivers (listed below). These drivers were developed through reviewing documents such as
the strategic plan as well as review of feedback from the community such as Who Are You, Kitchener?.
She requested Compass Kitchener’s feedback on the content and offered to answer any questions.
Drivers outlined include:
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Land of opportunity / City of Hidden Wonders
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Economic Realities and Impact on Service Delivery
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Emerging Economic Clusters Knowledge-Based Economy
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Competition for talent
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Social media and transparency
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Demographic Change / Shifting Diversity
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Opportunity and access for all
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Complete Community
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Transit and Mobility
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Environment and Health
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Downtown Vitality
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Placemaking Accountability, Trust and Community Engagement
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Additional information supporting each of the drivers was provided.
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Discussion:
It was pointed out that poverty and vulnerable populations is not explicitly touched on, and the
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suggestion was made that perhaps this could be considered as an additional driver. The group further
considered what it could be titled, or if it in fact fit under the City’s purview, as this is actually
addressed by Regional Government. Heather will be looking into this further during her time with the
City.
It was suggested that Complete Community and Placemaking could be considered as one and that
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Arts and Culture may need to form a separate driver.
The Environment and Health driver may need a clearer title as the current title may infer health in the
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environment with respect to humans, instead of health of the environment itself.
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Several felt that poverty is closely tied with Economic Realities and can be thoroughly covered off
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through the drivers listed.
Some members thought 13-14 drivers may be too many. To put it in perspective, Sue advised that
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Mississauga has 18 drivers for their strategic plan.
Emerging economic clusters could be considered more of a response rather than a driver.
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There may be a long transition plan/focus from jobs in traditional manufacturing towards knowledge
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based manufacturing.
Aboriginal youth numbers were discussed and Sue indicated she would verify the information.
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Growth and land use is included with the Complete Community driver, however this may not be
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entirely clear. Shelley clarified, Complete Community is defined in the Official plan.
Although these drivers are behind the four year strategic plan, they will not be complete at the end of
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the four year span of time.
Tourism falls within both Placemaking and the Emerging Economic Clusters area.
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Other ideas and suggestions can be sent to Jenn by October 14.
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Shelley indicated that an outline of ‘where we’ve been’ and ‘how we got there’ will be included in the
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document, and will link back to all the work that has taken place through Environics and Who Are You
Kitchener? Similarly, this will also be completed for the PeoplePlan and Effective and Efficient
Government.
The final section in the strategic plan will be about accountability, monitoring and reporting. Long term
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the city would like to have a program in place for collecting and reporting on data, however this has not
yet been developed. Ultimately, we would like to have one location that citizens can access information
relating to the Strategic Plan and the work staff are doing to move it forward.
One member inquired why business planning was not a driver. Shelley clarified that business planning is
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the action plan for all of these drivers - a tool, rather than a strategic area of focus. It was suggested that
business planning be moved to the first item under accountability for clarity.
Shelley provided additional information on the People Plan and Effective and Efficient Government
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pieces.
After much consideration with the committee as to how to organize these drivers, it was suggested that
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they each be placed within the World Health Organizations’ model for a healthy community to reinforce
the model.
An updated draft to be presented at the November Compass Kitchener meeting for further consideration.
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4. Workplan small group update
Civics 101:
The group met with Youth Services to discuss the grade 10 civic awareness project and determine what
the Kitchener Youth Action Council (KYAC) may already be doing to engage youth and work with educating
students about civics. Initially, the group felt it would be more effective to have a peer present to classes,
however the youth felt students would be more comfortable paired with an adult or Council member. The
subcommittee is planning to attend KYAC’s November meeting to see if they have any interest in
participating, and how they could work together to organize a presentation. By the end of the year, the
subcommittee hopes to look at what has worked, what needs improvement, and adapt accordingly. When
they met with Youth Staff, the subcommittee also asked if KYAC members would be interested in
participating in meetings of other advisory committees. Youth staff indicated it’s not likely, but they do
enjoy when staff/groups come to them for input/feedback. Subcommittee/Staff/KYAC is considering how to
engage youth in a mock council meeting; this has taken place in the past, and may work for future. The first
Thursday of each month the KYAC agenda is set aside for engagement, feedback and consultation. As a
first step, it would be helpful to let this info be known to other committees and staff. Generally, there is
approximately 20-25 youth at each meeting. The entire group is approximately 50, and the core group
approximately 15. Youth staff indicated their membership and youth in general, generally prefer to travel in
packs and prefer not to be separated out, this is important to keep in mind when working with youth. KYAC
also has a self-directed work plan. Through the Safe & Healthy Communities Advisory Committee, youth
staff have received funding for research on youth engagement, and are planning to hire youth to research
youth engagement. Janice explained City Hall 101 to Compass Kitchener, and advised it was created by a
student. This information has recently been provided to the youth staff and will be also be provided in
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detail to the new youth research group. The subcommittee is also considering development of a curriculum
for grade fives.
Report Card:
The subcommittee has created a timeline for the 2010 report card: First draft will be complete by March,
grading by Compass Kitchener to take place at either April or May meeting, then provided to
communications by June. From there the group will determine how to present the information. Organization
of the report card this year has been particularly difficult as there is no longer a long form census. As a
result, Compass Kitchener will need to get creative. Shelley indicated the committee is not obligated to use
the current process and may want to consider how to gather useful information for comparison. There is
much research being done by various community groups that may be appropriate for use. It would be
beneficial for Compass Kitchener to develop relationships with other info gathering groups and work
together for the best results.
5. Kitchener’s Official Plan review – Theron Kraemer
Theron provided an update to the committee on his review of Kitchener’s draft Official Plan. Although he
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did not read it word for word, he considered much of it in conjunction with the 6 strategic areas of focus
identified in a Plan for a Healthy Kitchener.
Some of the key items:
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The vision statement identified in the Strategic Plan, the brochure for the Official Plan and
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the Official Plan itself are different (pg. 8).
References were made to information in ‘A Plan for a Healthy Community’, however this is
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one piece of the Strategic Plan, and should be referenced accordingly.
There was very little on diversity, and only a small amount on culture; the document mainly
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focuses on land use.
In terms of community engagement, there is no indication that the city will take a leadership
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role regarding diversity and engagement of diverse populations (pg. 230).
‘Urban Growth Centre (downtown)’ clarification may be required as there is now a broad and
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narrow urban growth centre.
Arts and culture is not acknowledged as an economic driver (pg. 49), but is primarily focused
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on public art and events.
Theron to provide his summary of feedback, to be forwarded to the Official Plan team.
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6. Workplan small group discussion
The group broke out into their working groups to further discuss their identified areas within the workplan.
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7. General Business
No general business at this time.
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Meeting adjourned at 5:55.
Next meeting:
November 2, 2011
Conestoga Room – Kitchener City Hall
Attendance:
Compass Kitchener
Attendance 11-12.xls