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Home My WebLink AboutCAO-12-032 - Compass Kitchener Report Card to Citizens (2011).pREPORT TO:Mayor C. Zehr and Members of Council DATE OF MEETING: June 25, 2012 SUBMITTED BY: Shelley Adams, Director, Strategic Planning and Innovation, Ext 2476 PREPARED BY: Shelley Adams, Director, Strategic Planning and Innovation, Ext 2476 WARD(S) INVOLVED: All DATE OF REPORT: June 15, 2012 REPORT NO.: CAO-12-032 SUBJECT: Compass Kitchener Report Card to Citizens (2011) RECOMMENDATION: That Chief Administrator’s Office report CAO-12-032 - Compass Kitchener Report Card to Citizens (2011), be received as information. 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, among a number of major initiatives, the development of annual and term-by- term reports to citizens regarding the City’s progress on a Plan for a Healthy Kitchener’s strategic priorities and recommendations. A report card sub-committee undertook the creation of the inaugural Citizen’s Report Card, drafting its structure, rationale and rating system. The group then supported the full membership of Compass Kitchener in evaluating the results of City efforts and assigning a grade to each of the six themes. A Report Card to Citizens; 2007, presented to Council in June of 2008. Since that time, Compass Kitchener has delivered an annual appraisal to the City of Kitchener regarding it activities against the community’s priorities – quality of life, leadership and community engagement, diversity, downtown, the environment and development – with the exception of reporting in 2010. This, for a number of reasons. Compass Kitchener was mid- stream in building a renewed set of strategic directions in each of the 6 community priority areas, with the community and a newly appointed Council, for an updated strategic plan (2011- ì ø½÷ ó ï 2014). At the same time, the organization was in the early days of building 4 year departmental business plan to guide the work of the organization over this Council’s term of office. These circumstances combined to provide an opportunity to review and refine the report card process with a more critical eye to metrics, data collection, and reporting. Compass Kitchener, building on the learnings of the last term’s report cards, is committed to providing accessible and meaningful tracking information to Council and citizens regarding the City’s progress on the community’s priorities. REPORT : Early in 2010 a sub-committee of Compass Kitchener was created - once again - to undertake the report card process, this time with a goal of revision in mind, and at the direction of the full committee. Throughout 2010 and 2011, the group went through the following process to revise the Citizen’s Report Card (2011): • Reviewed the Plan for a Healthy Kitchener: the City of Kitchener’s Strategic Plan for 2011-2014; • Reviewed current Departmental Business Plans with an eye to “fit” with strategic directions in the 6 community priority areas and to identify any gaps in same; • Reviewed supporting documents related to any of the major initiatives in support of community priorities (eg., Culture Plan II Update, Downtown Strategic Plan, Parks and Trails Master Plan, etc); • Consulted with City staff regarding work in priority areas, as well as garnering ideas for new and/or existing metrics; • Researched, considered, prioritized and confirmed a set of metrics for each of the 6 community priority areas; • Arrived at consensus with members of Compass Kitchener regarding proposed metrics; • Researched and provided a preferred options for a report card structure, rationale and rating system to Compass Kitchener; • Collected and presented data based upon selected metrics. NOTE: in some cases, the data is not as yet collected/available; • Supported Compass Kitchener in evaluating the data against priorities and assigning a rating to each of the six themes, ranging from “performance not met” through to “performance exceeded”, and; • Drafted, reviewed, revised, and confirmed – with the full Committee – Compass Kitchener’s 2011 Report Card to Citizens. The final product, Compass Kitchener’s 2011 Report Card to Citizens (2011), will be distributed to Council at the June 25th, 2012 meeting. Much progress has been made in refining and redefining a robust report card process and product over the past two years. And already, there are plans for a further enhanced 2012 process and product! The Report Card sub-committee has recommended that the City expand their data collection for 2012 and beyond to include more customer-focused results, allowing the work – and progress against it – to be more easily understood by citizens. A framework for collection of this data will form part of the volunteer’s presentation to Council at the June 25, 2012 meeting. Every effort will be made to ensure this Committee’s report card – both process and outcomes - is linked soundly to the City’s larger integrated planning goals and objectives and ways of doing business. In addition to the internal data collection and review process, Compass Kitchener has elected to partner in the University of Waterloo’s annual local area survey, where we have included ì ø½÷ ó î questions to measure residents’ satisfaction with progress in each of the six community priority areas. This survey is being conducted during the entire month of June and we look forward to receiving initial results in mid to late July. The data will inform Compass Kitchener’s report to Council and citizens for 2012, presented in Spring, 2013. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: N/A Financial and staff resources are available as part of ongoing operating budgets associated with the activities of Compass Kitchener. COMMUNICATIONS: In the continued interest of access, openness and transparency, Compass Kitchener’s 2011 Report Card will be published in the July 3, 2012 issue of The Kitchener Citizen and posted on the City of Kitchener website. The Report Card is also regarded as a springboard for discussion at Compass Kitchener’s “all advisory committee meeting”, tentatively scheduled for early Fall 2012. Finally, Compass Kitchener is in the early stages of building a process that engages residents in discussions about their strategic priorities throughout the year; more information regarding this initiative will form part of this committee’s annual update to Council, scheduled for September of this year. CONCLUSION: Renewing Compass Kitchener’s process for and delivering this Report Card to Citizens (2011) has been a valuable and instructive process. Over the years, the Report Card has “grown up”, through substantial research and experience with better practises, through the expertise of volunteers, and with the benefit of rich discussion and consensus. The exercise itself grows the knowledge and capacity of volunteers and staff alike. The process and the metrics are anticipated to evolve, to reflect a growing understanding of what truly indicates “success” in the attainment of strategic goals against this community’s priorities. ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Jeff Willmer, Chief Administrative Officer ì ø½÷ ó í