HomeMy WebLinkAboutCompass Kitchener - 2014-09-03
COMPASS KITCHENER MINUTES
September 3, 2014 – 4:00-6:00
Conestoga Room, KITCHENER CITY HALL
Present: Theron Kramer Chris Hyde Sarah Marsh Scott Harris
Tristan Wilkin Mark Paul Bojana Savic Holly Duff
Staff: Laurie Majcher Jenn Grein
Regrets: Sharon Hartigan Krishna Khetani
Theron welcomed all to the meeting. He introduced Steve, a candidate for ward 9 who will be observing the meeting
today.
1. Review and Approval of Minutes
The minutes from July 9, 2014 were approved by Compass Kitchener.
Moved by Chris, second by Tristan.
2. Follow-up to minutes
Scott updated the committee on an idea the voter Turn-out committee has been working on recently. They would
like to host a ‘selfie’ competition with a unique hashtag to encourage voting. They have met with the City of
Waterloo and would like to meet with the Region to consider moving this to the regional level.
They are considering what prize can be offered to the winner of said contest, and are asking for $500. This
campaign would target a demographic of 18-35.
The suggestion was made to consider how the contest could take place prior to vote day to encourage more people
to participate and spread the word. The subcommittee to consider this further.
Further, Theron indicated the Voter Turn-out subcommittee has reserved times at the Kitchener market and will be
hosting a booth similar to what was done at the Multicultural Festival. Dates to be shared with group, Theron
encouraged the committees participation. He also provided posters for members to put up in areas they frequent.
Motion: to approve proceeding with a social media driven voter turn-out campaign, including a budget allocation of up to
$500, subject to Jenn confirming funds are available.
Moved by Scott, Second by Tristan. Carried.
Motion: to approve approaching the other municipalities to gauge interest in participating and contributing.
Moved by Scott, Second by Chris. Carried.
3. Neighbourhood Strategy
With use of a PowerPoint presentation, Michael provided information to the committee regarding the city of
Kitchener’s Neighbourhood Strategy.
He reviewed the purpose of this Neighbourhood Strategy:
Create an overarching strategy that will help and support the municipality and community groups in
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planning, building and supporting safe and thriving neighbourhoods
Design and implement a citizen-led approach to placemaking in our neighbourhoods that will engage
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residents in defining the unique identity/character of their neighbourhood and identifying actions that
could be taken to contribute to the health of their neighbourhood.
Neighbourhoods are a very difficult thing to define, and in fact are identified differently in various divisions of the
city. As a result, Michael’s thinking has evolved through working with development of this strategy and he now
encourages residents to think of their neighbourhood as the space they feel is their neighbourhood.
He further outlined this strategy will not be: a neighbourhood renewal plan, developed solely by city staff, focused
on one element of a neighbourhood, only for new neighbourhoods, focused on the operations of existing
community groups, a mechanism to stop change, for a regulatory tool for private land development and
construction.
Benefits of this strategy include: increased citizen engagement, greater sense of belonging, comprehensive
approach to placemaking, contributes to a healthy community, aligns existing efforts, strengthens corporate/city
staff alignment.
The fundamental principle – simple - built by neighbours, for neighbourhoods!
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Next steps will be to seek community input to help define the objectives, scope, process and governance for
developing a Neighbourhood Strategy.
Compass Kitchener members asked about development of a Neighbourhood Strategy without a clear definition of
Neighbourhood. Michael indicated he believes they will be successful, the strategy will be different things to
different people, just as neighbourhoods are. He hopes many pieces will be tied together to develop the best
strategy, less based on geography, and more focused on the health of the community.
Several comments were made about the Abundant Community Initiative, where one person within the
neighbourhood goes door to door, then data is pulled together by a volunteer student. This might be an option the
City of Kitchener can take advantage of!
In survey’s and discussions, there are times when residents are not aware of the multitude of possibilities. It may
be beneficial to provide some ideas and open up various possibilities for them to help open their mind and
consider other options that might not be in Kitchener, or that they haven’t experienced before.
Michael will be attending a gathering of Neighbourhood Associations and would like to find ways for them to
participate.
The committee discussed various strengths and weaknesses of neighbourhoods and strategies for
neighbourhoods, along with the difficulty of defining what exactly a neighbourhood is. Michael referenced
throughout the conversation, concrete outcomes that may present themselves, and that the city will be open to
new ways moving forward that will benefit our community.
Old and new neighbourhoods may need to be treated differently, and this is something the steering committee will
be considering further.
Having just completed the Environics and Your Kitchener, Your Say processes, Theron indicated there is a
significant amount of information on neighbourhoods, and Compass Kitchener would be pleased to see it
considered further with this strategy.
4. YKYS Analysis and Report to Council
Laurie would like to review this at a high level
With the use of a PowerPoint presentation, Laurie reviewed the analysis from the Your Kitchener Your Say
engagement process.
Almost 3000 residents were engaged in this process, receiving more than 10,000 pieces of data via Multiple choice
themed surveys, open ended work book questions, workshop discussions and social media comments.
More than 100 hours were sent analyzing the data, with every comment coded with one of ten codes for each
question.
Environics results were tied into this data as well since it was a very high level yet important information.
The 6 new priority areas include: Open Government, Economic Vitality, Environmental Sustainability, Community
Mobility, Growth Management and Safe and Thriving Neighbourhoods.
Further, she drilled down into each of these focus areas to provide further clarification for the committee as well as
the strategic directions for each of these 6 areas:
Open Government – transparent, accountable and responsive government that genuinely engages citizens in
dialogue and collaborates on key decisions.
It was suggested to add to the statement with ‘thorough and easy to access information’, and include
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advocating in the subtext for the third direction.
Economic Vitality – Resilient and prosperous local economy that provides a good standard of living for all citizens.
The committee debated the use of the statement regarding safety, and if it applies to Economic or
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Neighbourhoods, ultimately deciding it is part of both. First direction to include statement to ‘focus economic
development activities on supporting development of an employment base’
Environmental Sustainability – Ecologically sound environment with access to natural areas and integration of
natural features into urban areas.
Language used within the Strategic Plan for the Environment to be adjusted. Committee further considered
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simplifying the names of each of these areas, in this case, to simply Environment.
Community Mobility – Environmentally sustainable, safe and affordable options for getting around the city.
The committee considered the name of this focus area. They suggested adjusting ‘advocate’ to ‘influence’
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regional council. The group considered the City of Kitchener’s opportunity to influence other levels of
government or advocate on behalf of residents in various areas and if this is something that should be
included in the strategic directions when ultimately the organization has little control. They ultimately agreed
on the importance of working alongside other levels of government for improved transit services.
Growth Management – Distinctive, attractive, walkable development with a strong sense of place, mixed land-use,
compact building design and a range of housing choices.
The committee considered altering the name of this section, and if all pieces included in the draft logically fit here.
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Safe and Thriving Neighbourhoods – Facilities, amenities, services, programs and initiatives that create quality of
life experiences, foster inclusion and community well-being.
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Safety may be a better fit in this section, with adjustment of wording to ‘Improve Neighbourhood safety
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through addressing neighbourhood concerns and safety downtown.’
Laurie indicated there will be two appendices to this report including a summary of participation and events as well
as a summary of questions.
5. Communications Sub Committee/tracking of communications methods
This item to be discussed at the October meeting.
6. Other Business
Nothing at this time.
Next regular meeting: October 1, 2014
Location: Conestoga Room
Attendance:
Compass Kitchener 6
June.xls