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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCompass Kitchener - 2005-11-02 COMPASS KITCHENER COMMITTEE MINUTES November 2, 2005 CITY OF KITCHENER The Compass Kitchener Committee met on this date, commencing at 4:00 p.m. Present: Don Bourgeois, Glen Woolner, Pat Doherty, John Hall Staff: Carla Ladd, Shelley Adams, Michael May, Rosemary Pitfield, Glynis Martin Regrets: Trudy Beaulne, Paul Royston, Douglas Parker Don mentioned that the next election will be October 2006 so we do not have much time left. We should aim to have a report to council by June 7, 2006. 1. Citizen engagement process – next steps Michael has done 60 to70 percent of the plan though it is still a draft. He wants the committee’s feedback on what is good, not good, and not necessary.  The citizen engagement process, Who are you Kitchener, would run from January 11 to May 19 or earlier  Our citizen engagement process will be different than what other municipalities have done  Medic conference, launch Compass Kitchener process and release Environics data  The Record has requested all the data from Environics  The segmentation piece has to be handled well or else we could be accused of social Darwinism  Shelley and Mike will work with the Record and help them interpret the data  We have 90 days in which the data belongs to us  Once the data is released, we have no control of it  We communicate the important issues that we have programs in place but we still need to work in some areas  We could do a series of articles spread out in the City’s newspaper, Your Kitchener  There has been a lot of response via e-mail to the Communications Department regarding the Environics survey  Have a calendar of citizen engagement events  Put articles in all neighbourhood association newsletters  Advertisements will be expensive so we have to be creative  We could do radio ads - 3 to 4 - 30 second clips a week; the city has all ready bought some time  Even though there is an assigned budget for advertising, there is room to negotiate by forming partnerships with other groups, etc.  We need to alert people to the web survey; everything is geared to get people to participate  The linchpin of the plan is to create an exciting, unique, and inclusive blitz on the self identify survey; Mike is still working with Environics on this  We will hand surveys out (creates people contact) and put the citizen process description on the back of surveys  In January we release the calendar of events, town hall meetings, kitchen table talks, etc.  We need to be able to reach the fringe dwellers  This citizen engagement process will need a lot of people resources, volunteers, staff COMPASS KITCHENER COMMITTEE MINUTES November 2, 2005 - 2 - CITY OF KITCHENER  The volunteers will self identify too  If we increase printing from 50,000 to 75,000 how much will the cost go up? Not by much, maybe $1,500.  Go to Zehrs and Soeby’s to hand out information  use Centre in the Square, symphony to spread the message; this is a good way to reach fringe dwellers  Also there is a good volunteer base here  Minor hockey, mass mailings  Have a booklet to get people interested and wanting to learn more about the citizen engagement  With the segmentation research and write notes; after each section put a question – e.g., do you want urban sprawl?  This booklet will lend itself well to powerpoint presentations  Use institutions that City of Kitchener funds  Advertising in bus shelters is too expensive for the limited response we will get  We need to be creative around advertising, value and the response we get  Online will get more responses and it is cheap  Have a workbook rather than a discussion booklet  Have colour covers but black and white pages, this cuts down cost  People respond to messages that they are interested in, personal perspective  Get people excited, who are you Kitchener, www.whoareyoukitchener.ca  Could have a specific urban promoter at town hall meetings, have a button  Buttons could be a waste of money, it is used and then thrown away  Have a spotter and give prizes for wearing the button  Share information with region on growth management and share cost  Have a display booth, have it manned to dispense information, have a community terminal there; partner with Rogers  It is cheap to have a banner across the street to peak people’s interest to check it out  Put pdf of Environics data; detailed online feedback form  Ask city staff to add a line to their signature when sending out e-mails  Put counters on how many visited sites, access information on citizen engagement  Put signs on city vehicles  Powerpoint presentation to facilitate group discussion, put audio to it  When and where are town hall meetings, ward meetings  We have the awareness piece, now we need the consultation piece  We need a good facilitator for a good citizen engagement  What can we delete from the Communications piece? Use sticker instead of buttons?  Due to the high cost of radio ads, bring in media as partners; Beat to get involved, we can give them exposure in other ways; NewsTalk, Chyme may act as sponsors  Cooperate, form partnerships around a common view  Community groups and media are good at helping out  This is a good community building exercise  Compass Kitchener must have a report to council by mid January o Confirm vision o Gather information that confirms survey – report card COMPASS KITCHENER COMMITTEE MINUTES November 2, 2005 - 3 - CITY OF KITCHENER o Start to help council sketch out identity piece for Kitchener  To have a successful citizen engagement we must give adequate time, money, and resources  Need to work on questions for workbook and calendar of events 2. Vision 2025  This vision is in a neutral fashion and comes from the summary of difference from the Environics survey  Pick direction 1 or direction 2  Option A is distilled down, Option B government has a minimum role; data shows Option A  Both these options are parallel points  What is our intention? Give 2 visions that are valid from confirmed vision of Kitchener  This helps develop identity of Kitchener and highlights issues for next council 2006-07  Do we also have Options C and D  Choice exercise – vision statement, environment and growth management  Vision – form of development, quality of life  We need to simplify the language of the vision so that it is easily understood  Build vision workshop, confirm original findings  How do we facilitate dialogues? For example, environment… this is what the group supports  Questions to develop, Section 1 what do they want?  We need two choices or else it gets too complicated  Growth management – pick a statement  Get a theme through  Two statements per category  Satisfaction piece strictly on data 3. New members  Some names were put forward and they will be invited to the next Compass Kitchener meeting in December (Shawn Cooper (youth), Tamara McBride (business), Philip Awere- Gambrah (multicultural). 4. Action Items * Put together a team internally, with Compass Kitchener, Communications * Compass Kitchener committee needs to figure out appropriate questions to ask at the citizen engagement before December meeting (meetings planned for Nov 16 and 22 from 4 to 6) * Communications will refine the citizen engagement plan and bring in a budget * Kickoff for citizen engagement – January 15, 2006 * Compass Kitchener must have a report by May to go to council * Shelley and Mike will work on workbook * Shelley and Mike will condense the Vision 2025 5. Adjournment Meeting adjourned 5:20 p.m.