HomeMy WebLinkAboutCompass Kitchener - 2004-04-07April 7, 2004
COMPASS KITCHENER COMMITTEE MINUTES
CITY OF KITCHENER
The Compass Kitchener Committee met this date, commencing at 4:00 p.m.
Present:
Don Bourgeois, Pat Doherty, Trudi Bunting, Trudy Beaulne
John Hall, Glen Woolner, Dan Williams
Staff:
Carla Ladd, Shelley Adams, Barb Wagner
Regrets: Paul Royston
1. Welcome
Carla welcomed returning and new committee members and led introductions.
The 2004 meeting schedule was confirmed with all members.
On motion by Trudi Bunting it was resolved that the following Compass Kitchener appointments
were made: Don Bourgeois appointed as Chair and Glen Woolner appointed as Vice-Chair.
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Mandate and Objectives
Carla reviewed the mandate and terms of reference for the Committee. The objective of the
committee is to engage the community and to help Council establish a program that addresses
community directions and issues and set performance measures to monitor success. The
committee is an integrating body responsible for community monitoring and providing the broader
community oversight to Council. The Committee may also receive referrals from Council.
In 2003, the Compass Kitchener conducted a community survey on service delivery and a
telephone survey in June, followed by focus groups in September to get community input on
quality of life. The 2003 surveying brought the committee up to date and helped to confirm top of
mind community issues.
In June 2001, Council introduced a significant reorganization to orient the organization to work in a
new way. In November 2001, Jeff Fielding engaged Council in a strategic planning exercise
which resulted in the Corporate Plan.
The focus of Council was to create a different future for City government and public service as
follows:
· An organization capable of adapting and improving
· Community confidence and trust in the City of Kitchener
· Timely provision of quality infrastructure and valued services
· Community appreciation of the public value provided by our services
· Two-way flow of information among our community, administration and Council
· An organization that clearly understands and anticipates public's needs and priorities
· Effective public discussion occurs around important issues
· No silos; accessible services; customer satisfaction
The Strategic Planning exercise validated that Council is committed to the community vision and
community directions. Carla outlined the governance model which depicts Compass Kitchener as
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COMPASS KITCHENER COMMITTEE MINUTES
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CITY OF KITCHENER
part of the Kitchener community, providing clear aspirations and directions which Council can
translate to services.
Carla outlined details of the Shared Agenda, an integral part of the City's Corporate Plan, in effect
a business plan created with Council in February 2002. The shared agenda outlines the work
Council and the administration agreed to focus on for the term of Council. Themes included the
downtown, budget, communications, the corporate plan and service delivery. 95% of these
shared initiatives have been completed and Council and the administration are currently in the
process of developing a new shared agenda for the 2004 to 2006 term. Community input is
prominent in the new shared agenda including results of the Compass Kitchener survey and focus
groups analysis.
Trudi Bunting made a presentation to Council on behalf of Compass Kitchener on November 24,
2003, outlining the top community issues identified in the survey work. The broad issue areas
which identified by the community were:
> Downtown
> Growth management and related traffic and environmental concerns
> Environment - quality of water and air
> Safety (always expressed in context of downtown)
The main issues from the surveys and focus groups were discussed and it was agreed that the
broad issues would be bookmarked in the shared agenda with Council and administration. It was
recommended that each year, Compass Kitchener should pick one issue from the Shared Agenda
as a point of focus.
Trudi noted that all of the community issues are inter-related and are typical of mid-sized cities. It
is important to understand the distinction between which issues are uniquely Kitchener related
issues and which are societal issues. Affordable housing is not a unique issue, however the
downtown is unique vis-a-vis other cities. Growth management is a unique issue in that Kitchener
is the third fastest growing community in Ontario next to Oshawa and Barrie. The issues related
to this type of fast paced growth are important.
April 19th Visioninq Session with Council
Following discussion, it was determined that Compass Kitchener will ask Council to include the
following on the Shared Agenda for 2004 to 2006:
Downtown vision to be clearly articulated - Compass Kitchener has a role to request Council to
articulate the vision of the downtown in a relatively broad and inclusive manner.
Growth management including traffic management, soft services, other infrastructure, resources
and impact on society;
· Safety, especially in the downtown;
Environmental issues including specific initiatives such as better air quality; water quality and
access to green space.
Through discussion, a number of issues and concerns were raised which may be of interest for
Compass Kitchener. Shelley noted that some of these issues are being reviewed and/or addressed
through different forums and cautioned the Committee not to duplicate work that has been completed.
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CITY OF KITCHENER
Committee members and staff will identify some of these areas and access documentation such as
the Leisure Facilities Master Plan. Other issues were raised as follows:
Seniors' services including essential services, health, transportation and recreational planning
Differentiate our role to larger healthy community framework
Affordable housing
Infrastructure
Available jobs
Community centres/recreational facilities
Quality of life - healthy community model
Community Vision
- Lack of lack of community identity and strong identity within region
- Identity of the City into the 21st Century
- Logo speaks to urban environment -200,000 people and one of most prosperous economies
- Values-celebrate heritage/diversity
Healthcare - what is the City doing to attract more physicians?
Confusion regarding municipal mandate and regional mandate. There is no sense of
differentiation - the City is the focus of authority. Some confusion about services provided at the
provincial and federal levels. Customer service mandates such as distinction who provides
service and develop ways to reduce confusion and increase partnerships
Downloading from other levels of government
Sub-populations - focus - youth, newcomers, and families with young children
Women - economic status - quality of life in community
The issue of immigrant households, voice of cultural minority
Next Aqenda
* Identify type of community input process required to measure programs and issues parked as part
of developing community agenda and consider options for tendering a survey company.
Discussion relating to a proposal for Compass Kitchener to explore community interest in
reference to the size of Council and number of wards. The deadline for completion would be
December 2004. Resources would be available to the Committee as required.
Meeting adjourned 5:50 p.m.
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