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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCompass Kitchener - 2021-11-03COMPASS KITCHENER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES NOVEMBER 3, 2021 CITY OF KITCHENER The Compass Kitchener Advisory Committee met electronically this date, commencing at 4:00 p.m. Present: Ms. J. Stephens -Wells — Chair, Ms. R. Lavender, Ms. L. Terry, Ms. K. Williams, Ms. L. Trumper and Mr. O. Samad Staff: D. Chapman, CAO M. May, Deputy CAO & GM, Community Services J. Readman, GM, Development Services D. McGoldrick, GM, Infrastructure Services J. Lautenbach, CFO, Financial Services V. Raab, GM, Corporate Services K. Dever, Director, Strategy & Corporate Performance B. Rowland, Director, Corporate Communications & Marketing K. Cooper, Manager, Strategic & Business Planning L. Korabo, Committee Administrator STRATEGIC PLAN EVALUATION Members of the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) joined the Compass Kitchener advisory committee meeting to receive the Committee's 2021 evaluation report, provide input on the process and recommendations, share ideas on how CLT could help make a Strategic Plan dashboard happen and give advice on the upcoming presentation of the 2021 Report Card to Council. Utilizing a PowerPoint presentation, the following members participated in providing the update to CLT: • J. Stephens -Wells — an overview of the goals of Compass Kitchener's mandate including monitoring of the city's progress towards strategic priorities and reporting back to Council / community and its objectives to determine evaluation criteria to measure implementation and reporting tools to continue with monitoring progress in collaboration with staff. She also reviewed the approach taken to evaluate progress and noted the six over -arching questions asked as part of the annual evaluation; • O. Samad — reviewed the overall results of the Committee's evaluation and commented on each of the six actions that were identified as `exceeding expectations'; • R. Lavender — shared areas which Compass Kitchener felt needed more attention or where opportunities had been identified: budget/PM; website; affordable housing; public engagement; progress reports/presentations; and the UN's SDGs. Specific examples of recommended improvements in all areas were shared. Ms. J. Stephens -Wells then reviewed the Committee's reasons for recommending addition of a Strategic Plan Dashboard to the city's website noting the value of keeping the public informed of progress on all the projects in the plan alongside easy access to more in-depth information about those initiatives She explained the recommended format as two tiers of information allowing the reader to dive deeper if more information is desired but providing a short and simple description of the project and status at the outset. In conclusion, it was stressed the Compass Kitchener was very impressed to see a total of 12 Strategic Plan projects completed and that there was public consultation incorporated into many of the projects, despite the challenges of the pandemic. As well it was noted as outstanding that six of the twelve completed projects exceeded expectations and the remaining six met expectations. Ms. Stephens -Wells concluded the presentation by noting that Compass Kitchener would like to continue working with CLT to refine the evaluation process further for the 2023-2026 Strategic Plan. CLT members shared their initial impressions on the Committee's presentation and recommendations. Support was expressed for several of the proposed recommendations (e.g. easy access to budget information; development of a simple dashboard) but some concerns also noted regarding staff's capacity to take this on while still dealing with pandemic recovery tasks and regular workload. CLT members unanimously stated their heartfelt thanks for the Committee's thorough and sophisticated review and pride in the work accomplished by city staff over the past many months. No changes to the presentation content were suggested and it was noted the presentation was concise and easily understood. COMPASS KITCHENER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES NOVEMBER 3. 2021 -27- CITY OF KITCHENER i�119MiN11x 1LosUwe1►ltA%104i'11II7►ff[de]►1106 Regarding the dashboard, D. Chapman questioned if it was appropriate to develop a dashboard during the Strategic Plan's final year or wait and launch it alongside the new Strategic Plan. M. May commented that development of a simple dashboard would not be an onerous task for staff and supported this work. Ms. Stephens -Wells concurred noting that the addition of links to documents and websites would provide citizens with more information on the city's progress, should they desire it. Ms. K. Cooper noted that it had been suggested that a summary document encapsuling the high points of the Report Card could be prepared as a more easily digestible document for the public and for staff. CLT agreed that this suggestion has merit and Ms. B. Rowland suggested this could possibly be published in an upcoming Kitchener Life edition. Ms. Rowland agreed to investigate the timelines to submit and will advise Ms. Cooper. Regarding the staff report which will accompany the 2021 Report Card, Ms. L. Trumper recommended that additional emphasis could be included to highlight that considerable effort on the part of staff was required to deliver on the Strategic Plan, during a difficult time for everyone. She suggested adding text (also to the PowerPoint) to bolster the Committee's praise of staff. Also suggested for inclusion was the fact that the projects that successfully engaged, did so pre - pandemic but that the ability to consult during the last year has slowed down the pace of the work. D. Chapman requested that reference be made to the City's continued commitment to the 25 actions in the SP and mention be made that all projects will either be completed or initiated during the current term of Council, with a few continuing in 2023. D. Chapman thanked Compass Kitchener for its excellent evaluation work and committed to giving thought to the information shared today and providing a formal response back on the actions the City is prepared to take on the recommended improvements. He agreed to provide this response in a timely manner to ensure it can be incorporated into a revised Council presentation for December 13, 2021. 2. COMPASS KITCHENER DEBRIEF Committee members debriefed on the CLT discussion and were pleased with the overall positive response and feedback received. Ms. R. Lavender commented that consideration could be given to reducing the number of negative points shared in the presentation and highlight more positive ones. Ms. J. Stephens -Wells noted that the framework developed for this evaluation greatly assisted with the elegant final product. Regarding the requested dashboard, Ms. K. Cooper suggested that the Committee could advocate for development of a simple dashboard in the near term. She noted that there were still 18 months of continuing work on the Strategic Plan before a new plan was approved, that it would streamline the evaluation of the remaining projects and it could be a starting point and improved upon with the rollout of the new Strategic Plan. Members agreed with this suggestion and noted that updates could be done in conjunction with the Business Plan updates undertaken three times per year. Ms. K. Cooper will speak with appropriate staff to determine how CLT's response will be shared with Compass Kitchener. 3. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS MINUTES The minutes of the October Compass Kitchener meeting were reviewed. COMPASS KITCHENER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES NOVEMBER 3, 2021 -28- CITY OF KITCHENER NEW COMMITTEE MEMBERS Ms. L. Terry inquired regarding new members to bolster the Committee's numbers. Ms. K. Cooper advised regarding a recent vacancy recruitment which netted one citizen expressing interest in Compass Kitchener. This name will be presented to Council for approval in December. If any other members are aware of interest in the community, Ms. L. Korabo will forward the name of the appropriate staff contact which can be shared within their networks. It was agreed that more members on the Committee will be helpful given the amount of work planned for 2022. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 5:35 pm L. Korabo Committee Administrator