HomeMy WebLinkAboutCompass Kitchener - 2022-07-06
COMPASS KITCHENER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES
JULY 6, 2022CITY OF KITCHENER
The Compass Kitchener Advisory Committee metelectronicallythis date, commencing at 4:05p.m.
Present:Ms. J. Stephens-Wells –Chair,Ms. L. Trumper, Ms. R. Lavender, Ms. L. Gazzola, Ms. A.
Thorntonand Mr. W. Rahimi.
Staff:A. Fritz-Walters, Engagement Program Manager –Strategic Planning
L. Korabo, Committee Administrator
1.STRATEGIC PLAN –REVIEW PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROCESS
Ms. A. Fritz-Walters shared a timeline of the planned public engagement in support of the new
Strategic Plan. This visual showedthe schedule of meetings between the consultants and the
staff working group, projects out the months when outreach on both community priorities and
the 20-year vision to the general public and priority groups will take place and when meetings
will occur between Compass Kitchener, the staff Working Group and the to-be-established
Volunteer Resident Panel to develop the Plans draft goals and actions.It was noted that dates
to gather input from the public and priority groups havebeen extended to allow more time to
gather input.
Ms. Fritz-Walters spoke of the various tactics tobe utilized to gather public input, including
feedback from the EngageKitchener site and in-person chats/interviewsby street team members
attendingvarious public events and gatherings.The draft Strategic Plan will thenbe shared
again with the public in April/May 2023to allow a final opportunity to provide feedback. Following
this, afinal version will be presented to Council for approval in June 2023.
In response to a question regarding outreach to priority groups, Ms. Fritz-Walters advised the
focus will be on Indigenous, BIPOC and the disabled communities with specific outreachmeant
to encourage participation from as many individuals as possible. Staff is also working with the
City’s Equity, Anti-Racism & Indigenous Initiatives (EARII) team to identify any gaps and work
to close these with possible specific engagement opportunities.Plans are also in place to
connect with children and youth attending the City’s summer camp programs to gather their input
on priorities and the 20-year vision.
Ms. J. Stephens-Wells inquired about the process to recruit for the volunteer panel and Ms. Fritz-
Walters noted that she is working with the EARII team on the best approach. She noted the plan
will be finalized in the next two weeks and if Committee members had any recruitment ideas,
they were requestedto share themwith her. The volunteer panel will meet with Compass
Kitchener and the staff Working Group in a series of facilitated sessionsto develop the draft
Strategic Plan goals and actions on behalf of the community.
Ms. J. Stephens-Wells requested the engagement timeline be added to ShareFile for the
Committee to access.
2.STRATEGIC PLAN –UPDATED REPORT ANALYSIS
Members were provided with an updated analysis of the top issues identified by the citizen
survey as well as an updated Environics Report which now includes a demographic data
analysis.As previously requested by the Committee, Ms. Fritz-Walters reviewed the verbatim
responses to the public survey and re-grouped them into broader categories. This regrouping
resulted in the following top identified issuesand related percentages:
Housing Affordability33%;
Infrastructure and Roads9 %;
Urban Growth7%;
Homelessness and Poverty7%; and,
Transportation6%.
In response to a question about the process used to re-group comments, Ms. Fritz-Walters
advised she recoded all of thecomments based on an expanded list of categories. These results
differed from theEnvironics report but more accurately describe what is happening locally and
will help to inform decisions around community priorities.
Mrs. J. Stephens-Wells requested that Committee members be provided with the complete file
of verbatim responses.
COMPASS KITCHENER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES
JULY 6, 2022-15-CITY OF KITCHENER
3.STRATEGIC PLAN –PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION ON COMMUNITY PRIORITIES
Based on the information shared in the re-grouped survey categories and the updated Environics
report, Committee members were requested to provide input on issues to highlightas possible
community priorities in the upcoming Council report.
The following topics related to the ‘urban growth’ and ‘housing affordability’ categories were
raised and will be considered further at the next Committee meeting along with additional input
provided at that time: the number of high density development projects and the city’sability to
controlthem; amenities to service increased population areas; controllable/uncontrollable
factors related to affordable housing; consider refining city processes to allow for more flexibility
and/or more responsiveness (e.g. outdated Official Plan leads to development applications
seeking exemptions); the importance of closing the feedback loop to let citizens know the
value/outcome oftheir feedback; differing views regarding development (industry vs. city).
A comment was madeon thedeclining public satisfaction withtax dollars spendingdespite the
fact that municipal tax dollars are only a portion of those paid by property owners. In response
to a question on whether statistics identified respondents ashomeowners orrenters, Ms. Fritz-
Walters advised the Environics report did not include this level of breakdown; however, she
agreed to investigate if this information could be madeavailable.She also suggested that a
question be included in the next round of engagement asking how respondentsare directly
impacted by the current housing affordability crisis.
Members hada general discussion on the provision of accessible services and programming; a
question was raised regarding charging user fees or paying for programming from the tax base.
Topics such as this and others related to social issues(e.g. consideration of offering focused
programming to reach marginalized citizens)will require more dialogue.It was agreed that a full
discussion on priorities fallingwithin the city’s mandate is required. Ms. Fritz-Walters
commented these are all good topics that canbe addressed when the Committee and staff meet
with the volunteer residentpanel.
Ms. R. Lavender suggested thatto enhance citizen understanding of those areas for which the
Cityis responsible,it would be very helpful if ashort guide was providedoutlining the areas of
responsibility for each level of government.
Ms. Fritz-Walters thankedmembers for their input and advised she will begin drafting a general
outlineof thesurvey themes to include in the Council report and also allow for the inclusion of
rd
additional public engagement feedback received prior to the August 3Committee meeting. At
that time, members will be requested to consider how to finalize the staff report and prepare it
for presentation later in the month.
4.REVIEW OF PREVIOUS MINUTES
The minutes of the June 1,2022Committee meetingwere circulated.
5.OTHER BUSINESS
Ms. J. Stephens-Wells noted the August Committee meeting will continue the discussion to
identify potentialcommunity priorities. In order to ensure broad input into the conversation, it
will be important to have as many Committee members participate as possible; however, given
that it is vacation season, this may be challenging. In order to determine meetingavailability,
the Committee Administrator will conduct a poll in advance of the meeting date.
6. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at5:30pm.
L. Korabo
Committee Administrator