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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCompass Kitchener -2023-05-03COMPASS KITCHENER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 3, 2023 CITY OF KITCHENER The Compass Kitchener Advisory Committee met this date, commencing at 5:00 p.m., to host the annual meeting of Chairs and Vice -Chairs of the City's Advisory Committees. Present: J. Stephens -Wells, Chair K. Brabazon, T. Glover, A. Forstmanis, L. Thompson, L. Trumper and J. Young. Staff: A. Fritz -Walters, Engagement Program Manager — Strategic Planning L. Korabo, Committee Administrator 1. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS Mayor B. Vrbanovic welcomed attendees and extended Council's thanks for volunteering for an advisory committee and taking on a leadership role of Chair or Vice -Chair. He spoke to the importance of advisory committees in providing advice to City Council. Engagement in this manner along with other tactics being utilized (e.g. Resident Panel) help elected members to make better decisions for the community going forward. Mayor Vrbanovic then spoke to the nature of today's meeting being to share input as development continues on a new four-year Strategic Plan and also noted the Plan will continue to incorporate the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In parallel, staff are working on crafting anew 20 -year vision for the municipality. Input received this evening will be shared with the staff who are preparing the report on both of these projects for presentation to Council at a June meeting. Once the 2023-2026 Strategic Plan is approved, work will begin on an implementation plan. Ms. J. Stephens -Wells welcomed attendees, noting there was broad representation from many of the City's advisory committees. She then spoke to the role of Compass Kitchener in the Strategic Plan process including stakeholder engagement and evaluation of progress towards identified actions. She noted that Compass Kitchener hosts gatherings for advisory committees twice annually with the second one to be scheduled in the Fall and invitations extended to all advisory committee members. 2. STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATES Ms. A. Fritz -Walters provided an overview of the work that has taken place to develop a new Strategic Plan for 2023-2026. Work began in January 2022 and has been progressing through six identified phases, with work currently being done in Phase 5 (Strategic Indicators and Actions) to be followed by the finalization of the Strategic Plan. Five strategic plan goal areas have been confirmed: • Participation and Belonging • Housing, Land Use and Mobility • Environment and Climate Action • Economic Prosperity and Opportunity • Good Government Each of these goal areas has identified key priority areas, each with a collection of outcomes in the community to indicate the key area has been well addressed. The next stage of the process will be to identify Actions to help achieve the outcomes and also identifying how progress will be measured The purpose of today's meeting is to provide an opportunity to share feedback on the work, make suggestions for actions and ask clarifying questions. 3. GROUP EXERCISE — INPUT ON STRATEGIC ACTIONS AND OUTCOMES Attendees participated in five facilitated tabletop exercises to share input on suggested actions to help with achieving the identified outcomes in each key area and also shared guidance on how to measure progress toward each. In considering their input, attendees were asked to give thought to the following questions: COMPASS KITCHENER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 3, 2023 _10- CITY OF KITCHENER 3. GROUP EXERCISE — INPUT ON STRATEGIC ACTIONS AND OUTCOMES (CONT'D) 1. How do you feel about the outcomes identified for each key area? 2. Are there any outcomes missing that would strongly indicate how well Kitchener is doing? 3. Are there actions that you would like staff to consider as a part of their work? 4. CLOSING AND NEXT STEPS Following the conclusion of the tabletop exercises, Ms. A. Fritz -Walters thanked the committee representatives for their input and advised that their feedback will add to information being provided to the staff working group. The staff group will be reviewing a lengthy list of potential actions using various lenses (e.g. urgency, inter -dependency, etc.) to develop a list to present for Council's consideration. Actions will be prioritized over the next 1-2 years with accommodation for additional actions in Years 3 and 4 of the Strategic Plan. This flexible approach will allow the inclusion of actions as opportunities present themselves. There is a plan to continue communicating with citizens to receive additional feedback as the Plan moves forward. Ms. J. Stephens -Wells noted that Compass Kitchener will be presenting at a Council Strategic Session on May 8t" and a final Resident Panel meeting is planned for May 31St. A final opportunity for the public to review the draft Strategic Plan will be available at the end of May through EngageKitchener. The finalized Strategic Plan will be presented to Council for approval on June 19, 2023. She thanked today's participants for sharing many great ideas and representing the citizens of our community with their passion and input. Members of Compass Kitchener were thanked for their roles in facilitating. It was noted that a Fall gathering open to all advisory committee members will be scheduled to consider an evaluation process of the actions that have been developed/approved. It was suggested that using the city's social media pages will help to share information on additional input opportunities prior to the Plan's finalization. 5. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:00 pm. L. Korabo Committee Administrator