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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCompass Kitchener - 2005-09-07 COMPASS KITCHENER COMMITTEE MINUTES September 7, 2005CITY OF KITCHENER The Compass Kitchener Committee met on this date, commencing at 4:10 p.m. Present: Don Bourgeois, John Hall, Glen Woolner, Pat Doherty, Paul Royston, Trudy Beauline Staff: Shelley Adams, Carla Ladd, Michael May, Silvia Wright, Rosemary Pitfield, Pauline Houston, Rod Regier, Glynis Martin Guest: Barry Watson, Environics Regrets: Trudi Bunting, Douglas Parker Everyone briefly introduced themselves. Don reminded everyone that this was a Compass Kitchener project, staff could work with it but Compass Kitchener will receive it and present it to council. Therefore, even though it is a public document it is not ready for public consumption until it is presented to council. This project is part of Compass Kitchener’s mandate to report back to the community and advise council regarding priorities for 2007-09. 1. Environics Survey Barry Watson’s presented a 20-minute summarized statement which was the essence of the study. He left a few copies of detailed tables and narratives of the 6 groups of “like minded” people that responded to the survey. These resources could be referred to for communication and developing programs purposes. The survey: ? Looked at a wide range of people; a represented sample of Kitchener citizens who were randomly selected ? Analysis helps to see high/low satisfaction and where tradeoffs for spending for services might be ? Shows how to recognize various groups and engage them at public meetings ? Shows what larger population of people think, rather than depending on most vocal groups with the most access. ? Mail (983) and internet (255) surveys for a total of 1,239 which was 20 percent higher than planned with a sampling error of 2.8 percent. ? Was collected between April 13, 2005 and May 25, 2005 ? The numbers were compared with other statistic sources, i.e., Kitchener census, Ontario census and Canada ? Looked at various measures of satisfaction – overall Kitchener residents are satisfied though there is room for improvement regarding services, government, service from administrative levels, building a strong base. ? “Quality of life” was an open ended question; people responded saying Kitchener had great people, nice small town, great place to raise children, etc. ? Chart 21 shows that the more satisfied people are they more they want to spend money though it does not say where to spend the money, it just says what people are thinking; this is important since it could be used to increase services over time ? What residents disliked were traffic, “dirty streets”, inadequate services, mismanaged growth, cost of living, government problems, unwanted business and “too” small town feel COMPASS KITCHENER COMMITTEE MINUTES September 7, 2005CITY OF KITCHENER - 2 - ? A question was asked if the hard view of “mismanaged growth” could have been influenced by the region’s growth management study; the answer was that it could have sensitized people, but most mentioned specific areas, i.e., too many box stores; others mentioned unwanted businesses, too many bars, strip malls ? To understand development/values/future and so on in the survey, 6 clusters of people who share common views were highlighted; understanding these groups would help to understand where people in the survey were coming from Group 1 could be aggressive and successful young people who have a great deal of o mobility; spend money on art, big users of swimming pools but not trails, physically fit but not nature lovers, urban, they fit in where they want Group 2 are most resistant to change, not supportive of development, would like life o to stay exactly the way it is, everyone should conform to the traditional group to fit in and rules are to be followed; they are not strong supporters of expenditures or services, feel people are in difficult situations because they deserve it, no empathy, don’t have a lot of sense that one can fix problems; very family oriented with small town aspects Group 3 is middle of the road in terms of development and tend to be young males, o students who live for today attitude, very experience orientated, not engaged in politics, won’t hear a lot from them Group 4 is also resistant to change because they are fearful that they will lose what o they have, they like the small town community, live a simple life and trust government; they are more focused on quality of life, need to be shown that development will bring good to everyone; conservative but have financial concerns so do not support spending a lot of money Group 5 is more socially progressive, with above average education though they do o not make a lot of money because they choose quality of life over pursuing monetary success; they have concerns about uncontrolled development, they like the mix in Kitchener, services, small town, trails and so on; concerned that money should be spent on disadvantaged, are very involved in the community; critical of government though they can think through rationale arguments Group 6 do not want to be at the short end of the stick, they want to get ahead; are o concerned about finances, safety, future; more likely to be single mothers, family oriented, are most supportive of tax expenditures and trusting of politicians ? People have some reservations about development but City of Kitchener can find ways to address issues to meet needs of segments ? A question was asked as to whether these 6 groups were unique to Kitchener; groups 2, 4, 6 are not always so big in small cities though having two universities close by could have impacted these groups; Group 3 are heavy users of social services and are usually bigger in other places than in Kitchener ? Don mentioned that we can report back to council that Kitchener residents have an 85 percent satisfaction rate and high level of quality of life though there are problems; how do we explain these problems and how do we get these citizens engaged? ? We have the dynamics of these groups so we can use tools and resources to our best advantage in reaching them; town hall meetings would attract Group 5 and community centre meeting would attract Group 6 ? Find their routines and follow it COMPASS KITCHENER COMMITTEE MINUTES September 7, 2005CITY OF KITCHENER - 3 - ? There is value in knowing these groups, it improves probability of success in communicating with the public ? Don mentioned that what we do with this data is our responsibility as a committee; we have to develop and interpret it; all these issues are interrelated, i.e., fast developing city versus family oriented ? The committee has to present this information to council and then get the information out to the community ? Shelley mentioned that the next step is to discuss the town hall process, what is it going to look like? 1. Confirmation of Compass Kitchener’s vision – looking 20 years from now 2. Mandate to present to council, a report card, set priorities for next council, development 3. Council asked to use data and how it might inform budget – October 05 to 06 to inform council’s 2007/09 budget ? Carla mentioned that we should take advantage of this information to inform process, customer service strategy, to identify opportunities to work with the public ? We present to council on October 3, 2005 and then plan a series of town hall sessions but look at different types of venues/vehicles to reach as many people as we can; talk to public about the areas of improvement and have dialogue and outcomes that can be used for next council’s agenda ? Report card – identify opportunities for improvement, growth management is one area, what are other areas? ? Shelley mentioned that we should have “a made in Kitchener” approach to development incorporating quality of life, arts, more new age small is beautiful ? Barry said that Kitchener has a unique combination of small city and urban characteristics so it is possible to come up with a model for developing urban in a small city scale; we have a good mix of urban and natural; find a way to achieve growth ? We should identify an “identity” for Kitchener, the survey shows our uniqueness ? Glen mentioned that we are enjoying a high calibre of arts, bringing musical festival back to Kitchener will attract a lot of people to Kitchener; we have struggled with issues and have found innovative ways to answer, we need to trust ourselves more for answers rather than look elsewhere ? Trudy highlighted that our challenge is to create an identity; we have a vision ? Barry has short versions of the study which could be made available via the internet so people can see where they fit in; a virtual town hall fits with notion of engagement ? Engagement will include consultation in each ward, invited participants, special interest groups, community leaders, kitchen table talks, and so on ? Trudy mentioned that in the past traditional town hall meetings, community centres and school meetings turnout was not good though kitchen table meetings had a good turnout; nd 2 round targeted groups from House of Friendship, ROOF, etc. to reach less fortunate people ? Also used traditional service clubs, i.e, Rotary, leadership groups, media to get feedback ? We need to form what we are going to do before we organize these public meetings ? We need a process to ensure we have participation of all groups ? To reiterate, we need to: 1. Confirm vision 2. Develop identity COMPASS KITCHENER COMMITTEE MINUTES September 7, 2005CITY OF KITCHENER - 4 - 3. Do a report card 4. Inform smart growth 5. Budget for 3 year cycle 6. Explore implications for customer service ? Town hall meetings can accomplish this and identify places for improvement ? The 6 groups are a tool to help us ? We have a solid framework for growth management, the obstacle is in asking the public to shift their thinking so we need a major education piece; i.e., community says we are not growing well though we are trying but coming up with roadblocks from them; how do we understand people and develop and education program that involves them in shifting their attitude towards growth. 2. Action Items Staff will meeting on September 21, 2005 to draft the presentation to council * Committee will meet on September 27, 2005 to finalize presentation to council on October 3. * Committee to figure out content and process for Town Hall meetings * 3. Adjournment Meeting adjourned 6:15 p.m.