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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Advisory - 2001-12-13 DOWNTOWN ADVISORY COMMITTEE December 13, 2001 The Kitchener Downtown Advisory Committee met on this date under the chairmanship of David Corks who assumed the chair in absence of the chair and vice-chair, with the following members present: Mike Peng, Anita Petsche-Good, Fred Bishop, Trudy Beaulne, Donna Kuehl, Karen Taylor-Harrison, Const. Mark Neill, Debbie Schlichter Staff: Michele Hodgins, Catherine Heal, Rosemary Pitfield, Melanie Tilson 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion was made to approve the agenda for the meeting of Thursday, December 13, 2001. Moved by: Fred Bishop Seconded by: Anita Petsche-Good CARRIED 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES An adjustment was made to the minutes for the correct date of the Christkindl Market to read as December 6-9, 2001; and the receipt program run by the KDBA is November 24 - Dec. 24, 2001. Motion was made to approve the minutes with the above changes, for the meeting of Thursday, November 8, 2001. Moved by: Donna Kuehl Seconded by: Karen Taylor-Harrison CARRIED 3. MEDIA RELATIONS/COMMUNICATIONS Rosemary Pitfield, Director of Communications talked to the Committee about what the city is dealing with regarding media relations, listed below are some hi- lights: · Discussed past and present TV coverage and how the media are in the business to make money, with the competition for immediacy of news taking over, it comes down to who has the big headline first. MEDIA RELATIONS/COMMUNICATIONS cont'd. · Present reporting structure for the Record is that they have to report on the good and bad, the reporters are not here for public relations for the City, they need to make their money and satisfy their board of directors. · The City has had an antagonist relationship with the media in the past, and has realized that relationships are important and need to be developed. Jeff Outhit (Record City Hall reporter) is a good reporter who digs for the information, whereas CKCO wants to work with us in developing the story. Jeff is candid, will not work "off the record", he is up-front and honest, and you have to be more careful when talking to him. · Print media see themselves as representatives for the people and they feel they need to create the debate in their reporting involving discussions with government. · In the past, when reporters asked for interviews, staff used to not call back at all, delay in calling back when they didn't want to discuss the matter or call the next day. Now, Communications Department are trying to get staff to recognize that we have time to prepare an answer but that we don't wait ¼ a day to get back to the reporter. When speaking to the media, don't ramble on and say too much, keep it to the point you want to make and then stop talking. · The media is not our enemy, but can be our friends and allies. Most stories are positive if you just get past the headline. · Discussed how a Record reporter had been kicked out of a KDBA board meeting - the meeting was about crime statistics in the downtown area. The Record was asked to attend the meeting, thought it would be good news that turned out it wasn't, therefore, the Record was asked to leave the meeting, which turned into a problem. · Key is how we manage new stories. Roundtable discussions work well. In future, more round table discussions, charettes, open house forums will happen and the media will be invited. Recognizing the perception of the bad reputation of the downtown is a big step that has been taken, now staff is working on changing the perception and dealing with the bad reporting. General comments from DAC members are as follows: Anita Petche-Good explained the incident with the Record reporter being asked to leave a KDBA board meeting; the KDBA has the right to decide which meetings will be open and which are closed board meetings. This particular meeting was dealing with the crime statistics and board members would feel intimidated and couldn't be open and honest if the media were reporting. Also discussed the chess table reporting headlines and how wide spread the news got and felt that it wasn't a fairly balanced article. Anita expressed the trust or lack of in reporters and opinionated ideas from reporters. The KDBA Board has the right to go into a caucus style meeting, however, need to understand the perception that will give. MEDIA RELATIONS/COMMUNICATIONS cont'd. Const. Mark Neill expressed his concern that some of the information isn't accurate in what is being reported. A media relation's sub-committee from the KDBA will be meeting with press to help report on good stories in the downtown. Mike Peng commented that sometimes headlines can be bad but the article itself is good. He asked, as a Committee, what could we do to make the media not an opposition? Rosemary replied that we shouldn't trust the media, they are not there to be "your best friend". Rosemary suggested putting your emotions aside when dealing with media, to take away the feeling of being under attack. She suggested you plan the information you want to give out to the media. Rosemary added that headlines will never go away, most papers have a headline writer who's job it is to grab your attention. Rosemary indicated that Jeff Outhit (City Hall reporter) does not write his own headlines. Trudy Beaulne remarked that the average reporters see themselves as stirring the pot, to get discussions flowing, but she feels they are not good at it. She feels that at a community level, dialogue and discussion need to take place elsewhere other than the paper. Deb Schlichter commented that the House of Friendship is working on changing the media's perception of them, by creating relationships, and being available and accessible for information, and not being defensive. She stated that relationships with the media are not simple, it's complicated and takes a lot of work. Donna Kuehl inquired about a community paper. Rosemary replied that the City is planning, as part of their communications plan, on producing a citywide newsletter, which will be released 6 times throughout the year to over 70,000 residents and staff. The front page will be dedicated to the downtown and citywide issues, while the rest of paper will focus on enterprise (Community Services) and other city related issues. Communications hopes to create it much like an insider's report, fun and informative, with a calendar of events. The Communications Department will be looking for stories on a regular basis to keep it fresh. Karen Taylor-Harrison asked if the Neighbourhood Associations could contribute to this newsletter. Rosemary replied that the City is willing to do workshops, and yes, she is always available for questions and answers. Rosemary can be contacted at 741-2383, or by e-mail at roscmary.pitfilcd~city.kitchcncr.on.ca 4. UP-DATE BY DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT TEAM (City and KDBA) · Plans for the new market has been released (see attached), and a public input session is to be held December 18th at City Hall rotunda, · Downtown is the #1 focus for Council and our new CAO. · The Region has announced a purchase of land north of Kitchener for a future transit corridor from Waterloo to Cambridge. Proposed to pass through the downtown Kitchener corridor. · Approximately 1/3 of businesses in the downtown has taken advantage of the fa~;ade loan program, David suggested if members know of more businesses that could benefit from this program, to please contact the City. · The Christmas card program the KDBA has with Suddaby School was a very successful fund-raiser for the school. · The KDBA's networking social held on December 11th WaS successful. · Christmas trees and garland placed in downtown pots and planters proves to be well worth the investment in helping beautify the downtown. · The City is looking at consolidating operations for beautifying the downtown, i.e. banners, garbage, decorations and will be hiring someone to handle this full-time. 5. NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATION UP-DATES Cedar Hills Cedar Hills annual Christmas party is coming up soon. MilI-Courtland Registering for programs for all ages is coming up, please refer to the Leisure Guide for what is being offered. Civic Centre Christmas party concert went well. As there is no community centre for this area, the Civic Centre and Central Frederick will participate in developing a joint community centre. Victoria Park The annual potluck supper was very successful. The Neighbourhood Association is excited about their new chairman, Darryl Fletcher and his new ideas for their area. Breithaupt - Christmas party went well, and the mobilization group is having theirs on December 19th. The youth program is looking for volunteers. The last movie night of the season will be held on December 14th at 7:00 p.m. at the Breithaupt Centre. 6. NEW BUSINESS/AGENDA ITEMS · Homelessness - Trudy Beaulne reported that the planning process phase has ended, the Province has officially approved and officially launched the homelessness plan - for a copy of the plan, please see Trudy at Social Planning Council, as it is a very large report. Trudy also wanted it stated for the record of her disappointment that the Homelessness issue was dropped as a standing agenda item. Trudy hopes that the new DAC committee will continue to support homelessness issues, especially in the downtown, and would as that this topic be brought back to the DAC agenda as a standing agenda item. Further discussions ensued regarding social housing issues and where the concentration is (downtown Kitchener) and especially on the South side of King St. · Community Mobilization - Const. Mark Neill reported that Community Mobilization is about building partnerships between the police and the community and to link various social agencies together to build better relationships within the community - the group feels a community better connected can often solve their own problems. Some neighbourhoods have more problems than other neighbourhoods and the police are working towards cleaning them up, along with the landlords, in making them flourish and safe to live in. There is a common perception of the downtown being safer during the day vs. the evening, and the police are working with the KDBA in rectifying this perception. Community Mobilization's focus is on the downtown area and neighbourhoods., social agencies, neighbourhood groups, licensing. Const. Neill suggested if other communities want to get involved, they can contact any police number and will be forwarded to this mobilization group, or call Division 3 or 653-7700 x 409. · David Corks thanked the Committee for their participation in this Committee, and is optimistic for the new committee and the Community Services neighbourhood meetings. He stated that the support of community is greatly appreciate and needed and will continue to be our focus in the downtown. · Karen Taylor-Harrison stated, that as the longest-standing member she has learned much from this Committee, and thanked everyone for their commitment to the downtown. Without Committees like this, we wouldn't be were we are today. · Four people have been appointed, so far, to the new committee - they include: Sally Gunz (Ward 6), Joan Euler (Suburban Resident), Doug Hoch (Ward 1), Howard Marr (Downtown Office Owner Sector). Also on the Committee are: the KDBA's Executive Director (Marty Schreiter), KDBA's NEW BUSINESS/AGENDA ITEMS cont'd. Chair/Designate, Waterloo Regional Police Services, and a representative from the Arts & Culture Advisory Committee. · Committee members requested they continue to receive DAC minutes from new committee meetings. Motion to adjourn the meeting was made. Moved by: Donna Kuehl Seconed by: Deb Schlichter CARRIED LIST OF ATTACHMENTS 1. The New Kitchener Market 2. Letter from Howard Rotberg