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Home My WebLink AboutCAO-06-032 - Who Are You Kitchener - UpdateR ..~. Chef A dm inlstra tar's Office Report To: Finance and Corporate Services Date of Meeting: May 1, 2006 Submitted By: Shelley Adams, Director, Community and Corporate Planning Ext. 2476 Prepared By: Shelley Adams, Director, Community and Corporate Planning Ext. 2476 Ward(s) Involved: All Date of Report: April 24, 2006 Report No.: CAO-06-032 Subject: WHO ARE YOU KITCHENER -UPDATE RECOMMENDATION: For information purposes only. BACKGROUND: In early 2005, Compass Kitchener and the City contracted with Environics Research Group to complete a survey of residents. In April and May of that year, a combined postal and Internet survey achieved a 20 percent higher response rate than anticipated, for a margin of error less than 2.8 percent. Over 300 questions were included, covering satisfaction with municipal programs and services, vision for the future, personal values and demographics. The results achieve a highly representative sample of Kitchener residents as confirmed by the 2001 census profile. At the heart of the process was whatwas asked. Unlike most surveys, this one did not only ask citizens what they think - it also asked "who" they are. That is, it asked about core social values. What is important? What are the principles that guide the way you live your life? How do you view the world? The results, which can be found in full at www.who-are-you.kitchener.ca, were fascinating! The data shed light on who we are as a community, and who we want to be. It highlighted the public's likes and dislikes about the community. It identified our citizens as belonging to one of 6 general population segments oflike-minded individuals; Suburban Stability Seekers (22%}, Community Activators (22%}, Urban Promoters (16%), Small Town Stalwarts (15%} and Fringe Dwellers (9%}. And, it articulated six key issue areas that residents want to see action on, including; leadership and community engagement, our downtown, urban development, quality of life, diversity, and the environment. On October 3, 2005, Environics Research Group and Compass Kitchener presented their results to Council and shared plans to use the survey findings as the basis for an extensive public consultation in 2006. Thus, the subsequent community consultation phase, Who Are You, Kitchener? (WAYK) was born, to facilitate Compass Kitchener in completing its mandate and reporting back to Council in June 2006 on the community's: • vision for Kitchener 20 years into the future, • satisfaction with City programs and services, and, • sense of "who we are"; an identity statement that describes the Kitchener of today. As importantly, Who Are You Kitchener? (WAYK) aimed to reach as many citizens as possible, and include a wider diversity of people and viewpoints than our previous -and more traditional - community consultations. Finally, WAYK was seen as a springboard for 2 subsequent engagement exercises, the first to inform growth management, and the second to aid the development of a 3-year financial strategy to guide City Council's next term of office. REPORT: As of today's date, Who Are You Kitchener? has engaged over one thousand citizens in bringing compass Kitchener's (2000} vision into focus. Interestingly, very few community members (approximately 50) attended the city-wide and ward meetings. Our greatest success has come through from additional avenues, less practised in the past, but highly promising for the future; • Going to where people are anyway and "interrupting day-to-day lives" just for a few minutes. This included attending hockey arenas on a Saturday morning, high school civics classes, a mall, ESL classes, the lobbies of large corporations at lunch time, even the transit centre. • The Who Are You Kitchener? workbook was available on the internet and over 225 citizens chose that option to provide input, many of whom noted they had not previously participated in a city consultation. • In a concerted effort to hear from immigrants and new Canadians, we worked with the YMCA settlement program and their interpreters to host a focused meeting with 40 people and presented at a number of adult ESL classes at the St. Louis Adult Education Centre. Data collection was intended to span January through March 2006, but has pushed into April, as the public continue to show interest, dropping off completed work books, mailing in vision charts, and requesting presentations to community organizations and groups. We are extremely pleased with the energy and investment of this community in Who Are You Kitchener?. By May 1, estimating roughly 1100 people having taken part in WAYK, almost 10% of Kitchener - a full 2300 participants -will have participated through the 2005 Environics survey and the WAYK consultations. Of the 1100 participants in the current phase, virtually all have submitted vision charts, and approximately 300 full workbooks will have been completed. Staff is currently sorting through the data, and the "early learning's" are fascinating! A report will go to City Council in late June, fulfilling Compass Kitchener's mandate, highlighting findings from phase 1 (satisfaction) and phase 2 -Who Are You Kitchener - re: vision, identity and priorities for the future. In Fall 2006 City staff in Planning and Economic Development divisions will build on WAYK findings and go out to the public to accomplish two important objectives. First, to provide citizens with a solid overview of the vision, objectives and potential impacts of growth on our City and surrounding area, as per the Province of Ontario's Places to Grow, and the Region of Waterloo's Regional Growth Management Strategy. Our intent is to provide the "big picture", the complete context within which citizens can respond to questions particular to Kitchener's growth management, the second objective of the consultation. While questions are still in draft form, they will explore the following: • the implications of greenfield development • the implications of intensification and compact development, and • transportation demands in relation to growth. And in the winter of 2006/2007, the City will go once again to the community -through Compass Kitchener and with Who Are You Kitchener data - to develop a three year strategic financial plan that lines up priorities with financial resources to "make them happen." The following will be considered during the development of the financial plan and through the public consultation process: The following matters will be considered during the development of the financial plan and through the public consultation process: • the City's current financial condition and future prospects; • the financial implications of significant economic, social and demographic trends; • the budget impacts of key Corporate initiatives (e.g., the Corporate Plan, Leisure Facilities Master Plan, Environmental Remediation Strategy, Healthy Communities Plan, Departmental Strategic Plans, etc.}; and • the budget implications of potential service level adjustments identified through the Who Are You Kitchener process. The public consultation process will be instrumental in arriving at a balance between the desired service levels and the willingness of the public to pay for those services. The process will ultimately result in: • a three-year operating budget forecast • clear delineation of the linkages between key Corporate Plans, the financial plan, the annual operating budget process and community input • a discussion of financial issues identified and the recommendations to address these issues through financial strategies and policies, and • implementation details and a future work plan The timing of the subsequent two phases represents a departure from the original timeline, where growth management and financial strategic consultations were to occur in late spring. The revised timeline reflects, simply, current workload against staff resources, concerns re: possible "consultation fatigue" and a desire to ensure the very best process for and participation in these two extremely important community consultations. At present, Planning is fully engaged in completing the student housing strategy which involves, as its next step, a final round of consultation with citizens. At the same time, the department is finishing details on the imminent launch of the (draft) Downtown Urban Design Guidelines consultation slated to span May and June of this year. The deferral of the financial consultation to the winter of 2006/2007 (December through January/February) and the results will be available to assist in the 2007 budget development process. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: There are no financial implications as a result of deferring the final two phases of Who Are You Kitchener? to the Fall and Winter of 06/07. Like the first phases of WAYK, a team of staff from across the corporation, as appropriate, will work together with Compass Kitchener volunteers to design and implement the consultation sessions with the community, as well as subsequent data analysis and reporting. COMMUNICATIONS: At the June 19, 2006 presentation to City Council, Compass Kitchener will detail the next steps and timing for the growth management and financial strategy consultations. Corporate Communications and Marketing staff are at the WAYK project team table. Shelley Adams, Director Carla Ladd Community and Corporate Planning Chief Administrative Officer