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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCompass Kitchener - 2007-05-02 COMPASS KITCHENER COMMITTEE MINUTES May 2, 2007CITY OF KITCHENER The Compass Kitchener Committee met on this date, commencing at 4:05 p.m. Present: Don Bourgeois, Norm Damaren, Mike Harris, Theron Kramer, Susan St. John, Kim Knowles, Pat Doherty Staff: Shelley Adams, Jenn Walter, Michael May Regrets: Jasminka Klacar, Sarah Marsh, Roxana Stanciu Don welcomed all to the meeting. The minutes from the April meeting could not be accepted as several members did not have the opportunity to review. Shelley suggested that the meeting be held from 4:00 until 5:00 so that Compass Kitchener members can attend the Growth Management Workshop taking place in the rotunda, Don agreed as did the rest of the committee. 1. Participatory Budgeting th ? We have tentatively booked June 13 at Victoria Park Pavilion for the Participatory Budgeting presentation. Daniel Schugurensky, Janette Loveys Smith and Josh Lerner will be presenting. Invitations will be sent to Mayor and Council, District Facilitators in the Community Services Department, Planning and Finance, as well as other advisory committees. 2. Presentation to Council ? Council seemed receptive to the work plan that was presented to them on Monday April th 30. Don received no questions on the presentation. 3. Review Work Plan ? The first item on the work plan, Annual and Term-by-term Progress Reports, is already underway with the indicators sub committee formation. They have already taken their first steps in the creation of indicators. ? The second item on the work plan, the Community Engagement Policy and Strategy, was discussed. A subcommittee will be formed to work on the engagement piece, with the hopes that a ‘Tool kit for Engagement’ can be created. This will ensure that departments and divisions across the corporation are engaging the community consistently and with the required tools. It should also provide different ideas and suggestions on how to engage each different segment of the community as indicated in the Who Are You, Kitchener? survey. ? There will be a new staff resource working with the subcommittee on Work Plan item 2. Initially Council questioned the readiness of the corporation for a full-time diversity position that was requested, and asked staff to consider other alternatives for the short-term. A one year position was made available through the Corporate Secondment Program. The job has been posted, and should be filled shortly. The successful candidate should be in attendance at our next meeting. This individual will be working on the Community Engagement Policy and Strategy and Community Access, Equity and Inclusion (diversity). ? The third item on the work plan, the Advisory Committee Review, will consider and recommend processes and frameworks to enhance the role and capacity of Advisory Committees in doing their work. Recruitment, term-of-office, mandate, and other operational components will be reviewed. We anticipate taking this back to Council in June COMPASS KITCHENER COMMITTEE MINUTES May 2, 2007CITY OF KITCHENER - 2 - 2008, in order to use the information for the next Advisory Committee Appointments (08- 10). ? Compass Kitchener is a partner in the fourth item on the work plan, Creating a Culture of Safety for Kitchener. The idea was born at a meeting in January with the Mayor, other Councillors, representatives from the police and the KDBA as well as City staff. At that meeting, all agreed that a balanced approach to community safety and crime prevention was key in addressing local issues and perceptions. The City’s Safe and Healthy Advisory Committee and the Office of the Mayor and Council are the other partners in a planned 2 day forum to prepare action strategies toward safety and security. ? Compass Kitchener is also partnering to accomplish the fifth and final item on the 07/08 work plan, the Community Access, Equity and Inclusion Strategy. The new seconded position will take the lead in this regard and will work with Safe and Healthy Advisory in developing a go-forward plan and process. ? Susan will no longer be assisting the indicators sub committee due to time constraints. If anyone is interested in filling this position, please let Jenn know and arrangements will be made. It is important that the annual indicators are developed fairly quickly, whereas there is more time available to work with the term-by-term indicators. ? Randy Gosse requested a representative from Compass Kitchener to join in the Voter Turn Out Committee. Commitment is for approximately 4-6 months. The city has agreed to work with Environics to complete this assessment. This committee formed due to the very low voter turn out at the last election. Norm Damaren will fill this position as representative from the Compass Kitchener Committee. ? Theron Kramer would like to work with the Advisory Committee Review team. ? Jasminka, although not in attendance at this meeting, has indicated interest in the Community Engagement Policy and Strategy recommendation. Roxy will also be asked to sit on this sub committee as a representative of youth. ? Access, Equity and Inclusion will not be active until the new secondment position is awarded. More to follow. ? Pat indicated interest in joining the planning group for the forum on Community Safety due to his obvious tie in with his position on the Safe and Healthy Community Advisory Committee. ? It is important to ensure that the link between community engagement and voter turn out is not lost. Meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m. Next meeting: June 13th, 2007 Victoria Park Pavilion Participatory Budgeting Presentation