James Rose:

There are several things that can be done immediately to improve the communications with citizens and also improve the decision-making process of city government. The proposals are:

1. Citizen comments at City Council meetings should no longer be limited to three minutes at the beginning of each public session. Debate and discussion will be welcomed after every meeting agenda item. Public debate and questions should always be welcomed in order to help learn and form better decisions and actions.

2. I would conduct town hall meetings and hold office hours to address important issues directly with citizens for the purpose of gaining more knowledge and being more effective decision-makers. Active and ongoing outreach to citizens is essential to an effective and participatory government.

3. I would move to immediately move to expand the city’s virtual presence in order to create a more easily accessible city government using existing models and best practices. My administration would create and adopt weekly email newsletter format to be distributed to all stakeholders in our city.

4. Move to create a “Citizen Advocacy Committee” – this citizen led committee would be established for the sole purpose of providing citizens with a dedicated venue to bring forward their ideas, concerns and complaints about their city government. The committee would have the authority to make recommendations to decision-makers and interact with the City government at all levels in order to affect action and assist in making necessary changes for a more responsive city government.

Jessica Engelke:

There is a distinct process in place for our citizens to be involved by attending work sessions and City Council meetings. I would actively seek out additional ways to promote this process to get citizens involved. Recognizing that citizens have multiple ways in which they prefer to communicate, I will establish a weekly newsletter covering City updates, and branch out on all social media
platforms. In addition, I will initiate a monthly “Coffee with The Mayor” and work with local media to participate in guest editorials.

Eric Gleason:

I would propose quarterly town hall meetings. Its one thing to say “why don’t you come to the meeting” and another to say that you have a forum where we just listen. We take the time to hear your thoughts about the state of the city and where we can improve. It is important to understand that we are serving the community, not the other way around.

Jonathan Vinyard:

I would continue to live stream the city council meeting since COVID-19 has forced that issue. I would also say the current City Council did a great job making the meeting available in this aspect. I would also use the asset of social media. Not all of our citizens visit the official website, nor do they attend City Council meetings in person. We have to meet our community in the places they reside. I would do this by using the numerous social media outlets to ensure they are aware of the issues at hand that directly impact them.

Pat Goll:

Make sure there that every committee has a citizen a part of that group. We have to involve the public!. I would encourage attendance at the city council work sessions and council meetings. Update and post frequently to social media. Make every attempt to communicate to as many citizens as you can reach!

Ron Kutch:

Oh, boy! This one was written just for me! First, our current method of communication isn’t working. Maybe it did 50 years ago, I don’t know. But today, in 2020, nearly every
adult and most children pack around a computer the size of a deck of cards and are in constant communication with the world. I would start with a weekly email/text message blast about what is happening within the City. Then probably some type of social media, although that can get to be a hairball if not managed correctly. There needs to be a way for citizens to get information back, but endless Facebook threads are probably not it. Maybe Facebook polls? It would take some research. We aren’t the only City in the world who has citizens that need to be informed. SOMEONE has to have a good solution. We should look at that. I would make someone responsible for getting information out to citizens and collecting responses.

There are currently a number of citizen commissions and committees within the City. Most have vacancies. I suggest we do a better job communicating to the citizens what the needs are. I think there are a gob of folks who would step up if we expressed the need. And as noted above, some way to gauge public sentiment on topics that don’t involve a Council meeting – possibly social media, but it would take some research. HEY! Maybe we could from a committee!

It all starts with a conversation. Two ways. Possibly over a warm or cold beverage.

Susanna Noordhoff:

I have always enjoyed receiving the newsletter, and the City website is useful and has good information. I would suggest the use of town hall meetings as have been held for the North Point development project and the Grant Circle UR project. Those meetings were informative, and councilors heard citizen input. The UR consultant main take-away from that meeting was that no one wanted Grant Circle to become a parking lot! There was also a meeting with a consultant to review the North Point Master Plan for the industrial property under the McCullough Bridge. I said the property was in the UR zone. The consultant told me the City manager told him it wasn’t. It is, and UR funds could be used to develop the property to the east side of the highway.

This month, there was a virtual Introduction meeting for the City administrator candidates. There were only a dozen participants; I was the only council candidate. We heard their introductory statements and had an opportunity to ask question of all three candidates. We rated the candidates in a secret survey that was later provided to the Council. It would have been good for more people to participate.

Timm Slater:

People communicate in many different ways. Some like to hear things, some read them and some want to experience so there is not one golden ticket that will ensure that all folks both hear and understand. That’s why social media, newsletters, newspaper posting, live streams and public meetings all need to be employed. Several months ago I mentioned to the Council that we should take
key from the police department and have regular Coffee with the Council sessions. The idea is to encourage one on one conversations between citizens and council. There is no formal presentation, other than opening the session. It would be held regularly say on the 3rd Tuesday of each month with one session at 7 pm and the next month’s at noon. Now that is a start to be improved as we
see ways to do it.