Committee approves plan to craft FY 2026 public engagement survey, seeks council input

The Resident Services and Public Engagement Committee voted to request councilors’ feedback on a proposed public engagement survey and to schedule a committee meeting within the next two weeks so results can be incorporated into the FY 2026 budget process.

Councilor Singh introduced a resolution asking the committee to design and implement a public engagement plan for the upcoming FY 2026 budget (Resolution 25-041). He said the intent is to collect resident ideas and demographic information to inform council priorities before final budget negotiations.

"I think it would make sense for us to work on it as a committee, rather than do it informally as individual councilors," Councilor Singh said, describing a prior survey he ran that collected 135 responses. He said the previous survey used a Google form with three pages (budget issues, demographics, access) and that the committee should consider adding brief educational material — for example, a pie chart showing which parts of the budget are discretionary — so respondents can make more informed recommendations.

Councilor Callahan proposed a participatory budgeting pilot as a possible outreach method to give residents an advisory role in recommending budget allocations. Members discussed outreach challenges, including reaching renters; suggestions included working with the Medford Housing Authority, senior-center liaisons, printed copies at public facilities and direct door‑knocking in neighborhoods with many renters.

Committee members debated timeline and distribution. The committee noted the next scheduled Resident Services meeting on May 7 likely falls after several budget hearings and agreed an earlier meeting would be preferable. The motion on the floor asked the clerk to request councilors send suggested survey questions and distribution ideas ahead of the committee’s next meeting. The motion, made by Councilor Singh, passed on a roll call: Councilor Callahan — yes; Councilor Lozaro — yes; Councilor Scarpelli — absent; Councilor Singh — yes; Chair Lemmon — yes. The committee instructed members to draft or submit questions and to have a workable survey draft prepared for vote at the next meeting.

Members also discussed whether to require demographic responses to assess representativeness and whether to collect qualitative short-form responses or offer checkboxes. Councilor Singh recommended coding open responses and including demographic questions as required fields to improve equity analysis. The committee left distribution and final question wording to the next meeting, with the goal of completing fielding early enough to affect budget deliberations.