Committee notes survey participation skews older and whiter; schedules focus groups and visioning sessions to broaden input

Allie and staff reported increases in community engagement but warned the pool of responses so far is demographically skewed. Staff said a postcard mailing produced a large response and that as of the meeting there were roughly 484 mailed postcards and 487 survey responses collected; social-pinpoint website activity showed 603 unique visitors, about 900 visits and roughly 1,000 inputs across the mapping, ideas wall and polls.

“All of those inputs so far today — we hit a thousand different inputs to the plan so far today,” Allie said when summarizing online engagement statistics. She added that the current survey sample “looks … mostly homeowners” and that the largest age cohort of respondents is in the 60–69 range; race and ethnicity responses are “mostly white or Caucasian” in the current results.

Committee members said staff should broaden outreach. Committee member Becky Conrad asked whether the project team would provide transportation, childcare, translation and food at in-person events; she said those supports help bring underrepresented residents to meetings. “It takes a lot to get them out,” Becky said, describing outreach to immigrant communities and urging trusted community members be present at sessions.

Staff outlined an outreach plan that includes an invited focus group on Wednesday, July 9, 6–8 p.m., at Edward Little High School (cafeteria); three open visioning sessions: a natural environment session on Saturday, July 19, 10 a.m.–noon at Lake Grove Park; a services session on Wednesday, July 23, 6–8 p.m. (Edward Little High School cafeteria); and a built-environment session on Wednesday, July 30, 6–8 p.m., at the senior community center banquet room in Penton Gill Park. The natural-environment session has a rain date of Wednesday, Aug. 6.

Staff described multiple tactics to increase participation: targeted focus-group invitations to community organizations, “meeting-in-a-box” packets for neighborhood groups, tabling at farmers markets, idea walls at service locations (including a month-long ideas wall at a local drop-in center for people experiencing homelessness) and short multiple-choice polls for quick responses. Committee member Riley Bergeron suggested poll questions permit ranking options so respondents could select multiple priorities.

Committee members volunteered to help staff with outreach and suggested inviting students to help welcome people at visioning sessions. Staff said the online survey would remain open through June 20 (staff noted that date when describing the postcard schedule), and that they would continue tabling and targeted outreach through the summer. No formal vote or ordinance resulted; the committee set dates and asked staff to implement the outreach plan.