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Charter board to pair online survey with district outreach; will publish cheat sheet and link to charter
Summary
The board agreed to launch a survey on public land use with explanatory material and to conduct district‑level listening sessions organized with civic association representatives and staff support.
The Fort Lauderdale Charter Revision Board approved a plan to pair an online survey with in‑person outreach in each city district and to publish a short explanatory summary of the charter language on a new web page before soliciting public input.
Board members asked staff to prepare a simple "cheat sheet" that summarizes current charter provisions about public land disposition and to post a link to the relevant charter sections on the webpage so residents can read the text before answering the survey.
Why it matters: Board members and staff said the subject is complex and that passive publication alone will attract highly engaged advocates but miss the average resident. The board favored a hybrid approach: a short online survey plus district listening sessions led by two board members with staff support.
What the board agreed
- Ashley Dussard, director of strategic communications, will post the survey and the explanatory cheat sheet on the board's web page and will include a hyperlink to the charter's relevant sections.
- The board asked to coordinate four district listening sessions organized through the Council of Fort Lauderdale Civic Associations' district representatives; each session should be short (about 10 minutes of presentation plus discussion) and framed as a listening session, not an advocacy event.
- Staff offered to attend district meetings when board members cannot; two board members plus a staff person is the suggested composition for presentations.
Public comment and outreach partners
Marilyn Lamato of Lauderdale Tomorrow offered to mobilize public attendance for district meetings and said the organization will "fill Saint Sebastian's with people" to discuss public land issues. Board members emphasized a friendly, nonconfrontational tone for outreach.
Survey content refinements
Board members asked staff to add multiple‑choice prompts for certain survey questions (for example, residency requirements for the city manager: must live in city limits; must live within Broward County; or no residency requirement) and to add a question about preferred outreach methods. The group agreed the survey should be issue‑by‑issue rather than a single, very long survey; they recommended starting with public‑land questions first.
Next steps
Staff will produce the cheat sheet and post the draft survey page; the board asked to review the draft before widespread promotion. The board also asked the liaison to invite the president of the Council of Fort Lauderdale Civic Associations to the next meeting to coordinate the district listening sessions.
