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Town staff outlines proposed Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility actions and community outreach results
Summary
Staff presented an IDEA action plan update summarizing six months of community outreach, survey results and proposed external actions (community engagement framework, housing equity framework, youth commission, outreach grants, language access and disability-related initiatives) and asked council to add them to the work plan for implementation.
Town staff presented an update on a proposed five-year Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) action plan on June 24, describing community outreach completed to date and recommending a set of external actions the town can begin to implement while staff finishes internal policy work.
Andrea Fernandez Landon, the town’s IDEA analyst, summarized outreach to community organizations, school-based groups and more than 30 one-on-one stakeholder conversations. Staff also reported running a targeted community workshop and including IDEA questions in a community survey conducted by True North Research; staff said results showed strong support for the plan’s major concepts across stakeholder groups, with particularly strong interest from Spanish-speaking residents and community-based organizations.
Fernandez Landon recommended several external actions for immediate implementation or near-term planning: develop a community engagement framework to guide inclusive outreach across departments; adopt a housing equity framework aligned with the housing element; create a youth commission to give local youth a formal voice in town decisions; launch an outreach partnership grant to compensate community-based organizations for outreach work; explore targeted efforts to expand awareness and access to transit programs such as TART Connect and Dial-a-Ride; develop a language access plan; and continue formal consultation with the Washoe Tribe.
Staff said many outreach items already take place in practice and that the recommended actions are intended to formalize and institutionalize consistent practices across town operations. Staff proposed specific near-term targets for some items — for example, a June 2026 target to launch the outreach grant and an August 2025 presentation of the housing equity framework — and asked council to add the recommended external actions to the town’s strategic priorities work plan so staff can proceed.
Council members commended the extensive outreach and suggested accelerating the youth commission timeline if possible. Staff said they would continue developing the full action plan, coordinate with partner agencies, and begin early implementation of the external actions if council directed staff to do so.
