Keizer advisory committee debates adoption of community and youth engagement action plans, defers formal approval pending staff review

Keizer’s Community Development Advisory Committee reviewed draft templates for a community engagement action plan and a youth engagement action plan and agreed to prioritize data collection, promotional content and collaborative community events before formally adopting a template.

The committee discussed taking a draft to a June work session with the City Council but stopped short of a formal adoption. Tim (city staff) told the committee he recommended holding off on a formal motion until city staff, including the legal department, had a chance to review the document. “I might recommend you hold off on that formal motion as this hasn't been reviewed at all by city staff,” Tim said, adding that staff review typically takes “a week or two” depending on complexity.

Committee members said they want a starting point to present to council on Monday’s work session and proposed focusing on three goals for the coming year: (1) gather demographic data and other metrics to inform outreach, (2) develop promotional materials and messaging to raise awareness of committee activities, and (3) pursue collaborative community events and partnerships, including work with neighborhood associations and city-sponsored events.

The committee discussed logistics and legal constraints for surveys and data. City staff and the committee’s liaison, Don (staff liaison), reminded members that surveys and action plans can become public records and that the city attorney should review any questionnaire that collects names or contact information. “Any surveys that are done, we need to make sure that the committee were going through the proper channels and that we're going through Tim or the manager Brown, and they're clearing it with the city attorney,” one committee member summarized during the discussion.

Committee members debated whether surveys should be anonymous and how to collect responses at events. Members suggested both paper drop boxes at events and online forms; staff said the city can help host an official survey to ensure proper legal handling and public-record compliance. Committee members also proposed using existing city events — such as a city cleanup, public works day and Keizerfest — as early opportunities to pilot data collection.

On next steps, committee members agreed to: refine the draft template, gather feedback from neighborhood leaders, and identify three concrete actions the committee can pursue in the coming year. Don told members he needs suggested agenda items two weeks before a meeting for them to be considered for publication.

The committee took one clear formal action on administrative business: the meeting minutes for April were approved by voice vote. The transcript does not record a detailed roll call or exact vote counts for that motion.

Members left the meeting with a plan to return to the city council work session prepared to ask for guidance on legal parameters for surveys and to present the committee’s three priority areas for the year.