The Community Diversity and Engagement Committee (CDEC) of Keizer agreed July 3 to pursue immediate outreach steps to build partnerships with local organizations and to hold at least one meeting outside City Hall within the next three to six months.

Madam Chair (committee chair) opened the discussion by summarizing a recent joint work session with the city council and said the group “decided the 5 items from appendix a that we are going to work on for this upcoming year” and that the work session “achieved that.”

The nut graf: committee members focused on turning long-range goals into measurable short-term actions — identify partner organizations, increase visibility in neighborhoods, and create outreach materials — so the committee can both gather data and take immediate community-facing steps.

Committee members proposed a set of short-term tasks. Sarah [last name not specified], a committee member, said the group should “start reaching out to some of these organizations and getting contact information” and suggested members pair up with organizations they already know. Member Barney (committee member) and others agreed that each committee member should identify or, if already affiliated, attend one local group meeting and report back by the October meeting. The chair framed that as a short-term goal to be completed in about three months.

Members also endorsed piloting a CDEC meeting outside City Hall to increase attendance. The committee discussed venues named during the meeting — the Grange, the Rack (recreation venue), the Keizer Senior Center on Philomath, the Cultural Center, and the Southeast Keizer Community Center — and asked staff to research logistics and accessibility. A tentative planning sequence discussed by members was: identify an outside venue in three months, set logistics and promotion, and hold the outside meeting within six months. Tim (staff member) cautioned that advertising and notice periods require lead time; members proposed a 30-day minimum advertising window once a date is set.

Outreach materials under development include postcards and short informational videos. The committee discussed two postcard formats (4-by-6 or 5-by-7), city branding, and the need to make copy that emphasizes welcoming participation rather than only recruiting volunteers. One member suggested producing two versions: a CDEC-specific card explaining the committee’s mission and contact details, and a broader city volunteer/recruitment card if the council intends broader outreach. Sarah and others volunteered to draft text for the CDEC postcard and circulate it by email before the next meeting.

On the idea of video outreach, members proposed short, bilingual (English/Spanish) clips to make committee participation feel approachable. One member suggested partnering with local students to write scripts and produce short social-media videos; another proposed keeping videos 10–30 seconds to fit common platforms. Members emphasized doing listening work first — gather community input about barriers to participation — and then plan video content based on that feedback.

Decisions and directions recorded during the meeting included: each committee member will identify a local group to engage with (short-term, ~3 months); staff will compile/update a master list of local organizations and distribute it before the next meeting; the committee will plan an outside meeting (phase 1: schedule and define format within 3 months; phase 2: hold the meeting within 6 months); and postcard concepts will be drafted and circulated by email for review.

Members noted the committee should be intentional about accessibility (ADA-capable venues, audio/video options) and about notifying neighborhood associations and the public through social media and flyers. Several members said outreach should prioritize listening to community concerns before producing promotional materials.

Ending: Committee members closed the discussion by assigning follow-up tasks to staff and members and agreed to revisit venue options, a postcard draft, and a proposed outside-meeting timeline at the next meeting.