Kern County describes hybrid outreach and accessible tools for ATP applicants
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Summary
Kern County public works staff described post‑COVID outreach innovations: hybrid in‑person/virtual meetings, interactive story maps on walkkern.com, tabling at community events and close partnership with local advocates to shape ATP proposals.
Logan, a grant writer with the Kern County Public Works advanced planning unit, described the county’s efforts to blend virtual and in‑person engagement when preparing ATP applications.
Logan said Kern County expanded outreach during and after the COVID pandemic by hosting hybrid public meetings, building an interactive story map on walkkern.com, and tabling at community gatherings such as the county fair. The county used straightforward visual tools (before/after photos and side‑by‑side comparisons) to show residents how projects change conditions on the ground.
Logan emphasized meeting people where they are and partnering with community advocates, safety coalitions and nonprofit organizations to translate community priorities into project scope. He described iterative engagement across grant cycles, a phone‑call approach for reaching seniors and regular presence at local events to keep project suggestions in the county’s database for future grant cycles.
His presentation underscored persistence and relationship‑building as key to converting community feedback into funded projects: “Without the community, we couldn't do anything,” Logan said at the close of his remarks.