Commission reviews community-engagement report, highlights block party turnout and Springfield Oregon Speaks usability

The Committee for Citizen Involvement reviewed the planning division’s draft annual report on community engagement and offered staff feedback on what worked and where to improve.

Sandy Belson, comprehensive planning manager, presented the report and introduced staff involved in engagement work, including Monica Sather (primary report author), Chelsea Hartman (climate-friendly areas project), Katie Carroll (housing analyst), and Drew Larson (senior transportation planner). Commissioners commended outreach efforts at a recent Springfield block party as especially successful in reaching residents who do not normally respond to surveys.

Drew Larson described transportation partners at the event, including a bike valet, Safe Routes to School ‘learn to ride’ activities, Cascadia Mobility/PeaceHealth bike-share outreach and Shift Community Cycles; he said booths were so busy staff could barely speak with each other. Commissioners suggested practical improvements for evening events, such as better booth lighting and clearer sign-up procedures to collect names for project updates.

Several commissioners raised concerns about Springfield Oregon Speaks, the city’s public-engagement platform. Commissioners said the site can feel technical and dense to lay users and recommended adding a plain-language summary or a comfort/overview landing page to help residents identify what content is most relevant to them. Commissioners also suggested increasing visibility for project sign-up links during active solicitation windows and using more posters and local-business channels to reach residents who do not proactively seek project pages.

Staff acknowledged resource limits but agreed to explore improving site navigation and making sign-up links more prominent during solicitation periods. The Committee adjourned and the full commission proceeded to the regular meeting.