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Consultant says Tulare has assets but needs redesign of outreach; recommends language access, trusted messengers and venue branding
Summary
Include Us Labs presented a diagnostic finding limited awareness among Latino residents of TBIZ and amphitheater events, recommending a coordinated engagement strategy, language‑access policy, a trusted‑messenger network, OneToTulare digital enrollment and a city‑owned amphitheater channel to boost participation and vendor opportunities.
A consultant hired to assess outreach to Tulare’s Latino residents and small businesses presented findings that the city has substantial cultural and physical assets but lacks systems to reliably connect diverse audiences to programs.
Basilia (Include Us Labs) summarized roughly 10 weeks of work and about 170 inputs from residents, business owners and staff. She reported that 66% of survey respondents had never attended a city event because they had not heard about it, and that 35% did not know the Adventist Health Amphitheatre existed. She told council, “What is missing is the design,” meaning city‑level systems for language access, enrollment, closed‑loop accountability and trusted messengers to boost awareness and participation.
Recommendations included adopting inclusive‑engagement standards (e.g., language‑access policy), creating a OneToTulare digital enrollment and outreach list to increase subscriber reach beyond the current e‑mail list, establishing a city‑owned venue website/handle for unified messaging about Zumwalt Park events, expanding TBIZ accelerator access for early‑stage entrepreneurs, and piloting a recurring Tulare marketplace and West Side food‑truck site to create vendor opportunities.
The consultant also noted the amphitheater is building an audience and recommended targeted programming and ticketing strategies to improve local participation and vendor access. City staff said they would review the report, discuss priorities with the chamber and series operator, and return with an implementation plan.
Next steps: staff will prioritize recommendations, identify immediate actions (language access, trusted‑messenger outreach) and present a multi‑phase implementation plan to council.
