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Commission presses city leadership to act on needs assessment, urges hiring an inclusion/engagement staffer
Summary
After reviewing the city needs assessment, commissioners urged a formal conversation with city leadership, proposed bringing the report to a council work session, and discussed recommending that the city hire a staff member focused on inclusion and community engagement.
Commissioners spent substantial time on the city’s needs-assessment findings and urged the commission to convert recommendations into concrete actions. Staff framed the options—short, medium and longer‑term steps—so the commission can prioritize items to discuss with city leadership and city council.
One commissioner summarized key findings from the assessment: "The city doesn't even have a mission, vision, or value statement," and highlighted gaps such as missing equity‑related performance metrics and no staff position dedicated to equity and inclusion. Commissioners proposed formally asking city council to review the assessment in a work session and to identify priority areas for implementation.
Several commissioners recommended revisiting a prior commission suggestion to hire a dedicated inclusion and engagement staffer (a community‑engagement coordinator or director). Staff noted peer cities (Fairborn, Kettering, Xenia) have begun creating similar positions and said he would help set up a meeting with city leadership to discuss next steps. The commission plans to collate recommended priority items and then seek a conversation with the city manager or council to move from assessment to action.
