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OLO finds council engagement channels favor white constituencies; recommends collaborative equitable-engagement framework
Summary
The Office of Legislative Oversight reported that traditional council engagement channels (public testimony/correspondence) overrepresent predominantly white zip codes and underrepresent BIPOC communities; OLO urged a county–community collaborative to build an equitable engagement framework and six supporting actions.
The Office of Legislative Oversight (OLO) presented findings from a community engagement review that analyzed more than 7,000 public testimony registrations and over 15,000 correspondence records from 2019–2023 and concluded that commonly used channels foster stronger engagement among predominantly white constituents. "Our first key finding is that community engagement in the county is characterized by racial inequities and disparities," Chitra Kalyanjerg said, summarizing OLO's analysis of geographic and demographic patterns.
OLO recommended the County Executive and County Council convene a collaborative with BIPOC community stakeholders to co-develop an equitable community engagement framework. The report's supporting recommendations include staff learning pathways on equitable engagement, funding to support community organizers, strengthening two-way engagement channels, practical standards and toolkits for departments, and better use of data to target and track equitable outcomes. OLO also highlighted promising county efforts and suggested the collaborative set an accountability structure and resource needs for implementation.
