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Neighborhood Association Initiative <br /> A. Enhance Effective Public Engagement Activities <br /> 1. Public Involvement participants should reflect our whole community. <br /> Currently, citizen groups are often composed of volunteers that represent different <br /> <br /> viewpoints on an issue. Another approach is to use Census data to develop group <br /> characteristics more representative of the community and seek participants who reflect <br /> those characteristics. Ideally, a citizen group should reflect not only observable <br /> characteristics such as age and sex, but also: working:retired; recently moved to Eugene: <br /> <br /> been here for 20+ years; labor, professional, management; users of alt modes: car drivers; <br /> single-parent family: dual-parent family; etc. More proactive recruitment methods would <br /> need to be used to achieve a broader mix of participants. <br /> 2. Public Involvement tools should engage more. people. <br /> Public participation processes should seek, welcome, and consider a variety of <br /> viewpoints. Time and time again we hear complaints that it's the same people every time <br /> who participate at the City. The un/under-represented communities are missing -youth, <br /> minorities, people with disabilities, homeless, poor, less educated, parents of young <br /> children, etc: We also don't often hear from people who are happy with the City's <br /> policies and services, although we know from the community survey that they represent <br /> the majority of our citizens. The City should identify what we are doing now that results <br /> in exclusion of these groups and what are other communities doing to be more inclusive. <br /> 3. Improve public involvement processes. <br /> Communities throughout the world have public participation efforts. What can we learn <br /> from them? Two ideas from the International Association of Public Participation are <br /> setting clear expectations and providing feedback. to participants. Clear expectations <br /> mean that people understand the purpose of the effort and where the City is in its <br /> decision-making process. There are different types of public participation. Is the <br /> <br /> purpose to inform, consult, involve, collaborate, or empower? Is the decision-making <br /> <br /> process at: describing the problem, formulating alternatives, developing decision criteria, <br /> applying the criteria to the alternatives, or communicating the decision? Providing <br /> feedback means routinely telling people who participato how (or why not) their input <br /> influenced the final decision. <br /> 4. Implement Neighborhood Matching Grants. <br /> Between 2000 and 2004, the City had a Neighborhood Matching Grants program. <br /> <br /> Neighbors would propose physical improvements or one-time events that would benefit <br /> the neighborhood. They would plan the project and provide half the resources, through <br /> volunteer labor, donated materials and supplies, and/or cash. The City would provide the <br /> other half. The 40+ completed projects included park. and playground improvements, <br /> communit ardens and com ostin ri ht-of-wa lantin s ublic art, traffic calmin <br /> Y g p g~ g y P g~ P g~ <br /> <br /> historic preservations efforts, clean-ups, and a variety of events. The .program was <br /> eliminated for lack of funds. It's been funded for the next three years at $50,000/year. <br /> Should the fund be larger? Should the program. be ongoing? <br /> <br />