Agenda Index City of Vancouver

POLICY REPORT
PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT

TO:

Vancouver City Council

FROM:

General Manager of Community Services in consultation with the Public Involvement Review Working Group.

SUBJECT:

Public Involvement Review (PIR) - Implementation Phase Update

 

INFORMATION

COUNCIL POLICY

The Better City Government (BCG) initiative and CityPlan identified public involvement in City decision making as a priority, including improving existing processes where required and establishing a broader set of relationships and links to communities.

SUMMARY AND PURPOSE

This report and additional appendices provide Council with an update on the implementation of the sixteen Public Involvement Directions adopted by Council in 1998. In response to the Directions, several actions aimed at improving public involvement both citywide and at the department level are planned or currently underway. These actions have been laid out in an Action Plan for City Improvements to Public Involvement. Staff responsible for these actions will be reporting back to Council as necessary; the PIR Working Group will report back in one year on the overall progress with implementing the actions.

The approaches and actions build upon the programs and services currently offered by the City. New ideas are being implemented in most cases by using existing resources. Since there are many changes and improvements underway in the City, as the attached Action Plan indicates, not all of these actions are happening at once - some will be implemented over time, in the shorter and longer term. Co-operation among Boards, Service Groups and Departments will need to continue for these improvements to occur.

The Guiding Principles for Public Involvement, adopted by Council in October, 1998, are providing the context for the improvement work, and are being refined as the work proceeds.
Improvements have been organized into the following strategic approaches:

· Individual Departmental Improvements, which includes piloting changes to typical public processes that intensively involve the public;
· Developing a Corporate Framework for Public Involvement, by improving the tools for public involvement, including the creation of a public process guide for staff, and public process information for community groups;
· Improving Public Involvement Skills, including revised training programs and the creation of a group of staff experts in public process;
· Creating Better Civic Awareness, through civics education, a proposed citizen's guide to the City and continued use of the media;
· Improving Ongoing Contact With Communities by using a centralized database of community groups, posting neighbourhood information by local area on the website, sectoring some Community Services staff and developing a community recognition program;
· Creating a Multicultural Outreach and Translation Strategy, some highlights being a policy on translation, revised training and tools for staff who conduct outreach, and a newcomer's guide to the City.

BACKGROUND

In 1996, the BCG initiative identified a review of public involvement as a priority. The review has been undertaken in steps: the first was to investigate and record all the ways in which City processes include the public. The second was to do an independent evaluation of how well the City involves the public. The third step will involve improvements based on the evaluations.

In December, 1996, Context Research Ltd. was hired to do the evaluation. Brian Johnston, the principal of the firm, worked with a staff PIR Working Group composed of representatives from all departments involved with major public involvement activities. The review was widely publicized and anyone with comments on how the public is involved in City decision-making was invited to participate.

In October, 1998, Council adopted the consultant's sixteen citywide Directions for improvement (see Appendix A), and asked staff to develop approaches to implement the Directions. Council also adopted the consultant's recommended Guiding Principles for Public Involvement (see Appendix B).

DISCUSSION

Many of the consultant's recommended Directions, and the approaches to realizing them, are inter-related. In developing responses to the Directions, staff have organized them into strategic approaches. Within each strategic approach are a series of prioritized actions, concrete ways in which public involvement will be improved both citywide and at the departmental level. The responsibility, costs and timing of all the actions are listed in the attached Action Plan (Appendix C). Staff responsible for these actions will report back as necessary; the PIR Working Group will report back in one year on the overall progress with Phase III.

The Council adopted Guiding Principles for Public Involvement provide the context for the improvements and will be refined if necessary as the work proceeds. Improvements will be made in two ways. The first, as described in Section 1 below, is for staff to pilot changes to targeted processes in their own departments. The second, as described in Sections 2 through 6 of the report, is to make changes at the citywide level, improving the framework, tools, and training for staff who undertake public involvement, as well as improving civic awareness and contact with communities. One aspect that is integral to all parts of this improvement work is the strategy for multicultural outreach and translation described in Section 6, as nearly all of the actions discussed in the report form part of the strategy for improving involvement of Vancouver's diverse communities.

1. Individual Departmental Improvements

The Phase II consultant found that while the City does quite well with public involvement, there are weaknesses at certain points in involvement processes, such as how residents are notified, their knowledge and expectations of how their involvement is used, how they are informed of the results of the process, etc. These weaknesses tend to magnify with processes that are more significant and controversial, in particular where neighbourhoods are undergoing a large degree of change.

The City has begun addressing some of these issues through the Development and Building Review (DBR). DBR improvement initiatives include: bringing various parties together early in the process to work through difficulties and resolve conflict; assigning staff to "sectors" of the city, to develop better on-going liaison and contact with communities, particularly around issues of neighbourhood change. These will be developed and reported as part of the DBR improvement process.

(a) Improvement Strategy

2. Developing A Corporate Framework For Public Involvement

Council approved several Directions that would improve the corporate framework within which public involvement takes place. Staff feel that this framework would help prevent and better deal with the dilemmas that arise during involvement processes, in particular those related to controversial processes, and provide consistency and clarify public expectations.

(a) Develop A Public Process Guide for Staff

(b) Create Inventory of Survey Research Resources

(c)Provide Public Involvement Information to Community Groups

3. Improving City Public Involvement Skills

Council approved a higher and more consistent level of appropriate skills and expertise in handling differing opinions, and the need to reduce jargon and confusing terminology. By improving training, staff and Council will be better equipped to prevent and deal with problems that arise during involvement processes.

(a) Improve City Training Program

(b) Create a Resource Group of Staff Experts

(c) Provide Training for Committees and Boards

(d) Improve Language and Communication

4. Improving Community Contact

The Phase II consultant noted that the contact between City staff and communities is often on a project by project basis, with contact ending when staff complete a given program or process. As a result of this, communities are sometimes left wondering who to contact and how to get follow-up services, information and resources, and City staff having to re-invent the initial steps for all new involvement processes.

There are already numerous programs and organizations that facilitate contact between City Hall and communities, such as community centre associations, Greenways, Community Visions, the Community Service Grant program, etc. Staff feel that instead of developing a new formal structure for community involvement, the City should build on these and other existing programs, and focus on sharing information and improving ways of communicating with all residents. In addition to the actions developed to improve civic awareness described in Section 5, below are a number of actions that will improve communication and information sharing.

(a) Improve Staff Knowledge and Contact with Particular Neighbourhoods

(b) Build on the City Website

(c) Create a Community Recognition Program

5. Creating Better Civic Awareness And Understanding Of How The City Works

Council approved staff to look at ways the City can de-mystify City Hall and create a higher level of awareness of how municipal government works, and how people can get involved. The following actions have been developed to address this in the short and long term.

(a) Develop Introductory Guides to the City


(b) Build on City Hall Tours and Expand the use of the Media

(c) Create Community Level Civics Education

(d) Develop a Civics Curriculum for Youth

6. Creating A Multicultural Outreach and Translation Strategy

Council approved the development of a more consistent approach to multicultural outreach and translation during involvement processes. In an increasingly diverse city, staff need assistance in identifying the multicultural communications needs of communities, determining who needs to be involved, what communications issues need to be addressed and what resources are needed. The Diversity Communications Strategy, which Council approved in 1995, made several recommendations to improve the way the City communicates with Vancouver's diverse communities, but many recommendations remain outstanding.

While the City has some resources in place to support outreach activities, such as the multilingual phone lines and Chinese media monitoring services, and various programs and staff at the department level, staff are developing a strategy for a more consistent and effective approach to outreach and translation. It builds on remaining recommendations from the Diversity Communications Strategy and includes other actions discussed in this report, including those related to improving civic awareness (e.g. the newcomer's guide) and improving community contact. The Special Advisory Committee on Cultural Communities is supportive of this strategy and will be consulted at key points in the development of these actions.

(a) Improve the Tools and Training for Staff

(b) Create a Policy on Translation

PUBLIC COMMENT

The actions in this report have been vetted with the original staff/public working group created early in Phase II to assist with the Review, as well as groups and agencies who participate in the Community Service Grant review process. It has also been sent to all groups and individuals on the Public Involvement Review mailing list. A major component of the implementation of the sixteen Directions will be a continuing dialogue with the public. The improvements to departmental processes will also involve members of the public in the context of these programs.

STAFFING AND FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The resources required to implement the listed approaches build upon the programs and services currently offered by the City. New ideas will be implemented by using existing resources. Coordination of the improvement work will continue to be carried out by the Public Involvement Review Coordinator and the Public Involvement Review Working Group.

CONCLUSION

Staff are implementing the consultant's recommended Directions by pursuing a strategic approach to making improvements to departmental processes, developing a corporate framework for public involvement, improving public involvement skills, improving community contact, increasing civic awareness, and creating a strategy for multicultural outreach and translation. This strategy builds upon the programs and services currently offered by the City, and its success is dependent upon the cooperation of Boards, Service Groups and Departments.

- - - - -

DIRECTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

1. Develop a Set of Guiding Principles. The City should adopt a set of principles that would guide all future public involvement initiatives. These principles should help to develop continuity and consistency in the approaches used by the City. They would also greatly aid any internal or external evaluation of public involvement processes. The public would also be able to use the principles to hold staff and councillors accountable for their actions. A set of draft principles is attached as Addendum 1 to this report to stimulate discussion regarding what the final list could look like. Although simple and brief, the principles could be a powerful public statement and a very useful guiding force. In themselves, they could significantly improve the way the City implements public involvement initiatives.

2. Develop a Policy on Multicultural Outreach and the Translation of Information Materials. The City should develop a consistent approach to the techniques used to reach multicultural groups where language and cultural background may limit involvement. In particular, this policy should address translation of materials into languages other than English and to formats more accessible to those with disabilities (e.g. large print or audio reports). A consistent approach to translation would ensure that a base level of translation is provided in all circumstances where the need is identified. It may also assist in reducing costs for translation in some instances.

3. Train City Staff in Plain Language. The City should further commit to the use of plain language in all public processes. This direction will require expanded training to ensure that staff preparing information have the skills necessary to communicate on the broadest possible basis without the use of jargon or technical language. Additionally, this direction might result in the use of professional editing expertise, either on a staff or a consulting basis.

4. Increase Staff Training for Public Involvement. The City has some very talented people working on public involvement processes. However, the skills and abilities are inconsistent. More training will be required to ensure that all staff involved in planning and implementing public involvement processes have the necessary sensitivities, understandings, and skills to do the job properly. All staff involved in community interaction should have basic training in conflict resolution. Options for training might include courses, workshops, preparation of a staff manual, or instructional videos.

5. Develop and Use a Public Involvement Planning Form or Check List. To improve the overall quality of public involvement in Vancouver, more attention should be paid to the initial planning and mandating of each process. One approach would be to create a planning form or check list for completion by those responsible for implementing the process. The form could range from a short checklist to a detailed several page form, as illustrated in Addendum 2 to this report, which might be "signed off" by those mandating the process.

6. Establish a Core of Expertise in Public Process. While there are many very talented people working on public involvement projects within the City staff, they seldom have opportunities to learn from each other. Little is done to ensure that learning on one project is applied to the next. Staff do not have clearly identified in-house experts to turn to for advice. A core group of experts on public involvement should be established within the City structure. The group could review draft Planning / Mandating Forms prepared by process leaders and help them complete the forms clearly and appropriately. The group could also be available to support or "trouble shoot" processes as they are implemented. When needed, a facilitator or mediator could be brought in to assist project staff in resolving conflicts which are undermining a process. The group could also help evaluate processes to ensure that learning occurs from process-to- process, and that skills are developed.

7. Commitment to Evaluation of Each Process. Each public involvement process should be evaluated. The process should be documented and the results reported as part of the final report on the project. The participants in the process should have access to the evaluation results.

8. Prepare and Maintain a Community Contact Database. The City should expand and maintain its centralized database of all community groups and regularly distribute it to City departments. This inventory would have to be updated regularly and should be cross-referenced for a variety of different areas of interest. It could be used by all departments to ensure that all appropriate community groups are involved in a public involvement process. Part of the closure of each process should include the updating of the central database with names of new group contacts.

9. Continuity of Contact and Public Involvement. The City should maintain and support ongoing linkages with neighbourhood groups which could act as a vehicle for continuous (rather than project-by-project) public involvement. These groups and the linkages to them may be newly established (e.g., a new Neighbour-to-Neighbour Program of staffed neighbourhood offices) or long-standing relationships (e.g., existing Community Centre Associations which already represent their neighbourhoods and have staffed offices). The City has a long-term, successful relationship with Community Centre Associations which are already very much involved in public involvement processes. Building on this success may be more appropriate and cost effective than building a new network of linkages.

10. Continuity of Staff Involved in Specific Neighbourhoods. Another potential direction to improve continuity of contact would be to work closely with staff already based in each community (such as the Neighbourhood Integrated Service Teams) and to manage staff resources so that expertise in specific neighbourhoods is developed over time. The City could undertake to re-organize staff across all departments involved in community policy and service delivery so that key staff obtain area-based knowledge and work on a co-ordinated basis among departments and with communities.

11. Training in Public Conduct. When Councillors and staff interact with the public, they should ensure that a basic standard of conduct is adhered to. For example, they should never ask for opinions and then discount those opinions. Among the alternative approaches to training are preparation of an agreed protocol, training sessions with a facilitation expert, or development of a training manual or video. Another approach might be to undertake an evaluation of a sample of public meetings or hearings to provide specific feedback to involved Council members and staff.

12. Training in Civics. The City and / or the Vancouver School Board should work with immigrant services, community organizations, and schools to set up courses in civics which train citizens in their role in public involvement processes.

13. Provision of Background Materials. The City should make general information, including technical and policy background information, readily available, either at meetings or through publications like "fact sheets". Appropriate information sheets could be prepared which would serve a number of different processes by clarifying basic roles and expectations for public involvement.

14. Broaden Use of Media in Public Involvement. Television, radio, internet, and the press should be used more effectively to access larger, less involved audiences. Specific targeted media (e.g. neighbourhood newspapers and "ethnic" media) should also be used to greater advantage. The new program on Rogers Cable has potential to both provide involvement opportunities for specific processes and to inform the public about their roles in participation in civic issues.

15. Improved Use of Survey Research. Random sample surveys of attitudes are an important tool in public involvement processes and are used regularly in Vancouver. Unfortunately, different approaches and methodologies used from project-to-project have reduced their utility. For example, in some cases, 50% + is set as the threshold

16. Enhanced Feedback and Closure. More attention should be paid to closure at the end of a process, including getting out feedback on how input was used in making decisions, and what the decisions were. Also, improved closure could include requesting feedback from participants as input into future processes and expressing thanks to participants.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT

1. Mandating the Process

2. Resourcing the Process

3. Process Participants

4. Communications Strategies

5. Involvement Strategies

6. Closure

1. Departmental Process Improvements

1.1

Departments Will Pilot Changes to Processes Evaluated in Phase II

include in respective staff work programs; limited resources ($28,000) available within the existing PIR budget to provide consultant support or to pilot new ideas.

 

Yes

all departments

Service Group Managers will report back on progress as the work is completed over the next two years.

2. Developing a Corporate Framework for Public Involvement (Directions 1,5, 7, 13, 14, 15, 16)

2.1

Refine Guiding Principles for Public Involvement

-

 

Yes

PIR Working Group

the Principles will be refined/edited as the improvement work proceeds

2.2

Develop a Public Process Guide for Staff

will hire a consultant from within the existing PIR budget ($15,000).

Yes

 

Consultant (PIR Coordinator)

this will be developed by the consultant and made available to departments to assist with process improvements and refined as the improvement work proceeds

2.3

Create Inventory of Past Surveys; List of Survey Consultants

-

Ongoing

PIR Working Group
/City Clerk's Office

this would simply involve passing on survey information to the City Clerk's Office

2.4

Provide Public Involvement Information to Community Groups

will hire a consultant from within the existing PIR budget ($7000)

Yes

 

PIR Working Group /PIR Coordinator

the consultant will work with community groups to develop public involvement information that will help them be effective and to know what to expect from the City

3. Improving Public Involvement Skills (Directions 3, 4, 6, 11)

3.1

Improve City Training Program in Public Involvement

include in existing Human Resources' budget

Ongoing

Staff Development Division of Human Resources

will liaise with Council and program managers to make adjustments to the training program

3.2

Create a Resource Group of Staff Experts

include in existing departmental work programs

Yes

 

PIR Working Group

the group will be identified through the departmental improvement process (Action 1.1)

3.3

Provide Training for Committees and Boards

include in existing City Clerk's budget

Ongoing

City Clerk's

City Clerk's will review the effectiveness of the program and depending on the results and resources available, offer to other advisory and appeal boards

3.4

Create a Course in Plain Language

include in existing Human Resources' budget

Yes

 

Staff Development Division of Human Resources

Staff will review the various language programs available, including those developed by the Hastings Institute, to develop the structure and content of this new course

3.5

Improve Council Report Language and Format

include in existing City Clerk's work programs

Ongoing

City Clerk's

-

4. Improving Community Contact (Directions 8,9,10)

4.1

Pilot Community Web Pages on the City Website

$20,000 from the Strategic Initiatives Fund

Yes

 

Corporate IT; with help from various dept's

funding needed for development and ongoing maintenance for the pilot period

4.2

Look for Ways to Improve Public Access to the City Website

-

Ongoing

Corporate IT; with help from various dept's

staff will seek out opportunities to partner with other organizations and levels of government

4.3

Maintain and Update the QuickFind Database of Community Groups

students from the Partners at Work Program; $2000 annually from both Engineering and Community Services.

Ongoing

City Clerk's

- this action is contingent upon the continued funding from Engineering and Community Services
- staff will use this information to replace the outdated community contact information on the City website.

4.4

Improve Internal and Public Access to Geographical Data

include in existing departmental budgets and work programs

Ongoing

Corporate IT

-

4.5

Create a Community Recognition Program (Good Neighbour Awards)

include in existing departmental work programs

 

Yes

PIR Working Group /NIST Liaison Team

-

4.6

Sector Community Services Staff

include in existing Community Services' work programs

 

Yes

Community Services

staff are currently consulting with the public on this proposal

4.7

The actions listed under "Improving Civic Awareness" (Strategic Approach 5) are also key to improving community contact.

5. Creating Better Civic Awareness and Understanding of How the City Works (Direction 12)

5.1

Create a Proposal for a Citizen's Guide

the cost of developing the proposal will be included in existing staff work programs

Yes

 

Communications, with cooperation of all Dept's

- staff will report back with a formal proposal for the Citizen's Guide, including scope, format, production, distribution, and cost

5.2

Develop a Newcomer's Guide to the City

$12,000 from existing PIR budget for development

Yes

 

Social Planning /Communications

- existing funding will cover cost of research, writing, and graphic design
- staff will report back next year with the finished product and options for printing and translation (approx. $28,000)

5.3

Raise Awareness Through the Media

-

Ongoing

Communications/
various

continue with initiatives such as the Greater.Vancouver program and look for new opportunities

5.4

Build on City Hall Public Tours

include in respective departmental work programs

Ongoing

City Clerk's, with cooperation of all dept's

will review the feasibility of building on the tours already conducted by dept's such as Permits and Licenses

5.5

Pilot Neighbourhood Level Civics Education Through the Community Visions Program

include in respective departmental work programs

Yes

 

Community Visions /Staff Development Division of Human Resources

will include staff from various dept's depending on the subject of the given workshop

5.6

Develop Civics Curriculum for Youth

$5000 from existing PIR budget

Yes

 

Consultant; coordinated by Planning

- build on the YouthView program developed for CityPlan
- will liaise with School Board; Core Committee for the Civic Youth Strategy; PIR Working Group; other dept's

6. Creating A Multicultural Outreach and Translation Strategy (Direction 2)

6.1

Include Multicultural Outreach and Translation Guidelines in the Public Process Guide for Staff (Action 2.2)

include in consultancy for departmental improvements (PIR budget)

Yes

 

Consultant (PIR Coordinator)

-

6.2

Add Names of Staff Experienced in Multicultural Outreach to the Complement of Staff Experts in Public Process (Action 3.2)

-

Yes

 

PIR Coordinator

-

6.3

Improve Diversity Training Within the Staff Training Programs (Action 3.1)

include in existing Human Resources' budget

 

Yes

Staff Development Division of Human Resources

-

6.4

Create a Policy on Translation

include in existing departmental work programs

 

Yes

Social Planning/Communications with cooperation of all dept's

this will be reported to Council as a separate action.

6.5

Develop Introductory Guides to the City

see Actions 5.1 and 5.2

6.6

Create and Maintain a List of Translation Services

-

Yes

 

Communications

-

6.7

Place a Calendar of Important Cultural Celebrations on the Intranet

-

 

Yes

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Program

-

6.8

The actions listed under "Improving Community Contact" and "Creating Better Civic Awareness" (Strategic Approaches 4 and 5) are also key to improving multicultural outreach.

PHASE II EVALUATION CRITERIA

1. Mandating the Process - The credibility, purpose, and objectives of the public involvement process were clear to all process participants. Was the involvement process legitimate?

2. Resourcing the Process - The public involvement process had adequate resources (financial, staff, community) to achieve the stated mandate.

3. Process Participants - All stakeholders affected by the issue of concern had an equal opportunity to become involved in the public involvement process and a representative portion of them chose to do so.

4. Communications Strategies - All communications for the public involvement process were effective, inclusive, and covered all necessary issues.

5. Involvement Strategies - The public involvement process was transparent. Where necessary, it dealt openly with conflict and imbalances of knowledge to maximize participant input.

6. Feedback and Closure - All stakeholders are convinced that the public involvement process, or a phase of an ongoing process, achieved its mandate and are satisfied with the results.

7. Overarching Criteria

INTRODUCTORY GUIDES TO THE CITY

(i) Newcomer's Guide

(ii) Citizen's Guide

* * * * *


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