Moving from Outreach to Engagement

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Since October of 2016, City staff, Building Healthy Communities, and a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of Alisal stakeholders and community partners have worked collaboratively to establish the purpose, guiding principles, values, outcomes, and objectives of community participation that are the foundation of the Alisal Vibrancy Plan’s Community Engagement Strategy.

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This effort represents a significant shift in how the City engages with its residents. It will be a learning process and the Engagement Strategy is intended to be an evolving, living process that adapts to the needs to the community.​

 

Outcomes and Objectives:

• Empowers the residents and stakeholders of the Alisal by giving them broad control of the vision, content, and implementation strategies of the plan

• Engage a broad a cross-section of the community through a variety of engagement/ outreach platforms

• Create an iterative process that allows the public the chance to review recommendations and drafts at each stage of development

• Overcome barriers to participation

• Conduct innovative or alternative outreach activities to engage community members that would not typically attend formal events

• Create materials and information that educates the community and facilitates greater understanding of the community planning process

• Conduct outreach and share information in a manner that provides transparency in the outreach events and discussions

• Provide participants an opportunity to collaborate on content, provide input, and validate that recommendations that reflect their input

• Reach consensus on the recommendations to ensure they align with community expectations and provide greater certainty to the development community

 

Engagement Tool Overview

 

Outreach events and activities are designed to engage a variety of residents, stakeholders, and decision-makers throughout the process in ways that are culturally inclusive, convenient, accessible, and relevant to participants. We're hoping that community members leave each engagement event feeling like they've learned more about city operations, planning, and policy, and had ample opportunity to provide specific recommendations to the project team. Our engagement approach strives to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to engage in the process at their desired level of interest/effort. The outreach activities that will be conducted through this project include the following tools:

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• Steering Committee & Working Group Meetings

• Project Branding, Logo, and Plan Name and Cover

• Community Outreach Training and Toolkits for Steering Committee members, Project Ambassadors, Youth Action Team, and other volunteers

• Stakeholder & Community Group Interviews

• Community Workshops

• Business Engagement Workshop 

• Pop-Up Event/Non-Traditional Workshop/Temporary Installations

• Website, Social Media and Community Survey

• Community Design Charrette: Agenda Development, Logistics, Event, and Follow-Up

• Workshop on Draft Plan

• City Council & Planning Commission Workshops and Adoption 

• Process Evaluation

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Technical Advisory Committee Member Groups:

• Alisal Union School District (AUSD)

• Building Healthy Communities East Salinas (ES BHC)

• Center for Community Advocacy

• Community Alliance for Safety and Peace (CASP)

• Community Housing Improvement Systems and Planning Association, Inc. (CHISPA)

• Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action (COPA)

• Hartnell College

• Monterey Bay Central Labor Council (MBLC) 

• Monterey County Health Department (MCHD)

• MILPA Collective

• Monterey-Salinas Transit (MST)

• Mujeres en Accíon

• University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources 4-H Program

• Urban Arts Collaborative (UAC)

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