MINUTES FOR THE

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

September 8, 2010

Siskiyou Room, 51 Winburn Way

CALL TO ORDER

Mayor Stromberg called the meeting to order at 3:10 p.m. in the Siskiyou Room, 51 Winburn Way.

STRATEGY PROCESS CATCH-UP

Project Manager Adam Hanks explained the first phase in this process is complete and they are now ready to move into Phase II, which is the citizen involvement process. He noted since the group’s last meeting in April, staff has completed the RFP process and have selected John Lang to facilitate the citizen involvement process.

CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT OVERVIEW

John Lang addressed the Committee and explained the citizen involvement process will be comprised of three separate outreach tools:

1) Focus Groups. Small groups of 8-10 individuals from various categories (Healthcare/Eldercare, Housing/Diversity, Restaurant/Retail/Lodging, etc.) will be assembled to comment on the strategies, prioritize them, and identify actions items. Each of the committee members will be asked to “host” a focus group meeting and provide a brief introduction/overview at the beginning of each session. Mr. Lang stated the data from these meetings will be captured via audio recordings (if the participants agree) and minutes will be prepared by staff. In addition, he will be organize and compile the information in a final report for the City.

2) Open Houses. Mr. Lang noted community open houses will be held in October and citizens will be given the opportunity to provide input on the draft strategies.

3) Online Questionnaire. The last component in the citizen involvement process is an online questionnaire that will be available on the City’s website September through October. Mr. Lang stated this option is beneficial to capture input from citizens who may be uncomfortable sharing their opinions in an open house setting.

FOCUS GROUP DESIGN & LAYOUT

The Committee held further discussion on the focus groups and shared their comments and suggestions. The following is an outline of the statements made:

· Given the importance of accurately capturing the focus group’s input, audio recordings for each session should be mandatory.

· White boards should be used to capture key comments.

· The groups should be asked if there are any questions the Committee has missed.

· Mr. Hanks clarified the focus groups were selected based on input from both the City Council and the Economic Development Committee. He noted approximately 20 invites will be sent out for each group in order to ensure an adequate number of willing participants; citizens not selected to participate in the focus groups will be given first review of the data and asked to provide input at the open houses or via the online questionnaire.

· It was clarified the Economic Development Committee will come together as a separate focus group. Staff noted the concern that there may be some disagreement among the committee members and wants to give them the opportunity to voice this with Mr. Lang as the facilitator. 

· Suggestion was made for the members to act as “host” for groups they are not a part of, as participants may be less willing to share if a peer is present.

· Recommendation was made for the final report to also identify where consensus was not reached.

NEXT STEPS

Mr. Hanks clarified the open houses will occur after the focus groups have met, and staff will be taking the same information to the open houses as they did the focus groups. He added input from the focus groups, open houses and online questionnaire will be gathered before any changes are made to the draft strategies. Ms. Bennett stated following the citizen involvement phase they will attempt to narrow down the strategies since they have more than can realistically be accomplished, and from there action plans will be developed. The final steps will include bringing this back to the full Economic Development Committee for approval and then it will go before the City Council for final adoption. It was noted that the actions that are identified will need to be assigned to specific people and organizations, and a timeline for completion identified.

ADJOURNMENT

The committee members were asked to speak with staff after the meeting and share their schedule available for the focus groups.  Meeting adjourned at 4:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

April Lucas, Administrative Supervisor