Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-23-18 City Commission Packet Materials - SP1. Citizen Advisory Board Mentee Project Update - SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS Community Advisory Board Survey Report April 23, 2018 Table of Contents I. Executive Summary ............................................... 2 II. Methodology .......................................................... 3 III. The Survey ............................................................. 4 IV. Survey Results ....................................................... 10 V. Recommendations ................................................ 12 COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD SURVEY REPORT - APRIL 23, 2018 2 Executive Summary Community Advisory Board members, staff liaisons, and City commissioners were asked to participate in an anonymous survey or interview to help evaluate the effectiveness of the Community Advisory Boards and seek out potential areas of improvement. The survey included questions tailored specifically to each stakeholder group and items on the survey were worded as positive statements or direct questions. It asked questions about their initial training, board roles and responsibilities, and for an additional feedback that they wanted to provide. The survey also asked respondents to give an overall summary of their experience. A total of 73 responses were received with an 80% response rate from city commissioners, 71.42% response rate from staff liaisons, and 49 responses from community members. I chose this project because I was interested in learning more about the current structure of the Community Advisory Boards and I believe that this project will be greatly beneficial for both the Community Advisory Boards and the City of Bozeman. Mayor Andrus stressed that this is a project that city commissioners have been hoping to work on, but have not yet found the time (personal communication, February 9, 2018). It is my hope that this research will ultimately lead to a greater discussion around Bozeman’s current Community Advisory Board structure and provide thoughtfully feedback on how to continue to improve the Community Advisory Boards. Note: The complete survey questionnaire and interview questions are included later in this document for reference. COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD SURVEY REPORT - APRIL 23, 2018 3 Methodology Sample Identification: Sample participants will include City commissioners, staff liaisons for the Community Advisory Boards, and community members who serve on the advisory boards. These individuals were selected because they are all direct stakeholders of Bozeman’s Community Advisory Boards. All staff liaisons and community members will be sent a survey and City commissioners will be interviewed. Everyone who is currently serving on Bozeman’s Community Advisory Boards will have the opportunity to provide their input either through the survey or an interview. Since this questionnaire will be sent to the entire population of individuals on the Community Advisory Boards, the sample data will be extremely representative of the population. While it would have been nice to survey all past boards members from the last five years, (as this would provide an even greater sample pool and a longitudinal study of the Community Advisory Boards), for this project I will focus on only those who are currently serving as my time frame dictates how much I am able to accomplish. Methods and Data Collection: Data was gathered through mixed method data collection (surveys, interviews, and personal communications). By utilizing a variety of data collection methods, it will allow for a greater breadth of data on the Community Advisory Boards. Two surveys were created for staff liaisons and the Community Advisory Board members with each survey asking questions pertaining to their specific experiences on the boards. Additionally, since community members are voluntarily taking the survey I have made the community member surveys shorter to encourage more people to complete the survey. Within these surveys, I will be asking staff liaisons and community members both short response and Likert scale questions. City commissioners will be interviewed to gain insight into their experiences serving on the Community Advisory Boards. The primary purpose of interviewing the City commissioners instead of providing them with a survey is to get greater clarity around the entirety of their experiences as the City commissioners serve on 6 or more boards. Additionally, four out of the five commissioners have served on at least six Community Advisory Boards for the past four or more years and interviews will better help to capture the entirety of the commissioner’s large range of experience with Community Advisory Boards. All written documents for the commissioners are public record and interviews provide the commissioners the same confidentiality that staff liaisons and community members received surrounding their responses. These will be semi-structured interviews where City commissioners with be provided a list of open-ended questions, but each commissioner will have the freedom to direct the flow of the conversation and discuss topics that they feel are relevant about the Community Advisory Boards. Data Analysis: Data is only valuable if it is analyzed. Analyzing data allows for scientists to: “Access the thoughts and feelings of research participants, which can enable development of an understanding of the meaning that people ascribe to their experiences” (Sutton & Austin, 2015, p. 226). Data analysis was completed using Qualtrics. For the data gathered from the surveys, a content analysis of the qualitative data was utilized to determine overarching themes. A content analysis was also conducted on the interview responses to draw parallels between the city commissioner’s responses and the survey responses. For the quantitative data (Likert scale), responses will be shown in a table that will detail the percentage of respondents that somewhat or fully agreed with the statement. Note: The results reported can only be considered the opinions of the survey participants. COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD SURVEY REPORT - APRIL 23, 2018 4 The Survey Survey for Community Board Members: COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD SURVEY REPORT - APRIL 23, 2018 5 COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD SURVEY REPORT - APRIL 23, 2018 6 Survey for Staff Liaisons: COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD SURVEY REPORT - APRIL 23, 2018 7 COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD SURVEY REPORT - APRIL 23, 2018 8 COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD SURVEY REPORT - APRIL 23, 2018 9 Interview Questions for City commissioners: 1. Please tell me about your background and what boards you have served on or are currently serving on? 2. In your opinion, what are the roles and responsibilities of this board for the City of Bozeman? 3. How do you feel the board is fulfilling their responsibilities? 4. What additional responsibilities could improve the board? 5. Do you believe the board has a full and common understanding of the roles and responsibilities of a board? Why or why not? 6. How does your board benefit the City of Bozeman? 7. Do you see any overlap between your board and other CABs? 8. Is there anything else you would like to add? COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD SURVEY REPORT - APRIL 23, 2018 10 Survey Results The data strongly supports that there is still room for improvement within the Community Advisory Boards. In total, 75% of city commissioners and 50% of staffers stated that the boards could be improve effectiveness. There were numerous responses from city commissioners, staff liaisons, and community members that touched on ideas as to how the overall effectiveness of the board can continue to improve. Board Effectiveness Staff liaisons and community members who serve on the Community Advisory Boards somewhat agreed or agreed that their boards were meeting the following criteria. Each of these questions was derived from the Associations of Fundraising Professionals report on how to build an effective board. Question: Staff Liaison Agreed Community Members Agreed The board has a full and common understanding of the roles and responsibilities of a board 77.78% 86.67% The board has clear goals and actions 72.22% 84.44% The board effectively represent themselves and their focus area to the community 72.22% 84.44% Board meetings facilitate focus and progress on important board matters 83.33% 73.33% All the necessary skills, stakeholders and diversity required to be represented are on the board 66.67% 84.09% Each member of the board feels involved and interested in the board's work 77.78% 78.26% The board regularly monitor and evaluate progress toward their strategic goals 61.11% N/A The structural pattern and responsibilities are clear to all board members 77.78% N/A Meeting Strategic Goals All staff liaisons listed that the Community Advisory Boards fulfill at least one strategic goal from the current strategic plan with 95% of boards identifying more than one strategic goal that their board fulfills. Nearly 80% of staffers identifying their board as fulfilling the strategic goal of a well-planned city, followed by a safe and welcoming community with 65% of staffers identifying that their board as meeting this goal. Many of the community members discussed within the open feedback section the impact that the board has on community engagement. One community member wrote, “the Community Advisory Boards are an immense help, by offering a look into decision making, complex and competing issues, comprehensive fiscal planning and budgeting, and constituent concerns.” The following chart was created utilizing staff liaison survey responses and the board overview section found on the City of Bozeman website: CAB Engaged Community  An Innovative EconomySafe & Welcoming CommunityWell Planned City Creative Learning Culture Sustainable EnvironmentHigh Performance OrganizationFoster a culture of engagement & civic leadership based on innovation and best practices involving community members of all backgrounds and perspectivesGrow a diversified and innovative economy leveraging our natural amenities, skilled and creative people and educational resources to generate economic opportunitiesWe embrace a safe, healthy, welcoming and inclusive communityWe maintain our community's quality of life as it grows and changes honoring our sense of place and "the Bozeman Feel" as we plan for a livable, affordable more connects cityWe expand learning, education, arts, expression and creativity for all agesWe cultivate a strong environmental ethic, protecting our clean air, water, open space and climate and promote environmentally sustainable businesses and lifestylesWe operate as an ethical high performance organization, anticipating future needs, utilizing best practices and striving for continuous improvementBeautification xInvestigate and pursue funding sources for beautification projects"Beauty is welcoming. All are invited to participate in BABB event. Small and large scale projects are recognized with awards"Band xExpanding the arts through providing music to Bozeman during their summer performance seasonPlanning"Our stated purpose is to provide broad based criteria involvement in the community""We help to further the growth policy""Further growth policy objectives and a number of goals in GP are maintaining a quality environment"Zoning x"Provides public notice and a venue for public comment on certain applications""Uses adopted development standards to ensure a well‐planned and built city" Cemetery xMakes recommendations regarding operation of the Sunset Hills Cemetery Park and Rec "SRC provides valuable public input""Works with developers to "massage" proposals in a way that benefits the community""Helps promote parks and trails, which contribute sustainably to our quality of life""Ensures compliance with the state laws and the UDC""Promotes enhancement of public parks, trails, and open spaces, which benefit the environment " "Encourages transparency in the process" Historic Preservation x"Preservation is planning issues and is a constant consideration surrounding all planning issues" Parking Commission xThe PC is a critical piece to providing and operating the parking infrastructure necessary for an economically and socially vibrant community"Affordable Housing "Provides a forum for activism""Making our housing economy affordable for the citizens of Bozeman"Traffic and pedestrian x"Creating safe pedestrian routes""Supporting original forms of transportation (walking and biking)"NEURB x "Improves Infrastructure" "Improves remediate blight and improves the aesthetic and safety""Modern infrastructure is part of good planning""Infrastructure includes boke lanes, walking paths, and trails"Midtown x Provides competitive incentives to cover costs related to public infrastructure, impact fees, and demolition and removal of structures to make way for redevelopment.TIF xBID x"By maintaining the downtown district (removing graffiti and garbage) downtown is more inviting and therefore safer""The BID does contribute to the periodic updating of the Downtown Plan""The BID staff process over 300 bags of recycling each year"TBID xpromote tourism that generates room nights for lodging facilities in the city of Bozeman, Montana by effectively marketing our region as a preferred travel destination.Fire Code of Appeals x"Fire code helps to keep the community safe""A well‐planned city has to have codes and policies for construction and development"Design Review "Meetings are streamed locally and allow public access to their process. All meetings are open to the public""The board provides a design review function for the city. They do not make decisions, but provide recommendations. Thy are tasked with determining whether development applications comply with regulations or not."Bicycle xrecommend safe bicycle practices throughout Bozeman in regard to enhanced bicycle circulation and design, community‐wide bicycle education and safety programs"Provide ways to get around Bozeman not just in a car""Bikes are a cleaner form of transportation"Economic Development x "Encourages investment"Library x"Urban forests mitigate air pollution, reduce building energy costs, filter storm water runoff, stabilize soil and decrease urban heat"Tree Advisory xTOPS"Provides citizens input to the TOP program""Provides valuable citizen input in planning for the use of bond funds""the TOP bond projects are an important part of our park system, so indirectly the TOP committee helps promote alternative transportation, open space preservation, and incremental improvement: Ensure transparency in the use of public funds INC x"All are welcome this is an operationalized in protocol, in marketing , in word of mouth and face to face promotion of INC/NA's … Inviting diverse ‐ dissonant and harmonious‐ opinions and ideas"Building Board of Appeals xTCC xTransportation Coordinating Committee (TCC) is to develop and keep current transportation planning as an integral part of comprehensive regional planning for the Bozeman areaWater Quality xEnsure the quality of Bozeman's waterStreamline xprovides safe and welcoming services through providing free transportation throughout Bozeman provides quality public transit service to meet the mobility needs of the CommunityClimate Partners"The BCP Working Group is a strong community voice in the implementation of our CAP" "There is a potential that this board could help us better advance green tech in our community (EV charging, solar, smart‐grid, district energy)""The BCP strives to reduce GHG emissions and more recently, our work is focusing on climate resiliency. Ensuring that our community is able to recover quickly from social and environmental disruptions is part of  living in a safe community. The BCP could really help with this type of community preparedness in the future. In addition, a walkable community is a safe and welcoming community. A community with clean air is a safer and more welcoming.""The BCP has commented on city plans, such as the UDC update and the Transportation Plan encouraging the city to promote policies that encourage infilla and multi‐modal transit to help reduce our environmental impact and avoid unnecessary GHG emissions.""THE BCP Working Group helps advocate our efforts around greenhouse gas emmision reductions. Memebers have been critical in the implementation of certain progreams, such as compost bin sale. They have supported efforts at numerous outreach events in the community. "Impact Fee Advisory Commx"Infrastructure is the foundation for all urban land use. Coordinating facilities with development in location and scope minimizes public expense, maximizes benefits to users, and avoids impediments to development" "Well done infrastructure protects water quality, enables walking and biking, and supports clean and safe urban development which lessens outward expansion and preservation of natural resourcesDowntown Urban Renewal DB"The downtown URD board concentrates on economic development""Two specific programs increase public safety: purchase of streetlamps and dedicated fire line cost share programs"The URD works of a  wide range of planning initiatives from infrastructure improvements to parking to the Downtown plan'"the URD has invested in "green" infester including: bicycle amenities (bike racks and repair station), motion‐sensors dimming LED lights in the parking garage, purchase of 24 permeant recycling receptacles"Pedestrian Traffic and Safet"Community members attend" "safe pedestrian route""Supporting original forms of transportation ( walking and biking)" COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD SURVEY REPORT - APRIL 23, 2018 11 Board Impact While each board has their own unique purpose and goals, overall every staff liaison identified and positively described the impact that their board has on the City of Bozeman. The following words were the most commonly used to describe the benefits that the Community Advisory Boards provide: One City commissioner noted that “the symbolism of the boards is important, it symbolizes the city’s desire to have grassroots input at several times and that we have citizen approval. The citizens of Bozeman sleep better because their neighbor is going to the advisory board meetings.” Board Consolidation Many of the key stakeholders that were part of this report were torn on this topic. The idea of consolidation was a heated topic with many participants very split on this issue. Half of the interviewed city commissioners were in favor of board consolidation and staff liaisons were also split 9 to 11 about consolidating. Therefore, I would recommend further research on the issue before the city commission move any further forward. Additionally, only six out of the 20 staff liaisons identified any overlap between their boards and other current boards. Onboarding Over 52% of surveyed community members thought that they would have benefited from more training when they initially joined the board. While many of the respondents mentioned that the ethics training was useful, the majority of the board members wanted to receive more formal training during their onboarding process. “It is very much hunting and pecking when figuring out what you role is what is the expect job and how the board impacts policy.” There were 12 community member respondents that mentioned a learning curve when first joining the board. “There was no orientation to the issues and agenda items the board was working with at the time I joined. I felt behind the curve and that I couldn't be effective during my first two to three meetings as I was catching up on projects. Perhaps a short board-specific orientation for new appointees would be beneficial so they can be effective in a timelier manner.” COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD SURVEY REPORT - APRIL 23, 2018 12 Recommendations Update Website I would recommend that the City of Bozeman continues to frequently update the website for the Community Advisory Boards. This website serves as the place where community members can go to learn more about the boards as well as provides information to candidates that are interested in applying to be on the board. It is vital that this website stays up to date to ensure that citizens are receiving accurate information about current boards as well as their meeting times. Better Definitions Ensure that all required board positions have a clear definition within the recruiting documents and the bylaws. Specifically, some of the specialty board positions that are reserved for specific community members should have a clear definition of who qualifies for the special board positions. If these specialty position are better defined it might help increase the ability for board members to find an applicant that meets those requirements. Board Specific Applications One respondent noted “if you want good participation then it is vital that board members understand their roles. It seems to me that when we are taking an application, the application for each board needs to be honed for the board that you are applying to.” Currently the Community Advisory Boards all utilize the same applications and it could be beneficial to have applications that are tailored to their specific board. Additionally, it was recommended by 2 of the city commissioners that a board overview document be attached to each application to ensure that all applicants better understand the roles, responsibilities, scope, and resources that are available to board members. These overview documents could be created by the current board and detail: • Recent issues the board is working on and what they should be prepared to discuss • Is this board an activism or advisory board • How the board was formed • The bylaws, purpose, and the composition of the board • Overview of the board’s role, what the board’s expectations are, and the limits of their role • How much staff time the board can expect Board Selection Tier System Community Advisory Boards take up a large amount of city commissioner time. One commissioner mentioned that the time that they spend on Community Advisory Boards is almost equivalent to the time that they spend on city commission meetings. Utilizing a four tier process when having the City Commissioners select their boards could help to ensure greater board allocation equity. This would help to equalize the time commitment that each commissioner spends on Community Advisory Boards. The process would involve COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD SURVEY REPORT - APRIL 23, 2018 13 commissioners selecting their boards from a specific tier so that each commissioner would have an equivalent amount of boards that meet on an active, occasional, or as needed basis. A potential tiering system could look like: Further questions for the city commission to consider when selecting their boards. Has the commission ever thought about formally selecting based on the commissioners areas of expertise? Do all of the boards that currently have a commissioner liaison truly need a liaison? Could these boards instead report to the commission with updates on board progress? COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD SURVEY REPORT - APRIL 23, 2018 14 Increase Board Training during Onboarding Over half of the current community members serving on the Community Advisory Boards stated that their initial training was not adequate. Advisory board members could benefit from more onboard training. However, staff has very limited time and adding additional training responsibilities would decrease the amount of time that they can spend work with the whole board. The City of Bozeman should consider hosting an optional event where they bring in a trainer such as Paul Lachapelle and/or Dan Clark to provide a workshop about how to onboard new board members. This workshop could be optionally offered to chair boards and other board members to empower and provide the necessary resources needed for them to onboard new members.