Council Subcommittee

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT TOWN COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS, IN SPECIAL MEETING OF WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2023 AT 9:00 A.M., GILBERT MUNICIPAL CENTER I, COMMUNITY ROOM 202, 50 E CIVIC CENTER DRIVE, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL PRESENT: Subcommittee Chair/Vice Mayor Kathy Tilque and Councilmember Yung Koprowski COUNCIL ABSENT: Councilmember Chuck Bongiovanni STAFF PRESENT: Town Manager Patrick Banger, Town Clerk Chaveli Herrera, Chief Digital Officer Dana Berchman, Digital Media Marketing Deputy Director Jennifer Harrison, Digital Engagement Coordinator Kelsey Perry, Council Aide Monica D'Ortenzio, Assistant to Town Manager Allyna Bay and Town Clerk Specialist Amy Beyleryan CALL TO ORDER Subcommittee Chair Tilque called the meeting to order at 9:13 a.m. ROLL CALL Town Clerk Herrera called roll and declared a quorum present. ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS 1. MINUTES - Consider approval of the minutes of the Subcommittee on Communications Meeting of April 5, 2023. 1 A MOTION was made by Subcommittee Chair Tilque, seconded by Councilmember Koprowski, to approve the minutes of the Subcommittee on Communications Meeting of April 5, 2023. Motion carried 2-0. 2. COMMUNITY OUTREACH/ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS a) Develop Presentation for Council Retreat Subcommittee Chair Tilque said she met with Assistant to Town Manager Bay and created a rough draft of the presentation for the Council Retreat. She also said that during Student Government Day the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee (MYAC) students were polled and asked similar survey questions that were asked to the community during the Town Hall meetings. Assistant to Town Manager Bay shared a presentation which summarized the survey responses of the MYAC students. She said there were some common themes with feeling of safety being among the top 5 issues that mattered most. She stated that Mayor Peterson asked the students for clarification of whether they felt unsafe currently or were concerned about Gilbert becoming unsafe, and the students responded to her that their concern was about the future. She continued her presentation adding that other top concerns were environmental sustainability, future cost of services, and cost of housing. She said their top preferred social media platform was YouTube and Instagram; Subcommittee Chair Tilque said they shared that TikTok was too addicting, and they had concerns about privacy. Assistant to Town Manager Bay shared the questions and responses to remaining questions the students were polled and said that their answers of what they expected from the Town ranged from emotional connection to physical services provided by the Town. Subcommittee Chair Tilque stated their feedback would be incorporated in the final presentation to the Council. Assistant to Town Manager Bay stated she and Subcommittee Chair Tilque consolidated the feedback from the Community Outreach Efforts, which included three formal Town Hall meetings, one informal Town Hall, Student Government Day, and online survey by Digital Government which had almost 1,100 participants. She discussed 2 the format of the presentation with bulleted recommendations from the Subcommittee, timelines, items that required Council direction, and an opportunity for questions and discussion at the end of each section. She shared the draft presentation and discussed categorized recommendations and went over several completed items. She discussed participation in public meetings in regard to the Request to Speak Cards stating this topic was completed. Town Clerk Herrera added that online comment cards stating position of “for” or “against” an item was also completed. Subcommittee Chair Tilque said she would research State Legislature regarding a representative speaking on behalf of a group and being given additional time to speak, rules and protocols of conduct during meetings, and explore formalization during Town of Gilbert meetings. There was discussion on the formatting of the presentation slides and suggestions to add transitional slides between completed and in-progress items. There were also suggestions to use keywords and explanation of outcomes of things that got implemented to show which goal it corresponded to and what the change accomplished. Councilmember Koprowski said it would be helpful to use icons and short sentences on the presentation slides but to provide handouts to the Council with more information. Assistant to Town Manager Bay continued to share the remainder of the draft presentation stating the categories of suggestions to the Council were Participation in Public Meetings, Public Meeting Consistency and Protocol, Customizing Communications with the Public, Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) and Town Projects Communication with Stakeholders in Community, and Outward Communication. There was discussion on suggestions within each category which included having a consistent agenda format for Council and all Boards, Commission, and Committees (BCC), formalized way for Council to announce intent of a “yes” or “no” vote on items where confusion occurred, short turnaround time of posting decisions from Council meetings, customizing communications with the public including an opt- in campaign for residents and businesses, building relationships with Homeowner’s Associations (HOA’s), requesting room on their newsletters, hosting topic specific annual meetings, enhancing the “What’s Developing Near Me” on the Town’s website to include zones and be updated routinely, to expand overlay’s to include various topics 3 of concern for community and Town-related projects, and hiring CIP Communications Professional to work with neighbors and businesses during CIP development and constructions phase. Other topics included formalizing process to invite Councilmembers to attend and participate in neighborhood meetings, explore options to expand use of 311, explore text notification options to residents, educate residents in opt-in campaign to assist with criminal investigations by sharing through Neighbors App, hosting quarterly Town Hall meetings with Town Manager and Councilmembers to allow for questions and dialogue, continuing to enhance Town website for enhanced search tools, easier navigation, and use of Quick Response (QR) Codes and shortened Uniform Resource Locators (URLs). Chief Digital Officer Berchman stated that the Town’s website was last redesigned three years ago and said there were certain changes that could be done right away and other changes would take more time and cost depending on what was needed. She also said there were limitations within the scope by the internet provider of what they could do. Digital Media Marketing Deputy Director Harrison stated the Town was given a certain number of shortened URLs by the provider and they had a limited capacity to use them. b) Timelines Subcommittee Chair Tilque stated there would be another Subcommittee meeting (possibly held virtually) to review and discuss the presentation for the Council. She stated the Council Retreat would be held on May 22-23, 2023 and the findings would be published to the public on June 7, 2023. 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS AND COUNCIL MEETING PROCEDURES a. Council Meeting Procedural Information Video b. Public comment follow-up Chief Digital Officer Berchman shared a draft video of the Town Council Meeting Procedural Information which showed video of text and voiceover information regarding Town Council decorum and public comment procedures. 4  Councilmember Koprowski suggested to make two separate videos, one which contained information required at the beginning of Council meetings and one to play before the Communications from Citizens portion of the agenda. There was discussion to also incorporate gratitude and a sense of “we want to hear from you” in the video. There was also discussion of having the video available on the Town’s website and possibly on the Agenda Notification emails. Assistant to Town Manager Bay spoke of follow-up to speakers from Council meetings. There was discussion about what the follow-up would entail, legality and what was needed to implement a follow-up. Subcommittee Chair Tilque said the intent was to let the speakers know they were heard and thank them for coming and offer resources for more information. 4. ACTION ITEMS a. Set dates for future Subcommittee meetings b. Other action items as assigned The date for the next Subcommittee meeting to be determined. Subcommittee Chair Tilque stated she would work on the presentation for the Council Retreat and send it to the Subcommittee. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS No discussion. ADJOURN Subcommittee Chair Tilque adjourned the meeting at 11:16 a.m. 5  ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Kathy Tilque, Chair Amy Beyleryan, Town Clerk Specialist CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the special meeting of the Subcommittee on Communications of the Town of Gilbert held on the 19th day of April, 2023. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this ____ day of ____________________2023. ___________________________________ Amy Beyleryan, Town Clerk Specialist 6