Water Commission (now under Utilities Commission)

CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021 WATER COMMISSION VIA TELECONFERENCE, 9:00 AM MINUTES Frank Martinez, President Robert Shannon, Secretary Arthur Levine, Vice President Gloria Cordero, Commissioner Naomi Rainey, Commissioner Christopher J. Garner, General Manager Richard Anthony, Deputy City Attorney Communications Workshop COMMUNICATIONS PLAN WORKSHOP - 9:00 A.M. VIA TELECONFERENCE PURSUANT TO EXECUTIVE ORDER N-29-20 ISSUED BY GOVERNOR NEWSOM WATER ADMINISTRATION BUILDING IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC The Water Commission minutes are prepared and ordered to correspond to the Water Commission agenda. Agenda items can be taken out of order during the meeting. The agenda items were considered in the order presented. CALL TO ORDER The Board of Water Commission teleconferencde meeting - Communications Workshop was called to order by President Martinez at 9:03 A.M. pursuant to Executive Order N-29-20 issued by Governor Newsom. ROLL CALL Executive Assistant, Sandra Fox took the roll call and confirmed a quorum. Also present: B. Anatole Falagan, Assistant General Manager; Sandra Fox, Executive Assistant to the Board; Jenny Windle, President - JPW Communications; Susanne Bankhead, JJPW Vice President of Client Services; Leslie Spring, JWP Senior Communications Manager Commissioners Gloria Cordero, Naomi Rainey, Robert Shannon, Art Levine and Present: Frank Martinez Page 1 of 8 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021 WATER COMMISSION VIA TELECONFERENCE, 9:00 AM MINUTES Commissioners Art Levine Excused: INTRODUCTIONS President Martinez called for introductions. Commissioner Cordero made introductory comments on behalf of the Communications Committee (Commissioner Cordero, Chair; Commissioner Rainey, Member).. Kaylee Weatherly made introductory comments, and introduced the JPW Communications team. 1. 21-066WA Agenda for April 23, 2021 Communications Plan Workshop 2. 21-067WA Presentation for Communications Workshop Jenny Windle made introductory comments and reviewed slides 1-8 of the presentation. Susanne Bankhead reviewed slide 9-17 (Research Report Recap). President Martinez inquired about the Measure M public trust that was noted in the survey result (slide 16). Susanne Bankhead responded. President Martinez called for any Commissioner comments or questions. Commissioner Shannon made comments regarding the Measure M survey result. Susanne Bankhead responded. Commissioner Shannon clarified the Commission and Long Beach Water Department position regarding Measure M. Susanne Bankhead responded. Page 2 of 8 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021 WATER COMMISSION VIA TELECONFERENCE, 9:00 AM MINUTES Mr. Garner commented on the trust of the public regarding the Water Department, but did verify that the Measure M item (transfer of water monies to the City's General Fund) is improperly identified as a Water Department issue. He noted that a clear message will need to be prepared to notify the public regarding the result of the pending Measure M lawsuit when it has been settled.. Commissioner Shannon commented on the Measure M lawsuit. Mr. Garner made follow-up comments. Commissioner Cordero commented on some of the survey responses from the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis section. Commissioner Cordero requested information on the makeup of the members of the focus group. Susanne Bankhead responded. Commissioner Cordero made additional comments. She suggested that once all of the Commissioners had commented that she and Commissioner Rainey might want to hold a separate Communications Committee meeting in the future to discuss these responses. Susanne Bankhead responded. Commissioner Cordero recommended that more emphasis be made in the future on the importance of water and educate the public regarding this message and work with other agencies in the city who are actively involved with water issues such as Rotary and the Ranchos She also advised it would be beneficial to work with other agencies in the city and establish partnerships to get the message out in the community. Susanne Bankhead responded. Mr. Garner suggested the use of more short videos to help get the message out to the various communities within the city. Commissioner Rainey commented on this suggestion. Susanne Bankhead responded. Page 3 of 8 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021 WATER COMMISSION VIA TELECONFERENCE, 9:00 AM MINUTES Commissioner Rainey asked if the makeup focus group members could be broken out by city council districts. Susanne Bankhead advised that the survey member responses had been established via zip code, not council districts. Commissioner Rainey made additional comments regarding the diversity of the focus group members. Susanne Bankhead responded. At this point in the meeting it was determined that the break noted on the agenda would be skipped and the balance of the workshop would take place. Commissioner Levine made comments about involving major users of water such as the Aquarium of the Pacific for future messaging. Susanne Bankhead responded. Jenny Windle reviewed slides 19 - 22 from the presentation (outline of communication plan elements). She also reviewed slide 23 - Key Messages and asked the Commissioners for any questions or additions. Commissioner Cordero inquired about the key message regarding value. She asked if this was value of the product or the value of the department. Susanne Bankhead responded. Morgan Venter spoke about comments that were made regarding water that took place at the recent Office of Sustainability Earth Day summit. Commissioner Cordero made additional comments. Mr. Garner and Mr. Falagan commented on the Office of Sustainability and their involvement in the messaging of water issues. Commissioner Cordero commented regarding the Office of Sustainability and their involvement with water messaging. Susanne Bankhead responded. Page 4 of 8 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021 WATER COMMISSION VIA TELECONFERENCE, 9:00 AM MINUTES Commissioner Levine asked if the department's theme "Water is Life" would be included in the messaging. Susanne Bankhead responded. Commissioner Cordero spoke about including value of the department employees as one of the key messaging points. . Susanne Bankhead responded. President Martinez agreed with Commissioner Cordero's comments regarding the value of the employees. Mr. Garner commented on the difference between tap water for different cities. Commissioner Shannon made comments regarding the taste aspect of tap water. Mr. Falagan made comments regarding governmental trust regarding quality drinking water. There was general discussion regarding bottled water versus tap water. Commissioner Rainey commented regarding tap water. She advised there should be emphasis on taste and safety in the key messaging. Jenny Windle reviewed slides 24-25 from the presentation (establishing goals of the communications plan).She asked the Commissioners to provide input regarding the goals. Commissioner Cordero made comments regarding creating an interest regarding water, and how this may be achieved. Jenny Windle asked if there were any other goals to add (other than those listed within the presentation slide). Commissioner Shannon noted he felt the goals had been well articulated as noted in the presentation. Jenny Windle concluded her presentation. Page 5 of 8 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021 WATER COMMISSION VIA TELECONFERENCE, 9:00 AM MINUTES Ms. Weatherly provided closing comments and thanked the JPW team for their assistance during the workshop. She thanked the Commissioners for their input, and noted that continued work on the Communications Plan would take place, with the goal for staff to bring the plan back to the Commissioners sometime in late summer of 2021. President Martinez suggested that this might be a good point in time to bring back a review of the Strategic Plan for review, and how all of the other plans (Communication; Water Management Plan, etc.) fit together. He suggested this review be set for a future meeting, with the goal of possibly setting up a workshop regarding the Strategic Plan in early summer. Mr. Garner responded that staff would set up this review. President Martinez thanked Ms. Weatherly and the JPW team for their efforts in working on the Communications Plan. He called for any Commissioner comments or questions. Commissioner Cordero thanked the JPW team for their work on the Communications Plan. She agreed that an in-person workshop to discuss the Strategic Plan would be valuable when COVID restrictions had been updated. She also made comments regarding climate change, and how important this issue is becoming. President Martinez said it would be beneficial to establish a unified way to work with partners in creating the messages, and noted this should especially involve the department's education component. Commissioner Rainey advised a better effort needed to be made to engage with the stakeholders of the community based on the diversity of the city. Commissioner Cordero spoke about the internal communication as well as with the community. She noted that Mr. Garner does an excellent job in communicating with the employees, but feels this effort might be expanded upon. Commissioner Shannon advised he agree with Commissioner Cordero's comments regarding internal communications. Page 6 of 8 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021 WATER COMMISSION VIA TELECONFERENCE, 9:00 AM MINUTES Mr. Garner commented on the internal communications for the department Commissioner Levine inquired about the timeline for returning to in-person Board meetings. Mr. Garner responded. PUBLIC COMMENT President Martinez called for any public comment. Hearing none he asked if anhy written public comments had been received via e-mail. Ms. Fox responded that no written public comment had been received. NEW BUSINESS President Martinez called for any new business. Hearing none he moved onto adjournment. ADJOURNMENT President Martinedz adjourned the Special Board Meeting/Communications Workshop at 10:42 A.M. to the April 28, 2021 Special teleconference board meeting at 9:00 A.M. Page 7 of 8 CITY OF LONG BEACH FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021 WATER COMMISSION VIA TELECONFERENCE, 9:00 AM MINUTES NOTE: If written language translation of the Commission agenda and minutes for non-English speaking persons is desired, please make your request by phone to the Office of the City Clerk at (562) 570-6101, 72 business hours prior to the Commission meeting. Kung nais ang pagsasalin ng nakasulat na wika ng agenda ng Komisyon at ang minutes para sa mga taong hindi nagsasalita ng Ingles, mangyaring isagawa ang iyong hiling sa pamamagitan ng telepono sa Opisina ng Clerk ng Lungsod sa (562) 570-6101, 72 oras ng negosyo bago ang pagpupulong ng Commission. Si desea obtener la traducción escrita en otro idioma de la agenda y actas de la comisión para personas que no hablan inglés, haga su solicitud por teléfono a la Oficina de la Secretaría Municipal al (562) 570-6101, 72 horas hábiles antes de la reunión de la comisión. Page 8 of 8