Grand Forks Promise

Opportunities to be Engaged
Committee Members: Adam Jonasson (IT), Melanie Parvey (Public Works), Kim Greendahl (Public Works), Ryan Brooks (Planning), Rob Corbett (Fire), Allen Anderson (Health), Meredith Richards (Urban Development), John Bernstrom (Public Information), LaVonne Nelson (Police), Matt Leal (MPO), Tyrone Grandstrand (Councilman)

Grand Forks Promise

Opportunities to be Engaged
Mission Statement: Our mission is to research and suggest sustainable and measurable opportunities for the citizens, employees, and leaders, of the City of Grand Forks, to get involved and be engaged with our community.
Committee notes: Our Committee struggled to determine the extents to which we should develop a plan; therefore we determined areas that would best be studied in more detail as this plan is set in place. The ideas from this group are recommendations based on the committees research and opinion.

Overview of findings We determined that the three metrics we would look at are technical, non-technical, and personal engagement. In looking at all of these areas, the one constant that we found, was that it was very hard to gauge current usage or quantitative numbers to determine a base or starting point. Because of this, the first thing we would recommend is having a survey conducted to determine how citizens currently stay engaged as well as how they would like to be engaged in the future. The ideas and concepts in this report could be used to help develop the items to be included on the survey.

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Vision Statement: Our vision is to see a cohesive and collective set of programs, that are sustainable and obtainable, developed to promote multiple forms of engagement in the city of Grand Forks.

Metrics

Metric 1 Technical Engagement Metric 2 Non-technical Engagement Metric 3 Personal Engagement

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Metric #1 Technical Engagement Definition: This metric looks at how the city currently uses technology and ways that technology could be used more effectively in helping to engage citizens. Current Examples: Web Site, Social media (i.e. Facebook & Twitter), Television Cable Channel #2. Current status: Currently we are using technology to engage the community in many ways. The general conclusion from our group was that we are currently not using technology efficiently nor are we all on the same page when it comes to how we use it. Centralization of technology and how we engage people is an area that we need to address. Goals: 1. Website: Our goal is to see a new web page developed that is easier for visitors to get direct answers to common questions, events in the city, how to get involved, sharing ideas, as well as basic city information. a. FAQ A new web page should have a robust FAQ page where citizens could get answers to frequently asked questions. This FAQ area should be easily edited by city staff. This would give citizens answers right away as well as free up time for city staff. b. Events in the City We would recommend that we work jointly with the Convention and Visitors Bureau to have a shared events page. This page could be changed by city staff for city events. c. How to get involved A redesigned web page should offer a location for city departments and other agencies with the city to share ideas for citizens to get involved. This could consist of committees, meetings, studies, activities, or programs. Link would offer a form or email address that staff or partners could enter details. d. Sharing ideas This would be a link where citizens could share constructive ideas to make the city better. Ideas could be large event ideas to small scale neighborhood improvement ideas. e. Basic City Information An easier to navigate page where departments have rights to add and or change data pertaining to their department or project. 2. Social Media: It was determined that social media is a growing part of how the city needs to conduct business. Social media includes; Facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc. a. Social Media Policy The city needs to have a social media policy put in place so all departments are utilizing this form of communication in the same way. Grand Forks Promise

b. All linked together The main area of concern we had with social media was the act of updating and keeping all forms updated. We would recommend that a new City of Grand Forks Blog be created. The blog would be linked to the Grand Forks Heralds web site and we would push blog updates to our Facebook page, twitter feed, etc. This would allow for one single entry point for updates and communication. We determined that much of the social media updates should come out of the Info Center office, but the option for departments to add info would be available as well. c. Divisions Social media needs to be divided into two categories; Critical Updates and Educational Updates. Critical updates would be updates that would be pushed out from the Info Center similar in the event of an emergency or immediate action required. Educational updates would be updates that could be pushed out by the Info Center or the Department. These updates would be related to day to day functions in the city, such as events, scheduled items, and facts. 3. Cable Channel 2 We would recommend that cable channel 2 be used to help engage the citizens of Grand Forks. This could be done with Get to know your city spots; Informational commercials, and advertising for other forms of communication and engagement. a. Get to know your city spots These 3-5 minute commercials would highlight a specific department or operation within the city. These spots would be shown before or after council meetings. Interviews with staff from the specific department would give citizens a better understanding of the operations of the city and include information on how they can help, get more information, or get involved. b. Informational Commercials Seasonal commercials that could run during the day on channel 2 giving citizens information about specific seasonal operations that the city has planned. This could include items such as leaf pick, snow removal, etc. Summary: We all agreed that measuring engagement is going to be tough. We can look at our current usage and traffic on our website, but the main way that we would recommend measuring engagement is by surveying our public. An initial survey would help to direct us in the right direction for planning and development, while annual supplemental surveys can help gauge where we are as well as right our direction as technology changes. While measuring is important, sustainability was our main focus. In order to have a sustainable framework for engagement, we need to make sure that there is buy-in from those departments that are responsible as well as willingness for change and growth. We will also need a team approach from staff to work together to accomplish these task and goals. One possible recommendation may be to create a technology and social media steering committee. This committee would include individuals from several departments and work to lead new technological methods of engagement in the future. This committee would be directed by the city IT department.

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A lot of further research and development will need to go into this group, we would recommend that a committee be formed to examine and implement all of these topics in further detail.

Metric #2 Non-Technical Engagement Definition: This metric looks at how the city currently uses non-technical forms of engagement and ways that non-technical communication could be used more affectively in helping to engage citizens. Current Examples: Neighborhood meetings, National Night out, Farmers Market, Home Show, Classes, Classroom visits. Current status: Currently we are using many forms of non-technical engagement. While we are using many methods to engage citizens, we are not always communicating the same story, nor are we always effectively getting out and constructively seeking the citizens input. Goals: Our goal would be to establish methods for staff to engage our citizens in more effective and efficient ways. These methods include enhancing current examples and promoting staff participation, while adding to new positive and constructive methods of non-technical engagement. 1. Group participation City departments and staff should be encouraged to use events like the Farmers Market, National Night out, Grand Forks Home Show, etc. as opportunities to engage citizens in a constructive and positive setting. 2. Get to know your City Day An annual event that showcases many of the departments in the city. This would be an event where all departments could participate. An event like this would help to educate the public as to what the city provides for services, ways for citizens to find out what may be available for them to participate in city government on different level. We would recommend that this event be held in conjunction with another event that already has large turnout. (i.e. National Night out, Home show, etc) 3. Special Projects Committee We would recommend the creation of a new committee to oversee special projects within the city. This committee would be a group of city staff that would help to promote and foster citizens request and special projects. We do not see this group having any voting or decision making power, but more of a group of dedicated staff members who want to help promote and give direction to citizens who have project or event ideas within the city. Events like marathons or projects like the English Coulee cleanup are great examples. These types of projects usually start with a dedicated citizen who has a passion for a specific event. The Special Projects Committee would be a group that could help to keep their vision for their project on track. Summary: In summary, the city already has many non-technical forms of engagement, what we need to do is increase communication and get out in

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the public more often. Utilizing events that are already well attended can be a great positive way for staff to engage the public on projects and city information within the city. Our committee feels strongly that if citizens know more about what is going on in the city, they will be more apt to want to participate and be engaged in the future. The creation of a special events committee would not only give citizens a standard process to follow for special requests, it would help to foster positive interactions with city staff and citizens. This committee would help to keep good ideas afloat and give leadership to those citizens who want to make our community better. Metric #3 Personal Engagement Definition: This metric or group looks at how we as staff currently interact directly with citizens, and what could be done more effectively. Current Examples: Individual requests, community partnerships, business partnerships, neighborhood projects. Current status: Currently we have personal engagement with citizens, but as we looked into the ways to improve this, we found that they can many times be on the defensive side. Instead of defending, we would like to look at putting employees in a position to engage. We looked for ways that would engage both citizens and employees at an individual or personal level. Goals: Our goals consist of creating a better individual network of communication between city staff and citizens, starting at the foundation with city employees and working towards individual citizens and out to the business community. 1. Employee Reinvigoration The committee spent a lot of time looking at how we as staff do not always know what other city departments are working on or in many cases what other departments do in general. Below are some recommendations for employee reinvigoration. a. Internal department presentations Conduct monthly presentations from specific departments to educate other city employees as to what is done in other departments. This would be an opportunity for staff to meet other staff and learn what departments are working on. When staff knows and trusts other staff, we feel that all employees would be more efficient in engaging citizens. As a side benefit to employees, there could be additional vacation hours or PFP credit given for attending internal department presentations or volunteering in the community. b. CGF Future Leaders A group of employees who are interested in gaining knowledge about the city and networking with other employees. This group could be a basis for mentoring and future development. They would gain knowledge from similar staff members to help engage the public while also attaining professional development skills.

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c. Mentoring Program The city should really look at creating a mentoring program for employees. Mentoring programs can reinvigorate veteran staff while providing professional development for newer staff members. 2. Personal Network Building As staff is more knowledgeable about topics within the city, they will share their knowledge with individuals around the community. Personal network building at many levels can be done in ways that individuals can take stock in their own interests, while passing on to others the information that is needed. As the individual network grows, we will need to provide the individual with the opportunities listed in the above metrics to accomplish the tasks they are interested in. It will be city staffs responsibility to keep those opportunities active and interesting to keep a constructive and positive network growing. 3. Business Partnerships Partnerships with businesses in the community are important for engagement. Continued development in shared projects and coordination with agencies within the city as well as business leaders is an important part of engaging the community and the success of any of our other areas of engagement. Partnerships, with the University, Grand Forks Public Schools, and Conventions and Visitors Bureaus are examples. Summary: We all agreed that one of the main foundations of successful engagement with the community is a staff that is knowledgeable and dedicated to what they are doing. A foundation of employees that are familiar with how the city works, can foster positivity and encourage engagement outside to the citizens. When citizens are better informed from city employees, it begins to create a community network with the city. As a community network grows, so does understanding and communication within the community. Strengthening our partnerships with businesses and like agencies in the area will only help to create understanding as well as save time and money. Grand Forks Promise

Report Summary In summary, we found that there are many ways the city is already offering ways for the community to be engaged. While we are working in many separate areas trying to engage as individuals, we would recommend that we work in more of a team effort to formulate and standardize the ways that we engage the community. The first step in the process will be to determine how this committee moves forward. Ideas from this group will need further research and a lot of work done in each area to formulate plans for implementation and assets required to accomplish each area. A survey should be conducted to determine how

our citizens want to be engaged. These surveys should be reassessed annually to keep this plan sustainable as well as obtainable. The three metrics, technical, non-technical, and personal engagement should all be looked into further and comprehensive plans for each of these three different metrics should be developed for implementation. At that point, measurable outcomes should be developed to determine the process of implementation as well as how goals will be accomplished. This process may be setup in a three year process of study, implementation, and maintenance. Engagement of our citizens, employees, and leaders will take a team effort and will need to be sustainable and obtainable.

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