Question of the Week 4

 

New Opportunities for Engagement Question of the Week 4 Last summer, your answers to our Questions of the Week gave us guidance on where to focus on improving engagement and we want to hear from you again.   Question 4: Have you participated in public engagement organized by the City of Winnipeg? If this question looks familiar, it's because we asked the same question last year. We are interested in comparing results.   Question of the Week 3 Results We received 28 questions and comments to the third summer question of the week: Do you have any questions about getting involved? Thank you for taking the time to respond. Questions ranged from project specific to consideration of input. Questions were grouped into four themes. Some questions below have been shortened to reduce the length of this newsletter and several comments did not require a response. To see all of the responses received to this question and previous questions of the week, please visit winnipeg.ca/publicengagement. If you have other questions about engagement, please contact City-Engage@winnipeg.ca Quote: Questions and Comments Response Getting involved  What is the proper procedure for contacting someone at the City with an idea, suggestion, question, etc.?  Also, if a deadline is missed to submit responses to a survey, is there any other recourse to be heard? If you have an idea, suggestion, or question, please contact 311 to find out more. They will provide you with a unique reference number for that request if service is required. If want to provide input after a survey has closed, most project webpages include contact information to contact the project team directly, such as with the Route 90 Improvements project. I want to be able to address standing committees as a citizen.   If you are interested in appearing as a delegation at a Standing Policy Committee, please see the schedule of committees and register with City Clerk's. For more information, please visit the appear as a delegation webpage. How can a resident initiate a public consultation process? There is currently no formal process in place for a resident to initiate a public consultation process. Public consultation is typically conducted on capital projects. If you have an idea or would like to discuss public consultation further, please contact City-Engage@winnipeg.ca. I live in the North West. If a project came that I was interested in, how would I get involved? All projects with public engagement are listed on the public engagement webpage. There is a map on the page to direct you to projects in different areas. If you are interested in a particular project, follow the link to find out more about how to get involved. Has the City ever supported a citizen advisory council? Might it do so again? There are a number of citizen advisory positions, including boards and commissions. Currently, the City is accepting applications for boards and commissions until October 19, 2018. I would love to get involved with the OLAMP and the active transit initiatives, I guess in a citizen engagement perspective. The Off Leash Areas Master Plan is available here: winnipeg.ca/offleashareas Active Transportation initiatives are available here: winnipeg.ca/walkbikeprojects Consideration of public input What is the use of getting  involved when City Hall ignores the wishes of the locals? Balancing input from a number of perspectives is one of the challenges of decision making. Winnipeggers often have a range of views on any given topic or issue and gathering input and facilitating discussions between those with different views can produce better outcomes. Does Council even listen to the input of its citizenry? Balancing input and perspectives is part of the decision making process. Providing decision makers with input from public engagement is part of the information that goes into the decision making process. Why bother if the City doesn't change its plans to serve mature communities better? We are working on consistency to ensure reporting on feedback and how feedback was considered is part of the public engagement process. Showing how input influenced a project or decision is important to improving trust and we want to continue to improve in this area. Is anybody actually paying attention?  Most of the time, I feel like I am wasting my time by trying to get involved in something. We are paying attention and are working on consistency with reporting to ensure feedback and how feedback was considered is included. Showing how input influenced a project or decision is important to improving trust and we want to continue to improve in this area. Public Engagement Techniques and Promotion Will there be an online option to view conferences and have your say in a comments section? Can there be options to respond to reports in comments or social media? We have live streamed several public events on Facebook where you can comment. You can access past videos on the City's Facebook page. If you have comments on a report or event, please contact the project team using the contact information on the project webpage. I feel that the city has really improved the awareness of public engagement, but I often still find out too late when meetings are being held or information is being publicized.  Why is there no (or little) media advertising of upcoming information sessions or opportunities to engage? We strive to promote in-person public engagement opportunities two weeks in advance of the event and provide online opportunities to provide comment in addition whenever possible. A mixture of promotion including social media, newspaper advertising, and posters are used to reach as many as possible. We also notify the media about public engagement opportunities through news releases. A webinar after the fact would be helpful. I work rotating shifts so I find it hard to attend things in person. A recording over slides would be nice to see. Something like that with plans. You can hear citizen concerns and explanations from planners/counsellors/etc. Recognizing the different ways members of the public want to engage and scheduling limitations, incorporating webinar-style engagement is something we would like to try in the near future. In the past, we have live streamed in-person events and have posted those after the fact. Online surveys and engagement is another option for those who cannot attend events in person. I want to know what percentage of people are getting involved. In the week 2 results you said "most of you" which should be read as "most respondents". So 105 people responded to the second summer question. How many people was the question sent to? If decisions are being based on the people who respond, is that fair? We have over 5,400 newsletter recipients and the last newsletter was opened by 2,169 recipients. In each public engagement report and summary, participation numbers are provided. We use a variety of engagement approaches for each project to reach the most participants possible. In some cases, we use statistically relevant research to use scientific results to be considered as part of decision making. When statistically relevant results are not collected, results represent a general sense of priorities and input for consideration. There are community newsletters like Transcona Views, The Herald and others.  Put agenda and dates location in them.  Some people still do not have email. Using a variety of approaches towards promoting opportunities to engage is important, and local newsletters is a great way to inform those who may not get their information online. My question would be to understand the interplay of participating in public engagement activities in general vs. communication with my City Councillor - and how both might be improved. Engagement results are posted publicly online and appended to reports for Council consideration, when applicable. Breaking out results in terms of ward is not something we have undertaken yet, but that information could be provided for City-wide initiatives where postal code information is collected. How do you decide which City of Winnipeg projects have public engagement? It's great to see the City interested in engaging with us Winnipeggers but is there such a thing as over-engaged? The City has a number of projects happening at any given time and we want to be aware of participant exhaustion. The Office of Public Engagement in the Customer Services and Communications Department is developing a policy for public engagement for Council approval to better define when we should be engaging the public. Can the city create a development hearing notification system where residents can be made aware electronically of developments proposed in their area? The City is currently working on the development application notification review, including investigating email notification as part of notifying the public about development applications hearings. Initiatives and general questions How are environmental concerns being incorporated into local building projects? When will the data on air quality / ambient air temperature and trees that the city is collecting be put on an easily understood website for use by community and city planners: https://data.winnipeg.ca/Parks/Tree-Inventory-Map/xyma-gm38       https://data.winnipeg.ca/Organizational-Support-Services/Air-Quality/f58p-2ju3 I would like more information on how to use this data. The Climate Action Plan is currently in the last phases of development and will be put forward for Council consideration. The plan will develop a vision and targets, including building-related targets. The links you provided are from the Open Data portal. The Open Data Portal has videos and direction on the basics about interacting with the data site. I want a High Level comprehensive overview - which allows me to drill down on specific issues. For example, how much tax do I pay ? how do I pay that tax? and how does that tax budget reconcile to city spending? Open source data can help make this happen. The Assessment and Taxation Self Service Menu may be of interest to you. There is a "My Properties" account log in option. You may also be interested in the City's Open Data Portalor the Open Budget tool.  How do I ask a question about city upkeep and things going on? If you are interested in upkeep in a particular area, please contact 311 to find out more. They will provide you with a unique reference number for the request if service is required. Why too many pan-handlers on every corner even on red light? You may be interested in an initiative announced on August 3, 2018 - Mayor and Community Organizations Partner to Address and Reduce Unsafe Panhandling I do! If I have a public improvement question (There's a park near our house that could use a safety improvement) how do I address that or get it answered? Even to run a capital or general improvement campaign for new sandbox toys or whatever. If you have a question about a particular park, please contact 311. Another option is to contact the ward Councillor if you have a suggestion for improvements.   What happened to the walking bridge between the U of M and St. Vital?  A crossing between the University of Manitoba and St. Vital over the Red River is included in the City's Transportation Master Plan and in the Pedestrian and Cycling Strategies. The University of Manitoba / River Park South Connection was recommended to be considered as a new crossing to better accommodate pedestrian and cyclist mobility throughout Winnipeg. Ongoing Opportunities for Engagement Citizens encouraged to get involved on Boards and Commissions The City of Winnipeg is accepting applications for positions on various Boards and Commissions until October 19, 2018.  If you are interested, please visit the following link for more information and to apply online or access application forms at City of Winnipeg – 2019 Citizen Appointments to Boards & Commissions. Engagement Updates Adjustable bike lane curbs pilot complete.  Starting the week of August 21, 2017, the City of Winnipeg ran a nine-month technical trial of adjustable bike lane curbs on existing bike lanes. The pilot is now complete. A public engagement report is now available under the documents tab. Thank you to the 347 people who provided feedback through an online survey available on this project page between August 21, 2017 and June 1, 2018. In both pilot locations (Sherbrook Street and Bannatyne Avenue), respondents using all modes of transportation (driving, cycling, and walking) expressed increased comfort when passing through areas with adjustable curbs. For more information, please visit the pilot webpage.  This newsletter is sent out every other Thursday. We strive to promote events at least two weeks ahead through other means such as newspaper ads, social media, and direct mail. 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