Citizen Revitalization Project Washoe County Community Relations

1. Citizen Revitalization ProjectWashoe County Community Relations Andrea Tavener Program Assistant 775.328.2720 atavener@washoecounty.us Sarah Tone Washoe County Liaison 775.328.2720 stone@washoecounty.us Nancy Leuenhagen Community Relations Manager 775.328.2721 nleuenhagen@washoecounty.us Kelly Mullin E-Government Information Officer 775.328.3719 kmullin@washoecounty.us

3. Citizen Involvement Overview To provide input to the Washoe County Commission on opportunities to strengthen citizen involvement in Washoe County. The information is obtained through active engagement of citizens within our community. The values and success criteria were developed, reviewed and approved by citizen participants in the project, while identifying opportunities for improvement.

4. Citizen Participation • Through the four methods of participation, more than 290 interactionswith citizens • 15 community forums through Washoe County (1 per CAB and 1 additional CAB leadership meeting) • 40 responses to Online Survey • 3Citizen Involvement Working Group meetings plus 1 additional research support team • 1 Employee forum • Online Community Forums - Peak Democracy

5. highlights citizen comments Seven Citizen Involvement Values and Measures for Success in Washoe County • Place-Based Conversations • Inclusive and Representative Participation • Volunteerism • Ownership and Commitment • Communication and Transparency • Informed and Involved (Education) • Validation and a Sense of Efficacy • (Reference Staff Report Page 4)

6. Community Relations Outreach Tools and Initiated Improvements Areas of improvement for citizenparticipation: • Improve the feedback loop to residents on the decisions and basis for the decisions made at the Board of County Commissioners, Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment (in action to establish a system for insuring reporting outcomes back to citizens). • Use available tools to present neighborhood issues by using Washoe Television (WCTV), website, c-Mail and Open Washoe County. • Investigate opportunities for alternative communication including telephone town halls, video town halls and centralized online resources (for example, improve District Pages on website). • Provide information of value to residents from a neighborhood perspective, for example, emergency calls for service.

7. Options For Citizen Advisory Board Structure • Status Quo –Maintain the Citizen Advisory Boards in their current role, requirements, scope and scale. • Neighborhood Boards/Community Network –A flexible network of community boards managed by local residents. • Topical, issue-based town hall meetings –Issue based, town hall meetings with potential participation by Commissioners and staff as requested. Town hall meetings could be supplemented with other Community Relations tools including online forums, surveys and telephone town halls. (Reference Staff Report Page 5)

8. Request to extend project timeline • CAB Meeting Schedule – Per the June Board direction, Citizen Advisory Board meetings have been placed on hold through December 31, 2012 to allow staff to dedicate time to the Citizen Involvement Revitalization Project. • Quorums –10 of the 14 CABs are without enough permanent members for quorums to hold meetings. • Upcoming Meetings– Two Citizen Advisory Board meetings are scheduled prior to the January 8, 2013 Commission meeting. Request extension of the project timeline to March 31, 2013

9. Thank you: Collaborative Support