What are we doing?
In order for us to engage Camarillo, we need to better understand the communication needs and preferences of our community; we need to educate our community on the roles and responsibilities of local government; we need to meet our community where they are, and provide them with the tools that they need to be engaged. The City of Camarillo's Community Engagement Strategy is a process…a continual improvement process that revolves around understanding and education and two-way communication.
Why are we doing it?
In today’s world of instant information via social media, it is easy to have a conversation, but not always easy to have a factual and meaningful one. When it comes to outreach and engagement, there is no one size fits all template. Every community is unique and it all comes down to communication. And when we communicate, we need to have a strategy for WHO we want to reach, WHAT information we need to share, and HOW we want to receive input. A strategy ensures that the City will be able to provide factual information to the community and solicit constructive feedback.
This is our strategy for building better community engagement:
Here are the steps we have taken so far:
We are entering into 2020 with a fresh mindset, to consider not only the tools that the City needs to function, but the tools that our community needs in order to be engaged in creating a thriving community. Our priority is to enhance communication with the Camarillo community, and we want to know what you would do! We have launched a communication survey to better understand your needs and preferences when it comes to City communications.
With each project or issue, we need to determine our outreach approach: whether it is best to inform the community, involve the community, or collaborate with the community. The guidelines explain the who, what, when, where, and how for each outreach approach, providing guidance to City staff and consultants, and setting the expectation for the community about the information being conveyed.
The guidelines are NOT intended to be a static document; they are meant to be dynamic, continually enhanced as needed to ensure we are consistently striving for our best. We will continually assess the City's outreach by asking the community how they were reached, how they learned about the outreach event, how we may better reach them and their fellow community members.
This is what we are working on right now:
Launching Open City Hall Camarillo
This is an online platform for civic engagement, providing community members who are unable to attend meetings with the same information and provide constructive feedback for consideration by decision makers. This tool can be used as an online alternative to in-person community outreach events, including public hearings and community workshops. This tool can be used in conjunction with community outreach events to broaden the input from the community. Community engagement is a continual dialogue.
Developing a Community Academy
This academy will feature discussions about local government and municipal operations, and it will introduce Camarillo citizens to the role of local government and the services the City provides. It will also introduce opportunities for community members to engage in shaping the future of Camarillo, by volunteering to join with others and participate as a member of one of many city boards, commissions and committees. This unique community academy is expected to launch in Fall 2020.
Better communication that builds connection, harmony and trust...
Ground Rules
As we look to expand our toolkit and build a better community conversation, it is necessary to establish ground rules to set the expectation for the public about how to present their input and to explain what the City intends to do with that input. So how do we get started? By establishing ground rules for the conversation. Here they are...
- Be thoughtful (not careless).
- Be constructive (not critical).
- Bring recommendations (not accusations).
- Bring solutions (not blame).
