mincow 02-04-2024 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The committee broadly discussed the goals and objectives of the cityÓs various boards and commissions, agreeing that they want to make sure that boards and commissions are empowered and engaged in meaningful, substantive work. Members voiced ideas for updating and reinvigorating certain boards and commissions to be more aligned with modern concerns like diversity, equity, and inclusion. Councilmember Marx voiced interest in serving as liaison to the Community Relations Advisory Commission. Councilmember Strebig voiced interest in serving as liaison to the Community Recreation and Education Commission. Councilmember Rader expressed interest in serving on the Tree Advisory & Education Board. Councilmembers Bullock agreed to step down as liaison with Lakewood Alive and Councilmember Baker expressed interest that he would like to step into the position. President Kepple explained her expectations that council liaisons should be attending meetings, reading minutes, and touching base with the board/commission chair. Councilmembers and staff discussed strategies for how Council can remain up to date and aware of board and commission decisions and agendas. Councilmembers then discussed the history and the current status of the block clubs, as well as ideas for improving the communication capacity and public engagement strategy of the Council Office. Money Bag Exercise President Kepple gave each councilmember seven paper ÐbagsÑ of money and asked them to write their names on each of their bags. She directed each councilmember to allocate their ÐbagsÑ to the projects in which they are most invested for the next term. Based on the allocations it was determined that CouncilÓs top priority is strengthening its public engagement strategy, followed by the Smart Cities initiative, the Active Transportation Plan and the Climate Action Plan. It was discussed how these priorities did not negate the importance of the other pressing initiatives but that these priorities seemed to be the most actionable at this point in time. In closing, President Kepple then posed the question to the group, that if Council is committed to collaborating on these priorities together, how can everyone best work together? She explained that she felt it was important to hold todayÓs meeting in the Council Office so that everyone could begin to envision how the space could be better utilized to foster deeper collaboration for Council, which in turn would better serve the community. She stated that due to time constraints they would postpone that discussion for another time, but some suggestions were briefly discussed such as making the office a comfortable place for Councilmembers to be able to work and meet with constituents. Concerns around technology were also briefly discussed. Ќ