January 13, 2004

SUBJECT: Update on Improving Communications and Outreach Efforts, Including Outreach to Multicultural Populations

REPORT IN BRIEF

Following the December 2002 presentation of RTC#02-455, Explore Options to Improve Community Outreach, Council directed staff to return to Council in December 2003 with an update on improving community outreach, including a plan for outreach to multicultural populations. 

As a result of the Connected Communities/Seamless Services Project, which was initiated in FY2001/02, City outreach activities have increased.  However, many efforts approved by Council are still in the implementation phase.  Additionally, a review currently underway indicates that a limited amount of outreach to multicultural communities is already done by several City departments.  Staff proposes that a community task force be convened to review current multicultural outreach practices and a recently completed report on outreach to multicultural populations, and make recommendations to Council regarding appropriate outreach, given Sunnyvale's unique needs and resources.

BACKGROUND

Following the December 2002 presentation of RTC#02-455, Explore Options to Improve Community Outreach, Council directed staff to return to Council in December 2003 with an update on improving community outreach, including a plan for outreach to multicultural populations. 

This report provides an overall summary of activities to date on improving community outreach, including a proposed approach to developing multicultural outreach.  Due to heavily scheduled agendas, Council deferred this report to January 2004.

EXISTING POLICY

Community Education

Goal 7.2A  Achieve a community in which citizens and businesses are informed about local issues and City programs and services.

Policy Making and Program Planning

Goal 7.2C.1  Representation -- Plan for and encourage an appropriate cross-section of the community when obtaining public input for policy decisions

Service Delivery

Policy 7.2D.3  Access -- Provide reasonable and fair citizen access to information and services within budgeted resources

7.2D3c  Provide appropriate language translation assistance and translated materials to citizens seeking City services.

DISCUSSION

Community outreach includes both communications that build awareness about City issues, activities and services, as well as community engagement methods that encourage residents to provide input on City decisions and participate in community activities. As a result of the Connected Communities/Seamless Services Project, community outreach activities have been an area of focus for the Neighborhood and Community Services (NCS) Division in the Office of the City Manager.  Listed below are some of the new or enhanced outreach activities that have been accomplished to date:

• Community Liaison Service

The Community Liaison Service was created to address difficult, complex, or time-intensive community member issues or complaints.  The Community Outreach Coordinator has lead responsibility for the service.  This past year, the Community Outreach Coordinator addressed and/or coordinated the response to 70 community member questions or concerns.  

• Enhanced Neighborhood Association Support

As part of its mission to strengthen community engagement, NCS staff worked  to build strong relationships with Sunnyvale’s neighborhood associations, attending many neighborhood association meetings, addressing neighborhood association concerns, coordinating City speakers, and supporting associations’ community building activities. 

Community Emergency Preparedness Workshop -- In June 2003, NCS staff supported neighborhood associations’ efforts in planning a Citywide emergency preparedness workshop.  The workshop included presentations from the Department of Public Safety, Red Cross, Santa Clara County Public Health Department, and the Sunnyvale School District.  The workshop focused on increasing residents’ knowledge of how neighborhoods and members of the community can prepare in the case of an emergency.  

 

Mailings -- Neighborhood association officers are kept informed about current City activities, issues and events through regular written correspondence.  Neighborhood association officers receive by email all City press releases, public hearing notices, and notices of upcoming community meetings.  For those association officers who do not have email, hardcopy notices are sent by U.S. postal service.       

 

Neighborhood Association Registry -- A Special Agreement with neighborhood associations was developed and approved by Council on December 16, 2003.  Neighborhood associations who enter into a Special Agreement are  “registered” with the City and become a member of the City’s Neighborhood Association Registry.   The Registry enables neighborhood associations to communicate effectively with City Hall, to receive the needed support to carry out neighborhood association activities, and to become more self-sufficient.  Mobile home associations are eligible for the neighborhood registry since they are a type of neighborhood association.

 

Neighborhood Association Information Packet -- This packet is distributed to Sunnyvale residents interested in learning more about the City’s neighborhood associations.  It includes a copy of the Special Agreement with Neighborhood Associations, the Neighborhood Association Registration and Information Sheet, information on the City's community outreach program, an list of current Sunnyvale neighborhood associations with a map, two sample neighborhood association newsletters, information on United Neighborhoods of Santa Clara County (a coalition of neighborhood associations in Santa Clara County), a sample “first meeting invitation letter,” and sample neighborhood association by-laws.

 

Neighborhood Association Quarterly Meetings -- Neighborhood associations participated in four quarterly meetings during 2003.  The meetings are an opportunity for neighborhood association officers to meet other neighborhood leaders, to learn about City activities and issues, to share neighborhood issues and concerns, and to discuss neighborhood association events such as National Night Out.

 

• Community Outreach Meetings

City Council Outreach Meetings -- These meetings are informal opportunities for community members to provide input to, and dialogue with, elected officials.  Neighborhood and community groups invite Councilmembers to attend their meetings, or Councilmembers initiate community meetings to educate the community about a City issue.  The goal of the Council Outreach Meetings is to expand resident input on City issues and to better inform Councilmembers of resident and neighborhood concerns.  

Budget Outreach Meetings -- Between February and May 2003, Council held eleven outreach meetings on the City’s budget crisis.  The outreach meetings were accompanied with Fact Sheets of the City Manager’s 6-Point Plan to address the crisis.  Each meeting was taped and aired on KSUN Channel 18.  In addition to the budget outreach meetings, Council outreach meetings were held with the Sunnyvale Downtown Association and the Sunnyvale employee associations.     

 

Department Outreach Meetings -- NCS staff also provided advice and assistance to other City departments on publicizing their outreach meetings and those of related agencies.  Examples of community meetings include a meeting on a neighborhood traffic study in the Fairwood area and a Mathilda Avenue/237 roadway improvement study with the Valley Transportation Authority.  NCS staff also assisted with the coordination of two outreach meetings hosted by Caltrain to address resident concerns over railway construction noise. 

 

• Other Community Connections and Outreach 

Several internal mechanisms were developed and implemented to more effectively reach out to the community and connect community members with City Hall:

 

NCS Mailing List -- The NCS Mailing List is a list of community members interested in receiving notices of upcoming City-sponsored community meetings.  This list is continuously updated from information provided by community members on community meeting sign-in sheets.   

 

“Connect” Database -- NCS also recently launched the “Connect” database, another useful tool to connect with and engage community members.  This database, still in development, is an inventory of Sunnyvale associations and community groups, as well as the civic-minded community leaders who represent these organizations.  The database includes neighborhood associations, homeowner’s associations, faith-based organizations, mobile home parks, schools, and other special-interest community groups such as the Sunnyvale Badminton Club.  Staff use the database in a number of ways including: retrieving specific information about a Sunnyvale community association (Web site, address, main contact person etc.), or generating a mailing list of community associations and their representatives. 

 

The Community Calendar -- Located on the City’s Web site, the Community Calendar provides community members with an updated online listing of events and activities in the community, including City Council meetings, Board and Commission meetings, and neighborhood association meetings. 

Neighborhood News -- The Neighborhood News section of the Quarterly Report provides information concerning neighborhood issues and events, and often highlights the work of Sunnyvale nonprofit and community groups. 

NCS Web pages -- The City's Web pages were updated this past year to include NCS programs: volunteer services (including online registration), child care services, neighborhood associations, the community liaison service, and information and referrals for youth and family services.  With the transition to the City's new Web site, ease of access to the Web pages is being reviewed to ensure that they continue to be easily accessible and easy to understand and navigate.

Outreach Task Force -- In 2003, at Council’s direction, an Outreach Task Force was convened to determine how the City could communicate more effectively and efficiently with Sunnyvale community members.  The task force, made up of Board and Commission members and City staff, reviewed current City outreach practices and made twenty-six recommendations to increase outreach to the community and to expand community member participation in the decision-making process (RTC#03-371). City departments will implement these recommendations over the next six months (January-June 2004). 

Outreach to Multicultural Populations

While the past year's focus has been on improving outreach to the larger Sunnyvale community, exploration of additional outreach to limited English speaking populations has begun. This emerging issue reflects the shift in Sunnyvale's population from almost exclusively English speaking to more culturally diverse.  The 2000 Census reports that Sunnyvale's population is 53.4% white, 32.3% Asian, and 14.3% other.  15.2% of the population is of Hispanic origin, both white and non-white.  A primary language other than English is spoken in nearly 50% of Sunnyvale households. The Sunnyvale School District reports that 31% of its students are English language learners.  These demographics have increased interest in communicating effectively with, and engaging, residents who are not fluent English speakers, and/or who may be relative newcomers to both Sunnyvale and to the United States.

Two major projects were begun in FY2002/03 focusing on multilingual/multicultural outreach.  The first was a multi-language translation project. This project, budgeted at $250,000, was intended to translate and print flyers, brochures, publications, etc., into the languages of populations with limited English skills. However, as part of the City's response to the City's FY2002/03 budget crisis, the project was cancelled while still in the planning stages.

The second project that was undertaken was a review and recommendation of options that the City could cost effectively undertake to more effectively communicate with and engage in community life the residents of Sunnyvale who have no or limited English language skills.  That study, conducted for the City by Diane McNutt of the public relations firm McNutt & Company, Inc., was completed in September 2003, and is attached to this report (Attachment A).

Current City Practices in Multicultural and Multilingual Outreach

In addition to the projects noted above, some outreach to multicultural populations is also done within current operating budgets. Outreach to multicultural populations varies by department and program. Generally, there are little or no budgeted funds or outcome measures specific to multicultural/multilingual outreach.

However, limited outreach is undertaken within some programs.  This outreach may be funded within current operating budgets, supplemented by grant or other external funding, or made possible by multi-language outreach materials provided to Sunnyvale by other agencies. Several departments conduct some multilingual or multicultural outreach within their current City operating budgets.  For example, the Department of Public Works translates recycling outreach materials into languages other than English; the Parks and Recreation Department does limited multilingual outreach for children's programs; the Communications Office in the Office of the City Manager works  with a variety of news outlets that publish or broadcast in multiple languages; the Columbia Neighborhood Center conducts regular multilingual outreach since a significant population of limited English speaking residents live within its service area; and the Department of Public Safety works regularly with diverse communities throughout Sunnyvale.  The Library is perhaps most active in multicultural outreach as documented in Attachment B, Library Multicultural Outreach Activities.

Proposed Approach for Developing Multicultural Outreach

The following approach is proposed to develop a plan to better communicate with and engage Sunnyvale's broad multicultural community:

This plan necessitates the convening of a community task force to review and make recommendations to Council. Staff proposes that this task force be made up of community members, including leaders from Sunnyvale's cultural communities.  To ensure manageability and effective decision making, staff recommends six to ten members appointed by the Mayor with input from the Council.  Additionally, staff recommends a three-week recruitment period with final appointments made by February 6.  It is anticipated that two to three meetings of this task force should be sufficient to accomplish the tasks noted above.  The task force would be staffed by Coryn Campbell, Manager of Neighborhood and Community Services.

FISCAL IMPACT

There is no fiscal impact associated with implementing this preliminary approach.  Costs associated with the task force's recommendations will be detailed in their April report.

PUBLIC CONTACT

Public contact was made through posting of the Council agenda in public places, on the City’s Web page, and the publication of the general business/public hearing items in the San Jose Mercury News.

ALTERNATIVES

1. Direct staff to proceed with the proposed approach for multicultural outreach.

2. Direct staff to proceed with the proposed approach with changes as identified by council.

3. Other action as identified by Council.

4. Do not proceed with multicultural outreach. 

RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends Alternative #1. 

Prepared by:

Coryn Campbell
Manager, Neighborhood and Community Services

Approved by:

Amy Chan
Acting City Manager

Attachments

A. Outreach to Multicultural Populations with Limited or No English Language Skills prepared by Diane McNutt (pdf format)
B. Library Multicultural Outreach Activities