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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 8/13/2011 Meeting Minutes CITY OF GLENDALE CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMISSION ON NEIGHBORHOODS Special Summer Meeting Foothills Recreation & Aquatics Center — Bobcat Room 5600 W. Union Hills Drive Saturday, August 13, 2011 8:30 a.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Vickie Loya, Chair Barbara Cole, Vice Chair John Geurs Sharon Brown Matthew Versluis Rebecca Ontiveros Jo Ann Caufield Manuel Cruz MEMBERS ABSENT: Sharon Sprague Judy Atkins STAFF PRESENT: Matt Cohrs, Neighborhood Partnership Administrator Josie Romero, Neighborhood Services Coordinator Jim Colson, Deputy City Manager I. Call to Order Chair Loya called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. II. Roll Call Chair Loya conducted roll call and noted that Commissioners Sprague and Atkins were absent. Chair Loya also introduced new Commissioner Manuel Cruz and Mr. Jim Colson, Deputy City Manager for the City of Glendale. Mr. Cohrs noted that Mr. Colson in the new Deputy City Manager overseeing the Neighborhood Partnerships Offices as well as the Library and Parks and Recreation departments. All Commissioners and Mr. Colson gave a brief background of themselves. III. Approval of Minutes — June 8, 2011 Commissioner Geurs motioned to approve the June 8, 2011 meeting minutes as written. Commissioner Cole made the second. The motion passed 8- 0. IV. Opening Comments and Objectives Chair Loya announced that the objectives for the retreat include discussion of the Commission Work Plan for the new fiscal year, identification of target areas for neighborhood outreach and tools for outreach. Chair Loya thanked all Commissioners for participating in the retreat this morning. V. FY 2011-2012 Commission Work Plan Review and Discussion Mr. Cohrs explained that in previous year, the Commission was responsible for awarding grants to neighborhoods for neighborhood improvements projects. Mr. Cohrs noted that since there are no longer funds available in the City budget for neighborhood grants, the focus of the Commission has changed. Mr. Cohrs Citizens Advisory Commission on Neighborhoods Meeting - Minutes August 13, 2011 Page 2 of 6 announced that there is, however, $25,000 in one-time funding for the Commission's use as provided by individual Councilmembers from their district budgets. Mr. Cohrs stressed that the Commission needs to determine how to utilize this special funding and how the make the largest impact with the funds. Mr. Cohrs read the following overall goals for the Commission as stated in the Work Plan which was approved at the June meeting. 1. Using the Neighborhood Indications System data, the commission will identify areas in each City Council district that could benefit from additional outreach, communications and partnerships. This activity will be the focus of the August Commission retreat. (Timeframe: August) 2. Commission members, with the Neighborhood Partnership Office (NPO) staff, will meet with the May (at-large member), or Councilmember whose district they were appointed to serve, in the fall to discuss their findings regarding these targeted areas and to seek input and additional ideas regarding potential partnerships, areas of needs and ideas. (Timeframe: September/October) 3. The Commission will support efforts in the targeted areas through the activities of the new workgroups, based on needs and opportunities. (Timeframe: All Year) 4. At the end of FY 2011-12, the Commission on Neighborhoods, with support from staff, will prepare an Annual Report of their activities and what was accomplished. (Timeframe: May/June) Mr. Cohrs discussed the goals for the following workgroups as written in the FY2011-2012 work plan: 1. Neighborhood Capacity Building & Grants 2. Event Planning & Neighborhood Engagement 3. Research, Evaluation &Training 4. Partnerships & Community Outreach Mr. Cohrs stated that he will be the staff liaison for the Neighborhood Capacity Building & Grants workgroup and Ms. Romero will most likely be the liaison for the other workgroups. Mr. Cohrs noted that the workgroups might have overlaps depending on the neighborhoods in question and there will also be linkages with City departments. Commissioner Cruz volunteered to work on the Neighborhood Capacity Building & Grants workgroup and to also assist other groups as needed. VI. Taraet Area(s) Identification Mr. Cohrs stated that the Commission must determine which target areas will be the center for focus for the upcoming fiscal year. Mr. Cohrs explained that the Neighborhood Indicators System will be utilized as a main tool for the determination of the focus area(s). Mr. Cohrs gave a PowerPoint presentation on the Neighborhood Indicators System, which included the following information: • Neighborhood Indicator Systems - What Do They Do? 2 Citizens Advisory Commission on Neighborhoods Meeting - Minutes August 13, 2011 Page 3 of 6 o Earlier programs were used as data systems o Analyzes planning objectives, informs city staff and officials about planning goals to enhance decision making o Evaluate effectiveness of programs and planning policies o Links actions to outcomes to address Quality of Life issues o Informs budgeting decisions o Increases citizen participation • Steps for Indicator Identification o Data collected from: Maricopa County, 12 City of Glendale departments, Housing Evaluation Survey, Private Vendors (i.e. Nielsen/Claritas who took the census data and built upon this information) o Data Clean-Up/Standardization o Statistical Analysis o Final Models o Discussion of Models • Neighborhood Indicators o Three Categories: Economic (includes 9 indicators), Physical (includes 8 indicators) and Social (includes 22 indicators) o All indicators were displayed for review • Categories/Indicators o The indicators are ranked on a 5-point scale o The 5-point scale ranks the neighborhood vitality o 5 = Vibrant, 4 = Strong, 3 = Healthy, 2 = Prevention, 1 = Restoration o The rankings reflect Glendale neighborhoods as compared to other Glendale neighborhoods • Review of Neighborhood Indicators o Cleaned and sterilized data o Statistical analyses o Examined and removed combined indicators o Obtained indicator score for each factor o Combined factor score to create tract score Mr. Cohrs displayed a map of Glendale broken out by census tracts and explained that a sample of 18 tracts were ranked and scored based upon the Neighborhood Indicators. Mr. Cohrs stated that the 18 sample tracts were used because there was not ample time or funding to review and score all of the census tracts in Glendale. Mr. Cohrs stated that detailed Neighborhood Indicators scores are available for the 18 sample tracts for review by the Commissioners. [The Commission took a 15 minute break.] Mr. Cohrs gave an in-depth interactive presentation of the Neighborhood Indicators System with specific focus on the indicators for the 18 sample census tracts. 3 Citizens Advisory Commission on Neighborhoods Meeting - Minutes August 13, 2011 Page 4 of 6 Commissioner Cole stated that the Commission must decide which census tract(s) on which to focus this fiscal year. Chair Loya suggested focusing on a mid-range neighborhood. Commissioner Caufield felt that a small victory for this fiscal year was important and therefore the focus should be on a neighborhood in which an impact could be made in a short period of time. Mr. Cohrs added that the neighborhood capacity must be considered as well. Mr. Cohrs noted that neighborhood capacity can be built, but this can take time as well. Chair Loya suggested focusing on a project in a Healthy neighborhood initially and then replicating the success in a Prevention neighborhood. Chair Loya suggested that choosing two adjoining neighborhoods might be beneficial because the residents in the Prevention neighborhood can see progress in the Healthy neighborhood and then might be more willing to work with the Commission and staff. Commissioner Cruz cautioned that neighborhoods within each tract can differ greatly even over the span of a few blocks. Commissioner Geurs stated that one focus could be on a neighborhood that used to be active, but has become inactive. Commissioner Geurs felt that there might be easier capacity building in this type of situation. Chair Loya wondered if the Councilmembers needed to be contacted prior to choosing a target area. Mr. Cohrs indicated that the Councilmembers would be contacted after a target area was chosen in order to obtain better direction and clarification regarding the challenges and opportunities within the targeted area, which is also in the commission workplan. The Commission continued to review the map of census tracts and also looked at the displays of parks and schools in the sample census tracts. Mr. Cohrs noted that parks and schools can be great partners and tools in capacity building. Ms. Romero agreed. Commissioner Ontiveros discussed the recent improvements at Clavelito Park and noted that this could be done in other areas. The Commissioners agreed to choose two adjoining census tracts: one ranked Healthy and one ranked Prevention. Commissioner Cruz suggested that it would be beneficial to choose a tract near businesses because local businesses have a stake in the neighborhoods and can be good neighborhood partners. Mr. Cruz discussed a small business incubator group with which he is involved and noted that through various workshops and training sessions offered to the residents, neighborhood capacity is built, jobs are created and neighborhoods are improved. 4 Citizens Advisory Commission on Neighborhoods Meeting - Minutes August 13, 2011 Page 5 of 6 Mr. Cohrs noted that in Granada Estates, the partnering Church is providing free tutoring to the school children and explained that this is a great method of outreach and capacity building. Ms. Romero agreed that partners within a target neighborhood are key to engaging residents and successful outreach. Chair Loya added that piggybacking on an already begun neighborhood project might ensure success and avoid duplication of effort between neighborhood partners. Mr. Cohrs agreed. The Commissioners discussed tracts #092714 in the Ocotillo district and #092800 in the Yucca district. Mr. Cohrs stated that the boundaries for tract #092714 are 67th Avenue to 75th Avenue from Glendale to Bethany Home Road and for tract #092800 are 59th Avenue to 67th Avenue from Glendale to Bethany Home Road. Commissioner Cruz motioned to accept tracts #092714 in the Ocotillo district and #092800 in the Yucca district as areas of focus for FY2011- 2012 with specific neighborhoods to be determined at a later time. Commissioner Brown made the second. The motion passed 8 - 0. Commissioner Cruz suggested that all Commissioners should drive through the chosen tracts in order to get a feel for the neighborhoods and in preparation for the next Commission meeting. VII. Tools for Neighborhood Capacity Building and Involvement Mr. Cohrs noted that various tools can be employed for building neighborhood capacity including the following: • Commission workgroups • Partnerships with faith-based organizations, schools, non-profits, local businesses and others • Partnerships with City of Glendale departments such as Code Compliance and the CAT Team • Use of the data in the Neighborhood Indicators System Commissioner Cole requested information on prior projects that have already been completed in the agreed upon tracts and also any other pertinent information which might be helpful when deciding on a specific neighborhood. Mr. Cohrs will follow-up on this request. Mr. Cohrs will provide the detailed indicator rankings for the agreed upon tracts as well. Commissioner Ontiveros requested information on group homes within the tracts. Chair Loya requested that all information be sent prior to the next Commission meeting and Mr. Cohrs agreed. Mr. Cohrs will email a final list of workgroup members to the Commissioners as well. Mr. Cohrs stated that at the September meeting, the Commission will make recommendations for how the $25,000 will be utilized. 5 Citizens Advisory Commission on Neighborhoods Meeting - Minutes August 13, 2011 Page 6 of 6 VIII. Commission Comments and Suaaestions Commissioner Caufield felt that much was accomplished at the retreat and the meeting was a good start to the new year. Commissioners Geurs, Cole, Versluis and Ontiveros all agreed that the meeting was very good. Commissioner Cruz enjoyed the meeting, stated that he was very happy to be part of the Commission and looked forward to the work in the neighborhoods. Commissioner Brown commented that the meeting was very productive. Ms. Romero commented that a very good exchange of information occured at the meeting and was excited for the upcoming year. Mr. Colson thanked the Commission for the opportunity to attend the retreat and stressed that he is available at any time for questions, comments and suggestions from the Commissioners. Chair Loya thanked all in attendance for their participation in the meeting. IX. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned by consensus at 11:12 a.m. Respectfully Submitted, Denise Kazm - k 0 f Recording S- - :ry • 6