HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Futures Committee - 11/09/2015 -
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MINUTES
CITY OF FORT COLLINS
FUTURES COMMITTEE MEETING
Date: November 9, 2015
Location: CIC Room, City Hall, 300 Laporte Ave.
Time: 4:00–6:00pm
Committee Members Present: Committee Members Absent:
Wade Troxell, Chair
Kristin Stephens
Gino Campana
City Staff: City Staff Absent:
Darin Atteberry, City Manager Jacqueline Kozak-Thiel, Chief Sustainability Officer
Jeff Mihelich, Deputy City Manager
Dianne Tjalkens, Admin/Board Support
Tyler Marr, Graduate Management Assistant
Doreen Kemp, Learning and Organizational Development Manager
Kelly DiMartino, Assistant City Manager
Charlotte Boney, Volunteer Coordinator
Invited Guests:
None
Community Members:
Kevin Jones, Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce
Dale Adamy, citizen
Wade Troxell called meeting to order at 4:03pm
Chairman Comments: Mayor Troxell explained the purpose of Futures Committee. Charlotte’s
position as volunteer coordinator is from a recently funded budget offer.
Approval of Minutes:
Kristin moved to approve the October minutes as presented. Gino seconded. Motion passed
unanimously, 3-0-0.
Think Tank Item 11-2015: Volunteerism—Charlotte Boney
Doreen Kemp introduced Charlotte Boney. Charlotte is putting together infrastructure foundation
for a program. Have not had deliberate way to engage workforce in volunteering to this point.
Presentation will cover strategic alignment, emerging trends, and local issues.
Charlotte presented 2014 statistics for volunteerism in the City. Volunteers are engaged widely
in the organization. Nearly 9000 volunteers provided over 100K hours, with a dollar value of
$2.5M. Equates to about 55 FTE. Have work to do around developing
metrics, tracking, and intangible benefits. There are volunteer
opportunities in many departments—Charlotte will look for gaps and how
to fill them. She is speaking with staff to determine future vision. Strategic planning includes a
needs assessment, public meetings, collaboration with stakeholders, and integrating with the
City’s Strategic Plan. Also working on software solution for volunteer management to create
equitable, easy to use, consistent method for application process. Other initiatives include
policies and procedures, recognition, onboarding, branding, and a recruitment campaign. Trends
include low rates of volunteerism among youth, though they are most technologically advanced.
Want to engage low income groups in volunteerism as well. Good to start early. Family
volunteer days are a trend. AmeriCorps is way to engage college age and over volunteers.
Partner exclusively with CSU for internships. Some provide up to 400 hours per semester.
Episodic volunteering is a trend: have less time to volunteer. Good recruitment tool to introduce
through one-time events. Could impact B& C structure: have people volunteer short term for
specific topics.
Impact Volunteering—has real and lasting impact. Interest from United Way. Opportunity to
benefit from corporate social responsibility—the City has made great partnerships with
corporations. Leadership can choose where to have employees volunteer. Opportunity to get
grants based on number of volunteers engaged. Have MaDD now, with 4 hours paid, but
becoming more attractive to millennials. Perhaps expand.
Technology/shared economy—connecting people with needs with those who can fill need. Next
year hope to have a hack-a-thon. Virtual volunteerism could help with boards and
commissions—do on own schedule through message boards. If want to engage in action plans
can do so from across the country. Micro-volunteering could be sharing petitions, reporting pot
holes, etc. This is an area that can be grown. Location based volunteering is also an area for
growth and engages the service sector. Impacts to TBL are that volunteering enhances services
City employees already provide by having more “boots on the ground.” Environmental impacts
include: number trees planted, diversion rates, trails built, healthy homes assessments. Social:
partnerships, ambassadors/stories (believe in what City does—giving time for free—will tell
neighbors), impact on seniors, vulnerable populations, etc.
Cities of Service Video (link in presentation): How to join coalition of cities across the nation.
Comments/Q & A:
• Does Make a Difference Day count in these hours?
o No. These are citizen hours for the City organization. Example: volunteers
working to clean up cemetery.
o Can significantly increase number of volunteer hours. Charlotte will help
departments ID needs.
o Number used to be higher. We have not been very good at tracking hours
recently, so number presented is conservative.
• Many volunteers can’t find anything to work on. Will this help facilitate?
o Yes. If can’t find an opportunity, they can contact Charlotte directly for new
opportunities.
o Makes departments more aware of opportunities for volunteers. Not just stuffing
envelopes. Have highly qualified volunteers who can help with projects. Ex:
Former HP executive wanted to give 20hr/week to the City. Equipping volunteers
to best use their talents. Engage community differently with local government.
o Train City staff to engage volunteers.
• Give history of work at Gardens.
o Was volunteer coordinator at Gardens on Spring Creek. Helped expand the
program there. Doubled volunteer hours in one year—engaged unpaid interns,
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worked with SLiCE, getting more groups in, creating one-
day projects, etc. Other part of job was leading school field
trips.
o Results—part of huge success story. Work Doreen has done in workforce
development has been tremendous. Excited to see them work together.
• In 4H volunteerism is a huge component. Have hard time to find projects kids 8–18 can
participate in. Needs to be developed. Work they can do is not always rewarding.
o Have rules about ages that need adult supervision, but no age limit for
volunteering with City. Need to develop opportunities.
• Paid internships and class-based internships. Do you distinguish?
o Yes. Paid interns do not count toward total volunteer hours.
o Is there funding for AmeriCorps?
They get living stipend. ~$900/month.
Talk to Dan Weinheimer. Trying to rollout programs.
• Or Jackie.
• Also working with Nalo Johnson to determine funding for
AmeriCorps.
• Jackie was AmeriCorps so she has first-hand experience.
• Don’t see YAC. Could be more strategic to get youth representatives from their schools,
so can reach back to schools and coordinate across the city with 18 and under
demographic. Thinking of boards and commissions—these may not be structured well for
the future. How can we restructure to get broader based engagement? Media? Looking
for other ways of thinking.
o Will talk to Christine and Aaron Harris (Youth Advisory Commission)
• What is self-regulation in corporate social responsibility?
o Giving back in ways that forward their mission.
o Social piece is about building relationships. If organization has positive
experience volunteering with city, we can build stronger relationships and
networks.
• A co-benefit is greater resiliency; volunteer network becomes platform to get people
moving quickly when there is great need, such as disaster.
• At retreat and working in on strategic plan, discussed great number of nonprofits in
community, with overlap and inefficiency. How can we help organize the nonprofits? Be
a joiner/facilitator? Can we have someone in City organization who knows all nonprofits
and starts pulling them together? Get more traction if talking and working together. Plan
for that?
o United Way is doing this. They select partners, so not all are included. Could
collaborate with Cities of Service to work on issues with nonprofits.
• Climate change: Who is working on it? How do we have one meeting to share and move
forward? Homeless coalition in Nashville started small and are now up to 190 churches.
If were working independently, would not be making the progress they are.
• Another form of clusters: collaboration, creating something bigger.
o That is why Cities of Service is of interest. Have internal organizational need to
work on, plus broader community impact.
Ex: Poudre Valley Community Farms is trying to bring urban farming into
the city by buying land and granting low-cost long-term leases to farmers.
Conversations about community separators and providing land for farmers
on them. Would be good to expand this as well.
• Food Cluster is appropriate venue for this.
That would be Social Sustainability charge. This program is out of human
resources, which implies it is about getting help for the City organization.
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Its focus is more volunteer hours to City
departments. Could grow and expand later.
Linking needs and resources.
• Went to Natural Resources volunteer picnic. Is this largest area of volunteerism?
o People are volunteering for a long time in Natural Areas. Parks has most hours of
volunteerism: they use court ordered community service, short term and one time
service, but less long term volunteering. Natural Areas has to turn away
volunteers. They provide high quality experiences and engage in a different way.
o With tourism volunteerism, would be area people would be attracted to. Ex:
visiting Soapstone. Are there big gaps because people centralize on particular
opportunities.
Yes, some gaps. Cities of Service can help. One program they have is
engaging volunteers for all events—train them in composting, etc., and
have them repeat volunteering and become neighborhood leaders.
One gap is Natural Area staff know how to create volunteer opportunities;
but many departments don’t know how to create meaningful opportunities.
Equip the organization to think differently about how to use volunteers.
• If looking out 10–20 years, pie chart of hours worked, we want to expand the section of
volunteering. Diversify portfolio. Gave time cleaning up at cemetery with coworkers—
was easy to do and felt good. Created great connection to staff at cemetery and
volunteers. Opportunity to build relationship with co-creators. Focus on concepts that
perpetuate the idea of co-creation. Millennials need opportunities to ingrain a sense of
social responsibility.
o Can you request work plans incorporate ways to use volunteers?
o Economic and social value.
• Getting kids is a little trickier, but if want them to be engaged. Start early. Becomes
something a family does. To engage with City gives ownership factor. Ex: putting
daycare center in a senior living facility—putting young and old together. Kids can do
things so quickly with computers. Might be people at Senior Center who want to connect
with family across the country and kids can help.
o Works other way as well; seniors can educate youth.
• Co-creator notion is good. Can change language used. Could be part of budget offers to
have volunteer component.
o Could be part of scoring BFO offers as well. One more metric.
o Leverage this and start to break out of silos.
o Add language hearing here into presentation, such as co-creation. Like idea of
setting expectations and wrapping into budget offers. Not just free/cheap labor, it
is a relationship. Co-creation gets to that.
o Like offering a high value opportunity.
o Master naturalists give significant expertise and are being plugged in at right
level. Silver tsunami—have specific skills at this time of life. Intergenerational
aspect. Involving youth in government.
o Word “love” resonates. Do this for people and community you love, not an
obligation. Okay to talk about that.
Showed marketing mock up: hands that make a heart. Engaging
community in ways that make sense.
• Shows love for Fort Collins.
• Logo looks similar to United Way.
Theme/concept of people connecting to mission of an organization. People
love this community. Playing off this.
• Must clearly articulate the why of volunteering.
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• Would worry about spinning off yet another
brand. Should be mindful of that.
• T-shirts with City logo for volunteers could
create issue with identifying staff from volunteer.
Use to leverage our brand, not be a distraction.
Giving shirts so start seeing same look, same branding.
• Community is safer when we have more volunteers. Look out for each other, take pride,
etc. Organizing makes a lot of sense.
DO: Next Steps
• Generally on right track, focus on youth, work on B&Cs (episodic opportunities), explore
Cities of Service, work with sustainability on bigger issue beyond organization to
leverage community nonprofits.
• Take volunteers hours and use as leveraging for BFO scores, use in work plans, if going
to brand make it a fortification, not a new brand, establish relationships not just use for
labor.
• Update language.
• Neighborhood districts, operationalizing that.
o Learning that community neighborhood building initiatives have been going in
slightly different directions and want to pull them together.
o Volunteerism versus engagement gets a blurred line. Charlotte will be involved in
that as well.
• How do you showcase success with community? Art in Public Places? Use a competition
or challenge to tell the story.
o Art expression in city as dimension of volunteerism. Another way of
communicating.
o Intangible aspect of stories. Just as important as metrics.
o Ex: bead in bottle for every hour of volunteerism—large scale Art in Public
Places project.
Murals.
Make it clear and obvious to engage others.
Think Tank Item 12-2015: 2016 Topics and Speakers Brainstorm—Jeff Mihelich
Have ten topics for 2016. Have capacity for 14-25 over the year. Are there other issues to
address? Populate calendar for next year.
Comments/Q & A:
• Anything we should be looking at regarding racism?
o Diversity and inclusivity is scheduled for February.
o Might be good to swap for January. Want to avoid topics on Council’s agenda.
o Could bump KFCG to a later date.
o Check with Tom re: PFA for SUAS.
• Community Architecture
• Concept of World Class for All, including people with disabilities, homeless, with not
all same privileges.
• Urban Farming—what else can we be doing with that?
• NLC Prep: Before NLC next year, create structure in this meeting. Pittsburgh—
alignment to strategic plan.
o Having a real life experience and seeing in action is beneficial.
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o Also good to go together; all see the same things.
o Add structure: If do more planning in advance, Council
could have overview in advance and prepared questions.
o Bring more people too.
• Want Shared Economy soon in the year.
• Trends in Electric Utility: Thinking of how regulatory structure impedes CAP from
private sector perspective. White paper from Solar City discusses what utility can do.
How provide energy services in a community—utility is a part, not necessarily primary.
Change name of topic to: Trends in Energy Services.
• Trends in Solid Waste—subtopic: Water Reuse.
• How fast technology is changing—maybe City is not as agile as needed to be regarding
codes. Are we going to rethink how we engage groups involved in technological change
to make faster changes?
o Shared economy discussion.
o Think of way to be more nimble.
o Our code, especially in land use, is prescriptive relative to other communities.
Will think more about this.
o Real time governance. But government needs to be deliberative. Have different
function. Exist differently from platform for shared services. Tug of war of tech
enablers that provide efficiencies of resources, but we need to be deliberate to
provide long term vision.
o Must be thoughtful and engaged. Can’t rush and make good decisions.
o Responsibly Governing in Real Time
DO: Next Steps
• Revise unscheduled items to include items above.
• Move Diversity and Inclusivity topic to January.
Future Agenda Items
• November: Volunteerism; 2016 Agenda Planning
• December: SUAS; KFCG Renewal & Other Revenue Priorities
• January: Arts and Culture; Smart Cities
• February: Diversity and Inclusivity
Meeting adjourned at 5:19pm.
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