community groups. can you look at how we are engaging in low-income communities? staffs desire, how do we reach out -- the day today folks who are harder to reach and have a ton of meetings to go to. to develop more collaborative and positive working relationships with the public. how we make everybody had a better experience? how do you work together? insure the department is an adaptive organization that uses the latest -- there are all kinds of creative ways to do good process. the picture that you see in the back of this slide, an initiative launched by the

mayor. it is called improve sf. anyone can provide ideas about how to improve san francisco. we are excited to partner with them. the fourth goal is to increase public knowledge of the department's mission. when the public really understands what we do and why we do it, they have a better experience. the international association for public participation spectrum. you see increasing levels of public impact. the different roles are to conform -- in form, consult, involve, collaborate, and power

the public. we looked at what are the different departments activities under each of the rolls. will notify residents, and put things on our website, send e- mails and have informational meetings, when we consult as well me -- is when we seek input from the public. in our assessment, we collaborate together because they're very similar. this is when we work with the public together and plan for policies the workshops as well as advisory committees. we had some expenses -- this is when task forces are used. we have some key highlights of the assessments. we passed but staff at the

public, what is the current role of the public? there are a lot of points that can be gathered from this. the main point is that one of the key point is we see a fairly consistent agreement between about staffing and the public. there is a smaller role for in power, but there are community and staff to fill that may be inappropriate -- that may be appropriate. as another key point, we cannot do everything and not every single role is appropriate all the time. we have to do what makes sense and what is valued for the projects, so we make the best use of people's time. so that we are very clear on

what we are asking the public to do. kind of having clarity. this is what the framework was useful. another highlight, we asked the public and staff to rate the effectiveness of the outreach activities. we saw the majority of staff and community art in be somewhat effective or effective range. there is some room for improvement, but we're not doing too bad. this is a quick snapshot of where the survey respondents came from. it was a fairly good spread throughout the city. we also complemented the on-line survey with focus groups and interviews and organizations and individuals so we could reach people who do not have access to on-line surveys.

another assortment of highlights, people told us to reach us where we are ads already. we want to see more web 2.0. we want to see more culturally relevant outreach. if we speak other languages, we also heard they want more small group dialogue. they think it is more creative and accessible. we heard broadening participation beyond the vocal few. making the role of the public clear, improving accountability and transparency. building strong relationships, making language and the process more accessible, enhancing staff capacity.

education, education, education. monitoring and evaluating our efforts. we are moving forward with the program and training and different things, but we wanted to have frameworks to guide that. she is going to what he threw what we came up with. >> -- she is going to walk you through what became up with. >> before moving on with implementation of the program, we wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page on what this program was set up to do. how we ever going to go about doing that. we have created a set of principles to set the direction and godard program. this is a process that involves staff and senior management. after a lot of debate and rewriting, we were able to boil it down to six key principles. the first one is being

inclusive. identified and involve all of the community members. especially in a city like ours, we know it is important to reach out to businesses and neighborhoods. community groups, seniors, students, families. been thoughtful, -- been thoughtful, figuring out to in our community would be impacted by this project, who would be interested. the translation required, at best methods. our second principle is transparency. we conduct a clear and honest and open public process. members of the public are aware of their levels of involvement and decisions that affect them. insuring that the public is informed. they are made aware of the process and how their impact will be used. keeping in touch, checking into

what the length of the project. that also speaks to the public participation. depending on any type of project, the roles of the public can change. to give them a heads up for letting them know that a project is being proposed in their neighborhood. organizing the citizens advisory committee, getting folks involved from the get go. similar to shaping the addition -- division. -- the vision. we communicate clearly and concisely to the general public. we use plain language of balancing the need to be precise with technical and complex information. when i first started, i was bombarded with akron mississippi. -- with acronyms.

for the average citizen, they may all main -- they may only apply for a permit once in their lives. the only time they will get any information is through a mailed letter. we want to make that interaction worthwhile. the information we provide the to be easy, simple, easy to understand. at the same time, we need to maintain that balance of providing complete and accurate information. that is the challenge with planning. a lot of what we do is so technical, and so complex. how can we communicate effectively, simplify our language while still being accurate. there are tools out there. the rule of thumb for that is if

you can say jam, do not say marmalade. we foster authentic dialogue and appreciate diversity of views. this is what we heard from the feedback. it is a two-way street. our goal is to ensure an atmosphere where people will feel like they can give their input and know that they will be heard. projects will get heated, and we know that. our job is to ensure that we create an atmosphere of trust. the next item is meaningful. we engage the public in a way that is genuine, appropriate, and well planned to achieve the goal. at times, we do get in touch with the public a little late in the game. we intend to make a deliberate effort at the beginning of the

plan to ensure that public consultation is considered and included in the time line during appropriate periods of the project. we will reach out so that the public will know that their input will help shape the decision. the last principle is accountable. we communicate the results of the process to those involved. keeping in touch with folks. letting them know that we have listened, we have heard them. here is the outcome. circling back, they attended the open house, and they gave their input, and that means they are invested in the project. at the very least, we need to close the loop and let them know about the conclusion. for the planning department, our commitment, management is behind this initiative 100%. they have put in time, money,

and resources towards the effort. we have the public outreach and engagement team. we effectively colall it "the poet." we have folks from environmental planning, legislative affairs, city-wide planning. i will be managing the team and a program in itself. for the budget, the team's budget is covered from the department's annual budget. in addition to that, for the friends of city planning, we have a grant from them for this program. the davenport institute, we have a grant as well. we will be pursuing other grants.

program priorities, the program says it all in the name. it focuses on improving our engagement with the general public on the many different projects at any given time. from an eir to a 20-year neighborhood plan, i will provide you with a list of key priorities. the first one being the departments function. the key function is making sure it is being recognized by the department and by staff. it is a key function for planners and the rest of our team. this is being noted and performance appraisals -- and performance appraisals. staff training. we need to set these folks up for success. we need to give them the confidence to execute effective communication. some topics they were thinking about or mediation, cultural

awareness, customer service, and also public speaking. resources. giving them tools to put on their tool belt. the guidelines claudia was talking about, we will have >>, online resources, and meeting materials. -- we will have books, online resources. access to information. strategy to make the information distributed accessible and understandable. when you look at the material on the website, it is clear, it easy to understand, easy to navigate. do we understand what it says? our newspaper notices as well, did they make sense? educational programs. planning 101.

this speaks to our goal about informing the general public as to what we do. this could come in the form of it saturday workshops or video tutorials. alternatives. this is also noted in the goals as well. looking at other ways to share information, it does not have to be a brochure. we can look at really different ways. we could have a conversation on line or we could physically go there. in my last position i was involved in a project to develop a 25 year transit plan for a number of cities. we took our old bus and took it out of service. we put in posters, maps, ipad

and interactive survey, and we went out to the community. we parked back bus in front of the mall, at the farmer's market, the arena. we meant thousands of people and they got on the bus. they gave us their input. they became invested in their local transit system by helping to shape the future. communication. that is my job. a highlight in the feedback or other methods of communication. it is outside of the program's scope, but it falls under my purview as communications manager. that really draws on to broader communication, media relations, social networking. we can draw on does to help the public outreach engagement program.

for monitoring progress, we will monitor progress throughout. planning has done a fantastic job in setting a baseline. we know what people think about and how we are doing. now we can check in to find out how we are doing. we also do interviews as well with stakeholders. that concludes our presentation. thank you for your continued support. we're asking for your endorsement of these program principles so we can move forward. thank you. commissioner wu: thank you. any public comment on the public outreach? >> linda chapman.

personally, i feel there is a lot that is best practices. the director has had meetings where people who were interested could comment on possible legislation, student housing, other subjects. i would just say that the best thing i ever saw in the city was when harry became head of the house in committee at the board of supervisors. i got a call saying, -- he got in touch with all of the people who were doing activist things. we sat there and we all had experience on the ground.

we worked out all these pieces of legislation that protected tenants. we actually -- i remember we had to work out these things. like if we have rent control, do we also need eviction control? it was that basic, that you had to do the same thing i heard in my own field, that they had to figure out originally if it is really a legitimate job qualification for pizza makers to be italian. in the beginning, you do not know, but they found out, and i would also say -- like, nabi hill neighbors had -- we did not have this kind of meeting. it was really wonderful. we had private meetings. something like that would have been helpful if it had happened earlier where we may be found at

the very end and without enough time to respond or get in touch with the people who actually had taken positions on it. we could not get their letters in because we found out too late in the process. in the past, back in the day, we would have found out a lot earlier. i do not know how that did not happen because so much really does go very well. like our height limits, for example. why is it not 40 feet? two things. one had to do with ccdc and conferring with them, confirming that now you have to have garages and maybe it should be higher in order to accommodate more housing. the other had to do with things like having room for stores underneath, and different types of construction that happened at different levels. that made a big difference to us.

it is just really helpful. when we come in here, it is under pressure. also, the out -- may not get beyond a few people. the notification and so on. so i really look forward to this. commissioner wu: thank you. any further public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioner miguel: i would like to compliment joanna nad claudio -- and claudia for the work you have done so far. i have had some engagement over the last year's with the department. i conducted two noontime forums for them on basically answering questions, and they seemed very receptive and understood the principles that were involved. what i have a slight problem

with is not your power point presentation -- although, please do not read slides word for word. i am finding in one section community stakeholders. then i am seeing residents and businesses. then public. then department stakeholders. by the way, stakeholders never divide. i think you are talking about the same people, but you are using all different terms, and that does not make sense to me. then i see under the statement of purpose down in the second paragraph -- achieve what is best for the city and people

that live, work, and play in it. i guess i take offense to the term "play." is it visitors you are talking about? people who come on conventions? i do not know what effective community members means as a phrase. you say members of the public are aware of their levels of involvement. that is somewhat meaningless to me. >> can we turn off the cell phone or take it outside? thank you. commissioner miguel: under principles and number four, you say appreciate adverse use. i hope you would say encourage diverse views.

-- you say appreciate diverse views. you use the numbers in program principles but you use bullet points elsewhere. one or the other, please. i know i am criticizing this document and not your power point presentation, but this is what i got. this is what i had to work with. when we go under program priorities on the level of point, you are not saying any method of identifying the groups you are going to work with or what they even are in the city, which is a first principle in my mind, and at no point do you mentioned something that constantly comes before us five people from the public, neighborhood groups and activists, and that is access to materials and the manner in which that is handled and which

involves lin that a great deal. i understand the overarching concept of a public out reach and the engagement principles statement for the department. i encourage it, but i have a problem with the material that was handed me because i do not think that is as clear and edifying as it should be. commissioner wu: thank you. commissioner antonini: thank you. i think you are doing a very good job, and i appreciate your work very much, and i wanted to focus more on some details while you provide a framework. it goes without saying that all of what your doing, as you alluded to earlier, would be more out --. of course, multi legally, and

also utilizing the internet, which is becoming a bigger and bigger part of communication. however, if you look at the studies, as the age increases, the internet utilization becomes less, so i think it is still important to make sure, especially to senior groups, that we still have good representation in the print and broadcast media. and you get out reached through them. i think local radio and television stations -- and there are a lot of those, and we are fortunate we are in the middle of an area that has very strong media presence -- will often tailor their programming to their interest group. they know who listens to their radio station or watches the

television station, and much of their content is created to address this group. i think if you do this research, make some phone calls, you may have some of your work already done. you can reach them through various stations and television stations, which are numerous in all different languages and all different contents, and even within a single content, for example, sports, you will have one station that has a more broad outreach, and then you get into the ticket at 1050, and it is more focus on a younger demographic that is more intensely involved in the details. anyway, some of the work has been done for you, and you might want to explore that. the other thing is as we move

forward into the stages of collaboration and especially empowerment, we have to make sure that the people we have identified are representative of the neighborhood. oftentimes, and this is just human nature, that whoever is the most active and the most engaged is the one who is going to get the most attention, but we have to be pro-active in reaching out to those who may not be able to come to meetings, may not be able to speak out, not just assume the somebody says that the spokesman for a neighborhood or a group that they do in fact represent that area. a lot of this has to do with people's availability and what is going on in their lives. people with young children are really absorbent the raising of children and beginning of trying to make income, and that is a really hard group to get involved because other demands

are so great. so we have to find some kind of a hook to get them involved. oftentimes it will be an issue that affects them directly, such as playing fields. you will see huge turnouts and huge interests, but if it is something that really is not anything that affects them directly, even though they do not realize it, all these things affect them, it is harder to reach them. so i think that' the other thing that is really important is the contact back, where someone has to be responding, answered quickly pirie whether it be a telephone, in response to an e- mail, or a physical contact point. having a quick response is really important. it is irritating when i'm trying to reach a business, and you go through a five-minute predetermined sequence of having to make selections, and everybody has been through this. a lot of times you just hang up,