From stopping traffic, to online surveys, to sending students out on bikes, the city has been going the extra mile to solicit public feedback.
Like other municipalities, St. Albert’s city staff has been experimenting to determine the best ways to gather and use input from the community.
Chris Jardine, general manager of community and protective services at the city, said the increased interaction with the public is the result of internal reviews and discussions.
“We’ve recognized we need to work harder to get stronger consultation on things,” Jardine said.
Public engagement has been part of the continuous improvement project undertaken by city staff.
This year, the city unveiled an internal document that’s meant to guide staff to selecting what kind of public consultation is needed – whether it’s just informative advertisements to open houses or public hearings – depending on the type of project or initiative.
In addition to the traditional open houses, there have been several electronic surveys and an online budget tool.
“We’re trying to be a little more nimble in allowing people to provide feedback rather than showing up to an open house and that’s the only opportunity you have,” Jardine said.
When the city does host open houses, it tries to combine topics where possible.
Recently, the city saw good attendance at a multi-topic open house on the downtown development and 50+ Club renovations.
Efforts to get community feedback to incorporate into the community sustainability initiative have managed to gather more than 2,000 responses to help frame a long-term vision for the city. Those efforts have included using computer kiosks, mail-outs and sending summer students out on bikes to hit the trails and engage people in conversation.
The city’s also been using social media to send out information and draw people’s attention to input opportunities.
“We’ve done a lot of research on different things,” Jardine said, adding one of the areas is how to engage with youth. They’ve also researched electronic citizen panels, something the City of Edmonton is experimenting with its online Insight community.
A key is figuring out why they want to do public consultation, Jardine said.
“The why we’re doing it may result in changing up the what and how we do,” he said, adding they haven’t quite nailed down the “why” yet.
Beth Sanders, president of Populus Community Planning Inc., has worked in the planning industry for about 20 years and has seen municipalities change the ways they interact with their citizens.
Under Alberta’s Municipal Government Act there are minimum requirements for consultation, she noted, adding a few decades ago, those requirements didn’t exist.
But in her own career she’s seen more consultation steps added for developers, and an evolution from merely informing residents to collaborating and empowering them in the decision-making process.
Citizens want more say, Sanders said, and decision makers are shifting to want more information.
“They want to make a far more informed decision,” Sanders said.
For that to happen, residents seeking to give feedback need to show up in a way that’s helpful, she said – offering not just criticisms, but constructive feedback and suggestions.
“It makes it easier for a decision maker to be responsive and enter into a dialogue if there is a dialogue,” she said.
Both Sanders and Jardine noted it’s often impossible for a municipal council to make a decision that pleases everyone.
“It doesn’t mean they didn’t listen,” Sanders said.
St. Albert’s recent efforts to examine its consultation process are part of a trend.
“I would say municipal governments are spending quite a few more resources in learning how to do it well,” Sanders said.
Jardine noted city staff plans to meet with council in February about public consultation.
