Help the City Develop a Public Participation Policy

By Alex Nguyen, Deputy City Manager, City of Alameda

Alamedans participate in public life in many, many ways. Volunteering at the Animal Shelter, providing refreshments for the soccer team, attending PTA meetings and neighborhood traffic meetings, organizing youth sports services, joining the Citizens Police Academy, working with the local Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs, or speaking at public hearings – all such activities contribute to Alameda’s greater community benefit.

But when it comes to City Hall, what are the best ways for people to participate? Coming to a City Council or Planning Board meeting the night of a vote and yelling opposition or posting on blogs to “throw the bums out of office” are legitimate expressions of opinion, but surely are not the most effective or meaningful forms of participating in local democracy.

First, people can only choose to participate if they are appropriately informed. On this note, the City Council has recently enacted  It requires advanced noticing of all public meetings and advanced publication of agendas and reports for those meetings, well beyond California’s public meeting requirements. Also, the City Manager’s office is working to improve the City Website to be more user-friendly and interactive.

In addition to the regularly scheduled council, board, and commission meetings, other community meetings occur throughout the year for specific issues or projects. People tend to attend those meetings based on their interests and concerns.

Second, people only have so much time available for volunteering, so how can City Hall do better to facilitate more meaningful public participation? Understanding that people have very busy schedules, we need to find ways that provide for easier participation. Whether it is via more surveys, a Q&A section on the website, or conducting more town hall or living room meetings in the neighborhoods, it can always be improved.

The City Council has directed staff to propose a Public Participation Policy that will make public engagement more consistent and meaningful. Two workshops have been scheduled to help formulate such a policy. The first one will be Tuesday, March 13 at the Main Library at 7 p.m., and the second workshop will be on Saturday, March 24 at the Boys & Girls Club at 10 a.m. Please attend!