From Kathy Nyland, Director of City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
Mayor Murray recently issued an Executive Order directing the city to approach outreach and engagement in an equitable manner. Putting an equity lens on our approaches is bold and, yes, brave. It shows a commitment to practices that address accessibility and equity.
What does this mean?
- We often hear that meetings can feel like we are “checking a box.” The Mayor’s action means we can create processes that are more relationship-based and build authentic partnerships.
- It means that we can create plans that are culturally sensitive, which includes an emphasis on translated materials.
- It means we broaden access points, identify obstacles and turn them into opportunities.
What else does this mean?
- It means we have an opportunity to recreate, re-envision and reconcile many lingering issues, including defining the difference between neighborhoods and communities, providing clarity about roles, and creating a system of engagement that builds partnerships with, and between, communities throughout the city ofSeattle.
- It means that we will be working to expand choices and opportunities for community members throughout this city, recognizing a special responsibility to plan for the needs of those who face barriers to participation.
- It means that we’ll work with city offices and departments on community involvement to ensure that they are effective and efficient through the wise use and managementof all resources, including the community’s time.
- And it means we will expand the toolbox and make some investments in digital engagement.
Seattle is a unique city, and we are fortunate to have so many valuable partners currently at the proverbial table. Those partners play an important role and that role will continue. While we are appreciative of the countless hours our volunteers spend making our city better, we recognize and acknowledge there are barriers to participation. There are communities who cannot be at the table, while there are some communities who don’t even know there is a table. This is where the Department of Neighborhoods comes in.
This is not a power grab. It is a power share. At the heart of this Executive Order is a commitment to advance the effective deployment of equitable and inclusive community engagement strategies across all city departments. This is about making information and opportunities for participation more accessible to communities throughout the city.
This is not about silencing voices. It’s the exact opposite. It’s about bringing more people into the conversations or at least creating opportunities for people to participate so they can be heard.
Face-to-face meetings are incredibly important and those are not going away. But not every person can attend a community meeting, and the ability to do so should not determine who gets to participate and who gets to be heard.
We’d love to hear what tools YOU need to be successful, and we’d like to hear how WE can help you. Share your ideas with us:
- Send an email to [email protected].
- Contact us at 206-684-0464 or mail us at P.O. Box 94649, Seattle, WA 98124-4649
- Join and follow the conversation online using #AdvancingEquitySEA at: Facebook – @SeattleNeighborhoods, Twitter – @SeaNeighborhood.
This is about making things easier and less exhaustive. This is about connecting communities to government and to one another. This is about moving forward.
Kathy Nyland, Director
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
It seems a shame that this article seems to replace an article that contained very good comments–better than the article. Since two nights ago I stayed up later than I planned to read through the comments and write some comments myself under less than good circumstances with the website. (The site seems to have considerable problems as something called ‘Shockwave” seems to crash and then the writer loses all the text, In any case here is what I posted. Bill Zosel had posted an excellent response to much of this and I reference it below, He may not have the patience to rewrite all of his work,
I appreciate all that Bill posted and want to add that I would like to see an accounting of the time of employees’ time used to serve the district and community councils. The Coordinator for Central District Council seems quire busy with other DON and Neighborhood Service Center duties. Those on an email list receive announcements from the coordinator and contacts were listed on the DON;s website (maybe not now). I cannot speak for East District.
Squire Park Community Council produces and distributes a quarterly newsletter and has a website with no help from the city budget or staff, as do most of the community councils in the Central District. I think if Kathy Nyland visited Squire Park CC or Central Area Neighborhood District Council (CANDC) she might be aware of the challenges and the diversity. I have not been aware of representatives on the CANDC who opposed the upzoning. It is around the edges that people, not just those active in the councils ask for tweaking resulting in better design. Neighbors beyond the councils usually attend a variety of meeting for information on development in the neighborhoods and comment. The really good architects and developers seem to take note and appreciated the comments. Our neighborhood comments usually include a desire for more affordable housing and more family friendly units. Accommodations for families with children seem to be left out of much of the new large developments. So far I think most of the developments have been better and will be better with the suggestions. Our neighborhood also takes an interest in reflecting the neighborhood history and character through the arts. We take an interest in transportation, transit and park issues and support local businesses.
I agree with Bill that CANDC mainly acts as a place for City of Seattle departments to spread information which is then shared among the community groups who send representatives to the District Council meeting. Also, a couple of times a year the District Council reviews and rates applications for grants from the City.
As for groups that aren’t meeting where and when they said they would, the group the city appointed to do an update for our neighborhood plan has been guilty of that on more than one occasion. The Mayor has a staff of paid employees. Does he now need to appoint and control neighborhood volunteers? Does the city want to support some type of election system with proportional representation? Isn’t the Ctiy Council the elected body that can make changes to the legislation that created the district councils? What legal standing does this executive order have? Improvement can always be made, but why dis many volunteers who have sit through meetings, create reports and content for newsletters, reach out to retrieve information to distribute in the neighborhood.
Sorry, I see that the original from the 26th is still on the first page. I still wonder why the response was posted on the first/main page of CHS while the City’s response to it is on the main page.