Planning commission to pilot survey and local town halls to boost public engagement

David Cook, planning manager, told the commission that state law makes the commission the county’s Committee for Citizen Involvement (CCI) and asked members to consider ways to modernize public engagement under comprehensive‑plan Goal 1. “For our county, however, your commission serves as this committee,” Cook said, and asked commissioners to consider hybrid town halls, translations, and dedicated public‑input time at meetings.

Commissioners proposed a short, plain‑language survey distributed through the department’s quarterly newsletter and promoted to specific districts by mail or social media to learn which local issues matter most. Staff agreed Public Affairs could build a draft survey for the commission to review; Henrickson said the newsletter would be a good vehicle to advertise the survey and that staff will send commissioners the survey link.

Discussion also covered follow‑up steps after a survey: targeted community meetings in areas that register specific concerns, using local venues such as fire departments or schools for outreach, and preparing simple informational flyers explaining how residents can participate in planning processes. Commissioners emphasized the need to make technical planning topics easier to understand so residents can judge local impacts.

Next steps: staff will prepare draft survey questions and return the item to the commission in February, with an eye toward distributing the survey before the county’s mid‑March budget submission.