LTD thanks Community Steering Council, adopts new engagement framework

LTD approves its new approach to community engagement. On Aug. 21:

Dave Roth (LTD, Mobility Planning and Policy director): My name is Dave Roth, director of Mobility Planning and Policy with LTD. I’m here to seek a resolution adopting the framework that’s been under development for some time now, in collaboration with the broader community, our Community Steering Council, the LTD board, and the Strategic Planning Committee, as well as LTD staff.

[00:00:28] That dedicated work was known as the Comprehensive Outreach and Communications Assessment (or COCA) process. The resulting product, the framework, is a foundational guide for how we’ll conduct engagement going forward.

[00:00:42] A combination of factors drove this important work. These included: the arrival of new leadership at LTD; evolving community mobility needs and ridership characteristics coming out of the COVID pandemic; and a need to reset engagement practices on major projects.

[00:00:58] We know that LTD serves a community with varying needs, and we need a strong relationship with that community in order to effectively do anything.

[00:01:06] So inputs to the process: The COCA initiative began with extensive best practices research industrywide, as well as an assessment of current LTD engagement practices. Our consultant team conducted confidential interviews with external stakeholders to gather additional feedback and information to inform our process, we held a public web survey. We took staff feedback, we met with community-based organizations. They’re the closest to many of the underrepresented and historically marginalized communities we served, and we took input from the SPC (Strategic Planning Committee) and board along the way.

[00:01:43] And as part of a comprehensive community engagement overall, we created a first-of-its-kind CSC (Community Steering Council) that was charged with providing input, advice, and recommendations to LTD on the development of a new framework for outreach.

[00:01:58] We invited members of the public to apply to be on the CSC and we convened the ad hoc group of over 20 individuals for seven meetings between September of 2023 and May of this year.

[00:02:11] The CSC was comprised of individuals from a variety of backgrounds. We had small business owners and employers. We had students, transit riders, nonriders, Eugene and Springfield-area residents and more.

[00:02:25] We spent a lot of time and carefully considered how we set up the CSC and recruited for it because it was critical that the council be representative of the people in the community. And again, think about riders and nonriders alike.

[00:02:40] We wanted to create a body or a group that helps LTD better understand what community expectations are around engagement and outreach so that we can transform LTD into an organization that can fulfill those expectations.

[00:02:54] So over the course of its seven meetings, the CSC developed the primary organizational elements of the framework: a set of guiding principles, recommended process for stakeholder identification and needs; and strategies and tactics for engagement.

[00:03:09] The guiding principles are the fundamental beliefs, guidelines, and standards that LTD commits to upholding throughout an engagement process. The framework provides really good guidance and a very thorough look at our stakeholders, and that’s something that the CSC was really impactful with on this framework is, is letting us know who we should be talking to, to make sure we’re not leaving anybody out.

[00:03:33] A board resolution adopting the framework tonight marks the end of the COCA process, but really a beginning of a new way of engaging and communicating with our stakeholders.

[00:03:43] And I can give you numerous examples in just the short few months that I’ve been with the organization of where we’ve referenced the framework in our various projects and initiatives in terms of when we’re meeting with consultants, we’re referencing this document and suggesting that this is how we do engagement with the community. So this is already a really good resource for us.

[00:04:05] Going forward, the framework will be a living document and it will serve as the basis for how we engage on all of our projects, programs, and initiatives.

[00:04:17] Pete Knox (LTD Board of Directors): Thank you, Dave. You know, I’m pretty impressed, honestly, you’ve come in here at the end of this, in filling this role, but before you came, I was pretty vociferous advocate of improving our community engagement. I think it’s really important. I think it’s important for us, I think it’s important for the community.

[00:04:39] The process that we’ve gone to, I know it’s a lot of work and a lot of resources involved in getting here. I can’t wait to see how it pans out as far as operationalizing it. Thank you and all the other people and staff who have been involved in that.

[00:04:57] And in a wider sense. I’d also thank the community members who actually came and were part of the process with you guys. So, again, thank you.

[00:05:09] Dave Roth (LTD, Mobility Planning and Policy director): What we’ve communicated to the CSC members is that we will keep in touch with them and go back to them from time to time, whether on a project basis or to update the framework itself.

[00:05:24] John Q: The Lane Transit District adopts a new approach to community engagement.