Committee for Community Involvement May 20 2025

Committee For Community Involvement Meeting Agenda

Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m

Meeting Minutes

MAY 20, 2025
Time: 6 p.m.

CCI Attendees:

Karen Bjorklund (Chair), Pat Erdenberger, Marrion Kaufman, Bill Merchant, Amy Nichols, Brent Parries (Vice-Chair), Gordon Slatford, Danielle Weber

Attending PGA Staff:

Ed Nieto (Liaison to CCI), Tonia Holowetzki (PGA Director)

1. Welcome, Introductions
Chair Bjorklund welcomed CCI members and PGA staff.

2. Approval of Meeting Minutes
Vice-Chair Parries motioned to approve the April meeting minutes, and Pat Erdenberger seconded
the motion. The committee unanimously approved the minutes.

3. Public Comment
None.

4. Report from CCI Work Group on Updating CPO Handbook
Marrion Kaufman and Tonia Holowetzki reported on the status of the CPO handbook draft revisions.
Ms. Kaufman noted that she made a few additional, minor revisions to those previously made by the
work group. Ms. Holowetzki reported that she had not received any other suggested edits and listed
the next steps:

• Bring the latest iteration to the next CCI meeting for review
• Send the CCI-approved draft to CPOs to collect their input
• Incorporate CPO suggestions when warranted and review edits and changes with CCI
• Send final version to County Counsel for review
• Ms. Holowetzki does not believe any additional meetings of the work group will be necessary.

5. June 2025 Community Leaders meeting planning update
The committee members’ discussion focused on the role of CCI members during the meeting.

Some members expressed concern that having a CCI member positioned at each of the five tables to capture the questions and answers might inhibit or distract the conversations and relationship building between commissioners and CPO members. Other committee members stressed the value of producing some type of summary of the discussions to analyze and share with CPOs. To address both concerns, CCI members who planned to attend agreed not to act as scribes at the tables, but to
gather right after the meeting to create a summary of themes they heard.

Regarding the meeting’s format, committee members agreed to have each commissioner give a brief introduction (approximately two minutes), preceded by a welcome/greeting by Ms. Holowetzki, before each commissioner spends 15 minutes at each of five tables with CPO members. A CCI member will be seated at each table to facilitate/assist with conversations as needed.

Ms. Holowetzki stated that PGA will ensure that all commissioners will be made aware of the Community Leaders meeting’s purpose, goals and format prior to the meeting.

Chair Bjorklund listed four CCI/CPO backup questions/topics that CCI members could bring up to
stimulate conversation if necessary:

1. What does community/neighborhood livability mean to you?
2. What are the emergency/wildfire preparedness/escape plans for CPO communities?
3. Code enforcement concerns
4. How can CPOs be positioned so they can be seen as valuable by the BCC?

Members agreed that 3x5 cards will be left on each table for additional questions to be submitted after the meeting if necessary. Mr. Nieto agreed to share a Community Leaders evaluation form with CCI prior to the June CCI meeting.

2. Report from CPO Summit on CPO experiences with Code Enforcement relationship building

Chair Bjorklund reported that CPOs provided generally good feedback on their meetings with new Code Enforcement Supervisor Michael Barnes after he reached out to CPOs earlier this year. Pat Edenberger and Bill Merchant agreed and expressed their satisfaction with Mr. Barnes’ support.

Committee members agreed to invite Mr. Barnes to a future CCI meeting to report on his experiences working with CPOs and Hamlets. Ms. Holowetzki emphasized that the focus of the meeting should be on closing the loop on previous discussions and continuing to build a positive
relationship between CPOs and Code Enforcement.

3. Next steps regarding April 2025 CPO Listening Session input

Chair Bjorklund pointed out that three of this year’s participating CPOs were different from those in the 2024 listening session, which indicates that coverage has broadened. She also emphasized the importance of communicating both successes and concerns to relevant departments, particularly regarding transportation and PGA matters.

Regarding broader communication, committee members said the CCI should generally acknowledge CPO input from the Listening Session, which could be done in the new CPO newsletter. Mr. Nieto informed the group that the first newsletter is scheduled for July.

Bill Merchant asked that consideration of more specific ideas on acknowledging CPO input at the Listening Session be postponed to June, to give CCI members time to read draft summaries sent to them shortly before the meeting.

Ms. Holowetzki stated that PGA needs to close the loop with CPOs on the Listening Session and [upcoming] Community Leaders meeting, and would be sending something to CPOs. Chair Bjorklund added that it is a two-part communication process, with CCI acknowledging input from its Listening Session and Community Leaders meetings, and PGA addressing support work with CPOs.

4. Possible actions to discuss at next meeting on pursuing a definition for “neighborhood livability”

Due to time constraints, the neighborhood livability topic was postponed until the next CCI meeting

5. Possible new business to consider for future CCI agendas
 

Practicing how to use the 5 Levels of Public Participation, in preparation for evaluating
public involvement program

For a future discussion, Chair Bjorklund asked committee members to consider using the “five levels of public participation” from the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) in a “test case”
scenario to evaluate a small project recently brought to CCI’s attention during the CPO listening session. Bill Merchant supported the small-scale approach before attempting to implement the IAP2 approach with larger projects.

Ms. Holowetzki informed the group that PGA’s Donna Hockey, who works with advisory committees as part of PGA’s Community Engagement Team, serves on IAP2’s Board of Directors and will soon be able to share an updated version of the “five levels of public participation”

The meeting adjourned at 7:56 p.m.