OPERATION EXCELLENCE
Community Engagement: New Views
and protest signs popping up on lawns.. Does it have to be contentious? Or can
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everybody win? If you fl ip the script to one of community
engagement eff orts rather than the tradition- al “make your case” approach, the answer can be “yes.” Alex Shoor, executive director of Catalyze SV, a project advocacy and com- munity engagement group, has seen it fi rst- hand—and in one of the toughest housing markets in the country, Silicon Valley. For instance, the group was part of an
eff ort that’s transforming a 17-acre site in Santa Clara, Calif. The land was the sub- ject of more than a decade of community pushback, including a referendum and a lawsuit. But by the end of this year, the developer is scheduled to break ground on an “agrihood”—a new trend for residential development on a working urban farm, with about a third of the 361 apartments desig- nated as aff ordable residences for seniors. Here, Shoor shares some of Catalyze SV’s approaches for better outcomes.
Re-imagine community engagement Community engagement is too often seen as a barrier to overcome, Shoor says. It can instead be a route to greater effi ciency. “What developers want is speed and cer-
tainty,” Shoor says. The best way to get both is to engage the community early—before the typical meetings start. A city meeting isn’t designed for inclusiv- ity or to foster dialogue. It’s often a case of developers telling people things, not seeking interaction. And such meetings often come too late in the process, making for expensive 11th-hour
40 SENIOR LIVING EXECUTIVE JULY/AUGUST 2019
hen a senior living community is proposed, it’s sometimes greet- ed with tense town meetings
changes. Taking extra time at the beginning is less expensive than facing delays at an- other stage. Catalyze SV’s tactics for eff ective engage-
ment include providing meals and childcare, doing intentional and inclusive outreach, having materials and communications in different languages, and using broadcast and social media for real-time interaction. Extend your outreach, too, Catalyze SV
suggests. A 500-foot radius from the site isn’t enough to include many of the people aff ected by a project. Reach out to a variety of existing community groups, too. Sound like a lot of work? “Community
engagement is the tiniest drop in the buck- et” against the overall cost of a project, especially one that stalls out.
Create a feedback loop As part of these early meetings, Shoor says, “you listen to their ideas fi rst. Then you incorporate those ideas into the project. Then you tell the community how you did it, creating a feedback loop.” Listening, incorporating, and communi-
cating what you did about community ideas and concerns are all equally important. Fol- lowing this pattern creates trust and gener- ates good ideas (the agrihood grew from the vision of a local pizza-shop owner leading a group of neighbors). “You identify potential supporters along
the way,” Shoor says. “Those are the folks who may be showing up and speaking in favor of your project.”
Use a trained facilitator We’ve all been at meetings that go off track—a discussion of a proposed project turns into a monologue (or argument) about traffi c congestion.
Change Agent Profi le
Alex Shoor Executive Director Catalyze SV
Net More Successful Outcomes for All By Sara Wildberger
A trained meeting facilitator can point
out that this is a valid issue, set a time for later discussion, and get back on the subject. They can help include diverse voices and make people feel heard. They can help ev- eryone take a step back if things get heated. It also helps if the facilitator isn’t from either the city or the developer. This way, the facilitator can concentrate on that job, and isn’t trying to handle feedback and comments at the same time.
Early and often pays off “This is not intended to take a long time or be difficult,” Shoor says. “These are basic principles of managing human expectations.” Eff ective and early community engage- ment can make planning, approvals, and construction go faster. “Developers can go into all the reasons
why we can’t do this, or we can’t do that, because it will cost too much,” he says. “But time will cost you money, too.”
To see Catalyst SV’s Scorecard and Public Engagement recommendations, visit
catayzesv.org.
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