Saanich has launched a new way to engage its citizens in a more creative and informing manner.
It’s called Shaping Saanich and it’s more than just a branding tool for city initiatives, it’s a long-term plan to better explain some of the more nuanced (complicated) operations happening in Saanich.
“The campaign is everything to do with strategic and financial planning going forward,” said director of finance Valla Tinney.
Shaping Saanich was designed based on a desire to increase public engagement, and using the results of Saanich’s Your Say, Your Way engagement campaign that ran in the summer of 2018. From that, Saanich learned that residents want information that is easy to understand and access.
“We learned from consultants and research to use concise, compelling and creative materials,” Tinney said.
For example, two new fact sheets are already out and feature the new Shaping Saanich logo. One outlines the 2019 budget meeting schedule and the other explains the basics around the annual B.C. Assessment Authority’s property values and what options Saanich property owners have in light of it.
In all, it’s a bigger and better version of what the late Vic Derman was trying to do during his time as a Saanich councillor. For years, Derman bandied about a concept where the public could have input towards Saanich’s annual budget. The problem was a matter of when, he would say.
“By the time the draft budget is prepared it’s too complicated and convoluted to make changes,” Derman once opined.
In that regard, Saanich’s budget proposal for 2019 is already too far along. However, the new Shaping Saanich model will be used to engage Saanich residents ahead of the 2020 budget, Tinney said.
“The campaign is everything to do with strategic and financial planning going forward, a phased approach to a Saanich public communication campaign.”
During the Your Say, Your Way campaign in the summer, Saanich partnered with Dialogue Partners, an engagement focused firm from Vancouver. Saanich is now using Zinc Communication Strategies to establish which best practices work for municipal engagement.
“We heard from residents that they want to participate in our processes, but they need more information before they can contribute,” said Mayor Fred Haynes. “We want to improve our engagement with citizens by developing easy-to-understand information and more accessible, multi-channel opportunities to participate in decision making about the strategic and financial plans.”
The next fact sheet in the series will focus on how Saanich develops the draft budget.
More opportunities to participate and provide feedback are on the way with Saanich’s citizen and business surveys.