This was a presentation I gave with our Assistant City Manager and OMB Manager at the annual Florida City and County Management Association (FCCMA) Conference in Orlando, Florida.

1. Community Values
Workshops
City of Largo, Florida

2. Welcome and Introductions
Assistant City Manager
Henry Schubert
OMB Manager
Amy Davis
Management Analyst III
Chas Jordan

3. Quick Survey
Do you have budget based public input
in your community?
1. Yes
2. No
3. I Don’t Know

4. Quick Survey
If you do, what type of process do you
utilize to garner that input?
1. Survey
2. Live Workshops
3. Town Hall
Meetings
4. Web “Blogs” or
other services
5. Nothing

5. Public Engagement –
Previous Years
• To provide annual budget input
• Focus Groups
• Citizen “Roundtable Sessions”
• All based upon current budget cycle
and not broad policy discussions

6. 2013 – The Community
Values Campaign
• First Try at an Online Survey
• Three In-Person Workshops with roughly
30 participants in each
• Testing findings from survey and from
workshops separately for statistical
significance
• Reported back to the Community in
Writing and by presentation to City
Commission

7. Strong Community
Identity
• Access to City-sponsored arts & cultural
programming
• Living in an environmentally friendly community
• Promoting an active and identifiable downtown
• Providing community special events
• Building an attractive community (roads, tree
canopy, parks, medians, signs, shopping areas,
neighborhoods, code enforcement, development
standards)

8. Strong Community
Identity
Please choose your highest rank of the five:
1. Access to City-
sponsored arts & cultural
programming
2. Living in an
environmentally friendly
community
3. Promoting an active and
identifiable downtown
4. Providing community
special events
5. Building an attractive
community

9. • City parks
• The two recreation complexes, Community
Center and athletic fields
• The Largo Public Library
• The Largo Cultural Center
• The Largo Golf Course
Quality Community
Amenities

10. Quality Community Amenities
Please choose your highest rank of the five:
1. City parks
2. The two recreation
complexes,
Community Center
and athletic fields
3. The Largo Public
Library
4. The Largo Cultural
Center
5. The Largo Golf
Course

11. Second Year Success
• Focused Survey and Workshop
Discussions on primary findings from
the previous year
• Asked more specific questions in
particular areas that were not
addressed in the previous year

12. Factors of our Success
• Solid Marketing and Communications
– Branding
– Drip Marketing
– Dedicated Call-in Hotline
– Prompt Feedback by Phone or Email
– Dedicated Website to Promote
• http://www.largo.com/values

13. Factors of our Success
• Multimedia Efforts for Multi-
Generational Response
– Constant Contact
– Largo TV Public Access Network
– Business Cards for Commissioners
– Link on City Homepage
– Home Screen for Library Computers
– Posters in City Buildings
– Press Releases / Media Coverage

14. Factors of our Success
• Approaching the Process with a
Different Goal in Mind
– Policy Input versus Budgetary Decisions
– More Dialogue
– Emphasis on Value
– Longer Shelf-Life
– Gives us Data to Trend and Analyse
– Allows for more Strategic Planning in
Funding and Long Term Financing

15. Lessons Learned
• Need to know what we want from the
process
• Constant Refinement and Revision
• Learning how to ask the right questions
in the right way
• K.I.S.S.
• Good Facilitation

16. Lessons Learned – Cont’d
• Commission and Executive Staff Buy-In
• Marketing Plan and Professional
Communication staff
• Provide participants the results
• Account for your participants through
demographics
• People are drawn more to positive
feelings about input than negative

17. Measurable Effects
• Higher Millage Rate
• Recommitment by City Commission to
Strategic Planning Objectives
• Interest from the Commission for more
specific input for broader policy
purposes in the next year

18. Questions and Comments