Transparency and Community Engagement for Grand Junction

Most candidates run stating they want to increase transparency and community engagement. These phrases have almost become election buzz words over the years, with little results to be seen after the election concludes. I also ran a campaign based on increasing transparency and community engagement but truly believe these are important expectations from our elected officials and am committed to dedicating the time and effort to make measurable change in these areas.

What does transparency and community engagement look like in local government?

• User Friendly access to see how taxpayer dollars are being utilized and the progress of such projects. This is an area where improved processes can make information more easily accessible to busy residents. While this information is publicly available and can often be found, I would like to review options to make information easier to access.

• Clear Communication: Regular and clear updates about decisions, policies, and upcoming projects. The City currently utilizes options for sharing information, including engagegj.org, a dedicated webpage for collecting community feedback which was launched in 2023, City Manager updates online, social media and more. With the addition of town halls and increased opportunities for public interaction with Council Members, we can increase communication.

  • Town halls in varying formats to allow more community attendance

  • Newsletters, social media updates, articles, public postings, etc.

  • Opportunities to hear from elected officials in meaningful ways

• Engagement and Feedback: Meaningful opportunities for community discussion and feedback. The City has opportunities for community engagement and feedback including some of the below listed items, but these seem to be missed by much of the community until after a visible decision has been implemented. Some ways we can work to increase meaningful engagement earlier in the decision-making process are as follows.

  • Public Forums with opportunities for discussion and feedback

  • Town Halls with Q&A formats offered in person and/or virtually

  • Surveys that are well publicized and dispersed widely

  • Stakeholder meetings with diverse representation, industry professionals, residents, etc. to help shape policies, projects, and decisions that have wide community impact.

  • Research different ways to share City Council meetings (such as live Facebook streaming, which alerts followers that a meeting is starting and allows one-click to watch)

  • Address the current email alerts, which are typically delivered minutes after a meeting has begun, to provide more notice and include bullet points of agenda items without navigating the City website.

• Accountability: Detailed reports on decisions with measurable outcomes, including deviations from original plans and explanations for the changes/how problems are being addressed. These reports are provided by City Staff and available to the public but can sometimes be difficult to find as a community member. Some ways we can increase ease of use are to:

  • Utilize digital dashboards and performance tracking tools which increase ease of access and use.

  • Provide opportunities for community questions and feedback before, during and after implementation.

Over the years, the City of Grand Junction has implemented steps for ensuring information is available and the next steps are to increase ease of access and community knowledge of the tools available for accessing information, along with ease of use.

While there are steps we can take as a City Council to help increase transparency and community engagement, active engagement is a choice that each member of our community must commit to making. It takes time to engage, to show up for council meetings and town halls, to stay up to date on the decisions being made, to provide feedback. Time is one of our most valuable resources, and I am committing myself to provide the time and effort it takes to hear the voices of our community and to represent those voices to the best of my ability. I hope that our community will also make the commitment to participate as we move forward.