Counties across California are increasingly facing tough challenges and are asking residents to weigh in in a variety of ways. However, many still find that only a relatively small number of community members actually take part in public conversations and forums. Not involving a cross-section of residents limits the effectiveness of public engagement efforts, negatively impacts the breadth and quality of ideas contributed and can reduce community support for the decisions reached by the governing body.

To help counties better engage their communities, the Institute for Local Government (ILG) has put together the following tips for increasing engagement.

Develop Relationships: Less engaged communities are often critical of the public engagement process. Developing personal relationships with the community can lead to a more inclusive process and community buy-in.

Build Community Capacity to Participate: Community members have varying degrees of familiarity with local government processes and functions. Providing educational materials and/or a process overview at the beginning of the public engagement process will allow more meaningful participation from the broad community.

Fit Your Process to the Participants: Once you determine the purpose of a public engagement process, think about the range of participants you hope to involve before selecting your approach or process(es) for that involvement. This will help create opportunities for participation that will be more appropriate and welcoming for participants. 

Get Help: Identify and consult community-based and intermediary organizations, including neighborhood and grassroots leadership groups, local clergy, faith-based organizations, community and ethnic media, and others that can provide two-way  communication between local officials and community residents on specific issues and polices.

Communicate Effectively and Respectfully: Stay current with the communities’ changing demographics and develop culturally and linguistically appropriate communications materials and strategies. Recognize the importance of communicating with residents in their first language to ensure their maximum understanding of issues. As appropriate, promote public engagement through ethnic media and other intermediary organizations that already serve and work with the communities you wish to reach. Plan ahead for interpretation and translation services if possible. Transportation assistance and childcare can often be helpful.

Be Flexible: Hold public meetings or other public engagement processes in community settings that are known and accessible to the communities you wish to reach. Explore what engagement tools and processes will best meet the needs and conditions of specific populations.   

Have Specific Goals: Take the time to create targeted goals for harder to reach communities. In general, encourage attention and learning about inclusive engagement throughout your agency, and include public information officers in these discussions. Individual departments can develop their own outreach plans to reach specific less-engaged communities or populations.

Stay in Touch: As appropriate, keep current lists of organizations and groups concerned about given issues and keep them informed of opportunities to participate.

Say Thank You and Follow-Up: Express appreciation for those who do become involved. Let participants know how their input was considered and impacted decisions.

Keep Learning: Follow up after specific engagement efforts to determine what worked and what could be improved.

Build it in: Explore the integration of diverse community voices as a part of the overall strategy to inform and support the goals and programs of local government.

For more information and additional resources on public engagement visit www.ca-ilg.org/engagement.