The Institute for Local Government (ILG), of which CSAC is a parent organization, has developed a framework any county can use to plan and execute their public engagement efforts. The TIERS Framework and Learning Lab support county officials and staff’s use of deliberative planning for better public engagement.  

Eight Ways Your County Benefits from Public Engagement

1. Better understanding of the public’s values, beliefs and priorities;
2. More informed residents;
3. Improved county decision-making;
4. More community buy-in and support, with less contentiousness;
5. More civil discussion and decision making;
6. Faster project implementation with less need to revisit again;
7. More trust in each other and in local government;
8. Higher rates of community participation and leadership development.

TIERS Public Engagement Framework

The TIERS Public Engagement Framework for Local Governments contains five ‘pillars’– Think, Initiate, Engage, Review and Shift. Each pillar provides step-by-step directions and companion resources to build a comprehensive public engagement plan.

THINK

The first pillar, Think, guides counties through the initial planning stages of a public engagement effort. This includes conducting a self-assessment, considering the appropriate public engagement approach and building connections within your community.

INITIATE

Using the Initiate pillar, counties begin to develop their public engagement approach and outreach plan. It is important to consider a mix of in person and online activities to ensure representation from target audiences.

ENGAGE

The Engage pillar walks counties through implementing the outreach plan, prioritizing outreach, and implement the public engagement plan, ensuring roles are clear and adjusting as appropriate. It is important to consider potential internal, organizational and external challenges that may arise.

REVIEW

After conducting a public engagement effort, reviewing the effort is essential, beginning with an evaluation of the public engagement approach and outreach plan. This phase includes considering what worked, what could have been better and what, if any, training is needed to improve. The review also comprises reflecting on the barriers the county faced and sharing lessons learned with others.

SHIFT

The final pillar, Shift, encourages organizational changes that would support future success, shifts in external relations and the implementation of policies or resolutions related to public engagement.
 

TIERS Learning Lab

The TIERS Learning Lab is a training and coaching program for local government teams of two to five individuals. In the TIERS Learning Lab, county officials and staff will:

• Learn to utilize the TIERS Framework to successfully plan and implement public engagement – whether it is a one-time event or an ongoing, holistic approach.
• Discuss strategies to overcome a wide variety of barriers and challenges often seen in public engagement work.
• Work through a relevant, local public engagement example to better understand resource related choices (e.g., staffing, money, time).
• Connect with other cities, counties and special districts in the region to provide mutual support for successful public engagement efforts.
• Benefit from customized technical assistance and coaching before, during and after the Learning Lab.

ILG will be holding a TIERS Learning Lab in March 2018 in Sacramento. To learn more, please contact publicengagement@ca-ilg.org or (916) 658-8221.

To access the full framework and learn about future training opportunities, please visit www.ca-ilg.org/TIERS.

Counties Share Their Experiences from the TIERS Learning Lab

In addition to customized coaching and training on public engagement best practices and techniques, the TIERS Learning Lab is designed to provide peer-to-peer learning and team building opportunities. In 2016, four counties participated in the TIERS Learning Lab.

“Although the County had recently held 66 community workshops, experienced staff still found the TIERS Learning Lab to be educational and enlightening.  TIERS is unlike previous public outreach training as it is a system of options and ideas within a process.  We are using the information to inform our current public outreach to be more inclusive, include a variety of activities and input methods and be better advertised.” – Karen Watkins, Planning Manager, San Bernardino County Land Use Services

In 2015, ILG conducted a survey of local government officials and staff. Participants identified a number of challenges including:

• Always same people who participate
• Lack of staff and/or financial resources
• Those who participate are political extreme compared to community
• Residents aren’t adequately informed about issues
• Lack of time
• Lack of procedures for assessing and learning from PE experiences
• Lack of knowledge on best practice

“The TIERS structure is great. Any organization can develop a structure, but the fact that ILG has done this is a real benefit to us. When a problem comes up I can go back to TIERS tools and templates and check my steps to make sure that we are coming back around. TIERS is truly a game changer — remarkably useful and time saving.  As an added bonus, the training coordinators are around to help us answer questions/give us ideas on specific issues, months after the training.”- Kris Balaji, Director of Public Works, San Joaquin County

Even with the best of intentions to encourage broad participation, often only a relatively small number of community members actually take part in public conversations and forums. A failure to involve a cross-section of residents limits the effectiveness of public engagement efforts and negatively impacts the breadth and quality of ideas contributed. It can also reduce community support for the final decisions.