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City Council
Staff Report
Report Type: 2024 ANNUAL COUNCIL RETREAT PROGRAM
Lead Department: City Manager
Meeting Date: January 29, 2024
Report #:2401-2537
TITLE
2B. Discuss Key Inputs for Priority Setting: Community and Councilmember Feedback
RECOMMENDATION
Receive key inputs for 2024 Council Priority Setting including Community and Councilmember feedback.
BACKGROUND
The City Council Procedures and Protocols Handbook 1 outlines the Annual Council Priorities setting process, and states that “in advance of the annual Council retreat, that staff solicit input from the Council on the priorities to be reviewed and considered for the following year.” The process also directs “the City Manager and the City Clerk to solicit for the public to share proposed priorities prior to the Council retreat,” and that the “Policy and Services Committee shall recommend to the Council which suggestions if any shall be considered at the retreat.”
Alongside the outlined community and Council feedback through engagement opportunities outlined above, the annual Palo Alto Community Survey, an important source of community input reflecting residents' perspectives on the community, is incorporated to assist the Council in gaining insights into community feedback regarding city priorities.
ANALYSIS
Councilmember Feedback
In December 2023 staff solicited Councilmembers through email communication for feedback on recommendations for 2024 Council Priorities. Two Councilmembers responded with a request to keep the existing four priorities in 2024.
At its December 12, 2023 meeting2, the Policy and Services (P&S) Committee discussed the 2023 Council Priorities and proposed 2024 priority setting process for reviewing and selecting Council priorities and the 1 City Council Procedures and Protocols Handbook: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/city- clerk/city-charterprocedures/2023-adopted-council-protocols-and-procedures-manual-5.2023.pdf 2 Policy & Services Committee meeting December 12, 2023:
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=12186
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Council affirmed this recommendation at its January 16, 2024 meeting 3. The P&S Committee recommended that the Council reselect the 2023 Priorities and have a deeper discussion on the strategies required to advance each priority area. The P&S Committee also recommended that the Council consider the retreat focus on a two-year cycle, with progress indicators, which would allow more time to achieve Council goals. The existing four Council Priorities are:
Economic Recovery and Transition
Climate Change and Natural Environment: Protection and Adaptation Housing for Social and Economic Balance
Community Health and Safety
Between both forms of Council engagement, the email solicitation and Council representation at the Policy and Services Committee, the majority of Council support keeping the existing four Priorities.
Community Feedback
Community survey on Council Priorities via Open Town Hall online platform The City released an online survey seeking community input on Council priorities for 2024. The survey was conducted in December 2023 through January 2, 2024 and collected a total of 396 specific community responses. The areas with most comments included:
Airplane noise
Bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure
Community building
Crime and safety
Electrification
Flood control
Housing and affordable housing
A full report on the survey results can be found in Attachment A.
Palo Alto Community Survey conducted by Polco/National Research Center (NRC) Conducted mostly annually, the community survey is used to gain insights into residents’ perspectives about the community, including local amenities, services, public trust, resident civic participation, and other aspects of living in Palo Alto. A Council study session on the survey results was held on December 4, 20234. Palo Alto residents continue to rate their quality of life highly. Areas contributing to resident satisfaction were City parks and open spaces, which rated higher than national benchmark. City programs and services also rated high in areas of emergency services, public library services and facilities, recreation centers, and reliability of utility services to name a few. Areas of concern included the affordability of 3 Council Meeting January 16, 2024:
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/viewer?id=0&type=7&uid=9abf0ff0-a6b0-4bb3-956c-591fc8f3f03e 4 Council meeting December 4, 2023:
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=13062 3 8
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housing and housing options, affordability of utility services, and overall cost of living. The full report is linked for reference:
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/viewer?id=0&type=7&uid=2d3c6223-90d6-4e16-a141- 8657e7a25191
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
The community and the City Council have been solicited for their input and suggestions regarding the priorities. The community was engaged through the Open City Hall survey platform as well as email communication to City Council directly through [email protected].
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Council action on this item is not a project as defined by CEQA because the Council Retreat and discussion on the 2024 Priorities is a continuing administrative or maintenance activity (general policy and procedure making. CEQA Guidelines section 15378 (b)(2).
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Community Survey on 2024 Council Priorities APPROVED BY:
Ed Shikada