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City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: STUDY SESSION
Lead Department: City Manager
Meeting Date: December 1, 2025
Report #:2511-5440
TITLE
Receive an update and provide feedback on the City Council’s priority Implementing Neighborhood Town Halls.
RECOMMENDATION
Receive an update on implementing Neighborhood Town Halls and provide feedback on future planning efforts.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
At the direction of the City Council in 2022, the City implemented a series of eight (8) Neighborhood Town Halls in partnership with Palo Alto Neighborhood (PAN) leadership. The series of quarterly meetings from October 2022 through August 2025 engaged approximately 2,100 community members in person and the live-stream video on YouTube. Overall, this initiative improved communication on neighborhoods issues, increased resident/staff awareness, and importantly, built familiarity and relationships to address neighborhood issues.
This staff report outlines lessons learned over the series of meetings and seeks to engage the Council should there be interest to continue a next iteration of Neighborhood Town Hall meetings.
Key success factors:
Meeting locations were set in the neighborhoods, where possible, to support convenient and informal conversations
Following the meetings, e-mails to participants were sent closing the loop with what was discussed and action items/follow-up on items not answered at the meeting Council engagement co-hosting, and City Manager’s Office planning, with neighborhood leaders was tremendously valuable in reinforcing the Council’s priority and City commitment to Neighborhood Town Halls
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Agenda topics were developed with the neighborhood leaders engaged in planning all aspects of the meeting
General question and answer sessions for each meeting was key in hearing about emerging and/or long-standing issues
Outreach evolved with mailed postcards, posted flyers and signs in neighborhoods, and neighborhood leader emails the most impactful ways to reach residents Neighborhood groupings developed by geographic areas in partnership with PAN and Council provided greater resident engagement, similarity of neighborhood issues, and ensured staff ability to implement at a quarterly cadence Tapping established neighborhood association leaders was key to reaching residents and implementing successful meetings
Areas for further review/development:
Refinement of the Neighborhood Groupings to ensure resident representation, noting a new Palo Alto Neighborhoods map in development
Evolve meeting publicity
Refine Council co-host process and engagement
BACKGROUND
In 2022, as part of the City Council approval of its annual priorities workplan directed staff to implement a series of Neighborhood Town Halls. The City Manager’s Office supported the implementation of this priority on the Council’s behalf. Initial planning to implement this priority took place in the Fall of 2022 with then Mayor Burt, Vice Mayor Kou, Palo Alto Neighborhood Leadership and City Staff.
Through these initial discussions, staff developed an overall framework to plan and host Neighborhood Town Hall meetings. Additionally, in June 2023, the Council adopted a Council engagement protocol of up to three Councilmembers co-hosting with priority given to those Councilmembers whose home is represented within the neighborhood grouping.1 All Councilmembers were invited to attend and listen to resident feedback.
At the outset of the Neighborhood Town Hall series, the community was still transitioning out of the pandemic. This series created a new feedback loop within neighborhoods and began as in-person meetings with a live-stream viewing option. To represent each neighborhood equitably, grouping by geographic area and population were considered, which helped focus discussion topics. Staff worked with Palo Alto Neighborhoods leadership, the PAN 1 June 12, 2023 Council Staff Report on Councilmember Co-Hosting Neighborhood Town Hall Meetings:
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/viewer/preview?id=2432&type=0 8 5
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neighborhood map3, the map on Nextdoor, Google Maps, and Census population data to configure the series groupings.
MEETING DATE COUNCIL CO-HOSTS NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPINGS
12-OCT-22 Pat Burt
Lydia Kou
Barron Park, Barron Square, Greenacres I,
Greenacres II, Palo Alto Orchards and Monroe
Park
26-MAR-23 Greer Stone
Greg Tanaka
Pat Burt
Greenmeadow, Greendell, Walnut Grove,
Fairmeadow, Charleston Meadow, Charleston
Garden, Charleston Village, Adobe Meadow,
Meadow Park, and Greenhouse
11-JUN-23 Vicki Veenker
Julie Lythcott-Haims
Ed Lauing
College Terrace, Evergreen, Mayfield, Ventura,
and Palo Alto Central
24-SEP-23 Vicki Veenker
Ed Lauing
Leland Manor, Old Palo Alto, and Southgate
15-OCT-23 Greer Stone
Vicki Veenker
Midtown and Palo Verde
28-MAR-24 Pat Burt
Julie Lythcott-Haims
Crescent Park, Duveneck/St. Francis, Community
Center, and Triple El
11-JUN-25 Ed Lauing
Pat Burt
Keith Reckdahl
Palo Alto Foothills, Esther Clark Park, and Miranda
20-AUG-25 Ed Lauing
George Lu
Pat Burt
Downtown North, University South,
Professorville, Sand Hill Corridor
Meeting Agenda Development
Planning meetings were held with neighborhood representatives to ensure relevant area topics were discussed at each Town Hall. Staff used the opportunity to connect and work with neighborhood leaders to learn about neighborhood-specific topics of interest, to ensure that 3 Palo Alto Neighborhood Map: https://paneighborhoods.org/neighborhood-map/ 8 5
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relevant department heads would be prepared to share updates and answer questions at theTown Hall.
The initial meeting schedule ended up shifting to accommodate lack of representation in some neighborhoods that required more effort by PAN leadership and staff to identify neighborhood leaders to support the meeting planning process. Seasonal issues such as preference for areas at greatest risk to wildfires during the high fire season also affected scheduling. This effort supported building relationships with more community members as neighborhood leaders were identified, ensuring all areas of the City were represented.
Agenda management/development success factors:
Planning meetings with Council co-hosts, Neighborhood leaders and City staff together to discuss neighborhood issues and meeting logistics provided high value Social time among attendees and networking was well received Feedback supported maximizing time for agenda topics and listening session, keeping opening and closing comments short
Designating neighborhood leaders as emcees was helpful with overall meeting management
Iterative Process with Lessons Learned Applied to Future Meetings Each meeting incorporated lessons learned from prior Neighborhood Town Hall meetings; helping to shape the next meeting. After each meeting, staff debriefed with neighborhood leaders, department heads and other City staff, and Palo Alto Neighborhood Leadership to gain feedback for further improvements. As one example, staff began sending an email wrap-up of what was heard and staff response including any follow-up needed.
General approaches with lessons learned include:
Hybrid approach streaming the meeting live on YouTube continues to be requested and utilized
Meeting attendees respected time limits, time-keeper was not necessary Informal updates, without slides were helpful in keeping meeting less structured Check-in table for materials/sign-in
Closing the loop following the meeting is important to reinforce what was heard and address issues raised, with follow-up as necessary
Publicity evolved over time, building on what worked at each meeting with highest impact mailed postcards, posted flyers and signage within neighborhoods and neighborhood leader emails
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ANALYSIS
The Neighborhood Town Hall effort improved communication on neighborhood issues, increased resident/staff awareness, and importantly, built familiarity and relationships to address issues of importance to neighborhoods. Based on residents signing in at the meeting, physical head counts at the meeting, and YouTube views, approximately 2,100 Palo Alto community members attended Neighborhood Town Hall meetings. Staff shared Citywide information and neighborhood-identified topics of interest and heard from the community about concerns and issues. This form of engagement provided immediate opportunities to hear from residents and report back about progress on issues raised.
Each Neighborhood Town Hall provided an opportunity to learn and enhance subsequent meetings. This iterative process applied what worked well and provided refinements based on feedback heard from meeting attendees, neighborhood leaders helping to plan the meetings, as well as input from Councilmembers and City staff participating.
Building Familiarity, Trust, and Relationships
A key value of the Neighborhood Town Hall process was building relationships with residents and neighborhood leaders. Having direct contacts that staff can connect with on other community issues has been extremely valuable.
Additionally, Council co-hosting and direct participation in the planning was key in surfacing key neighborhood issues and reinforced the City Council’s priority implementing the Neighborhood Town Hall series. It was also helpful to communicate to residents attending the meeting that Council was co-hosting. Should there be interest in continuing the series, it would assist staff to gain feedback on the Council co-hosting process noting some imbalance in participation.
Partnering with Palo Alto Neighborhoods was critical in identifying neighborhood leaders to assist with planning, where there was not an identified leader. The varying level of neighborhood association engagement impacted planning efforts over the series of eight meetings. Notably, the last two meetings took longer to schedule due to identifying neighborhood leaders to support outreach, agenda topic development, etc. Engaged neighborhood leads supported resident attendance through delivering flyers, putting out large posters at key intersections/locations, and sharing details through their email lists.
Value of Closing the Loop & Responsive Meeting Materials Over the series of meetings, staff built on what worked well at the meetings prior. One priority that evolved over time, was closing the loop following each meeting. Follow up emails became more responsive with each meeting, ultimately leading to coordinated follow-up eBlasts containing all the meeting materials and flyers, YouTube video recordings, specific staff responses, and related website links for additional updates on key neighborhood topics. This evolution was in direct response to resident feedback, Council input and improving transparency and responsiveness.
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Additionally, as the pandemic evolved, staff anticipated possibly phasing out the YouTube Live element to the meetings. After the first couple meetings where hundreds of people viewed the live-stream YouTube versions, staff continued to provide this as a way for community members to listen and learn about topics. Residents noted value in having the flexibility to watch the recording should they not be able to attend and opportunity of sharing information with limited mobility residents without the ability to attend in person.
Meeting materials provided at each Neighborhood Town Hall evolved as well, ultimately to tailoring materials based on meeting topics and issues raised at the planning meetings. Printed brochures and flyers sharing City program, resources and information were available for pick up at tables set up during the meetings and included on the City’s Community Engagement (https://www.paloalto.gov/engage) webpage to share information, addressing concerns or questions raised by Council co-hosts and neighborhood leaders planning the meetings.
Printed posters and flyers were distributed by neighborhood leaders in their areas to support advertising the meetings. These were co-designed with neighborhood leader and Council Member input and also evolved over time. Feedback heard in this area included interest in adding neighborhood leader and council co-hosts to the meeting agendas, and possibly specific topics and names to mailed postcards. Ultimately, finalizing agenda items and neighborhood leaders involved limited staff’s ability to do this within time to print and mail materials.
The most effective communication avenues staff heard from attendees was the mailed postcards, flyers posted, and a-frame sandwich board signage in the neighborhoods.
Neighborhood leaders requested more a-frame sandwich boards than staff had available.
Should there be Council interest implementing another series of Neighborhood Town Halls, staff could explore purchasing additional signs and solidifying printing and postage budget allocation.
Addressing Neighborhood Issues & Neighborhood Map Refinement When logistics planning began, staff utilized PAN’s neighborhood map, Nextdoor map, Google maps, census data and City GIS information to set neighborhood boundaries. To support residents knowing which neighborhood they’re located in, support staff addressing neighborhood issues, and inform possible future Neighborhood Town Hall planning, staff are working to refine a new neighborhood map, in coordination with PAN leadership. A revised map would cover the City more thoroughly by depicting neighborhoods by street boundaries and featuring a search function where residents can enter their address with a prompt to show their neighborhood name and offer neighborhood association leaders contacts.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
The Neighborhood Town Hall effort was implemented within existing staffing resources.
Printing and mailing postcards and meeting materials costs were absorbed via the City Manager’s Office existing budget.
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STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Staff implemented a series of eight (8) Neighborhood Town Halls in partnership with Palo Alto Neighborhood (PAN) leadership. The series of quarterly meetings from October 2022 through August 2025 engaged approximately 2,100 community members in person and the live-stream video on YouTube. Staff engaged with PAN leadership following the conclusion of the series.
Their feedback and thoughts helped to inform this review with the Council.
Neighborhood leaders helped to publicize Neighborhood Town Hall meeting details through emails, word of mouth, large posters on sandwich boards at key locations/intersections, and printed flyers distributed to homes. Additionally, the City printed and mailed postcards to the target neighborhoods, shared details via City website, City calendar, and communications channels. A dedicated website where meeting materials are posted is available at www.PaloAlto.gov/engagement
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action is not a project under section 15378(b)(25) of the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines (administrative activities that will not result in direct or indirect physical change in the environment).
APPROVED BY:
Ed Shikada, City Manager