MEMORANDUM
TOSan Mateo City Council
FROMJoanna Jansen and Carey Stone, PlaceWorks
SUBJECTSummary of Community Engagement on the Draft General Plan This memorandum provides a summary of the community outreach and engagement effort that supported the publication of the Draft Geneal Plan between July and early October 2023. The overarching goal of this outreach and engagement effort was to comprehensively promote awareness of the Draft General Plan, engage with all segments of the San Mateo community and provide many channels and opportunities for the community to provide input and feedback on the draft goals and policies. This Summary Memorandum include a list of all outreach events that occurred; Public input channels used to collect feedback and comments; Methods used to publicize and broadcast information; Outreach focused on the City’s Equity Priority Communities; and statistics on the demographics that were engaged with during this outreach phase.
Community Outreach Events
Table 1 includes a list of all outreach events that occurred during this phase of the General Plan Update effort, between July 17, 2023 and October 9, 2023.
TABLE 1 COMMUNITY OUTREACH EVENTS
Date Outreach Event # of Participants
Friday, July 17, 2023 to Sunday,
October 1, 2023 Draft General Plan Online Comment Tool 236 Comments Friday, July 17, 2023 to Monday,
October 9, 2023 Written Public Comments 52 Comments
Monday, June 12, 2023 Meeting with Neighborhood Group (25th Ave Speaks) 4 Wednesday, July 26, 2023 Sierra Club Land Use Subcommittee Staff Presentation 6 Tuesday, August 15, 2023 Video Loco (North B St) Pop-up 20 Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Canvassing and passing out flyers to local businesses in North B Street 25
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Distribute flyers at La Huerta Market & El Ranchito
Market n/a
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Beresford Hillsdale Neighborhood Association Meeting
Staff Presentation 34
Wednesday, August 16, 2023 Virtual Workshop 30
Wednesday, August 16, 2023 Canvassing at Idaho & Poplar Neighborhoods 6 Wednesday, August 18, 2023
Flyers were left at local businesses at Kingston Street in North Shoreview n/a
Tuesday, August 22, 2023 Canvassing at Tilton/Delaware Food Distribution 20 Friday, August 25, 2023 Canvassing at Norfolk and 3rd Ave Shopping Center 10
TABLE 1 COMMUNITY OUTREACH EVENTS
Date Outreach Event # of Participants
Saturday, August 26, 2023 Firefighter’s Chili Cook-Off Pop-Up 85 Sunday, August 27, 2023 North B Street Fiesta Pop-up 115 Monday, August 28, 2023 Canvassing Rogell Street Food Distribution 35 Tuesday, August 29, 2023 Canvassing at North Shoreview Shopping Center 30 Thursday, August 31, 2023 District 5 Town Hall Meeting 125 Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Canvassing at Hacienda Market and commercial center
on North Amphlett 40
Wednesday, September 6, 2023 Canvassing at La Raza Family Market 40 Wednesday, September 6, 2023 District 1 Town Hall Meeting 120 Thursday, September 7, 2023 Canvassing at King Center/Soccer Fields 60 Thursday, September 7, 2023 September Nights on B Pop-Up 100 Friday, September 8, 2023 Movies in the Park Pop-Up 50
Wednesday, September 13, 2023 District 2 Town Hall Meeting 40 Thursday, September 14, 2023 September Nights on B Pop-Up 100 Friday, September 15, 2023 Movies in the Park Pop-Up 75 Sunday, September 17, 2023
Canvassing at Iglesia Pentecostal de San Mateo,
Second Baptist Church, Sturge Presbyterian Church,
Shoreview United Methodist Church, St. Timothy
Catholic Church
8 individuals + 300
total fliers left with
church staff
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Canvassing at Chavez Market, North Shoreview
Shopping Center and along Cary Avenue 30
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Phone call and email reminders to religious institutions and businesses 5
Wednesday, September 20, 2023 District 4 Town Hall Meeting 30 Thursday, September 21, 2023
Home Association of North Central San Mateo
(HANCSM) Meeting Staff Presentation 25
Friday, September 22, 2023 Movies in the Park Pop-Up 75 Friday, September 23, 2023
Autumn Moon Festival Pop-Up (materials provided in
simplified Chinese with bilingual staff) 75
Thursday, September 28, 2023 District 3 Town Hall Meeting 50 Saturday, September 30, 2023 Chamber of Commerce Downtown Festival Pop-Up 100
Public Input Channels
This section summarizes the public input channels that were used to collect feedback on Draft General Plan 2040. The City collected feedback via:
Draft General Plan Online Comment Tool. The online tool was available on www.strivesanmateo.org from July 17, 2023 through October 1, 2023 to allow community members an opportunity to share reactions and feedback on Draft General Plan 2040.
Respondents could add comments directly into a PDF of the Draft General Plan and share feedback on all components of the plan.
Pop-up Events. The City planned 10 pop-up events at locations throughout the city to ensure the outreach process was aimed at collecting input from the following groups per Council direction:
oNon-English speakers
oRenters
oResidents 44 and under
oLow-income and very low-income households
oUnder-represented neighborhoods: North Shoreview, Shoreview, North Central, Central, and East of 101.
At the pop-up events, City staff shared information about Draft General Plan 2040 and publicized the upcoming outreach event.
Virtual Workshop. The City hosted a virtual workshop on Wednesday, August 16, 2023. At this event, participants could ask questions and provide feedback on the Draft General Plan 2040. Town Hall Meetings. The City hosted five District Town Hall Meetings around the city to gather feedback on Draft General Plan 2040, with one town hall meeting held in each Council District. The meetings occurred in August and September 2023. The meetings included an open house format where the community could engage with staff and various General Plan topics, a presentation about the Draft General Plan 2040 with focused topics for each District and a follow-up question and answer session. City Staff were available to answer questions about the Draft General Plan 2040, as well as other projects related to roadway safety, transportation improvements and stormwater protection.
Staff Presentations. The City met with local neighborhood organizations and other interest groups to help spread the word about Draft General Plan 2040 and respond to questions. This included providing a presentation to the Sierra Club Land Use Subcommittee, Beresford Hillsdale Neighborhood Association, North Central Neighborhood Association, and meeting with a neighborhood group about 25th Avenue.
Written Comments. Throughout the General Plan Update process, the City has encouraged people to submit written comments to [email protected]. during the Draft General Plan outreach phase, from July 17, 2023 to Monday, October 9, 52 written comments were received. The written comments can be viewed at
www.StriveSanMateo.org/documents/publiccomments.
Getting the Word Out
To ensure the community was aware of the Draft Geneal Plan and the proposed goals and policies, and to spread the word about project updates and upcoming events, the City utilized a variety of outreach methods and tools:
StriveSanMateo.org Project Website. The project website provided background information, meeting dates, workshop materials, and other ways to get involved. Self-Guided Open House. The City distributed Draft General Plan 2040 self-guided open house stations throughout the city that included boards and materials with information about the General Plan. The stations were available at City Hall and Council Chambers, Downtown Library, Hillsdale Branch Library, Marina Branch Library, and King Community Center. Social Media. City staff made regular posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Nextdoor.com to update the public about the project, including a different Big Idea featured each week. A total of 53 posts were made to spread the word about the Draft General Plan. Citywide Newsletter. The City published a newsletter that announced the publication of the Draft General Plan which was mailed to every residence in San Mateo. The newsletter had information about the outreach events, a QR code to the project website, a description of the ten big ideas, in addition to other information.
Town Hall Postcard. A postcard was mailed to every residence in San Mateo advertising information about the five Town Hall meetings, including the time and location of each event. Sidewalk Decals. The City placed over 190 sidewalk decals around the city that included the Strive San Mateo logo and a QR code to the project website. Earned Media. Publication of the Draft Geneal Plan was prominently featured in a July 18, 2023 article in the San Mateo Daily Journal, as well as in multiple other articles and editorials in the Daily Journal between July and October.
Eblasts. PlaceWorks sent out eight emails to 897 people subscribed to the project mailing list prior to every Town Hall Meeting and workshop. Information about the Draft General Plan and outreach opportunities were also regularly featured in the City’s eNewsletter, which has approximately 13,000 subscribers.
Print Advertisement. Information about the Draft Geneal Plan was featured on the inside cover of the City’s Fall Recreation Activity Guide.
Canvassing and Flyer Distribution. Bilingual staff (English and Spanish) from the Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center (PCRC) and Good City Company distributed flyers to raise awareness of the Draft General Plan and upcoming outreach opportunities by visiting businesses, markets, religious institutions, and by walking or standing in key areas of the city. Draft General Plan 2040 User Guide. The City prepared a user guide for the Draft General Plan that explains what the General Plan is, identifies ten big ideas from the General Plan, and highlights where community members can find the issues they care about in the General Plan.
Ten Big Ideas in San Mateo’s Draft General Plan 2040. The City developed a list of ten big ideas that will guide the next 20 years of San Mateo for community members to use as a resource.
Outreach to Equity Priority Communities
North Central and North Shoreview/Shoreview are both identified as Equity Priority Communities and are located within Council Districts 2 and 4. Leading up to the District 2 and District 4 Town Hall meetings, PCRC and Good City conducted outreach to increase awareness of the Draft General Plan 2040 among residents of equity priority communities and also increase attendance at the District 2 and District 4 Town Hall meetings. This effort was guided by the following principles:
Meet community members where they already are. Proactively go to places where the target audience already is rather than creating new events.
Focus on Non-English speakers. Multilingual with a focus on Spanish speakers and lower- income households.
Use clear and concise language, avoid jargon and technical terms. The information provided should be relevant to the community.
Outreach locations were chosen because of their potential for high pedestrian traffic (parks, supermarkets, major thoroughfares, commercial centers), including community wide events such as the North B Street Fiesta, food distribution events, as well as nonprofit and religious institutions such as the San Mateo Adult School and St. Timothy’s Catholic Church. All activities were conducted by Spanish speaking volunteers from PCRC and Good City. Outreach was completed in many areas of District 2 and District 4 and were effective at reaching residents in the targeted audience that spoke Spanish.
The following is a summary of the outreach effort that focused on reaching community members from North Central and North Shoreview/Shoreview:
Staff/volunteers from PCRC and Good City conducted outreach on 12 separate dates in the afternoons, evenings, weekdays and weekends leading up to Town Hall meetings. Approximately 1,400 total flyers were distributed.
Visited five religious institutions and the Adult School of San Mateo and dropped off flyers. Distributed flyers at approximately 35 businesses located at 6 different commercial shopping centers/strips (El Video Loco and North B Street, Chavez Market, La Hacienda Market, Primas Market, La Raza Family Market, Mercado El Nayarita).
Attended and passed out information to attendees at 1 community wide event (North B Fiesta) and two food distribution events.
Canvassed at Martin Luther King Park twice (afternoon and evening). 1 pop-up event and tabling event on North B Street.
Outreach Demographics
This section summarizes the demographic characteristics of the outreach participants that provided voluntary demographic data. This includes participants from the outreach events listed in Table 1 and demographic data from participants at past outreach events that answered the same question. The summary below includes demographic data from January 2022 to October 2023. The demographic data below helps the project team determine if the outreach program is reaching the full range of San Mateo’s demographics. This data indicates that the outreach program should continue to be refined to increase involvement of renters, younger residents, and residents who identify as Asian, Hispanic, and Black/African American. A summary of the demographics of the outreach participants is presented below. Please note, the demographics summary below is not inclusive of all participants, since participants were not asked to provide voluntary demographic data during the pop-ups or canvassing events.
Is this your first time joining us for a General Plan event? Number of Respondents: 405
•44 percent of the workshop participants were new.
•56 percent had participated in a pervious General Plan meeting.
How are you affiliated with San Mateo?
Number of Respondents: 459
61%
7%
25%
6%
1% 0.2%
Live in San Mateo Work in San
Mateo
Live and work in
San Mateo
Visit San Mateo
to shop, dine, etc
I am not
connected to San
Mateo
Own property in
San Mateo
What kind of stakeholder are you?
Number of Respondents: 360
1%
10%
8%
6%
8%
11%
3%
10%
67%
I am a representative of a homeowners association
I...
I own a business here
I am a representative of another
organization/group
I am a renter
I work here
I am a visitor or patronize San Mateo businesses
I am a resident
I own property here
How did you hear about the event?
Number of Respondents: 294
How long have you lived in San Mateo?
Number of Respondents: 186
0.3%
4%
18%
22%
21%
11%
43%
News article
Sidewalk decal
Word of mouth
General Plan newsletter
Other
StriveSanMateo website
City email/Social media
7%
9%
6%
71%
7%
Less than 5 years
5-10 years
10-15 years
More than 15 years
Do not live in San Mateo
Which best describes your current housing situation?
Number of Respondents: 386
Own my home
75%
Pay rent for my
home
25%
Outreach Participants
Owner Occupied
54%
Renter Occupied
46%
City of San Mateo, 2019
What is your age group?
Number of Respondents: 434
27%
32%
25%
15%
0-25 years 25-44 years 45-64 years 65+ years
City of San Mateo, 2019
2.8%
24%
46%
28%
0-25 years 25-40 years 41-64 years 65+ years
Outreach Participants
What is your race or ethnicity? (Check all that apply).
Number of Respondents: 445
8%
0.4%
0.4%
0.2%
17%
7%
14%
52%
Other
Native American
Black/African American
Pacific Islander
Latino/Hispanic
Mixed or other
Asian
White
Outreach Participants
6%
0%
2%
25%
26%
41%
Other Race or Multiple
American Indian or Alaska Native
Black or African American
Hispanic or Latinx
Asian / API, Non-Hispanic
White, Non-Hispanic
City of San Mateo, 2019
Which best describes your household annual income?
Number of Respondents: 240
11%
13%
14%
63%
Less than $75,000
$75,000-$99,000
$100,000-$149,000
$150,000 or more
Outreach Participants
29%
5%
16%
50%
Less than $75,000
$75,000-$99,999
$100,000-$149,999
$150,000 or more
City of San Mateo, 2019