Outreach Approach
The General Plan
General Plan Update Process – Commitment to Inclusivity
The City of San Mateo is committed to including all community members in the General Plan Update and has established the following goals and objectives to guide public outreach:
- Explain the importance of the General Plan Update.
- Solicit robust and diverse community participation from a wide range of San Mateo residents and stakeholders.
- Reflect the range of opinions within the community as well as the City’s demographics.
- Provide a variety of outreach tools to make it easy for community members to provide input.
- Involve traditionally underrepresented and marginalized communities in the process.
- Design outreach events to be as inclusive and open as possible, providing a variety of ways in which individuals can participate and contribute ideas.
- Proactively seek participation and input, rather than waiting for individuals and groups to come forward to participate.
Inclusive Process is Broad and Iterative
Since Fall 2018, the City has received input from over 3,000 participants or organizations representing various under-represented community members by:
- Holding eleven community workshops (between Fall 2018 to February 2021)
- Staffing booths at eight community events including at September Nights on B Street and Farmers’ Market.
- Offering three online activities
- Making presentations to numerous community organizations including neighborhood groups, business associations and major property owners, local school groups and non-profit groups.
- Hosting pop-up events at local businesses, churches, parent group meetings, food distribution centers, and bus stops.
Looking Ahead
Moving forward the City will build upon this outreach and introduce new public engagement tools given the COVID-19 pandemic. As of February 2021, large gatherings are still prohibited under County health orders. For future community engagement, the City intends to rely primarily upon virtual events and activities. This includes utilizing a range of online interactive engagement tools, online surveys, virtual town halls, virtual workshops, virtual General Plan Subcommittee meetings, and working with Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center (PCRC) on broadening outreach to diverse and underrepresented groups in the community.
Once public health officials determine it is safe for large group gatherings, people may still be hesitant to come together. It is likely that the City will need to rely on both online engagement and in-person events once it is safe to do so. If you have not already done so, please sign up for email updates.
