 Hey everybody welcome. Good afternoon Go ahead come on in and we're so excited. You're here with us if you wouldn't mind putting in the chat We always like to see where you guys are from so share with us the city that you're from and We hope that you're having a great time at new systems are It's great to see so many people joining us Hi, Lori. Hi, Minnie My store is here one of our members Welcome everyone come on in. We're gonna get started in about one minute Give everyone a few minutes to get in the chat Yes She's famous here You guys are in for a treat Welcome everybody. I hope you guys are learning tons. I know I already have I filled up Like two full sheets of paper already just from one session. So Hope you guys are taking away some great things for your neighborhoods and cities Okay, everyone. We are excited that you're here Thank you so much for joining us today for the can you hear me now workshop how to make sure your presentation to Council or a board or commission is heard and received and you guys are gonna get to hear from somebody fabulous today I'm Tabitha Butler and I'm gonna be your room host I'm from the city of Fort Worth in the communications and public engagement department I get to work with all the wonderful community engagement staff And we're so excited to finally get to put on our conference. We've been planning I do want to point out a few things to you guys before we get started So in the right-hand side of your screen, you're gonna have your chat where you can chat Leave comments or feedback if you'd like there And then underneath the chat bubbles. There is the little guy standing in front of or woman guy or woman Standing in front of the little chop or looking thing like a teacher. That's where you're gonna put in your questions So Mary's gonna answer questions at the end of her session So as we're going through the presentation if you do have one if you'll type it in that box so that we make sure that we get to it at the end and Then the three little people down It's the second to the bottom if you want to directly inbox any of the other viewers You can just click on their name. You can also inbox Mary or myself if you have a specific question or you need assistance with something We could help you after the presentation And then there's the files with the three sheets of paper and that's where you're gonna be able to access the presentation After Mary's done. She's graciously Given that to you guys to reference Later as well. I also just want to remind you guys to If you want to make your screen bigger make it full screen and you go down to the bottom of your screen to the left-hand side There is like a square that's kind of open and you just hit that to toggle the full screen and then that way you can see the presentation More clearly if you need to so without further ado, let's get started I want to welcome Mary Kaiser. She is our fabulous Secretary for the city of Fort Worth and today she is going to be sharing with you all about Presenting in front of council and boards and so I'm going to turn it over to her and you guys need anything inbox or chat with me Thank you so much Tabitha. It's great to be here and Tabitha and I were just chatting about how fabulous this this setup is Not quite as awesome as all of us being live in person in the same in the same, you know arena, but it's still great So glad you all are here and we're going to talk about You know, essentially, can you hear me now when you're getting in front of a board or commission? You really do want them to hear what it is that you are trying to say to them Whether you think something that they're doing is just absolutely fabulous or It's going to have a negative or you feel it's going to have a negative impact on on you personally or your neighborhood Or the city or you know, whatever and so we're going to talk about some of the things that will help you with that So I'm going to stop here and I'm going to share my share my screen Let's see All right, so And so as we've said, it's a can you hear me now? And so our agenda for today is just some tips on what to do how to make these presentations and Some rules and requirements and some of these are local to what we do here in Fort Worth So I've tried to tag those that way, but there there are going to be rules and requirements for making these kinds of presentations How do you register most places? If you're speaking before before a board or a commission are going to have some sort of They want you to register so they know who you are and where you're from and especially if they need to reach back out to you With additional information are their deadlines and then you know some things Okay, you've got a PowerPoint or pictures or a group or a concern You know, what do I do? What are some of the tips that can make those work? Well for you and then what can you expect the council or the board of the commission to do, you know, what's the You know, what's going to be the outcome? So first of all some tips for just making your presentation. Let's just you know, you're there You they've called your name. You're at the podium Well, first of all, you want to state your name and your city of residence at the start of your presentation So they know who you are and The best presentations are about the issue that they're discussing and they are to the point And I did ask our council members here and some of our boards and commissions What makes a good presentation and that was one of the things that they all agreed on it just needs to be, you know to the point you're trying to make and Our limit here is three minutes for a presentation Your boarder commission could be longer could be shorter, but you might want to go a Little bit less. So if it's three minutes, you may want to time it to be, you know Two and a half or two and three quarters. So you've got a little bit of time at the end in case there are any questions and then but don't be a Really long or and don't be repetitive, you know, just get to get to your point and Then if there's a whole group of you that are speaking to the same item If your point has been made and you don't have anything else new to share That's okay. You can just when the chair calls your name. You can just say I don't need to speak my point has already been made and they will make note of that and there's no there's no harm or no Foul for doing that. If you're planning to provide information and you have a copy for everyone Have it organized and ready to to present to most likely the board secretary it could be someone else who will then distribute it and they'll distribute it while you're most likely making your presentation and Try to find out in advance. How many copies are needed? You most likely will need one for everybody that is a member of the board So like for our council, that would be nine But then the city manager and the city attorney also sit in the same area And so we always want to have a copy for them And then one to go into the permanent file for that that evening's meeting So so you may need more than you think and then of course you're going to address your remarks to the entire board not to just one specific member and Then they will ask you to stay at the podium if there's any questions If there are questions and they won't ask you and that doesn't count against your three minutes You know most likely they'll let you make your entire presentation and then if they have questions they will they will ask you and Our podium has a countdown clock So there should be a clock somewhere to kind of give you an idea It may not be an actual countdown clock It could be something that is going to you know It'll be green and then it'll turn yellow which means you've got 30 seconds left And then it'll turn red and a buzzer will go off and your time is up Or it could just be that someone's gonna ding a bell and your time is up But they should tell you that beforehand so you sort of know what what it is that you you know What you need to do what you need to be listening to Because they understand you're nervous when you're up in front of the council and so you When I'll send a bell or a buzzer goes off It's most people jump if you watch the council meetings a lot of people they don't present all the time that buzzer will go off Because they're so focused on their they will literally they'll they'll look shocked so You know try to kind of find out what that's going to be so you can be prepared So what are the rules and many of these are? Are based here on what we do and and I'm talking to my folks across the country that do what I do These are pretty common Most boards commissions councils do require you to register and stand, you know Let them know that you're coming to speak and what the issue is that you want to speak on You should have some standing related to the issue like I said it's something I know perhaps a zoning issue and it's happening in your neighborhood and you happen to be within the notification zone or it's something that's just happening in your neighborhood or near your neighborhood and You think it'll have a negative or a positive impact on your neighborhood So that would that's what would give you standing It could be something even bigger than that that is because you're a resident of the city You feel like you need to come and speak to it so it can be very small Specific to you or to your neighborhood or to the city so it could be any of those things There will be some sort of time limit for speaking and they should you know when you register or at some point They should tell you what that is You can speak in favor of things in opposition or you can be neutral It just you know, you may just want to say, you know, I'm really not opposed to it. I don't think it's terrible I don't think it's great. I'm just sort of neutral. But you know, but you may have some comments that you want to share Now here in Texas There is a law that you are allowed to speak in your native language And you can have we are required to provide an interpreter and in that particular case You would have extra time so our time limit is three minutes You would get six which allows for you to speak and for the interpreter to translate what you're saying And so that you're not trying to do all of that within the three minutes so if you if English is not your, you know, not your first language then you can speak in your native language if that would be easier and We also allow comments to be presented instead of actually speaking There's an option to just fill out what we call a comment card and you can comment in favor of or in opposition to or Neutral and you just write your comments out that way you don't have to actually appear at the meeting and I will tell you the council does read those And you can bring presentations you can bring pictures you can but there are some rules about that and we'll talk about that just in a second Okay, so how do I sign up? How do you do that? That depends here and for or the council we have an online sign up for the council meeting and In order to speak or to provide comments And you can do it Online or you can reach out to my office and we will help you through that process Other boards and commissions you may be able to sign up at the meeting like before the meeting starts They have a sign-up sheet or comments may be able to be mailed in prior to the meeting and then they will be provided to the Board of Commission Or you could send perhaps send comments with someone who's attending the meeting You can't go but you want someone else to bring something for you and in our world of WebEx and zoom and in meetings like this the The sign up to speak may be part of registering for the meeting So you have to have you know essentially invitation to the meeting and then you tell them that you want to speak and then they will Cue you up and and let you start speaking when it's appropriate your turn to speak Now deadlines for our council the it's 5 p.m. The day of the meeting if it's a 7 o'clock in the evening meeting So that gives us two hours to make sure we've got all the speaker lists and in everything's in order and things like that Oh, we do have day meetings every few months that are at 10 o'clock in the morning and the deadline for that is 8 30 a.m But if there is a deadline it should be very clear from the Board of Commission what that deadline is And so like I said others you can sign up at the meeting At the meeting or You know prior to the meeting up to the point that your case is being heard so the Our zoning commission used to do that but now that they're doing their meetings by zoom i mean by webex They have now set a deadline just because of the time it takes But it could be for like the park board that you could you know you could sign up even in the middle of the meeting so You just need to find out and when you you know get notice of the meeting some of that information should be on the notice So i'm going to run through a few slides that show what our council speaker sign up looks like and others may be Similar so ours you go to the calendar and this is a little bit older, but it still works somewhat the same way And then you find the agenda Which is right there circled in red And then you click on the agenda and then you find the item that you're interested in And then underneath it it says speaker comment card and then once you click on that link It will then take you to The speaker sign up and we ask for some information Are you for it or against it undecided? comments, you know, whatever it is that you want to do and then In this instance this person is against it. So you would fill this card out with all of your information And there's the rules at the bottom of you know what the rules are for speaking And there's a bigger look at the card itself and the information that we ask for And then once you submit it you get a little confirmation that says submission complete And then it it comes into our office and becomes part of our master list of speakers and on the and on the card We do ask if you have a presentation to let us know if you have a presentation So You've shown up, you know, you're ready to speak and You have a power point So in in our local rule is that you have to provide it to our office by 3 p.m The day of the meeting and the reason is we want to look at that power point And see just to make sure there isn't anything that's inappropriate or That it works if it has any sound or videos in it that we can play them You know things like that. So we just need it in advance We don't allow people to bring those to the meeting and just plug in and play them at the meeting You should have a brief outline if your concerns or issues, you know, maybe at the beginning Pictures are powerful So if you have pictures that are good quality high resolution Large enough to see what you're talking about And many our podium and I know many out there in many chambers You have the ability to like draw when you're to literally draw on the on the podium Like you can use your finger as a pencil and it would like to make circles around things and And point things out to people And then you want to organize your thoughts You know have your notes with you have it written down some people use their iphone They bring an ipad and they write their thoughts down so they don't forget to say something And then think about what the point is you're trying to get across And is there a positive solution Is there something that would be a win-win for both sides? You know something that you you know, you've talked about or you've thought about You you know, you do have three minutes and you do want to leave Some maybe some time for questions at the end But you can use the whole full three minutes Oh, and you want to be truthful. That's the other I'm sorry. I was kind of covered up here You want to be truthful about you know About what you're what you're saying So if you just have pictures if you had an incident or something happened, you know flooding or something that happened Pictures are good, you know pictures, you know, you know, they're good for you know thousand words That if you're going to display them most likely if they're not in a power point They're just the picture itself If it's glossy, it's not going to display well because the the overhead we have to use The light will it'll just put a glare on it. It'll be very hard to see But so a matte picture and then large pictures with legends or arrows or comments already drawn on them are really helpful You know, you could draw a you know a green box around your house and a red box around, you know Where this something is going in that you think is not going to be Helpful to your neighborhood or good for your neighborhood And so people can get an idea of what you're talking about One of our local rules is that if you have 10 people with you yourself and 10 other people Then you can speak for the group and and in doing that the other 10 people are not going to speak You have six minutes. So you have more time to speak for the group and groups can be powerful But um in our in our local rule is that you have to list them when when you sign up you have to tell us who they are And you can't add them at the meeting and they also have to be present in the chambers in order for this this rule to be in place Other boards and may have other rules that differ but speaking for a group can be powerful Even if they're not there with you and you only have three minutes if you are the president of your neighborhood association Or you are representing, you know 10 of your neighbors that have signed a letter to say, you know You know Mary Kaiser is speaking for me, you know for us and you know, we all in our agreement and that she's speaking for us So groups are powerful. Okay, so Obviously if you're coming to speak to the council, you've got some sort of a concern or an issue So if it's on the agenda as an action item for the council all that previous material I talked about will help you But be sure to read the information that's included in the packet related to that item There's a lot of good background and a lot of good information in there And sometimes if you have a particular question about something The answer may be in there and it doesn't mean necessarily that you're not going to want to come and talk to the Speak to the council But there could be some information in there that you're just not aware of and a lot of the history of how they got to this particular point will be in there If your item is Not on the agenda In our world here in Fort Worth you sign up under public presentations That's what it's called and it's at the end of our agenda. That's for people who are discussing things that are not on the agenda It's very helpful to describe the issue you're having or concerned with when you sign up if possible And then describe the issue What is it, you know, what have you done up to this point to address it? Who have you contacted? What was the result? You know Have you you know who you spoken to anybody within the city? Have you spoken to anybody in? Like you have a neighborhood police officer if it would involve them. Have you spoken to them? You know, what you know, what have you done up to that point? this is Our session used to be called citizen presentations and now called public presentation but This is the this is the card and you put your subject in there and there's two reasons for that one the subject is what you should be talking about and The chair of the meeting is going to want you to stay on topic for that particular Whatever it is that you put down that you want to talk about you need to stay on topic for that And then we'll ask you some other information So what can they do? Again, it depends If it's an action agenda item and you're speaking to it before they take action They can ask you questions and or the council members based on what you've said May ask staff some additional questions Or they may ask the attorney some questions You know to try to you know kind of figure out what what the answer is to whatever your concern is If they don't feel that it's really right to go ahead with the item It can be continued to a future meeting and you know to have an opportunity for Perhaps you to be with staff or with if it's a zoning case Maybe the developer or someone to meet with the neighborhood association You know to do some things like that, you know and get some more information out there They can amend the item they can change it and you know, maybe they were going to do You know They were going to do, you know, five things or adopted ordinance. It's going to do five different things They may decide oh, well, maybe we don't maybe that fifth thing really we don't want to do it So they could amend the ordinance and only do those four things so they could amend the item to change it Or they can vote on it as it was presented to them and you know Thank you for your comments and then just go on with it as it was presented And in some cases if it is being recommended to them from another body like the zoning commission They can remand it they can send it back to zoning to say, you know I think you guys need to look at this again And then it will go back to zoning and it'll start its process over and then come back to the council for action So those are some of the things that they can do Now if it's a non agenda item, it's something that is not on the agenda at all It's just something that you want to bring to their attention Once again, they can ask questions of you Of staff of the attorney to see what can happen They can respond with factual information It could be that there's something that you know, you're asking a question about and there's a good factual answer for it And they can just tell you what that is Or they can direct you to a staff member who has responsibility for your issue Most likely an assistant city manager sometimes a department head They can then meet with you specifically about your your particular issue Or they can ask the city manager to look into it and report back to them later You know about this particular issue, especially if it's something that is They're bringing that may be You know a neighborhood-wide issue or even maybe something that's a city-wide issue That the council wasn't aware of until you brought it to their attention They can ask the city manager to look into it and report back to them at You know In you know six weeks or something like that Okay, and I know my presentation was really short and I know we have an hour and a half So I don't you know, we've got plenty of time for questions and comments The I'm going to throw my contact information up there if you want to make note of that and it's in the the powerpoint that I uploaded that one of the things I did want to say is When you're speaking to a board or commission They do want to hear from you. You know, we have here in texas. We have public info. I'm sorry open meetings act and The reason we have that is we want to hear from the public Because local government this level of government is the level of government closest to the people and so that's One of the reasons that this particular I've done this particular presentation a number of times But it can be intimidating to get up in front of the city council these were people who are elected and But they're also people just like you and you are you will In the city of fort worth, you know, you could run into your council member at your local walmart You could run into the mayor any any number of places in town it's so you want to You know you want to feel comfortable to come down and to talk to them about an issue that is of concern to you so, um Tabetha, I guess we can go through some questions if you'd like to Yeah, we I haven't seen Any completely popped up yet, but I had come up with some as well Sure, so I'll ask and then maybe some that'll spark somebody else. So when you were talking about the comment cards What What type of things would somebody need to make sure that they included on that? I know that they would put if they approve or they disapprove or those different things But if they're going to leave a comment, what's the most powerful thing for a council member to Work member to see Yeah, if you're commenting in favor of something Just you know Why you think it's a good idea, you know, it's going to be This is going to have a positive impact on the neighborhood because we you know if it's like they're Allowing us changing zoning to allow for say a grocery store because we don't have what nearby So we're really excited about that. It's really going to help the neighborhood Or if you're in opposition to something, you know, why is it that you think this is a bad idea? Is it going to have a negative impact on traffic or is it um, are you concerned about the um, You know the ingress and egress to to this place that if you think that you know It really needs a you know two entrances and exits It just something like that whatever it is that is Makes you feel like That this is going to have a negative impact. What's that negative impact going to be So just you know, whatever the fact is, you know pretty much Whatever you would say if you were coming to speak to the council directly right and those keywords, you know safety The why you actually need this or don't want that kind of thing. No, I don't want this And that was I was going to make that point, you know the fact that you just don't like You know, um, I will pick on apartment complexes because that seems to be you know, just because you don't you personally don't like them you know The council hat is tasked with looking at things holistically You know, what is really good for the for the area for the city for the neighborhood And they're looking at it from a holistic piece and you know If if you really do see that there's going to be some sort of unintended negative consequence You know, uh, okay, they say we're going to allow parking on both sides of the street Well, the street really isn't that wide. So, you know Is there going to be enough room for two cars to pass if everybody's parking on both sides of the street? You know things like that that just may not you know as someone who lives in the neighborhood you would you would know But you know, maybe the the council just doesn't I do I do really like that you bring up the comments cards because a lot of people don't realize, you know They might not be able to attend city council or do things but There is other options to be heard that isn't just standing in front of the board and council And we'll hear if fort worth allow for people. Um, they can email my office Um, you know, they see something on the agenda and they can't come and you know, they just don't want to do the comment card You know, if they email me and say, you know, I really want the council to see Do you see my email about this item and hear my comments? Then we will pass those on and that's that's the rule that we have here in fort worth now other places I don't know but that's one of the rules we have here. So we try to make it as easy as possible for great So we do have some questions that have come in the first one is from anna maria She asked is there an age limit to do a presentation? Are kids allowed to voice their concerns? Absolutely Yes, that's a great question and we have had kids come in and she voiced their concerns about things and And they're and kids are very powerful And uh, and sometimes we've had them come because they were concerned about something We've also had them come because they think something is going to be a really good idea And they have come down and they've said, you know, why they think it's a really good idea So, uh, yes, they can usually they will come with a parent and the parent will introduce them and then they will make their comments and um, you know, it's It has worked. It's a week. Yes, we do allow them great So here's another question from mr. Loris Um, she says what is the most frequent mistake presenters tend to make? either I think there's there's a couple It's a really that's a really really good question I think one of the mistakes people make is they they don't Read the information that's provided in The materials that are given to counsel Now having said that I realized that every city does things differently now here in fort worth and I'm speaking specifically to the council themselves We give them a packet of information and it is available on our website So every item that's on there you can click on it and you can see everything that the council is looking at as they're getting ready to make their decision and If people don't read that And then come in and they're really angry and The but then the answer is actually in that material That can be you know That can cannot turn out so well Excuse me And that's one thing is to you know to not be you know Not be prepared to to read that material or The other one is just to you know is essentially I just don't want this I don't have any any reason rhyme or reason or any, you know, I it's I just don't want it I don't like it and you know, I think they the um, you know and you're entitled to that opinion, of course, but um, you know having some sort of Of reason something that's been thought through about why it's not a good idea is certainly going to be more powerful And you know, who have you spoken to have you talked to anybody? You know, uh, have you you know, have you talked to your neighborhood association? Have you you know talked to your council member, you know Anything like that, you know, all those things are are good and that will give you give more oomph to your your presentation But knowledge is knowledge is power for sure right in preparation for sure okay, so I'm going to go to the question box and I'll go back to the comments because there are some questions there too, but Lee is has some things. Let's see. He says hello. My organization worked for three years We had to beg the city to help in our neighborhood We then were unable to continue and the city quit doing also How can I emphasize how important that the city not stop? We have 300 houses on the list to be torn down They were tearing down three every six months. So it sounds like he just wants advice on, you know, how does he continue? Um, and how can he emphasize that the city not stop? That's a good question. Um, I think You know, one of the things could be okay, you know, sort of a little bit of the history about, you know, here's what happened You know, here's how we got started. Here's the the progress. You know, here's what the program was and it was very I'm assuming it was very positive Um, you know, here's what happened. You know, here's the benefit that came from that and then Then suddenly the city stopped and you know, if you can find out why and maybe that's what you're trying to find out Is why did they stop? But if you know why if it was a funding issue then Um, you know, you know offering to say, okay, what you know, what can we do? How can we help? Because this is the benefit to the neighborhood Of x and if we, you know, this would be the benefit of the neighbor to the neighborhood and then, you know, People you've got make it lots now people could build something on there That's going to go back on the tax roll that's going to help the city have more money You know, just kind of thinking through all of those things What's the benefit to the city to keep doing it as long with the benefit to the neighborhood and um, you know And if it's in an area that is represented by one particular council member, you know, having sitting down with You know, by having a meeting with that one particular council meet me can't even talk. I'm sorry council member Would be helpful, you know, uh, what do you, you know, what do they know? What are their their thoughts, you know, what has something else become a higher priority? And what is that and is there a way we could do both, you know Is there some way that we can do that or can we partner with someone else, you know, what you know, what other, you know be willing to um ask questions and uh Think outside the box, um, you know, uh You know, see what the neighbors themselves could do, you know, just come prepared with, you know At least being willing to listen or come with some suggestions And but don't let it go. I mean if it's really really important to you, you know, keep after it and just keep meeting You know periodically gather other people that are supportive and you know and and do you know Do things like that meet with your council members, um, you know Just you know, keep it keep it in the forefront. It's like here when we do our budget Sabbath is familiar with this If you don't ask you get nothing So, you know, you just have to keep asking and keep bringing it up But as pleasantly as you can, you know, as you know always a positive Trying to go from the positive is always better than coming from the negative, but Okay, I pressed a button. That's so like everyone's still there. Hopefully Okay, so Dennis says in Fort Lauderdale if you have an item on the consent agenda, which is only addressed as a separate item um If anyone requests to it those attending. Oh, I think He's trying to say those attending the meeting put on the card for questions only So if the item isn't pulled the mayor knows you will not speak So it sounds like they have an option Um, if oh, I think I know what he's he's saying. Um, yes, we have that option here as well So there's kind of two things in that question. The first part is if your city or the border commission does a consent agenda um They Should have in place. Um, and we have it here that you can speak to those items They're typically the consent agenda is handled all at one time. They're usually non You know, they're things that are not controversial But sometimes there's something on there that really should be pulled off and handled Individually, I think that's what he's speaking for but someone could sign up for that item And this happens at Fort Worth. They could say hey I'm here But only if you have questions if you don't if there's no questions Then you don't need to call on me and then they would just you know Leave that item on the consent agenda And we do have that option here as well and it comes in very handy for zoning cases A lot of times the developer will be here and they're just like i'm here if you have questions Otherwise don't call on me and so um, that is a good thing and that's a good point. Um, that's um, if you're Putting together a meeting and you are going to use a consent agenda. Do you have some way for people to? um Either pull something off to ask a question about or comment on if they want to or For them to do like he says, you know, I'm here if you have a question about this But if you don't you don't have to stop your you know, you don't have to handle it separately So we have another question Um, and I think you might have answered it, but they might have missed it. Um Anna Maria is asking Is there someone to translate if there is a language barrier? Yes, um the as long as we know in advance We don't just have someone there at the meeting, you know, just you know for spur of the moment But um, uh, we do ask that we be told at least 24 hours in advance. We would prefer a little bit sooner Um, but yes, we will provide uh, we will provide a translator You can also we also allow people to bring their own many times somebody will bring You know their their spouse or a friend, you know, that will will help them because they're more comfortable Communicating in their their native language But um, if they can't then we will provide one. Okay. Um Ms. Karen says I know that our city council gets agitated When people overstate support or opposition from the neighborhood Neighborhood leaders may say our entire neighborhood is against this When the truth is that in their neighborhood of 1500 homes All five people who showed up at their meeting were against it They haven't actually talked to most of the people in the neighborhood And I know this is something that we uh have had um going on in Fort Worth as well Yes, um That's true And I think that goes back to the the slide Ray said about being being truthful um the That's a tough one. Um, if the Like there's a couple points to that It's one of the reasons why if you are a member of the neighborhood association It's really important to to go to the neighborhood association meetings And especially if they are looking at something that's coming before council and they want to Come up with a consensus about the group about whether they're in support or in opposition and um You're you're right. A lot of times it's the the three or four people Are in opposed to it, but we really don't know what the rest of the group thinks You know, they could be neutral. They could really hate it, but they just haven't come and so um that is a tough one, but it does um uh The the council members and that you're right. It does make them a little unhappy when that happens um Or you'll have people somebody stand up for the neighborhood and saying X and then someone else who lives in the neighborhood stands up and says why it says no You don't represent me and then that's really awkward for everybody. That's in the room So I don't know how to I don't have an answer for that But it goes back to being, you know, the the neighborhood itself and the neighborhood association You know trying to get everybody involved and at least Giving them the opportunity, you know, if you can say, okay, we sent out Uh, you know a a questionnaire to everybody and only five people responded and they didn't like it Okay, that's pretty truthful. I mean it did, you know, so the council can make their own Conjecture about what the rest of the people, you know, are they just not interested? They don't care They don't it doesn't bother them, you know that You know, they're you know, at least you can say we attempted to get input from everybody in the neighborhood But only five people Responded and they're the ones that didn't like it So, you know, this is the information that I have and that's what you're presenting So that's a little bit better than you know, just saying the entire neighborhood is is against it And I know I've been to a zoning commission meeting in Fort Worth before where um the commissioner asked Well, how many people were at your meeting and who you know, what was the vote? For that so having the you know the council and the board members educated on how you know, the neighborhood association is is helpful as well Okay, so um we have another question. It's from miss susan Our neighborhood sits on the border between El Paso, texas and sunland park new mexico There are 35 acres on the new mexico side and their zoning laws are different from el pasos How can we best engage new mexico and their new development of the 35 acres? Oh, that's a interesting question. Um And i'm assuming that it's the same The same neighborhood straddles both states. Is that what she said? I yeah, so it says the neighborhood sits on the border. So they're in el Paso Um, but they're right on the border. I guess where those acres are on the new Different I see they could have a different development on the other side So, you know, like a grocery store right next to a house or something. I don't know Oh, that does get a little bit interesting. Um, because you know, it's a totally different jurisdiction. It's a totally different state But I think in that particular case the um The best way to do it possibly would be to find out okay Who represents that area? Is it like fort worth where there's a single member district? There's one person and just reach out to them or if you're concerned about development reach out to that area's, you know Development department or zoning department, whatever they call it and just say, you know Hey, we're we're right here on the other side And we just want to make sure that what you're doing is going to be Compatible with what we're doing and I would think you would have standing to do that The other way to go about it is to talk to who's ever on the el Paso side And say look, you know, we've got this development going on You know, we realize it's in a totally different area But can you help us make sure that it's you know, we're not going to have You know, I've got a hog rendering plant going up right behind our neighborhood, you know or something And you know, I think you can work it and it might be that trying to get your city involved in having communication with that neighboring city Might be the easier way to do it But um, you would certainly have standing, you know, and I don't think anybody would object But it might be good to find out, you know, what their rules are and what Your your rules are and then figure out a way to get those two groups to talk to each other Yeah, that's great advice. She did end up saying in the chat Susan that it's only a chain link fence that divides them Oh, my goodness their neighborhood's fully in texas and then there's a fence on the border. It sounds like I'm something that certainly you would be concerned about especially depending on if maybe an industrial use was going to go Chain link fence isn't really going to buffer that very well But I think you would certainly have concern and I would start on your side of the chain link fence And talk to your representative and see what um outreach they've made Is there maybe something going on that you're not aware of and um, or have them come out and talk to your neighborhood? Association say yes, we're we're aware we're aware of what's going on over here And here's what we're doing and here's you know, and then ask them how can we help? You know, can we add how can we advocate because it's going to be right in our backyard So, you know going at it with a positive attitude is always the in my opinion is always Well, you know well received being you know positive, you know, how can we help? What can we do to you know to you know support our city and support our neighboring city? You know and and them and not end up like the Hatfields and the McCoys. We don't want to do that That's really good advice. Um, we have another question. I'm not sure Um, if you'll be able to answer but it says Is the prime focus for the council for revenue and taxes or for the or for the citizens? All of the above so um, I think the the the focus of the council, um, as I said, you know Local government is the closest to the people And so, um, obviously especially here in Texas because our revenue is our only our really only source of revenue Is taxes is sales tax and property tax? So we obviously have to be looking at that But here in in texas are it's a division. So the the council sets the tax rate For homes, you know the how much you're going to be charged for hundred dollars evaluation But they don't set the value that's done by another there's a vision of labor And that's done by another department which another department a whole other agency that we have That you know, they do their thing we do our thing and so, um, they obviously are looking at that because they want the right Mix of you know revenue for the city but They're also looking at the city overall and obviously we all want what's best for the city of Fort Worth because if the Fort Worth thrives Then we'll have you know, we'll have sales tax coming in which is great because a lot of that comes from folks who are visiting here And not so much on the folks that live here. We want to make it attractive to business. So, um, we have more businesses coming in and They're helping to pick up that tax burden. So it's really a combination of trying to do, you know Everything that's best for the citizens and getting them what they need But balancing that with you know with how much is that going to cost and you know, and how do we raise that revenue? So it really is a balancing act Okay, so we have another question in the question box Mr. Lee asks our streets are over 30 years old and they do nothing to fix him But throw out some dirt which washes away Should I go over the city? That's a good question. I don't know if I can answer that part of it. I would certainly make sure that If there's a if the city has a process for you know letting People you know express that I really think that my street needs to be repaid. It needs to be part of your next bond package That's one way to do it. That's how they're going to repair the streets That's how what happens here in fort worth and we're getting ready to do a bond package in 2022 And so they'll be out looking at streets and in their condition and rating them One thing to find out would be from your public works department or street department. I'm not sure what it's called where you're at Do they have a rating system and where's my street rated and what does that mean and and you know, try to educate yourself on how the process works for ranking streets that you know make it to the list to get You know to get repaired and Also to just make sure everybody's looking at it from an equity standpoint that you know, everybody's You know, it's not the squeaky wheel necessarily that's getting Getting fixed that it's you know, it's they're looking at it, you know across the board and that we're we're We're doing stuff all across the city, you know in different areas and And you know, is there a way for citizens to have a say in What roads are getting repaired? What's coming up next? You know, maybe the whole neighborhood needs some other things, you know to go along with it and and how do I how do I Get them in front of the council. Do I get it in front of the You know, I start with public works. Do I start with my council member? And you know kind of do some of that research first and then then follow the process And then if you follow the process and the process doesn't work That's the point where then you may want to just start moving up and and going higher up the chain That's also a really good advice. Um, I don't see any other Questions coming in as of right now If anyone else has any questions if you want to drop them in that box or You can raise your hand It's going to be on the left hand side of your screen a little hand And we'll let you in and you can join us Um You can talk or you can be on video whatever you prefer So raise your hand if you'd like to to do that and chat with mary or Feel free to put a question In the little question box there. Oh, mr. Lee said thank you both very informative Well, that's awesome. Yes, I will say that um in my many years of Doing this and being at council meetings and sitting and looking out at the audience Um When folks do come as a group in in support or they're all together in support of something In support of it or an opposition, you know, whatever, you know, and it sounds it honestly sounds cheesy, but They're all you know, they're all wearing the same color They're all in red t-shirts or they're you know, they're they've all gone on a button. That's all the saying It sounds cheesy, but it does you know, that's impactful when you look out there And you see all of these people have shown up for this one particular thing And it could be that they're all excited about it, which is great That we um, I was in another city before I was in fort worth and Somebody that some folks showed up because of a library issue. They all wore Red shirts and it had you know, we love libraries on it And you know, they they all came and one person spoke with the whole group was out there and I leaned over to the city attorney and said We need we need groupies We need groupies to come support us But they they made their points and they did make some changes about what they were going to do with this one particular library But it was impactful to see them all sitting out there. They were all very pleasant very nice They were not rowdy, but they were just there because it was important to them And so, you know, it does make a difference when you when a neighborhood, especially, you know bonds together and says, you know, we really We really want this and we've done our research and and here's what we think is going to be the benefit And how can you, you know, how can we help you help us get this thing? Or not have this thing whichever way it goes Yes, I've definitely seen some of those as well um And one of the things that really helped me especially when I started to work for the city is watching Past council meetings. So or zoning commission meetings So if you guys have that in your cities the capability to do that Um, especially when if you're preparing your own presentation just so you can see how it actually runs Is very very helpful To that point that's a good point. You can see how things work and sort of get a feel for it But also if it's something that is coming to your council from another body If you can watch that same item when it was being presented at the zoning commission or the planning commission And see what kind of questions were asked and comments were made and things like that that can give you a real leg up To kind of know what the background is that the council is working with and so that can also, you know And you could see okay all of these people showed up on this, you know for this but They they don't have the whole story and so that will that can help you, you know When you make your presentation And if you say I watched the zoning commission meeting on this and this was said but you know This is really what's on the ground or whatever, you know, whatever the difference is But that's that's very powerful to know that you you know gone in and you watch the whole whole process Okay, so we have another question. Are the majority of comments from presenters positive or negative? It's probably 60 40 60 being the negative Usually when folks come down it's something that they are not happy with But there's a good percentage that are coming down in support of of things and many times it's split You have one item and you've got you know, you've got half the speakers or for it and the other half are against it so it's uh, but many times when people actually Get up and you know, and they decide that they're they're coming down the city hall That it's something that they are That they're not happy with So Which is kind of unfortunate, but that's kind of the way it is sometimes that We used to allow for in one of my cities you could sign up to speak Literally up until your item was called and so we didn't have an advance registration And it happened before I got there, but my deputy was telling me that One guy he came up and and he came in and he signed up to speak They were still going on about that particular item He had time to get up Change his clothes come down and sign up for it and he got up to speak and he said I was watching this at home. I was so mad. I had to get up get out of my pajamas and come down here and tell you people what I think You know, it's it, you know, so yeah, it was it was interesting, but yeah Okay, so we have another question What causes you to be thrown out of meetings Can you bring posters or um poster signs to a presentation? Okay, um, that's one of the things it's going to be a local what I call a local rule So each group is going to have their own rules we do not allow for signs or You know anything like that in the council chambers one because it can block the view of other people And honestly in this day and time some of those things could become weapons And so we just don't allow that type of thing in the council chambers um You know, there is that the free free speech aspect of what we're doing and so Now if someone is being derogatory or they're really using foul language and they get called down by the mayor and And they don't stop then they're going to be most likely escorted out of the of the chambers But the mayor's pretty lenient and you really have to be You know Pretty much go off the rails in order for that to happen But it is up to the mayor the chair of the meeting is the one that is in control of what happens and um Some meetings don't really even allow for clapping or cheering Our mayor has has allowed for that to to happen if someone is in support of what someone has said but um We don't really allow demonstrations and you know if the crowd gets too rowdy The mayor's going to call everybody down and she has said on occasion You know if you all don't settle down then we're just going to have to clear the chambers and that usually once she says that That usually gets everybody to calm down So it's just really being out of order or rude or you know, honestly, you know Calling people out by name and just being you know, just being really really rude to an individual person as opposed to addressing the entire council Great. I'm sure you have lots of stories you could tell one day. You could write a book That's only all of our city secretaries Um, I'm not seeing any more questions. I do see a very nice comment This presentation was more relative than the one I was in prior. I downloaded the presentation Since I came in during the question and answer period. Thank you, mary from renay brown Um, bit lee village water chest neighborhood association. So thank you for that sweet comment um, renay Um, let's see. I actually have a question um Where could you're so helpful and informative to our residents and staff in our city um, if somebody from another city is listening and they want to get some more information specifically to their Location who would be the best person for them to try to reach out to? at their city um Well, most cities have someone they're either called their city clerk municipal clerk city secretary I would start there because they're going to have most of the knowledge about how to um, especially on this particular topic how to address a board or commissioner council And I would start there and just talk to them and and tell them, you know That you saw this presentation by the city secretary and for work and um, you know I'd like to learn more about what our rules are here or whatever news you're wanting to answer And I that's probably the best place to start And and people I put my like I said I put my comment comment my contact information on the back of the power point So, you know, if you want to shoot me an email or um, give me a call I'm always happy to talk to folks But only until june 30th because i'm retiring on june 30th, so um, yes But um, uh, but you can always, you know, email the office here and or or call and I've got a great staff and they're always happy to help as well Our office we try really hard to know as much as we can and then rely on the experts. So, um Let me look and see if there's anything else in the comments and questions Because I'm not sure where Dennis is from just has a comment We had a man who was mad because he thought he was being harassed for being homeless So he signed up to speak on every item on the commission agenda. He did this for weeks We do have a three-minute roll rule the meeting went on until three a.m Oh my goodness Yes, that is that is a challenge and we have had some people do that occasionally and um That really the only way to address that particular type of behavior Is in your rules of procedure and there may be something that your city attorney Could help, you know to write that would allow for someone to not To not do that to not be able to sign up on every single item But um, you know, it did but it also goes back to that whole free speech issue. And so it's a it's a It's a double-edged sword Okay, everyone. Um, do you have any more questions for mary? Somebody did say that this is a superb question answer session. Thank you for that comment Yes, it was a great presentation Well, I'm glad everybody enjoyed it and that it's uh, you know, it's it's great that you guys are here and Surely wish you all could be right here in fort worth with us live because it's a super duper city So i'm hoping you often can come visit us sometime, but great. Uh, it looks like a great conference and We'll get a few minutes to you know, take a little break before your next session Which I think starts at 3 30. Is that right? Yes, it starts at 3 30 And yes, so without any more questions, we're going to go ahead and close out the session Um, thank you everyone for joining us. Don't forget this session will be recorded So if you know somebody else that wasn't able to make it that's attending another workshop You guys can send them. Um, this way to watch mary's presentation lots of lots of information and she gives some great ideas on Um engaging your council and board members Um, also, don't forget that um, she put the presentation in the files And you'll have access to all of this until august So to get out of this session, you'll just go back to lobby It's on the left upper left hand side of your screen And we are going to close this out and we look forward to seeing everybody Um, hopefully again, so have a great afternoon and learn a lot in your next session Thanks everybody