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1. What is the mission of the Community Advisory Board (CAB)?

The CAB connects city government and residents so the public can have a voice in decisions that impact their lives and build a stronger community.

2. What does the CAB do?

• The CAB serves to develop recommendations to greatly increase citizen and neighborhood participation and responsibility as citizens.
• The City Charter requires the CAB to advise the City Council on:
  • Public Safety issues;
  • Capital Improvement priorities;
  • Involvement plans for development issues; and
  • Recommendations on public improvement funds that are allocated by the City Council.
• Through their Strategic Plan, the CAB is working to strengthen the organization and structure of the CAB, to utilize best practices to engage the community, and to increase awareness of the CAB in the community. Objectives include:
  • Implementing Neighborfest;
  • Developing a Citizens Engagement Academy;
  • Engaging neighborhoods through proactively attending neighborhood group/association meetings and building relationships;
  • Developing informational materials such as a flyer and talking points, that describe what the CAB is and what they do for use by the community, prospective members, and City Council; and
  • Developing an onboarding process and mentoring program for new members.

3. How often does the CAB meet?

The CAB meets the 4th Wednesday of every month, except when otherwise noticed. Meetings begin at 6:00 p.m. and are held in the City’s Chamber Building, located at 637 1st Street, Santa Rosa.

4. What are the CAB Subcommittees?

The CAB has two subcommmittees: Empowerment and Expertise.

The Empowerment Subcommittee is the external arm of the CAB. Their focus is on neighborhood engagement and civic engagement training for residents. The Empowerment Subcommittee meets the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. in the City’s Chamber Building, located at 637 1st Street.

The Expertise Subcommittee is the internal arm of the CAB. They are currently working on developing an onboarding and mentoring program for the CAB, as well as educational materials for City Council, staff and residents. The Expertise Subcommittee is also working on developing a selection process for the CAB’s Community Improvement Grant - Neighborfest Program. They meet the 1st Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m., also in the City’s Chamber Building.

5. How many CAB members are there?

There are 14 members of the Community Advisory Board; seven (7) area appointment members and seven (7) at-large members. Each City Council Member appoints one area representative and one at-large representative. Currently, the seven CAB areas are based on predetermined boundaries. View the CAB MAP.

6. What are the ideal qualities for a CAB member?

The ideal CAB member would be:

• Engaged in their community, and with a large community network.
• Passionate about citizen engagement and community outreach.
• Able to both convey community concerns to city officials, and effectively disseminate information to the public.
• Available to participate in monthly Board and subcommittee meetings, and available to participate in community events (e.g. Wednesday Night Market, Neighborfest, etc.).

7. What is a Neighborfest?

A Neighborfest is a locally organized gathering, also known as a block party, that offers neighborhoods the chance to come together, have fun, and build a stronger, more connected community.

Neighborfest aims to strengthen social cohesion or connectedness, resilience and to prepare neighborhoods for disasters. Research has shown that the more connected neighbors are to each other, the stronger their resilience is after an emergency.

8. What is the Capital Improvement Program and what is the CAB's role in the CIP??

The City of Santa Rosa’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) is a five-year financial plan for the maintenance and expansion of the public infrastructure (e.g. City facilities, buildings, parks, streets, etc.). The CIP identifies public infrastructure improvements that are needed, provides a design and construction schedule, and identifies funding for these projects.

The City Council, through the City Charter and associated Resolutions, assigned the CAB the role of obtaining public feedback on CIP priorities. Through meetings and community events, the CAB encourages Santa Rosa residents the vote on their top five (5) infrastructure project priorities for the upcoming year. This feedback is presented to the City Council during the City’s budget season.

9. What is community engagement?

Community engagement is the process by which people, government, and organizations (the community) work together collaboratively to create and realize sustainable visions for their community’s future. For governments and organizations, it is about working with and listening to, communities to build long-term relationships and develop meaningful solutions to complex issues.

Another way to describe community engagement is through decision-making: everyone who is impacted by an issue in the community should have a say in how it is resolved. Community engagement holds the promise that public participation can influence decisions that affect the provisions of services, future visions, and sustainability of our communities.

Source: Hussey, Sally (2019). What is Community Engagement? Bang the Table: https://www.bangthetable.com/what-is-community-engagement/