HomeMy Public PortalAbout20161101 - Agenda Packet - Board of Directors (BOD) - 16-27
SPECIAL MEETING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
Administrative Office
330 Distel Circle
Los Altos, CA 94022
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Special Meeting starts at 10:00 AM*
A G E N D A
10:00 SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE MIDPENINSULA
REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT – BOARD RETREAT
ROLL CALL
1. Board Retreat for the Purpose of Discussing the District’s and Board’s Role in the Bay Area
and within the Organization, including Diversity Outreach and Initiatives, Public Outreach,
and Environmental Stewardship.
ADJOURNMENT
*Times are estimated and items may appear earlier or later than listed. Agenda is subject to change of order.
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need assistance to participate in this meeting,
please contact the District Clerk at (650) 691-1200. Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the
District to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting.
Written materials relating to an item on this Agenda that are considered to be a public record and are distributed
to Board members less than 72 hours prior to the meeting, will be available for public inspection at the District’s
Administrative Office located at 330 Distel Circle, Los Altos, California 94022.
CERTIFICATION OF POSTING OF AGENDA
I, Jennifer Woodworth, District Clerk for the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD), declare that
the foregoing agenda for the special and regular meetings of the MROSD Board of Directors was posted and
available for review on October 27, 2016, at the Administrative Offices of MROSD, 330 Distel Circle, Los Altos
California, 94022. The agenda and any additional written materials are also available on the District’s web site at
http://www.openspace.org.
Jennifer Woodworth, MMC
District Clerk
Meeting 16-27
DATE: October 20, 2016
MEMO TO: Board of Directors
FROM: Diversity Outreach Ad Hoc Committee
SUBJECT: Proposed Diversity Outreach Values Statement, Goals, and Objectives
_____________________________________________________________________________
SUMMARY
This memorandum presents the proposed Values Statement, Goals and Objectives for the
Diversity Outreach Ad Hoc Committee (Committee), for review and approval by the full Board
of Directors. If approved, these will define the Committee’s charge over the remaining 11
months.
DISCUSSION
Per Board Policy, ad hoc committees are temporary committees established to accomplish a
specified task, do not have permanent subject matter jurisdiction, and must sunset within a year.
To be most effective given the short timeframe, the Committee needs to define upfront a clear
purpose and set of specific goals with discreet objectives that can be accomplished within the
remaining 11 months. Toward this end, the Committee has reviewed the Board-approved
Diversity Policy, Fiscal Year 2016-17 Strategic Plan Goals and Objectives, June 2016 Diversity
Ad Hoc Formation Board Report, and October 22, 2015 Board FYI on the Diversity Program to
inform the development of a draft Values Statement and accompanying Goals and Objectives for
the upcoming year. The Committee is forwarding the draft Values Statement, Goals, and
Objectives to the full Board for review and approval. Once approved, these will serve to define
the Committee’s charge.
Draft Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Values Statement
The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Midpen) is committed to promoting
diversity, equity, and inclusion amongst the Board, staff, volunteers, partners, stakeholders,
and visitors to ensure that participation in programs, public policy formulation, and decision-
making is enriched by the multiple perspectives that represent our larger community so that
our mission remains relevant and important to the success and prosperity of our region.
Midpen values all diversity, including biodiversity and diversity of race, religion, gender,
ethnicity, language, age, sexual orientation and gender identity, socioeconomic background,
diverse abilities and disabilities, country of origin and citizenship, education, values, and
culture.
Midpen recognizes that integrating the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion in everything
we do, from how we communicate with the public, what types of programs we provide, how
facilities are sited and designed, how new policies and procedures are developed, and how
we allocate our budget, staff time and other resources is essential to strengthening our
organizational capacity and representation to fulfill our mission and serve as an open space
and environmental leader for our region. Increased diversity, equity, and inclusion supports
Midpen’s strategic goals of promoting, implementing, and connecting people to open space
and to a common conservation vision for District lands.
Diversity Ad Hoc Committee’s Draft Goals and Objectives for Fiscal Year 2016-17
The following draft goals and objectives are in alignment with the broader goals identified
during Committee formation in June 2016, and reflect the above draft Diversity, Equity, and
Inclusion Values Statement. A comparison of how this goals and objectives reflect the
current Action Plan is provided in Attachment 1.
Goal 1. Promote the District and its interpretive programs through collaborative
partnerships with diverse community organizations.
Explore potential partnership scenarios to support the long-term management
and/or programming of the Cooley Landing Education Center; focus on
scenarios that provide “next generation” bayfront community services and
benefits.
Seek best mechanism(s) for introducing high school, college, and graduate
students to District work, thereby infusing youth and new perspectives into
District work. Some possibilities include: participating in summer internship
programs or partnering with local, teen-based resource centers and/or
conservation corps.
Goal 2. Engage with communities through public meetings and other means to increase
awareness about the District and its projects.
Track where and how many Board meetings are held offsite. Identify
geographic gaps where future Board meetings can be held to expand outreach
and civic participation.
Identify options for Board members to engage one-on-one and in group settings
with constituents and elected officials. Some possibilities include: holding
Board “office hours” at trailheads to meet and greet visitors; scheduling annual
meetings/coffee chats with elected officials; providing presentations at city and
town council meetings; and inviting elected officials to participate in docent-led
hikes and volunteer projects.
Seek training opportunity to provide Board members with additional tools and
strategies for becoming more effective public outreach ambassadors for the
District.
Explore the formation, representation, scope, and charge of a Citizens Advisory
Committee.
Goal 3. Reflect the diversity of the surrounding community in District activities and
functions.
Review available socio-demographic data to understand the social diversity that
the District is serving and summarize key findings to inform the Board at their
upcoming Strategic Plan and Priority Setting Board Retreats (scheduled for
January and February).
Review and confirm the goals of the Visitor Usage Survey Project and guide the
data collection effort to ensure that the right baseline information is collected.
Review and confirm the goals of a District Staff and Volunteer Survey and
guide the data collection effort to ensure the right demographic data is collected.
Compare the collected data with local demographics to identify gaps.
Explore opportunities for closing the gaps of concern; determine if we are
offering what diverse communities would like to experience as visitors, and
provide as volunteers and docents.
Goal 4. Expand existing partnerships and enter into new, non-traditional partnerships to
complete projects and improve programs that serve a diverse community.
Define the District’s role in completing Cooley Landing Park and in ensuring
the success of the Cooley Landing Education Center.
Provide input during the upcoming study of the Visitors Services Department’s
Volunteer and Docent Programs to emphasize a volunteer and docent program
delivery model that can best develop non-traditional partnerships and serve a
diverse community, including the potential to create a local conservation corps.
Attachment 1: Comparison between the FY16-17 Action Plan and the Proposed Goals &
Objectives
Attachment 1
Comparison between the FY16-17 Action Plan and the Proposed Goals & Objectives
Goal 1: Promote the District and its interpretive programs through collaborative partnerships
with diverse community organizations.
Proposed Objective Related Action Plan Project
and Purpose Comments
Explore partnership scenarios
to support the long-term
management and/or
programming of the Cooley
Landing Education Center;
focus on “next generation”
bayfront community services
and benefits.
Cooley Landing Interpretive
Facilities Design and
Implementation: continue
working in partnership with
East Palo Alto on Cooley
Landing Interpretive Facilities
and Infrastructure.
Clarification of the District’s
role in Cooley Landing will
help create a framework for
how to proceed on this
particular project, including
how District resources (staff
time and funding) should be
allocated.
Seek mechanism(s) for
introducing students to
District work, thereby
infusing youth and new
perspectives.
Partnership Development –
Youth Program: connect
people to open space and a
regional vision.
Policy-level guidance will
help create a clear framework
and goals for bringing youth
into District work and
establishing the relationships
to make this happen.
Goal 2: Engage with communities through public meetings and other means to increase
awareness about the District and its projects.
Proposed Objective Related Action Plan Project
and Purpose Comments
Track where and how many
Board meetings are held
offsite. Identify gaps to
expand outreach and civic
participation.
None If needed, we can postpone to
the next fiscal year; however,
this is not time consuming
and may be able to be
accomplished during the
current fiscal year.
Identify options for Board
members to engage one-on-
one and in group settings with
constituents and elected
officials.
Board Outreach: connect
people to open space and a
regional vision.
Current fiscal year scope is
focused on presentations at
city council meetings and
other speaking engagements
to new audiences (tech firms,
schools, community groups).
Seek training opportunity to
provide Board members with
additional tools and strategies
for becoming more effective
public outreach ambassadors.
None If needed, we can postpone to
the next fiscal year; however,
this is not time consuming
and may be able to be
accomplished during the
current fiscal year. This will
be a discussion topic at the
Board’s November Retreat.
Explore the formation,
representation, scope, and
charge of a Citizens Advisory
Committee.
None This can be explored
incrementally as time allows
and can continue into next
fiscal year.
Goal 3: Reflect the diversity of the surrounding community in District activities and functions.
Proposed Objective Related Action Plan Project
and Purpose Comments
Review socio-demographic
data and summarize key
findings to inform the Board
at their upcoming Strategic
Plan and Priority Setting
Board Retreats.
None; however, data and
maps already exist.
Current and available data
and maps would be used to
avoid additional workload
burden and complete quickly.
Review and confirm the goals
of the Preserve Use Survey
Project to ensure that the right
baseline information is
collected.
Preserve Use Survey: better
understand preserve users and
preserve satisfaction.
Policy-level guidance would
ensure that the right
information is collected as our
baseline data.
Review and confirm the goals
of a District Staff and
Volunteer Survey to ensure
the right demographic data is
collected.
None We can leverage the Preserve
Use Survey and use this same
tool or portions of this tool to
survey staff and volunteers.
If necessary, we can also
move this piece out to the
following fiscal year.
Explore opportunities for
closing gaps of concern;
determine if we are offering
what diverse communities
would like to experience as
visitors, and provide as
volunteers and docents.
Preserve Use Survey: better
understand preserve users and
preserve satisfaction.
This task would be scheduled
next fiscal year, as the data is
expected to be collected in the
summer of 2017, with results
in the fall.
Goal 4: Expand existing partnerships and enter into new, non-traditional partnerships to
complete projects and improve programs that serve a diverse community.
Proposed Objective Related Action Plan Project
and Purpose Comments
Define the District’s role in
completing Cooley Landing
Cooley Landing Interpretive
Facilities Design and
Clarification of the District’s
role in Cooley Landing will
Park and in ensuring the
success of the Cooley
Landing Education Center.
Implementation: continue
working in partnership with
East Palo Alto on Cooley
Landing Interpretive Facilities
and Infrastructure.
help create a framework for
how to proceed on this
particular project, including
how District resources (staff
time and funding) should be
allocated.
Provide input on the Visitors
Services Department’s
Volunteer and Docent
Programs to emphasize a
volunteer and docent program
delivery model that can best
develop non-traditional
partnerships and serve a
diverse community, including
the potential to create a local
conservation corps
Docent and Volunteer
Programs Evaluation:
evaluate and restructure, if
needed, Docent and Volunteer
programs to optimize service
delivery to customers and
enhance public outreach.
Partnership Development with
Volunteer Groups: increase
partnerships with local
volunteer organizations to
provide increased District
stewardship opportunities.
Policy-level input into the
goals and desired outcomes of
both projects would be very
helpful to remain aligned with
Board direction.