8-2-21 Community Engagement
From Gary E. Richardson, Boise Working Together

In five years, Boise’s Office of Community Engagement has grown from a staff of two to 18, with plans to add four more next year—“22 in ‘22.”

With all that in-house public involvement expertise, one has to wonder why large segments of the community continually find themselves blindsided by major proposals like a multimillion-dollar Murgoitio Park land swap or a $100-plus-million Safdie library-cum-event center.

Then, once public opposition manifests to such not-very-well-thought-through projects, the city hires an outside consultant for $150,000 to $300,000, plus expenses, to try to reshape public opinion through focus groups and targeted media.

The millions spent on outside PR consultants would be better spent educating city staff in how actually to develop informed public consent from the get-go:

-First, identify all who will be affected by a project, especially those who might later object.

-From the very beginning, those affected “publics” must truly be involved in the proposal’s every aspect — no surprises.

-Their concerns must be heard, their interests understood and acknowledged.

-Better projects with far less backlash will result.