March/April 2008

“Landfilled” engagement calendar filling up

“Landfilled,” the region-wide community discussion series that gets citizens talking about trash and recycling, is going strong in communities around the region. So far, five more events have been confirmed for April and May, and many more are in the process of being booked. Seven engagements have already been completed.

The “Landfilled” series will consist of a total of 31 meetings in eight counties. Six of the discussions are supported by funding from the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan. The feedback from the discussions in Wyandotte County will help its Solid Waste Management Committee develop new and current recycling programs.

The MARC Solid Waste Management District will take the information from the remaining 25 events to help it develop better programs, provide better technical assistance, and formulate a regional, citizen-driven vision for long-term and responsible waste management.

For more information on this project or if you’d like to host a conversation in your community, contact 816/701-8310 or e-mail us.

Pandemic flu engagement assesses the needs of at-risk populations

More than 65 people from all walks of life attended this past Saturday’s citizen engagement, which was designed to assess the potential needs of at-risk populations during a pandemic flu. The feedback from the event will be used by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) to compose a formal set of recommendations, which will be presented in Washington, D.C., next month and disseminated to health officials at all levels.

Public transit policy workshops in progress

The third phase of the Smart Moves Update project is under way, as the MARC Transportation Department seeks feedback from elected officials on its citizen-driven update of the Smart Moves Regional Transit Plan.

Themes that emerged from the One KC Voice public transit community discussion series of 25 engagements and two workshops include:

1. The current transit system is not serving the public as well as it could. Travel time, reliability, and lack of access in certain areas were all cited as major concerns. All participants wanted new or improved public transit.
2. Many people displayed a willingness to take transit if service were available and convenient.
3. All were interested in seeing developments happen as soon as possible.
4. The majority of participants had a strong desire for a multimodal system.
5. Most believed that an improved transit system would only benefit the region. Participants cited the potential for increased property values, economic development, and better environmental quality.
6. All were aware of the challenges of developing a system that will serve our “spread-out” metro.

These themes are being shared with elected officials and city and county staff at policy workshops, which are being held on a county-by-county basis, and should be completed by the end of April.

To view the public’s feedback from the technical workshops and 25 community discussions, visit our public transit process Results page. The input of over 300 citizens is being used by transit planners to refine the regional transit plan.

For more information on this project, contact Karen Clawson, 816/474-4240.