On August 26th, Catherine Holland, Patricia Parsons, Janine Wilson, and Tim Neary, representing the Community Involvement Organizations of Tualatin, presented at the Tualatin City Council’s Work Session. The goal was to connect with the Council, review the findings from our last few CIO leadership meetings, and create an open dialog where participants could ask questions and exchange ideas.
As background, the Community Involvement Organizations [CIO] of Tualatin is a volunteer-powered organization providing targeted support on behalf of residents and businesses. Our focus is on community safety, livability and equity. Active since 2011, the CIO is a grassroots effort started by Tualatin residents to improve and build community. There are 7 separate CIO boards with members elected by CIO community members. The CIOs have staff and financial support from the City.
All 7 CIOs held annual meetings in 2023/24. Three CIOs held Community Fairs in a neighborhood park. The City provides staff support and advertising for annual meetings and for the website, TualatinCIO.org. Approximately $6,000.00 was spent of the $10,500.00 budget. All 6 of the Residential CIOs spent a portion of their $1,500.00 grant money to fund activities. Two CIOs are meeting regularly with developers regarding major potential projects in their neighborhoods.
The first part of the Work Session discussion focused on the need for increased grant funding, from $1,500.00 to $2,500.00 per CIO. If inflation adjusted, the current funds would equal $2,100.00. The additional $400.00 would cover liability insurance for 1 CIO-hosted event. The CIOs have increased community involvement since COVID, and are asking for increased funding so that community events can be offered on an annual basis. As we increase community events, the need for insurance is essential.
Next, we had an open discussion about the need to review the CIO Maps. The original CIO Maps were drawn in 2011; and the CIO Bylaws only allow expansion by individual property owners, which is not efficient or cohesive when whole subdivisions have been built. The City also has the authority to change the CIO boundaries. Thus, the request was made to the Council to review the city boundary changes since 2011, identify new planned developments, and consider expanding existing CIO boundaries to cover new areas or create new additional CIOs. The goal is to make sure that all residents of Tualatin are represented by a CIO.
The next part of the presentation centered on citizen frustration after community neighborhood meetings with developers. As the City generally does not attend these meetings, there is a lack of confidence that the voice of the community has been passed back to the City from the developers. It was suggested that a city staff member attend any community meetings scheduled by developers. We also ask that citizen notification of proposed development be expanded beyond its current reach. A greater reach would better inform the community as a whole and would decrease tensions around this topic.
We then shared that it might be in the best interest of the CIOs to form a non-profit 501© corporation. This would allow us to obtain errors and omission insurance for the members of the independent boards. The cost of doing so would be approximately $200.00 per year, which would be paid out of the grant funds.
Lastly, we opened the presentation to the City Council for questions and comments. There was conversation on the matter of incorporation, the budget, and grant funds. There was also dialog on how to reach more community members to connect them to the CIOs. An idea was presented to redesign the postcards so that they are more eye-catching, drawing more citizens into the CIO annual meetings, as well as spelling out Community Involvement Organization rather than using CIO.
There was also further discussion on how to better connect the overall community back to the city as it relates to development. Councilor Brooks suggested that during community/development meetings, the meetings would be Zoom available so that they could be reviewed by the City.
We ended the session with a unanimous agreement to meet annually.
Riverpark CIO President, Janine Wilson:
RiverparkCIO@gmail.com
East CIO President, Doug Ulmer:
CIO.east.west@gmail.com
Midwest CIO President, Richard Harrison:
TualatinMidwestCIO@gmail.com
Martinazzi Woods CIO President, Sallie Olson:
MartinazziWoodsCIO@gmail.com
Ibach CIO President, Patricia Parsons:
TualatiniBachCIO@gmail.com
Byrom CIO President, Tim Neary:
ByromCIO@gmail.com
Commercial CIO President, Catherine Holland:
TualatinCommercialCIO@gmail.com
