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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-03-19 Work Session MinutesDublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Council Chambers Minutes of Meeting Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes called the Monday, June 3, 2019, Work Session of Dublin City Council to order at 6:00 p.m. at Dublin City Hall. Members present were: Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes, Ms. Alutto, Ms. De Rosa, Ms. Fox and Mr. Reiner. Mr. Keenan and Mayor Peterson were absent (excused). Staff members present: Mr. McDaniel, Ms. Crandall, Ms. Goss, Ms. Gilger, Mr. Gracia, Ms. Ray, Mr. Stiffler, Mr. Plouck, and Mr. Dearth. Also present were Deborah Cummings, Ryan Helwig and Joe Simkins of TEConomy Partners, LLC. Economic Development Strategic Plan Update - #3 Ms. Gilger stated that tonight's presentation focuses on qualitative information generated by dozens of rounds of interviews done by the consultant. A report has been distributed tonight in preparation for the June 17 work session. It relates to a regional benchmarking assessment with other communities as requested by Council. Ms. Cummings stated that this information is from the communities looked at during the last session for quality of life amenities as well as adding some micro regions where significant development has occurred. The Mayor had also requested some occupational wage data, which is found at the back of that packet. Ms. Gilger asked that Council members review this information, note any questions related to the material, and send her an e-mail so that answers can be provided to specific questions. Earlier today, staff received an e-mail from Ms. De Rosa, and Ms. Cummings will address this. Deborah Cummings stated that the request was for some verbatim quotes from the interviews without attributing them to an individual. The interviews themselves and the quantitative data are the collective response to the themes in the SWOT analysis conducted. They do not record the calls for privacy purposes, and everyone that is interviewed is told that what they say will be held in the strictest of confidence and will never be attributed to them. They never attribute anything tc anyone directly, but they also make sure the information provided does not indicate who might have said it. They want people to speak freely and not feel anything perceived as negative would potentially be viewed negatively by their community. More importantly, they also bring broad themes in this process. One person making a comment does not hold weight, as it is one person's view. They do take that information and potentially tailor questions or ask to speak with others who may have had that experience or come from the same industry sector. As issues have arisen, they have gone back to the Economic Development team and requested additional interviews across a particular sector or area of the city in order to continue to vet. Until they hear similar comments by multiple people and across common themes, one person's perception does not make a strategy or viewpoint. They take everyone's collective comments and create these themes. If quotes are desired on the strategy about certain things, they could go back to those people and ask if a quote could be attributed to them. But that is not what they have done in their work. Ms. De Rosa stated she would certainly not look for an attribution. In reading the materials, she felt were there were some high level themes. From talking to other people, she did not see some Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 2 of 20 themes she expected to see in the materials. Even if they are minority views or held by one — given the pool was small — she believes it is important for Council to see more than the three high levels. More richness would be helpful in thinking about strategy. In any qualitative research she has viewed, there are always pages of comments received. It does help with richness, as even a minority held view is important to consider — all views are. That was her hope, but if it is not doable, she accepts that. Ms. Cummings stated that the purpose of tonight's session is to walk through all of the themes heard. A focus group of 10 people was held immediately prior to tonight's meeting and another is scheduled for Wednesday morning. The point of tonight's meeting is to learn what is resonating with Council and what they have heard that the consultants have not. Ms. Gilger added if there are themes not yet included, there are additional focus groups scheduled for feedback. Ms. Cummings noted that today's agenda includes discussion of the Situational Assessment; if, after review of the Regional Benchmarking Comparisons, Council has questions, she asked that they be forwarded to Ms. Gilger so that they can be addressed on June 17. The last two meetings have focused on the quantitative data and that is very important; people need to be aware from a qualitative standpoint how that is aligning with the quantitative data and what industry leaders from around the city are talking about and what is on their minds. Finally, tonight's discussion will focus on next steps. She reviewed the project overview slide that has been shared at previous meetings. Situational Assessment and Update of Dublin's Economic Development Strateav They conducted one on one interviews with 35 individuals with varied interests to gain their insights/opinions on Dublin's economic position. The interviews were with those representing: industry, with representation across all industry clusters as well as size of firm — a total of 11 interviews were with industry leaders; academia - 4 interviews; commercial real estate development — 6 interviews; economic development professionals, both in the City and across the region — 8 interviews; City Council — 6 of the Council members. All of these total 35 interviews. The vast majority not only represented industrial interests in the City, but were also residents of Dublin. It was not a requirement for the interview, however. The input from these interviews along with the quantitative analysis previously conducted serves as the basis for the SWOT analysis. The SWOT analysis will be further vetted through two industry focus groups as well as Council. Strengths upon which to Focus Dublin's Future Economic Growth • Dublin continues to show strong, consistent, double digit employment growth driven by a highly educated, growing population in the City. The Greater Columbus Region has done very well, particularly in 11 industry clusters and Dublin has been able to build and leverage upon that growth. Regional clusters play a pivotal role in driving Dublin's economy, with several clusters emerging as particularly differentiated strengths for the City in terms of a higher degree of industry specialization: IT and computer services; business support services, R&D and Engineering Services; other clusters include Corporate headquarters/managing offices, finance and insurance, tourism, entertainment and arts. The total number of business establishments have increased 10 percent during the economic expansion helping to diversify the economy and decrease reliance on large, Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 3 of 20 single -site employers in driving economic activity. This diversity will help weather economic cycles. From an economic base, Dublin has done well since the economic recession. • Dublin's population is highly educated as well as the workforce, whether Dublin residents or those working in Dublin. Dublin companies employ a greater share of high -skilled workers compared to Greater Columbus and the nation. Dublin has a unique position in IT and computer related occupations/skill sets vital to the Dublin economy — more than 7,000 jobs, highly specialized concentration and rapid growth. IT occupations in Dublin are growing at twice the rate of Dublin's overall economy and outpacing the nation. • The quality of pace indicators confirm that Dublin retains a significant competitive advantage as a desirable residential destination. • Dublin's capacity to invest is significant, particularly when compared to other cities of its size. The Five -Year CIP program outlines investments that will continue to strengthen the City's economic infrastructure. • Bridge Park development, based on interviews with industry leaders, has put Dublin "on the map" for 21't century development and is viewed by them as the single most important infrastructure improvement in the City in the past decade. The citizens' population survey indicates it is well received by the overall residents of the community. • Dublink 100 GB — Transport provides a lateral connection and continues to be seen as a comparative advantage of the City as it drives down costs to do business and can provide Dublin companies with substantial cost savings. Given the importance of the IT workforce, this is a nice connection. • Numerous stakeholders reiterated their compliments about City staff, the public services, the quality of the schools and the public safety department. The quality of services is perceived to be a competitive advantage for the City. They recognize the City's foresight and proactive planning efforts, uncommon in a city of this size. She asked Council for feedback. Ms. Alutto asked if there were specific CIP items that were mentioned -- things they were excited about or are looking forward to. Ms. Cummings responded there was not a consistent them, but more from the standpoint of recognizing that many communities do not have the funds to make infrastructure investments. The high quality services demanded and expected are able to be funded with the tax base Dublin has. In the community planning surveys, much of that data would be found — they did not go into this in a specific way. Ms. Fox asked about quality of place. Did anything specific come up with that topic? Ms. Cummings responded that the school system was mentioned first and foremost. They talked a lot about the location of Dublin, which is understandable given the industrial users. The location facilitates access to clients, whether local in the region or the ability to access the airport for travel. They talked of the quality of the workforce, the skills of the workforce, and the fact that Dublin is a livable community — both for employees who could afford to live in Dublin and for those who live in areas outside of Dublin in close proximity for commuting. Mr. Reiner asked if there were comments about the aesthetics of the City in relation to quality of place. Is there recognition of the planning Dublin has done to make it of such high quality? Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 4 of 20 Ms. Cummings responded that some talked of the park systems, the green spaces, and the desirability to live in Dublin. From commercial development, there was a recognition that Dublin has a high standard that businesses understand and accept, and that drives cost. They accept that also drives the quality of place. The concerns around development were more around the uncertainty of decision making and the time required for those decisions. Often, an analogy was drawn to New Albany as another high quality place with high standards and that is accepted by the business community in terms of higher costs. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes asked about her reference to capacity for investment. Was that more of a capacity Dublin has historically had for investment, or is that future investment in the later years of the CIP? Ms. Cummings responded it was both. They recognize the forward thinking of Dublin over the past decades, and the important infrastructure pieces invested in. Many people could not articulate capital improvement program, but as they talked of the investment available, they talked of the taxes and what they funded – that is was used for infrastructure improvements that spurred economic development and that was important to them. Weaknesses Dublin's Strategic Plan Should Overcome Ms. Cummings stated the following: • Consensus in comments across the largest to the smallest companies – they felt there was a lack of connection between one another—recognizing everyone is very busy. There is also a lack of connection with elected and appointed City leaders. There is a desire to: o Better network with one another to understand common needs/supply chains/talent development and acquisition. They noted that there have been some efforts by the Chamber in HR forums, and this was reviewed as a positive development. Many indicated there are other areas where better connection points could occur. They also talked of their desire to have similar conversations with City leaders – whether on a particular topic, or maybe quarterly or twice each year – opportunity to talk about common visions, desires, needs and feeling their voice was heard as well as understanding from City leaders their direction and how that could be supported by the business community. • Industry leaders also talked about auto -centered transportation and what that meant for their ability to get workers to their location, especially lower skilled workers. Also, as more multi -modal opportunities are available, there is a desire to offer those options to employees who choose that type of transportation, as it would help to diversify their workforce. For a suburb like Dublin, this is particularly important. This multi -modal transportation needs to be considered going forward. • A number talked about the housing stock, which provides limited opportunities for workers who were not seeking a higher end single family dwelling – either because of economics or by personal choice. Looking at the 24-35 year olds as well as empty nesters, there is a growing concern about housing stock available. Additional options for live/work/play environments need to be taken into consideration and developed. Mr. Reiner asked if there were any comments about rental housing for the IT employees, i.e., the apartments built along Tuller Road. This development was designed to serve the 24-35 year old workers in Dublin. Ms. Cummings responded that no one specifically referenced that development to her. There was conversation about the amount of rental property that is more available now in the Hilliard area Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 5 of 20 and talk about some people who were choosing to live there. The conversations from an industrial -led economic development perspective focused on whether there are enough options in the market for housing in Dublin to accommodate their company's workforce. • Many people talked about Dublin's older commercial building inventory. Some of Dublin's office parks date back to the 1980s and early 1990s. There was a lot of recognition that is reflected in the benchmarking, as many other communities' office buildings developed in the early 2000s. There is a lot of concern by industry in being able to have the type of desired office space and having the ability to redevelop that to meet 21st century demands. As Dublin grows, the amount of land available for development continues to shrink and the ability to redevelop what currently exists was seen as a critical and vital need and a weakness of the market as compared to others. • There is a perception, articulated time and time again, that Dublin can be a difficult and expensive place to do business. o Many quickly recognize that the design and zoning standards to ensure the quality of place was well understood. They spoke with commercial real estate developers who often would talk about other communities in comparison. This criticism came from industry as they attempted to do an expansion, increase their footprint or make improvements to their own properties. People who currently own businesses in Dublin are trying to grow and expand and are experiencing some "road blocks." The concern was often focused on the timing and the uncertainty of the decision- making process — that they could make a significant investment and then be told "no" after they thought they were following the process correctly. They felt more transparency and streamlining is needed — a vision of the expectation and if those are met, the projects will be approved. Much frustration was voiced around this and that the next time they choose to expand, it may not be in Dublin. Ms. Fox asked if the businesses expressed specific examples. For those planning to expand and all of the incentives offered by the City supported by Council, it is surprising to hear it is difficult for them to expand their footprint. She would appreciate hearing examples of this. Ms. Gilger responded that when the lists of the focus groups were assembled, the goal was to have a cross-section of different industries, different sized companies — some owned their building, some leased, some were very large and some very small. Providing specific examples would violate the confidentiality aspect of this. There are some situations where mid-sized companies who own their buildings have expressed frustration -- most of these are not in the incentive pool. The companies who receive incentives are happy, as the City has worked closely with them through the process. The projects involve everything from adding a wing to a building to changing out a sign. There was general frustration across the board. Ms. Fox asked if the problems occur at the Planning & Zoning Commission. Ms. Cummings responded it is multiple things — improving an existing sign, improving an existing building for aesthetics and value to meet the quality of place. Maybe with expanding their footprint and needing an easement or not having enough parking spaces — or needing to relocate and trying to design a building that will meet the Code and requirements and still meet the company's needs. There was a lot of specific frustrations around specific Code requirements. They might have gone through a lengthy ARB process and were confident about approval, only to encounter more issues at the PZC stage and being sent back again to ARB. PZC would require multiple iterations to obtain recommendation for approval, only to have Council request more changes. The frustration Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 6 of 20 was with the process and thinking they had approval, only to find disapprovals down the road and being required to essentially start over at the first review board. Ms. Fox pointed out that the City is very large and ARB purview is only a very small area of the City. The Bridge Park piece, which is larger, is also a very complex Code. She is trying to understand if, in general, most of these comments are coming from this small area. Everything outside of Bridge Park and the Historic District has an entirely different set of Codes — PUDs, etc. Ms. Gilger responded that the frustrations are with the PUDs, and the fact that a property nearby was permitted to do something that an applicant for another development is not allowed to do. PUDs have their own text, and there is perception of inconsistency because of this. Ms. Fox stated it is important to understand this aspect. The process is her focus, as most development comes through PZC. When the process is difficult for the Commissioners to interpret, it results in an inability to be predictable for the developers and businesses. She wants to ensure we are looking at the entire City and not just complaints about ARB or Bridge Park. Ms. Gilger stated that she believes most of the complaints are about the older areas that have old or outdated PUDs. It could relate to signs and what one owner is allowed to do, while another is not because of a PUD text. Ms. De Rosa stated she is not surprised. For example, at OCLC, it took 12 years to obtain approval of their sign change. This is an example of the richness of the data, and it is important for Council to understand it. Without knowing the details, Council cannot take action to address these issues. What Council is thinking in reaction to sharing this high-level feedback may not be on target. She does not believe anyone will be "outed" in providing more richness of the data. Even if it is a minority held view, the interview pool is so small at 35, with 11 companies, that the minority held views are also important. For Council to make this actionable, they must understand some level of that. Ms. Gilger responded that staff could tie the comments to the business district they come from, i.e., Shier -Rings area, Perimeter area, etc. Ms. De Rosa stated that it is important to see both sides of the middle so that Council understands it. None of this is really eye opening. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes stated that the consultant has in essence presented Council with a problem, but Council has to understand the problem in order to craft a solution. Is the issue when an applicant meets with staff and receives guidance, yet it does not lead to a solution? Is it that the applicant does do everything as required and then the PZC is not trained well enough to be able to determine what is critically important and what is not? Somewhere, there is a breakdown and Council needs to know these things to identify where that breakdown occurs. More data will help identify the problem and lead to a resolution. Ms. Cummings responded that they did specifically ask to speak with companies across the entire city, representing all of the districts, and developers as well — this is the majority voice talking about this. There is no minority voice in this. They do have much more specifics and are happy to share that without impacting those individuals who provided the feedback. There was a lot of conversation and it is possible to be more specific. There was a lot of praise for the staff; the issue is where the approval process begins with City bodies and the uncertainty in that approval process, even when people feel everything has been addressed, encountering rejection or "no" votes that are not expected. Mr. Reiner stated that with Bridge Park, there is likely more volume of construction in the City than in the last decade. The Bridge Street District Code was clearly articulated and the requirements were mandated in the Code. There has been some tweaking of that Code to improve it. Developers support such a Code as they have certainty about the outcome. While he is a believer Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 7 of 20 in the PUDs, during the review process, someone on a board or commission or Council may try to architecturally change the project — resulting in disapprovals or many hearings. This has been Dublin's process for 40 years. He understands the frustration. Were there any comments about timeframe, once they did secure approvals and needed to get the permits? Ms. Cummings responded there was a lot of discussion about the length of time to obtain approvals and the number of rejections that required going back to the drawing board and that each time that occurred it cost them money. Ms. Gilger noted that in her experience, developers across the board complain about the development process in every community. However, perception is the reality and Dublin has a reputation for being difficult to develop in. Some may indicate the process is smooth if they are in a straight -zoned district. Others may build in a PUD and the current text is exactly what they need, so they do not have issues. Some of the reputation continues to linger and needs to be addressed in some way by Dublin's marketing and information about the development process. Opportunities to explore that could lead to future economic growth Ms. Cummings state that, based on the quantitative analysis and from talking with companies about future plans and opportunities that existed, they learned about the following opportunities: • Leveraging both existing and emerging innovation strengths and assets, including: o Building on the biomedical innovation — potential for OU's medical campus and development of it, particularly with ties to Dublin Methodist for the resident program; and establishment of OSU's new outpatient medical center. This is the opportunity to tie into the larger Columbus regional development and what the place in Dublin could be. o Near-term opportunities around mobility, leveraging both the region's 33 Smart Corridor as well as the Smart Columbus initiative and the opportunity to be the test bed for suburban transportation related infrastructure technologies. This is an opportunity not only around the quality of place and the live/work/play development environment, but also for this industry cluster to grow around R&D and the companies already in the region as Dublin continues to be a strength of that. o The continued development of the IT and technology industry, leveraging Dublink, the capacity here, the IT workforce here, building and branding on the City's existing strengths. In the industry focus group earlier this evening, there was a lot of discussion around building upon what Dublin has, build upon and help these companies grow and strengthen, and what the opportunities are. • Many talked about the opportunity to explore additional live/work/play environments or nodes around the City in different areas, particularly around areas in which there is aging office infrastructure and for newer areas as well. o They want walkable connections throughout Dublin to enhance future development. o They want this environment in order to recruit new talent to their operations in Dublin. They suggested attracting recent college graduate/college students across the region by creating "Experience Dublin Night" focused on Bridge Park. o Create great opportunities for mobility technologies, which enhances talent attraction. This will help ensure the workforce attraction. o Aging facilities must be redeveloped where necessary and adapted for 21't century preferences in order to be competitive. Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 8 of 20 • They talked about wanting proactive networking/connection points, looking for networking opportunities among Dublin industry; connecting points with City leaders; connection points with each other and economic development staff around expansion and the potential for new business attraction opportunities. • Recognition that Columbus has continued to develop an entrepreneurial culture that is creating a lot of start-ups in part of the city that will not necessarily be able to capture the scalability of those companies as they seek more mature workforces. The idea of Dublin becoming the identified place that these companies want to come and grow. Creating a workforce, environment and quality of life they are looking for will make Dublin more attractive to them. Developing the West Innovation District and including technology commercialization/incubation efforts, finding ways to link with those universities to create more opportunities. Intentional connections with the entrepreneurial assistance programs of the broader region, making that an emphasis in Dublin. • Opportunity to streamline the approval process for economic development projects, reducing the uncertainty of the decision-making process and clearly articulate approval "jurisdictions" — who can say eyes" and who can say "no" and under what circumstances. Not taking away the quality of place and the requirements, but making sure that the requirements are well understood and mitigating the risk that if a company is going to pursue a project in the City, the process is very clear. Ms. Alutto asked about workforce development. Is the industry generally aware of the initiatives of Dublin Schools in terms of the academies? Is that something industry is interested in? Ms. Cummings responded it depends upon the company, but the Emerald Campus was talked about by a number of companies, with many excited about the IT program. Several companies are already hiring high school graduates and offering to pay for their college experience, but recognizing they can hire them early and they are being well trained. Those are skillsets very technical in nature. The Dublin City Schools were praised, and particularly the recognition that when a fourth high school was needed, it was not created simply in the format of the other three. Instead, this was viewed as an opportunity to do something different and be responsive to industry. Many companies spoke of the fact they are not hiring entry level workers, not even out of college. There was a recognition that it is a hard connection point. They were very excited about the Emerald Campus, and that program as it continues to grow and expand will be particularly relatable to the IT workers. Ms. Alutto stated it would be important to monitor how successful this is over the next 3, 5, 10 years. It is a unique program and there is potential for students to be hired at entry level positions. The potential tuition assistance for college would be very important, as not having large debt after college improves personal economic outlook in the short-term future. These graduates have disposable income much more quickly in their young life. This also tends to breed an entrepreneurial mindset, so they are potentially the future of not just the workforce, but the creative entrepreneurs we desire to have in Dublin. Ms. Gilger stated that one thing the Emerald Campus has done is fostered engagement with businesses by the academies and the staff. Previously, all of this was decentralized and scattered among three high schools. It was difficult for companies to make connections. Now, with one place, the staff at the Emerald Campus is very supportive of bringing in businesses — whether Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 9 of 20 through sponsoring a program or participating on a panel, helping with interviewing, etc. The engagement piece has significantly grown with companies. Ms. Cummings stated that there was a large recognition in most she spoke with about the "college banner high school competition." The competition about where a child is going to school and that you want the best — and that taking a job out of high school with an IT company, even if the company may pay for college, is culturally not accepted. Perhaps Dublin could be on the forefront of saying there are a lot of career pathways and that we are encouraging our children to think about all of them and what is right for them versus a competition to see what school a child can be admitted to. Ms. De Rosa asked if she heard this in the interviews. Ms. Cummings responded that she did hear that from industry leaders, particularly when the discussion focused on the IT workforce. They said that, as parents, they recognize that they, too, push their own kids. They recognized there is an opportunity for college education through a different career ladder, but society has a hard time accepting that. Ms. Alutto agreed, stating this is a type of apprenticeship. As a mother of five, she is not certain that each child's path will be the same as each of the others. She is glad to hear this was discussed. The messaging needs to offer that path and how their children can become part of that workforce, connecting with businesses early on and create a sense of loyalty to that company, given the high turnover that occurs with the younger workforce. Ms. Fox stated that workforce development is an important topic. She is surprised that the conversation statewide and nationally is to begin to elevate some IT schooling as well as trades so that the gold standard is not just a college degree. The educational system is not keeping up with demand in the types of jobs available. It would be interesting to have conversation about how the City, industry and Schools can work together to create a new dynamic for job opportunities, teaches job skills, maybe an associate's degree in high school. There has to be a better marketing plan for students and Dublin would be a prime place — they can be educated in Dublin and employed in Dublin, and offer a high quality of life — without incurring substantial student debt. She would like this to be included in the strategy. Threats that must be mitigated through Proactive Strategic Efforts Ms. Cummings noted that a number of these are not specific to Dublin and not necessarily possible always for Dublin to simply solve, but something to be aware of and understand in order to mitigate. • Talent attraction ability is impacted by the overall regional ability to attract national global talent, which requires the region to raise its visibility. If the Columbus broader region has that perception, then Dublin shares that issue. The ability to grow your own, the ability to retain talent, the ability for kids to want to stay in Dublin and develop their careers here is critical. • Losing companies to "poaching" by nearby municipalities always diminishes the region as a whole. Columbus 2020 was created to help mitigate this. Continuing to contribute to the regional policy of discouraging this practice is critical as it hurts everyone. • The potential shift in commuting patterns may eventually decrease traffic to Dublin from around Central Ohio -- particularly in the skillsets needed by the hospital systems, the retail industry, and the hotel industry — these businesses cannot survive if they cannot attract talent. As different mobile transportation options become available in other parts of the City Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 10 of 20 or other opportunities become available in other parts of the broader area, it becomes more difficult to get them to Dublin. • The perception of tax parity is very important for Dublin's competitiveness. It is a complex conversation, as it involves abatements and the value of Dublin. It is a threat and must be understood. • Dublin has been a very successful community and continues to be. In all such communities, complacency is always a threat to the ability to stay on the cutting edge. By taking on this analysis, Dublin demonstrates it is not choosing to be complacent. The focus group comments included that it is wonderful the City is doing this. Whatever comes out of this needs to be aggressive and proactive in taking the emerging opportunities forward. In terms of next steps, they will facilitate an additional focus group on Wednesday, and will do follow up on anything they need to learn. From all of this feedback, they will develop what she terms "strawman" strategies and actions -- to discuss at the next meeting on June 17. From there, they will write and develop the detailed plan. Ms. De Rosa asked about the focus groups and whether these are the same people interviewed previously. How were they selected? Ms. Cummings responded that they are totally different. Ms. Gilger noted that the selection involved making sure there were representatives of all business districts; a good mix of new and longtime Dublin businesses; some restaurant industry; some corporate industry. The goal was that this group would be very diverse. Today, there was a start- up IT company and a restauranteur, together with some larger companies who have been in Dublin over a decade. Ms. De Rosa asked for the total number of people in these focus groups. Ms. Gilger stated that each focus group is 10-12 and two are scheduled. Ms. De Rosa stated that the details shared today were far more valuable to her than the summary data. If the strategy is to be brought forward at the next meeting, it is imperative to understand more of the richness of the data from these groups. This can be done without attribution to the participants. Ms. De Rosa asked if there was an opportunity to speak with businesses who chose not to come to Dublin and why they chose not to come. Was that part of this? Ms. Cummings responded that no one has chosen to respond, but they can continue to follow up. Ms. De Rosa stated that it is important to understand why they chose not to locate in Dublin. We should stay vigilant in trying to get feedback from some of these companies. Ms. Gilger stated it is difficult to measure for a couple of reasons. Sometimes, staff does not know the name of the company, given they are working through Columbus2020 and JobsOhio and many times it is not known why they did not select Dublin, Central Ohio or even Ohio. Ms. De Rosa stated that perhaps Dublin should request Columbus2020 to provide this information. Loss analysis is often more telling than the wins. In order to put together a strategy, it is important to have some of that information incorporated somehow. Ms. Gilger stated that when staff is aware there is a project considering Dublin, they do their best to find out who Dublin is competing against. Sometimes, staff knows where the company does eventually locate, which could be within the region. When staff works with companies making those decisions, we try to identify why they did not choose Dublin. Sometimes it is a lease rate, sometimes an incentive, sometimes it is the access to a type of workforce needed. These are quantified throughout the year, and there are a handful for the first two quarters of 2019. She is Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 11 of 20 not certain it is enough data from which conclusions could be drawn. Maybe after a year or two of monitoring, it might be possible to see some trends. Ms. De Rosa summarized that as Dublin is putting together a strategic plan, we need to find a way to do this. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes added that the positive question could be why the company did choose another community and not Dublin. That would indicate what the company was looking for, i.e., relocation assistance, return on investment, or public transportation. Ms. Gilger noted that incentives tend to be the last priority — others like lease rates, public transportation, workforce are more important to a company. Ms. Fox stated her major focus of weaknesses listed are the lack of connection and the perception that Dublin can be difficult to work with. If we all do not have the opportunity to get to the table with these companies, we will never be able to understand their needs. Being able to articulate that, Council then meets with staff to discuss what we are struggling with, what the companies need, what the community vision is, and do all of that together. Personally, she believes the lack of connection is not just among the industry — it is among everyone involved in economic development — staff, Council, the companies. Only by working on this issue will the perception of being difficult go away. The process is difficult due to lack of communication. Ms. Gilger stated staff has been focused on the workforce development campaign, particularly with the IT sector. That audience has been gathered four times. This allows for connection among the industry, facilitated by the City. The relationships being formed during the networking hour at these events are the most beneficial piece. Ms. Fox stated that in looking at the business and public/private partnerships that have occurred in Columbus through big table conversations, and given Dublin's strong Chamber of Commerce, this is an easy thing to do. It is a matter of collaboration — of becoming more engaged with and understanding each other. Once the issues are identified, processes can be improved and streamlined. We have to balance the quality of life and the development standards in place. So much of this review goes through boards and commissions. If they are not trained well, this is another issue. Again, that is big table conversation — they are part of the process to ensure that when someone comes to the table, everyone understands the needs and the vision of the City. The process then moves along smoothly and developers feel the City has supported them throughout the process. Ms. Alutto stated that she agrees. Collaboration, a clear process and good communication channels around the board can also help the City to be very inclusive of the diverse businesses in Dublin today as well as minority businesses that we will welcome in the future. Having a clear process, clear direction, well trained boards and commissions, and a spirit of collaboration will make that process much easier. Ms. De Rosa stated that when we are developing the "strawman" strategies and actions, could some metrics be attached to those — so that if we do BSc," we can expect "y" -- in terms of growth in business, etc. If we are successful, what does the end state look like? A list of strategies is interesting, but a list of outcomes and why we picked the strategies would be more interesting. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes thanked everyone for the information provided for discussion tonight. Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 12 of 20 Data Strategy 2019 Mr. McCollough noted that first, he will jump to the outcomes section at the end. The graphics in the presentation are not intended to be discussed fully. This is all conceptual. Hopefully, there will be a story arc from where we are now to where we want to get to. The outputs, deliverables, results — at the end of the day — are as listed on the last slide. These are recommendations, but the intent of tonight's session is to hear from Council — is this what you mean, is this what you hope will happen? He then reviewed the Council Goal that is the focus of this session: Innovate and Enhance City Services Using Big Data and Better Analytics. Capture the economic and operational improvement opportunities now possible through data and data analytics. Ensure privacy, security and transparency. • He reviewed Terms and Definitions, as outlined on the slide: data type/sources; data storage; data discovery; analysis; visualization; roles/functions. There are a lot of terms and the focus is not to get caught in them. • He reviewed Activities and Uses, as outlined on the slide: plan and create; organize; process and analyze; disseminate; and maintain. These all fit into a roadmap that we will command offline. • He shared the concept of the Gartner Hype Cycle for Data Management (2018). Basically, every new or emerging technology suffers from a great deal of hype. Just because something is hyped does not necessarily mean it is bad, but it needs explanation. They came up with different phases of hype — the innovation trigger, the peak of inflated expectations, the trough of disillusionment, the slope of enlightenment, and the plateau of productivity. The point is that at any point in time, all of the buzz words we have fit somewhere on the hype cycle. Just because something is on the way up does not mean it is not a good idea — it means it is too early. The point is to get to the slope of enlightenment until finally reaching the plateau of productivity. DataOps and Private Cloud dbPaaS as a service will all reach that plateau of productivity if they don't die in jumping over that hill. In terms of buzz words, they likely belong somewhere on a hype cycle and it is important to be careful with adopting them — particularly in spending money with them. That does not mean that we will always use only mature technologies — at some point we also need to focus on things that are new and emergent. • One phrase used in the Council goal is "capture improvement opportunities." What we want to carry forward is the concept of using a maturity model. All organizations have a degree of maturity in what they are doing. Currently, in data, Dublin is immature as an organization. When you use a model, you can determine where we stand — typically in steps of 0 to 5. We want to use that measure, and for this reason he asked Council to review the Gartner pre -reads for this session. For the City to agree on a maturity model has value, and we want to loosely follow that so that at any given point, Council may ask where we stand and we should be able to respond with the level for whatever item requested. • Creating a strategic framework and plans is something that other cities and organizations of our type do. With a framework, plan or document — or a series of documents that are cataloged, you can plug them into a roadmap and place them on a time series. • The goal speaks to internal improvement opportunities. What is envisioned is data driven services — we have data that is collected and analyzed; we would develop new services or Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 13 of 20 take existing services and improve them, using our data, resulting in achieving a new level of maturity. Ms. De Rosa stated that a perfect example of this occurred tonight in the discussion about the frustration businesses have about following a process. If we had data about what an organization is trying to get done, we could be proactive in addressing this. Versus saying that over 20 years we should just market it, she believes we have to solve the problem. This is a perfect example of how the City could have a data driven service model for someone to walk through the process. She agrees completely about the data driven services and pointed to a perfect example of an opportunity that could change our economics, internal and external. Mr. McCollough encouraged everyone to interject with their comments. Ms. De Rosa asked if he agrees that would be part of something he would think about doing in Dublin. Mr. McCollough responded he agrees. The way we can add value to this Council goal is for staff to present to Council a process by which an infrastructure is developed so that when the questions come we have a structure to plug it into. We would further operationalize that with project plans and initiatives downstream. This is an example of an opportunity. As shown in an upcoming slide, he speaks about looking for the business context of each of these opportunities. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes asked if the desirable amount of resistance can be assigned. It will be interesting to quantify these things, as Dublin does not want to necessarily be the easiest nor the hardest to work with, but wants to be the best. Ms. De Rosa suggested this be described as "make it easy to do great work." We still want great work. But how to make it easier and still do great work is the question -- tying this back to Council's goals, figuring out the data it takes to achieve those goals, and not more. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes stated that a healthy tension is what you are seeking. Mr. McCollough agreed, noting that he hopes that what staff offers toward this goal is building a machine that repetitively can take business problems and deliver a consistent outcome. That business problem could be a data problem. We will need to set that up with the staff, knowledge, machinery and systems that could do that consistently. That is what he hopes we are approaching. Mr. McCollough noted that what has been referenced as a "Dublin Data Platform" would be the base layer upon which other systems and data would be built. A consistent technology environment is needed that allows use of the newest tools that are developed, but without changing with the "wind"— referencing the hype cycle discussed previously. Ms. Fox stated that she understands that a platform must be built that allows the collection of data from departments and then to perform the analytics and to utilize that data. Mr. McCollough stated that is correct. He moved to a later slide that shows the platform components. The first step is identifying the business problem — why particular permits require significant time to process; the business context -- what data is need; platform capabilities - do we have the data from the various systems; analytic capabilities -- do we have the ability to answer the question if we have the data; and business outcomes -- what are the outcomes that should result. To meet the Council goal, we need to be a data centric organization that can take the business problems as they arise and put them into the machine (data platform) we need to build to come up with the outcomes. Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 14 of 20 Ms. Fox stated that the development process issues discussed earlier tonight are an example where Council does not know if the problems are with the Code, the process, communications or procedure. Mr. McCollough stated this data platform is one contributor, potentially, to improving many processes. It is a part of a larger picture for the organization. • He then reviewed the Gartner State of Analytics. In speaking of a maturity model and a roadmap, these analytics domains closely follow the maturity model — from the information portal to monitor; and the last step as an artificial intelligence hub to perform. When an organization is ready to place an open data portal on a web page, this is not the same level of focusing on artificial intelligence with a hub. This graphic shows that we might do some artificial intelligence today, even though we are at an information portal level. When at an artificial intelligence level, we might still do an information portal. The point is that we have a road to travel — starting with reports, then dashboards, and then self-service analytics. Our path should be something similar to this. We want to have a framework for understanding what is being discussed. We want to be careful and get this right; some things will take some time to do. • The next slide takes the analytics domains concept and provides more details, but it remains the same concept — information portal, analytics workbench, data science library and artificial intelligence hub. He directed attention to the roles and skills, which moves from a data steward to an analytics project manager and analytics enterprise architect. As you begin to consider skills needed in the City, they will change as the City matures. Ms. De Rosa stated that on page 6 of 17 of the Gartner Digital Government Maturity Model 2.0, there is an interesting graph. Is this what he is contemplating? Mr. McCollough responded not precisely, but the concepts should be there. Ideally, we would take these concepts and create a Dublin one. For this reason, he provided Council with full background materials in preparation for tonight's discussion. These graphics are very useful in conveying the concept. Ms. De Rosa noted that the early question was what is the value we are trying to create, and this graph relates to that. This particular graph was well done. Mr. McCollough responded we are following these concepts, although a number of companies and philosophies do the same. Basically, the first step is business problem and business context — making sure we know what we are trying to solve. A disciplined approach and following a method are what is needed. Ms. Fox asked if one domain needs to build on another or if they can be done simultaneously. Mr. McCollough responded it is not linear — one need not do step a before b. But he cautioned that if we jumped into an artificial intelligence hub today, we would not gain any benefits until we finished. Secondly, we would not have the benefit of the learnings. We need to select the ones that are appropriate for the City of Dublin, based on our scale, our resources, and our knowledge. We can gain benefits at many different levels. He wanted to share best practices in the industry, which is why he included a data privacy document in the pre -reads and what other cities are doing. • He noted that the analytics domains include monitor, explore, investigate and perform. This is for the IT team to begin to classify the activities we want to do with data. This is a way to map what we are already doing or what we have plans to do. The City already has in Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 15 of 20 place some of these elements as shown in green on the slide. The grey shaded areas are future items and are in process. He added that his team has reviewed this philosophy and methodology and has come to some agreement about it being the right way to move forward. It should allow the City to become more sophisticated. This model will continue to be followed and continued results are expected. • The Council goal includes the language "ensure privacy, security and transparency." He highlighted and identified the Smart Columbus Data Privacy Plan. He served on the work group committee that wrote the plan, which was built in a very effective way with subject matter experts from the universities and legal experts. It will be a great benchmark for data privacy plans for everyone to model. The State of Ohio has the InnovateOhio Data Platform that is available to the City to model some of our activities off of. MORK has its Data Policy Agenda and is working on a Toolkit. He is on a work group that is doing this for all of the region. • He provided background on the Dublin Data Collaborative. The Glenn College Capstone class wanted to work on a project with data analytics. They wanted the City to present them with real city problems and they would return with recommendations. There was a concept of a data concierge, one of crowd sourcing. There are thousands of business problems to be solved, and the question was prioritizing and where to obtain subject matter expertise. A community of Dublin's size will never have enough full-time employees to work on this at all times. The question is what would a modern community do, and we zeroed in on a collaborative effort — which involves the community, subject matter experts, and businesses. If the structure can be established to be able to draw expertise from that type of community, then the City augments itself in an attractive way. This was a student project and is one of a few tool sets that can be used to build a data and analytics practice in the City. • He shared a slide regarding governance and security, and he proposes this is the approach the City should take — build systems on this, mature the platform, build services and improve operations. This is the beginning design of the machine he spoke of tonight. He provided a slide that shows the data products and strategic areas of focus. These include the CIP, Office of City Manager metrics, Safety, Development, Finance and Citizen Engagement. These are areas that can be improved by data and analytics programs. Much of this data already exists, but this involves having a view of the City through a data and analytics lens. He provided a slide that shows the data products and technology areas already being done. Green color depicts current programs such as SnowGo, Waze CCP, etc. The grey areas represent future ones. • He noted that Council's next question is likely the outcomes expected. He noted the following: 1. Digital Strategic Framework and Plan, including a Data Privacy Plan and Data Security Plan 2. Data Platform and Infrastructure 3. Dublin Data Collaborative that looks to the community to volunteer their expertise 4. Organizational Upgrades, including embedded subject matter experts inside every department; external volunteers (Collaborative); and other resources. Mr. McCollough offered to respond to any questions. Ms. Alutto noted this all sounds expensive. Does he have a cost estimate? Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 16 of 20 Mr. McCollough responded this is theory and concept, not technology yet. The cost will depend upon what Council wants to see happen and how big the City wants to go in this area. Ms. Alutto stated that the first step is to articulate the problem we are trying to solve with data. Building platforms to reach across various data sets and bringing them together to utilize them for business intelligence is the part that may be costly. It depends on where the City wants to start, and what is the priority focus. Maybe that is the discussion that is needed about priorities. Mr. McCollough noted that we have gone for scalability. The Dublin Data Platform was built last year, using the existing IT budget. We have added dozens of data sets from around the City. We can fund that and make it more permanent and improved. Ms. De Rosa stated she would support the funding necessary for all of this. It is the infrastructure of tomorrow, and she encourages him to provide the range of cost versus trying to accomplish within current budget. She encourages us to provide a range, as the worst thing the City can do is not invest in this. Ms. Alutto clarified she is not proposing this be limited. It is important to understand the cost of all of this, as we may not want to do all at once — but perhaps tier or prioritize things. The whole point is to invest in the data. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes stated that on the platform component slide, it includes business problems, business context, platform capabilities, analytic capabilities and business outcomes. The first step of business problem includes defining the problem, defining the outcome, identify key performance indicators and defining the governance. How can we go about defining the outcome? She believes that doing so will help prioritize what order we should proceed in. Mr. McCollough stated that an example might be the time needed for a permit process. We could define the desired outcome, which is opportunities to shorten that time period. Once the problem is defined, we can likely define the outcome. Providing metrics on this would be an outcome. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes stated that is her point -- the metrics are to put dollar figures on the problems. It is an excellent undertaking and one that needs to happen in a forward thinking city. She wants to determine how to strategize and how to prioritize the problems to be addressed. Some may take a long time to achieve. Mr. McCollough stated that is the desired outcome from this conversation, as staff does not want to internally make decisions about some of this. Hopefully, in the slides shared tonight, Council has seen that there are multiple inroads we can do. If we start with something small and scale it we will win. If we focus on something strategically that is much larger, we are also winning. Another action item from Council may be which of all of these is our best step forward. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes stated that Council needs to have a planned approach — get into the right places first, and then branch out. Mr. McCollough agreed, noting this a point of the pre -reads and the earlier slides. This is big and the City cannot do it all. But doing some things is still a lot and it can expand quite quickly, so it is a wise investment from a strategic viewpoint. Ms. De Rosa noted that the second comment he made tonight is that they need to build an infrastructure so that Council can bring a problem forward that they can help solve. There has to be a foundational level built to do some of this. Mr. McCollough agreed. He noted that we don't want to be an organization that for every new problem we come up with a new solution. We don't want to rebuild the infrastructure for every Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 17 of 20 opportunity. We want to build a more general infrastructure, but at the same time capable of significant strength and outcomes. Ms. Fox stated that at the Council retreat, the reason Council made this one of its top priorities is that we are identifying problems for which information is needed to address them. What would be helpful to staff — is it identifying strong strategic areas to be addressed first? What is helpful to staff as they begin to build this? Mr. McCollough responded that if a strong strategic area — or the top three — could be identified by Council, that would be very helpful. We want to build a machine that would provide the data to address this. Prioritizing a near-term, middle and longer-term strategic area would be helpful. Ms. Fox stated that Council doesn't always know what the strong strategic areas are — so meeting with the City Manager and Directors would be helpful in understanding these issues. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes asked what the specific question to be answered tonight is. Is it the data products and strategic areas to be prioritized? Mr. McCollough responded that tonight, he wants to affirm that Council's goal and what has been presented tonight is aligned. Secondly, if Council wants some specifics, some guidance on what can be offered and what Council wants would be key. Mr. McDaniel referenced the platform components slide. He has been observing over the last year where anxiety occurs around data. The City has been doing metrics for many years. The challenge has been that the City has disparate systems as a result of the growth of the City. There are many different systems that have served the City well, but are not in the platform. IT is trying to modernize and integrate systems. He provided examples of software systems in Development. The goal is to get to the platform capability where the data can reside. The City is making great progress. Mr. McCollough added this is correct. The City has old systems from which data is needed, and while we are still trying to get data from those, the system must be modernized. There are lots of existing spreadsheets based on data in these old systems. The City needs to standardize across the entire City how we manage and maintain data. Some of this is labor intensive, and the goal is to be more systems intensive. Some of this requires investment and some requires subject matter expertise. What the City is asking them to do is to develop the capability — whether in people, systems, processes, policies — so that we know if we are progressing towards this goal. Ms. Alutto stated the strategic framework and plans speak to this. Mr. McDaniel asked Council where is their highest anxiety in terms of a business problem. It must be prioritized and focused. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes stated she believes that the platform components as outlined are acceptable to Council. In terms of the slide on data products and strategic areas, for her, all of the items listed under Development are a priority. In the Finance area, the reporting is a priority — easier to understand and timely, particularly the CAFR and the status of the budget in terms of what has been spent and not spent. She does not have anxiety about these, per se, but she would like more information and in a timely manner for these items. She would also like the reporting in a manner that is easy to comprehend. The CAFR reports are very difficult to navigate and there is important information in those reports. These are the items that she would place as highest priority. Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 18 of 20 Ms. De Rosa concurred. Monthly financial reports are provided, and quarterly reports are also generated by staff. She believes it is equally important to elevate the data quarterly on how we are doing on infrastructure of data and intelligence. This type of work is what will allow us to see the opportunities, to deliver better service and to grow the economics so that we continue to have a robust city and have the financing to do that. She believes Council needs data that helps us see things we are not seeing. Without the data, we don't know what we are not seeing. Her anxieties are in the dark blue boxes on the slide (Development items) as well as a couple of the Citizen Engagement items. We should be elevating this type of reporting to be equivalent to our financial reporting. Mr. McCollough clarified that the slide of data products — strategic areas does not represent the entire City — it is just a representation, and more departments could be included. Mr. McDaniel stated he envisions a dashboard for an area like Finance. What are the indicators Council wants to monitor? These data platforms would feed into a dashboard — perhaps revenues, expenditures, growth in certain areas, etc. Staff has created dashboards in every division for operational metrics. What he wants to see, however, may not be the same as what Council is interested in seeing. Ms. De Rosa responded that Finance is always a Year view mirror' — looking to see what occurred last month. The reason she is interested in the dark blue boxes is she wants the forward facing mirror — how many businesses came and how many left, how many employees came and how many left, and from what industries. In terms of the economic development strategies, what are the things that will trigger long-term sustainable growth? She wants to look out to see what is ahead, recognizing the financials are important, as well. She is very interested in having the data that gives us the operational advantage. Mr. McDaniel stated that he wants Council to be comfortable with what they are looking at and to ensure there is a common picture. Ms. Alutto stated that prior to tonight's discussion, the boxes on the slide she circled were those same dark blue boxes. Part of what we need in terms of dashboard and looking forward is to have an updated economic development strategy, but also to continue working on it into the future. Continual review of data will help us know what is providing Dublin a competitive advantage and what are the choices available. She would likely include the items of public meetings and citizen - based design as priority items as well as budget monitoring. Mr. Reiner commented that he agrees with investing in this data strategy as presented tonight. He also agrees that the items in the dark blue boxes are a priority. He is specifically interested in building permits — the time it takes for the process as well as what is coming in and what is going out. In Finances, he is interested in status of the budget as others have expressed. Ms. Fox stated that, in general terms, in developing this data platform, Council and future Councils begin to identify strategic areas and the areas to work on so they can be targeted. For her, it is important to use the strategic areas to build the data platform. It is also important that it be accessible to Council at any time to be able to use it easily. Her concern is that it will be built, yet too complex to use. She wants to be able to go to the data platform to see how many building or sign permits were submitted and how long it required for them to go through our system. The Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 19 of 20 data platform should be accessible to staff, Council and the residents. Citizens may have input about how the platform can be improved. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes stated that such access will help determine if a problem is bigger or smaller than we believe. Ms. Fox reiterated that ease of use and having the right data may help predict what direction the City might move in. Mr. McCollough agreed that citizen input would be very useful, as they may have important suggestions. He is hopeful that if staff is to return with something to Council, Council can articulate what needs to be in that something. He wants to deliver back to Council what staff has heard so that the decision to move forward is clear. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes stated that is exactly correct. In terms of the plan, Council will likely be able to respond to something tangible. Mr. McDaniel suggested that staff advance to Council the concept of what the dashboard could look like. The IT team is continuing to work on all of these matters. Staff will bring forward dashboards focused on these areas with a roadmap of how to get to the outcomes. If additional resources are needed, staff will advise Council. He views this as a beta test. Mr. McCollough stated that his presentation is complete. Economic Development Strategy Mr. McDaniel stated in regard to the economic development strategy that he wants to make sure we are getting to the right level of input expected or garnering the right amount of data. A timeline was established to complete this strategy, but if there is more work needed he wants to provide that opportunity. If there is anything that is lacking, he asked that Council members provide guidance — either by e-mail or other. He wants to make sure everything is addressed. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes commented that the only feedback about tonight is that it was generic/general. Perhaps it is necessary to generalize first and then come forward and specify. As long as the specification does take place, that is fine. Ms. De Rosa commented that the data pool is small, with 35 participating. She is aware of the cost and time involved in this. Her concern is that if we are only looking for generalizations in a very small pool, this will influence our strategy. The more the consultant spoke, the more detail came out, without compromising anyone's identity. She believes it is critical to have the full richness of the pool, even if there is only one contrarian point. She feels it is important to understand some of this and why companies did not select Dublin. There is more work to be done to make sure the guidance is sound. Mr. McDaniel responded that from his years of experience and working in Economic Development, the analysis of why Dublin was not selected by a company is very important. There are examples of why Dublin was not chosen in old files that can be shared, if desired. Staff will provide some of that information to Council. There are themes identified. How the City responds to those is critical — what is the action plan, and how to measure the result. The ongoing engagement piece is critical as well. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes commented that the conversation about the economic development strategy had perhaps more value than the report. Some items lend themselves more to r-% Dublin City Council Work Session Monday, June 3, 2019 Page 20 of 20 conversation than reporting. She believes that at the end, everyone was comfortable in moving forward in the current direction. Ms. De Rosa noted that she is not certain that Council has all of the information, given there was no additional time to discuss it. However, she is comfortable with the direction of moving forwa She is anticipating a good session and continuing this process on June 17, Ms. Fox commented that for her, the weaknesses are easily identifiable. She is hoping to understand the why of these — what people said specifically — as you can't address a problem without knowing the specifics. Mr. McDaniel challenged Council to bring back information based on their experience on development review boards as well as on Council. Council could also make some phone calls to those who may have input or who can validate experiences. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes commented that some of the identified weaknesses are actually intentional as there is a financial component to them. Vice Mayor Amorose Groomes wished Ms. De Rosa a Happy Birthday on Friday'. The meeting was adjourned at 8:28 pm.