HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-02-20 Work Session MinutesDUBLIN CITY COUNCIL
WORK SESSION
(Virtual meeting)
Monday, November 2, 2020
Minutes of Meeting
Mayor Amorose Groomes called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. She reiterated that this work session is
being held virtually as permitted by passage of Am. Sub. H.B. 197, which includes temporary changes to
the Ohio Open Meetings Law. The meeting is being livestreamed on the City’s website and YouTube for
the public to view.
Pledge of Allegiance
Mr. Rogers led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Council members present were: Mayor Amorose Groomes, Vice Mayor De Rosa, Ms. Alutto, Ms. Fox, Mr.
Keeler, Mr. Peterson and Mr. Reiner.
Staff present were: Mr. McDaniel, Mr. Rogers, Ms. Readler, Chief Paez, Mr. Stiffler, Ms. O’Callaghan, Mr.
McCollough, Mr. Brown, Ms. Burness, Ms. Rauch, Ms. Gilger and Ms. Puranik.
Dublin 2035 Framework
Mayor Amorose Groomes reviewed the agenda for this evening and asked Vice Mayor De Rosa to make
opening comments.
Vice Mayor De Rosa stated that the main objectives tonight are to spend time talking about the future.
The WRLD CTY sessions that everyone has viewed provide the ability to step out of our current world to
think about the future. Tonight will begin the process of putting together the 2035 Plan. The first step is
to develop the guiding principles, as outlined on the agenda. Council members and staff will share their
insights and thoughts this evening, making this a team exercise.
Opening and Inspiration
Mr. Brown noted this type of discussion is difficult in a virtual session and the plan is to cover a lot of
ground tonight. He shared two inspirational sentences that everyone should complete. This input will be
shared later in the meeting.
1. Dublin is successful because it is a (FILL IN THE BLANK) community.
2. Dublin makes me proud because it is a (FILL IN THE BLANK) community.
(Time was provided for everyone to complete the sentences for sharing later.)
Two-minute Share (WRLD CTY Takeaways)
Mr. Brown offered everyone an opportunity to share their input from the WRLD CTY sessions they
viewed.
Mayor Amorose Groomes stated she viewed the Cities for the People of Tomorrow. Much of this focused
on the new urbanism that we have heard much about for 10 years or more. They did address the post-
COVID world and need for spacing. Most of the people presenting were from big cities and it was difficult
to relate their comments to Dublin. It was good information, but not really new information. Shaping the
Future of Remote Work was very interesting. Dublin has focused on making creative spaces for people to
create together, and the presenters felt that post-COVID would change this trend. Her assignments
included Future Innovation Cities. This was focused largely on European cities, green technology and
management of waste – specifically how to generate power from those wastes. Much of this was about
Copenhagen and it impressed upon her how far the U.S. is in terms of innovation and the environment.
Regarding A Phygital World, there were three experts speaking to the physical and digital worlds. They
spoke much about virtual reality. She acknowledged her “dinosaur” approach and that she cannot
imagine being excited about meeting virtually at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower and have it be
meaningful! She also watched The Next Migration and sees opportunities for cities like Columbus and
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Dublin, given the migration out of larger cities. The challenge is to make Dublin attractive if we want to
grow that much. She is not certain that bigger is better, but Dublin does need to grow its revenues.
Ms. Fox commented about Cities for the People of Tomorrow. She loved this as it focused on making
cities for people instead of cities for places. Making cities for people focuses more on the spaces and
provides a totally different perspective on how you grow a city. She did not view this as new urbanism,
but as a holistic view of how to create a great city. She also listened to Most Livable and Lovable Cities.
Singapore planners and designers were featured and the best green cities in the world. The focus was
not on urbanism but creating environments that put people first – instead of making a city economically
strong. She also watched City of Trust, noting that globally, many cities do not trust in their government.
There is trust within the City of Dublin as a safe, trusting place to live. The social environment must be
one of trust, well-being, inclusivity, nurturing and accessible. She found a trend in getting back to the
social and economic well-being of the inhabitants of a city and that will be her guiding principle in
moving forward. She also watched Cities at Night, noting that in the daytime, cities are more
conservative; when night falls, cities become different places with more freedom of expression.
Mr. Keeler stated he, Ms. Fox and the Mayor all watched the same sessions. His takeaway from the Cities
of People of Tomorrow was about walkability. Perhaps Longshore should remain closed as it has
impacted positively. We have engaged with Main Street USA and the Historic District Task Force to look
at improving the gateway to the City, and that is our canvas. We should make it walkable. We should
take care of the people we have – he is not certain we want to grow that much. Provide more amenities,
cleaner air, more mobility and walkability. Connect the Corners development, Metro Place, Bridge Park
via the Bridge Street Corridor. That is an area we can focus on with the takeaways from WRLD CTY. He
watched the Next Migration session as well. The question is do we want to be the destination for more
people? If the City wants to attract people, what do we need to do over the next 15 years to continue
raising the bar? Lots of communities are making huge headway in raising the bar. Fewer cars would be
ideal, and streets do cost a lot to build. Perhaps Longshore Street is an opportunity to create a more
walkable thoroughfare in Bridge Street. He believes we should concentrate on the Bridge Street Corridor.
Mr. Reiner commented regarding Cities at Night. In his younger years, he walked the great European
cities and observed how alive they were at night. In Dublin, we finally have that urban setting with the
Bridge Street Corridor. Much of the information in the session applies to much larger cities. But there are
a lot of great opportunities to improve the downtown – lighting the arch bridge on 161 is one example.
The 15-Minute City was interesting, the concept of locating goods and recreation within a 15-minute walk
or bike ride. Someone currently living in Paris presented the session. Most people in Europe have only
one car and use bicycles as a means of transportation. Dublin has progressively worked in places like
Metro V to have pods of residential and commercial activity. Years ago, we acquired land and built
pocket parks by requiring donation of parkland from developers. So we already have the green space
component of that 15-minute city. City of Trust was another interesting topic. Unlike our neighboring big
city, our government consists of people totally concerned about and in love with Dublin – not influenced
by power brokers and monied people. Dublin is a good City where people love and care about this city –
Council members and staff alike.
Ms. Rauch stated she liked the Cities of the People of Tomorrow. The real message heard is getting back
to the basics – walkable, approachable, places for people to gather. There are innovative ways to
transform spaces and do that, even in the world of COVID. Taking back the streets in New York for
dining is an example of how cities can be transformed. Remote working is another example. In terms of
the future, the simple message is we don’t know what will happen and must figure out how to
accommodate working – hybrid, all in, or working from home.
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Mr. Rogers dovetailed on Ms. Rauch’s comments. He found remote working information very intriguing.
Not just a workplace, but the concept of technology today, and how education and delivery of goods will
change. Even worshipping is now done online. Will people drive cars as much in 15 years as today? He
added that he is taking a five-week certification course at Pepperdine University about leading smart
cities, focusing on technology and how it will affect how we live.
Mr. Keeler comment on remote working. One of the presenters made a distinction between advisers and
service sectors. Legal and financial advisers can work more remotely versus the postal delivery person or
a waiter. The question over the next 15 years is if we want to be a destination for what they call “cyber
nomads.” How do we gear up the city to keep folks here in the City? What will Cardinal, Nationwide,
Wendy’s footprints look like in 15 years?
Mr. McDaniel stated he watched a presentation on economics and another on housing. In regard to the
Cities for People of Tomorrow, what jumped out for him is our advantage. Mobility for change and
influence in so many aspects of life in cities. The importance of lifestyle and the multi-dimensional
impacts that has on us. The relevant and appropriate technology applications in that context. While we
can’t chase everything, what can we do that makes a difference with our community and our economy
and how do we leverage that. The inclusive city about participatory design and spaces that are formed
from that. As far as the future of remote working, a new word to him is “digital nomads.” In terms of
professional workspace and connectivity, he found it interesting that it focused on broadband and what
the City is already doing. Happy people and social experiences make productive workers. Flexible
accommodations. The white collar versus the blue collar - where will the majority of the population lie as
far as workers – those working in place or those working virtually. That raised equity issues among
workers and the likely hybrid solutions. Takeaways: our opportunity lies in differentiating the office
neighborhoods we have with mixed use like DCAP; keeping office parks viable, bring workers associated
with where they work, tie to parks, amenities, social spaces, place making, green and sustainable for the
future.
Mr. Peterson stated the theme he keeps coming back to is that there is a pre and post-COVID world.
Those worlds will be dramatically different. What parts of our changes do we take with us into the future,
even beyond COVID? If everyone goes to working from home in the future after the pandemic, this could
bring a migration from big cities. Society evolves and the pendulum swings from one extreme to the
other. There could be a trend of moving out of big cities for the next generation, perhaps back to single-
family homes like in Dublin. It is important to remember Dublin is not going to be able to expand and
grow for the next 20 years as it did in the last 20 years. We will have to be thoughtful about
development going forward. It is important to maintain the quality of life for the community that is here
– be responsive to the resident needs. The last major reset in our society was in 2008 with the economy
crash. No one could have anticipated that COVID would occur in 2020. This reset will stick with us.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and this is especially important to adapt to changing needs. Where
we were two years ago and where we will be two years from now will be worlds apart. For Schools, what
are the good things experienced over the last year that we can take with us? It will be interesting to
see.
Vice Mayor De Rosa agreed that things will be different. Many people feel we will return to how things
were prior to COVID, but she is not certain of that. What struck her is that the boundaries are blurry – it
really is one WRLD CTY. The speakers and their various perspectives felt so universal to her. With
COVID, we have a shared experience unlike what we have had before. That will change how we do work
together. In terms of working, it seems unlikely that workers will now agree to be present 9-5 in a
building because it has been proven that people can work remotely. For things like traffic peaks, how we
think about the flexible work day as well as location, all of these factors will make life entirely different.
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She thought the Oakland A’s example was interesting where the team uses the ballpark for 100 days a
year, but it is the community’s park for 265 days a year and what do we want to do with our park. The
idea of not having single purpose buildings should be discussed. What does a multi-purpose building look
like? Is it an office building, or an office and becomes a retail building in the off hours? She was very
struck by that Oakland example. Places like Huntington Park are likely not being used other than for
baseball, and these are people’s amenities. The idea of shared experiences – one that makes Dublin
work is we have so many – Irish Festival, parades, events, activities where we gather. To her, that will
be very important moving forward. She felt the idea of how technology actually will migrate was
interesting. TikTok being a 10-second slice of communication, and our ability to communicate with each
other in 10-second slices will become really useful going forward. Lots of food for thought!
Mr. Stiffler stated he watched the remote work and the Cities for the People of Tomorrow. For remote
work, what he was most interested in was the questions asked, which were the same ones we are
asking. He took some solace in the fact that while we don’t have the answers, we are asking the right
questions with regard to remote work. Digital nomads and how far can you work remotely. Will someone
really go to a financial adviser far away from home versus someone in your community? That would be
an important question. He was struck by the talk of the Gini Coefficient and the People of the Cities of
Tomorrow. They talked about the Danes and about Denmark as a small, homogenous country. In the
USA, the culture is very different and there are different opportunities. This led to thinking about the
diversity and inclusion aspect of what we are going through as a city and in our country. How much of
our place making is to be inclusive about people versus excluding the people who don’t want to come to
that place? How do we build a place that everyone wants to go to that might be more reflective of a
certain perspective versus a homogenous society like Denmark? They talked of every third street being a
greenway and it reminded him of his son’s summer camp experience in Dublin two years ago. The
summer camp was at Grizzell Middle School, but at 12-years old, his son could take a bikepath from one
end of the city to another. That is a similar experience to this greenway transportation talked about.
Ms. Alutto stated that in terms of the Cities for the People of Tomorrow, walkability was a big takeaway.
She agrees with getting back to basics and simplifying was the main message. It is interesting to hear
everyone talk of whether Dublin wants to grow. The space where Dublin has the ability to grow is
providing more of what our residents want – having that agility and ability to pivot when needed rather
than physical growth. Remote work is interesting and technology changes will also impact. She has
onboarded two people including a Director during COVID who have never actually worked with the team.
They are looking at how their experience can be improved versus onboarding face to face. It will likely
end up with a variety of hybrid styles for working, based on people’s needs. For future innovation, there
were lots of big city ideas there. Some were very interesting as people have noted. Some of the notions
behind those innovations can be extracted and sized down for Dublin. The public health conversation
was interesting. For Dublin, it is more about partnerships since we contract for those services. The
question is how can we be better partners with our agency. Dublin did a tremendous job in working with
our partners during COVID. She also watched Cities at Night and loved the comparison between city day
and nightlife and how the social environment does change. We are working in Dublin to bridge the
Historic Dublin area with Bridge Park. It is interesting to see a glimmer of these concepts we are already
working on. Connectedness and connectivity were big themes of all the various programs offered.
Ms. Puranik stated these are all great takeaways. She does believe that land use planning and City
planning will change post COVID. Lots of land use and mobility assumptions and our dependence on cars
will be challenged. The zoning codes and other systems in place are slightly outdated. With a world
becoming more technology based, with digital nomads, etc. our systems are taking a little longer to
catch up. That is where we will see some discrepancy. One thing that struck her – in Planning, they talk
of density. In one of the sessions, they had a different definition of density – it is the measure of
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intensity of social interaction versus number of units. In the Cities of Trust, another takeaway for her was
how do we measure as we start looking into performance, analytics and data-based decision making.
Ms. Gilger comment about shaping the future of remote working. She found it interesting that there was
a lot of talk about millennials. She has GenZs at home and her neighborhood is filled with GenAlphas. No
one is talking about them – how much they hate online school and want to be around people. They are
calling them “COVID kids.” Millennials are approaching 30 and it is important to think of the younger
generations and how COVID has changed their preferences, being locked behind computer schools since
March. In terms of the future of office, it is too early to tell. Regardless of COVID, office space is
changing. But she still feels there will be companies who will want their people back together as
creativity works well when people are together. It is challenging to do over zoom.
Vice Mayor De Rosa commented that companies want their staff to be together, but is it for all the time
or some of the time? If for some of the time, what might that mean?
Ms. Gilger responded that she has gone to the world of real estate. If you are a building owner, you will
make a company sign a five-year lease. Whether employees are in the building or not, they will be
paying that rent. Unless there are building owners who will agree to short-term leases, the real estate
market will be impacted. The market may make the hybrid model hard to do in many cases. Real estate
is not flexible in the end.
Vice Mayor De Rosa stated she could envision three companies coming together to sign a lease for
space.
Ms. Gilger stated that co-working spaces will be more successful. It would be difficult logistically for three
companies to enter into a lease.
Mayor Amorose Groomes agreed that after observing parents working from home, high school students
do not want to work from home in the future.
Mr. McCollough commented that when we think of virtual reality today, it is not what we will have five
years from now. All of us have experienced some conferences or technology that has participants in a
simulated room together. Some people have opted to book an all-day room simulating being together
and achieving some of the creativity for which people don’t want to work completely remote. Today, that
will not work. But if you had a three dimensional image of a person sitting across from you or at a white
board, you might have a different experience with creativity. He doesn’t believe that will diminish the
amount of office space people will rent or lease because they will need that space for some of this
technology to be in. Some of our desire to build teams in that way can be offset by the enormous
amount of talent you can source around the world. If you can get the best talent from around the world,
that may offset some of the desire to not work from home. Often, we look at what is possible with the
technology today and not with the technology that will be available in 10 years.
Ms. Fox stated that humans are social beings and want to be around other humans. If you get to a place
where technology makes you feel comfortable – a place where you can see faces or feel you are sitting
in the same room – you could fill that void. Whatever we do, we have to find a way to fill the void of
what you miss by being in the presence of another person. That is what the students are saying about
being together. Even if we do hybrid successfully, we still have to fill the void in other areas with those
social density connections, seeing people face to face. That is essential to be a successful city or
workplace.
Ms. Alutto agreed. There will be as many hybrid situations as one can imagine. The real estate market
will have to change. A company may lease a smaller space because a portion of their workforce will work
remotely for some period of time. It is not a traditional model, so it is difficult. In recruiting, the
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recruiting tools are different as well. She believes the office space will accommodate a more hybrid
model going forward. It will depend upon each person in terms of how that will work.
Ms. Gilger stated that in looking at commercial spaces, diversity is really important – flex spaces, call
centers, etc. Medical facilities still need in person care. Diversity in our product is really important going
forward, repurposing standard office buildings.
Mr. Brown stated that the next part of the agenda involves thinking of the same two questions he posed
at the outset, after the discussion about WRLD CTY takeaways. Are there words you would now add? He
suggested each person offers two or three favorite words from their list.
Ms. O’Callaghan – innovative, strategic, global
Ms. Rauch – astute, intentional
Mr. Keeler – progressive, innovative, connected
Ms. Fox – aspirational, holistically supportive, authentic
Ms. Alutto – unique, engaged
Mr. McCollough – conscientious, ambitious
Mr. Peterson – fiscally responsible, forward thinking, stable
Mr. Rogers – trustable, resourced
Mr. Reiner – well planned, business funded
Ms. Gilger – proactive, visionary, fiscally smart
Mr. Stiffler – forward thinking, purpose driven
Mr. McDaniel – well planned, innovative, emerging diversity
Mayor Amorose Groomes – well planned, organized
Vice Mayor De Rosa – well maintained, city of neighbors who care for neighbors, fiscally responsible
Ms. Burness – well planned, smart, vibrant
Ms. Readler – resilient, nimble, visionary and innovative
Ms. Puranik – balanced, progressive
Mr. Brown stated that in reviewing notes from the February retreat, many of the same themes keep
coming up. He would now like to do some “level setting” of where we are in this process.
Information was sent out regarding guiding principles and how they fit in a strategic planning process.
Something that has come up in his role now with performance analytics is adding things like vision and
measurement. He shared a slide with the four large thematic areas of quality of life, economic, land use
and infrastructure. These are all planned for future work sessions and public engagement. The focus for
tonight and the next workshop is on the Dublin 2035 Framework – looking for guiding principles or things
at such a high level that no matter what changes around us, they will remain. The guiding principles
should be similar to core values, but with more “teeth” – more action oriented and more descriptive. In
terms of thinking about 2-5 guiding principles, the perspective should be far out, 30,000 feet view;
answer the question “how” in relation to our mission and vision; provide a guiding light; can be grand, all
encompassing.
For the rest of tonight, staff can share some examples of what they put together for discussion. This
would also involve taking the words contributed tonight and the input from the WRLD CTY as reported
tonight.
Dublin is a connected community because we focus on things like broadband, inclusion, bikeways,
roadways, virtual presence, technology, neighborhoods, accessibility, and mobility.
Dublin is successful because it is a trusted city. This might include safety, transparency, diversity and
inclusion, efficiency, communication, accessibility, financial stewardship, supported, people come first.
Dublin is successful because it is a balanced community. It is flexible, livable, thriving, has a history and
future, live/work/play environment, arts and culture, education, land uses, building for people, diverse
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economy. These statements are meant to be conversation starters. Staff can take the words, compile the
notes and provide them to Council for the next session.
Ms. Burness stated there is a perception viewpoint. The word “balanced” would not be agreed upon by
people outside of our community in terms of housing, use of space, diversity and inclusion.
Mr. McCollough asked if this is aspirational on our part or public facing. Is this something we are taking
to the residents or using internally as a team about what we should be in a 2035 context?
Ms. Burness stated it should be aspirational.
Vice Mayor De Rosa stated to that end, Dublin will be successful in 2035 because of (BLANK). That is
what we are trying to fill in.
Mr. Brown stated that this is meant to be aspirational. The lens is important for one who reads this and
is part of the exercise.
Vice Mayor De Rosa stated that the big takeaway for her from the WRLD CTY sessions was the degree to
which we need to be flexible going forward. We have to be able to do multiple things effectively.
Ms. Fox stated this is a bit confusing. The question is asked in the present tense about why Dublin is
successful today. But if this is looking at a 2035 statement, it would be different words. She needs clarity
regarding the principles. Is it aspirational or the way we see it today?
Mr. Keeler stated it should be aspirational – putting ourselves 15 years out and looking back. The guiding
principles Dublin has now are that we are vibrant, engaged, and innovative. Forward thinking has been
identified in the input tonight, so perhaps that could be a focus.
Ms. Fox stated she likes the Olathe, Kansas guiding principles provided in the materials. These are very
broad. There are some missing ones in ours. Perhaps we can find ways to distill the all-encompassing
principles and be more descriptive. The principles can be broad, but the strategies should be specific.
Mr. Brown stated that we need to build in with our goals and objectives the measurements so we know
when we are done.
Ms. Rauch suggested that some discussion occur about the words identified on the post-its in order to
see themes that come together or overlap. Determine which ones rise to the top so there is clear
direction of where we are going.
Mr. Brown responded that in view of the limited time remaining, it would make sense for staff to package
all of this for the group so they can react to it easily.
Ms. Fox asked if some other words can be added that are not included, such as transparency. This would
be part of trust. She would like to add more aspirational words like participatory.
Vice Mayor De Rosa stated that how the City will be vibrant in 2035 could be different than what we do
today. Is that the next step of this? If we pick four, what comes next?
Mr. Brown responded that we need 3-4 guiding principles in place. Make decisions that live up to our
guiding principles. Adding in the “how” to this process.
Ms. Fox stated she likes the guiding principles of Olathe – broad and bold, inclusive, measurable,
comprehensive. She suggested we beta test off of those.
Mr. Brown stated staff will package these and give Council a different method to react to them.
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Mayor Amorose Groomes stated that the challenge will be balancing the “boots on the ground”
framework versus an ideological framework. It should not be all of either one, but a significant balance
between. She wants us to have something executable at the end of the day and not solely ideological.
Vice Mayor De Rosa summarized the next steps. Staff will go back and take the high level principles,
work on diagrams, make them aspirational, deliver that back to Council. In order to put “meat on the
bones” – do we begin to work in those four areas, or is the next step community engagement?
Ms. Rauch stated that, based on the conversation, staff wants to take the words brought out tonight and
make them into what reflects tonight’s discussion, bring it back to this group, and then have a discussion
to ensure everyone is on the same page. It should be aspirational but also is something that can be
implemented on a daily basis. She suggests this group meet again before the public input process begins
with boards and commissions and residents.
Vice Mayor De Rosa thanked Mr. Brown for all of his work in preparing this.
The meeting was adjourned at 8 p.m.
__________________________
Clerk of Council