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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, August 24, 2015 Page 14 until the City Council had more time to consider the role of the HRC going for- ward. Mayor Roe clarified from his perspective that the CEC's role would involve more how to engagepeople. Commissioner Gardella opined that, based on staff and City Council feedback, it seemed the reason for gathering people would be to determine what if any barriers existed for their participation and to provide better access to their local govern- ment or how they felt about their community, their quality of life, and what they desired for their children in the community. Commissioner Gardella noted, de- pending on the direction desired by the City Council in serving that purpose, it could be designed in numerous ways, but a determination was needed on the best ways to perform them. Commissioner Gardella proposed going beyond the three pilot listening/learning events if successful, but pursuing an ongoing method to hear from the community about different topics and develop a process for that. While recognizing that the sky was the limit, Councilmember Laliberte reiterated her concern that she needed a better understanding of the HRC's role before di- recting the CEC to move forward on it. Mayor Roe suggested there may be a role for the HRC or other parts of the city in various topics, but the first 1-3 sessions could determine what the city wanted to focus on. Councilmember McGehee opined that her interpretation of the role of the CEC was to focus on civic engagement and barriers to residents being involved in speaking at or attending meetings, or understanding their rights as a citizen. Councilmember McGehee suggested listening sessions involving how residents liked their community, how they felt about diversity in the community — all of which may belong to different advisory commissions — but involving the overall process of listening/learning that would eventually become available to all adviso- ry commissions related to their specific topics of interest and targeted to commis- sions specifically. With Commissioner Gardella mentioning education, Mayor Roe suggested shar- ing ideas and seeking feedback from the school district as apartner. Recognizing that an interdepartmental group was working with the Karen com- munity and representatives from neighborhood associations, Commissioner Gre- fenberg personally thanked City Clerk Kari Collins and City Manager Patrick Trudgeon for their work on those efforts. However, as referenced in the Decem- ber 8, 2014 joint meeting of the CEC and City Council, Commissioner Grefen- berg clarified the 2015 work plan priority items and charge to the CEC. In re- sponse to that, Commissioner Grefenberg presented a summary of that charge via