Jessica King, chief communications director in the City of Austin Communications and Public Information Office (CPIO), briefed the task force on the CPIO-led engagement strategy for the 2026 bond, describing a multi-modal approach that combines event tabling, community meetings, surveys (including Austin 3-1-1 and the SpeakUp Austin platform), social media and targeted outreach to underrepresented communities.

King said the joint communications team, led by CPIO, will coordinate cross-departmental outreach and that task‑force volunteers should help identify gaps, provide contact points and encourage participation in their networks. "People trust people they know, and they're more inclined to take action, if asked from those individuals," King said when asking task-force members to use their relationships to broaden participation.

CPIO staff emphasized two legally referenced requirements from the enabling council resolution: conducting a minimum of four public town‑hall meetings and summarizing countywide feedback for the task force. King explained that the team will produce a summarized report of raw engagement data for the task force and keep raw feedback accessible as a public record.

Technical tools and approaches: Marion Sanchez (CPIO community engagement manager) described a mixed-methods approach that uses short tabling exercises, longer surveys and targeted small-group conversations ("coffees") to reach people who do not attend formal meetings. Sanchez recommended using appreciative inquiry and photo-based prompts to surface lived experience rather than only checklist-style priorities. Alicia Dean (CPIO strategic communications manager) said social platforms will be used to drive participants to a trusted survey tool to preserve data integrity, while staff will also perform social-sentiment analysis to spot trending conversations.

Timing and next steps: staff presented a tentative timeline showing plan development in January–February, outreach implementation in March–June and a summarized report for the task force between July and September so the task force can finalize recommendations before council consideration. King said staff will return with a refined plan at the task force's February meeting and that raw engagement data will be retained and available to task-force members on request.

Questions and concerns: task-force members asked about survey length, translation and language access, asynchronous and virtual presentation options, ways to measure representativeness (ZIP code and district tracking), and whether focus groups or polling would be used. Staff said they typically use a single research instrument adapted into shorter and longer tools, plan for about 30-day survey windows in many cases, will track respondent geography, and may use low-cost small-group convenings rather than expensive formal focus groups.

Why it matters: engagement design determines who is heard in the bond-prioritization process. Staff framed the engagement work as iterative and directed the task force to identify contact points and local events where staff should table or present.

Provenance: staff briefing introduced by Jessica King at transcript block starting 949.055 and concluded with questions and next-steps discussion around transcript block starting 2861.02.