How a Partnership Based on Innovation Helps Expand Access to Public Meetings

Overview

Serving riders across two counties in San Francisco’s East Bay, the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) looked to leverage growth in public meeting participation during the pandemic into increased access and transparency for the public they serve. Granicus provided the tools and partnership to build new initiatives that saw dramatic results.

SITUATION

Increased Audience, Increased Needs

Since the reduction in pandemic-related restrictions for public meetings, the popularity of virtual meetings continues to grow due to the geographic span of AC Transit’s service area, presenting new ways to reach underserved communities, those with disabilities, and younger community members. Building a connection of information between the board and the community was something that reflected part of “a foundation of trust and transparency.”

SOLUTION

A Partnership Built on Innovation

With an eye toward improving ADA accessibility, staff examined internal processes and existing notification methods for focused improvements in four areas: agendas, minutes, Zoom links, and meeting notifications. Longtime users of both Granicus’ agenda management and messaging tools, they knew that once potential improvements had been identified, Granicus would be a trustworthy partner for success.

They made changes to the SendAgenda tool within govMeetings and developed an internal workaround to show an Accessible Agenda link in meeting notifications as well as a clickable Zoom link, to help the public to join a meeting.

RESULTS

Explosive Growth and a Change in Culture

The combination of implementing SendAgenda features, while making it easier for the public to access and sign up for meeting notifications, has created a dramatic increase in subscriptions. Subscribers to mailing lists have grown from an average 35 subscribers to an average of over 1,200.