Community

Engage with the City

There are plenty of ways to connect with the City of Corvallis. Your community benefits from having a diverse array of opinions and viewpoints involved in local government, so you're encouraged to volunteer, contact your elected officials, speak at public meetings or find us on social media.

Finding the Right Outreach Strategy

In 2021, the City Council adopted a plan to reimagine and renew its community engagement toolbox. The Council endorsed the "Spectrum of Public Participation" from the International Association for Public Participation.

The Spectrum (click here for a larger image) is a framework that helps agencies and organizations understand their key decisions, identify public participation goals, and match them with appropriate outreach tools. The Spectrum also helps the community understand how they can effectively "plug in" and engage with the process.

The framework put forth in the Spectrum was used as the foundation of the recent restructuring effort for the City's volunteer advisory groups. This effort took place during the summer and fall of 2020 with a goal of broadening the spectrum of public involvement and ensuring engagement opportunities are both meaningful and match the current and dynamic needs of the City of Corvallis.

Insights and experience from IAP2's Spectrum of Public Participation were used to develop our first-ever Engagement Planning Guide. This is a resource for city staff to use as a reference tool as they develop and execute public participation processes.

Check out any of the options below to learn more about how to get involved.