Venice Citizen Advisory Board Meeting - June 17, 2026
Venice Citizen Advisory Board Meeting - June 17, 2026
The Citizen Advisory Board met on June 17, 2026, primarily to receive a presentation on the city's website redesign project. The board heard survey results, a proposal from Granicus, and discussed future tasks including the parks master plan, bicycle level, and a park renaming policy.
Consent Calendar
- The board unanimously approved the minutes of the April 15, 2026 meeting.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public signed up to speak.
Discussion Items
- Website Redesign Project: Public Information Officer Lorraine Anderson presented a survey launched at the end of May 2026, which received 404 responses. Key findings: 72% of respondents visit the site a few times a month or only when looking for specific information; the top three reasons for visiting are city news (257 respondents), special events/calendar, and garbage/recycling information; over 80% did not rate the site as "very easy" to navigate. Common complaints included a poor search function, overly wordy drop-down menus, and unintuitive information organization. Positive feedback included the home page buttons and news presentation.
- Granicus Proposal: Mike Tashikori from Granicus presented their approach, emphasizing a platform solution, data-driven insights, and white-glove service. The timeline targets a March 2027 launch, with phases including discovery, UX/design, development (including ADA/WCAG 2.2 compliance), training, and launch. The project will also migrate the website domain from venicegov.com to venicefl.gov. An AI-powered chatbot (GXA) will be optional, grounded only to city content. Board member Alex DeFollis asked about including the CAB in user acceptance testing (UAT); Granicus indicated openness to that if city staff approve. Other questions addressed the training approach (train-the-trainer) and post-launch support.
- Parks Master Plan Update: City Manager James Clinch reported that consultant GAI has been selected and held a kickoff meeting. They will tour parks and plan to present to the CAB at the August 19, 2026 meeting. Public outreach begins in August, with presentations to the planning commission and city council in September.
- Other Future Tasks: Mayor John H. and Mr. Clinch discussed upcoming assignments for the CAB: (1) continuing work on elevating the city's bicycle level to gold, (2) reviewing Venice Code Section 465 on renaming city-owned facilities/parks, (3) the parks master plan, and (4) previous website evaluation. The mayor stressed that the renaming policy should be carefully considered; background information will be provided for the August meeting. Board member Dr. Davis raised environmental concerns regarding the parks master plan, noting the previous plan lacked environmental considerations. He suggested incorporating native plants and drought-resistant landscaping, and proposed an educational program for residents. The mayor encouraged the board to develop its own projects within its purview.
- New Member Introduction: Lily, an upcoming high school senior, drum major, and track team member, was welcomed as a new CAB member.
Key Outcomes
- The board approved the April 15, 2026 minutes.
- The website redesign project will proceed with Granicus; the CAB will be kept informed and may participate in UAT testing at staff's discretion.
- The August 19, 2026 meeting will include the parks master plan presentation (by GAI) and background on the park renaming policy. Alex DeFollis will also provide a status update on the bicycle level initiative.
- The board discussed creating an environmental educational program, potentially in partnership with VABBY and other community groups.
Meeting Transcript
And if I may use the prerogative of the seat to start the meeting off with just a few announcements. I had the opportunity to go Monday. And you were there, you were there to this Northeast Park. And I was involved in it previously when I was chair of the park advisory commission. Get there, my advice. It's absolutely wonderful. Mr. Clinch and your team. Well designed uh park. And um I went there Monday and then yesterday I I took Mrs. Ephren over there, and it was packed with children and their moms and dads. And uh uh that is great. Uh the pickleball courts are filled. I I don't know how they argue who gets next and all of that. And I know that uh we may want to have an orthopedic surgeon sponsor them because I've heard of friends who have done those things, uh fallen, and uh I wanted to um say uh this park is great. Secondly hurricane guy, and if anyone in the audience doesn't have one, um I will give you one. If the committee wants one, uh take them. These are excellent. I applaud you, Lorraine, for putting this together. People I've given to, it's uh fresh, it's uh the pictures are great. It's a reality of what we have been going through. It's an easy read. This looks professional, people love it. Uh fortunately, um they um have uh printed this f and it reinforces your hard work. Um because one of the things that I've talked up here and you've thought is don't put them just up in police departments and fire departments and uh hope that people go there. Um guess what? They're all over. And uh you were at the meeting the other day, or saw me. Uh you know, you tried to dodge me. I still had them. You took these for what communities do you remember? Uh Windwood Water Windwood, Waterford, uh Sawgrass and and um Brooks. And so we've had the traditional locations, but then the untraditional. Uh team for my community is going to be staff uh the farmers market on Saturday to pass these out. The cooperation that we've received from Brianne who is not here today has been tremendous. And I give you a lot of credit for leading the process and the rest of the committee uh for last year's hurricane. The city has addressed what we have talked about, and please tell your staff how much we appreciate it. If you want some, just raise your hand and we'll pass them down. Uh the next thing I wanted to say, um, and I don't know if all the appropriateness is is here, but uh we appreciate the media and we appreciate Mr. Mudge who received a lot of honors and awards recently, and from the uh chair and the committee, we applaud you for receiving many of these awards. Okay. And uh one other thing, we have a new member of our uh team, and her name is Lily, and um Lily, uh welcome. Do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself? There's no reason not to. We want to find out who you are or a little bit. He'll help you. Hi, I'm Lily. Um, I'm an upcoming senior at Venice, and I'm the drum major of the Venice Marching Indians. I'm also a part of the track team, and I'm also on the board of directors for the Jack Rand up Public Library. Yeah, it's a little dummy.
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