Community Council

Activities and impacts affordable housing implementation task force Community Council wrapped up over four years of work around affordable housing at its full circle celebration for the affordable housing implementation task force (itf) in march 2023. During that event, we presented the implementation task force report. Some highlights from the implementation task force's advocacy work include: 1.creating common roots housing trust, our region's first Community land trust, which will provide permanently affordable housing in our Community; 2.producing an affordable housing data & measurement report, which we used widely when speaking with decision-makers; 3.developing an infographic, our region's affordable housing crisis, which combined data and graphic design to raise awareness on housing issues in our region; 4.creating a short video explaining affordable housing; 5.producing covid-19 housing and utility relief information sheets in english and spanish, during the pandemic, to inform the Community about legal protections and relief programs; and 6.working with the cities of college place and walla walla to encourage mobile home park resident protections, including the right to purchase when residents' mobile home parks are up for sale. College place was the first, and walla walla the third, city in Washington to adopt these protections. The effort earned statewide attention, contributing to Washington adopting similar protections statewide. An october 2023 article highlights several communities across the state utilizing the new law, "mobile home residents are seizing the opportunity to buy their parks" our affordable housing study report, affordable housing data & measurement report, and our region's affordable housing crisis infographic all continue to be used by Community members, including decision-makers. All of this work was accomplished thanks to the leadership of our affordable housing implementation task force chairs and to the dedicated efforts of the implementation task force members, even during the pandemic. Internet for all study committee Community Council conducted its internet for all study from september 2022 - march 2023. The all-volunteer study committee met weekly for 26 weeks to learn about the barriers, opportunities, and solutions for equitable broadband internet throughout our region. The committee heard from a variety of resource speakers who spoke about the importance and the complexities of providing broadband internet for all. We heard perspectives from port districts, state contractors, internet service providers, cybersecurity experts, academic researchers, educators, librarians, healthcare organizations, digital literacy providers, members of the agricultural Community, and nonprofits working with seniors, job seekers, racial and ethnic minorities, and other populations represented in our Community. We celebrated the work of the study committee and the release of the internet for all study report at our luncheon in june, which over 430 people attended. The internet for all study is particularly timely and has already made a significant impact on our region. One thing we learned through the internet for all study was that to access the unprecedented federal funding for bridging the digital divide, each state needed to develop broadband action and digital equity plans (plans) by june of 2023. In Washington, each county was tasked with developing those plans utilizing broadband action teams (bats). In february, we facilitated a meeting of over 40 stakeholders in walla walla county that resulted in blue mountain action Council becoming the lead agency for the walla walla county bat. Columbia county's bat is led by the port of columbia. Both bats submitted their plans to the state of Washington by the june deadline. The Oregon broadband office (obo) used a different approach from Washington to develop its broadband action and digital equity plans, composing the documents internally and soliciting input from communities across the state. Because of this process, Community Council did not have the opportunity to engage in milton-freewater as they did in columbia and walla walla counties. Internet for all implementation task force we launched the advocacy phase for the internet for all study at our implementation task force (itf) kick-off meeting in september 2023, with over 60 people in attendance. Attendees learned about Community Council's study process and the internet for all study committee's work, including the study report and its specific recommendations. Everyone was invited to join the implementation task force and encouraged to ask others to join. Before the official launch of the itf, internet for all study committee members developed an action plan to guide advocacy efforts. They grouped the recommendations into five overarching themes, which became the itf subcommittees: outreach and education; addressing broadband service gaps; regional collaboration to address digital equity gaps; legislation and policy advocacy; and digital literacy and navigation education. The subcommittees began meeting regularly in october and started by identifying which recommendations to prioritize. Each subcommittee has begun developing an inventory of existing digital equity programs, resources, and gaps in our region that are relevant to each group's overarching theme. This has spanned from analyzing and examining the accuracy of data that maps the existing broadband infrastructure in our region, to compiling information about existing programs at local, state, and federal levels that can assist individuals in our region with financial barriers, as well as programs and resources focused on building digital literacy skills. The outreach and education subcommittee and the regional collaboration to address digital equity gaps subcommittee, have been working to encourage the extension and expansion of the affordable connectivity program (acp) through support of federal legislation. The acp assists households who could not otherwise afford broadband service. The addressing broadband service gaps subcommittee and the legislation and policy advocacy subcommittee have been focused on collaborating with local organizations, internet service providers, and legislators to identify gaps and develop a strategy for obtaining broadband equity and access deployment program funding for our region when it comes time to apply. The internet for all implementation task force's important work will continue through the fall of 2026.

Community indicators Community Council continued to develop its Community indicators, which are metrics regarding social, economic, and environmental trends that provide insight into who we are as a Community, and how well we are doing. Our long-term vision is that Community indicators will become an enduring part of our regions civic infrastructure. We expect they will be used to inform the Community about quality of life conditions and trends; build consensus around shared goals and priority action areas; catalyze action to achieve goals; and monitor progress towards the identified goals.