COVID-19 requires extra efforts to keep YPMO team members and stakeholders safe.

One of the challenges for this project was confirming that stakeholders received information about project progress. Sometimes the team didn’t know if outreach messages had been received.

“We put procedures in place,” says Salais. “If I’m going door-to-door in the middle of a pandemic, interacting with people in their homes, within a six-foot distance, then going to the next door and the next, I’m a disease transmission vector representing the City of Glendale. And that is not a good idea if you want to keep people alive.”

The team emphasized phone calls, direct mail, emails, and if they absolutely had to, on-site visitation with the stakeholder. Generally, the team first dropped door hangers and asked to be called. Next, they knocked on doors, and wore gloves and masks. They rang doorbells, and then stood back, so they could communicate at a safe distance. YPMO gave them the information they needed, along with a phone number and email address to respond.

“It’s not ideal,” says Salais, “but it’s the best we can do to make sure we’re doing our part to protect public health.”
“It required persistence to make sure the public received the kind of communication and service that they deserve from the government. The big takeaway is that we all benefit from public outreach, making an effort to actually reach the people who are most impacted.”