About the Community Involvement Committee

Purpose of the committee

The Community Involvement Committee (CIC) will:

• Review and advise City staff on their engagement with the public in land use and transportation planning projects and programs.
• Not review content of planning projects; it focuses on the community involvement process.
• Work with planning staff throughout the City to ensure that projects have strong community involvement practices.
• Maintain and update the Community Engagement Manual.

Projects related to the Comprehensive Plan that are large in scope or that may benefit and/or burden different communities will include CIC review and feedback as early in the project as possible. These projects will also check in with the CIC during the project and present an evaluation after the project is over.

Other projects related to the Comprehensive Plan may come to the CIC for review if the Committee requests it or if staff choose to. The CIC will be kept updated about the status of all Comprehensive Plan-related projects. Planning projects that do not amend the Comprehensive Plan may also ask the CIC for review and feedback at staff’s discretion.

Community Engagement Manual

The Community Engagement Manual will guide City staff when implementing the goals and policies established in Chapter 2 of the Comprehensive Plan. The manual establishes the baseline expectations for all relevant projects. It also supplies a framework for staff, community members, the CIC and others to use when designing and evaluating projects to help keep community involvement work on track.

Background information

The role of this committee is shaped by Oregon Statewide Planning Goal 1 and Policy 2.19 of Portland's 2035 Comprehensive Plan.

• Oregon Statewide Planning Goal 1 requires that “(T)he committee for citizen involvement shall be responsible for assisting the governing body with the development of a program that promotes and enhances citizen involvement in land-use planning, assisting in the implementation of the citizen involvement program, and evaluating the process being used for citizen involvement.”
• Policy 2.19 of the 2035 Comprehensive Plan states that “(T)he Community Involvement Committee (CIC), an independent advisory body, will evaluate and provide feedback to City staff on community involvement processes for individual planning and investment projects, before, during, and at the conclusion of these processes.”

Application and selection process

The first seven members of the CIC were appointed in May 2018. A second recruitment in 2019 resulted in the appointment of seven new members.

PIAC vs. CIC

Both the CIC and Public Involvement Advisory Council (PIAC) are charged with improving the City’s involvement of the community in government planning and decision-making. Both do their work by setting standards (the City’s Public Involvement Principles and the goals and policies of Chapter 2) and supporting staff to meet those standards.

The PIAC provides citywide support and guidance on public involvement guidelines, policies and practices. In this role, PIAC focuses on specific issues with citywide application and provides input to individual bureaus on efforts to engage the public. Based on its charter and the capacity of volunteer members, PIAC does not work on individual projects within a single bureau, nor does it have any monitoring or oversight responsibilities.

The CIC’s role is limited to oversight of projects related to the Comprehensive Plan. It works on individual projects and has oversight and evaluation responsibilities. While the two committees’ roles are different, they are complementary. The CIC will benefit from ongoing communication with PIAC to share lessons learned and inform each other’s work.

Will the CIC act as a watchdog?

The CIC will not take on an ombudsman role or a policing role, but it will be sensitive to issues rising up from individuals and organizations. Community members with concerns or suggestions about community involvement in Comprehensive Plan-related projects should first contact project staff. This will allow concerns to be addressed more directly and efficiently and give the CIC room to focus on the main body of their work. However, if these concerns are not addressed at the staff level, community members may bring their concerns to the CIC. The objective of the CIC in these situations is to identify what can be improved at a systemic level and support staff to make those improvements.

Committee members

City Code calls for the CIC to have 5 to 12 volunteer members, serving three-year terms.

Current members

Current term: March 2026 to March 2029

Susan Novak

Susan lives in SE Portland and is a partially retired consultant addressing issues of social inclusion, involuntary resettlement, ethnic minorities, and environmental management in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Susan has served a previous partial term on the CIC and is currently on her first full term. She has extensive background in working with different cultures and communities and speaks 4 languages (Spanish, English, French, Khmer).

Calvin Hoff

Calvin has a passion for empowering community members to participate in processes that impact their own communities. After moving to Portland from south suburban Chicago in 2016, they spent four years working at Venture Portland supporting Portland's 50 neighborhood business districts. As a recent graduate of the University of Oregon's Master of Regional & Community Planning Program, they are currently conducting research on immigrant experiences on decision-making bodies in Oregon. In their free time, Calvin enjoys watching live music and riding their bicycle.

James Gorter

As a lifelong resident of Portland, Jim enjoys working with others to shape the city's future for all Portlanders. He was raised in Southeast Portland and currently lives in the Southwest. He spent his career in environmental education and since retirement has served on city projects including the Residential Infill Project Stakeholder Advisory Committee, the Citizen advisory group for Willamette Park, and has served on a variety of other civic organizations. Through the Covid 19 pandemic he has worked to ensure that renters in vulnerable populations were able to stay in stable housing during a time of crisis. In his spare time, Jim enjoys travel, gardening, birding and is still trying to learn a little bit of Swedish.

Lauren Sommer

Lauren is a communications and community engagement professional driven by a desire to help communities thrive and adapt to future challenges. She is currently studying Urban and Public Affairs at Portland State University, with a focus on local governance, sustainability, economics, and city planning that supports resilient, evolving communities. She is especially motivated by opportunities to apply policy-informed thinking and explore innovative approaches - blending modern solutions with time-tested wisdom. In her free time, Lauren enjoys attending live events, taking her dogs to the park, and spending time along the Oregon coast.

Sarah Weller Pegna

With more than 10 years of experience advancing community health and health equity, Sarah's work centers on building strong local systems and policies that support collective action, cross-sector partnership, and authentic community engagement to improve community-wide well-being. She has held diverse roles spanning direct local action in Chatham County, North Carolina, to national leadership positions, including Program Director for the National League of Cities' Health & Wellbeing portfolio and at the National Association of County and City Health Officials, where she led efforts to evolve the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) framework. Sarah earned her MPH in Health Behavior from the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health and her undergraduate degree in Psychology, Spanish, and International Studies from Susquehanna University. In her spare time, she enjoys baking and exploring Portland's many parks with her husband and three daughters.

Caitlin Burke

After immigrating to the U.S., Caitlin attended Portland State University. She received the award as the top undergrad for her graduating class with a degree in Political Science. The award recognized her work in academics, research and community service. As part of her community work, she served as an AmeriCorps member in local homeless shelters. This work impacted her deeply and she spent just over a decade since university focused on working with organizations that address the systemic causes of poverty. Highlights include being a member of the team that built the Portland Mercado and developed its food business incubator and working with the city's Joint Office for Homeless Services as the liaison for alternative shelters. She is now on family leave, but is busy as a mom, a member of the City of Portland's Community Involvement Committee, and a volunteer locally. She applied to attend Portland State University's Master in Urban and Regional Planning program for fall 2026. 

Tui Dawn Laithang

Tui Dawn Laithang is a community-focused professional with a Master's in Management and a Certificate in Organizational Leadership. He has experience in project coordination, community engagement, and cross-functional collaboration across academic, organizational, and volunteer settings. Driven from a young age by curiosity about how people and systems work, Tui has participated in and led multiple teams, eventually founding the Kasading Soccer Organization, which started as a local park team of four players and has grown into an official club with over 40 members. Passionate about fostering inclusivity, mentorship, and collaboration, he is committed to advancing equitable community involvement and supporting the continuous improvement of public engagement processes in Portland.

Bing Theobald

Bing Theobald has lived in the Metro area for over 20 years. She is a longtime volunteer with extensive experience working alongside local governments and nonprofit organizations on public engagement, particularly efforts focused on immigrant and underrepresented populations. She has served on multiple advisory and civic involvement committees and brings a strong commitment to equitable, accessible, and meaningful public participation. A first-generation immigrant, Bing lives in the region with her family and is dedicated to strengthening trust and collaboration between residents and local government.

Jenna Ringelheim

Jenna Ringelheim (she/her) is a skilled facilitator, coach, and HR practitioner that is passionate about igniting liberatory leadership practices within workplaces. She has a keen interest in program and curriculum design, supporting equity-centered people and culture efforts, network weaving and building communities of practice. Jenna is happiest when she is co-creating systems and structures that allow for greater agency, transparency, and shared learning. In her previous work as nonprofit executive, Jenna catalyzed a network of over 1,500 changemakers as the Deputy Director of the Environmental Leadership Program. She also served as the Executive Director of Wild Gift, a wilderness-based leadership development program and international network of social impact entrepreneurs. Jenna has a BA in Environmental Studies and Anthropology from Skidmore College, an MA in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University, an MBA in Sustainable Systems from Pinchot University, and a Certificate in Human Resource Management from Portland State University. Most importantly, she is a proud parent, partner, pet matchmaker, foodie, and e-bike enthusiast living in Portland, Oregon.

Jacob Dugan

I am committed to helping build a more inclusive and resilient future for Portland where every resident has a genuine voice in the decisions that shape our city. Raised in Southeast Portland, where I still live today, I have a personal connection to the community and its neighborhoods. After graduating from Oregon State University, I have spent seven years working in the technology and research sector. Outside of work, I enjoy long walks around the city, experimenting with new recipes, and reading both fantasy and non-fiction novels. I am thrilled for the opportunity to join the CIC and actively contribute to strengthening and improving our community.