Listening as a Path to Unity: A City's Commitment to Community

The latest in Good Government Files’ ongoing listening series, exploring how Plano, Texas, fosters trust and community connections

Listening isn’t just a courtesy in local government — it’s a keystone practice that builds trust, shapes policy, and strengthens communities. In our last newsletter, we highlighted a remarkable example from Lewisville, Texas, where city leaders launched the “Listen Learn Lead” initiative in response to the nation’s racial reckoning following George Floyd’s death. Instead of rushing to respond, Lewisville officials held in-depth listening sessions with underrepresented voices to hear unfiltered accounts and identify community needs. From these sessions emerged real change, with the city implementing over 30 new initiatives based on residents’ input.

In Plano, Texas, we see a similar commitment. Last year, Good Government Files featured its Listening Tour, which engaged residents not on a specific project but to help heal past divisions and begin reunifying the community. By removing barriers to participation and conducting respectful, structured dialogues, Plano ensured citizens felt their voices valued and included in the city’s strategic planning.

Building on that success, Plano continues to expand engagement efforts through the new Community Leadership Meetings, focusing on pressing issues like community preparedness, food insecurity, and mental health. These meetings provide valuable opportunities to address complex topics with community partners, nonprofits, and residents, strengthening Plano’s commitment to inclusivity and transparency.

In both cases, Lewisville and Plano show that listening isn’t a one-time event — it’s an ongoing commitment to community and good governance. Today’s newsletter explores how Plano leveraged the success of its Listening Tour to build a more meaningful partnership with residents and the many partners local governments can call on to address a range of difficult issues.

Plano Listened, Acted

A quick primer on Plano. It’s located 19 miles north of downtown Dallas, is the 9th largest city in Texas and the fourth largest city in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) region with over 290,000 residents. Plano is home to more than 14,000 businesses and 72 Forbes Global 2000 companies. Among local government nerds, it’s been a North Star for good governing for decades. Its (well-deserved) motto is “City of Excellence.”

For Plano’s Listening Tour, a series of 20-plus community meetings, one of the questions asked of residents was, “How Can We (the City) Set the Kind of Example That Will Inspire Others to Work With Us for the Good of the Community?” One of the most popular answers was, do more listening. People really liked the meeting format — which featured city officials sitting in the back of the room not saying a word — and wanted more of it. (Full disclosure: I worked as a facilitator for some of the meetings as part of my consulting work with Strategic Government Resources.)

Shannah Hayley, Plano’s director of communications and community outreach, said the message to listen more was heard loud and clear by city leaders.

“This didn’t necessarily mean just open-ended listening,” she said. “It meant talking about things at a deeper level and have more information, more understanding, more context.”

Mark Israelson, Plano’s city manager, challenged his staff to look at traditional programs like quarterly neighborhood leadership meetings and think about how they could be improved.

“Typically, those were agendized meetings,” Shannah said. “You know, ‘Hey, we’re going to cover these topics.’ It was almost more of an information push with an opportunity for Q&A.”

In those meetings listening was a secondary goal, along with a little bit of networking and relationship building. That’s not a bad thing, but Israelson wanted to go deeper.

“Mark was like, what I’d really love to see is how can we bring a broader coalition of our community together so it’s not the neighborhoods talking, just among neighborhoods,” Shannah said. “Can we invite our non-profit community to be part of that? Our faith-based community to be part of that? Can we co-locate them and have maybe a little deeper conversation?”

The answer was yes, yes and yes. Thus was born the Community Leadership Meeting.

Expanding Dialogue

These meetings are focused on addressing critical issues facing Plano. The topics are “things that are maybe uncomfortable in our community,” Shannah said. “These (issues) were surfaced in the Listening Tour, and it’s been very popular.” Here’s a quick recap of this year’s meetings:

• Community Preparedness: In January, more than 50 leaders gathered to discuss emergency response capabilities. Attendees shared examples of neighborhood support, like food and legal assistance, and ideas for partnerships, such as training sessions and early coordination efforts.

• Food Insecurity: In June, community panelists highlighted challenges like high meal costs and emphasized dignity in food assistance. The North Texas Food Bank shared that 7.9 million meals were provided in Plano last year, showcasing the scale of local need.

• Mental Health: October’s meeting covered mental health services, noting regional growth and challenges like incarceration and housing. A probate court judge and others emphasized cross-sector collaboration, family involvement, and stigma reduction as keys to improving care.

Success Through Continuous Listening, Responsiveness

Shannah noted meeting topics are tailored based on participant suggestions. She sends email summaries after each meeting, which includes a list of attendees. Those summaries are critical to let participants know they have been heard.

While the first meeting on community preparedness was led by city officials, they also included representatives from electric and gas utility providers who are often on the front lines during weather emergencies. They provided information and answered questions as well.

Mayor John Muns facilitated the next meeting, on Food Insecurity, but the primary information came from the North Texas Food Bank and three other organizations that provide meals.

Mayor Muns facilitated this discussion as well, with active contributions from all participants, including NAMI North Texas, LifePath (Collin County’s mental health authority), Collin County Mental Health Managed Counsel, and Probate Judge Sarah Duff.

“It was a smaller group that time,” Shannah said. “We had about 30 people, but a really profound, robust discussion.”