Roanoke to Form City's First Community Engagement Policy Committee

The goal is to create a policy that shapes how Roanoke connects with the public.

Published on Feb. 26, 2026

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The City of Roanoke is collaborating with Virginia Tech to form the city's first-ever community engagement policy committee, which will include 8 staff members and 8 residents. The committee will meet twice a month for 4 months to develop an initial draft of the policy, with the goal of creating a framework to guide future engagement decisions and enhance communication between the city and its residents.

Why it matters

The lack of effective communication and trust between the city government and its residents has been an ongoing issue in Roanoke. This new community engagement policy committee aims to address these challenges and establish a more collaborative and transparent relationship between the city and its stakeholders.

The details

The community engagement policy committee will be tasked with developing a policy that will guide future decisions on how the city shares information with the public and receives feedback from the community. The committee will meet twice a month for 4 months to create an initial draft of the policy. Residents have until March 1 to apply to be one of the 8 community representatives on the committee.

  • The community engagement meeting that kicked off this process was held on Wednesday, February 26, 2026.
  • Residents have until Sunday, March 1, 2026 to apply to be a member of the community engagement policy committee.

The players

Molly Hunter

The City of Roanoke's Neighborhood Services Coordinator, who stated that the city is aiming to fix the lack of communication between city staff and residents.

Michael O'Brochta

A Roanoke resident who has applied to be a member of the community engagement policy committee, and believes that addressing the issue of trust is a key priority.

Virginia Tech

The university that is collaborating with the City of Roanoke to form the community engagement policy committee.

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What they’re saying

“We're not all happy with the way that we're engaging with each other. I think city staff don't always feel fulfilled when they're engaging with residents. I don't think residents and stakeholders always feel fulfilled when they're engaging with city staff. But the longer we let that go unsaid, the more damage and harm is done.”

— Molly Hunter, Neighborhood Services Coordinator, City of Roanoke (wdbj7.com)

“My hope is that we're setting an example here for how we could be doing engagement moving forward. It could be more collaborative. It could have residents truly participate in the decision-making process and in the policy development process. So we can carry this on and do it when we're coming up with our plans, building new roads, and trying to decide how we are going to spend our funding.”

— Molly Hunter, Neighborhood Services Coordinator, City of Roanoke (wdbj7.com)

“One of the root issues I heard was related to trust. And when you study the subject of trust, you can see some of the other findings spin off of that. So if the committee and commission is set up and it discovers that trust is important, that can likely knock off and solve some of the other underlying issues that go with that.”

— Michael O'Brochta, Roanoke Resident (wdbj7.com)

What’s next

The community engagement policy committee will meet twice a month for 4 months to develop an initial draft of the policy.

The takeaway

This new community engagement policy committee in Roanoke represents an opportunity for the city to rebuild trust and establish more collaborative and transparent communication with its residents. By involving the community in the policy development process, the city hopes to create a framework that will guide future engagement decisions and address the underlying issues that have hindered effective public-government relations.