OREGON CITY - Clackamas County is progressing with Complete Communities, an ambitious 18-month public outreach project initiated by the board of county commissioners.

The idea is to solicit comment from a large number and broad range of residents regarding the future direction of the large, sprawling county, its 11 cities and its rural areas.

The three-phase project is now in the outreach stage, the second of the phases. Phase I was the start-up phase, which incorporated project planning and a volunteer steering committee.

The Complete Communities Congress is scheduled to take place this fall. The Oct. 28 congress at Oregon City High School will be an all-day seminar to disseminate, discuss and review the information gathered during the summer.

The final phase in the project will begin with the initial set of recommendations to be taken on the road for discussion and review by county residents.

Citizens' feedback will be included in a final set of recommendations to be delivered to the county commissioners by spring 2001. "This program is a No. 1 priority in our office," said Commissioner Larry Sowa. "We are anxious to hear every voice, particularly from those people who don't always come to public meetings."

And, as the county's number of residents continues to grow and traffic jams on the roads worsen, the county is seeking inventive ways of solving problems witnessed nationwide in suburban areas close to large metropolitan cities.

"Clackamas County is one of the state's fastest-growing counties, and also one of its most diverse," said Commissioner Bill Kennemer, the three-member board's chairman. "Each of our cities and rural areas has a distinct character, yet we are facing rapid change.

''The commissioners need public guidance on where we are going as communities, where we are going as a county, and what we need to get there."

Commissioner Mike Jordan said preserving and enhancing quality of life is one of the aims of the Complete Communities initiative.

"We have a tremendous quality of life here in Clackamas County, and we don't want to lose that," he said. "Our purpose here is to challenge everyone to think about how we can work together to build the best communities.

''We need to identify the qualities that will make this area complete for our families, our neighbors, and ourselves. Out of the discussion will emerge common threads that we can use to guide our decision making and (to) influence policies related to our future growth."

In order for the initiative to be successful, the county wants to hear from citizens, community leaders, business owners, students, seniors, elected officials and others.

The commissioners said they want to hear about issues, challenges, priorities and opportunities in the context of what a Complete Community means to county residents.

The program stems partly from the fact the three members of the county commission are relatively new in their positions.

"None of us knew what we really wanted to accomplish, long term, for Clackamas County," Jordan said.

And the county's size and diversity makes it tough to get a handle on, he added.

"We're finding it an incredible trick to define what community means for Clackamas County," he said.

Jordan, a former Canby city administrator, explained how the initiative will all work at the Wilsonville Chamber of Commerce luncheon June 14.

This summer, the county is holding local meetings throughout the county to talk about what government can do better.

"It really is a dialogue," Jordan said. "It really is an attempt to connect with real citizens, not what I call the double A's - the angry and the activists."

The organizers are also distributing a survey asking people to prioritize what they value and what they don't, whether it be law enforcement, education, libraries, parks, or roads.

"One of the challenges we face in government is we're not relevant to people," he said. "We're not bad - we just don't have a way to connect to most people."

The lengthy Complete Communities process was designed by a 60-member committee.

There will be appointed representatives from each community in the county, but everyone is invited to attend.

Jordan hopes it will lead to an idea of what people's dreams for the future of the county are.

"A lot of what we do isn't about today," he said. "It's about what we do 20 years from now."

Two-thirds of the population lives in urban areas and one-third lives in rural areas, Jordan said.

The county's 15 cities range in population from a high of about 30,000 in Lake Oswego to a low of about 130 in Barlow, and there are many unincorporated communities scattered throughout the 1,879-mile county, as well.

The county's population was estimated to be 325,000 in 1998, of which 47 percent of residents lived in incorporated cities.

The county is No. 7 in the United States for the number of farms, Jordan said. It is also the No. 2 county in the state in terms of agricultural production, putting it in the top 100 counties in the nation.

"It's difficult to throw a blanket on Clackamas County and say this is what the county believes in," Jordan said.

The key will be for people to prioritize what they want, and indicate what they're really willing to have the county spend money on, Jordan said.

The commissioners' have hired a team of consultants led by the firm of Cogan Owens Cogan to spearhead the initiative.

With the help of a volunteer citizen start up steering committee, an outreach program has been designed to give everyone the opportunity to participate.

A network of community volunteers has been recruited in four geographic areas of the county to assist in reaching out to neighborhoods and associations. Residents are due to received invitations to participate in community meetings this summer.

For more information, visit the county's Complete Communities web site at www.co.clackamas.or.us./community, or call 655-8581.