Kevin Sullivan
Councilmember
At the 2/26/2025 Strategic Planning Meeting, the council made the decision to post comments to the Council Discussion Board as an efficient way to accumulate all the ideas about modifications to the plan. This thread is intended to start that discussion.
First, some overall comments about the Work Plan:
1.) I see this document as one that captures goals and objectives that the council wants the City Manager to execute on in the coming year. I don't believe it is designed to capture detail down to the micro level, but instead, should focus at a high macro level about what we want the CM to achieve.
2.) Once items have been accomplished in a previous year, they should be culled from the list in the new year and new goals and objectives captured.
3.) In my opinion, the Work Plan should not be 100 pages long with a laundry list of expected goals and objectives.
With that, here are my specific suggestions based on the existing Work Plan, which I have attached to this post:
1.) Mr. Roberts has some good suggestions for modifications to the Vision and Goal #1 language. I'll not comment on those but instead let him post his thoughts. In Goal #1, I believe that the item A should be collapsed and not list individual CIP projects, but instead just reference the current CIP plan. It should express the expectation that the CM will execute on the approved CIP plan, that reporting be robust and as close to real time as possible, and that variations from the approved CIP plan be explained and justified to council routinely.
2.) Continuing with Goal #1, I believe E about reviewing Planned Development Districts should be removed. We've talked about this, evaluated multiple PDD's, and made the decision to leave them as is for multiple reasons.
3.) Goal #1, Item I should be removed. It has been rolled out. Staff has done its job. Those council and staff members that have not taken the training should do so immediately.
4.) Goal #1, Add an Item L - "Complete and get approval on all plans necessary to begin an Impact Review process and then execute on the process as expeditiously as possible"
5.) Goal # 1, I believe Mr. Prince and Ms. Owen will be bringing a new goal surrounding finances to the discussion. If they do, this item would go there. If not, it can stay here - "Reconstitute the Finance department by hiring the appropriate personnel so that finance/accounting tasks can be accomplished efficiently and effectively. Accurate city financial reporting should be produced in a timely manner and shared publicly. Finally, Finance Staff should support the Budget process in a way that makes it efficient, accurate, and yields that most effective use of taxpayer dollars."
6.) Goal #2, Modify item C by adding "by establishing an annual meeting with key stakeholders and public input"
7.) Goal #3, Remove items C&D. As Mr. Prince said at our strategic planning session, impressing outsiders is not nearly as important as educating our citizens about our finances as efficiently, effectively, and timely as possible.
8.) Goal #4, Add item H "Work to take the Home-Based Business Ordinance through the appropriate process and bring it forward to council to review"
9.) Goal #4, Add item I "Enhance the city communications to include checklists and/or workflows that make it easier for businesses to understand the process starting a business in our city. Similar communications should be developed for citizens to easily understand how they can complete projects (fencing, accessory buildings, etc). Likewise for developers seeking to bring new projects to the city."
First, some overall comments about the Work Plan:
1.) I see this document as one that captures goals and objectives that the council wants the City Manager to execute on in the coming year. I don't believe it is designed to capture detail down to the micro level, but instead, should focus at a high macro level about what we want the CM to achieve.
2.) Once items have been accomplished in a previous year, they should be culled from the list in the new year and new goals and objectives captured.
3.) In my opinion, the Work Plan should not be 100 pages long with a laundry list of expected goals and objectives.
With that, here are my specific suggestions based on the existing Work Plan, which I have attached to this post:
1.) Mr. Roberts has some good suggestions for modifications to the Vision and Goal #1 language. I'll not comment on those but instead let him post his thoughts. In Goal #1, I believe that the item A should be collapsed and not list individual CIP projects, but instead just reference the current CIP plan. It should express the expectation that the CM will execute on the approved CIP plan, that reporting be robust and as close to real time as possible, and that variations from the approved CIP plan be explained and justified to council routinely.
2.) Continuing with Goal #1, I believe E about reviewing Planned Development Districts should be removed. We've talked about this, evaluated multiple PDD's, and made the decision to leave them as is for multiple reasons.
3.) Goal #1, Item I should be removed. It has been rolled out. Staff has done its job. Those council and staff members that have not taken the training should do so immediately.
4.) Goal #1, Add an Item L - "Complete and get approval on all plans necessary to begin an Impact Review process and then execute on the process as expeditiously as possible"
5.) Goal # 1, I believe Mr. Prince and Ms. Owen will be bringing a new goal surrounding finances to the discussion. If they do, this item would go there. If not, it can stay here - "Reconstitute the Finance department by hiring the appropriate personnel so that finance/accounting tasks can be accomplished efficiently and effectively. Accurate city financial reporting should be produced in a timely manner and shared publicly. Finally, Finance Staff should support the Budget process in a way that makes it efficient, accurate, and yields that most effective use of taxpayer dollars."
6.) Goal #2, Modify item C by adding "by establishing an annual meeting with key stakeholders and public input"
7.) Goal #3, Remove items C&D. As Mr. Prince said at our strategic planning session, impressing outsiders is not nearly as important as educating our citizens about our finances as efficiently, effectively, and timely as possible.
8.) Goal #4, Add item H "Work to take the Home-Based Business Ordinance through the appropriate process and bring it forward to council to review"
9.) Goal #4, Add item I "Enhance the city communications to include checklists and/or workflows that make it easier for businesses to understand the process starting a business in our city. Similar communications should be developed for citizens to easily understand how they can complete projects (fencing, accessory buildings, etc). Likewise for developers seeking to bring new projects to the city."
2025 Workplan - Baseline with Council edits REDLINE.docx
