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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-09-09 Correspondence~~ ~~~~ w~ Communitar-Based Strategic Planning Purpose • An opportunity for a broad cross-section of Iowa City residents to work with the City Council and Staff to provide input into defining who we are and what, as a community, we aspire to be. In essence, defining the point on the horizon we are trying to get to. • Develop a consensus among the community for priorities and identify challenges and other issues to be overcome. • Identifying clear, achievable goals and develop strategies for accomplishing same. • Creation of effective action plans to achieve goals. • Develop a document that can be used to guide decision-making by the city council and other groups in the community • Develop methods to measure how well the City is achieving the goals set out by the plan. By-Product Ability to evaluate City policies, codes and organizational structures to ensure that they support the broader vision created as a result of this process. • Ability to allocate resources in a purposeful way to accomplish intended outcomes. • Ability to track progress toward desired outcomes and develop a framework for community discussions. The Purpose of the October 4 Retreat is to: • Help Council (and department heads) grasp the deeper meaning of a broader planning effort, including what it will look like, its benefits and anticipated outcomes • Prepare Council and Department Directors for their role and participation • Provide a conceptual framework for the process to generate excitement and enthusiasm • This session should be seen as an orientation and briefing meant to lay the groundwork for the broader initiative. Some ideas are: • Facilitate an introduction that sets context (Iowa City, its uniqueness, its potential) • Engagement in an interactive dialogue that reveals some shared but unmet aspirations for the City (and the organization?) • A briefing on the benefits of alignment (coherence) across the system, and the potential we know can be realized • Discuss desired outcomes for the initiative • Brief on aspects of the dynamic process, their role and the roles of others, description of the extensive use of stakeholder involvement and do a stakeholder inventory (by category or group) • invite questions How does this fit with other planning initiatives? The developing joint river corridor planning effort with the UI and Coralville is more project-based and will very focused on specific approaches to safeguarding the communities from future flood devastation. It contrasts with this community planning initiative in that the later provides a broad vision and framework for future services, projects, programs and collaboration with other entities (community non-profits, business sector, neighboring municipalities, educational facilities and beyond) The next broad planning initiative is one that is a developing concept with ICMA and "the corridor" to examine next generation industry and workforce development. Again this is a broader initiative with a different focus than acommunity-based strategic planning initiative. Other initiatives such as Affordable Housing study and the Downtown Niche Analysis identify specific unmet needs and certainly will be incorporated into the broader umbrella of this proposed initiative. The community strategic plan develops the framework, establishes priorities, and outlines action plans for addressing these needs. Process for selecting a facilitator? We can certainly develop an RFP for a scope of services and put it out to bid, and under most circumstances this would be the approach that I would suggest. However, this type of initiative works best when the process is tailored to the specific character and desired outcomes of the jurisdiction and when you have a facilitator who is a good fit with the community. I have called several colleagues and asked for suggestions and have called a few to discuss their process and approach to community based strategic planning. I believe that I have found a very good facilitator to lead us through this process, which is allowable under our procurement policy for professional services of this kind.