Strategic Planning Process - Winter 2019

My first official act as a new councilor was to participate in the listening session staff put together for us at Carpenter Hall on January 7. The structure was much less formal than public testimony in council chambers and it was great to sit across the table and hear what was on the minds of residents. Each councilor was partnered with a staff person who was assigned to take notes so that the councilor could simply talk with constituents. I enjoyed teaming up with Tom McBartlett, who leads our Electric Department, and connecting with residents. At that time, staff also put up a survey online that generated roughly 150 responses. Residents offered very thoughtful input, especially in the open-ended questions.

These two activities formed the foundation for two strategic planning sessions held by the Council with the help of a professional facilitator and staff support. From those sessions, Council was able to craft three overarching goals and identify essential services as well as value added services. Value added services were also roughly prioritized into three tiers. The following is what came from those sessions. The essential services and value added services lists were put before Council on March 19 to assist with the budget process. The full strategic plan, including overarching municipal goals, will come to Council for approval at a later date after the budget process is complete.

While we made good progress at identifying goals and priorities, we have more work to do to identify the specific role of the City for each of the Value Services as these efforts, by their very nature, require partnerships across the community. The City of Ashland is uniquely positioned to fill specific roles as it relates to these priorities, so we need to move next to the detail work of identifying the specific tasks we will continue, discontinue, or begin.

Priorities identified at the strategic planning session that were approved by Council on March 19 to help inform the budget process:

Essential Services

Electric System

Wastewater System (sewer)

Street Repair and Maintenance

Drinking Water System

Stormwater System

Fire

Police

Municipal Court

Planning & Building Inspections/Plan Review

Parks Maintenance

Value Services

Tier 1:

Emergency Preparedness

Address Climate Change

Tier 2

Reduce Wildfire & Smoke Risk

Economic Development

Housing Needs

Multi-Modal Transportation

Homeless Services

All-Age Friendly Community

Tier 3

Acquisition of New Parks

Downtown Parking

Water Conservation