Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-11-10 Packet - SpecialCITY OF UKIAH CITY COUNCIL AGENDA Special Meeting Ukiah Valley Conference Center Riesling Room 200 S. School Street Ukiah, CA 95482 November 10, 2010 5:00 P.M. Strategic Planning Check-in ROLL CALL 2. WORK STUDY SESSION a. Develop Goals and Objectives for each of the Four Strategic Planning Areas • Strategy 1: Maintain downtown historic place as a regional center of civic and economic activity • Strategy 2: Planning Valley-Wide takes place based on sound planning principles. • Strategy 3: Council and staff work together to create a more responsive and effective workplace environment • Strategy 4: Develop a prioritized plan for maintaining and improving public infrastructure 3. PUBLIC COMMENT 4. ADJOURNMENT Please be advised that the City needs to be notified 24 hours in advance of a meeting if any specific accommodations or interpreter services are needed in order for you to attend. The City complies with ADA requirements and will attempt to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities upon request. Materials related to an item on this Agenda submitted to the City Council after distribution of the agenda packet are available for public inspection at the front counter at the Ukiah Civic Center, 300 Seminary Avenue, Ukiah, CA 95482, during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm I hereby certify under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing agenda was posted on the bulletin board at the main entrance of the City of Ukiah City Hall, located at 300 Seminary Avenue, Ukiah, California, not less than 24 hours prior to the meeting set forth on this agenda. Dated this 9th day of November, 2010. JoAnne M. Currie, City Clerk Ir lu-1v City of Ukiah Strategic Planning Reflection Process January 11, 2010 The City of Ukiah undertook a Strategic Planning Process for the City Council beginning in April 2007 and concluding in September 2007. The primary outcomes for this process were threefold: 1. Create alignment among the council members about the top strategic priorities for the City of Ukiah. 2. Develop a set of operational principles that will guide the practices and decisions of the council in focusing the strategic priorities. 3. Identify specific mechanisms for tracking these strategic priorities over time that will allow the council and city staff to make the necessary adjustments to achieve the strategic priorities. The purpose of the meeting on January 11th was to take stock about the progress on the plan and to identify potential next steps within each strategic focus. To do this the group of council members and department heads discussed the following questions: 1. What have we put in place relative to our 4 strategic areas of focus? 2. What is currently happening with each of these 4 areas? 3. What changes have occurred in the internal and external environments that impact the future of these 4 strategic areas? 4. What changes do we need to make within each of the 4 areas to move the work forward? 5. How will we track the progress in these areas as we move forward? Strategic Areas of Focus: The following capture some of the salient features of our conversation within 3 of the strategic areas of focus relative to the 5 questions above: Strategy 1: Maintain downtown historic place as a regional center of civic and economic activity What is currently happening with this strategy? 1. We are a long ways down the road with locating the courthouse in the downtown area 2. Purchased land in the south end of town that leverages our ability for redevelopment 3. 2 housing infill projects 4. Meetings are occurring relative to the Palace Hotel S. Redevelopment funding and activities are in full swing. We have a much better understanding about the redevelopment agency and process 6. We have established specific criteria for redevelopment projects for the city. What changes are occurring internally and externally that impact this strategy • We had to take away "cash" to purchase land in the south part of town to better position ourselves. We understand why this was important, but there may be general misunderstanding in the public about the rationale for this action, especially when many of our merchants are struggling. • There are significant economic pressures on the city and on the whole community as a result of the recession. We all have fewer resources to work with and continue all of our strategies. Being proactive has become extremely difficult, if not impossible at times. • There are greater opportunities for collaboration and partnerships because of the diminished resource and capacity. • Decisions are based on fear of the unknown • There is tension and concern on a valley-wide basis relative to land use. What changes do we need to make to this strategic plan? • February 11th will be a Redevelopment Workshop that will produce significant community and council input about what people want to see as part of the downtown redevelopment process • We need to focus on "parking, parking and parking" • We should consider lobbying the State regarding the best location for the courthouse. We want the building to be state-of-the-art in terms of green technology • We need to focus on economic development polices. • We need to look at the future focus and viability of our involvement in the Main Street Program and the Chamber of Commerce as well as all other partnerships • Look at a Retention Policy • Consider blocking off certain streets for pedestrian walkways (Church) • Continued work on our 2 infill housing projects Strategy 2: Planning Valley-Wide takes place based on sound planning principles. What is currently happening with this strategy? 1. Measure A was defeated 2. Bridge was opened 3. City and County have resumed Revenue Sharing/Annexation discussion. 4. Community is actively looking at alternative uses of the Masonite property S. We purchased land at airport park 6. Elected officials from the City and County seemingly "agree" on sound planning principles 7. We have adopted the Auto Aid agreement between fire agencies 8. Conversations countywide about a__1agency-approach for certain fire services 9. Ongoing clarification and delineation with the Sanitation District 10. City of Ukiah has a seat on LAFCO 11. Agreement for joint funding for ARC What changes are occurring internallv and externallv that impact this strategv? • Decline of the Pear Orchards. We must be vigilant about protecting the future use of these lands. The loss of the orchards represented about 300-400 annualized jobs. Carousel Carpets is shutting down. We are losing our job base which is our "revenue engine" • We need to be strategic in that most of the economic opportunities being discussed are actually outside the city limits at this point What changes do we need to make to this strategic plan? • City looking into annexing agricultural land • We need to develop a comprehensive strategy to create a stronger job base. Consider participating in a forum being consider by several community groups that focuses on Economic Self Determination • Utilize our ability to attract and maintain jobs • Continue collaboration conversations between the city and county around economic development- Collaboration and partnership at every level of scale. • What can we do to help sustain our existing businesses before they get in too much economic difficulty. Strategy 3: Council and staff work together to create a more responsive and effective workplace environment. What is currents happening with this strategy? 1. There is significant anxiety and stress associated with the current financial picture in the city 2. People have already lost jobs and more losses are coming. 3. Everyone has taken on more work with fewer resources. Management has been proactive in finding ways of becoming more efficient, but the organization is at the breaking point. 4. The organization is exceeding the carrying capacity of the workload 5. The morale varies depending on the department. Public Safety has a positive sense of connection among the staff. What changes are occurring internally and externally that impact this strategy? • We have lost 12-20% of our General Fund since June 2008. We are using our reserve. • There is a greater division between those who feel they will be impacted by upcoming budget cuts and those whose funding is more protected • The agency has undergone significant change and-redesign in the last 18 months. • The recession and resultant budget reductions are and will continue to be devastating to staff morale. • We will be making further immediate job cuts followed by budget discussions with the Council about service cuts in the very near term. What changes do we need to make to this strategic plan? • We need to provide better education about negotiations so that we come out with win-win strategies. This will necessitate greater knowledge about basic budget facts • As a Council, we need to have the difficult conversations about carrying capacity. We need to unload activities and services We didn't have time to examine the fourth strategy, nor did we have time to identify mechanisms to track the various planning strategies and tactics over time. Some Thoughts and Recommendations: I found the conversation challenging because we were trying to cover so much ground in so little time. To improve the effectiveness of these conversations I offer the following suggestions for your consideration: 1. Hold reflection conversation specific to the plan on a quarterly basis. If possible, don't mix these conversations with other business. 2. Select a few priority actions from each of the brainstorming areas identified in this session and focus the subsequent reflection conversations on these future actions and strategies. 3. For each of the identified future strategies, develop a specific metric or means of tracking to evaluate progress. 4. When these conversations are held on a more regular basis, the conversation can be much more focused to: • What has happened relative to our specific action steps? • What are we learning about this approach? What is working and what isn't? • What changes do we need to make to our actions and strategy? 5. Convene a one-hour conversation among the council members to talk about their Agreements (principles) developed during the April/May 2007 session. 6. Develop a set of specific criteria for evaluating proposed budget changes. I have a Decision Matrix Process if you would like to see how this might be done. 7. It seems like one huge theme kept surfacing all through the conversation - collaboration and partnership. It would seem useful that the council convened a specific planning conversation in this area.