R2022-16 Resolution Approving and Adopting the 2021-2023 Council Strategic Plan

Home Browse Search

January 13, 2022 TO: Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe& Decatur City Council Members FROM: Scot Wrighton, City Manager RE: 2021-2023 Council Strategic Plan On October 8, 2021,the City Council conducted its biennial strategic planning session at the Decatur Club. It was facilitated by Mark Peterson, a consultant with GovHR.This planning session was similar to one held at the same venue in 2019 that produced the 2019-2021 Council Strategic Plan,which was formally approved by the City Council in late 2019. Mr. Peterson and I combined our notes from the recent planning session to produce a 16-page retreat summary. But during and before the October 8 event, council members requested that the final report be shorter than it waslin 2019—focused on broad themes and general policy initiatives. In this way,the report is intended to be more readable by the general public, and it allows the city to be even more transparent about its goals and objectives. For this reason, Mark and I worked to compress the plan into the version now presented for approval. I sent the plan to council members late last year and requested that governing body members give me feedback and inputs. I am grateful that most members of the City Council provided feedback and suggestions—these have been included in the final version (attached). The council's biennial strategic plan is NOT a legally binding document,and the City Council is free to depart from it where they believe it is appropriate to do so. However, a strategic planning document like this is immensely helpful to staff as they develop policies and initiatives for council's consideration, so that(to the greatest extent possible)we focus on the council's highest priorities. It is also a useful document for external partners, and for the City Council itself as it makes decisions over the course of about two years about where it should allocate its resources,time and attention.