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 A strategic plan should be a document that looks to the future, sets
goals and expectations, and outlines a means by which those goals
can be accomplished. As the group discussed the Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) they needed to set a
timeline. It was city administrator Clay Johnson who first set the
date as the year 2020, meaning the plan would be a five-year plan.
Todd Mourning added to it, relating to the ‘2020’ as a term used in
optometry to indicate clear vision. Therefore, the tagline for the
plan became “Lincoln 2020 – A clear vision for the future."
Weaknesses and Threats
The group talked about several issues that were weaknesses and
threats, but they also found even within those strengths and
opportunities to do something better.
One item brought up by John Lebegue was the perception of the city
for train passengers. He noted that coming into town on the train,
the look of the city isn’t good. He said it needed to be addressed
and improved. So it became an opportunity for the city to do
something better.
Lebegue also spoke about the need to develop the business district
along the train stop. He noted that the Blue Dog is near the train
station, and it is a great place, recently recognized by the state
as a Delicious Destination. He said the challenge was to get
entrepreneurs interested in investing in that area.
The group also discussed another type of ‘perception,’ that of the
citizens of Lincoln of city government. Mourning said it was a
weakness. Lebegue and Jeff Hoinacki added that there is a lack of
understanding among the constituents about what is going on.
Hoinacki related it to the game telephone as a comment or story
travels around a group of people, each person changes the story just
a little bit.
Moving on, Marty Neitzel commented that the new Lincoln TIF District
was a strength for the city, and she noted that it was a great asset
in the development of the new Lincoln Grand 8 Theater.
As the group honed in on what the threats for the future of Lincoln
are. Hoinacki said that there is a lack of investors with an “s.” He
noted there has been basically only one investor in the future of
the city. Katie Davison asked if the city had a Community
Foundation. It does not, but several in the room liked the idea.
Mourning asked if there were any other ‘off the wall” ways for the
city to make money outside of the taxpayers. Johnson said there
absolutely were, but the challenge is to figure out what it is that
will work for Lincoln.
Johnson moved on saying another big threat right now is the pending
expiration of the Enterprise Zone. Right now, the city was working
with the county to apply for a new zone effective in 2017. However,
state rules have changed, and the number of zones available is going
to be less than the number of municipalities and counties applying
for them. Therefore, there is an uncertainty that the city and
county will get a new zone in 2017.
Johnson also threw in a new strength, saying that Lincoln had
competent and concerned department heads that were invested in the
city. The staff was added to that as well.
It was discussed that the city’s older, charming neighborhoods are
both a strength and a threat. Snyder noted that in Lincoln, there is
not much opportunity for new construction homes. The older homes are
not all in good repair. While certain areas are nice, other areas
reflect a very run-down condition.
In new construction, Lebegue noted that one big hindrance in Lincoln
is the property tax, which the group agreed was a threat. Snyder and
others talked about the city’s efforts to draw a line on property
tax by not raising the rate for 2015. However respectively, the city
portion of the tax is only a small portion. The group talked then
about whether the County could be persuaded to take action as well.
It was decided that it would be worth having the conversation at
least.
Continuing on in talking about taxes, Johnson said that another
option would be to change the city of Lincoln from “Non-Home Rule”
to “Home Rule.. But he said it would have to be done by referendum
vote. Many in the room thought it would be a hard sell to get voters
to make that change because they would not trust the city to keep
reasonable tax rates.
In Non-Home Rule cities, the state determines certain tax rates, and
the cities have to accept that. Johnson said one selling point for
Home Rule would be that the state would not be involved. He said he
would market the idea with the key point being, “allow Lincoln to
decide, not Springfield.” He noted that in Ohio, many communities
have voted for the Home Rule, and the outcome has been very
successful.
Identifying small victories
Johnson said what the city needs to do is identify its small
victories and show the constituents that the city government can be
trusted.
Davison picked up on that and asked what those small victories would
be. The examples given included the cooperation between city, local
businesses, and the Railsplitter Antique Car Club in working
together to resolve an issue with closing streets downtown for the
car shows.
Other small victories included the completion of the reconstruction
of Pulaski Street from Hamilton to LaDue. Another victory was the
completion of one block of the downtown beautification project.
[to top of second column] |
Walt Landers said another small victory is how the city successfully
addresses concerns of the citizens. He said when residents contact
the city with a concern; the city should make certain that the right
people listen and respond in a timely fashion.
Landers said there is a history of concerns not being addressed, and
the city needs to be more attentive and make a bigger effort to
address every complaint.
Establishing a chain of command
Addressing complaints led to another side conversation; when
citizens have a concern who should they contact, and who should
respond?
The real question in this matter, is how does the city keep everyone
in the loop, and who takes the lead when a problem is reported. Part
of the problem is the city aldermen and department heads are still
adjusting to having a city manager, and want to make sure that when
problems need to be addressed, the city manager is not left out of
the loop.
Neitzel said that when constituents have an issue they want to talk
to their aldermen. In general the aldermen around the room agreed,
and also noted that they wanted to be the one the constituent calls.
But, from that point, what is the next step? Before the city
administrator position was created, the next point of contact would
have been for the alderman to contact a department head. The group
talked on if the alderman should be contacting Johnson so that he
can contact the department head.
Landers noted that sometimes, the constituents do come directly to
him with their issues; they don’t go to an alderman or the city
administrator. Scott Cooper said constituents want their alderman
contact to be “in person.” He noted, “they want to see a face, they
want a phone call. That is all they want, to just explain it to us.”
Davison said there needed to be a process in place that included the
administration. She talked about issuing work orders and creating a
document that cycles through everyone. Neitzel said everything
should go through the city administrator, but “the residents of
Lincoln want the people they know, they want their alderman.”
Cooper said that, yes, Johnson should be in the loop, but it should
be the aldermen who have contact with constituents. Around the room,
most seemed to agree. Mourning said that the important part was to
set a procedure and follow it consistently.
It was mentioned that the best means of doing this could be through
the use of emails that include the alderman, department head, and
the city administrator in all communications.
Davison brought the conversation back to the strategic planning
process, incorporating this issue into the “needs work” category of
Communication.
Creating Smart Goals
Throughout the morning, the group identified several issues that
need to be addressed over the next five years. Among them the need
for improved infrastructure for sewers, streets, and sidewalks. They
talked about plans in place and what yet needs to be done.
They also discussed education as something they wanted to see made
better. The goal is to bring the education statistic up in the city,
noting that there are very few Lincoln residents who are graduates
with bachelor’s degrees. They wanted to take steps to improve the
quality of life in Lincoln, and they wanted to improve the
relationship between constituents and city government. Finally, they
wanted to improve the economy, through more industry and business,
and better job opportunities.
Davison said that with the short list established, the next step in
the process would be to create the smart goals that would address
these issues. She said the group would be divided into sub-groups
with each group taking on one issue.
The first step would be for the sub-group to verbalize the problem
and give a solution with a time line. When the task was completed,
they would come back together and review the smart goals. After this
the sub-groups would meet again and author the action steps that
would be needed to achieve the goal.
In the final segment of this series, LDN will review the smart goals
and the action steps that will be included in the final product;
Lincoln 2020 – A clear vision for the future.
[Nila Smith]
Lincoln 2020 - A clear
vision of the future
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