Sean C. Morgan
If you have a project you think the community should include in an updated Strategic Plan, now is the time to send those ideas to the plan’s steering committee.
Since May, a city-led group of Sweet Home residents have been developing a vision, goals and objectives to update the community’s Strategic Plan.
The community vision is a statement describing what the community is striving for. Goals clarify the vision by setting a general direction for actions. A goal remains viable until it is achieved or there is no longer a need for the goal. Objectives have a single concrete result that can be evaluated, specific actions defined under the different goals.
The Sweet Home Economic Development Group formed and developed a Strategic Plan, facilitated by the Oregon Economic Development Department, in 1989. It was updated in 1993, 1997 and 2001, facilitated by Rural Development Initiatives.
The plan is not the city’s, said Planning Assistant Julie Fisher. It was created by members of the community. About 40 have been involved during the process, with a core group of about a dozen, who formed the steering committee. That’s why the steering committee is reaching out to the community for input.
“We have been presenting the Strategic Plan update, vision and goals to the community, primarily through the civic organizations,” said Mike J. Adams, Public Works Director and committee member. It gives the organizations and individuals involved the chance to add their own objectives.
That includes groups like the District 55 School Board, City Council, the Kiwanis Club, the Rotary Club and others, explaining what the committee has so far and asking for more objectives.
“What we’re looking for are objectives that fit the goals we’ve already identified,” Fisher said.
Ideally, the committee is looking for objectives, specific projects, to be completed in pursuit of one of five goals, which are meant to meet the vision.
If someone has another goal, the committee can look at those too, Fisher said.
“We’ve been getting some stuff back,” Fisher said, although the new ideas haven’t been worked into the presentation yet.
The committee is preparing for a community meeting to be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 20 at the Jim Riggs Community Center. Chris Maser, who also facilitated the formation of the vision and goals, will facilitate the meeting.
“The goal of the meeting is to bring out some more objectives and have the community basically agree with the vision that’s been created,” Fisher said. It’s really about “vetting it to the community.”
Fisher urges community members to send in their ideas and attend the meeting. The ideas do not need to be in any particular format.
Contact Fisher at (541) 367-8113 or [email protected].
City Vision Statement
“Sweet Home is a community where we live in harmony with the surrounding environment, supporting a clean, safe and economically viable small-town lifestyle for the benefit of present and future generations.”
Strategic Plan Goals
n “Sweet Home is a community where well-being is based on a culture of social inclusivity.
Objectives include determining the average number of homeless in Sweet Home on a seasonal basis by June 2015 and identifying the needs of the homeless population.
n “Sweet Home provides the skills and experiences for children to have a viable future in our town economically and socially so they will stay or return because of the childhood memories that they want to share with their children.”
Objectives include providing a program by 2015 that teaches basic life skills for Sweet Home youth.
n “Sweet Home protects and cares for its open space and natural environment as the foundation of its sustainable small-town atmosphere and livability.”
Objectives include identifying and quantifying parks within the urban growth boundary as part of the Parks Master Plan by June 2014; identifying and quantifying open space by 2015; providing opportunities for people to access and enjoy picnic amenities in Hobart Park by fall 2015; completing the Hobart Natural Area Stewardship Plan by fall 2014.
n “Sweet Home is a community that supports sustainable business that provides diverse employment for residents of all skill levels.”
Objectives include developing a list of questions to ask existing and potential businesses to determine if it fits the vision by the end of the year; developing a profile that identifies the desirable attributes of sustainable business for Sweet Home by the end of the year.
n “Sweet Home makes decisions that keeps the population within a boundary of a sustainably built environment that protects the beauty and function of the natural environment.”
Objectives include defining the characteristics of “cultural capacity” and determining the population level that sustains that cultural capacity, essentially the maximum population that maintains Sweet Home’s small-town culture.