To meet its vision of making decisions that do the most good for the most people for the longest time, the Sweet Home City Council adopted new goals, along with a vision statement and a new mission statement, during its regular meeting on April 11.
During a public hearing that night, City Manager Ray Towry outlined the process and thinking behind the new goals.
The council began developing the goals during a retreat in February, he said.
“Government can’t be all things to all people,” Towry said, so he asked the council to consider the roles of the council and staff.
“We wanted to have a high level of livability,” Towry said, noting that is a broad term.
The council answered, “Well, it’s safety. We have to have an efficient government.”
The city needs to provide good infrastructure and clean water, Towry continued, and it has to get rid of the wastewater. It needs good streets, so people can go to work, transfer goods and get to schools. It also includes a good parks system.
They discussed essential services – police and fire, and “we talked about the impact of building, building codes, the building inspector and the building program,” which are essential to providing safe structures to live in, Towry said.
Healthcare is a part of livability too, even if it isn’t directly the council’s role to provide it.
The result of the discussion was a vision statement: “The Sweet Home community members have elected the City Council to represent their collective best interests. We have been entrusted to make decisions that do the most good for the most people for the longest period of time.
“We aspire to make Sweet Home a community people find desirable to live in. We aspire to have an effective and efficient local government. We aspire to provide viable and sustainable infrastructure. We aspire to provide viable and sustainable essential services. We aspire to create an economically strong environment in which businesses prosper.”
To achieve the vision, it crafted a new mission statement: “The City of Sweet Home will work to build an economically strong community with an efficient and effective local government that will provide infrastructure and essential services to the citizens we serve. As efficient stewards of the valuable assets available, we will be responsive to the community while planning and preparing for the future.”
The mission statement is really a guiding principle for staff, Towry said.
The council developed goals in four areas: infrastructure, effective and efficient government, essential services and economic strength. Each area includes multiple goals.
Two goals address infrastructure:
– Develop specific steps for the implementation of the adopted infrastructure master plans; and
– Increase community awareness of infrastructure needs and appropriate planning documents.
Towry explained that the council wants to implement the “very good” plans that are on the city’s shelves already, and the council wants the community to understand that the city does have plans.
Six goals aim for “effective and efficient government:”
– Update and streamline processes:
– Develop continuity in planning and permitting processes.
– Invest in long-term staff stability and training.
– Develop transparency in all communication.
– Continue to implement strong financial practices.
– Employ sound technology to maximize efficiency.
Three goals address essential services:
– Increase access to quality healthcare services in Sweet Home.
– Look for methods to improve community safety.
– Develop partnerships with regional services and work to connect them with the appropriate members of the public.
For economic strength, the council created three goals:
– Implement a business vitalization program.
– Support future economic developments within City Hall.
– Develop economic opportunities with regional partners.
Economic development involves attracting new business while helping existing businesses grow, Towry said, and the city will have strong economic development based in City Hall.
The council will prepare work plans in support of the adopted goals, Towry said. The goals will be reviewed regularly to evaluate accomplishments.
The goals target the 2017-18 fiscal year, which begins July 1, Towry said. They will be revisited annually, while the council may reconsider its vision and mission statements after several years.
In other business, the council approved a proclamation declaring its support for the passage of the Sweet Home School District’s bond levy request on the May 16 ballot.
Noting that the bond will be for $4 million but raise $8 million through a matching grant from the State of Oregon, a council proclamation stated: “The City Council of Sweet Home believes this project will increase the safety of our students.”
The safety of students is vital to their ability to learn, and a person’s quality of life can be directly linked to the quality of their education, the council said. “The City Council of the City of Sweet Home believes that an effective and efficient education system is vital to our community’s future growth and vitality.”
Councilor Diane Gerson said she was impressed that the bond would most likely not increase property tax rates and keep them serviceable.
“I think it’s important that we support this issue,” said Gerson, a retired school principal.
Voting to approve the goals and to approve the proclamation supporting the district’s bond levy were Lisa Gourley, Ryan Underwood, Susan Coleman, Mayor Greg Mahler, Dave Trask, James Goble and Diane Gerson.