How does what residents say compare to what staff says is important to budget for?
Strategic Plan from staff says:
- Infrastructure
- Personnel Expenses
- Retail Sector Performance
- Risk Management Fund
- Transportation Fund
- Post-Employment Benefits
- Maintenance of the Urban Forest
- Village Fleet
- Electricity Costs
- Interoperable Radio Systems
Residents from citizen summit say:
- Housing/ Neighborhoods
- Infrastructure
- Downtown
- Village Management
- Economy, Budget
- Taxes
- Non-Downtown Retail
- Pool
- Schools
- Trees
- Age Groups
- Historic Preservation
Common elements maybe deserving budget consideration:
Infrastructure- Streets and stormwater are still front and center for money.
Trees- Our urban forest continues to rank high with both residents and staff, lending some weight to spending a dime on trees, and maybe rethinking protecting some of the biggest and oldest from developer predations.
Past that there seems to be a disconnect of sorts between what staff sees as important, and what residents see as important. There’s that lack of “shoving it under our noses” at work again.
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September 25, 2008 at 09:17 am
Nobody ever expected an exact one-to-one corresponding between the Citizen Summit and the Council’s strategic plan, because elected officials see their priorities from a different perspective. Sometimes elected officials lead public opinion, sometimes lag, and sometimes just disagree.
Nonetheless it is instructive to ask, where and how are the issues raised in the Citizen Summit expressed in the strategic plan and budget? And when they are not, why not?