Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994 Resolution No. 085• • • RESOLUTION NO. i,;- OERIES OF 1994 A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING ENGLEWOOD • FOCUSING ON TOMORROW IN ITS EFFORTS TO DEVEWP A COMMUNITY-WIDE STRATEGIC PLAN. WHEREAS, The City of EnJlewood City (',o,.111cil hu artieulatecl the following goal1 for 1994: Focus on listening to the community's w,.nta and needs. Encourage citizen involvement in forming the City'• miuion, pal1, objectives and activities. Foster the s pirit of volunteerism that exista in the community; and WHEREAS, a community-hued vilioning and strategic planning project initiated by the Englewood City Council in June of 1993; and WHEREAS, Englewood-Focusing On Tomorrow is an independent nonpr<-it community-based organization ; and WHEREAS, the mission of the Englewood-Focusing On Tomorro.., Steering Committee is to "Gatner broad public input to identify the needs of Englewood and develop a d)T 'lfflic strategic plan for the future which includes ahort..term action plans;" and WHEREAS, Englewood -Focusing Or . Tomorrow baa developed and implemented a.n open process to actively involve stakeholder groups within the City in discussions of lhe issues whicn impact lhe future of Englewood; a.nd WHEREAS, Englewood-Focusing On Tomorrow hu sought broad public input on these issues through surveys, focus groups a.nd public m""tings; and WHEREAS, the initial community input phase of lhe project culminated with tl,e Noveml,er 16 , 1994 community meeting; and WHEREAS, the nert phase be;:inning in Ja.nuary of 1995 involves significa.nt stakehol der participation in lhe development of vision statement action plans to culminate in July , 1995; NOW , THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF T HE CITY OF ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO, THAT: 15 bi &.:tilm..l. The City o. · Enclewood City Council ncoenizu the diligent work of Englowood•Focusing On Tomorrow in their eff'orta to involve the community in defining a viaion for the future of Enelewo,d. ADOPTED AND APPROVED thi1 5th~ of December, 199 •. Loucrishia A. Ellis , City Clerk I , Loucrishia A. Ellis, City Clerk for the City "ED£1ewood, certify th• above is a true copy of Resolution No .fl, ~ri • o Loucriahia A. Ellis • • • • • ~+ V.A.c.. MEMORANDUM TO: Doug Clark, City Manager \.,v-- FROM: Lee Merkel , Director of Community Development DATE: November 15 , 1994 RE: Englewood -F ocu iing On Tomorrow In 1992, the Community Development staff began preparatory work for updating the 1979 Comprehensi ve Plan . A part of the background research that was carried out included a review of current methods and trends in comprehensive planning. This research pointed out that there were a wide range of issues effecting the future of the community that were not addressed by a traditional comprehensive plan . Comprehensi ve plans generally contain a land use element {residential, commercial, and industrial), a central business district element , a public facilities element {including sewer and water supply), a transponation element, a housing element, and a parks and open apace element. Thus , the compreh~nsive plan only addresses the infrastructure and physical development of the community . TlnJS, today there are broader social, cultural , and economic issues, confronting the community that ue not addressed by the comprehensive planning process . This is not due to a shoncorning of the planning process but rath er because these issues fall outside the scope of comprehensive or physical planning. Due to changing needs and expectation within the community, the City is being asked more and more to address many of these nontrad itional issues . In terms of long range planning, there have been some ancmpts to addn:ss these issues under the rubric of "quali r.y of life" and apply physical planning solutions to them . However, most often these issues werr, relegated to agencies outside of the city . Today, it is recognized that these issues dcserv,: their .>wn platform, within the city, from which they can be debated and addres.~ by the community . The visioning process provides that platform so that the issues which arc critical to defining lllld shaping the future of the city ~an re adequate ly identified and dealt with . Determining the preferred future for the City is the primary goal of Englewood -Focusing On Tomorrow . When completed, the community vision will provide the framework upon which th e co mprehensive plan will be bu ilt. The visioning process is not designed to replace th e comprehensive planning process rather, the visionif\g process is designed to identify, in the broadest terms possible, the type of community that l!nglewood lhould become . Defining this • vision involves gaining input from~ who has 1 11 interest in Englewood . Toward that end, the Englewood -Focusing On Tomorrow project began in June, 1993 with a solicitation from the Mayor requesting leaders and interested citizens to join together to form an Initiating Committee . This committee was charged \\ith the responsibility of defining a general framework for a community involvement process . After analyzing various processes that have been used by other cities, the Committee defined a process based on the particular need s of Englewood . The Co mmunity Invol vement Process that the Commi ee defined contains the foilt,wing elements : I. Identification of Staktholdtn Ident ify all potential stakeholders in the community . This should e follllwed b)' identifying specific groups within the major categories and the lcey contact pl'Ople withi . each of these groups or organizations . 2. lnut Identification and Consolidation Create a process that provides all stakeholders an equal opportunity to pvticipate in the community-wide discussions that are focused on the future of Englewood . The process must recognize and accommodate the various stakeholders to ensure equal access for all. An open and frank discussion of the issues must be guaranteed so that all sides of an issue • can be considered . All points of view must be given equal weight. 3. Issue Analysis and Implementation Responsibilitiei When all issues have been identified they are categorized under maj"r topk area . These major topic areas become the focus for the formulation of solutions or action steps that specifically address the ind ivi dual issues within a topi c area. Finally, the parties re sponsible for carrying out the action steps are identified . These parties may he public and/or private . This is the 'vision " of the community along with the steps m,· ,·ssary to achieve the vision and those who wi ll be rc,ponsible for the implementation of ,,,. •;teps. 4. Vision Assessment With the vision defined , an ongoing process of assessment must be included to periodicall y review progres s and make course corrections based on community need . This allows for the vision to be flexible and respond to changing needs and trends within the community . In May of I 994 , with the community invol ve ment process designed , the Initiating Committee was dissolved and in its place a Steering Committee was formed . At the same time Englewood - Focusing On Tomorrow incorporated as non-profit organization . The role of the Steering Committee is to implement the community involvement process as described above To assist in • • • • carrying this out, Joseph A . Racine & Associates was retained to serve as the process facilitator . The task s of the Steering Committee and the consultant are as follows : I. Review and critique of the Initiating Committee's Community Involvement Process 2. Compilation of \ comprehensive stakeholder roster. 3. Conduct meeti ,igs, focus groups, surveys , etc . to further define the community vision . S 1:vey s • 2oo+ in -person survey conducted durinp September October/November Englewood Citizen Vision Statement Survey 1:-ocus groups• 2 high school focus groups (Oct . 20, 1994 & Nov. 9, 1994) 2 community focus groups (Oct. 13 & 18, l 'J N ) Schools -art and essay contests Community Meeting Nov . I 6, 1994 4. Final ize Vision Statements includ ing the identification of the major topic areas . 5. Draft the Strategic Plan . 6. Esta b:; ·, work groups of stakeholders to develop action steps truit add ress specijc issues ' i,11··, the major topic areas . Design and implement an ongoing assessment process to insure that progress towards the vision is on track and is flexible and responsive to changing needs and trends within the communi ty . 8. Presentat ion of Strategic Plan to the Community . 9. Community Celebration . Tasks 4-9 will be carried ou between December 1994 and June 995 .