Thread by @adamadonaldson

Coming up, the original purpose of today's meeting: A workshop to continue discussions around the Strategic Plan refresh. Stay tuned. guelphpolitico.ca/2023/02/10/cit…

Mayor Guthrie has called the meeting to order.

Regrets from Cllrs Klassen, Allt, and Downer (maybe).

Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest and General Nature Thereof? Nope.

Guthrie throws it to DCAO Lee who notes council's ability to pivot to an all virtual meeting due to #ONStorm. He adds that this workshop will give council ability to further refine the refresh plan, plus it will further look at the process itself.

Jodie Sales, Acting GM of Strategic Communications and Community Engagement, takes over with a story about Steve Jobs, who came back to Apple in the 90s and streamline operations to just one product in four key areas, thus saving the company.

Although a city strategic plan is not the same thing as a tech company, the principle is.

We are here:

A first draft of the renewed plan is expected to come back in April.

Success Factors!

Sales also notes again that the Strategic Plan will align with the multi-year budget for 2024-27, which should improve performance and maximise taxpayer dollars. The budget determines speed and timing of SP goals.

After tonight:
• Council drop-in sessions following this workshops.
• Planning groups to detail strategic initiatives and establish KPIs.
• Council group sessions in April to review the strategic plan first draft.

Sabine Matheson, Principal for StrategyCorp Inc, takes over and compliments council's move to have a virtual meeting tonight in the interest of safety.

Since last meeting, Matheson and their team have been working with staff to look at ways to take the broad ideas put forward by council and have started to look at turning them into actions. They ask staff to look for gaps, and find places to focus.

Looking at the plan on the whole:
• Does this feel like a plan that will move the City of Guelph forward?
• Are you excited by these pillars and objectives?

By the pillars:

Matheson asks council if these pillars feel like they're on the right track. Gibson asks about simplifying without dumbing down. Notes that the many of the pillars seems to line-up (mostly) with the four members of the exec team.

Guthrie says he would like to be bold and make some big changes that could also be tied to a KPI. For example, the by-name list of people experiencing homelessness, half that will be taken off with new housing project could we eliminate rest by end of term? Make that goal?

Downer says she worries about some of the things under the "environment" tab, some of the things under their can be lump together, so maybe they need to drill down a bit to find something more specific in terms of achievable goals (?).

Downer also notes that there are number of issues in here that many municipalities in Ontario are facing. Matheson appreciates that and notes that it was a question they wanted to ask council: "Is this plan Guelphie enough?"

Gibson notes that there's nothing in the pillars that talks specifically about infrastructure. Need to say in there that we're still keep an eye on the basics like roads, pipes, and bridges.

Gibson says that he would also like to make it a goal to increase Guelph's sports infrastructure and partnering with local groups to make that happen faster. He says he feels like he's dropping "a rock in the pond" but that seems to be something other cities are moving on.

O'Rourke says there are some policy decisions implied in some of the title. Adding "safely" in "A City that safely moves people and goods" sounds like a policy decision choosing safely over speed or efficiency.

Caron says that she's bothered by the use of the phrase "continue to" that just seems like a bit much because so much of this work is ongoing anyway.

Billings asks about having a line about affordability for reference, because there is a line about financial stability, which is a reference to the City, but there's nothing there about the residents.

Looking at potential objectives under "A City that cares about its environment"

Thoughts? Goller asks if there are timelines for some of these objectives? Can spend 6 years "implementing" and not really accomplish. Mattheson notes that there may be a lot here, but something like completing a master plan might have some apparent deadlines.

Chew says it would be nice to have a general statement after each initiative that will be accomplished during this term, to show that the City is making progress at a high level. Also, can we tag which GMs are taking part in each pillar.

Guthrie asks if strategic initiatives are the same as action items? Is their a difference between "update tree planting strategy" and the more direct "plant 150k trees" (for example)?

Guthrie says that he needs to feel excited, but he's not there yet.

O'Rourke says that the environmental pillar is the one that's resonating with her the most right now. Having said that there's a difference between Complete the Climate Adaptation Plan, which has an obvious action vs. Advance the Storm Water Management Plan, which doesn't.

O'Rourke: These plans are really broad and we need to what the critical pieces are that need to be completed in the next four years.

Goller refers back to Caton's comment about wanting to get a grasp on all the strategies feeding into the plan. How do we communicate that to constituents as well? Goller asks for a hyperlinks that can refer back to the plans mentioned when the update comes it.

Chew suggests a preamble for each master plan or strategy, just so everyone can get the basics. He also says there's an opportunity to tell stories about the City's successes, especially since there might not be budget room for bold policy.

A City that builds for now and the future:

O'Rourke says that she likes the specific directions on this one, but would like to see the addition of more long-term beds as a goal. Would also like to take "Advance the Operations Campus Project to construction" and make it have to do with electrifying transit specifically.

O'Rourke adds that there are many ways to look at "Implement direction from the Province on Bill 23", there are a lot of options and a lot of community partners that can be engaged on this, and none of that's reflected.

Gibson says not everything has to reflected in the SP, some of the goals will come out of the development of master plans. He says again that the City can set as many goals as it likes, but ultimately, a lot of strategic objects are dictated by upper levels of government.

Goller says "policies such as" doesn't give council the ability to say no to things. Any given plan might have four or five outcomes, and council may not be able to do them all in one term.

Caton asks if there's room for equity under other pillars and not just the fifth. Matheson notes that it's meant to touch everything and not just be it's own pillar. Have to be careful to make sure that the values meant to be enshrined aren't watered down in the actual language.

3. A City that safely moves people and goods:

Matheson notes to the mayor's earlier points that this might be another one of those things that council might want to put a number to; setting a number of km of new trails vs saying "Implement the Guelph Trails Master Plan".

O'Rourke notes that there's a lot in the Transportation Master Plan, so perhaps a couple of items can be pulled like the Gordon Street improvement, which is also a road safety initiative.

Goller's concerned that there's too much happening under this pillar and there's a limited number of staff and resources. Matheson agrees that the "doability" of things needs to be a consideration, but these were developed with feedback from staff.

Downer says she's not sure that council can start picking out projects at random from the TMP. A lot of neighbourhoods in Guelph are looking for traffic calming and how many of those can be accomplished vs a mega project like Gordon Street.

Chew asks if there's an opportunity for staff to summarise projects in any given work plan to give council an indication of what can get done.

4. A City that supports its residents and economy

Downer notes the goals around downtown could be more succinct. O'Rourke says she's concerned that there's not enough weight to strengthening Guelph's economy compared to other areas. Need to look at how we approve processes for getting businesses started.

Goller says he would also like some more clarity. Something like supporting the blue box transition, the City has to do that anyway, right? Could this be about diversion rates or another goal more in the City's control?

5. A City that works together (The foundational piece as Guthrie called it):

Thoughts? Goller says that this pillar is exciting b/c when he worked at CofG worker engagement was not what it is now. He's looking for some tangible goals again, something that council can point to. Also notes that the nature of workforce is changing & that needs accounting.

O'Rourke notes that there's a lot packed into this pillar, and wonders if there could be ways to encourage the City to be more entrepreneurial. Agrees with earlier comment from Busuttil that voter turnout improvement needs to be looked at.

After saying earlier that he's not excited about what's in this plan, Guthrie has changed his mind. Notes that there seems to be a lot of unity among council in terms of the changes they're looking for.

Goller asks constituents to reach out to their councillors with their thoughts on any of the things presented in this meeting.

Billings asks Lee if council will be able to see some more specifics about the initiatives including cost. Less says staff will do their best to come back with framing, incl. the potential FTEs. Tonight's focused on objectives, and staff's been interested in getting feedback too.

Sales tells Billings about how council drop-in sessions following this workshop will be held next week, so this will be an opportunity for councillors to do a little bit more focused feedback.

Guthrie asks if there's any value in doing an updated citizen satisfaction survey to get the POV from the community. Is there anything to adopt from the last survey even? [...]

Sales says the City of Guelph survey was done last year, and some questions were asked around the pillars, and those results have been shared with the consultant. There's also community engagement ongoing with a number of files.

That's a wrap for this workshop!

@threadreaderapp, unroll please!