The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About07/09/2024 04.B. Presentation of Draft City of Yakima Strategic Priorities for 2024-2025 i4 e+ /A L4141110 !1— i,i i BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL YAKIMA, WASHINGTON AGENDA STATEMENT Item No. 4.B. For Meeting of: July 9, 2024 ITEM TITLE: Presentation of Draft City of Yakima Strategic Priorities for 2024-2025 SUBMITTED BY: Dave Zabell, Interim City Manager SUMMARY EXPLANATION: On June 14th and 15th, Zach Ratkai of Sagelands Strategic, facilitated a strategic planning workshop with Councilmembers and senior staff. Efforts prior to the workshop included extensive interviews with each City Councilmember as well as all members of senior staff, as well as a thorough scan of previous efforts on the part of the City with respect to strategic goal setting. The attached document, entitled "Retreat Report", outlines the process by which the City Council developed the Draft Strategic Priorities and provides a draft of the priorities for Council's consideration. Of note is the similarities with respect to common themes identified by City Council and senior staff. Interim City Manager Zabell and Mr. Ratkai will discuss the document and present to Council the draft Strategic Priorities and take input from Council with a goal of formally adopting the Council's Strategic Priorities at the following regular meeting. ITEM BUDGETED: N/A STRATEGIC PRIORITY: RECOMMENDATION: Following presentation by staff and Zach Ratkai, Principal, Sageland Strategic LLC, Council to provide feedback and direction toward development of final draft of it Strategic Priorities. ATTACHMENTS: Yakima Retreat Report on Strategic Priorities (DRAFT) 10 CITY OF YAKIMA RETREAT REPORT _ ._.,...4.., 1,4 , • ... . . .. _ . _ _ •_,.. ,.. _ . ... . , la jit,,,,:1 zr . _ .- .._ . :. Pri 1 '' Se '.• - ilk 0 . 0 i -..,- 'ft , . --- • ,I , .• . . 1 , / ' I . ...- 4 inla WEI= . t V -..-. A OW. , -. . . 1 _ . -, _ :-- - --/- ___•-,- _) 41I•AA-- *'----- -- . ....- _.,. _ .,A MEWL . ' . - NIIIIIIIINekn. eiMINIPIpM- 0f VANN /441filiN6k1-'A (41' • 1 '4k 1 . ..,./.. , v...) 0 SAGELAND S'I 12 A 1'E 6 1 I. I.1.CI IN 4e sst,/ 1 1 /4114441k1 In a Board retreat on June 14 and 15th, 2024, the City of Yakima City Council and staff team met in person to have a conversation about the strategic plan for the next five years. With a new City Council makeup and new leadership positions to be filled, it was a wonderful opportunity for fresh ideas and new sets of eyes. Purpose of the Conversation The goal for the board retreat was to share a better understanding and ask the following questions: • Where have we been? • How did we get there? • Where are we going? Another goal for the retreat was to refocus on community priorities, leave with a list of goals, collaborate outside of a formal Council meeting setting, and of course, have fun. The agenda for the retreat was as follows (abridged from the two-day agenda): • Introduction and Ice Breaker • Setting the Stage • Strategic Planning Overview • Local Gov 101: Roles of Council, City Manager, and Staff • Where is Yakima Today? • Review of Council and Leadership Engagement • What is the future vision of Yakima? • Review of Key Themes/Priorities • Identification of Main Priorities • Outline Strategic Goals/Objectives for each priority • Review of Retreat • What's Next for Yakima? Sageland Strategic, LLC 12 Engagement and Initial Work To prepare for the retreat and identify prevailing themes, the Sageland team reviewed prior strategic planning efforts, budgets, and hosted a kick off meeting to determine course of action and outcomes for a successful plan. Engagement: Confidential Interviews City Council The mayor and each member of City Council were interviewed to determine a number of items including a past look at Yakima, the vision of a wildly successful community, and priorities of each interviewee. Interviews were framed around the following questions: • What motivated you to become a Yakima City Council member? • What do you think is working well for the Yakima Community? • What are the opportunities you see for improvement for the Yakima Community? • What are your top 3 priorities for the community currently and for the next 5 years? • What is working well in City as an organization? • What is not working well in the organization? • What are your top 3 priorities for City of Yakima in the next 5 years? • What opportunities or trends should the City focus on in the next 5 years? • Are there things that other communities in WA or nationally doing that Yakima should consider? • What do you tell visitors and family about Yakima when you describe the community? • Looking ahead 10 years, what does a wildly successful Yakima look like? • What would you want to preserve about Yakima currently no matter what? • What else would be good for us to know as we enter the strategic planning process? Through discussion of each question, the following key themes were identified: • Community Involvement and Public Safety • Economic Development and Infrastructure • Cultural and Community Identity • Long-Term Vision and Quality of Life. Staff Ten (10) staff members, primarily made up of the leadership team, were also interviewed with similar questions as listed below: Sageland Strategic, LLC 13 • What is working well for the Yakima Community right now? • What is the community not leveraging currently that it should be? • What perceptions about the community do you feel are adversely impacting the Community? • What is working well with the City Staff team? • What opportunities for improvement do you see internally? • Thinking about how the City operates, what are the things you think are holding the City back? • For how long have you been working for City of Yakima? • Over the last 5 years, what changes have you seen at the City? Have these been positive or negative? • If you were serving on Council, what would be your Top 3 priorities for the community? For the organization? • Looking forward 10 years, what does a "wildly successful"Yakima look like? • How do you describe the Yakima to colleagues, family members, or friends? • What are the Top 3 (or more) priorities you would like to see come out of the strategic planning process? • Anything I should know that hasn't been covered above? Through discussion of those questions, the following Key Themes were identified from the staff: • Negative Perceptions and (community) Self-Esteem • Internal Opportunities for Improvement • Economic Challenges and Opportunities • Perceptions and Reality of Public Safety • Strategic Planning and Governance This boiled down to an outline of similar themes and potential priorities that were shared with the retreat team for in-depth discussion. Sageland Strategic, LLC 14 COMMON THEMES City Council Staff • ECON DEV • PUBLIC SAFETY • INFRASTRUCTURE • STRATEGIC VISION • INFRASTRUCTURE • ECON DEV • ECON DEV • ENGAGEMENT • PUBLIC SAFETY • INFRASTRUCTURE • AFFORDABLE • ENGAGEMENT • PUBLIC SAFETY HOUSING • POSITIVE • ENGAGEMENT • PUBLIC SAFETY IMAGE/COMMUNITY • POSITIVEIMAGE • ORGANIZATIONAL • ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT& DEVELOPMENT • STRATEGIC VISION CULTURE • COMMUNITY • ORGANIZATIONAL • SUSTAINABLE IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT BUDGETING • STRATEGIC VISION • QUALITY OF LIFE • PUBLIC SAFETY Priorities From this, discussion among the retreat team formed a list of four main priorities upon which goals for the community were created framed around the following - are we doing the right things? Are we focusing our time and resources correctly?: • A Thriving Yakima • A Resilient Yakima • A Safe and Healthy Yakima • An Engaged Yakima Sageland Strategic, LLC 15 A Thriving Yakima Reduce homelessness Become an attractive tourist and business destination. - Identify magnets in the community - Diversify opportunities for business, living, and the arts community downtown sports tourism and marketing Promote Yakima's Unique Culture - Focus on the Arts, Latino and Tribal history and cultural offerings Maximize Current Assets in the Community - Leverage existing parks and sports opportunities - Highlight and promote the airport and future growth. Improve opportunities for youth and families - Expand partnerships with community and non-profit organizations o Find/leverage free opportunities for community youth programs. Become a Connected community - Focus on strategic transportation and transit projects. A Resilient Yakima Design, build, and maintain robust infrastructure. - Maintain existing infrastructure - Strategically expand infrastructure in accordance with City goals. Streamline city processes - Find efficiencies in process at City Hall such as permitting and code enforcement. - Improve customer service for all outward facing departments (from engaged community) Build organizational capacity to deliver on budgeted expectations - Reform the civil service hiring process - Gear staffing to prioritized spending areas - Focus on professional development to development knowledge and team - Budget for retirement payouts - Focus on staff retention Adopt sustainable budgeting practices - Employ long terms strategic for revenue options - Establish and maintain an adequate reserve budget Sageland Strategic, LLC 16 - Adopt priority-based budgeting practices and prioritized spending - Communicate openly on budget process - Focus on ERR (Equipment replace and repair) process o Make realistic investments and look at true replacement value o Continue to utilize new asset management software - Find efficiencies in resources. Diversify and focus on Economic Development - Promote sectors such as agriculture, education, high tech, tourism, aviation, and new businesses - Focus on local business, retention and expansion - Hire dedicated city staff (active recruitment and an ambassador) - Build a strategy for vacant properties - Investigate business start up process and refine processes to make easier Build and leverage local and regional coalitions - Build partnerships with Yakima County, state of Washington, local business associations, non-profits, Yakima Health District, higher education, and the Yakama Nation, Yakima Chamber of Commerce, realtors' association, home builders association, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. - Develop annual legislative priorities to refine state political focus An Engaged Yakima Foster Community Ownership - Create community ownership of parks - Communicate with "community-focused" language. - Develop neighborhood watch programs. Promote a Positive Community Image - Promote community successes - Highlight City staff - Start a city awards program - Highlight local athletics - Showcase new projects and completion of public projects. - Celebrate the diversity of Yakima - Focus on what the city does well (from resilient community) Develop a Culture of Two-way communication - Proactively communicate efficiently and frequently, using laypersons' terms - Promote and accept feedback opportunities - Hold Coffee with City Council and other town hall style meetings - Develop a regular survey program to obtain information on issues, trends, and positivity. - Ensure access to Council members and city staff Sageland Strategic, LLC 17 - Maintain clear and accessible information - Determine the best means for communication with the community A Safe and Healthy Yakima Reduce the number of people living in the streets - Find alternatives to sentencing - Fund the courts - Develop a tiered housing plan - Partner with community service providers - Develop realistic goals to address homelessness - Discuss spending priorities with Yakima County Focus on a reduction to all crimes - Develop a community education program - Focus on suppression of gangs - Employ CEPTED design standards for development - Deploy red light cameras - Develop interagency partnerships - Create a local crime lab Develop infrastructure with safety in mind - Promote alternative transportation - Promote a safe community. Focus on fire prevention through design and standards - Develop a public education system on fire safety - Develop a fire department master plan - Adequately fund EMS services - Ensure adequate fire flows Promote stewardship of the natural environment Make Yakima a clean living environment - Maintain city property well - Develop maintainable city landscapes - Form an anti-litter campaign - Expand the Clean Yakima program - Enforce a graffiti abatement program. Make Yakima Walkable - Implement sidewalk additions and improvements in the community - Improve street lighting Leverage Partnerships in the Region Sageland Strategic, LLC 18 ii,a1*-911t, , From that thorough list the team then selected what they felt would be their first (red dot), second (green dot), third (yellow dot), and fourth (blue dot) priorities. This weighted dot voting can help determine where the Board and staff agree on the most critical issues. Discussion that some of the goals and objectives listed above may be initiated prior to others, as well as have commonalities with other priorities was conducted to set the stage for implementation. • - 15 1 °Vecis.. • - it" A 14k 11 A • 1V4e°41, '(4°' /tit,i1(•i\p((kr ,*(1 411' 1 • • •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • • • • • • GI • • 44 '7" OP Ve,Q 01,,v. 4 - - 1 + i ; ,,,.., ,,c„ 4,.,, 0 41\ Next Steps Sageland Strategic, LLC 19 HOW TO USE THE PLAN ® (Jr° 0 , CC) ri/sj Tell the Incorporate the Develop Work Plans Quarterly&Annual Reviews Community! Priorities and Goals • Share Plan with • Council Agenda Items • Staff Forms Action • THIS IS A LIVING Yakima • Budgeting Steps DOCUMENT • Establish Credibility • Hiring • Build on • Review Quarterly& • Remain Accountable • Programs Accomplishments Annually • Tie Daily&Future Work • Refine Goals to Plan • Don't Put it on a Shelf Sageland Strategic, LLC 20