Councilmember Solario.

Here.

Councilmember Weiss.

Here.

Councilmember White.

Here.

Mayor Paneda.

Here.

And Vice Mayor Nielsen has an excused absence today.

All right.

Well, good morning, everybody.

Welcome back to another day of discussion and strategic planning.

And at this time, I will turn it over to Nancy.

Thank you before us I apologize.

But first of all, I'm not standing up the week, and I think we have some other people who are the better intelligence.

But I do like to start out with the thoughts.

I don't know if you realize that we have someone that threw up the pitch.

Oh yeah?

That's cool.

I didn't know if we were just taking it.

I didn't hear from our fame councilmember Solario who got to throw out the first pitch at some games.

So I got to throw out the first pitch.

I'm a huge Dodger fan, originally from Southern California.

So I know.

So I was asked to throw out the first pitch yesterday against the Reds game, which is kind of big for me too because the Reds stayed at my hotel and I've known so many of them.

So it was kind of really cool to be there while the Dodgers were there and the Reds.

A little embarrassing at the same time because some of the coaches were there and they're like, we should have taught you a little bit more when we were there.

But it went good.

He caught it.

It didn't, I didn't pull a 50 cent where it went on the side or anything.

I made it, and um I'm like, I had pressure because you know Smoky the Bear went before me, and I'm like, if he has that big helmet head on and he can make it, I can make it.

So it was really nice.

It was one of those opportunities like I was telling Mayor, like he said you'll always remember.

So it was really great.

Well, uh again, thank you, uh uh Mayor and Council.

So I just uh wanted to point out a couple things and and uh talk about how staff uses the strategic plan.

So in your uh packet, you were provided about five pages of accomplishments since the uh last um strategic plan was created, and and I promise you that is just a highlight.

Um Anisa and Tracy went through it to try to get it down to re readable uh size.

Um but the reason it's not to talk about what staff has done, but to show that how important the strategic plan is and how we use it to guide our day-to-day decisions and how we assign funding, how we assign priorities to projects to figure out how we're gonna get uh things done.

Working for seven bosses, uh just having seven bosses is sometimes complicated.

This is the unifying document.

This is the document that provides a clear statement of work, a clear statement of expectations, and a clear, in my opinion, a priority list.

We use it uh to set agenda items, uh again, we use it to set funding.

So it's just a very, very important document.

Um, and so I'm looking forward.

Um, this is my first strategic plan with this uh council.

Um we have a good two years at least uh as a group, and so I I'm looking forward to the outcomes today, which will be a new uh strategic plan that has your stamp on it and will set our vision usually for at least two years, but often for four to five years.

So with that, I will turn it over to uh our team and we'll go from there.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you.

Uh well, today's a day.

Well, and this is a little too loud.

We can turn that down a little bit.

I don't want to be going across myself.

So good morning.

Congratulations on your pitch last night.

Oh, you can't hear.

Okay.

So it's too loud for me, but not for you.

Got it.

Okay.

Um we'll adjust the technology.

I'm sure we'll have technology glitches along the way.

It's part of the fun that we get to work our way through.

Um, but really today is an opportunity to reflect on yesterday to think about the the work of the city, the direction you'd like to pursue as a body and on behalf of the city.

Uh, it's a time to uh engage.

It's in time to talk together.

And so we have provided a few resources that we'll reference in our time together.

Um city manager already mentioned the summary of accomplishments, which is uh testament to the last strategic planning effort the city went through and the work that has been accomplished as a result.

Uh we've also provided a sense of stakeholder uh report, which is a summary of the engagement activities, and thank you, Councilmember White, for the suggestion of bringing in some of the drawings that occurred in those engagements, and so we have them in the back.

We have them in the front.

Just as a reminder that this is not the only day that has contributed to this process.

There has been work that has led to today, um, and now we want to bring the pieces together carefully.

Um we also have a a workbook, if you will, um a resource that we can reference.

It has some um background information in there.

Don't worry about that now.

We'll go through it.

We've also made some adjustments.

We learned a lot yesterday, listening, just as I'm sure you did, um, about some of the trends and the the um opportunities in front of the city, and so we have you know tried to listen intently and bring some of those pieces along with the stakeholder uh the previous stakeholder engagement to the table.

And so these are all resources we can tap into, but this is about your conversation and your time together today.

So just wanted to point to those things that you have before we jump into the agenda and and all of the things we'll work our way through.

Wanted to just do a little check-in and any comments or reflections last night on what you heard yesterday.

Uh any you know, thoughts or observations you might want to share.

So we have your comments.

Uh I think we have stakeholders here to talk to any idea.

I just saw the days.

Yeah, we by the way, we're gonna be doing this from now on out for all of our clients.

Because I agree, it was a such a great format.

I saw a light pop up over here.

I've never never been through one, just like Sherry said.

Um, so it was very interesting to see.

I mean, we see these people, and we obviously know their part in the our city, but never to the extent of hearing how everything ties together and puts in.

So it takes the village to see all the things that you guys do, absolutely.

Great.

Other reflections or comments anybody wants to share?

Yeah.

Uh the economic out uh projections at the end of the day yesterday.

I wasn't sure if we were tired or if we were um feeling the uncertainty of the moment, which to me was a really great reflection of we're actually in the moment.

We actually realize there's some things going on that we have no control over that have nothing to do with any of us here or what we um have on our horizon, but may drastically impact a lot of our residents when we think about it.

So I just uh it was kind of uh, you know, what is the prediction for the recession in the next you know seven years.

I mean, I felt like that made me feel maybe.

Yeah, possibly.

So I think that made me nervous because there's too much uncertainty out there, and we have a lot of good that we want to do for um the entire community.

Absolutely.

Well, I think one of the things I think that is so important with the strategic planning, both process and the tool that you have available to you, is that you want to take the time to say, where are we, where do we want to go, right?

And so then to be nimble within that.

You want to make sure you can take advantage of opportunities as they arise within the framework you have laid out, but also recognizing sometimes the pacing or what you were able to accomplish may take longer, depending on any number of circumstances.

Um we know that recessions happen, cycles, right?

And so it could happen.

Um and and it could not happen.

I mean, if you if you're a good economist, you'll say, maybe, I don't know.

Uh, but to be alert, right?

And to have good practices to have uh cohesion on a on elected body to be able to say, all right, here's what we're seeing.

Let's not you know rest on our laurels of look to the future, but also really relying on the competence of your staff and the resources you have available to make informed decisions.

So other comments or reflections from yesterday.

Not really from yesterday.

Well, I guess a little bit is when we talk about the uncertainty of what the future holds.

Um, one thing I just want to give craze praise to is our staff.

Um, just very similar when the rental tax was going away, right?

They looked at opportunities and things, how do we pivot, how do we recoup some of that loss.

And so it's really their um knowledge to really share with us best what's gonna be best for our city if we do lose some of those funding.

So I just want to just say thank you for staff.

So to know to be, I feel reassured that if something were to happen that you guys can step in and figure out how we can get through it, whatever that might look like.

Well, for me, there was a lot of uh there was a lot of information yesterday that it um was great.

Uh but I think one of the pivotal moments was early on, and Ron uh just wanted to thank you for for doing that, and that was to address the uh panelists with the question of what what can we do better?

And I think that's that's where the rubber meets the road if we're looking at how do we do this with all of our partnerships that we have with the city uh and and with stakeholders in general is what can we do better?

And and cut through some of the you know the pleasantries and things of that nature to get right to the heart of what we can do better is what I I came away with yesterday thinking about after leaving here.

And so thank you for asking that question.

Because while some of us may have thought it, you put it to them and I appreciate that.

So now what?

That's the question, right?

So now what are we gonna do, right?

Uh and and as you kind of all alluded to, um, and I think Jen said this yesterday.

You we're gonna zoom out your comment around team sport, right?

I mean, economic development, absolutely a team sport, but so are all of the things that you do.

And so it's a team sport with all of those in the room, but it's also an important team sport with key stakeholders uh that help to really um you know pursue and leverage all of the opportunities that are out there.

And so you know, keeping that lens in mind and knowing that no individual is going to conquer everything, we can actually put things together and focus on Avondale and what do you want to achieve for your community?

And that's that's why you're all here.

And so that's what we want to keep in view, and so how can the city support that?

All right.

Any other thoughts before we jump into the agenda and give a preview of our day together?

Okay, and please feel free at any time.

I mean, this is we want to make break down the uh formality and and have a little bit of a workshop uh structure here.

But we do have an agenda that we may or may there we go, um, that we'll walk our way through.

And so um drop some.

So welcome, and we don't really need to do introductions, I don't think.

I think we've kind of covered that from yesterday.

Um we will hear, we're gonna do a little icebreaker uh just to remind us that we're not sitting at a formal business meeting.

Um, but nothing scary, I promise you, it'll be fun.

Uh then we'll hear a budget update just to kind of level set uh the forecast and the outlook for the city in particular, and so recognizing that um that's a dynamic situation, but from what is known today.

Uh we'll give a little bit of background and overview on the process that led us to today, just to bring us all to the same page, uh, work through that.

Janae's gonna share with us some of the highlights.

Uh you have the full report of the stakeholder engagement activities, but we'll hit some highlights just to get them in the room uh and have a chance to reflect on that and and what really stands out and resonates for you.

Uh then we're gonna we're gonna actually do a little bit of an activity um that will engage all of you.

Um you'll see I've given good facilitator tools like post-its and markers to each of you.

So we'll have a little activity uh to really start to flesh out what are the big rocks, what are the things that really matter that you want to make sure you can hold on to and preserve into the future, but also that aren't true today that you want to make happen uh in the future.

So we'll give some instruction and we'll just tee that up.

Um but I think that's a really nice jumping off point to talk about what are the outcomes you want to realize in the next five years.

Um four to five years ballpark.

Uh so we'll do that, and then we're gonna talk about those directional um conversations.

So we're gonna look at your existing vision statement and talk about you know what you connect to, what you like, um changes you might want to make, and then we're gonna get into strategic outcomes and um permitting um strategies.

You know, I we've been really listening intentionally um and hopefully um consistent with all of your expectations to help tee up that conversation, but know that this is your time to say these are the things that are most important.

Uh strategic plan at its best is focused.

We heard one of the panelists yesterday talk about hyper focus is what you you get results from.

And so one of the things we want to try to do today is think about the impact of the city, but what are the big things you want to move the needle on?

Um, and not to just have a plan that catches everything.

We want to focus.

Uh so we'll do that together later today.

Um we will monitor our time, we will take breaks along the way, but if you're feeling like it's time to stand up or time to take a break for other reasons, then you know let me know, and we can we can easily do that.

So that's our agenda for today.

Any questions on any of that?

Okay, excellent.

Um, so our next one is because we're in a workshop, we like to bring to the table uh just some basic meeting norms, you know, kind of our shared expectations for our time together, uh things to keep in mind.

And I like to put point us right into the middle there at the beginning, which is this is a time when you're imagining what you want to create, right?

And so this is a safe place and opportunity to be bold to say these are the things we want to do.

We heard that yesterday.

We don't want to just take the low-hanging food.

We really want to you know elevate our community.

We want to pursue bigger things, and so you know, let's be bold.

Uh, I do think that it's important to have the bold conversation, then ground it in what are the resources and cap and uh capabilities to make that happen.

So we want to you know make sure we're reflecting on those that are realistic.

Um this is an opportunity to share different experiences, perspectives, uh, and I encourage and invite that.

You know, obviously we want to on the the far left you be respectful of one another and and maintain um decorum in our room together, but this is a time to share different perspectives and ideas.

So you know, letting others speak before you start, being attentive to the speaker, and disagreeing agreeably.

How we how we engage with one another is what matters.

So those are over to the left.

And then of course, we're gonna be really uh focusing in on how do we get to consensus on those big rocks on the big strategic outcomes.

What are the things that you want to collectively work on?

Uh so looking for areas and opportunities to agree, and then my favorite is that one across the bottom is that we'll want to also have fun with this.

Like this is doesn't need to be um uh stodgy presentation, right?

This is really about energy in the room.

And so we can bring the energy, and I feel like you know we are successful if we can laugh together and we can be together as humans.

So those are our norms.

Are we okay with all of those?

And is there anything we need to add from your perspective?

All good.

I got one last little logistics piece, and that is that there are oftentimes ideas, topics, issues, ideas that uh that arise during these types of convers these types of workshops that really require follow-up.

Um maybe there's a question that can't be answered in the room, but you don't want to lose it, uh, or just need more time and energy.

We put those on the bike rack.

And so we have a bike rack uh that Janae has put together.

We're gonna actually stick it on the door because we're gonna use the flip charts.

Um, and these are very fancy uh walls here, so we can't stick them.

They're they're too slippery.

Um but we'll put on the on the door there, so we have it available.

If there's ever a time when we're like this is something that requires more, or we want to follow up, anybody should feel encouraged to say, I think we should throw that one on the bike rack.

We will do that.

Um we will prepare a summary report from our time together today that captures that so that way it's not lost uh and it can come back.

Sound good?

All right.

See?

Working through all this is the business part of the meeting, isn't this fun?

Uh okay, so now we want to do a little something fun, which is our icebreaker.

So here is your challenge.

Six words, which are not many, I will note.

Uh I'd like you to think ahead five years from now.

So now can you believe it?

We're now at March 5th, 2030, which is makes me a little cringy.

Um, but here we are, five years from now.

I want you in six words.

So only in six words, described something that you hope has been achieved by that time.

And so have fun with it.

Yeah.

Nope, nope, just you can just you know, say the stickies for something else.

Yeah, don't waste your stickies.

Um, but just take a minute, think about something that you're really you know passionate about, interested in that you want to celebrate.

She's got one right now.

Well, the first thing, I don't know if this is what you're looking for.

The first thing that comes to my head is just to make uh there's been a lot of time.

Oh dang it, okay.

I know trust me.

Here, I I look at this is my scratch from trying to practice one for you guys.

So here's one.

Um restaurants businesses successful.

Oh right.

Oh, that's all right.

I think you can go first, but this is not easy.

I just want to get it out of the way.

That's a good strategy.

All right, so your focus on on old town and and having it booming, it's successful.

Okay, very good.

Who else wants to give one a go?

I'll go again.

Go through me.

Once you open the floodgates, then they just start rolling through, right?

I think that's too much.

That's okay.

I want residents to be able to work this thing.

I want residents.

And live.

I'm trying to not listen.

Here.

That's a bonus word at the end.

Okay.

That's okay.

This is not hard and fast rule, it's just challenge.

Uh-huh.

Oh, yep.

Instruction, in progress.

Yeah, you had in progress.

You actually got six.

That was perfect.

Nice.

All right.

Well done.

We'll start again.

All right.

Trail systems.

Ooh, the trail system will be connected.

One of those students will be hey, hey, no commentary from the Pink Gallery.

No judgment.

Exactly, exactly.

All right, Councilmember Garcia.

Economic development, eatery, play, thriving, and safe.

Okay, so we have so say one more time.

Economic development.

Play.

Play.

Thriving.

Safe.

Safe.

Okay.

I didn't say I did.

I was just gonna say I didn't say it had to be a sentence, so totally fair.

That's good.

You got them in there.

All right, Mayor.

All right.

Boulevard celebrates sixth major restaurant today.

Oh I like that.

Today.

Yeah.

All right.

My pitch went across the plate.

No.

Jesus scared.

I hope I made you all proud.

Go Dodgers.

No.

I only have four.

That's okay.

I bet you with your with your um teammates here, you can expand that to six.

Let's hear it.

Evolving.

Attainable.

Possible and enhanced.

Okay, what's the it?

Um I only have the goals are.

That's too many.

You'd have to cut one down.

All right.

Okay.

So we have attainable.

Wait, you had possible.

Possible?

Attainable.

Enhanced.

Enhanced.

And evolving.

Okay.

So these are good adjectives that as we're talking about our goals later today, the outcome areas, we can keep these in mind.

Right?

So we'll be able to tap into those when we're thinking about what is the direction.

How are how are we doing the things we want to be doing?

Another one.

Residents will feel connected to city.

Residents will feel connected to city.

There we go.

All right.

Did you grab all those so we can bring them back later?

Perfect.

Okay.

All right.

Any others that people want to add?

Those are great.

Gives us a little bit of focus, like where we want to spend our time.

So all right.

So now we get to do something really fun.

What how come it says strategic planning process?

There we go.

There we go.

All right.

So I think Renee was gonna come down and we're gonna do a little budget uh budget update.

Do you have your is it in your walk-ups?

Okay.

Uh-huh.

Next slide, budget.

Sorry.

You need your own lock-up song.

Yeah.

Renee, what would your walk-up song be if we had a song playing for you?

I would say money money.

Oh my god.

Oh, sorry, my second in the way here.

Hey, Renee, you want to use this truck?

This is our technology intermission.

We might have a couple of these today.

All right.

Oh.

It's right here.

Good morning.

All right.

Good morning, Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council.

Um, I'm here today to give you a budget update.

Um we're gonna cover basically where we are right now, um, where we think we're headed, given you know what you heard at the end of yesterday.

And just an update on on the budget process for fiscal 26.

Um, so for this year, looking at revenues, and these are updated through January.

Um, our general fund right now is running above last year and above forecast.

Um we'll dive into the general fund um on the next slide.

Looking at our public safety sales tax as well as dedicated sales tax again.

That's all sales tax related, and we'll take a little deeper dive into sales tax.

Um, our enterprise funds for water, sewer, and solid waste, um, slightly trending up in water, um down in sewer and in solid waste.

And as you know, with the presentation of rates, all of those have been factored in to those calculations and assumptions.

So let's look at general fund.

With our largest revenue source being sales tax.

We are trending down to last year, but of course, you're aware that we are losing our residential rental sales tax, started on January 1 of 2025.

One thing to note here is that revenue revenue is earned and paid the following month.

So we actually stopped budgeting effective January, but we received payments in January for the December sales tax that was collected.

But we will not be receiving it going forward.

We also take it a little bit deeper dive in the categories and see what's driving that 5% over the forecast for sales tax.

Property tax were right at forecast.

State shared revenue again, we're up a little bit in state shared, it's going down from last year, and that is due to the changes in the income tax revenue, which are planned.

We know what that number is two years out.

Um so we had already taken that into account when preparing our budget for fiscal 25.

Charges for services licensing and fines, those are running up to last year.

We are seeing a lot of development revenue coming in for permitting this year, and so that's driving that set that number.

Property sales, um property sales and interest.

We did have uh property sold last year, so that's what's driving the decrease to last year, um, and we're up slightly.

We do not typically budget property sales unless we're already under contract.

So looking at sales tax, this is um five years of our history here.

The top line is the blue, um, the darker blue at the very top, you can see that we've been holding.

This is a number where the question came up yesterday.

Do we think we're going to hit a recession?

I think I've heard that question since I've been here.

Um, answer is always maybe.

Um, but what we've seen over the last couple years is we really watch that retail sales number, and that's been holding.

Of course, there's ups and downs throughout the months and the year, but for the most part, it's been holding strong.

Now, given the changes recently, what's that you know, what's gonna happen, our auto sales, what's gonna happen there again.

Something we have to continue to watch.

But you will see as we look in the categories, what has been our story here in Avondale?

It's really there in the middle of that chart.

It's contracting sales tax revenue.

That has been holding strong and carrying our um sales tax revenue for a few years now.

So the one thing to keep in mind is yes, it's great, we do have that revenue, we're making our budgets, we're actually exceeding our budgets and forecasts.

However, that's one-time revenue.

So, as we plan for the future, that's not monies we want to be investing in salaries and ongoing expenses.

So we do when we set the budget, we take a conservative approach and we bring that contracting back down for sustainable operating expenses.

Everything else is for one-time, which as you know, we invest in our in our capital projects.

Um, but year to date, we're happy to see retail over forecast at 1%, same thing for auto dealers.

And then other it will fluctuate and includes uh amusement and use uh use tax, etc.

So year to date, we're 5% over last year, 11% over budget.

We've been trending about that, um, and we'll just continue to monitor that going forward.

State shared revenue, we kind of talked about, we knew that number was going down.

Fiscal 25 is the the second line there from the top, the blue.

Um we don't anticipate any huge um significant changes there.

Permits.

So for single family permits, this is something we also like to watch.

Um if you focus on the solid lines, the top one, the purple is Maricopa County, the blue line is the city of Avondale.

The dotted lines are the previous 12 months.

Um, and the orange dotted line, that's our budget.

When we budget single family permits, we don't really account for seasonality.

We know that's very cyclical, but when we budget, we just straight line it.

Um so that's when you see in July when the new year comes, we actually reduce that assumption a little bit.

Um, but for the most part, we're holding to that forecast.

So a quick look at operating expenses again at those major fund levels.

General fund, we are currently over last year but under budget, $5 million.

That is primarily vacancy savings that we're seeing to date.

But we do anticipate for our forecast whatever is budgeted for departments that they're using in spending.

Same thing for public safety sales tax.

We have a lot of positions and FTEs budgeted in that funding source, so that variance to budget is also driven by vacancy savings.

We've taken those into account in all of our rate analysis.

So where are we headed?

Just to go over some of the assumptions that are currently in our forecast.

We do like to make sure sustainable increases for employees are always forecasted.

So we include in our forecast what is the equivalent of a 5% raise every single year.

We do that, you might hear the 3%.

What we do is we take total payroll savings, I mean total payroll costs, and we just extrapolate that 3%.

But it's the equivalent of a 5% raise to employees given the turnover.

We do have a market study underway, a compensation study.

That's in the midst getting wrapped up, but we have some assumptions for that.

So there will be, I think we did it a couple years ago, and we may see the impact of that hitting in the fiscal 26 budget.

Employer health care.

So we are budgeting for some increases in the fiscal 26 health care rates.

We also have the completion of the take-home vehicle program, and we talked about residential rental sales tax.

We talked about contracting tax.

Again, that's something we always want to stay conservative.

We'll always take that surplus of revenue into projects and reinvest that down the road.

What we do not take into account is the impact of a recession because none of us know for sure, but we'll make adjustments as we see down the road.

So ongoing, ongoing revenue, ongoing expenses.

Our revenue forecast, from what you've probably seen before, we plateaued in fiscal 26 and 27.

That was primarily the loss of residential rental sales tax.

We did end up making some adjustments to our forecast just recently going into the fiscal 26 budget.

So what you're seeing that gap there in 26 and 27 is really about 2 million dollars.

So these next two years, we have to be very strategic about what we are applying to ongoing expenses.

Because you can see that revenue will start growing after that, at least that's our assumption right now.

Um we have to just really pay attention to these next two years.

And then on the flip side with one-time expenses, you see this every single year.

It's really the carryover and completion of all of our capital projects.

So when you put all that together, where's our general fund balance forecast?

Um, so first of all, I will note at the bottom this says amount above stabilization and capital reserve.

Um, stabilization being the 35% that we set aside per our financial forecast, and capital reserve is another five million that we also build in to make sure that in the event we have capital projects that have an anticipated changes or costs, we don't have to stop projects.

Um, so that money is available to us.

So those balances that we see going from 99 million in fiscal 24 on down to fiscal 30 or 30.6 million.

This is one-time monies.

So each year is not independent.

If you were to spend that 30 million you see in fiscal year 30 in 26, we would have zero, just so you understand how that works.

The other thing is this is the starting point for the fiscal 26 budget.

So as we work through, um which we'll talk about when we talk about the process, as we work through all of the requests, all of the projects, that's the money that we're using this year.

And then I just wanted to cover a couple of economic indicators, which we usually share with all of our staff, is average hourly earnings.

So we monitor this on a quarterly basis, looking at the national average of $35 and 85 cents compared to the state at 3340.

This is a number that over the past year and a half.

Um we were outpacing wages earnings.

We were outpacing the this the national average, and as you can see now, we're we're back evenflation.

We heard about that yesterday, um national average at about 2.9, whereas the Phoenix metro area is lower than that at 1.6.

Um, but again, there were times where we were significantly outpacing the national average in the teens a couple years ago.

Then single family permits, we talked about that.

The blue line is Avenue, the purple line is the Phoenix metro area.

You can see the the cyclical um impact of those.

Um, but for the most part, we're pretty much following those trend lines.

And median listing home price.

So as of December of 24, the national average there being over 402,000, but the Phoenix metro area just under half a million dollars.

All right.

So the budget process, um, we are underway.

Um, as you know, part of our policies.

We always take into account that we want a structurally balanced budget.

So what does that mean?

It means on that slide I showed of ongoing expenses that we want to make sure that we are not outpacing our revenues, that we can um make sure that all of our salaries and and the cost of doing business every day are covered in our five-year forecast.

The 10% target above stabilization, that's the fund balance.

That's that fund balance here.

The the question was where should we end up at the end of five years?

Well, a lot can happen in that five years, and we make a lot of adjustments along the way.

We don't want that number to be huge because that's money we could be investing now, um, but we also don't want it to be zero.

So that's um generally speaking, we will say we hit that 10% target.

Um, we are always looking ahead for our five-year forecast that goes into looking at operating expenses as well as our capital projects, um, and we're trying to get better at cash flowing um our expenses.

And we talked about compensation, we do have this built into our assumptions, we do have that um 5% built into a salary increases as well as the market study and benefits we talked about, which is also built in.

Um, so the process, as I said, has been underway.

We just finished meeting with departments with city management to review all of the requests and supplementals that have been requested for fiscal year 26.

We have to pull all of that information, which is what's going on right now, pull it together, find the means to balance the budget, and we will be presenting to you in the end of the month our first work session for the budget, and then the first week in April, we will have the city managers recommended budget presented.

We come back in May with the tentative budget adoption and then the final budget adoption in June.

And just to give you an update, we do have our citizen bond committee that has been meeting since December.

Um, they have seen some presentations from parks and and public safety.

Um there was a citizen survey that was done, and we'll be seeing the the results of that in the upcoming meeting next week, and then the committee has been tasked with making a recommendation to council, um, and that will be coming to you next month.

So, with that, I will take any questions.

Questions from council?

Oh, I do have my uh council member weiss.

Hi, Renee, thank you so much for your presentation.

Do we know anything about the food tax?

I'm sorry, I didn't ask Liz this week.

Um, thank you, uh Mr.

Mayor and Council.

Uh the um they had a vote it voted out of the house yesterday.

Liz is usually my last over my head, left shoulder.

Um, so it goes to the Senate.

And so um, but it was amended to be um capped at our current rate.

We can live with that.

Uh we could never increase it.

Um there's gonna be an artificial two percent cap, ours is two and a half, but we get to keep it.

But a city that has no or less than two would have the ability to raise their to add a food tax at the will of the voters.

So you would have to take it to their community to get it voted.

No council would be allowed to um pass a food tax uh as a council.

So cities that aren't charter cities actually have the ability to do levy taxes without going to the voters.

And so what they did is they took away their right, their ability to do that.

So every food tax has to go to the voters.

As you guys probably know, all of our taxes are approved by our voters.

Our charter doesn't allow council to pass a tax, and so all of ours have done have done it.

And as a reminder, and Renee uh correct me if I'm wrong, remember we have one and a half percent general sales tax, and then we have a half a cent that goes to public safety and half a cent that goes to transportation as part of ours.

But uh we we expect it to move forward, probably pass out of the Senate as long as it stays as is.

And then uh is this a go to the voters or is this a uh in 26?

So this is just a voter uh um goes uh referral.

And so uh it'll be if it passes the Senate, it doesn't need the governor's signature, and it'll go to the voters in November of 26.

Good question.

Other members of council and just really quickly, Renee, in regards to um our conversations that have started with the um utility rates.

Uh I believe you said the first time or through the presentation, um the difference between those being increased and not being increased were included in in the overall budget, correct?

Yes.

Okay.

All right.

Any other questions?

Okay, thank you so much.

We appreciate it.

Okay, well, we switch our technology back over.

Um we're gonna just do a little bit of um revisiting kind of the process and an overview of the strategic plan, kind of the elements of your strategic plan, um, and then we will hear a summary of kind of the stakeholder input that um occurred within the last couple months.

Okay, again, you have a summary of that.

Oh, good, that's fun.

All right.

Um so while Janae makes it so that I don't have to be on the big screen, because I don't like to be on the big screen.

Um talk about the the the value of a strategic plan, right?

And it answers really three questions.

Um and we're gonna do a little bit more of this together today.

Uh but the three questions that you're really contemplating as you're developing a strategic plan is what do we know to be true today?

You know, those things that there we go.

Oh, oh god.

You want to continue?

Um what do we hope will be true in the future?

So charting that course, and then where must what must go well in order to make that happen?

And so that's the framework that we bring to any strategic planning conversation.

That's uh the the premise of the engagement activities uh that occurred as well.

Uh thank you.

So how does the strategic plan oh thank you?

I don't know.

But it's a lot of interesting okay.

Well, that's fine.

It's behind me.

Um so where does this fit?

I mean, you there's a lot of planning that occurs, right?

In any organization.

Um that's the stakeholder in that's the stakeholder summary report, I think that you're looking at.

This is my PowerPoint.

Oh, I said they're in here.

Good.

That's good, because they're important questions that you should all be asking.

That's in the workbook, I think that we were referring to.

So um sorry for the confusion.

So uh cities do lots of planning.

There are different types of planning.

We heard about the economic development strategic plan yesterday, uh, which is again an opportunity to synthesize all of these things.

You know, what's going well, what do you where do you want to go, and how are you gonna get there?

Uh that's what we're talking about with the strategic plan as well.

Think of a strategic plan as kind of a 30,000 foot level view of of where you're going.

And so uh you have a general plan that really talks about kind of the the vertical build out of your of your community.

That's a long-term plan, 20 or 30 year horizon.

Um it's a a lot of land use uh gets incorporated into that.

There are other elements that also are reflected in your general plan.

Uh you also may have uh longer-term CIP plans, these things that take a lot longer to accomplish, uh, five to ten years.

The strategic plan there is right in the middle.

But again, it it informs all of the work that the organization is prioritizing and funding, you know, through the budget and other work plan avenues.

And so that's a three to five-year horizon typically.

If you go farther out than that, the world can change.

But within three to five years, you have a little bit more control and insights into where you're going.

From that, you're gonna set you set annual priorities through your budget, through other conversations, the staff develops operational plans to really make these things happen.

And so it's together all of these pieces that really help to inform and drive the direction of an organization.

So just a little bit of framing.

So the strategic plan framework, the elements that are in your existing strategic plan and that we're gonna be revisiting as we're going through this update process, include key components.

So a vision, uh which is you know, at its best, a North Star, a direction of where you want to go, uh something that can be memorable and really informs the areas of priority and outcomes that you're working on.

Uh so council sets that vision, and we're gonna take a look at your existing vision statement and think about you know what resonates and what's important to you later today.

Strategic outcome areas.

Uh, these are the big rocks, the boulders that if you will, that you want to make sure get time and attention.

You know, imagine an iceberg, right?

Uh, and there and with the water line.

The iceberg, everything that happens every day in the city that just continues to happen.

You're responding to calls for service, you're filling potholes, you are issuing permits.

These things are regular and ongoing, but there's a little bit of the iceberg that you can maybe see at the top.

That's those are the outcomes that you want to move the needle on.

That's what we want to spend our time and attention on today.

We want to name those, we want to define them.

We want to talk about what is success look like in these areas for you.

That provides clarity of direction that serves everybody in this room and in the community.

Strategies are what the mayor wants to get to.

How are we gonna do this stuff, right?

You know, what what are we gonna do?

What does it take in order to achieve those outcomes?

And so having discussion around what is success look like, what do we want to celebrate, you know, on March what was the 5th, 2020 or 20, oh my god, 2030.

I'm not gonna be able to say that very often.

Uh but those are the the how.

Uh and that's a combination, right?

Because staff is going to be the executors, if you will, on those strategies, but they want to have it informed by the things that matter to the elected body.

And so it's a combination there.

So we'll have that conversation today as well.

Uh other elements of your strategic plan currently in there, you have a core purpose, it's like your organizational mission statement, if you will, uh, succinct and focused and crisp, uh, and you have core values, those values that really express how you expect the organization to operate at its best.

Um, the things that you you can uh look at and guide behavior in the work that you do.

Those are often more internally focused.

It's for the organization, so we'll reference those and refer to them.

We're not planning to revisit those particularly today, uh, unless there are comments, but those seem pretty solid and integrated into the the culture of the organization, which is great.

So those are the elements of the strategic plan.

Again, imagine you fly in high, you know, uh across the city.

Um, we're gonna be focusing on the high high LAs.

All right.

So the process that that we have walked through, and again we'll kind of hit some highlights, but just to let you know that this is the last two days, yesterday and today, very important to this process, but it's not everything that has occurred.

Uh, and so those are very small words on the big screen up there.

So I will just um share the in the last uh few months there has been um time spent with you interviewing uh council members and and you spoke with my my colleague who has not here today, uh Julia Novak, hopefully you were can recall.

Um she has now continued in the profession working at ICMA in an important role, and so that's why you get you gave me stay.

Um so but you met with with her, and so we have all of the themes from those conversations, uh, and then a whole host of um stakeholder engagement activities occurred.

So there were a couple community meetings, we'll hear more about these, um, as well as time spent with your the department heads here to really understand you know what's working well, where are the opportunities, what are the challenges that are are being faced, that's all synthesized in your report, and we'll walk through those.

Uh and then preparing for today and the stakeholder engagement that you had yesterday through those panels, which was phenomenal and a great great model.

Uh and today we're gonna dive in and talk about these pieces.

So that's where we are.

All right, so I'm gonna just remember remind you this this is in this actually is in the document you all were looking at.

Um, your current strategic plan.

And so we're not gonna walk into it now, but just to kind of get it all into the room.

Here's your existing vision statement.

Uh, and I'm not gonna read all the words on there because there are many, uh, but we will come back to this later and put fresh eyes on it.

So you have a vision statement that really describes um the organization and the future that you want to see.

We'll hear more about these seven strategic outcome areas.

Um, actually, the the outcome, the results are in the handout that you have uh been provided.

Sorry.

Um, but these are the areas that really have informed and driven the work of the organization over the past five years.

Uh so seven um very specific uh kind of outcomes that you were hoping to accomplish.

And it sounds from everything I have heard and read through in the results, it's really been very productive.

Uh and so this is an opportunity with a fresh council to hit reset a little bit and to look forward.

So we're not just tweaking, we're starting fresh.

These are the purpose and the core values that are in your strategic plan.

Uh again, memorable and concise, uh, and sounds like very integrated into the fabric of the organization.

So the core purpose is we're making lives better.

Yeah, just simply put, we're making lives better.

Core values, helpful, kind, professional.

So these are the expectations that together you share and collect as an organization when you're working with the community, when you're working with each other.

Um, so just kind of wanted to get those into the room.

Now we're gonna take a look at what people have, their thoughts and comments on this.

Um, more detail was in the report that we provided, but Janae's gonna take us through the highlights to share.

My sheets falls.

Oh, okay.

Okay, I don't have enough hands for that, unfortunately.

Um good morning.

So I'll give you a kind of a brief high-level overview of what we heard through the stakeholder feedback.

Um, you have a little bit more detail in the reports that you've been provided, but we just kind of go over um some of the key themes that we heard.

So the stakeholder engagement.

Okay.

Um, we it took place in January.

Um, some of you may have been attending some of those meetings.

We had a meeting with the department heads, I think there were 27 there.

And then the community meetings, we had two of them.

Um, one of them was a standing meeting, I think it was Cafecitos, and then we had a meeting in the evening as well that were attended by over 55 members of the community, um, which is a good turnout.

You know, community your size, of course, you'd like to see as high a number as you can get there.

But we found that this was a good turnout.

Everybody was very engaged, participating in the process, so we were very happy with those results, and you should be as well.

I think it was uh Miss Hoffman on the panel yesterday who had said she hasn't seen this level of engagement as far as a community reaching out and you know asking those questions.

So it's important in the strategic planning process.

You all have been placed in your seats by members of the community.

You have you hear from them, I'm sure you have an idea of kind of you know the pulse of what they're looking for and what their expectations are and what they want, but it's still equally important, you know, for someone to go out and ask them, go meet them where they're at.

You know, what what do you want for the community?

What do you want to see?

And so that was something that we think is really important, and everybody wants their fingerprints on a strategic plan, and it's important to have that both from external stakeholders and the internal ones with your staff as well.

Uh, kind of the list up there in addition to the meetings that we did have, uh, Avondale Connect was available for people to provide comments and then just on social media channels as well.

Um, so come some of the high-level kind of key themes that we heard.

Top one was that people want Avondale to be a welcoming place in the future.

That's not to say that it's not now, but that's what people want to continue to see.

Um to be a place that people can come, they can stay, they can do everything it is that they want to do.

I think it was just the mayor yesterday who said he wants people to live, work, play, and stay.

Um that sounds pretty good to me.

So that was shared among the community members of what they'd like to see for Avondale in the future.

Uh we heard a lot about the dedicated staff providing that high quality service to the community.

Staff take a deep sense of pride in their work and their responsiveness and making sure that the community has what they need.

Um, and the community is feeling that as well.

Third one was a strong sense of community pride.

That's something we heard.

We heard it yesterday, we can hear it through the stakeholders, we can hear it through those who have said they live in Avondale, they wanted to be here, they want to remain here.

Um that's something that's really strong within your community, and you could feel it, it resonates.

Balancing that growth is obviously a challenge.

Um, unfortunately, that's not a challenge that is unique to Avondale.

We do hear that from communities everywhere, but making sure that you can kind of stay ahead of the curve.

There are a lot of uncertainties, um, but making sure you can adequately plan for the future, and part of that is going through the strategic planning process, trying to make sure that you know what's coming, you've got the infrastructure, you've got the resources, you have what you need to sort of balance that growth, and you know what that growth wants to look like.

And then opportunities obviously exist to continue to leverage some of those resources you have, and then really drive that economic development.

That's been a huge topic of conversation, both in our engagement conversations in January and obviously through the panels yesterday.

So to get just into a little bit more detail, when we spoke to people about their vision for Avondale, you know, what do you want to see in the future?

What are you hoping for?

Um what do you want this community to be about?

Again, welcoming, friendly, supportive.

People can stay here, they can come here, they can grow, they can get everything that they need here.

Um that strong economy and those amenities, Avondale is going to have those restaurants, it's going to have that luxury car dealership.

Those are the types of things that people want to see coming here and driving that economy, and that access to everything, making sure you don't need to go to Goodyear for that.

You don't need to go to Buckeye, you can come right here, and we have everything that you're gonna need.

Some of the strengths that we heard, again, focusing on that customer focused service delivery and that organizational culture.

So, as Nancy went over those values, that helpful, kind, professional, it's being exhibited.

It's worked its way through the organization.

It's something that's displayed every day.

Um, making lives better, the purpose of the organization.

I think that's also something that you can check the box on that is important to continue because it's it's certainly being received well by the community.

And that sense of community again, the pride that people have in Avondale wanting to be here is one that really filtered its way through all of the engagement opportunities that we had and all the conversations that we had.

And then that responsiveness.

There's that collaboration among staff and stakeholders, council members, the community, uh, exhibiting that flexibility and a can do attitude.

If you need it, we're gonna get it done for you, and we're gonna get it done quickly is another topic that we heard.

And of course, with strengths come challenges as well.

Top one that we definitely heard about was kind of the community engagement, which seems odd, uh contradictory to what I said about us, you know, seeing a good turnout.

So there's a strong sense of community, people like being here, they're connected, but there's sort of a gap there between that engagement and getting involved in in government and getting involved in the you know the organization and making themselves heard.

So it's a little bit of a challenge.

There's an opportunity there to kind of bridge that gap, making sure you're getting out communications, you're bringing those people together, and as we spoke about with kind of the standing meeting when you're sharing information, maybe going to where they're at as well.

Responsiveness, obviously a strength, but also seen as a challenge.

Um, when you do things and you do them well and you do them quickly, the expectation then goes up for things to be quicker, faster.

Um, you know, Amazon three-day delivery used to be okay, and now we want it today, or we want it in four hours from now.

Um so that can be a real challenge when you have constrained resources, you have limited resources, and now people want just a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more.

Um, so something that unfortunately is both a strength and a challenge for you guys because you've you've done a good job.

Um, again, balancing that growth, obviously a challenge, a lot of uncertainty, as we heard about on the panels yesterday, particularly one at the end.

Um, just doing the best that you can to try to manage that, and again, plan, plan as far as you can in the future and make sure you have you know you can ground yourself in the things that you do well and the things that you do have control over.

And then one that we heard is kind of a lack of prioritization.

And this really ties together with that hyper focus that Nancy mentioned and kind of recognizing the big rocks, making sure that you really know what the things are that are important to you, those outcome areas, and what those key priorities are as far as projects working through them and where you want to see that achievement.

Um, it can be really easy to make everything a priority because everything is important, but they're just those few things that it's you want to make sure to separate that you know, those are the ones that we really want to move the needle on.

And it helps you be able to convey that information to the community, it helps staff know where to focus their direction and their resources as well.

Yeah, as far as opportunities, um top one is obviously that economic development.

That was a big part of the conversation yesterday, and something that is obviously very important to a lot of people in this room, a lot of people outside of this room as well.

So making sure that you can, you know, there's a beautiful strategic plan that was done.

Um, utilizing that, that really sets a lot of groundwork already that can be done.

Um, making sure that you've got the right players, you're intentional in what you're seeking out for development, what you want that development to look like.

Using those assets that you have and the natural resources, um, using open space, preserving what you have, kind of, you know, there were conversations yesterday about incorporating wildlife opportunities and open space opportunities while other things are being developed, so making sure you kind of have almost like a multi-use of assets and things that you can you can capitalize on.

And then engaging the community and connecting those community members.

So that really speaks to perhaps connecting them physically, but this is more about connecting them to each other, to you to government, to information.

That was a thing that we heard yesterday quite a few times, making sure people know what's available, what resources do we have, what can they reach out and do?

Because um, I believe as council member Garcia said sometimes you don't know what's out there.

And if you don't know, then you don't know how to go, how to go get it until hindsight.

Wow, that would have been wildly helpful if I knew you know that I could seek out these resources.

So kind of connecting and engaging community members in that way.

And then of course cultivating those partnerships, making sure that those conversations are being had, you know, who who can help us, who can support us.

We heard from you know, Australia Mountain Community College and New Leaf, first things first, all these community partners and these nonprofits or even private sector organizations that are willing and able to help trying to really grow those relationships.

Okay.

So it's just a quick high level overview.

I know there's a lot more information in your report there, but anything any thoughts?

Anything that really resonated or stood out?

Council Mr Garcia.

I think it was good to capture the challenges because that's what we want, you know, that's what we're here for to look at like what can we do better and um the community engagement part, the responsiveness, and the way you said it was like perfect, you know, when you give great um customer service and the the one day that you don't or the one day that someone's having a bad day, it reflects on everyone, unfortunately, even though you know, because that expectation has been set.

Um and with the community engagement, I think we do such a great job with it.

Um, but it's always something that we could work on, right?

Like um, I always say when we're courticizing, it's not like a personal thing, it's like a a a task thing, like we're we're like that job just needs to like not the job, but like that specific task, you know, it could be better.

Um so seeing like what what I'm interested to see how we can do a better job in that because I think that our staff does such a wonderful job already in the community engagement portion of it.

Fortunately, with the responsiveness, you're a victim of your own success.

You did too well.

They did.

Okay.

Council Mr.

Weiss.

Hi guys.

Um, well, what resonated?

I feel like, and I felt it for years because I've been around the city for so long.

Um family, like this whole room is to me family, right?

And it and to see that the residents also see it, that kindness and everything else and the core values, you know, the helpful being helpful.

It it's been here for years.

And every time we get a new employee, and the first thing they say is, I it feels like a family here.

Like I, you know, and you talk to staff.

So that has resonated with me for years.

Um, so I'm just so grateful for everybody in this room coming together.

What surprised me was the that the residents feel that we have a lack of prior, you know, that we're not priorities and haven't had my coffee yet.

Um but I've heard it from you know, Ron.

Like he he always mentioned that you know the part of being strategic is that we are going to pick some some things that guide us, right?

Just like the big boulders.

Um, so that we're not just shooting all over the place, right?

We narrow it down, really what are we going to be focused on?

But to see that the community also recognizes that, that's a surprise.

That's it.

And I will add a note that this is kind of a combination of the stakeholder feedback from all groups.

So that was not a very high-level thing that the community was responding on.

So that was kind of staff included as well.

So the asterisk next to that.

Okay.

I don't think anything really s surprised me or uh concern me.

You know, I think opportunities are just uh ways in which we can make ourselves better.

So as we hopefully flush these things out more of the um we can identify whatever those gaps are, and then that be can become a new a new mission.

Um so I've I'm just for now just continue to to observe and listen.

I think the last thing I'll say is I know you know the importance of making sure people want to come here, they want to stay here.

I wouldn't advise a strategy for that of kidnapping people to stay here.

But that type of idea in mind.

I'll mark it on everything.

If people aren't coming and staying, you know who to call to get them.

We like to keep things on the table.

I mean, to be fair, we did say be bold.

And so we'll have the table this early.

Right.

All strategies are on the table.

Excellent.

Okay, well, I think it's helpful just to kind of get the ideas in the room and the things that are working well that you want to continue and to leverage uh as you go forward, but also those things that maybe require additional time and attention.

And so I promised that we would get to play with post-its today.

Uh and so we're gonna do that.

We'll take a break afterwards, and so we'll do the activity and we'll break and come back so we'll have a time to sort of through the themes.

Um and maybe Jenna, you can help me with the um the other words over here.

Um so this will pop up in just a second, I'm sure.

Uh so you have two sets of colored post-its.

Uh and you also have a Sharpie, so we'll be able to read them easily.

Um here's your assignment.

You're gonna use the yellow post-its first.

Grab the yellow.

And on each post-it, one idea about something that is uh true.

Do we need another marker?

I have it.

Here we go.

Um something that is true today about Avondale that you want to make sure continues.

So you want to hold on to.

It's it's it's working well, it's appreciated, it's valued.

Uh so those things that are working well today, true today, that you want to make sure are still happening.

Nothing has changed ten years from now.

Okay, so we're using a 10-year horizon on this activity to really think big and long.

Uh so one idea per post-it.

You can do up to three.

You have you should have three post-its if my um counting um math options this morning is working all right, and we'll find out.

Uh probably somebody will have four or two.

Um so when you have those, you can hand them up, and then we're gonna go stick them and we're gonna kind of organize them.

After you've done that, for those that are overachievers and move quickly, we're gonna do on the orange uh flip chart or post-its.

What is not true today that you want to make happen, that you want to have be the case ten years from now.

So one per post-it, uh and up to so you have three post-its for each color.

So three things that are true today that you want to continue on the yellow, three things that are not true today that you want to make happen um on the orange.

Yeah, you can't sell your post-its.

Um trade them.

Yeah.

And staff is not gonna be your tutor on this one.

And one idea per post-it, please.

That way we can organize them.

If you if you need a replacement because any of those instructions were hard to follow, we are more than happy to provide new ones.

And you would not be the first.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right.

Okay, those are now.

Excellent.

Yeah, things that are not true today that you want to make happen.

Okay.

Thank you.

See, I like this activity because I can get my steps in back and forth, back and forth, and I don't have to shake my hand and fake it.

Yes, you may.

One or two.

There's two, I think.

Speedy speaky, thank you.

After we have them, we'll we'll read them out.

And then we'll take a break and we'll come back and kind of summarize the connecting themes.

Perfect.

We're gonna read them out and then we'll take a break.

Yeah, so we'll almost almost to break.

And then we coffee or whatever.

Yep.

Yep.

Uh-oh.

Uh-oh.

Thank you.

All right.

You want to read off those while I've ever heard Janay?

I think we have do we have all the orange?

Everybody's we do.

Okay.

Okay.

So things that are true today that we really want to um make sure we hold on to in the future for Avondale.

Um, this is kind of a grouping here about the community and the connectivity.

So we have family and faith, family friendly, strong community, connected community events and tradition.

Uh Billy Moore days.

I'll have to find out what those days are.

And then kind of um what's that?

Oh, okay.

I'm going shopping then.

Um then here kind of the uh the internal services, making sure that there's talented best in class staff still and a council that cares.

We continue making lives better and we continue creating opportunities.

Uh, as far as kind of the efficient government processes and making sure that things are connected and easy for the community.

We want to make sure that there's innovative muni solutions or developer friendly.

There's affordable programming for youth and efficient processes across the board.

And then here we have kind of a safety and security, making sure that we're focused on cybersecurity, uh, safety, being safe, and a kind, responsive, fully staffed public safety group.

Okay.

A lot of a lot of alignment here, seeing kind of how you know each of your responses was grouped together for the things that we really value today.

We want to make sure we continue in the future.

Good, excellent.

Yes, so I I will be taking photos of these, and then in the summary report from today, they'll be typed out.

Um there'll be a list so you can make sure to kind of see how those are grouped together.

And we're we'll also um after we go through these and we'll take a break.

We're gonna put them on a flip chart.

We'll write up kind of the themes that emerge too.

So we'll have that available for easy reference in the room.

So let's look at the things.

Oops, we're already losing them.

Um the things that are not true today that we want to make happen.

I'm gonna slide this up just a little bit.

I don't like to be so far away.

Um a little bit more spread around, which is not unusual.

Uh, but there's still some overlap.

And so I'm gonna go in no specific order.

Um, a couple here related to grocery stores.

Why don't we make sure we have uh grocery stores throughout the city, so really specific targeted um need there.

Here we have a couple things around sort of the natural environment, so connected light and trails, and also an increased access to wetlands and conservation.

So you know, kind of adjacent, not necessarily the same.

A couple though related to entertainment, so more entertainment and resort entertainment opportunities.

This is one of the strategic areas you had last time.

This is around jobs, so having tech jobs and careers in Avondale with short commute, by the way, as well.

So this is about jobs.

Then coming kind of down this way.

So we have kind of that threads this way around sort of housing and affordability.

So we have zero sheltered and zero food insecure, that it's affordable, fewer apartments, then we have veteran housing, ADA components in every playground, and special needs programming.

So from kind of housing to specific addressing specific community needs.

And this is around the flow of people.

And so high speed transit, free transportation around the city, and no traffic.

I think that I vote for no traffic.

That's a good one.

That's a good one.

So thank you.

This is a really good jumping off point.

So we'll kind of organize them around ideas, kind of potential boulders, big big rocks, and we'll take a look at those when we come back from a break.

So it is 9 20, so do we want to take 15 minutes to allow for coffee or okay?

So 15, so we'll say 9.35.

How about we cut the difference a little bit?

9.35 will start up again.

Or just fuel.

Good.

Yeah, no, good.

All right.

As promised, uh, we wanted to kind of give some of the themes that stood out.

Uh we're gonna come back to these, but I want to just review the outcomes of that activity.

It'll be a jumping off point, and then we're gonna shift a little bit to vision, and we'll come back to this later.

So here is what we like to call a mashup of those things that are true today, yellow, as well as those that are orange we want to make happen.

So you can see there are some overlap, uh overlapping areas, so that's great.

That means you're building on some of the things that are working well.

Uh, there are other areas that are just all orange, things to work, excuse me, to work toward.

And so this is the messy version, and you guys can all take pictures, but we'll no, we'll summarize this and bring it back to you.

These are the the themes that stood out.

Um, and so this is not sort of the the crib note end of the conversation, but we will come back to this when we look at it later.

Um, so we had to add an extra bonus place here.

And so we started here, which was this whole collection of post-its, and so a lot of yellow, um, but a little bit of orange around kind of that connected engaged community.

And so that's an area theme.

This was one of your strategic focus areas in the last strategic plan.

It seems like if there's still energy there, um, still a lot of interest there.

Over here, we had a number of post-its uh that are true today that you want to continue.

And so maybe there's not an extra boost you need to make, um, but it's something that you value and you want to make sure you preserve, and that's safety.

Uh, and that includes um you know general safety safe, but also being cyber cyber safe, um, and so holding on to those things, and so that's safety.

That was a theme that came through.

Uh, economic development.

There were a cluster of things here, and of course, we heard a lot about this yesterday.

A lot of opportunities around uh entertainment venues, around grocery stores, around career opportunities, jobs, so these sorts of things all kind of clustered together, so we just wrote it as economic development.

We'll come back on all of the topics, but just the themes.

Um housing.

Housing is over here on the side, so a lot of kind of specific things related to housing were identified around uh the unhoused, uh, the type of housing, so fewer apartments, uh, veterans housing, affordable, and I'm assuming affordability was related to housing, and if anybody okay, I'm seeing a nod.

I don't know, because it wasn't clear.

So some things on housing, so that was another theme.

Here are some post-its related to transportation specifically, so um, you know, there's maybe additional types of infrastructure that we might want to talk about later, but I think that the here it was around transportation specifically.

So, you know, reducing no traffic, um, free free transportation, high speed transit, uh, and then yeah, connect like connected light rail.

And so that was on transportation here.

These all appear again, yellow, so we feel like it's working well, but we don't want to lose it, and that's generally related to things around effective government.

And so being innovative, um, efficient with the resources, developer-friendly, best in class with staff, uh, in council that cares, and so around the ingredients for effective government.

Uh so we wrote that down here.

Um, these were very specific, um, and so um they may find a place, you know, as a part of a broader outcome potentially, but they're around programming, specific types of programming.

Uh so affordable programming for youth.

We talked a lot about youth yesterday.

Uh also a special needs programming, and then ADA um my glasses.

Um ADA components in every playground.

And so, again, kind of youth focused, maybe it's youth programming.

Uh, we could talk more about that.

So we just wrote it as programming for now.

And the last one that is actually the first one here is around natural resources.

That's one little uh nice post-it here, increase access to wetlands and conservation.

So kind of natural resources.

And this post-it doesn't fall in these buckets, but we sort of saw it's your core purpose.

Uh, and it sort of overrides all of this, which is making lives better.

And so we just tucked that up at the top and decided that it wasn't a category or a theme, it was just um the overarching core purpose of why you're all here.

So those are the themes that that we sort of observed on your post-its.

Um, comments or changes, thoughts.

Yeah.

Um, Mary Nancy, what I'm seeing, I guess I get concerned with safety because one of the themes we heard yesterday that I don't think we talk enough about.

I know Kurt talks about it and uh like the PFAS and the water, the air quality on New Year's Day.

Um I think a lot of people think about safety in terms of personal safety.

I think we need to talk about our successes in personal safety.

We get a bad rap for bad things that happen pretty much everywhere in any city in America every day.

So I really want us to think about safety in terms of our fire prevention activity.

Um a lot of people didn't think about you know the fact that our air quality was unsafe when our river bower was on fire, and some of that is just in Avondale, but it's Maricopa County land.

So I want us to think about safety in broader terms with the O2 and um, you know, maybe we have to have policies that you know aren't that are specific to our city to say if we're having a fireworks display hosted by the city, we're not gonna allow fireworks to be sold in our city during that time.

I mean, we can set up ordinances to protect our our space and place.

It's not gonna do much if other municipalities around us don't, but I'm I'm really concerned about air quality as a safety concern.

I'm really concerned about um the PFAS in the water in those types of things.

So I really wish we kind of um take safety to a different level because we need to make sure people have the perception we are really, really safe here.

We go above and beyond to take care of use of our fire and police are extremely responsive, they're fast, they're smart, um, they're talented.

So let's talk about those things that um we we might need to have better controls over.

We have great controls over our public safety and public works, but we have some environmental controls that need to be put in place.

So, yeah, that's great.

And this is a great the introduction of the conversation, and we will continue, I think.

Uh so broadening this, the safety.

There's this is um people may jump to a conclusion this means one specific type of safety, but you're saying no, let's look at this in a more holistic global way as we're defining the rock.

Do you all feel comfortable with that kind of broadening the concept of safety, not losing the importance of this, but making sure you're not missing the other things.

Okay.

Okay.

I agree, and I think that like because all of them are the yellow ones, so that's what how we feel right now about the public safety here in Avondal at the moment, and in five years, we still want that to be something that people say that it's safe to live in Avondale.

Um, so I think both of them are important, but you know, people move to feel safe in their homes, and that's something that we want to keep and maintain as well.

Perfect.

Yeah, you don't want to lose that.

Um, but maybe there's a broader you know, focus and what that looks like, and we can this doesn't have to be the word.

We're just kind of summarizing the themes on the initial, you know, first blush post-its.

So great.

So I'm just writing little notes here, and Janae's grabbing notes here as well.

So broaden the focus to not lose what you have, but to you know, again, above the watermark, what are the things you want to improve?

Okay.

Other reactions or observations?

Anyone else?

I think the council member Condie, her and I were talking at the break about just looking down and at the different colors and how um, you know, it kind of represents kind of what as a council we've done so far, and how close and tight each of those ideas are.

So I think it's truly representative of this current council, um, even with newer members and newer uh you know new mayors.

So I I think that uh demonstrates so you see progress kind of threaded through this, moving from the things we've been focusing on, maybe to the things we want to focus on.

Yeah.

Okay, great.

Okay, well, we just want this is like a jumping offline.

We're we're gonna come back to this, and um based on the other stakeholder engagement as well as the conversations yesterday.

You'll see when we get to the outcome areas, we've tried to tee up some of the potential areas for reviewing and conversation.

Um I think that they naturally align with a lot of the themes that come through, and maybe actually even a little bit broader in terms of the words that that we were starting with.

So we'll come back to that, but I think we'll keep these in the room.

This is a very helpful start to this.

Uh, and we're gonna kind of zoom back up for a moment and talk about vision.

And so, you know, we want to make sure that that North Star, that that directional statement that you have as your vision, um, you know, that these things lead you there, right?

That there's some connection between the two.

So here's your current vision statement, and you this is in the workbook that you were looking at before, um, with some space for notes if you are uh inclined.

It's looks like this in your workbook, it's right past the outcomes.

So you don't have page numbers, um, but it's on the equivalent of page two within the document.

So it reads the the current one.

Um someone want to read that for us.

I can't find it on the screen or in your booklet.

Anyone uh council member Cardi, go for it.

Oh, I think somebody said this.

Yeah, I think Council Member White.

Okay, go for it.

Avendale, Arizona is a community where people share a deep sense of pride in what has been accomplished and how far we have come in Avondale.

There's a strong belief that blending of a broad spectrum of cultures comes from a true sense of harmony throughout the community here.

People and businesses are welcomed with open arms and supported in way that exemplifies a dynamic, intelligent and driven city, ready to take on the future.

Okay, so that's in your current strategic plan.

Um so I'll share a little bit about some of the feedback that we heard and the engagement activities, and then we want to have a conversation with all of you about what resonates, what you like, what you might want to update.

All right, so here's the engagement feedback.

Um generally it you know it seemed like, yeah, that's right.

That you know, it's there's support for the vision.

Um however, when you uh dig in a little bit deeper, uh for some it felt more descriptive than aspirational, that it was more you know, kind of a statement of being, if you will, um, that there's some some potential for elevating it to a slightly higher level, uh, that it didn't link to the outcome areas directly, so that's just something for us to keep in mind uh as we're working through the remainder of the day.

Uh the things that specifically resonated for residents was that sense of pride, um, being a driven city, ready to take on the future, kind of that forward momentum, and I will tell you that was one of my big takeaways yesterday as well, listening to all of you and the presentation was it's like let's launch, we're ready, let's go.

Uh, and then blending a broad spectrum of cultures, and so that was really uh something people connected to as as well.

So that came through the uh stakeholder community meetings uh and the department input as well, I think, right, Janet?

Yeah, so that was some of the feedback.

So I will say, you know, I do a lot of these strategic planning uh engagements and work with a lot of councils.

At the end of the day, you want something that you connect to, right?

That really reflects where you want to go, and so I want to start with that this needs to be something that that you feel proud of and is memorable.

Uh I will also say that um maybe if it goes back.

Yeah, oops, oh, because you're you're getting ready.

Maybe anyway, what I was gonna say is it's a lot of words, right?

It's a lot of words.

Uh and I would I would ask um who in this room can recite that without reading it.

Anyone?

Anyone?

Bueller?

No, right.

Um dating myself again.

Um it's a lot of words.

And so, you know, I I I find that you know, just like your mission, your core purpose and your uh values are so um memorable and concise, the vision has that potential as well.

You know, what are the things that uh that really uh you want to hold on to and elevate in terms of the future you're looking to create?

And that's what we're talking about vision, the future you're trying to create, um, rather than describing kind of what is.

One of the other comments I think Janae, you can you can probably say this more eloquently because you're in the room.

Um, but there was a sense from stakeholders also that the first part of that felt sort of like the underdog story.

Like, you know, right?

And it's like, well, you know, we're we're proud of ourselves and give ourselves a pat on the back.

And there's nothing wrong with that, but what I heard yesterday was like, you know, let's again not just do the low hanging fruit, let's elevate.

Yes.

I feel like that's like the victim entirely, like, hey, we want this, but now, but we we're we're victorious in what we do and what we're doing in the city.

And one thing that was said yesterday that I keep coming back to me is opportunity, like how do we incorporate that we're a city of opportunity into the vision, because that was that word was said quite a bit yesterday.

And I believe that we are an opportunity as for businesses, you know, for new families, for um old businesses that are already here to grow and develop.

So there's such so many opportunities.

I want us to really focus on what can be rather than what it was, and this is where we are now.

Right?

The potential.

Sure, exactly.

Councilman Roy.

Theme.

I don't know why it's not like written out into the vision to spell out how we're gonna get these things done.

To me, that would just make it a little bit more concise, and those are three topics that are already splashed across the whole entire municipality.

And so I think when you think about the A and Avondale, awesome branding that's done.

Let's tie our vision back to our brand, and I think that might make it easier for people to digest.

And then I'm kind of concerned just to just want to be completely transparent.

The direction that the federal government is going really um it might not lend to us um wanting to get um grants and future funding if we are uh highlighting some of the things that are obvious here.

So some of the things that are just gonna naturally happen in Avondale, we don't have to speak to because um we know we have to serve our community.

Um and and once we talk about that broad spectrum of cultures, we tend to um become an isolation zone where people might look at us in a light that isn't necessary at this point because we're achieving so many different things.

So I think the verbiage words matter in this environment, and we need to make sure the words that we use will be something that um the federal government will say, hey, let's support everything that Avondale is doing and continue these great relationships.

So I mean, when I think about the work was does last year, we didn't get a chance to get invited to the White House, but next week we'll be there.

So um, you know, we need to make ourselves uh a location where we're we're friendly to everybody, and everybody feels like they can work with us all the way from the federal down to other municipalities in the area.

So the verbiage that we have in our vision has to match our willingness to share what we have available here and some of the obvious things we don't need to state because we're not gonna change.

Right.

And sometimes less is more, like the words do matter, but sometimes less is more, right?

And that you don't want to, you know, overcommunicate in terms of the length of your message.

You want to be concise and punchy.

So I wrote down, did I get this right?

Aspire achieve and accentuate?

Excelerate.

Sorry.

You wrote it down, I wrote it down wrong.

Okay.

Ryan's uncle's wedding.

And I know there was a comment made about them being posted throughout the city, but those are all getting ready to come down.

Yeah, they've been up for several years now, and so we're going through a re-uh branding a little bit of our signposts or just FYI that um they're getting ready to be changed out.

Are we trying to change that?

What's it gonna say?

No, no, no, we're we're not changing that we still have those three A's.

We're just pulling those banners down and refreshing the banners.

Yeah, the the there it's time for a refresh.

Um, Crispin Good also matters.

And we do get comments about uh the the word accelerating on our roads.

Um I I received a couple comments about us encouraging people to speed, so you should put my celery.

So we're gonna we're gonna refresh those uh here very soon.

I like it.

We're gonna go to the three that might be fun.

All right, we're finding ourselves in the weeds, here we go.

Okay, care.

Okay, but what I what I want to do, so this is great.

This is great input.

So the opportunity, I heard that too.

I wrote it down, I think three or four times.

Community of opportunity, city of opportunity, like that was a theme.

And then, you know, again, tying back to your your bold messages.

Um, and so here is so so we took a crack at giving some additional ideas just to see the conversation in the room.

Uh oh, this is going to be.

Oh, that's why because I switched them.

I know.

This is yeah, I switched them.

Yeah, we need to talk about that.

There we go.

Let me go.

Yeah, I it is.

There we go.

All right, so that looks like a lot of words, uh, but there's actually three examples.

Oh, okay.

Okay, I know it's it's shocking and it's uh offensive, I know.

So if you look just to that first one, uh right now, you might remember, and this is where the delay is a little bit challenging.

Um, but if we go like the middle one.

Um we have someone that has a like a great idea.

To the original one.

I want to show them I like the last part.

Like some of the last sentence and the first in your strategic plan vision statement is here we go.

Oh, I like ideas.

People and businesses are welcome in open arms and supported in a way that exemplifies a dynamic, intelligent and driven city, ready to take on the future.

Yeah, so that that's an option.

I mean, you can take kind of what you have and you could you know zero in on a simple single focus.

So anyway, that was that was one option that we wanted to suggest.

Now you can take us back to the three options today.

There we go.

All right, so that's the one that's on the top, if you look in the the screen over here.

Uh and then there are two other ones.

Um, and these were just my listening yesterday and trying to adapt something.

You may hate 'em.

Uh but I'm interested in kind of what resonates or how we might recraft.

So someone wanna read that second one there for us?

I'll read it.

Okay.

I'm trying to get feeling.

I'm reading I can't see that for I don't have my classes right now.

Avondale is a thriving community fueled by talent, vision, and a deep sense of pride together.

We embrace the future with confidence, shaping the city with growth and opportunity flourish, and every resident plays a part in our collective success.

Maybe it's like too many words, but trying to I was trying to hone in on some of the themes that came through yesterday.

So being a private community, but really fueled by those key ingredients, and then the focusing on the together, you know, with all of your partners as well as the the team here in the room.

Um, you know, having confidence and shaping the future.

Uh so for both.

So that was one option.

Let's read the next one, uh, and then we can talk about you know your I your thoughts.

Who wants to read the last one?

I will.

Okay.

Together we build a brighter future by embracing diverse cultures, fostering innovation, and empowering all residents and businesses to reach their full potential.

United in purpose, we are shaping a dynamic city, poised for growth and success.

She's proud of herself.

Well done, well done.

Well sorry.

So sorry.

I mean, I I think we've got ideas here we could work from also.

Yes.

I want to say it's always about the delivery of the message.

It is.

I could have read it.

I could have read it very sad, but I wanted to read it different.

So it's a the delivery, right?

So that does matter.

It does matter.

Absolutely does matter.

Um so just curious on on general general thoughts.

Um, if there are um considerations that we should bring to the table.

Like, first of all, do you always do you love the one you have?

Let's start there.

Like, do you show are we messing with something that's okay I don't know.

Okay, so we we do want to take a fresh bite at the apple.

Yes.

Okay.

Uh also I will say that we won't we will not fully wordcraft something probably in this room, but I want to get the input because you know how fun it is to to wordsmith to the nth degree in a room, right?

Um but I want to hear what you what are the elements.

And so we have a couple ideas of things to to jump from.

So using the branding, although maybe speeding is part of this, uh, but aspiring, achieving and ex and accelerating uh and opportunity, or are there things you like or don't like about these things?

Let's just have some conversation around what connects.

The third one?

Okay.

Uh I like like a pieces of a of a couple.

Okay.

But I I like them because of how they fit together, for example, in the second one.

I really like um the the feature with embracing the future with confidence.

And for me, when I was reading all these, I would have said in Avondale, we embrace the future with confidence and then jumping down to the third by fostering innovation, empowering all residents and businesses to reach their full potential.

I love that.

Okay.

So I love that.

Jay, you want to type a both page?

That was good.

Because it includes our full it includes our resume.

And for the record, we did not preview this with anybody, so let's let's let's you want to are you want to say that one more time?

Fostering innovation.

Residents and businesses to reach their full potential.

Yeah, she's catching up.

One last time.

Okay, uh from the first part in Avondale.

In the second one, we embrace the future with confidence, and then by fostering innovation and empowering all residents and businesses to reach their full potential.

Okay.

The full-on mashup.

Yeah.

Okay.

Did you have one else that you wanted to?

No, I just the way that you mentioned the residents in each of them.

I think that's so important, so we can't lose the community in it at at all, but also focusing on the economic development that's about to happen and like the growth that it's gonna be.

Like if someone reads this, they need to know that it's about to get booming in Avondale, and I think that should be a huge highlight, but don't lose the culture and community portion of it, if that makes sense.

Yeah, that's the whole balance piece that you guys were talking about, right?

So uh balanced growth, so that things are gonna happen where we've got momentum, uh, but we want to still preserve the things that we value and quality of life.

Okay.

Councilmember Boyce, you were saying you liked um elements of number two, is that right?

Or how are you feeling about here's here's the mayors.

Yeah.

No, I think I two webs more drawing to number two, but I might I like having little oh, I'm so sorry.

Let's go.

I was gonna say I was drawing to number two, but I really didn't like um mayor's suggestion where you're pulling something from each of them.

Does it give um that energy that you've been describing in terms of opportunity and accelerating and moving forward and achieving that?

I mean, I like the embrace the future kind of suggests here.

We go, come with us, right?

So maybe using like the word accelerate in there to make like the city's about to like head this way fast.

I don't want to use it if we don't end up going fast.

Do you know what I mean?

This is a this is a statement that you're aspiring to.

Correct.

So you do want it, I think it's it's something that you're shading a desired future.

And so you're working toward that.

And maybe make you know big booster progress, you know, in two years, and then things happen, you have a recession, you have to decelerate a little bit.

That's okay.

You still have your eye on the prize, which is forward momentum.

In the third one that we had um on the maybe we can put it down at the bottom there.

I think if I'm remembering correctly, we had something around being ready for the future or something like that.

We accelerate into the future, yeah.

Oh yeah.

Um refresh.

You've got it behind you.

There we go.

Um so that last part, United and Purpose, we're shaping a dynamic city poised for growth and success.

And that was sort of an uh you know, that booster um thing, I think.

Initially that was intended.

But one sentence is nice and concise.

So if you get too much, then it's like there's something else, something about this such and such, so I don't know.

Right, okay.

Well, and okay, so let me suggest this.

Um and tell me if I'm reading the room wrong, that the the draft that the mayor has offered is something that you're like, okay, we're we're headed somewhere.

This feels like we're in the right direction.

So let's pause it, and then we'll talk about the outcomes areas, and we can then come back to it with fresh eyes and be like, okay, does this still because you know the strategic plan is the combination of the things, right?

So you have your vision, you have your your purpose and your values, and then your strategic outcomes.

What are you trying to drive?

So it's the pieces together.

You don't want to find yourself repeating each other or we repeating um the words, and that it kind of works together.

So does that work for everybody?

We'll kind of pause it there and come back to that as a check back.

Yep.

Awesome.

All right.

I I I wonder, I think I because I flew it, I don't think I brought my gold stars, but I would give you gold star, because that's that's thank you.

I like gold stars.

I never got I never got them as a kid.

I'm just messing with them because I don't actually have them all.

I should.

Yeah.

Okay, see?

Who doesn't have a gold star, right?

We'll take care of it.

Okay.

But it is.

All right, so the strategic outcome areas.

So kind of thinking about that directional statement that we just talked about in terms of vision and what the world you want to create here in Avondale.

Now we want to talk about those big rocks, the strategic outcome areas, and we're gonna come back and revisit some of these themes, as well as reflecting just on the work of the past couple days.

So starting off with just a reminder, when we talk about strategic outcome areas, uh these are the the areas of focus for the organization.

This is as the city manager and the team is putting together a budget to bring to you, um, they're gonna be looking at what are the things we're trying to achieve.

What are the outcomes we're wanting to make progress on?

Um they are not a work plan task or tactic that happens in a year or two years, these are a longer horizon.

Uh, and so you'll make progress over time.

Um, so we have a five-year horizon within the strategic plan.

Um, those translate into uh activities, things you're gonna focus on, ways you're going to move the needle.

Uh and we'll have time, I think today to look at some of those and talk about well, what does that look like and success?

And so strategic outcome areas, those big rocks.

This is the collection of outcome areas you have in your current strategic plan.

Uh and when we were initially beginning this work, we thought, okay, you know, the city's made a lot of progress, uh, there's a lot of appetite, maybe we do some fine-tuning and revisit these.

Uh listening to the conversation yesterday and kind of the energy that you all are bringing.

You know, it seemed that it makes sense to kind of say thank you.

Those were great.

We've done a lot of great work as is evidenced through the report that was provided to you.

I'm sure there are many other things that stem from this.

Um, but let's start fresh.

You know, let's think about who who we are today and define those rocks.

So here are some examples.

Uh, you know, I I this is my personal preference.

I feel like it's much easier to respond to something uh and to look at it than it is to start from a blank page and be like, okay, what do we want to create?

Um so this was the result of listening yesterday and reviewing all of the input that came through the stakeholder um areas.

And so jumping off point only, and I want you to keep these things in mind.

Um but here are some ideas of what strategic outcomes could look like.

Um sorry about blue is a little hard to read there, but the first one, which was just such a big theme for for me yesterday in listening, was around economic growth and prosperity.

Uh and it's not just economic development, but it's really you know, the outcome is that you want to have movement, you want to have feel the growth and prosperity for all in your community.

Uh, and so that could be an example of an outcome.

And that might include things like job creation, workforce development, regional attractions.

That's the you know the entertainment amenities you were talking about, uh, and even attainable housing.

Uh, that those are all ingredients to economic growth and prosperity.

So that's an example.

I'm gonna run through all of these and then we'll have some conversation.

Uh the next one is community well-being.

Uh, and council member white, you were talking about safety, and it's more than that, it's zooming it out.

Uh, and I think that you know, that was sort of my observation as well.

Listening to all of you yesterday.

Not this is just my listening.

Um, you know, community well-being includes safety, right?

But it also includes well-being, and we talked a lot about mental health and and connection and those things are so important.

Um, recreation, we talked about the blue zone and making sure that you're creating an environment where people are striving to be healthy and uh and that there are you know uh ingredients in the city to contribute to that.

Uh, just general quality of life.

And so uh that's kind of a broad quality of life bucket that you can play around with if that's something that that makes sense to you.

The next one was connected and engaged community.

This is something you had in your last strategic plan.

I heard energy around we gotta keep doing that.

We need to make sure that people know the resources that are available, how to get there, I keep them educated but also connected to each other, to the organization, all of these things.

So, not much change in that uh left in the lifetime learning, lifelong learning as a part of that.

It was from your last one.

Um, if it's important to keep that there.

The next one is around resilient infrastructure and natural resources.

And so, yesterday in the panel uh and hearing about kind of the long-term planning needs and the investments that are just so critical to the baseline.

These are the things often that you don't even see or think about, but that you know really are fundamental in how we live.

This can be roads, it's going to be your pipes, this could be the water system, all of these things.

Maybe it needs to be more focused.

I'm not sure.

We'll talk about that.

But also natural resources and resilient natural resources.

And then the last one is around innovative and effective government.

And this is that commitment, if you will, to providing quality services, being responsive, being timely.

We talked about uh development review process and expectations yesterday a little bit.

All of those things kind of fit in that as well as you know the collaboration and the culture of the organization.

So a little bit more internal, um, but you know, I find it's often very helpful for there to be a goal around the organization because it's something that the employees can see themselves in.

Uh and also is your um uh your commitment to a thriving and healthy uh and high performing organization.

So I tee these up just as an opportunity to discuss.

I'm interested in your thoughts and reaction, keeping in mind some of these themes that have come up already today.

Comments and reaction.

For me, one of the discussion points yesterday at the end that council member White brought up that I think fits in really well with uh economic growth of prosperity is the reference to attainable housing.

And for me now that takes on a different meaning as a uh as just um the ability to afford a home as opposed to being able to afford a home that creates that general rational wealth that she was alluding to yesterday.

I think you know, I mean, everybody wants a home, and I shouldn't say that.

When an individual is looking to purchase a home, there's much more to it than just a safe place to reside.

I mean, it's a means potentially to an end, even if it's through investment.

And so having that opportunity here um would be key for for that purpose if we're looking at prosperity.

So and here hearing your words, I'm also thinking about with attainable housing, you know, having you know, mixed mixed housing options and um affordability as a as a dimension of that, but also having the ability to self-sustain and support, you know, um with quality jobs and other things that allow people to afford uh to get so the combination of things, I think is what makes those connections there.

I'm interested in the other other thoughts.

Let's focus on that one for a minute.

So economic growth and prosperity.

Is that is that something uh written as an outcome area?

What would you change?

Like what or what do you connect to?

Tie it, I think somehow to youth.

I think that was the message that I heard yesterday.

We have to tie it to something that we're gonna do for our children.

Uh, because if we're not teaching that um, you know, the next generation of leaders, then they're not gonna know how to attain um those things.

So I think that we have to have an element of teaching our youngest, and that's you know, that's I think why first things first was an integral part to kind of hear from.

Um so economic growth is really gonna be.

I mean, if 90% of your brain development happens between zero and five, then um, you know, we got to get our next generation of engineers and everything and some type of effective um not necessarily child care, but early childhood learning situations.

So and that to me is infrastructure development because uh a lot of barriers for entry, what we're seeing for parents now is that child care costs.

So I don't necessarily want child care, I want child development.

Okay.

Um one of the things we'll we'll work on too is kind of defining those statements of you know what is what is the what does that mean, right?

And so as we move into that, uh making sure that it's incorporating all, including the youngest in the community for long-term uh prosperity, right?

Can I comment about the uh because young I was thinking workforce development because later on you'll come back with actual strategies and where we would target that stuff, but maybe it's workforce um creation, it's workforce uh preparation and development.

Development assumes you already have the workforce, and I think what council member white is talking about is pre-workforce ready and so the early stages, so maybe another word added to the workforce development up there.

Development assumes you already have the workforce, and I think what council member white's talking about is pre-workforce ready, and so the early stages, so maybe another word added to the workforce development up there on between I mean, even one of the one of the uh themes yesterday from the first panel or from some of the educational partners on both panels highlighted uh the opportunity for not only programs earlier uh than just high school uh and even at the college level, you know, in the elementary uh levels of education, but uh also so that would be more in line with um um like job job skills, whether it's related to construction or other things, but also even dual enrollment opportunities, so just education as a whole.

So preparation, I I I like I like that as well.

Well, and so on for for the purposes of this conversation at this point, the bullets are just kind of the the kind of um areas of work accomplishments that might be found there.

Um we'll build out the description, but also what you're describing, I think also, Mayor, is kind of what are the things we're gonna do, you know, the strategies, and that's where it becomes real, right?

This is the things we're going to fund, we're gonna put resources for those are those are kind of categories, but I think it's helpful to clarify those.

You've seen that we've added the preparation development.

So everybody's still getting promoted.

I don't know if they want to promote me right now.

Um okay, so I I I think economic growth and prosperity speaks to everything we have spoken about, like with those wordings.

Um we are looking to develop our economic growth here in Avondale and the prosperity is the attainable housing and all that stuff.

And um as council member White was speaking, I was like, I was also thinking that we are missing that portion of like education on there, and in our prior one, we have innovative programs and service deliveries, diverse recreation and entertainment opportunities, and I think it would be nice to see maybe innovative programs and recreation in here somewhere because our recreation programs in Avondale are just literally phenomenal.

Like I hear so many people speak about all the programs that they offer at the libraries for free.

My cousin does it every Saturday, she does something crazy.

I don't know, they do crafts and stuff, which is awesome because they have it for children and adults, and I think that's an opportunity where we could use this and offer classes to children that um that we're kind of speaking about that they could go take, you know, once a month or every other week that introduces them to new careers that they might be interested in.

And maybe that we just weigh in also into the innovative and effective government, right?

In terms of you know some of the um the specific actions or the the programs or the activities, you know, maybe things that are already underway, but you're re-reimagining how they can be deployed or or building on those successes.

Uh and they they may not all need to find their way to the strategic plan highlights, but they're um part of the conversation and how you're doing the work and how you're um allocating limited resources.

And so I think that that's a great point.

It could be part of the commitment to growth and prosperity, it could also be part of the commitment to being innovative in how we're doing our programming.

And so when we're thinking about strategies, maybe we can kind of think about what is the city's role and how do you kind of embrace these outcomes uh through the work that you do.

Great.

So let me I'll broaden it back.

So it sounds like growth and and prosperity as an outcome um connects.

Is that I agree?

Everybody, everybody good thing for Council Member Solario, or I was writing something.

No, that's okay.

I don't I like all of them that are up there, but I also feel like when Max said yesterday about generational like wealth, I think that also comes from I think it's one thing that we've really done really well in the past with the Avondale Edge program.

Create opportunities for folks to have um like their own business to kind of pass that down to create wealth from that for their families, the sense of security for that.

Um so I'd like to see something maybe not just you know, because it's economic growth and prosperity, but it's more along the lines of wealth doesn't just have to be money, it could be other things as well that you know we passed down the future, like when you were talking about in five years 2030, what we'd like to see.

Maybe we want to see, you know, so and so's business has evolved and maybe opened up another portion of it or has been passed down to a family member, which is true.

So let me do this.

That's great.

I want to get to the like the the meat.

Well, the strugger statements too.

And so but before I do that, I want to just ask from this set of um and we can work from them from the other areas we can tweak, but I don't I want to just ask the broad question is there anything significant that is not somehow captured in these sets?

Yes.

Transportation.

Okay.

So we had a whole where to go.

I flipped it.

It's over for the future.

Right.

Yeah, you know, about and so the question I would ask is um ought that stand on its own as a strategic focus area.

And maybe that's the answer.

Or go ahead.

I think the resilient infrastructure I read that answer that automatically, but I think if you separate resilient infrastructure and natural resources, those are kind of like a moral.

I feel like infrastructure we build a natural resource where we are already.

So I I I guess maybe that's why I was silent because I was trying to make to make sense that it just does work for me.

Um so if I think about it, I serve on communities that are transportation and infrastructure.

So those are the two things we probably want to look at um having segmented apart because that's kind of how um you know locally uh statewide and national kind of part of those things, um, because structures energy, you know, really activator.

All those things, right?

And transit is part of that infrastructure, but um, the facilities and everything, whether those are all infrastructure elements to be I just with our work.

That that separate that separation, then we can build transit into that infrastructure statement.

No, that's great.

So I I that was the that was the one where I was a little ethical the same way.

Okay, so if it's resilient infrastructure and transportation or something along, we can wordsmith the specifics, but that we bundle those together, appreciate your comment with natural resources.

Um is it sufficient and I mean is it significant enough that it should be a standalone outcome area, or should it be a part of community well-being, or what are your thoughts on on that?

I mean, there's no magic number.

I'm trying to get it focused a little bit.

I think it would be I think it would go into the community well-being because then those those are kind of there for people to use the trails and stuff like that, and it's by itself, I don't think it's as strong.

But if you put it into something else where people actually utilize it and they'll they'll see it, it'll make more sense.

Okay, you had your hand up.

I I think um when people look at the full map of Avondale, they'll realize most of our space is open.

So I think it's a really it's more than the 50% of our land mass in Avondale is is open, so that's why we feel like we're 90% um, you know, developed already, but we're not in those aspects because none of us have probably taken the back ropes, maybe Dale.

Maybe Dale.

Um, or some people have taken chopper rides to South Avondale, but we we don't know what South Avondale looks like.

So I think that the fact that uh about half of our city um is kind of just kind of open space anyway.

Um we have to call it to purpose and and preserve that in some type of aspect and make it just as important.

Um and maybe look at how we get there.

How do we get there?

Are we gonna build intricate trails?

I know that um Chief Rooney's team probably does some training there to make sure they can rescue people who get caught out in the mountains.

But um, you know, those are things that we could possibly even work in developing and um working with the tribal community and you know, Bureau of Land Management and Fish and Game, you know, those are those are intricate parts of just our existence there, and with real reimagined um being you know teed up to have um real Salado Salt River um development and possible recreation.

If we don't speak to it, it won't happen.

So I just you know I think what gets measured to get to tended to.

So question then.

Um natural resources is a category, right?

It's a focus area.

What what is the outcome you're trying to accomplish?

Because that might be something we can look at to think about how do we um define that that area, you know, is it uh you know, with with infrastructure, we should say, Jenny, maybe uh resilient infrastructure and transportation so that it's all in the title, yeah.

Perfect.

Um it gives that that directional orientation.

You know, so for natural resources, are we preserving?

Are we activating?

Are we sustaining like we're gonna have to coordinate because we have many agencies that operate down there?

And I think that one of our barriers right now to entry and doing a lot of what we need to do is because it's what uh think gave it to us a couple weeks ago, seven different uh municipalities or agencies that operate down in our meridian um river basin.

So a lot of what the natural resource conservation piece is just getting all the parties to the table.

That's that's that's the the big hurdle.

And I think as we do that, um then we could determine what is that gonna look like.

So we want to first be able to coordinate with all of the agencies that operate in our municipality to develop a plan together and then find out what is that going to look like as we coordinate and plan in the future um and and be able to preserve because I can imagine when State Route 30, I think they were talking about the offsets from the highway and the potential um riverbeds protection yesterday.

Those are things that we don't put it in a plan here.

There's no reason for um us to have code enforcement or to make you know permits required things.

So I think we have to be specific and deliberate as we uh know that development is coming because five years from now they should be breaking ground on state Route 30 if they're not already underway um in southern Avondale.

And so we have to call it they will be break ground until after 2030 in Avondale.

They won't break ground.

I thought they said they might be well 32 is when they uh to start construction in 32.

They so they'll be they're in land acquisition, uh, but they're not they're they're they're doing uh east and sorry for for interrupting, but the one of the things I thought that is a little confusing is we only have the word open spaces under natural resources, and I think what natural resources also is the water in the air that council member white was talking about earlier and um our other uh amenities uh our water um so uh water again the this is uh council's decision, but for me all of that fits very nicely under community well-being um with the open space with our air and our water.

Um water, uh my guess is when we get down to the actual um deliverables, um, water will also get under an economic growth because we've got to manage our our water resources, determine the uh sectors, the manufacturing sectors we can bring in because some are high water users.

So I think I think having it uh under the different categories, some of our natural resources versus having its own.

But again, if council wants to make it a priority, because under natural resources we also find um conservation efforts and um uh resiliency with uh energy use and those kinds of things.

So it's up to council.

Um but uh but I just wanted to better define natural resources so we don't get stuck just on the uh important open spaces, but it's also about water and air quality.

Yeah, here and then here.

So I think that like it's not completely wrong where it was at because you need infrastructure to support the natural resources.

Like you're gonna need obviously natural or infrastructure is everything.

You're gonna need open spaces and water and all of that, but you need to create the infrastructure to have that in the city.

One of the tough things around trying to you know create these little nuggets is that they're all interconnected, right?

At the end of the day, you're you're doing you're serving a space, a community.

Uh and so it's important to be able to name the the critical elements.

Um it's most important that the critical elements are incorporated, if that makes any sense at all.

Um we can walk through the different elements and then we can maybe have the conversation as we're walking through and have a and have a conversation about the natural resources and you know, is it part of community well-being and part of infrastructure, or does it stand on its own?

Because I mean there's a lot of stuff you're doing in that area.

And so, yeah, there's no single answer to this fun little game we're playing here today, so it's good.

You have a comment.

Uh, under community well-being, I think we're doing such an amazing job with the health care corridor that that's something we are focusing on.

So I don't I I see a void, but I don't have a recommendation.

I think we do need to call out that we want to make this um a hub of you know health, you know, access.

Um a lot of folks have health care deserts or health inequity allocations, and I think that we have the ability to do that, and that might open the door for you know the smaller hospital beds locations or maybe another emergency facility that can you know serve the area.

I was just driving down Venbira and remember there's an urgent care um right behind lambs, but we probably need a little bit more of that that we can just think about and get to transportation we've added in.

Um natural resources, we'll talk some more about about how that fits.

Um these otherwise sort of hit on the big areas of interest and what I want to I want to walk through each of these and have a deeper conversation around what we mean by that, and that might help to provide some clarity because uh with the the bullets we're hitting topics we're starting there, but I want to like zero in a little bit more.

So yeah.

Can we just add one more thing to the um effective government?

We talked about internal collaboration, you mentioned it, external.

Um we have other external partners, just maybe external collaboration too.

Yeah, maybe internal, external collaboration or or partnerships.

Okay.

We have a lot of partners out there.

Yeah.

We met a lot of them actually yesterday.

Good.

Okay.

Well, let's do this.

And we can always flip back between our slides and and tweak and modify.

That's part of the fun of the the this process.

And you know, just a gentle reminder that you know, doing this type of work, it's messy, right?

And so we'll navigate and we'll move.

Um, but just you know, trust the process and we'll end at the end, you know, we'll come to a document that I think you'll all feel proud of.

Because I'm feeling a lot of consensus around the areas of interest, it's how we frame it ultimately.

Okay.

So thank you, Jenny.

Perfect.

All right.

So this first one, this first area, and that'll catch up with us, is economic growth and prosperity.

Um did you add it in the other comments?

Let's see.

You did perfect, thank you.

Okay, so you see the uh on the left, that bullet was as jobs creation, workforce preparation, but those are the ideas, right?

Of what falls into this category.

Um we've added an idea of preparation, so that's addressing the whole of the life, right?

In terms of what we get there.

Uh and now this is really just a starter statement.

And so, you know, if you are like, I hate that.

I won't be as insulted, it's fine.

Um but listening to the conversations, I tried to give us a jumping off point.

So the statement there on the left, underneath the the bullet area, is an attempt to write a directional statement around what that looks like.

Uh so Avondale supports a thriving local economy by fostering business growth, growth and job creation, advancing economic development, and pursuing attainable housing opportunities that strengthen the city's vitality.

And so, you know, this is uh probably trying to put some definition.

We will still get to the strategies.

We're still not to the how are we gonna do this.

We're still trying to find what we're trying to accomplish.

Um and the the questions we want to ask then around this are what is success look like and what must we do that leads us to strategies.

So starting off with the statement, reactions to that.

I like I like it.

I think it captured everything that we've said in the last two days.

Okay.

Yes, of course.

I'm trying to stay out of the way.

We're not the panel.

We're not the I know you I'm in the peanut gallery.

So uh I want to be careful here, but um it it for me and maybe Jen might might have a comment on this, but uh I don't see um so we talk about job growth, which I think is awesome, work first development, we talk about job creation and I can we talk about supporting businesses, but we don't hit on um the the high quality uh entertainment and food and retail.

Uh it's missing some of that um a piece of it and and um uh workforce development.

So there's uh just a couple uh I think I know it's in that blue blue statement, workforce uh development, but I don't really see anything about any um because economic development is not only about job growth, it is about job growth, but um there's other parts to it that I think have been a priority for this council, which is um uh recreation, uh food, uh eateries, and then uh uh also um old town.

Um so I know it does fostering business growth and job creation, but um something about um still supporting our um uh mom and pop shops.

And so I just the mom and and I'm very okay with the I just want to I think that'll get into bullet points, but um those are the two big pieces that were missing for me was um the entertainment, which could go into quality of life maybe, but uh we we have such a focus on it in economic development right now um that that I was just a little concerned.

Yeah, definitely.

Well, and we yeah, and we can think about how we might want to modify that to get those pieces directly in the statement.

As you point out, yeah, the strategies will also articulate these things.

Um but we we want a statement that that still says here's where we want to go.

And if there are things that you can really highlight and emphasize, then you want to make sure those are in there.

And so, and Jen, you should feel welcome to to time in as well, too.

Um so what are your thoughts, I agree?

I I agree with Ron, you know, rereading it, and I'm glad you stepped in to say that because we do want that to be known that we we are looking into doing that.

Um when you look at other cities, they they put that in there, or they put you know, luxury or like high level housing or you know, whatever language they use.

And ours is um we're being nice.

We're being humble and we're being the same.

And if we want to go up, we need to use different language to get to that.

We need to be bold and use that bold language that we keep talking about that we're not we're not using at all.

So go ahead.

I was just gonna recommend uh I think we're trying to achieve a full service city, which includes the amenities.

I think that's if we can kind of integrate that the amenities is what creates the opportunity to create or attract and recruit the businesses they're looking for those type of amenities that uh Ron was just referring to and and council member you were just saying.

So maybe where it has advancing economic development, maybe that's the space to kind of modify and tweak a little bit to add another phrase that uh seeking um not luxury but but seeking um uh uh businesses uh and commodities that um uh high level um food and uh entertain quality, high quality uh entertainment and and food uh uh uh restaurants.

Well, and maybe I mean just to to not have it be too long, maybe it's just around entertainment.

I mean, because food it turns out is entertainment.

That's good, sir.

Because you know what?

What you're the boss because you're a resident here.

I am a resident.

There you go.

That's true.

She tells me that often.

So could it be seeking high quality entertainment and full service?

Amenities, amenities service.

I like full service.

And I know this is more for the strategy portion of this, but I think that centers around yesterday's conversation of quantity over quality or quality over quantity, not just a fast food corner.

Right?

I mean, so yeah, happy to have quality understood.

Well, and what we can do is we're gonna catch some of these ideas when we come back with a draft.

We might try to tighten things up to not lose the the thought.

Um, but you know, and maybe we won't change anything, but I'm just you know, asking for permission to, you know, as we pull the pieces together to you know bring you back a draft that integrates these elements.

So uh one more comment, and then we and I still think I have a question about um uh mom and pop shops, old town, western, um, those kinds of things.

But uh I would uh I'm curious if council would uh uh would uh uh consider the request to add the word diverse in front of attainable and pursuing a uh attainable diverse housing opportunities because I think one of the things that we're lacking in addition to attainable housing is high-end housing.

And so for high end, they go to Litchville Park or some other communities, and I know that's not necessarily you know, like we're not out there pounding the table for that, but I think that if um we're trying to increase our median household income to attract the the high end amenities and the full service restaurants, I think just adding the word diverse keeps it open that we're not just gonna focus on one set of housing, that we're gonna continue to get the right mix.

Jody, I forget you gave me the mix number the other day, but the the mix of density, the mix of apartments, a mix of high-end.

Um when you do a housing study, and I don't remember what Avandell showed, but uh for example in Cottonwood, uh the high end was one of our biggest missing pieces.

And so what happens is people who can afford higher buy lower because they want to be in a certain area.

So they're taking up housing stock that would be available to that group of people.

And so, but if they had the higher end and had the air in the area they wanted, they would be purchasing at a higher rate.

So diverse just kind of hits the whole piece without us prioritizing uh anything other than attainable.

I want to live there.

I am afraid of woke language.

I don't like diverse.

I would like to use language around affluent.

Well, except for I think he's describing he must be a very good thing.

I understand, but I'm just thinking about grant funding and what the federal government's recent um those terminologies, they just it's a mix it's a mix of houses.

It's a mix, but I think we want uh we want to attract the fluent we because when you use words matter, and we just don't want to put any wording in anything that would I think of a right, but we're really trying to get in the fluent market.

So we we want the we want that that affluent level here.

And so I think when we we want a wordsmith to make sure that favorable words and how we plan and how we strategize resonate with the highest and lowest levels of government.

Yeah, no, I I I totally hear what you're saying.

I don't think that one of the things I heard yesterday was a real desire to make sure that there were uh entry points of housing uh as well as you know the higher end.

Well, attainable diversified housing.

I I I like diverse housing because there is diverse housing, right?

It's luxury, and then there's apartments, and then we have all the things.

I don't think that it's personally, I don't think using diverse housing is woke language, and people won't give us funding because we have the word diverse in there because we're not talking about culture, we're talking about houses, like a building.

But there are, I think there are ways to easily to address this need to make sure that we're having a full range of housing options or something like that.

So point noted.

Um I think we'll we have heard the concerns, and we'll make sure to bring back um an example, and you can test it and try it on precise and make sure that it sort of um prestigious selection.

That's good.

Prestige selection.

One one suggestion.

Yeah, blend a blend, a range of we could do this.

Yes.

Thank you.

Good job.

Thank you.

We got you.

Attracting high quality.

Okay.

She's like, wait, again, what?

Huh?

I yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Um so great discussion.

I mean, I do think that we're definitely honing in on where we want to be with this one.

Uh so while I have and and we have put together really a draft set of strategies that we'll come back to.

I want to get through all of the outcome areas first.

Um, and a lot of that was informed by the economic development presentations.

And so you have the bones that are laid out for a lot of this.

Uh so we've tried to build from there.

Um but just a quick question.

Um, when we think about this and the statement we've just provided, just kind of a quick sentiment of counsel.

What is success look like from you in the five-year time frame?

So the life of this strategic plan, and then what must you do to achieve the desired outcome?

So any response or thoughts you have on those those questions.

Um I can tell you about ready to go.

No, I was trying to read it.

We read it.

Oh, still down.

Wow.

Well, yeah.

If we have some collaboration between the colleges, you know, and and we see more programming that's building a workforce, that would be a sign of success.

If we have homes at different, you know, at different price ranges, you know, that would be a sign of success.

Excellent.

That's great.

Um, a sign of success would be building out the boulevard, ensuring that the South Um of Avondale gets grocery stores and amenities, a gas station.

Um to me, those are signs of success.

And then also, like how uh Sherry said the collaboration with the community college and offering those um programs for it for prosperity.

Other indicators of success that you have move the deal.

Yes.

Increased tourism.

Increased tourism, people are coming.

Yeah, okay.

To enjoy the high quality entertainment and restaurant amenities.

We need that resort.

Not to mention the nuts.

I was just gonna say we need the resort.

If we have a resort, right by now.

Now we're creating a vision board.

Right by Ron's house.

Okay, other thoughts?

Anything to add on what is success look like?

Um, I I also want to enter in like old town Avondale, you know, to make it look like to beautify it.

Is that the word?

Like to make it look like nice and and to support those businesses, because those are our small businesses that really hold true to Avondale.

Um the success of the small businesses throughout Avondale, not just an old town, but we have so many small business owners that you know they worry about like the big things coming, but they they need to know that they're still supported, and we we still want to eat there because I do so council member Garcia, a thriving old town.

Yeah, a thriving old town.

Good.

Anything else anybody wants to add on this one?

Okay.

We just burned our first outcome area, I think.

Yay!

Yay!

Okay.

All right, so let's look at the next one.

So community well-being.

Uh, and so again, starting point.

What's it?

What is it?

Oh, is it connected again?

I saw it pop up over there for a second.

There we go.

All right, community well-being.

Um keeps jumping.

Oh, maybe you've cut hit it a few times.

There we go.

Can't screw.

Yeah.

All right, community well-being.

Uh as another um outcome area.

So we had talked about um safety, broadly defined, well-being, recreation, quality of life, uh, access to health care, and then potentially natural resources as a dimension of community well-being.

Uh and so chances are the statement that was originally drafted will be insufficient, but let's see.

Uh Avondale is a city where all people feel safe and secure, have access to health and wellness resources, and enjoy an enriching quality of life.

Quality healthcare.

Well, and that would tie also to the wellness resources, so it's quality in both of those because they're tied together.

But that I think makes sense.

Okay.

And what do we think about uh natural resources as a dimension to community well-being?

Making sure that the air is clean, the water is safe and secure.

Um Twitter I have an action phrase where we found email.

What can we do to help the kids have that in work?

Um I mean I think that that sort of is the point that the city manager was making around air quality, right?

And the importance of air quality for well-being this is where we were also talking about having safe water, right?

Yeah.

Safe water.

Uh have the right to participate.

Honored uh natural resources.

Water, air, trails, uh web language.

Yes.

Uh I don't know that I have the right verb, but but to incorporate that premise.

Yes.

Okay.

Outdoor space, uh, which are parks and recreation.

Um amenities.

Yeah.

Can we just say we like to revolt?

Yeah, I was gonna Ron, I was gonna ask, I know that with economic development, we had Jen uh provide some uh input, but I mean, between Corey, we have the experts.

Yeah, uh, mayor and counselor.

We have a lot of people that are reading their emails that would love to participate, probably.

Uh we have uh we have one of the uh we have one of the top water, yeah, because I I'm just a parent, I just tell what other people tell me.

Um we have uh the natural resource expert in the state uh sitting behind Corey.

Um so we have we have some other great great people in the world.

I I thought we I wanted to talk about something as it ties into uh because we we spent a lot of time talking about of course physical health, but mental health and emotional well-being.

Um so if if we can somehow um incorporate physical, mental and emotional um aspects to community well-being because uh I think about instances where in other communities they don't have a sonar.

Um we've already put a lot of dollars into that.

I think we need to highlight that that's actually w where we're spending our money.

So if we can draw that to community well-being, we're trying to eradicate the unsheltered population.

We we we we work with our food banks.

We do these things that um try and catch people where they're vulnerable because we want them to you know come back if something goes wrong.

Because it can happen to the best and brightest.

We just need to have you know that that wraparound support like we already have at our resource center and like we already have with all of our partners.

So I think we need to call to it when we talk about community well-being, speak to the physical, mental, and emotional aspect.

And we can run that out into the statement easily.

We could also um just make sure that those are the strategies that are contained within that.

Uh if we're talking about um, you know, well, this is just access pretty much.

So we'd have to, you know, it's they're feeling um safe and secure.

We'll play around with it.

Yes, I'm not gonna find my words at the moment.

Um, but I do think that as we start to bring in the strategies um to link back up to community well-being, that that's where we can make those connections as well.

The only thing I'm trying to do here is not make you know pages and things for the description.

And so, but I also want to make sure I'm hitting the high points, so I like the balance.

Can I I just want to make sure that we're also capturing everybody of every ability?

So we have some people who are need ADA check down the ADA playgrounds.

Um so I just want to make sure that we're also capturing that all of our residents have access.

All people from Corey.

Yeah, I mean, if there's any buzzword or something that can capture recreation.

Well, I I I like the terms health or wellness resources, but I do think you know you're trying to build a wellness, a lifestyle of wellness, and making sure there's access and two amenities to achieve uh a lifestyle that promotes wellness.

Need to hear from the recorders.

So that's one thing, and then I also think don't don't forget about how much amazing acreage we do have dedicated open space in the river basins and riverbeds that are literally a part of our community.

They're they're the center of it all.

Um whether they're in the annexed in or not, I don't I just think that dedication open space is already here.

Um so how we promote it and make make that an amenity or an asset to us that drives economic development and tourism.

So at the resort, and then you do a preservation of of natural resources beyond just open space.

You want to activate it.

Yeah, you want to talk about resilient, you know, long to make sure we have access to those things and we're doing it smart for water.

A resource conscious community.

Oh, I like that.

Okay.

And then Mr.

Mayer, since we like forest.

He's feeling left hand.

Shut the left.

He's a vice here today.

Yeah, they love them.

Yeah, I don't I don't know about that.

So the way I read it, it really at this point, it really doesn't.

I read this and I see it as health care and recreation.

I don't I don't see anything in here that really um speaks to resiliency of resources or quality of resources.

There you go.

Resiliency that's yeah.

Well, and the reason it's not there is because it wasn't there when my directed this last night.

So it's kind of throwing me off.

I'm trying to figure out where to where to what buzzword to put in there.

Actually, uh that that worked.

Uh she's writing it down.

She wrote it down as as we did.

So that'll get us thinking.

Remember, this is just a draft, and I and I know we're gonna talk about it at the end, but just to remind you of our steps.

We're gonna have a lot of draft today.

They'll go back and do what they do best, which is write it in a way that makes us sound really smart and really on point.

And um, then it'll come back to staff to kind of vet through a little bit and then it'll come back to council for approval in a little closer to a final draft based on your feedback today.

So while we may not get the words exactly right today, it's very important that they capture your thoughts and your feelings.

Uh and and then they'll try to put them in in words that fit into a strategic plan.

Is that fair?

Absolutely right.

I mean, truly we're workshopping this today.

And so that's that's the point we are in this process, uh, and we're doing a really good job at it.

I mean, I think we're getting a lot of good consensus and and content that we can work from.

So let me just check assumptions here.

So with community well-being, are we comfortable in integrating the the natural resources dimension as we've been talking about here?

Okay.

All right.

So now we have economic growth and prosperity, and we have community well-being, two big outcome areas.

And I think I mean those were two really big um big rocks I heard about yesterday.

And so that's great.

Any other comments on this one before we move on?

And maybe I should ask also, how are we doing?

Do we need to take a little stand-up break before we go through the rest of the three?

Okay, let's take a quick break.

Because we have three more that we're gonna go through.

Um so we'll come, let's just do a quick 10-minute break.

So one function, you do you pick.

Uh so what we're gonna so first of all, I neglected to ask the question around what success looks like on this one, so I don't want to lose that.

So I'm gonna start there.

Then we have three more outcome areas we want to walk our way through, and then and assuming our pacing works okay, cross our fingers and our toes.

Um right for lunch.

And then when we come back after lunch, uh we will look at the draft set of strategies that have been developed, recognizing that is jumping off point.

Uh but we'll go through all of the five areas um this afternoon.

We'll look at the deeper dive.

That sounds good?

Yeah.

Yep, perfect.

Okay.

So community well-being, and even on the break, we're still trying to play around with what the statement might be related to the natural environment.

So give us some time.

It's one of those things that like it'll come or it will not.

It'll come later.

Uh so we'll bring that back to you.

So ignore the statement.

But thinking about the whole of the conversation that we've just had, what is success look like?

I can see Councilmember.

Um for me to lose five pounds to be happy and I'm just kidding.

I'm just kidding.

Um to see more people like out at parks, um, taking walks, um, uh going out and doing our classes, maybe that we have that uh will educate us on the well-being of like our water and our air, um, holding programs like that.

Um, and then just having a more lively Avondale where you do see the community not at home or on their phones, um, talking to each other and being friendly.

I think for me that's the community well-being, it would like that includes like all the mental health and the fitness, and then all of the um natural resource portion of it.

Okay, so activated uh outdo uh recreational amenities and outdoor spaces.

Great, I love it.

Pickable quartz.

Um pickle paw quartz, I just heard that.

Um seeing our trail system connected.

And all of our um it isn't have to be all of our um, but any new upcoming parks having some component of ADA compliance, and a little fence around the playground.

Thank you so much, Corey.

It's so good.

No, he no, he's been doing it.

It's awesome.

That's why I say thank you.

I wish I had that.

To have a fence around some portion of the right.

So they don't run away.

Yeah.

So that nobody comes in and uh kidnaps them, you might say.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

So we're gonna activating those spaces and getting people out and and for everybody, and that's part of the point.

Okay.

What other elements of success?

Are you looking forward to the one of the things not mentioned up there is uh the natural resources, so I would say being compliant, that we're not in uh violation or out of compliance with uh our uh EFAS regulatory uh stuff.

Air quality requirements, water requirements.

Sustainable sustainable.

We we mentioned veteran housing, and I don't know if that would go like in the last one or in this one, but I don't know if that's something that we uh actually can implement, but it I know that Glendale recently did.

So if there's something along that line, because to me that's well-being, mental health well-being.

So I don't know.

Yeah.

Mayor uh councilman wise, I I would uh broaden that a little bit right now, and I I would say uh we've seen a significant reduction in the the um uh number of people experiencing homelessness.

Yeah, in Avondale too.

It's less.

Okay.

Other success indicators.

Um I know um councilmember white mentioned it, and I think we we both missed it, but the healthcare corridor, no knowing, you know, ensuring that we're bringing those into every every community.

Well, bringing health care, like healthcare facilities, it's built out.

Yes, so that would be a good idea.

Maybe the presence of a micro hospital.

Yeah, that would be amazing.

Jen.

And then uh another thought I had and you guys let me know is uh we actually see a reduction in our uh criminal activity.

So through our annual reports and those kinds of things, that we actually see a reduction in in most person and property crime.

I don't know how we judge the success of it now, but we have like these awesome like water magazines, and we do the uh planting of the gardens, we teach people how to cultivate.

I think that's an outcome.

Being able to have more people drive and live off of it.

I mean, unfortunately don't microphile a little bit of the chronic at home kind of feel.

You know, just being able to see people become self-sufficient um in micro agriculture because I think we have been doing a lot in the educational space.

We have a community garden right behind maybe the library and uh so I think we do a lot of publicize the outcomes of those things, so that might be great because we're not making folks able to roll our own tomorrow.

So that might be great because we're now making folks able to roll our own surprise.

Maybe I have one online having my own hour basically.

So those are things that we have as values and most teachers.

So let's highlight that we're thinking about it.

Mayor, and again, so we have a sustainability plan, so maybe the full implementation of our sustainability plan, which mentions all the things you just mentioned.

Okay.

Good.

Well that might be we might make sure that gets into a strategy too, right?

Because I don't think I have yet.

Okay, good.

All right, anything else on success?

You'll always come back with pressurized too, so maybe other things.

All right, I just don't yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, just one more um, it would be the renewal of our designation of assured water supply.

Right.

This helps to point us in a direction around the statement that we want to create too, so it's helpful.

Okay, let's jump to our next proposed outcome area and have some conversation about it.

And it is drum roll, please.

Connected and engaged community.

Um it'll be there eventually.

There it goes.

Okay, so connected engaged community, which you know, of course, touches a lot of things, and this is uh really that um the relationship that that you are creating and and honoring.

This can be education, this can be um, you know, access, a lot of things.

Uh so we have it, you know, engagement, collaboration, and we have also have lifelong learning as a part of this here.

So here's our very drafty statement.

Evan Dale informs and engages our communities to ensure programs and infrastructure connect residents to resources, the region, and each other.

I don't know, informs prepares, animated because we can have some incorporations.

Okay.

Okay.

Yeah, and I think not necessarily some short programs, but to ensure access to resources, because it's more than programs.

I think it's so much we have so many different types of resources that don't manifest in programs.

One of the uh things I think here is missing is the creation of um uh opportunities for connection.

So I think when you have a connected and engaged community, it's not just about us sharing information one way, but it's creating opportunities for feedback, it's creating opportunities for the community to connect with council, council to connect with them and staff.

So I I know we're not talking about details, but uh council and coffee, city manager and coffee, or uh events at the library, or we create a new the water pad, you know, just all the things we do to help create opportunities for connection, our libraries and and and such so I think we play a role in creating the opportunity for connections.

Oh that's great.

Well, we have that, you know, it's um you know, between the the city and residents uh as well as the region and with each other also.

So when you're talking about community spaces, the library parks, those are also ways that you're building community and connecting people with each other.

So lots of ways you can do that.

Yeah, and I think one thing too that we've done the is create ambassadors.

So ambassadors are out um representing our city, engaging with the community, you know, because there's seven of us, but we have a new ambassador program, so that's another way that we're connecting, engaging and sharing resources.

Strategy, right?

This is a great strategy, yeah.

Yeah, that's okay.

We'll capture those ideas.

Okay.

Yeah, that's that's a means to the end, but it is an example of how you do that.

Yeah, communities.

I I feel like it's almost like everything's separate.

Like to me it's just can we just say our community?

Yeah.

Yeah, that's good.

Yeah.

Ironically, those languages are whole other languages.

I love that.

Yep.

All right.

Things that are are missing or are just misses in terms of what you want to convey here.

I don't know if it would go in here or the strategies, but I feel like digital somehow needs to need to be implemented here somewhere because we connect with them through the means.

Social media, um, media, news outlets and stuff like that.

So yeah.

That might be something we wanted to make sure we just weave into a strategy.

I think it's a method for connecting people.

Yeah.

All right, well, what is success look like?

Let's define success.

Maybe that will also help us.

Better engagement from the better engagement from the community when we're having surveys, like if we see an increase in rates and increase in the with that better vote or turnout.

I know it sounds funny, but literally it's so low in Avondale.

Um I think um being able to go out in the community or grocery store or just like a park, and if I go talk to somebody, they know what's happening in the area.

Or um they at least see like the AVI um QR codes that they're that they know that they could utilize that to to speak with the city.

So then just being informed.

Um, but you know, being able to go out in the community, I think that would be a success, just them being informed.

Well, an immeasurable one would be to see more people actually download the um the Abbey Wise app and even you know participation in you know community programs, right?

Events, um, visiting facilities, those sorts of things are things you can also measure.

Okay.

This is one where if you I don't know if you do you know, kind of sense of the community, you know, the engagement um surveys, community engagements.

Yeah, those that's a good place to kind of take the pulse, right, and see how people are feeling about the community.

Yeah.

I think seeing other uh organizations come to our city to help events.

I think we talked about how that are coming up in summer um different organizations that might be coming down or events that are coming down to the Phoenix Raceway.

I think that's a great outcome to see how many people want to do things in Avondale.

Um also trying to find a pulse of how many people can do all the things that they need to do in Avondale.

So I mean I I I I tried to pitch it to Choppa before he left, but I I mean, all in Avondale is a really good strategy.

Yeah.

Well that threads through maybe somebody's others too, right?

With economic um economic prosperity one also, like that you've got what you need here.

Go to the grocery store.

Hey, I got one of those.

Yeah.

Little things, you know.

Wanna go hang out?

We can do that in.

Exactly, exactly.

Okay.

Um anything else related to this one?

This is a little bit more self-contained, it's not hasn't have so many tentacles as some of the other ones we just looked at.

Okay.

Anything else we would add on?

Nope.

Okay.

Let's go to the next one then, Jenny.

Uh okay, so resilient infrastructure and transportation.

So this is our new blended alchemaria.

Um, and so chances are when we read the outcome statement that it was drafted, it will need to be refined to talk about transportation.

So here's what was initially drafted for whatever is worth.

Avondale recognizes the importance of long-term planning and investment in sustainable infrastructure and promotes environmental stewardship in its operations, activities, and planning.

So that last part maybe gets re-reallocated.

Um because you have the first part and something about transportation too.

What do we have on the on the sticky notes?

What were the comments?

Okay, because those were all new things.

Yep, yeah.

We had no traffic.

I mean, that's a pretty good album.

I'm still not sure how you get there, but when we figure that out, you let me know.

Connected lighter trails with seating.

Uh so I guess that's not like transportation.

That should be over here.

I think like yeah.

I think I misread that one earlier.

Um high speed transit, which is kind of light rail.

Uh, and then free transportation around the city.

So that's more about program, I think.

This is multimodal in parentheses also around transit.

So access for presumably bikes, walking trails, these sorts of things.

Avondale actively participates in the regional planning and investment.

I think when we say long term, people don't know as your long-term five years, 20 years.

I think a lot of the infrastructure we're planning for, some of us won't see in our lifetime.

Um long term is implied.

Yeah, any time you think about transit infrastructure, it has to be something you want for the next generation.

So I think long-term, you know, probably implied.

But I I think they need to know that we're actively participating in it.

What about I like the way you changed it?

What about instead of okay?

I was gonna say instead of recognizes, because recognizes doesn't really mean you're gonna do anything about it.

You just but to prioritize or to actively participate.

Or invest or yep, or invest.

So I guess the question I might have is um focusing on the region.

Are there I'm imagining your your roads and other things that are really Avondale specific.

Does that get lost if it if it over focuses on regional, or does that um I think it speaks to our participation in uh MAG, and I think it really shows that we want to be included in this regional development, for example.

Um and I might be stepping ahead, so please pull me back.

But I think about the city of Phoenix, their residents have agreed to be taxed for light rail.

Well, our residents haven't agreed for that.

And um, you know, the reality is you know, if we play nice with Mayor Gallego and their regional trans and their transit, uh you know, Phoenix isn't at 99th Avenue.

Bring that light rail down the I 10 corridor somewhere, you know.

So that that is still Phoenix's money.

That's still their taxpayers, it benefits our residents.

So and so I think we have to find a C at the table?

Yeah, we gotta find ways to play in the sandbox because a lot of times um I've always shared with people my success is never come from my money.

It's always been somebody else investing in me.

So um, you know, and I think that we kind of you gotta look at that too.

Um our our success is gonna come from somebody you know feeding into paying into what we want to be our outcome.

The regional um transit systems and things you've been describing too.

So well, even you know, the the water infrastructure and all that is and sewer.

Yeah, and air, and all the things that you know you know go past borders.

Yeah, again, uh if I if I may, the the actively participates, uh I it it um doesn't it's non-committal.

Um and I really think Avondale invests um in um its infrastructure, uh including um regional planning and development of sustainable infrastructure, including roads, uh water, uh utilities, um, all of those kinds of things.

But I think we I mean it's up to council, but I I think making a commitment um to um our because our our roads have are one of the number one issues that come up from residents that I hear about, you know.

And then um so uh I think transportation is also a big priority, so uh investing in the stuff on the roads, the the wee rides and those kinds of things would fit in here.

Um that could also go in connected communities, but I think sustainable um as long as it doesn't mean just environmentally sustainable, it's gotta mean um sustainable for cost because we've tried some sustainable roads and they don't work and we they didn't last and there's issues with them, so I just want our heat reduction is a great goal, but it didn't work.

And so when we we talk about sustainable, I want to make sure you're not directing us to ignore efficient, effective, long-term things that last a long time for our investment, um, if that makes any sense.

So one of the right to define the word sustainable because we're not here necessarily talking about environmentally sustainable.

We're talking about um long-term durability, uh, we're talking about uh uh money, uh um efficiencies, um, those kinds of things.

Yeah, that makes it really uh if if uh any industrial commercial investors looking to our city and sees that in the plan, I think they know that it's uh we're serious.

Yeah.

Mayor, if sorry, uh yes, Kirk, thanks.

Um I would maybe add the word maintain.

Oh I was gonna say, yeah.

That's what I was thinking.

Because we maintain our roads, we redo them every I don't know the date, the times and days or whatever, but I know that we're we you you're it's a newer commitment, right?

That it wasn't always there, and right now I think we've committed to nine million dollars a year through twenty-eight or twenty-nine um something like that, and then we went down to three million just for budgeting factors, but um yeah, nine million dollars a year in maintaining uh our uh infrastructure.

Can I like that?

Yeah, it um invests in and maintains to say, yeah, it I I'm okay with any of that.

Yeah, it um then invests in and maintains just a yeah it I I'm okay with any of that, and we maintained yeah, the new thing, and and I also want to make sure it's not just uh maintainable infrastructure, it's also we ride our transportation things, our air and and water that may that maintains um okay that's and new, yeah.

And is it an actively participates in regional development?

Is that regional development and planning or is it regional?

Oh, it's big regional planning.

So we have an organization, MAG, uh big big regional.

And she's absolutely right on the transportation is regional, error is regional, land is regional, um, roads are regional.

Um, can't mind probably leaving something off.

Mayor uh Ron We have uh a few items we're working with on as it relates to transportation, so I'm gonna just throw out a few things for consideration.

We are finishing up an update to our transportation master plan, so that should happen soon.

You'll see more CIP recommendations as a result of that.

We continue uh with the developers providing off site improvements as they develop each parcel, so that's ongoing.

Um we do have the uh prop 479.

We have a few, a couple projects in there, so we're actively working on those.

Um we constantly coordinate with uh other jurisdictions, the county and adjacent uh cities on traffic signals and uh additional lanes and capacity.

Um we are we do uh we'll be representing uh on the MAG micro trenching committee and how roadways overlap with the telecommunications infrastructure throughout the city.

And a big one, and it's been a big topic recently is traffic flow.

So we continually work on retiming the traffic signals to to fit as much traffic as as we can through a uh intersection without uh incurring the cost of an additional uh pavement lane of traffic for left turn, right turn or through.

So those are some of the items that we we constantly work on and we have active right now.

Well, I think uh it's a great list of uh strategies that you're working on, right, that contribute to this outcome.

And so as we're starting to build out those strategies, you know, completing and implementing the transportation plan, that sounds like it's a big one.

There's a lot that's nested in that um but really gives a good focus um to the work that you're doing.

All right.

Great input.

Really good.

Um what is success look like aside from no traffic or at least moving traffic.

Well, sticking with transportation would be options.

I mean options, transportation options.

Okay.

You don't have to get in your car for everything.

Walkable community.

I I feel like the boulevard is pretty walkable almost for me.

I I walk all the way from back the waterport square to um Starbucks and Bus Bros and the um the Randall McDaniel Center.

So I think I want to have you know more walkable communities.

Okay, good.

Uh safer streets.

I was just gonna say uh safer streets, yeah.

Pedestrians being treated as important as cars.

Yeah.

They should be all the time.

Road condition too.

Um do we want to finish anything with the bike lanes?

Because we have a couple of them that just kind of stops.

Well, I was just saying we have some bike lanes that haven't been finished yet because the roads are still being done, but just ensuring that our bike lanes are safe and that they're connected.

Travel?

Yeah, there's ways to measure.

If I got a vote, be fewer stoplights.

Uh where did it accelerate go?

55 class speed limit?

Just kidding.

Okay.

Especially with pedestrians.

I'd like to eliminate actually pedestrian vehicle accidents.

That's probably zero, right?

Isn't that a yeah for a measurable fee?

That's now it's we can have that as a long-term target.

You're just yeah, tracking progress to get them.

Okay, good, good.

All right.

We are humming, you guys.

All right, so the last one that we had, I think we'll capturing lots of notes from here, is around effect innovative and effective government.

Um so this is you know where the magic happens to make all these other things happen, right?

Making sure that you have a thriving organization.

Uh so this involves service delivery internal and external uh collaboration because you have so many important partners, and then just the culture of how you operate.

So Avondale employees, and this is we're trying to you know recognize some of the feedback to the stakeholder input, which was that we don't where are we?

We don't see ourselves, and we are doing a lot.

So Avindale employees work together to serve as a model of innovation, efficiency, and responsive government.

Comments do we as a council have a role to play here in this?

You could just say yes, please do that, and then step away.

You mean like in the paragraph?

In the paragraph.

I mean, the organization as a whole, obviously it should be efficient in those other things, but I don't know, is council a part of that effective government as well?

So I will say yes, uh yes and no.

Do you want to comment?

No, I I would say yes.

Uh you guys are employees and you're a part of the organization.

So we you could add the word employees, including or uh Avindale's elected leaders and employees work together to serve elected leaders and and you even your elected leaders and um commissioners or uh commission members?

Boards and commission members.

So uh Avidel's elected leaders, uh board uh commissioners um and employees work together.

The one thing I'm curious about in here um is well there's a couple, but I'll start with uh responsive government is uh high quality customer service, I'm assuming, and we can probably work on a goal or a uh outcome area, but the word customer service or your expectation for uh I mean responsive is pretty you know, can be defined later, but I just want to make sure you guys are okay with that.

I wanted to, I guess when I see work together, I think about collaborate instead of work together.

Work seems so rudimentary, but collaboration seems so synergistic.

Yeah, I was trying to to get it into kind of a uh yeah, let's hunker in get there to work on this together.

That was my thinking, but you know, there's actual yeah, I mean it does yeah, yeah.

Um elected leaders, employees that volunteers or just I guess the question I would have is you know, if this is a uh uh strategic plan document serves a lot of purposes, right?

And one of it can be a communication vehicle to the community.

Does this start to when when you start using words like appointees?

I wonder if it gets to a point where it's like, well, I'm not sure what that means, right?

If I'm you know, Sally on 6th Street, right?

Um yeah, you could just say Mavendale.

Um serves as a model of innovation efficiency and response true.

Yeah.

That's really uh it took everything else out.

I really like having the word employee.

I mean that's where we're playing with them too.

Because this is um the area where employee things will fit under the accountability to the strategic plan equal to generic city back and then even to the reader to find more than that is I think for me uh calling employees out is basically important.

But again, it's your document if you want to still we I know it means to me and we'll all ask all the employees, but uh sometimes we have behind the city taking responsibility and so that's why we are like to talk about leaders.

Um I agree.

Well, and one of the things with the inclusion of employees, because we had the same conversation about the city of versus including employees, one of the areas of feedback uh through the stakeholder engagement was you know, we don't see ourselves in this, right?

Where where are we as employees?

And so speaking to that direct that was why we tried to speak to that directly.

And we also had the conversation around do we broaden it out if you include all of the people, or do you just kind of punctuate employees?

And so there's no right or wrong answer, that's just the background in terms of some of the thinking behind it.

So I think you have a comment suggestion.

Okay, I can I can see the wheels going like this.

So what do you what do you guys think?

Um Sydia or Avindale, or we put it back here?

What what do you guys what are your thoughts?

We should be removed the independent officers and make it elected leaders and employees.

They're important.

They are important, but I just feel like well, is there anything other than those four groups?

Do we have anything other than the four groups?

What about how about if you say elected leaders?

Employees and strategic partners or something like that.

Um that includes your boards and commissioners.

Um but also suggests that we have a bigger agency pool.

Okay.

Right.

Because we have nonprofits that we're also working with that are all about collaborating together to be a model of innovation efficiency and responsibility.

I cut you off, I apologize.

Is that okay?

Yep.

Model of innovation.

Okay, we we can again we can wordsmith and fine-tune uh in hindsight, but the the gist is okay.

Okay.

What do we think success looks like in this area?

I would just say like when we're talking about strategic partners that we have outcomes that we kind of have, that they provide outcomes, especially for providing grants to them, right?

And that we're seeing you know, the outcomes of those grants, um, and that they're positive.

I think they're actually moving the needle for what we've given them funds for.

Um that for us that we're responsive um to the residents.

We attend our meetings, we are doing our coffee with the council, you know, and different things.

I think um when I think about uh the innovative piece for our city, I I don't know if we recognize enough the level of certification and recognition the individual staff and team members get in their industries.

I know uh I I'd be remiss if I tried to name all the departments.

Each one of our departments have award-winning sectors, individuals in their own right and their industries, and so we get a lot of recognition um throughout the departments, and so um to me that's that's the outcome we want to continue to see, and so it's not even like we want to get there.

You guys are there already.

They are the best in class.

Yeah, and so want to continue to see them, you know, win top awards and in every aspect.

I I I can't go through all 16 departments because each of them have something they're doing that's phenomenal, and individuals that get individual recognition on top of that.

So a national uh national uh certified departments, yeah.

Uh and then uh what about um our uh community survey we did a couple years ago or a year ago?

Um high response rates.

Well, and the results, how did what do they say?

Yeah, and results.

Yep.

Would um uh back to council member white.

Um I'm not a big award guy.

I I don't like to spend money on getting an award just to recognize what we did, but but that would be one of the way to identify uh innovation.

Um our IT department wins innovation awards, uh media, they are they win some innovation awards.

Of course we have the innovation team, so awards would be, you know, more awards would be um and then um any budget outcome that um for efficiency is there anything for efficiency that that council could think that the success would look like?

I know that our you know Fitch credit rating went up in the last couple of years.

Um our credit reserve levels, yeah.

Yeah, all those types of things that have monetary impact so that when we do go up for a bond, our interest rates are lower to our um to our residents and taxpayers.

So I think that's super huge, but then tied to that is that good governance.

So we have to demonstrate our ability to um govern um i in a manner that shows that we're independent thinkers but collaborative doers.

I would also say that when other municipalities replicate what we've done.

Like the We Ride and some of the other things that now other cities are utilizing as part of their process because they're that's being the model of innovation, right?

Yeah.

Being an example that people want to follow.

Right.

Excellent.

All right, well, is there anything that we haven't talked about in terms of kind of the big rocks?

And we'll get to the details that we want to kind of revisit or mention here now.

Or you feel maybe go back.

Can you go back to the slide that shows just all five?

Um just to make I just want to kind of do an affirming, like, yeah, these feel like the big rocks.

And we'll work through the details of the language, but I want to make sure that we're not missing anything important or or such.

So we'll pull that back up.

Uh and then we will take a break and come back about details.

Mr.

Mayor, um, would it be alright?

Uh can we put that question out to the rest of the the department heads?

Just in case um some have been bashful.

I I think uh I don't know if it was Harold or uh Eric, they were up there kind of uh jittery up there, but that may just be coffee.

I I wasn't sure.

Uh but it is there uh uh or there HR or I know um we have a lot of uh very smart talented directors in here.

Um and so if the mayor, if it pleases, you'd like to.

No, I'm all I'm all for that uh opening it up to other members of different departments and directors' leadership.

And these looking pretty easy.

And keeping in mind that not everything has to land in the strategic plan.

Just we want to keep this still cooking.

Yeah, we could put things at bike rec too, yeah.

Okay.

I think I don't know if this is more, this might fall more under the strategy portion, but we've talked or this has come up a few times over the last couple days about the culture of Avondale.

So I think ensuring that um maintaining or putting at the forefront that Avondale is an employer of choice or or working towards maintaining that um is important so that we as an organization don't lose sight of uh making sure that we're being competitive, that we're offering uh an attractive benefits package that we're retaining the employees that we currently have.

Um and I think on the flip side, I know we're talking about a customer survey um and and looking at the uh impacts of that, but also an employee engagement survey to ensure that um those results are reflective of having a workforce that can support innovation efficiency and responsiveness.

So those would be my my recommendations.

Mr.

Mayor, so the outcomes on the innovative effective government, one of them would be uh low turnover rate and lower vacancy rate, uh, two things that we do measure, and we are working on the others for for outcomes for individual strategies.

But thank you, uh Andy.

Anybody else in the room that I was just gonna share on innovative and effective government.

Um those are key terms that are listed there, and also I think not just with my department and development services, but there's other departments that we work with regularly when it comes to just growing and building the city and trying to align our vision with where we want to have an able to being innovative in the sense of streamlining creating enhancements, having unique processes or ways of customer service or plan review, and engaging citizens to want to be more involved early on in the process are things we've been working towards that not all communities do.

So I think those are things we can look forward to improving in the long run.

I don't know necessarily where that all fits in.

But I just wanted to share that perspective.

No, I I think these are really great examples about how like specifying the big rocks, the outcomes you want to focus on, translate into the focus and the work that the city is doing.

So how you're evaluating and and fine-tuning your development review process, how you are supporting a culture that attracts and maintains your workforce.

You know, these are the strategies in the translation of having these big rocks.

So thank you.

But we got up here back there.

I like the idea for the innovative and effective government to um perhaps add the word customer focused in there to pivot off of uh Jody's point.

Something about customer focused or customer service.

Under innovative and effective government?

Yeah, okay.

And customers, by the way, external and internal, right?

Depending on where you sit.

Yeah.

Okay.

Great.

All right.

Well, so I think we have beat these up to death a little bit in a really positive way.

So again, you'll anticipate seeing fresh versions of the statements on these when it comes back to you.

We'll break now.

Look at that.

We were searching for 1150.

We've got pretty close, right?

Not bad.

So do how much do you want to take a half hour for lunch, or do you want do you need more time?

What are your thoughts on a lunch break?

Half an hour?

30 minutes.

Okay, so we'll we'll we'll do a soft 30 minutes.

Um and if if we aren't all back, we'll wait, but we won't start without you.

Um we'll shoot for that.

That way we can get through the strategies and maybe we'll even wrap up a little bit uh ahead of time.

We'll see.

Give it two o'clock.

All right.

And yeah, half hour lunch time.

Um we'll start again round 20 after or so.

Everybody feel nourished, recharged, not ready for a nap.

That's that's the goal.

And if you are, then we're gonna give you more candy.

Okay.

So before I switch this over and start looking at the um potential strategies, I want to just kind of give some context about what's on there and what's not on there.

Uh so um so we were trying to frame out and anticipate and do some mind melding ahead of time.

So you know, we've done some revisions, obviously.

So over lunch, we did an attempt to kind of give some examples of strategies, and what we'd like to do in our time together this afternoon is for each of those uh focus areas, the outcome areas to talk about, you know, what are some of the big strategies, kind of thinking at a relatively high level still, but what do you want to focus on?

Um we will still work through Ron and the staff to kind of think and make sure we're not missing anything important that might tie in there.

Uh so you'll have a chance to see those pieces together.

Uh and we can certainly invite uh department heads to weigh in, but I want to resist the temptation to go into everything.

I want to hit the highest points, and then we can always fill in the blanks from there.

If that is it makes sense to everybody else.

Okay.

Uh and so also uh when you look at what we have, it's really mashed up because I was looking at what you had before and what I was hearing.

And so this is just my like you know, saving face caveat that it's probably not all right.

But it's a good starting point, hopefully, and gives you an idea.

All right, so economic growth and prosperity.

We have taken the current state of the goal statement and put it up at the top, knowing that that will still be refined.

But just we updated that so that it reflected the conversation from this morning.

So we're not gonna revisit that part today.

Uh but here for economic development, there are a lot of things here.

And I know that Jen will have thoughts and opinions about uh what this ought to look like.

And uh we've tried to reflect on some of the goals in the economic strategic plan, but also as a saving grace, we just said implement.

The city's economic development strategic plan.

And so that's also here.

Um but I wanted to kind of run through these and then have some conversation around what misses the mark, what's missing, uh, and we'll take notes.

We're not gonna wordsmith here, but we'll get the notes in there so we can bring back the full set of strategies.

Um I don't have the benefit of a handout, so I'm gonna have to read up this way that I'm looking.

Um so obviously implementing the city's economic development strategic plan, there's a lot in there, and it's got a lot of clear direction, and so that's really your your beacon in this area for a lot of things.

Um but also I heard you know, advancing redevelopment opportunities.

You know, I heard that was part of the presentation yesterday.

There are probably other things that will come up, and so investing in advancing those opportunities when they arise.

Work with community partners to expand employment opportunities for residents through job training and placement program.

Uh that probably should be a plural at the end there.

Um so some of these you can see there's the strategy around how you do it, with working with others if it's not something the city's doing directly.

We know that we need something around kind of career youth training and development.

We don't have a language on it, but we put a placeholder as the conversation this morning.

Collaborating with strategic partners to attract business development opportunities, expanding city branding to increase tourism.

Some of these I should also say we looked at the strategies from the last strategic plan and where there were things that seem like they may be still um linked to some of the work you're doing.

We tried to keep them there or modify them.

So some may seem familiar.

And then we had the last one there.

Oh no, sorry, develop a mix of housing options and then develop new recreation and entertainment options.

We have a lot of options in there.

So uh content-wise and ideas, you know, not withstanding the specific words.

Thoughts.

And hopefully this gives a flavor of what we're talking about when we're talking about strategy level.

Can I plant a few more seeds while they're thinking?

Yes.

So um I would get rid of expand the branding city branding to create tourism.

Uh more beyond that.

What I would say is create a tourism opportunities, create tourism activities, create focal points for uh for tourism, but but the brand isn't really the issue right now.

We've got Discover Avendal, which is beautiful, we've got the Abbeywise, we've got all that.

Now it's about creating real tourism, real events, real parks, real uh wetlands, real trails that would bring people to our communities.

So generating tourism.

I can work with you on this stuff.

Okay.

So generating tourism opportunities.

All right.

Um Yeah, one other one is I really think we need to put in, we have um uh well, I guess maybe it maybe we leave it as economic uh implement the city's economic development plan.

Never mind.

I was thinking of old town, but I think just saying that alone, then we have that, we have her plan to reference which has that in it.

So I think we're probably covered there.

And there may be other things that are here that are in there that I mean we can do some some kind of cleaning up a little bit, I think, as a result, but um that's such a complete document.

So my thoughts and create slash generate and market tourism opportunities.

Okay.

Did I see hot air balloons or hot air balloons coming this way?

Again, not not getting into the weeds, but one other thing here is I think um plan for um plan or create uh infrastructure that supports economic development.

So um I know we'll talk about infrastructure and I think about water and I think about roads and the costs of those kinds of projects, but I think we have to somehow, as part of our economic development plan to prioritize uh water use and dollars for infrastructure because this infrastructure dollars will be specific for the business and not the community.

So off-site improvements, offsets or their water and sewer connections, and and if we're going to attract when I think about uh what other city did recently, they dedicated about 35 million dollars to their project out of city coffers.

We don't now do that.

We don't we don't set aside city dollars for economic development.

But you'll see in the next couple of years, we're gonna be asking for some of that.

Uh it'll be up to you to decide for each project, but I think um dedicating um city resources to attract businesses is is maybe how you say that, but and and living within our water means and sewer capacities and and those kinds of things.

Do we want to say invest in infrastructure that supports economic development activity?

Yeah, I mean that's uh all we talked about at lunch, by the way, was where we literally just have that's all we talk about is how can we invest in infrastructure, especially some of our wastewater or sewer and um lines to reach the raceway, for example.

So I think we we definitely should put invest or plan.

And then also I talked with Jody about rezoning.

So there could be another part about getting, you know, probably preparing land uses or anticipating land uses for our next general plan or future development.

Annexation.

That's another thing.

We would maybe some more pre-annexation strategies.

Is that something that is on the radar for the next five years?

Annexation.

I don't know that uh I wouldn't put annexation strategy because it's not like uh it's not significant.

Okay.

So it's really about things.

It's not about city growth over size, it's about the annexing land or the pockets.

So it'll naturally come up through our need for it on the zone.

I don't know that I wouldn't use the word annexing.

Right scary for some people.

Yeah, and that's not what that's not the kind of we're not trying to add it to neighborhoods.

Talking about neighborhoods or vacant land that's ready to be.

I I still think invest in um infrastructure invest planning and investment in infrastructure for the or I was gonna say something along the lines of um plan for the um where's where the words coming from I'm in the corner.

Hold on, let me move this over.

Here, I'm gonna move this out of the way.

Along the line of things that you just both were talking about, maybe state um invest in the completion of land within our planning boundary area.

Yeah, I I don't it's again, this is council's document.

I don't know that we need to get specific.

I'm trying to keep high level at this point.

Uh we'll come back later with some ideas on actually what we'll implement.

So we're just trying to get over reaching that's part of what we're doing uh in the investing and planning for.

Yeah, exactly.

And I might add just for everybody in the room too, you know, the focus on growth and prosperity, economic growth and prosperity, you know, where and how that touches any department, like you're thinking now about okay, that's a that's a priority.

That's what we're focused on.

And so it may not be a strategy written to the strategic plan, but it's still the alignment.

And so, you know, that's how this is a governing document, if you will.

And so, you know, it's really tempting always to put everything in there, but then it gets watered down and you don't see the big, you don't see the force for the trees, right?

And so that's what we want to try to get.

We do have the workforce development programs.

Yeah.

Well, I would say expand.

Okay.

Expand youth career training workforce development programs.

Development is broad and encompasses a variety of opportunities.

Okay.

And then we had originally dropped in the pursues state route 30 opportunities, but it sounds like that's gonna be more down the road.

And so that's why we we left it there to check our sumptions that put us right through the last one at the bottom there, pursue state uh Route 30 opportunities related related to economics.

I would say plan for even though it's not gonna be built, um, I think as soon as the east side starts to develop, people will start realizing it.

The price of land will jack up and they'll start uh thinking about their own opportunities.

I think we do need to plan for STAT REATE 30.

Um, yeah, because already, for example, we have developers and brokers contacting us currently inquiring about the route map and what land opportunities or land use is available for them today.

So we'll have to you're right, figure out how to plan.

Okay, so keeping a spotlight on that as a future.

I think it's a big deal to council that this R 30.

Well, that's what we had originally in here.

I wasn't understanding the timing and the scope.

The timing will be outside the strategic plan, but the planning for that will not be.

Okay.

Good.

All right.

From council, is there anything that gives you heartburn that's missing here?

Right.

I mean, that's that's something that covers so much.

Luckily, we just heard a whole presentation on it yesterday, so we have a sense of what's in there.

Um, yeah.

Okay.

All right.

Well, also, I mean, I to the point about grocery stores.

I do think that you know, part of the benefit of having this kind of an activity and process is that you know there are specific interests that are in your mind when you think you individually about economic development uh and what that looks like.

And so understanding and hearing that conversation is also gonna be very helpful.

So anyway.

Okay.

So we'll keep going.

All right.

So our next one is on community well-being.

These first two are the ones that have a lot of a lot of things in here, not surprising.

Um it will come up, it'll catch up with us in a minute.

There we go.

And so you know, this encompasses a lot of things.

It includes, you know, access to health care and wellness programs and services, safety and security as well, also all of the natural um resource amenities that we talked about.

And so here, like the economic development strategic plan, um, we heard about the city's uh sustainability plan.

And so that also seems to incorporate a lot of um recommendations around how you're going to pursue that.

And then we also have promote healthy living to access with access to recreational and other amenities.

Uh so this kind of whole promise uh premise of creating uh an active community.

Uh promote and expand Avondale's natural asset, touches parks, trails, rivers, wilderness areas to residents, visitors, and businesses.

Uh so the park or the sorry, the trail system that we were talking about earlier, and you know, making that system complete and expanded.

I think we fall in there.

Uh connecting with and educating residents on safety resources, um partner with key stakeholders to implement integrated community health care and wellness resources, and then we know that we'll need to work together on some strategies related to social human service programs.

Um so we'll make sure to work with Chris to name those.

But thoughts, I'm sure that you have some on this one.

So the bull point number two access to recreational and other amenities.

That be specific to recreational programming or just recreation in general.

Well, yeah, I think it could be both.

Um I mean this is this is a conversation of what do you want that to look like.

Um in drafting it, it was thinking about it could be programming, it could be parks, right?

It's you know, it's both.

I see what I see an idea bubble popping up over there.

No, go ahead, Corey.

No, I I agree.

I think it it both, and then also the idea that it's not all offered through the city either.

There could be a public-private partnership or uh a partnership in general with a nonprofit that can coordinate us and expanding our reach, uh without us having to take it on, you know, maybe we're a facilitator or we're helping them with space.

Um I do think if we're gonna call it the sustainability plan, then there would be an opportunity to maybe reference the the recently adopted parks recreation master library master plan.

Um but this is not a 10-year master plan.

I know this is a little bit of a different timeline, but um and then we I we talk about annexation, which I don't like, I know we don't love that word, but we have to start talking about um securing parkland or working with developers to increase parkland so amenities and uh access can keep up with our growth.

Mr.

Mayor, but that's covered in uh expand Avondale's natural assets, such as parks and trails.

Yeah, that's very so that that's covered in in there.

Um so part bullet point too, then going back to Corey's point about this being more than just Avondale programming.

I'm not sure how we would uh convey that or communicate it.

Well, Mr.

Mayor, I like the word access to.

Yeah.

Because it doesn't say we will provide uh recreational opportunities, we're gonna provide access to it.

So the way we get access for our residents is giving them a discount or a partnership program that we've created.

So um we don't have to have a million employees to put on all these events.

So I think as long as the word access to recreational activities and other amenities are um for all ages, but we'll kind of word submit that later.

But yeah, and the prom the promoting healthy living also, like that you're you're making sure to make those opportunities abundant.

It doesn't mean that you are delivering them directly always.

So I think the combination of promoting that healthy lifestyle and providing access to, I think both of those things can work through partners or directly.

I don't know how to address it or speak to these, but I I just wanted to call them out.

Um we have really great emergency management strategies in place that really submits to the community well-being, but we have to kind of speak to that here.

And then I also um not sure how many folks are aware of it, but right now a lot of the schools kind of provide nutritional support to prevent food insecurity in our most vulnerable populations.

I don't know if there's a way to speak to that nutritional uh because we have agricultural roots and we want to still promote cultivating, whether now it's not that large ag, maybe it's that yard egg um in cultivation, but something that would speak to um adding some nutritional aspect in that requiring it, just saying, you know, we have it here and and not the retail aspect because people still grow and eat the food here in Avondale.

Well, and maybe with um the second one there, the the healthy living, maybe there's something around you know education around, right?

Because if it sounds like it was something happening in the schools, it's not something that um the city's really delivering directly, but it's important to the community and that whole promoting a healthy living, and so you know it's you know it could be potentially a part of that in weaving it in if we're trying to capture that.

Underneath uh education, I was going to add the safety resources, but healthy lifestyle, like you know, educating people on how to have a life, a healthy lifestyle.

So I may so it sound like that second bullet we really need to think about how we um the education around it could maybe even go into that fourth bullet, which is focused on education.

Council member wise, I I'm lost under the connect with and educate resident which line are you on?

I'm sorry.

And number four, I was just feeling like the education of the residents, like that's where we can talk about their healthy lifestyle.

So we're educating them on the safety resources we have, but healthy lifestyle.

I like that.

Yep, we'll work on that.

And then if I may, uh on the emergency management, I I think we have to have a bullet in here about um public safety.

I I don't think it's really addressed well.

So I I think a maintain um as a top priority the uh safety of our residents in the community, including police, fire, emergency management, those kinds of things.

I think it's real important that we have that in there.

And then uh a little bit of what Councilmember White was talking about, and I think the social services, and I don't know if I want to say address or assist with, but um meeting the needs of all of our community residents, regardless of their um need.

So I was thinking of the food addressing um food insecurity.

I was thinking of addressing homelessness.

I was thinking of dr the R ADA programs for homes that would that we work through, our mills on wheels for seniors, so all of that we're addressing water and heat bill assistance, the rental assistance, all those things too.

And again, I don't know that it's our city's responsibility to provide all those things, but maybe it's facilitate the uh our uh directing resources to improve the quality of life for all of our residents, including food and shelter or something.

I don't know.

That word.

Of course there's a term for that.

So we'll work together.

Does that make sense too?

Well, no, we have for the it totally makes sense.

We'll make that the one that's currently just kind of a placeholder.

We can work together on that one.

And good catch.

We definitely need to have something around safety in there.

We have it in our statement above.

Um there was um in the last strategic plan, and we actually were just looking at this, there was a statement around emergency preparedness and response um that had been included.

It hadn't come up in any of the conversations, and so we're like, okay, well, maybe it's not something that carries forward now, but maybe it does.

Well, the um I think um our community respects and is appreciative of our um public safety departments.

So I don't know that it always comes up in topic because of where we're currently at as a community.

It's it's just a it's an it's an expectance and accepted uh uh thing.

I I do have one other thing, Mr.

Member Ken, and that is um code.

So um we have emphasized uh beautifying the city significantly over the last couple of years.

We've increased our code enforcement, we've enforced our education of the community, we've uh torn down some homes that were dilapidated.

So we've spent a lot of effort uh beautifying the city, and so I didn't know if this would be a place that we would put in there to um uh maintain to enforce to uh ensure that our city is uh beautiful or it's not the right word, but someone smarter than you well maintained.

Yeah, it looks sustainable communities heading in our it's all yeah.

And this is probably then well I guess I so a question I would ask Dell's advocate here is if it's something you've worked on, is we don't do you want to maintain to capture everything?

And maybe you do.

We need to improve it.

We it's uh it's a work in progress.

We continue to get new pro we just implemented a new program last week.

So I think it's something we're still evolving through.

Um the uh the house uh thing program's only been in effect for about a year, right?

The the what do you call it the the house teardown?

Um no, we've been doing that for a while.

Okay, made it a priority in the last year.

We just started enforcing it last year.

Okay.

All right.

Well, so I think some of this functioning we can maybe talk about a little bit of a lot of different things.

But I just want to make sure back to council.

Council was okay with including some type of code enforcement in your list of priorities.

I'm I'm fine with it.

Anybody else have any feedback or issues with it?

All right, so a few things to incorporate into this one and some language to refine.

Um really hit the marks in terms of the topics, do you think?

Sure.

Yeah.

All right.

Wow, look at this.

No, no, no.

That's okay.

It'll it'll hang out here for a while.

But um we talked about the sustainability plan, but also networks?

And so while we're talking about that, I know the economic development plan.

Jen, maybe refresh my memory.

Did we talk about the health care corridor enough that we don't need to mention um facilitating access to health care in as a bullet on this one?

It's part of the plan, it's part of the overarching uh statement, uh, ensuring having access to quality health care, but then we don't really talk about anything below about doing anything to improve access to health care.

I know we have some comments in the economic development plan that's in the other one.

I just want to make sure councils I think the development of the social and human services strategy to be able to speak to that.

So I thought that parentheses would kind of encompass that as we build that out and kind of give us the place to put those actual words in there to match that.

Um but I I just I wouldn't know what words to use right now because when I think about social and human services, all I can think about are those partners that were here on our healthcare panel.

So those those are the services we offer.

We just need to call them out.

Yeah.

Well, and because so much of it is dependent on the relationships and the the work of the partners, you want to make sure that you don't over tilt here and be like, we're gonna do these things when actually it takes takes a village.

Okay.

All right.

Are we ready to go to the next one?

Okay.

Connected in an engaged community.

Next one.

Pop up and just here we have fewer strategies you will see.

Um so we're a little bit more focused.

So there's nothing wrong with that, I will say the ones that we started off with are big and you know, bodacious outcomes areas.

These are a little bit more focused.

Uh so we have a few things here.

So identify and implement communication strategies for increased engagement and education.

Um that's just you know, go do pretty much.

Expand communication and public engagement with Denver Demographics, which was something we heard a little bit about in terms of the priority of engaging.

Celebrate with Avondale business sorry, collaborate and then celebrate.

Uh collaborate with the Avondale business community to encourage partnerships and develop program ambassadors.

And this may be something that's better suited to the economic development or economic vitality economic growth and prosperity.

Uh and the last one, effectively utilize technology to enhance communication and access to the city services, which is the technology one you're mentioning.

Yeah.

I don't see us um talking about artificial intelligence to help bridge the gap between like Abby Wise maybe using a little bit more uh AI that powers some of the you know technology that we already have to find some of the efficiency.

So I I think that um when we look at connecting our community, artificial intelligence is just going to be something that we have to leverage as infrastructure.

Um and so unfortunately I don't see anything that recognizes that when I see effectively utilize technology, um, artificial intelligence uh and other means to enhance communication and innovation.

Okay, so either we can we can include you know examples, right?

Including AI.

Uh it's also something we might want to look at with the innovative uh government area too, right?

Because if it's you know how do you access you know programs or resources or information, that might be in how you're delivering services as opposed to this one, which is really focused on that communication channel, I think.

Um but it's up to you guys.

I think uh the reason I say that, and this is probably sensitive, however, um we have um we have things in two languages, so sometimes you can automate later uh yep, automate the AI translation services just because uh we're still uh majority Latina Hispanic community, so we want to be able to speak to our residents, but you might not want to have a live access voice.

You might want that AI technology to generate well, and I think the effectively utilizing technology to enhance communication probably speaks to the translation services you're describing, and some of that.

So Katie and I were just talking about one of the missing um could be missing pieces is uh for the uh engaged community, connected community is our special events.

So a lot of the event, a lot of the feedback we got in the master the parks master plan and other even during the meetings, um the wanting to honor the sense of community we currently have, and one of the ways that we plan to do that is through smaller, more frequent community events.

So I think something about um uh implement to um put on host thank you uh uh community events uh that create opportunities for connection.

Um and that can be very general from formal meetings to park meeting to park events to our academies to all sorts of things, but then well, I was just gonna say so.

Along the freeway we have the um signs, the signage that digital signs.

But that's the only place we have them, which I know is that's fine.

I know around the route or route 30, we're probably that might be another opportunity to have them.

But people do look at them, and and that might be another way for us to advertise what's going on in the city more frequently.

Um and just updating because I know as you're driving by, if you see something, oh, this weekend there's something there.

Um I know we have them, but maybe just utilizing that type of technology more too.

Yeah, no, I think it fits under a number of whatever number that is for up there.

Yeah, but I think that's a great idea.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's good.

It's technology.

Okay, so that also hosting community and special events doing creates opportunities for connection.

I love that.

You know, broadening the dis definition around connected community.

All right, anything else?

That's it.

That's what I was gonna say before.

Is um is this, I know it's in the other area, yeah.

I told you I'm just a parent.

I'm just repeating what's too to me.

Um go ahead, Katie.

No, um uh uh trails, and I was thinking of we ride.

I know we talk about in other areas as well, but part of what I think um council highly prioritizes is getting lighted trails, getting trails that are connected.

We have some footbridges that I know are desired.

So again, it's a l I know a lot of this was about connecting information and creating social connections, but not being able to get there is a is a barrier.

So again, it might be just worth repeating in this area.

The council prioritizes uh the creation of um multimodal connections so people can get from point A to point B, how many improvement you move and a lot of that goes to like your pedestrian?

Yeah, bike friendly bike friendly production.

Well we have that in transportation though, right?

We do.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

I don't know if this is the right place.

But one of the reasons we're doing it is so people can get connected.

And I and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to have you know different dimensions in both places.

It's I think that's okay.

Um and at a minimum, it'll make sure that we capture it and get the words into the document.

Um but they are serving a little bit different purposes, it sounds like okay.

And the last thing I can think of is um investing in facilities that promote engagement.

So when I think about our parks investing in our parks, when I think of investing in our libraries, when I think of investing in stuff, part of what we're doing, um a museum to honor our first responders, hopefully.

Um it's about creating spaces.

Maybe that's the word creating spaces for connections.

Yeah, public spaces can public community spaces.

Did you go have a comment, Mayor?

No, no, I agree.

I mean, thinking about uh situations like the um the rehab to one of our community centers, uh utilizing grant funding to uh make changes to some of the libraries that allow for that connectivity to happen.

So it goes in line with what Ron just mentioned.