City Commission Strategic Plan Workshop - February 14, 2025
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City Commission Strategic Plan Workshop
On February 14, 2025, the Sarasota City Commission held a workshop from 9:45 AM to 2:49 PM to review and update the City's Strategic Plan. Facilitated by independent consultant Martin Hurwitz, the Commission discussed and revised the mission statement, vision statement, conducted a SWOT analysis, identified 13 strategic goals, and outlined next steps for project prioritization.
Discussion Items
- Mission Statement Revision: The Commission discussed the existing mission statement and proposed modifications. After deliberation, they agreed to a new mission statement: “To provide high quality and responsive services to our residents, businesses, and visitors while safeguarding our natural resources, preserving our cultural heritage, and building a prosperous community for all.” The inclusion of “responsive” and “for all” were key additions.
- Vision Statement Development: The Commission crafted a new vision statement: “A city with enduring natural beauty, charm, and diversity, and the opportunity to pursue a variety of interests and to thrive.” The previous vision included the phrase “world-class,” which was removed due to concerns about arrogance and vagueness.
- SWOT Analysis: The Commission identified strengths (natural beauty, arts/culture, philanthropy, tax base, tourism), weaknesses (disparate treatment/opportunity, affordable/workforce housing shortage, inadequate transportation), opportunities (managed growth, economic development, transportation improvements, climate resiliency), and threats (climate change, short-term rentals, rising cost of living, seasonal economic cycle).
- Strategic Goals: The Commission adopted 13 high-level goals: Accessible and responsive government; Sound financial decision making; Inclusive and diverse community; Economic development and sustainability; Data-driven decision making; Information distribution; Climate resiliency; Improve infrastructure; Robust connectivity including green alternatives; Protecting oversight of City assets/investments; Diversity of housing options; Fostering arts, culture, and history; Community safety.
- Strategic Statement: The Commission agreed to structure the strategic statement as: The vision statement followed by “by prioritizing the allocation of the city’s resources to projects making a positive contribution to one or more of the following commission goals.”
- Top Ten Projects: Each Commissioner was asked to submit a list of their top ten projects by March 7, 2025, with their number one priority indicated. The top five projects will be derived from these submissions.
Key Outcomes
- Mission Statement Adopted: “To provide high quality and responsive services to our residents, businesses, and visitors while safeguarding our natural resources, preserving our cultural heritage, and building a prosperous community for all.”
- Vision Statement Adopted: “A city with enduring natural beauty, charm, and diversity, and the opportunity to pursue a variety of interests and to thrive.”
- 13 Strategic Goals: Listed above.
- Strategic Statement Framework: Vision statement + resource allocation to projects meeting at least one goal.
- Next Steps: The facilitator will compile the day’s work into a draft document for Commissioner review and comment. The document will then be finalized in conjunction with the City Manager’s office and brought back to the Commission for formal approval. Commissioners are to submit their top ten project lists by March 7, 2025. A follow-up workshop will be scheduled to prioritize projects.
Meeting Transcript
Call this strategic uh planning um session to session. All right. For the record, my name's Martin Hurlitz, and I'm here to facilitate facilitate a workshop on strategic planning. I thought it would be nice. I first of all, I thank you all for dedicating this type of time. Oh, I have the uh lava. Okay, sorry. Thank you. And how it will impact the city. What's your vision for the future of the city? Before we start, I was gonna say, I I I don't know that, you know, I I think we need to just talk this through. Yeah, I mean, I haven't written out that well, this is just not something that you have to this is not about what's going to be in the plan. This just about what each of you to share with each other, what you might see as a vision, not a vision statement. What you would like someone who comes to the city and leaves would say about it. But again, before we start, I would like a sense of how long you really anticipate we're going to be spending on this, because clearly this topic we could keep us here for three months. But I you know, I would like us to have a set time that we would end by unless when we reach that time we vote to extend. So do you have a time frame that you think that this should last? When you say this, do you mean the whole session? Yeah, today's session. You know, no, I don't. And the reason I don't is because it is going to depend on how quickly you all can agree on things that we need to agree upon for the strategic plan. If you would like me to say to you, we're going to spend 15 minutes on this and then move on, I can do that also. Well well, I mean, okay, I can turn that back when, you know, what do you believe are the end required end products for the day? Because uh what you sort of just described, I mean, I could see that we could wordsmith the city's vision for the next three weeks. So um that's why I'd like to see what then you expect are the end products for today, and then let's have a fixed end time. Let's do this. I thought that was a good way to break the ice. And what I was going to get to is after that was exactly what you're talking about, and tell you what we hope to accomplish today and what we are going to be working on today. So could we still set an end time just in case we don't get that finished today? I think it's scheduled till five o'clock. But well, I mean, it and I think after a certain length of time, the intensity of the thought process might mean that we're going to be burned out by three. Last time we did this at the Van Wazel, it was a whole day thing, right? Yes. Yeah. So I mean, when when we did this last time, he sort of led us through step by step, and we just, you know, we took each bite at the apple in and of itself, and just he just led us through pretty easily. I mean, I uh it was a while ago. Um com Commissioner, we the three of us were there, and I mean I didn't feel drained at the end of that last one. I don't know it was over a course of days, I think it was not just one day, like it is. No, I think it was too it was just one day. It was just one day. At the Van Wazel and Van Wizard. Yeah, but I thought it was like two days or something like that. No, the van it was one day at the van. One day, and I I I didn't feel drained. I was like forever. You what? Yeah. Mayor. Um so I can uh get into content. Um I believe strongly in long-range plans, in strategic plans.
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