May City Council Message
By: Todd Steinbrink, Contact this Council member
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YOU have a role on City Council
Early next year, City Council and members of City staff will begin crafting the next 5 year strategic plan for Montgomery. Our 2006 strategic plan has played an important role in defining the longer term vision for our city; its services, amenities, and outreach activities.
The goal of any municipal strategic planning process is to clarify the direction for staff and generate ideas for proactively enhancing the community. A few major objectives set forth in 2006 are accomplishments evident around the community today.
A detailed park study and planning initiative resulted in numerous upgrades to the parks and playing fields, improved common areas in the downtown district and expanded health and fitness opportunities.
Stewardship of the public treasury prioritized our capital spending needs for our aging infrastructure. This planning allows road paving, right-of-way and sidewalk programs to move forward despite the bleaker economic environment.
A comprehensive review of our business districts and update of the building code will shape future development with improved practical and aesthetic guidelines.
Prioritizing professional resident and business customer service levels within every department has been one of the most successful, though possibly least visible, areas of progress. It is evidenced by the numerous awards and recognition received both locally and nationally for our staff’s exceptional creative and cost-saving mindset.
One of the most interesting areas elevated to a primary strategic goal was that of citizen outreach – plans to actively engage with and collect feedback from you. Hopefully, a large number of you responded to the recent survey conducted on our behalf by the University of Cincinnati. This is one of the key tools for assessing the quality of services and amenities currently offered by the city.
But it’s not the only one. We’ve created several ways for citizens to more directly engage the city. “Open City Hall” was initiated on the website two years ago to collect thoughts about various topics within our community. Each February, we sponsor a Community Forum, where this year over 60 people attended to learn more about what is happening in our city. One of the most progressive ideas implemented was the Montgomery Citizens’ Leadership Academy started 3 years ago. Each year, a class of 25 residents takes advantage of the opportunity to be civic leaders, peeking behind the scenes of every function of the city. The graduates gain hands-on experience and interaction across a wide range of city functions, and many are bringing their new knowledge and applying it via a variety of volunteer and leadership opportunities within the city.
I assure you I speak for all of council when I say we appreciate the feedback we receive from you. We look forward to incorporating your input during our upcoming planning process. Send us an email, stop us in Kroger – whatever works for you - just be sure to give us your thoughts on what we can do together to continue making Montgomery a great place to live.