The City Council on Monday approved a staff recommendation to award a contract to Mejandro Group to complete the City’s first Comprehensive Strategic Plan.
The council approved funding for the plan in the 2022-23 Fiscal Year Budget. An evaluation committee was formed consisting of several City staff members and Mayor Dale Copeland to consider the proposals. The list was whittled to just three candidates, with which interviews were conducted.
“After conducting the interviews, the evaluation committee chose to recommend Mejorando Group to the council,” said City Manager Mike Bailey. “Mejorando Group has excellent experience in municipal strategic planning for communities of our size, a great community outreach plan, and their pricing was within budget ($65,000).”
The process is expected to take several months to complete and will involve an in-depth look at the City’s organizational practices and provide direction for future operations. The plan will be the first undertaken by the City as an organization and is long overdue, Bailey said.
“I believe it’s important to the future of our community to be looking forward rather than just keeping up with operations day to day,” he said. “We have, in the past, and usually in partnership with other organizations, compiled several plans over the years for other planning purposes, but we’ve never examined the City of Bartlesville as an organization. Doing so will help us become an even stronger organization and better serve the public who rely on our programs and services.”
Public involvement should be expected with the planning process, including public meetings, outreach forums, online surveys, social media and other avenues of discussion. The outcome will be a written strategic plan document that presents the planning process, research, analysis, opportunities and strategies, along with an implementation plan that will guide the City for the next three to five years.
“The desired outcome is a vision for our community from our community members and leaders that will include specific visioning goals that will serve as a framework for the strategic planning process,” Bailey said. “The intention of this is to help identify and access the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the City of Bartlesville organization.”