Several Bartlesville residents turned out last week for public meetings held to gain input on the City of Bartlesville’s Strategic Plan. The plan will provide direction for the City’s organizational practices and goals for the next three to five years.
Contract consultant Patrick Ibarra of the Mejorando Group was in town March 28-29 to kick off the planning process. Ibarra facilitated two public meetings held at the Bartlesville Community Center, as well as workshop sessions with members of the City Council and City employees.
In all, approximately 80 local residents turned out to share ideas about the City’s strengths, challenges, trends and potential associated outcomes. Common themes discussed include affordable housing, economic development, street improvements, sidewalk construction, diversity issues, volunteerism and homelessness.
Ibarra pointed out the strategic plan is separate from the City budget, which determines how taxpayer money is spent.
“The strategic plan isn’t about money, it’s about time,” he said. “The City can do anything it chooses, but it can’t do everything. This plan is an opportunity to identify the things are most important for Bartlesville and identify where City leaders and staff should spend their time.”
In the next step of the process, the City will launch an online questionnaire to gain more input from the public. The survey should be available next week. The Survey Monkey link will be available in City Beat, on the City’s Facebook page, City of Bartlesville GOV, and at www.cityofbartlesville.org.
Information from all sources will be compiled and presented to the Strategic Plan Steering Committee, which will narrow the focus further and develop mission and vision statements and determine core values for the plan. The committee consists of Mayor Dale Copeland, City Manager Mike Bailey, Community Development Director Lisa Beeman, Human Resources Director Laura Sanders, Director of Engineering Micah Siemers, and Chief Communications Officer Kelli Williams.
The entire process is expected to wrap up by June 22, with possible council consideration for adoption during its July 5 meeting.
“We are very pleased with the level of public and employee participation in this process so far and want to thank everyone who took the time to attend one or more of the meetings last week,” said Bailey. “We look forward to continued interest in this project and a finished strategic plan that will help identify which areas of focus will best move Bartlesville forward and shape the direction of our organization over the next several years.”