Council’s strategic plan has too much ‘fluff’ language, says Swanson
The City of Moose Jaw’s strategic plan is pages long and has many aspirational statements, but Coun. Brian Swanson believes all that “fluff” can be edited down to one effective sentence.
The municipality’s strategic plan contains the vision, mission and values that council and administration want to guide the community into the future. It has been developed during the last 16 months, after council and the strategic leadership team held a planning meeting in June 2018 with author Doug Griffiths, who wrote “13 Ways to Kill Your Community.”
The purpose of that session, explained city manager Jim Puffalt, was to identify new opportunities, actions and tactics to successfully move the community forward. From the meeting, the leadership team understood that new ways of implementing policies and practices were needed to be effective in a changing environment. Moose Jaw has moved away from a traditional value and mission statement since every community wants to be a progressive and sustainable community of choice where people want to live, work and raise a family, Puffalt continued. It’s possible for council and city administration to do that and recognize diverse opinions if decisions are made for the good of the community while following accepted values. Council and the leadership team are holding another meeting with Griffiths on Wednesday, Nov. 6 to fine-tune the objectives going forward, Puffalt told city council during its Oct. 15 regular meeting.
Council later voted 6-1 to receive and file Puffalt’s report. Swanson was opposed.
When this was discussed behind closed doors two weeks ago, it was pointed out that council is three-quarters of the way through its mandate and yet is still working on its strategic plan, said Swanson, who noted he is not a fan of strategic planning.
While the strategic plan is pages long, Swanson refined the document down to 21 words: “Rehabilitate the city’s core infrastructure, water distribution and roadways, in a cost-effective manner that seeks to minimize impact on property taxpayers.”
“I believe that sums up what duty calls for us very concisely,” he said. “All this other stuff I consider fluff (and) bureaucratic quicksand, where elected officials willingly diminish their role and responsibility.”
There is more than one area that city council and the community have recognized as needing attention, said Mayor Fraser Tolmie. For example, the West Park Community
Association spoke to council about upgrading the playground in that area. While residents want their roads paved and cleared, garbage collected and recycling picked up, they also want to live in a safe community where they don’t fear being robbed, he continued.
The values statement is important since it was more than just council that developed it, Tolmie pointed out. It was also the chamber of commerce and Tourism Moose Jaw that contributed ideas. “And they care about different things and yes, we do have a core job, which we have been working on,” Tolmie said, “and we have spent more money in the past three years on infrastructure than in any period of this city’s history.
“There is no fluff,” he added. “Our community and our council (are) working very hard to improve this city and improve it for the citizens of Moose Jaw.”