Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 03-15-08 Special agenda Strategic Session — reading text

CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH Special City Council Meeting Agenda —March 15, 2008 —8: 00 A. M. FWB Senior Center 31 Memorial Parkway Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548 CALL TO ORDER AGENDA Strategic Planning Meeting —Strategic Assessment facilitated by Dr. Herb Marlowe. City Manager) ( See Backup) ADJOURN Any person who decides to appeal any decision made with respect to any matter at this meeting will need a record of the proceedings, and for such purpose may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. (FS286.0105). The City of Fort Walton Beach adheres to the American with Disabilities Act and will make reasonable modifications for access to this meeting upon request. Please call City Clerk Helen Spencer at 850 -833 -9509 to make a request. For Hearing Impaired dial the City Hall TDD # 850 -833 -9925 or 1- 800 -955- 8771( TDD) or 1- 800- 955 -8770 ( Voice). Requests must be received at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting in order to allow the City time to provide requested service.  City of Fort Walton Beach Memorandum To: Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers and Super Focus Group Members From: Joyce Shanahan, City Manager Subject: Strategic Planning Session Date: March 14, 2008 BACKGROUND: In 2004 the City began annual strategic planning sessions which resulted in yearly work plans for staff, as well as, providing guidance for budget development. Based upon input from council, staff level discussion and discussions with Dr. Herb Marlowe a more intensive strategic planning process was developed. This process will not only provide a planning document with tactical guidance on an annual basis, but provide greater emphasis for a longer range plan, three to five years into the future. 14th To that end staff met with Dr. Marlowe on January to begin the new strategic planning process. We reviewed with Dr. Marlowe key issues and trends staff felt were facing our community. Then Dr. Marlowe provided training to staff on how to conduct a value, needs and aspiration analysis (VNA) utilizing focus groups of citizens. Phase One of the Strategic Planning process was to conduct an environmental scan; with the purpose to identify the key issues and challenges, the opportunities, the organization' s capacity to respond to these issues, challenges and opportunities. To accomplish this objective a process was developed for stakeholder input. Staff mailed letters to approximately 500 citizens inviting them to attend a series of Focus Group Meetings. In addition there were two publicly advertised meetings. In total about 25 people attended the meetings and provided their feedback on the direction, focus and what was important to them for the future of our community. DISCUSSION: The next phase of the Strategic Planning Process is to undertake a strategic assessment. This 15th. will take place on Saturday March The goal is to identify the various futures that could reasonably occur and how the City would respond to each of those futures. Example — slower population growth in region, economic slowdown, property tax revenue vs. reduced high population growth, booming economy, stable property tax revenue. The Council and the Super Focus Group, comprised of citizens nominated by the Mayor and Council will discuss the issues facing our community, including internal and external issues such as property tax reform, devaluation of real estate, community expectations, growth, consolidation of services, etc. The first two phases of this revised strategic planning process were designed to generate feedback from our community about the core issues facing the community. Once identified, these issues will be used to identify future actions necessary to address these issues and shape the future of Fort Walton Beach. Page 1 CONCLUSION: The final phase of this Strategic Planning Process will take place in late April or early May. It will involve another Council workshop to take the core issues and values that were developed on March 14 and create an action plan to accomplish the identified objectives. The results will also be utilized to shape the budget development for FY 2008 -09 and beyond. Respectfully submitted: o c . Shanahan y Manager Attachments: 1. Special Meeting Notice 2. Strategic Planning Memo —December 6, 2007 3. Kick Off Meeting: Strategic Plan: Shaping the Strategic Core -Direction of FWB — 14 Jan 2008 4. Focus Group Feed Back 5. Summary Budget Data Docid: bdocuments and settingsljshanahan.fwb- lanlmy documentslcitymngrtstrategic planning120081strategic planning staff report.doc Page 2 Attachment 1 — Special Meeting Notice  CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH NOTICE OF SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING The City Council of the City of Fort Walton Beach, Florida will meet in a Special Council Meeting at the Fort Walton Beach Senior Citizens Center located at 31 Memorial Parkway, on Saturday, March 15, 2008 from 8:00 a. m. to 2:00 p. m. The purpose of this meeting is for the City Council and City staff to undertake a strategic planning session. Topic areas for discussion may include: city issues and priorities, a review of Vision Statement, brainstorm and identify long -term ( 3 -5 years) strategies, develop commitment to the long -term strategies, and develop a methodology to incorporate strategies into the budget planning process; and any other business to come before City Council. Any person who decides to appeal any decision made with respect to any matter considered at this meeting will need a record of the proceedings, and for such purpose, may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. The City of Fort Walton Beach adheres to the Americans with Disabilities Act and will make reasonable modifications for access to this meeting upon request. Please call the City Clerk, Helen Spencer at 904 -833 -9509 to make a request. Hearing Impaired can call the City Hall TDD# 833 -9925, or 1- 800 -955 -8771 ( TDD), or 1- 800 -955 -8770 ( Voice). Requests must be received at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting in order to allow the City time to provide requested service. Helen A. Spencer City Clerk Attachment 2 — Strategic Planning Process Staff Memo Regular Council 12/ 11/ 07 257 RES. 07 -29: PROPOSED_CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ON PROPERTY TAXES The Mayor read the resolution by title. , A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA, GING FLORIDA CITIZENS TO CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE PROPOSED ONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT CONCERNING PROPERTY TAXES THAT WILL APP ON THE JANUARY 29, 2008 BALLOT; OPPOSING FOR REAS SAID S STATED HEREIN; PROPOSAL SUPPORTING A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PROHIBIT G UNFUNDED STATE MANDATES IN ORDER TO REDUCE PROPERTY TAXES; SU ORTING A PROHIBITION ON THE STATE' S PRACTICE OF REQUIRING LOCAL SC OL BOARD TO INCREASE PROPERTY TAXES; AND URGING THE FLORIDA T ON -AND BUDGET REFORM COMMISSION TO DEVELOP MEASURES CONSISTENT H THIS RESOLUTION. The Mayor advised he was asked by the Florida Leag of Cities to present this resolution to Council, and he has discussed it with the Okaloosa a the Northwest Florida League of Cities, and the discussion centered around who to send a resolution to if Council adopts it. The Mayor expressed his thoughts that Council becom as familiar as possible with the issue and its impact, and whether or not Council should go on cord opposing this referendum. Discussion ensued whether it w/ appr date to publish the resolution in the newspaper prior to the January 29 ballot to the tizens are aware of it. The City Manager stated it would be appropriate to publish l on that Council adopted; however, in that respect Council would be lobbying citize against the tax amendment as it is brought forward. The City Manager stated her fet it is agreed the tax issue needs to be corrected and that the amendment does not some of the issues such as unfunded mandates and maintaining home rule, and that has been fiscally responsible in their handling of taxes. The City Manager acknowledgeportance importance of maintaining some level of tax base so that Council is able to dictate a tax lsed on what the citizens want, and this resolution does not allow Council this flexibility. Mr. Minich moved to suspe d Roberts Rules of Order for this discussion. Mr. Hartwell seconded motion and It c ried unanimously with Holmes, Miller, Reeves, Garvie, Pullen, Hartwell, and Minich In fa r. Further discussion includ d the general citizenry may not understand the resolution because of the complex language, d agreed that Council should be educated on the issue so they could make it clearer for the tizens. David deVaux, 348 Warie Circle, urged Council not to pass the resolution. No action was talSn by Council at this time. The Mayor asked the Finance Director to provide him with updated financials for his upcoming talk with the League of Women Voters. SCHEDULE STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION Consideration of a request to authorize the City Manager to schedule a strategic planning session and to secure the services of Dr. Herb Marlowe as facilitator as outlined. The City Manager mentioned the belief expressed that the annual strategic planning session each year is. more of a tactical session rather than a strategic session. She said Dr. Marlowe suggested a more in depth process. She explained first would be an environmental scan with input from the general public, second would be the strategic session with one day with staff and one day with Council, and then move forward with the actual strategic plan. During some discussion it was commented that the fee this year is doubled and it was hoped that Dr. Marlowe would not dilute the tactical planning that has been done in the past.  12/ 11/ 07 Regular Council 258 STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION (CONT) The City Manager Council noted there would be five sessions with Dr. Marlowe this year versus the one in the past, which will push the timeframe back but would still be day session with completed in time for the budget process. The Mayor opened the floor for