|
Leon County
Board of County Commissioners Agenda Item#13 February 8, 2022 |
| To: | Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board |
| From: | Vincent S. Long, County Administrator |
| Title: | Ratification of Board Actions Taken at the January 24, 2022 Annual Retreat |
| Review and Approval: | Vincent S. Long, County Administrator |
|
Department/Division Review and Approval: |
Alan Rosenzweig, Deputy County Administrator |
|
Lead Staff/ Project Team: |
Heather Peeples, Senior Policy Analyst |
Statement of Issue:
This item seeks ratification of Board actions taken at the January 24, 2022 Annual Retreat.
Fiscal Impact:
While this item has no immediate fiscal impact, certain proposed Strategic Initiatives may have future financial impacts. Inclusion of a Strategic Initiative within the County’s Strategic Plan does not commit the Board to future funding.
Staff Recommendation:
Option #1: Ratify the actions taken at the January 24, 2022 Annual Retreat.
Report and Discussion
Background:
This item seeks ratification of Board actions taken at the January 24, 2022 Annual Retreat. Annual retreats have served as a critical tool to develop specific Board priorities and opportunities to address the community’s evolving and emerging challenges which are executed through the County’s Strategic Plan.
At the October 12, 2021 meeting, staff recommended, and the Board approved the overview for the FY2021-FY2022 Annual Retreat. As approved, the Retreat served as a “Renewal Year” meaning that it both closed out the FY2017 - FY 2021 Strategic Plan and established the baseline for the new FY2022 – FY2026 Strategic Plan.
Analysis:
During the Retreat, the Board was presented with an “Impact and Progress Report” of the last five-year plan as well as the results of a community-wide survey, environmental scan, and a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. Additionally, at the request of the Chairman, the Board was presented with an update on projects and initiatives planned for the Southside.
As part of the planning process, the Board reestablished the Vision Statement, Mission Statement, and Strategic Priorities in addition to establishing new Strategic Initiatives. Staff also proposed adopting a “Bold Goal” for each priority area, as well as a series of five-year “Targets.” The following is a summary of the Board’s actions during the Retreat.
Southside Update: Artie White, Planning Director, provided the Board with an update on the Southern Strategy Area of the adopted Comprehensive Plan including the Southside Action Plan adopted by both the County and City Commissions in 2021. He noted that the approved community engagement strategy was currently wrapping up including a survey of Southside residents. He presented preliminary findings from community engagement efforts as well as “next steps” including developing policy recommendations in the spring or summer of 2022, developing Comprehensive Plan amendments for the 2023 cycle, as well as identifying and implementing ongoing community rehab projects.
Final Summary of the FY2017 – FY2021 Strategic Plan: At the Retreat, the Board accepted the Impact and Progress Report on the implementation of the FY2017 - FY2021 Strategic Plan. The document is a report on the five years of success in delivering bold projects, big results and striving to be the best. As outlined in the report, 100 or 96% of the County’s Strategic Initiatives were completed over five years with only 4 (4%) still in progress. Additionally, the County met or exceeded three of the four Bold Goals and 12 of the 16 Targets with significant progress being made in the remaining Bold Goals and Targets despite being negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
Subsequent to the Retreat, the Impact and Progress Report has been posted on the County’s website, shared via social media, local newspapers, and distributed to community partners.
Community Survey: To present the results of the community survey, the Board was joined by Dr. Karen Cyphers, Partner & Vice President of Research for Sachs Media. The survey of Leon County residents was conducted November 10-27, 2021 to gauge resident satisfaction, perceptions, and suggestions across a variety of issues, and to determine sentiment relating to Leon
County’s broad Strategic Priorities. A total of 4,090 residents began the survey, with 3,145 completing the final substantive question. As noted in Dr. Cypher’s presentation, results of the survey suggest that the preferences of residents are well aligned with the goals and priorities set in the Strategic Plan, and residents are largely satisfied with progress made in each of these areas. For example, 94% rated the quality of services provided by Leon County Government as positive and 81% say they are likely to recommend Leon County as a place to live, work, and raise a family.
Environmental Scan: As a complement to the community survey, the Board was presented with an environmental scan. An environmental scan provides an analysis of emerging internal and external trends, issues and conditions that impact Leon County. This information was provided for consideration during the strategic planning process as these factors change and evolve over time and impact priorities, performance, and results.
SWOT Analysis: Included in the Board’s materials for the Retreat was a SWOT analysis, a process that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to an organization and, in this case, to a community. This SWOT analysis was compiled using the results of the citizen survey and the environmental scan conducted by County staff, in addition to the Board’s own perceptions as captured in a SWOT exercise submitted in advance of the Retreat. From this analysis, the Board was able to better gauge the perceptions of the residents, County staff, and Commissioners regarding the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats effecting Leon County.
Vision & Mission Statements: Following the presentations, the Board reaffirmed the County’s current Vision & Mission Statements.
Leon County’s Vision Statement is as follows: A community that is safe, healthy and vibrant.
Leon County’s mission statement is as follows: To efficiently provide public services which serve and strengthen our community.
Strategic Priorities: The Board reaffirmed the four existing Strategic Priorities (Economy, Environment, Quality of Life, and Governance) and adopted revised directional statements, which provide focus and additional specificity for each priority area. The adopted Strategic Priorities and associated directional statements are included in Attachment #1.
Five-Year Targets & Bold Goals: Staff recommended, and the Board approved the adoption of one Bold Goal and four Targets for each of the County’s Strategic Priority areas. Targets communicate to the public and staff throughout the County the specific results that the organization expects to achieve through the collective execution of Strategic Initiatives. Bold Goals differ from Targets in that they are truly stretch goals which will be big and difficult to achieve thus requiring the County to explore new partnerships, identify new opportunities, and inspire new ideas. The five-year Targets and Bold Goals are included in Attachment #1.
Strategic Initiatives: In order to ensure that the optimized resources of the organization are aligned with Strategic Priorities, the Board adopted 42 Strategic Initiatives. Several of the Initiatives presented during the Retreat were ongoing from the previous Strategic Plan or were existing efforts on which the Board had recently provided guidance. A complete list of the adopted Strategic Initiatives organized by Strategic Priority is included in Attachment #1.
Administrative Items: Administrative items are those issues discussed during the Board Retreat that may require additional policy analysis prior to the Board determining how to proceed or are informational in nature and can be addressed through a status report. The following is a complete list of Administrative Items from the Retreat:
Next Steps
The Strategic Plan provides the framework for aligning and optimizing the limited resources of the County with the highest priorities of the Board. This alignment is demonstrated everyday throughout the organization from our annual budget development to employee evaluations to the implementation of Strategic Initiatives to the Annual Report. Every County employee across the numerous and varied county functions also works in concert toward the Board’s vision. To reinforce this alignment, the following related activities will occur subsequent to the Board’s ratification of actions taken at the Annual Retreat:
Additionally, following the Board’s approval, Leon County’s new five-year Strategic Plan will be published and both electronic and printed copies will be provided to the Board and made available to the public.
Options:
Recommendation:
Option #1
Attachment: