Strategic plan gets finishing touches

SANDPOINT — Strategic planning is a tool used by businesses and organizations to inform decisions over the short- and long-term.

The city of Sandpoint embarked on a strategic planning process last year, which culminated last week in a workshop where city officials went over the final draft to determine any possible changes.

“We are hoping to use this as a basis to guide the budget document, which will be delivered to council in early July,” said City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton.

Roger Woodworth of Mindset Matters, who has been working with city officials to create the plan, said he began working with the group of department heads, council members and the mayor in early 2017.

While the goal was to create a five-year plan, the initial proposed strategic plan covers a two-year window, Woodworth said. As the city completes its master plans, which will “set the context for every decision,” Woodworth said those plans will give city officials context for making the more long-range decisions.

The five broad priorities Woodworth came up with after gathering input from city officials include responsive government, resilient economy, sustainable environment, vibrant culture and livable community.

As the group delved into each of the five priorities, Woodworth outlined some specific initiatives that would emerge from the plan over the next two years, such as refining city codes and expanding citizen engagement, as well as optimizing stormwater management, fire protection and police services. Each of the initiatives, in turn, were described in more detail. The optimization initiatives, for example, include evaluating the cost, risk and benefits to the city and the citizens of regional fire protection program through the existing joint powers agreement between Sandpoint, West Side and Sagle fire districts.

It was in the initiatives where city officials had several suggestions to amend or include in the final document. One initiative, which stated “increase affordable housing,” garnered some discussion as to what the definition of affordable housing is, for example.

Councilman Joel Aispuro said the term is relative, as what is affordable to him might not affordable to another. Discussion surrounded alternatives terms such as “workforce housing” or “entry-level housing.” Councilwoman Shannon Williamson, who joined the workshop by phone, said affordable housing is one of the larger issues in the city that needs to be addressed appropriately. The initiative calls for the city to advocate for an “update of the 2007 multi-jurisdictional housing assessment, including workforce and affordable housing statistics and economic analysis of response options.”

Council and staff agreed to send edits to Woodworth within a week, and he will have the final version of the proposed strategic plan before council on June 27, as the June 20 meeting was postponed to the following week.

The workshop can be viewed online at video.sandpointidaho.gov.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.