Economic Vitality Committee Agenda and Packet 2020 10 16

Home Browse Search

SUBJECT: ECONOMIC VITALITY STRATEGIC PLAN DATE: OCTOBER 16, 2020 PAGE 2 OF 3 in the nearer future. If the Committee feels there are Supporting Actions that should be addressed sooner, staff can facilitate a review of shifting other items to reprioritize. The Committee also requested staff propose the Responsibility associated with Supporting Actions and Tasks. Since the Tasks are meant to be illustrative of the steps required to be able to complete the Supporting Action, the Responsibility is truly the person or group ultimately responsible for completion. Those people or groups listed at the Task level are more likely to change over time, because there are also many more steps required than are included in the plan document. The new matrix includes a designation of "CMO" in some areas of Responsibility. This is a general reference where Economic Vitality will likely require input or resources from other City staff, but it is not yet clear where responsibility would be assigned. Timing has also been drafted for each Supporting Action. Please note that Timing represents a start date in this plan format —meaning the approximate time staff anticipates priorities and capacity might align to begin the Supporting Action. Context has been added to the matrix to help delineate one-time vs. ongoing tasks. The Timing is only at the Supporting Action level, since the tasks would be difficult to predict and would depend greatly on whether the Action starts as drafted. The Strategic Goals are long-term in nature (three to five years), so established Timing has framed start dates within that constraint. Actions should also generally not be more than one to two years to accomplish. While staff feels that the goals and actions contemplated are all strategic and critical work for economic vitality, staff questions the feasibility to implement the significant number of goals and actions in the prescribed time based on resources and the uncertainty of the pandemic. The most strategic actions and programs have been given start dates in 2021, but staff still is not predominately focused on core economic development work as of Q4 2020. Depending on public health and the impacts to businesses over the winter, it may be Q2 or Q3 2021 before staff's focus can truly shift out of recovery. There are very few plan items that will occur without direct action or input from economic vitality staff, because that also relates to the involvement of boards and committees. In addition, the 2021 budget does not provide resources aligned with the plan. At the start of 2020, the operations budget for the department was $72,250 (which excludes personnel expenses and committed expenses such as parking leases and Chamber of Commerce retention). The 2021 operations budget totals $17,050 (accounting for the same exclusions). Adjustments were necessary to meet the City's budget goals and also to accommodate the proposed additional contributions to the Chamber —increasing from $5,000 to $20,000 in 2021. Similar to the handling of both grant programs this year as well as expenses for outdoor dining, it may be necessary to identify other resources during 2021 as Supporting Actions start. Agenda Packet P. 6