Title
Staff Report for City Council’s February 25, 2023 Planning Session
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that the City Council review the following report and attached documents to provide direction to staff at the February 25, 2023 annual planning session.
BACKGROUND
Each year, the City Council gathers for an annual planning session (also commonly referred to as the annual “City Council Retreat”) that typically takes place on a Saturday in the first part of the calendar year. The purpose of this important annual meeting is to formulate the City’s policy priorities and staff’s work plan for the upcoming calendar year.
Although the precise details of the planning session agenda vary from year to year, it typically includes the following components:
1. Updates on the previous year’s projects and accomplishments
2. City Council discussion of priorities and goals for the upcoming year
The planning session is publicly noticed as a special meeting of the City Council, in accordance with the Brown Act. The City Manager, City department heads, and other City staff attend the event, and the public is invited to provide comments and to help inform the Council’s discussions. As part of item 2 referenced above, the Council typically is presented with a list of known projects or objectives that have arisen over the past year or which are anticipated for the upcoming year and is asked to prioritize those items, typically through a “dot exercise”. This is a very important process because it ensures that the City’s finite staffing and budgetary resources are directed towards those matters that are of most critical importance to the City Council and the community.
The retreat’s format this year will include work on how the City approaches prioritization to continue its efforts to stay focused on the highest priorities to most effectively deploy our limited resources. This methodology affords Council the opportunity to communicate their priorities while also providing the City Manager the ability to shift resources within those priorities as bandwidth allows.
Attached is the Council priorities and referrals list and the presentation that will be used to guide the prioritization exercise:
1. Attachment A - “Council Priorities for Voting” - This is a summary of every priority and referral made and will be the document used during the “dot exercise”;
2. Presentation - Presentation slides
The format for tracking Council priorities remains the same as last year. Staff tracked nine categories and consolidated referrals under those categories. The categories are as follows:
1. Community and Business Development
2. Community Engagement and Outreach
3. Fiscal Sustainability and Transparency
4. Housing and Homelessness
5. Infrastructure
6. Public Safety
7. Race and Equity Initiatives
8. Sustainability and Resiliency
9. Referrals Not Tied to a Council Priority
City staff will be available to answer questions and assist Council with understanding the projects and priorities listed, if Council requests it.
ATTACHMENT
• Att A - Council Priorities for Voting
• Pres - Feb 2023 Council Retreat
PREPARED BY
Scott Koll, Deputy City Manager