Flint, MI– The Flint City Council voted to approve a revised version of the Strategic Plan for the City, which now includes a goals of government transparency and better records management.
Council President Kate Fields proposed updating the plan at a council meeting on Sept. 28. The revisions she proposed have now been approved.
“We have just passed every year the same strategic plan, and I think they need to be updated,” Fields said at that meeting.
She proposed adding one more line to the 8th goal on the list, as well as two more goals.
The 8th goal, says the City will strive “to promote the equal protection of the law for each person in accordance with fundamental human rights.” Fields proposed adding, “The city will adopt policies and ordinances to insure same.”
She also proposed adding a 9th goal, for the City “to ensure optimum practices in order to promote government transparency,” and a 10th goal, for the City “to improve systems management processes to ensure better effectiveness of records management storage and access to city documents to include improvements to city technology and the website.”
“I don’t think these are controversial,” Fields said at that meeting. “I would hope most of my colleagues would agree to add these to the strategic plan.”
A public hearing to discuss the plan was held on Dec. 17, months after discussion of the revisions. Nobody spoke during that public hearing.
The strategic plan was an agenda item at the last city council meeting on Jan. 11, but the council voted to postpone it, after Councilman Mays requested more time to look it over.
“This vision and mission plan usually have council input,” Mays said at that meeting. “We deal with it in committee meetings, so forth and so on.”
Council President Kate Fields said there had been full discussion on the item, but that “it was so long ago, council people have forgotten.”
When it was brought to the council again on Jan. 25, they voted 7-1 to approve the revised plan. Councilman Eric Mays was the only vote against the resolution.
“For me it has something to do with procedure and input from all council versus one or two, and I’ll leave it at that,” he said.
The last three lines in the goals were revisions added on this year. Other than that, the strategic plan has not changed since the 2019-2023 plan.
According to the resolution, the vision for Flint is that it will be “a well-managed financially stable and accountable government focused on creating and maintaining a vibrant and growing community which will attract and retain residents, businesses, students, and visitors and improve our quality of life.”
The mission is to “assure that residents, businesses, students, and visitors in the city of Flint received municipal services in a customer friendly, financially responsible, and equitable manner in order to ensure equality of opportunity for all persons.”
There were ten goals listed:
1. To operate in an open and financially stable, sustainable manner, including improving citizen access focusing on measurable results, improving the city’s financial position and eliminating accumulated deficits.
2. To provide a highly trained and professional staff of elected leaders, appointed officials, and employees.
3. To provide for a safe, secure, healthy, and clean environment in which to live, work, learn, and play.
4. To provide access to dependable quality and sustainable water and sewer.
5. To provide access to an adequate and well-maintained transportation network for all modes of travel, serving motorized, non-motorized and pedestrian needs.
6. To foster cooperation among businesses, nonprofit, higher education, foundation partners, and residents to create a climate that supports economic development with a focus on small businesses and entrepreneurs in order to build local wealth and enhance the tax base.
7. To seek partnerships with local, state and federal government partners and other private entities in order to maximize efficiencies and resources in meeting its mission.
8. To promote the equal protection of the law for each person in accordance with fundamental human rights. The city will adopt policies and ordinances to insure the same.
9. To ensure optimum practices in order to promote government transparency.
10. To improve systems management processes to ensure better effectiveness of records management storage and access to city documents to include improvements to city technology and the website.
All well and good. They also need a goal, though, on holding well-ordered agenda-driven meetings that don’t waste the public’s and employees’ time!