 |
  |
  |
  |
|
 |
|
|
|
Longmont Citywide Strategic Plan
Overview of the Strategic Plan Process
The City of Longmont wishes to remain a vibrant, free-standing community. The purpose of this planning process is to develop community-supported strategic policies that, if followed, will result in a balance between resources and expenditures that sustain Longmont 's capacity to provide desired municipal services as we approach build-out of the Longmont Planning Area.
The project will be conducted in two phases. Phase 1 will involve the community in shaping the vision for the City of Longmont as a mature, free-standing community. The visions will explore the role of the City government. Phase 2 will involve the community in deliberating on possible future scenarios. The deliberations will lead to policies that the Longmont City Council will need to consider as the City reaches build-out of its planning area. [View graphic illustration]
Phase 1 will foster high levels of community involvement among a broad spectrum of community members, resulting in the collective generation of possible futures for City of Longmont as a mature, freestanding community.
We will engage community members and City employees and officials in a series of individual interviews and Community Conversations that will:
VIEW THE PHASE I REPORT (pdf, 698 KB)
1. Form Coordinating Team - This team of people will design and guide the inquiry, while actively reaching out to the community to build enthusiastic participation in the planning process. [view list of coordinating team members]
2. Conduct First Wave of
Interviews - Coordinating Team members will conduct one-to-one interviews to gather stories that capture each person's perspective on Longmont's strengths based on their personal experience in Longmont. [view
the interview guide] (pdf file)
3. Conduct Community Conversations
- The Coordinating Team will organize a minimum of 15 Community Conversations involving more than 50 organizations interviewing
one another, using the guide that was developed for the individual interviews. To provide a rich experience, different types of groups and city staff
will be invited to the same Conversation. For instance, young people from
the Longmont Youth Council might attend a Conversation at the Senior Center along
with staff from different departments.
4. Conduct "Best in Class"
Interviews - "Best in Class" interviews will bring inspirational stories from other communities into the process. Findings of the interviews will be shared at
the Community Summit.
5. Host Community Summit
- The one-day Community Summit will involve any member of the community
who wishes to participate. Our intention is to engage anywhere from
50 to several hundred people (interviewees, participants in Community Conversations,
members of city advisory boards and commissions, residents and city
government employees). Participants will conduct interviews, hear
and make meaning of stories and hear "Best in Class" presentations (see #4 above) of what other cities and
organizations are doing. They will "map" the positive core of Longmont , and
envision mature, sustainable futures that build upon and amplify the
City's most positive qualities. These possible futures will serve as the foundation
for Phase 2, in which citizens will participate in deliberative dialogue both
to make choices and to flesh out the implications of those choices with regard
to City policies.
[View Opening Summit Slide Show from the all-day
Community Summit] Single Click on this link.
(This is a Quicktime Movie that will open up in a separate window and begin playing automatically) If your computer does not already have this Quicktime plug-in, it will prompt you to install it.
[View the Closing Powerpoint Summit Slide Show from the all-day Community Summit] Single Click on this link.
(This is a Flash Movie that will open up in a separate window and begin playing automatically) If your computer does not already have this Quicktime plug-in, it will prompt you to install it.
[View Phase I Report] (pdf, 698 kb)
[View Attachment 1] (pdf, 193 kb)
[View Attachment 2] (pdf, 354 kb)
In Phase 2, the rich set of visions, ideas, and possibilities from Phase 1 will become future scenarios for public deliberation. The scenarios will be firmly rooted in community members' experiences, values, aspirations, and sense of Longmont 's current strengths and future potential. Community members will discuss these scenarios through a structured deliberative process in various Deliberative Forums held throughout the community. The deliberations will produce an understanding of the range of policies that are consistent with the public's judgment.
VIEW THE PHASE II REPORT (pdf, 388 KB)
1. Develop Issue Briefing
Booklet - The booklet will include information consisting of 3 to 4 policy choices that reflect the desired future of Longmont as a mature, free-standing community as created in Phase 1.
The information along with additional economic research will be assembled into "pro" and "con" arguments for each choice and assembled into an Issue Briefing booklet for use by moderators and participants.
[View priority setting guide (PDF 1.32 mb)
2. Conduct Deliberative Forums
- In each 3-hour forum, moderators will
engage participants in what the National Issues Forums calls choicework.
Choicework is a form of deliberative dialogue in which participants "work
through" 3 to 4 options, or "choices," for the future direction of the community.
It encompasses weighing the pros and cons of each option in light of its probable impact on things community members
value and desire; determining what trade-offs people are willing to accept
in order to secure the good things they want; and reaching a conclusion about
"the bottom line"-the range of actions people are willing to go along with.
By working through the choices, participants will work toward the making of
a public judgment: a shared view about a general direction for community
action that they believe is in the best interests of all citizens.
View the results of the Deliberative Forums
3. Develop Draft Policies
- The outcomes from the Deliberative Forums will become the basis
for the next part of Phase 2, the development of a range of specific policy
options. The Coordinating Team and Project Consultants will draw on their combined expertise and experience in fiscal
analysis, land use planning, and policy development to construct concrete
policy options, analyze their costs and benefits, and discuss the feasibility
and likely consequences of each. The Coordinating Team will conduct focus groups or a community
forum to discuss the policies with the community and meet with City Council
to refine the policies prior to adoption.
View public comments on the Draft Policy Directions
4. Develop Final Report - The Final Report will include recommendations concerning performance measures that will provide quantifiable feedback regarding policy effectiveness. The Report will also examine how the findings and policy recommendations align with the City's existing plans and policies and how well suited the City's existing structures and operations are to carrying out the policies that are adopted.
View Focus on Longmont Final Report / Attachments 1-3 / Attachments 4-7
Fiscal Impact Study
