Mayor & City Council

SPECIAL WORKSESSION MINUTES College Park City Council Saturday, September 12, 2020 8:30 A.M. – 12:55 P.M. Due to the COVID-19 space requirements, this meeting was held at The Hotel at the University of Maryland, 7777 Baltimore Avenue, College Park, MD. PRESENT: Mayor Wojahn; Councilmembers Kabir, Kennedy, Day, Dennis, Rigg, Mackie and Mitchell. ABSENT: Councilmember Brennan. ALSO PRESENT: Scott Somers, City Manager; Bill Gardiner, Assistant City Manager. Mayor Wojahn opened the Special Worksession at 8:30 a.m., stating the purpose of the meeting is to review the City’s mission and vision. He turned it over to City Manager Somers, who introduced the City’s consultants on the strategic plan, Jeff Parks and Jessica Brown. Mr. Parks said that it was very important to hold this meeting in person so we all fully understand what is being communicated. The meeting goal is the discuss the current mission and vision; review the data from the focus group sessions and surveys; and then see if we can come up with a new mission and vision for the City. Mr. Parks reviewed the ground rules for the discussion and then gave an overview of the purpose and process of strategic planning. A powerpoint was used to facilitate the discussion and is included as part of the minutes. Visions and strategic plans create a picture of organizational success and shows everyone how their work contributes to achieving it. A good vision helps engage the workforce and answers, “Where are we going?” A strategic plan answers where we are, how we get to the vision, and who is responsible for getting us there. It helps maximize performance. Great visions and missions are inspiring, clear, unique, focused, achievable, and easy to communication. Mr. Parks and Dr. Brown led Council in a visioning exercise. The Council reviewed sample missions from various cities and counties around the country, including some college towns. Council identified similarities and words or phrases they liked. The Council also read and discussed the City’s current mission and the Prince George’s County mission. The Council’s next activity was to review and discuss the City’s current mission to see if people feel it meets the criteria for a great mission. Council also reviewed a summary of survey and focus group responses on the City’s strengths. Council members were asked to write down a story about what a resident would say if we were doing our best work. These stories were shared in pairs and then discussed as a group. Themes were identified from the discussion and used to craft possible missions. After an engaged discussion, several draft missions were developed and compared to our list of criteria. Council will finalize the mission during the meeting on September 15th or September 22nd. After a short break the facilitators started a discussion with Council on organizational visions. Great visions are future-orientated, appropriate for the area/organization, clear, and inspiring. The Council reviewed the current City vision against the ideal criteria, and reviewed visions from local organizations. Council then reviewed a summary of the visions as presented by participants in the focus groups and surveys. Council members participated in a visioning activity to imagine the City in 2030 and what has been accomplished. Using examples from the discussion, Jessica drafted and edited a possible vision for the City. After discussion, a second possible vision was offered by Jeff. The language was “tested” against the criteria for a great vision. Council was not able to finalize the language prior to the end of the session. Jeff and Jessica gave a summary of when Council would finalize the mission and vision, and the purpose of the next two scheduled sessions. The presentation and the meeting ended at 12:55 pm. ________________________________ Bill Gardiner Date Assistant City Manager Approved