Public feedback garnered for city's strategic plan at Cider Days

During Cider Days, Sept. 18-19, the city's Strategic Plan Coordinating Committee sought citizen feedback, the latest effort in the city's next 20-year strategic planning process that began in late 2009.

The Strategic Plan Coordinating Committee sits at the forefront of the process.

Representatives of the committee manned a booth throughout the weekend to allow passers-by to discuss their thoughts on the goals of the city's 20-year plan, according to a Sept. 17 city news release.

Mike Brothers, city of Springfield co-interim director of public information, said about 200 people filled out forms, which consisted of a checklist of the goals of the plan formatted to determine which ones people are strongly in favor for or against.

"The idea was to find out which goals had support, and which goals would raise red flags," he said.

Topics covered in the city's strategic plan include arts, culture, tourism, early childhood development, economic development, education and a host of others, all of which can be reviewed on the planning Web site.

City leaders held a listening tour in late 2009 to gather ideas and hone plans, the first step in the process which will continue to seek citizen feedback throughout fall 2010, according to the release.

The committee will have a booth at the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce Business and Technology Expo Oct. 7 and will utilize its media outlets to gather feedback, Brothers said.

"There's no one way to go about it," he said. "We just want to get as much feedback as we can."

The city will present strategic goals to the public in various ways during the fall in an attempt to gather as much feedback as possible. The information will be compiled into the plan to be submitted to City Council before the end of the year, the release said.[[In-content Ad]]