Council's goals - Vision and Strategy planning
On January 9th, the council approved the staff’s recommendation to contract the services of Tim Dobby Consulting Limited at a maximum cost of $30,000 to provide a similar scope of work to the 2015 strategic plan exercise. The process updates Elliot Lake’s 2015 Vision Statement and Strategic Plan. Staff suggested a timeframe of three or four months for completion.
Why is this planning important?
Speaking to the council, on January 9, CAO Gagnon commented, “This is more important than
anything else you’re going to be dealing with in your first couple of years of
your mandate. This is setting the stage for the next four to ten years of
priorities.”
Elliot Lake has already seen the power of vision and strategic
planning. When the mines closed, a new vision changed a mining community into a
retirement community. It took decades to reach capacity but it was achieved and
our problem now is not filling empty homes and apartments. It is, how does
Elliot Lake grow? Because we are growing or dying.
Our new vision statement should be a concise word picture we can all support. A picture that has benefits for everyone because, without a
clearly defined goal, the target becomes as confusing as a shell game.
Strategic plan – tying it to the money
The Strategic Plan is the detail of how we plan to achieve our vision. There will be some surprises and some detours, but the Strategic Plan will be useful then too, helping us get back on track and moving along to our destination.
CAO Gagnon: “What’s really important, I believe, is the goals and the priority setting. And when the rubber hits the road, the implementation plan is how do we take all these goals and turn them into budget items and capital projects and initiatives and operations?”
What does it mean to the average Elliot Lake resident?
An appropriate new vision for our full-up city, combined with a plan to get there, brings economic opportunities for the little guy citizens, repaired roads, maintained infrastructure, and the appropriately scaled and distributed amenities that equitable spending brings. In short: Opportunity and fairness.
What is the citizen’s role?
The current plan includes similar scope of work to the 2015 Strategic plan exercise. That process included public consultation and public input was mention a number of times in the council’s deliberations by staff and council.
The work with Dobbie was scheduled to begin with individual interviews of the council members the week of March 6.
With an estimated three to four month timeline to completion,
the public should be watching now for an announcement about the public consultation
piece.
by Stephen Calverley, March 19, 2023