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Minutes 03/21/2005
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Minutes 03/21/2005
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City Council
City Council - Type
Adopted Minutes
City Council - Date
3/21/2005
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<br />March 21. 2005 <br /> <br />Portsmouth has the additional disadvantage of having more than half of our real estate <br />off the tax rolls because of our heavy concentration of federal, state and non-profit <br />institutions. We recognize that institutions like the Navy, the Coast Guard, Virginia <br />Port Authority and Maryview Medical Center are economic and employment <br />generators - primarily for state revenue - and that these institutions underpin and <br />stabilize our economy through provision of stable jobs for some of our people. <br /> <br />While we have a backlog of needs and expectations and could wisely spend and <br />invest millions more than are in these budgets, Portsmouth is fortunate to have made <br />progress in stabilizing our financial condition, with competitive taxes and fees, <br />reasonable debt payments and increasing revenue sources. In addition, the City <br />Council has taken the initiative this year to develop a clear vision of where the <br />community is going in the future, and these budgets are an effort to align our <br />resources with that vision. <br /> <br />PREAMBLE <br /> <br />The City Council and the management team have been working very hard this year on <br />transforming the way we do business as a City government by directly connecting our <br />plans with actions. Several major concurrent initiatives are relevant: <br /> <br />City Council Vision. City Council has adopted a Vision Statement with six major <br />Vision components, and all seven of our Council members signed this Vision <br />Statement in a public ceremony. That signed Vision Statement has been framed and <br />displayed in City offices all over the community. The Vision Statement is a promise of <br />hope for citizens and their communities about the city's future. It is a word picture of <br />what is being envisioned. By utilizing this document and other ongoing efforts, City <br />staff is in the process of aligning our programs and activities to achieve the Vision. <br />These budgets represent a significant, transformative step toward achieving the <br />Council's Vision for the future of Portsmouth and represent a new way of doing <br />business by being held accountable for envisioned results. <br /> <br />Comprehensive Plan. The City government began work on a new comprehensive <br />plan in 2002, with significant public input achieved through public meetings, focus <br />groups and surveys, conducted under the aegis of the Planning Commission and a <br />Citizen 2025 Comprehensive Plan committee. This work has culminated in the <br />committee presenting its recommended Comprehensive Plan to the Planning <br />Commission in December 2004, and the Commission presenting the plan to the <br />Council the first of this year. City Council had a public work session on the plan on <br />March 7, a public hearing March 8, and is scheduled to take action on the plan next <br />month. Coupled with the new Council Vision, the new comprehensive plan offers a <br />more exact road map for our community. The combination of these two community- <br />focused documents positions Portsmouth to head in new, productive directions. <br /> <br />City Council - School Board Cooperation. Both the City Council Vision and the <br />Comprehensive Plan have identified education as the community's number one <br />priority. In support of that priority, the City Council and the School Board have already <br />held a series of joint meetings with the goal of developing a new spirit of cooperation <br />and launching a joint initiative that will result in a "preferred educational system" <br />(words from City Council's Vision Statement). The Council and School Board have <br />signed a "Pledge of Mutual Cooperation" that says "we have the potential to ignite the <br />fires of endless achievement for our two elected bodies in the years to come." The <br />two governing bodies have also endorsed a program to establish a joint financial <br />system. These budgets are also the work of the City and School executives working <br />closely together. The budgets propose allocations of resources that have been <br />closely discussed by the respective staffs prior to submission to the City Council and <br />the School Board. <br /> <br />High Performance Organization. While the above plans and pledges have been <br />publicly underway, we have been working within the City government organization to <br />better prepare ourselves for implementing the activities that carry out the goals of the <br />City's elected leadership. Within the Office of the City Manager we have established <br />ourselves as an Executive Management Team (EMT) as a way of defining our jobs <br />more broadly and connecting more with the community and City Council. We are also <br />committed to enlarging the roles of department heads in the execution of their duties. <br />
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