Minutes 03/21/2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

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