Goal Setting Session 1.29.19

Each year the Council holds a special meeting to review goals of the city.  At this meeting we review the existing goals, consider whether they should continue or be modified, and propose any new goals that the Council may wish to pursue.  In a previous post I talked about the existing goals, and a future agenda item to create a progress report of sorts.  More on that in a future post.

As I am getting acclimated to the process, cadence, and business of the Council there is a consistent theme that is very clear and permeates all of the work of the city.  City staff do an excellent job under significant time and resource constraints.  The regular operations of the city, as well as compliance with state and other requirements are prioritized.  As time and resources permit, the city is able to make progress on accomplishing other goals as determined by the Council.

It is with that in mind that we discussed the status of each item, eliminated some items that were stale, consolidated some items that made more sense to approach together, and updated the language to provide guidance on others.   Two things happened that I'd like to highlight:

1. Since 2009 it has been a goal of the city to promote high density housing.  I was opposed to this goal and proposed we modify it instead to be a goal of maintaining compliance with state requirements.  As a result the goal to promote high density housing was eliminated.  
2. We added one additional item to the City's goals - revisiting the Town Center Specific Plan.

The utilization of our downtown is something that is important to many of our residents.  The Town Center Specific Plan was created in 1990, and has been amended 7 times since that date with the last revision happening in 2012.  Given changes in the economy as well as the interests of the residents of Clayton, I think it's important to ensure the plan reflects the wishes of the community.  Revisiting the plan as a goal of the city is the first step in that process.