City Strategic Plan

The City of Gainesville Strategic Plan is adopted by the City Commission to set priorities for resource allocation, establish policy guidelines, and provide governance direction.

Adopted by the City Commission in December 2015, the Blue Ribbon Report recommends "Change 3: Our 'Get It Done' Plan" as part of the city's redesign to become a more citizen-centered local government. The report identifies a need to have "one citizen-centric strategic plan for the city - a unified document that directly guides resource expenditures, financial planning, workforce development, policy decisions, collective bargaining and service delivery to the citizens of Gainesville."

In early 2016, we launched the Gainesville Creative Series, striving to redesign the way in which we develop and implement the city's strategic plan, the leading guide of our organization.

Phase One - Inspire

January-May 2016

Over 2,200 citizen connections on engageGNV, at community events, and via talkGNV (citizen connections report available here).
40+ interviews and meetings with city staff and Commissioners, 20+ tours of internal service areas, and 9 collaborative workshops.
Launch of new Open Budget tool.

Phase Two - Design

June-August 2016

June 9th Inspire Session with City Commission, charter officers, and organizational leaders, which focused on how to think differently, to contemplate why our city exists, and to learn new tools for listening to others’ perspectives and observing citizen experiences prior to making big decisions.
Identifying a shared purpose for the city.
Listening sessions with community leaders and citizens.
Dreaming about what Gainesville could be.
August 30th Design Session with the community which spurred big ideas around the possibilities for future Gainesville and helped provide greater insight into the community's priorities (real-time record meeting notes and artwork).

Phase Three - Lead

September-December 2016

Workshops with organizational leaders, department directors, and Charter Officers to align department priorities and operational objectives with community feedback and contributions received through the spring survey and August Design Session.
October 13th presentation and update to the City Commission via the General Policy Committee provided a first look of the four guiding q uestions received from the community, Commissioners, and city staff.
The University of Florida also presented future collaboration opportunities between UF and the city that have been identified through their concurrent Strategic Redevelopment Plan.
October 27th presentation and update focused on identifying the city's vision for our best Gainesville, to be a leader in defining the New American City movement, and how the city will develop collaborative and innovative systems with partners like UF.
Mid-November began seeking enhanced citizen participation by joining the Alachua County Library Bookmobile at stops around Gainesville, hosting an online survey through engageGNV, and posting questions via Facebook and Twitter.
The Strategic Plan Framework was presented and adopted by the Commission on December 15th.

Phase Four - Implement

Beginning January 2017

Staff is identifying opportunities to incorporate the more than 450 big ideas into a full strategic plan and implementation guide.
We are currently working to launch a Civic Corps of Volunteers to assist in solving community issues by joining the national non-profit Cities of Service Coalition, which will be included on the Commission's consent meeting agenda for January 19th.
At the annual State of the City address on February 14th, Mayor Poe and UF President Fuchs signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formalize a collaborative partnership to support implementing our respective strategic plans.
On February 16th, the Commission established by Resolution a Citizen Committee for Implementing the Strategic Framework. 14 citizens were appointed to the Committee and will begin meeting in March and April with a goal of identifying 12-15 priority recommendations in early May.
The Committee workshop dates and discussion topics have been tentatively identified and their meeting agendas and minutes will be maintained on Legistar.