Strategic Planning Topics Ignored

Yesterday we noted that neither processes nor priorities were included in the strategic planning workbook for the sessions on Friday. Today we’ll highlight some other areas not being considered.

PARKING

Parking is a major problem in our city, and elsewhere. I’ve covered this issue at length in previous articles. A week doesn’t go by when someone doesn’t talk or e-mail me about a parking problem in their area. Requests for parking permits come in all the time. Yet incredibly, parking does not appear in the workbook.

I’m even more discouraged since I have a proposal to build a new parking area near Osterman and the strategic planning is the ideal time to bring this up. Also defining how the new $130,000 per year OCSD Officer is going to help solve this problem would appear to be a reasonable discussion item.

BUSINESS

You would think that an entire section of the report should be devoted to the relationship between our City and the business community. Apparently those concerns are being relegated to waiting 2 to 3 years until the “General Plan” is completed. But regardless of whatever shows up in the “General Plan” there are some fundamental issues the City must address. Here are but a few –

How aggressive should the City be in recruiting new businesses to the City?

We do a pretty good job supporting the businesses that find their way to Lake Forest, but we do next to nothing about recruiting new businesses. There are many obvious benefits to an aggressive recruiting process, and there are also some obvious costs. Why aren’t we having this discussion?

Why don’t we spend more of our resources on our own people?

I’ve long argued that we need to “Put Lake Forest First” yet our spending shows we put less than 2% of our budget into people and businesses in our own City. We should commit to a policy of providing preferences to local businesses, as is done in many other cities.

How active should we be in redevelopment?

When there was a redevelopment agency, the City took the lead by redeveloping a good portion of the El Toro area between Rockfield and Muirlands. But then we stopped. There are areas of the city which are underperforming and areas of the city that look blighted. Should the City be more active in doing something to help redevelop these areas?

PRIVATE/PUBLIC PARTNERSHIPS

Public/private partnerships are helping businesses and cities provide more and better services throughout the country. They create win-win scenarios, yet out City has avoided these with the possible exception of the Etnies Skate Park.

Surely a strategic planning session should consider whether or not we should pursue these types of arrangements, and if so, in what manner.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a mini town meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be on Dec 2 at 2 pm at the El Toro Public Library.