On
Friday, January 27, 2017, the Visalia City Council, along with our City Manager,
city staff and members of the public held our annual planning retreat. We reviewed the city's mission statement and
values, identified issues needing to be addressed, and developed an action plan
on priority issues for 2017. We were
ably assisted by Vicki Stasch, a professional facilitator. Attendance from the public was the highest I've
seen, this being the eighth such annual retreat which I've attended since being
on the city council. Another way of
describing this gathering was a "brainstorming" session. We started at 8:30 in the morning and went
through 5:00 p.m. We took public comment
and the council informally shared ideas and priorities.
One
of the more interesting aspects of the meeting was a panel discussion we had
regarding the homeless issue. We had
representatives from Family Health Care Network, CSET, Health and Human
Services, the Rescue Mission, Self Help Enterprises, Tulare County Housing
Authority and the Visalia Police Department giving their insights into the
causes of homelessness and suggestions on how we can address it locally.
The
following is a summary of our action plan for 2017. This will serve as a roadmap and direction
for the year. Feel free to follow the
city council and staff in 2017 to see how we do on accomplishing these goals.
· Reduce
homelessness – Visalia will participate on the new Tulare County Task Force on
Homelessness to see what can be done countywide to address this issue. We will have presentations at future council workshops
from other successful cities to hear their ideas. Another goal will be to locate at least five
people who are currently homeless and to develop a work program with funding
from Workforce Investment to help them become employable. We will also look to partner with entities
which can assist in building and managing housing for the homeless.
·
Circulation
and Transit – We will investigate possibly opening up more streets which cross
the railroad tracks on west Goshen to improve circulation patterns. We will hold a future work session on all
roads in the city to see where we can improve traffic circulation.
· Business
friendly - The council will look into continuing to make Visalia a business
friendly city. We'll survey the
development community about their experiences with our staff and continue to
use best efforts to streamline permitting and fees. We want to continue to support Kaweah Delta
Health Care District and Family Health Care Network downtown. We will explore a possible branch campus in
Visalia from a four-year university such as Fresno State and we will get a
status update from the developer of Sequoia Mall.
· Visalia
as a Destination – We approved going forward with re-establishing the annual
Fourth of July fireworks celebrationat Groppetti Stadium in 2017, seeking to
develop a public/private partnership for this project. We'll continue to emphasize sporting events
such as the Senior Games, the Cal League Summer All Star Game, and holding other
allstar games and championships here in Visalia, which is centrally located. We
will investigate further the possibility of an aquatics complex.
· Water
–We will continue to encourage conservation of this precious resource. We will look to our landscape and lighting
districts for reduced consumption, seek additional funding for recharge basins
on the east side in particular, and bring the new water conservation plant online
this year to assist in recycling water.
· Sustainable
Community – We'll use Measure N funds as a tool for improving our parks,
streets and public safety. We'll
continue to emphasize connectivity between subdivisions and parks. We'll work to complete more trails such as
the St. Johns Parkway and Modoch Ditch Trail.
And in a future city council work session, we will receive a report on
the status of downtown lighting and how to improve and update that system.
· Strong
Downtown – We will explore ways to fund the new east downtown civic center,
including a new city hall. We will also
review city-owned properties and identify those to sell to help raise funds.
Last
Call for the Visalia Senior Games
Just
a reminder that Visalia's second annual Senior Games will be held March 17th
- 19th and March 24-26,2017.
If you haven't signed up yet, visit www.visaliaseniorgames.com and come join the fun!
If
you have questions or topics regarding the city which you would like to have
addressed in future articles, please email Warren at
warren.gubler@visalia.city. For past
articles, visit directfromwarren.blogspot.com.
