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City of Victoria Strategic Plan...


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#1 Ms. B. Havin

Ms. B. Havin
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Posted 26 April 2007 - 03:33 PM

Carolyn Heiman has an article in today's T-C about a just released 23-page glossy (i.e., pretty but kind of empty but kind of expensive, too) City of Victoria strategic plan: [url=http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/capital_van_isl/story.html?id=5455c1e6-9b4b-463b-b6df-b018e7d53915&k=96882:5fd6e]Strategic plan all 'feel-good stuff'[/url:5fd6e].

Strategic plan all 'feel-good stuff'

Carolyn Heiman
Times Colonist

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Cover your ears for the drum roll, please. The city of Victoria has launched its strategic plan to guide it to 2009. The good news -- whether we live in Victoria, Oak Bay, Highlands, Langford or any of the other nine fiefdoms -- is that the city wants to be the most livable city in Canada.

Why good? Regardless of where we put our pillows, most of see ourselves as residents of Victoria. If there's doubt about this, check out your postal address. It says Victoria. Here's another test: How do you answer the question "Where do you live?" from someone in Edmonton, Toronto or Hong Kong. I'm betting you don't say Langford or Oak Bay, even if your address is Millstream Road or Upper Terrace.

But I digress. This is about the 23-page glossy publication that has been in the making for more than a year. It was mentioned by Mayor Alan Lowe as a factor in the parting of ways with a city manager, which cost nearly $200,000 in severance. It's also been the subject of countless meetings, with four city or acting city managers involved in its birth. Talk about overdue. It's understandable to feel a sense of expectancy about what it might hold.

Alas, nothing to make anyone nervous. Or, to be wildly excited about either. It's all feel-good stuff. Development is to be fostered. Heritage is to be preserved. Active living is be stimulated. Arts and culture supported.

The list of things that wouldn't offend anyone goes on. The list is so safe that some items -- partnering with the Capital Regional District to secure funding for a sewage treatment plan -- are already achieved. And for this we paid money and devoted staff time. As one observer put it: "It's a presentation document. Not an operational document."

Still, strategic plans are worth doing and are common. The Capital Regional District does one. So does Saanich. They can keep an organization -- business, government or agency -- on track. The difficulty with strategic plans set by people who later have to go and ask for votes is that sometimes they're based on what was said during the election campaign. Or, they don't say what they won't do. And, while the Community Charter says performance measurements are a requirement, how that's interpreted is flexible.

Lowe says this is the first time performance measures are spelled out. As an example, traffic-accident rates will be calculated. The city will measure outcomes against how happy residents are, baselines or trends.

But the plan doesn't specify targets, suggesting that even modest improvement can warrant a boast that the city's on track. As for whether this is the first time performance measures have been spelled out, that's debatable. The last strategic plan said the city would develop a secondary-suite policy. That's a pretty specific target. But the plan is still in the works.

Anthony Goerzen, an associate professor of strategy and international business at UVic's business school, says failing to set real targets is a common flaw. Elected officials, loath to offend voters and fearful of any performance gauge, may have a particularly hard time creating good strategic plans, opting for feel-good documents instead.

Goerzen still has good things to say about the baby steps Victoria might be taking on a strategic plans: It can be improved as time goes on. And he says it's important to keep people regularly informed of progress.

It's a bit like the job performance review, said Goerzen. "It should never be a surprise ... If you're an employee and your boss hits you [with] a surprise, your boss doesn't know how to give reviews."

He suggests monthly reports on how the city is achieving its goals. But don't bet on that happening.

mailto:cheiman@tc.canwest.com
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007


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