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2005-042RESOLUTION 05-042 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS, APPROVING THE VISION, MISSION STATEMENT AND STRATEGIC FOCUS AREAS DEVELOPED AT THE CITY COUNCIL'S STRATEGIC PLANNING WORKSHOP. WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Southlake, Texas, developed a Vision, Mission Statement and Strategic Focus Areas at the City Council's Strategic Planning Workshop; now, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS, THAT: Section 1. The Vision, Mission Statement and Strategic Focus Areas are approved and incorporated in this resolution in Exhibit A. Section 2. This resolution shall become effective after its passage and adoption by the City Council.- Executed ouncil: Executed this 16th day of August 2005. City of Southlake: Andy Wamftanss Mayor ATTEST: Tit 00n Lori Farwell City Secretary I Exhibit A FINAL REPORT Strategic Planning Workshop June 16-171 2005 Prepared by: NIAMMUS HELPING GOVERNMENT SERVE THE PEOPLE' 2005 13601 Preston Road, Suite 201E Dallas, Texas 75240 Voice: 972-490-9990 Fax: 972-490-3040 r - Strategic Planning Workshop Executive Summary Over the course of two days at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Hyatt hotel, seven members of the City Council, three members of the City Manager's office and the City Secretary of the City of Southlake, Texas completed the city's first-ever strategic planning workshop. The planning session, facilitated by a consultant from MAXIMUS, Inc., resulted in the articulation of several key elements of a long range strategic framework for the city. These included: A consensus statement of the future vision for the City of Southlake A City Council developed mission statement to guide the operations of city gov- ernment A set of core values to establish the ethical constructs within which city business should be conducted Identification of several important differentiating characteristics of the City of Southlake that can be leveraged to achieve strategic success Eight separate strategic focus areas around which key policy decisions can be evaluated and important organizational and operational activities can be managed. Purpose of the Stratesic PlanninE Workshop The strategic planning workshop focused primarily on What the City of Southlake needs to focus on to achieve its overall vision for the future rather than the day to day Hows of municipal operations and service delivery. Good strategic planning addresses the issues that challenge you today and, more importantly, those that will challenge you tomorrow. Accordingly, the strategic planning workshop was an exercise in collective foresight, as the participants worked together to clarify what success looks like for the City of South - lake in light of expected future conditions and where the leadership wants to take the community and the organization. J Strategic Planning Workshop Consensus Vision An organization's vision is aspirational in nature. It defines what the organization wants to be or to achieve. It is an idealized description of the desired future state of the commu- nity. Using the vision statement developed in the city's 2025 planning effort and, based on a visioning exercise conducted at the workshop, a "picture" of a vision for Southlake was developed. Based on the subsequent discussion (and using the 2025 vision statement as the basis), the workshop facilitator drafted the following condensed vision statement: SOUTHLAKE VISION Southlake is a vibrant, attractive, safe, healthy and fiscally sound community that epitomizes both economic and envi- ronmental sustainability. We offer quality neighborhoods and a high standard of living, with abundant opportunities for learn- ing, shopping, working, recreation and enjoyment of open spaces. Consensus Mission Statement A mission statement describes the organization's purpose. It defines the "business" of the organization and its relationship to its customers. The City Council developed a first draft of a mission statement, which was then refined by the workshop facilitator and then fur- ther edited and polished by the workshop participants. The agreed mission statement is shown below: MISSION STATEMENT The City of Southlake's mission is to provide municipal services that sup- port the highest quality of life for our residents and businesses. We do this by delivering outstanding value and unrivaled quality in: Securing the safety of our citizens' life and property Maintenance of our public infrastructure Providing attractive spaces for active and passive pursuits Ensuring a dynamic and diverse economic environment Promoting regional mobility and ease of access Serving as responsible stewards of the taxpayers' money and other resources. MAXIMUS 11 J 1 Strategic Planning Workshop Consensus Values Values are the fundamental principles that guide how members of the organization con- duct themselves in pursuit of the mission and vision of the organization. Together, the values provide an ethical framework for decision making and action. Workshop partici- pants brainstormed a series of value statements which were recorded on a flip chart by the workshop facilitator and then, using a "dot voting" process, the most important of the values were established. The facilitator then provided draft values definitions that, in turn, were reviewed and refined by members of the City Council and staff until consensus SOUTHLAKE VALUES INTEGRITY — Being worthy of the public's trust in all things. We deal honestly and respectfully with each other and the public at all times. COMMITMENT to EXCELLENCE — Behaving responsively in our delivery of service to the public. Our work is characterized by its quality and by the diligence with which it is carried out. We proac- tively seek to solve problems in advance. TEAMWORK —Recognizing the importance of working together to., meet our citizen's needs, communicating clearly, sharing resources and information freely. INNOVATION — Valuing progressive thinking, creativity, flexibility and adaptability in service delivery. ACCOUNTABILITY — Taking personal responsibility for our actions or inaction while putting the interests of the taxpayer first. was achieved. Those agreed values are shown below: Differentiators Southlake exists within a competitive marketplace. To achieve its vision it must success- fully compete with other communities in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area and, indeed, nation-wide, to attract investors in the form of home owners, commercial devel- opers, employers, shoppers and visitors. Just as a commercial enterprise needs to under- stand how it is differentiated from other companies providing the same or similar goods or services, so, too, must a municipal government understand its unique characteristics and then use them to its competitive advantage. The differentiators that were agreed to be critically important to the future success of the City of Southlake, and thus the most im- portant from a strategic planning point of view, include the following: iii Strategic Planning Workshop COMPETITIVE DIFFERENTIATORS Strategic location including both highway access and proximity to area airports Outstanding public education systems Proactive, consistent land use planning with stringent development standards Attractive public spaces Low crime rate Strong, unique and positive image Well managed, financially stable government. Strate0c Focus Areas To identify these areas of strategic focus, workshop participants were challenged to men- tally go forward in time to imagine great success. They visualized a situation where the city had achieved its vision through successful accomplishment of its mission while oper- ating within its value framework. Then they were asked, "Looking back on today from a position of great success, what, specifically, did the city do to achieve that success." Each participating member listed the action steps that, if taken today, would lead the city to that future position. Many individual ideas were generated. Then, working together, these ideas were grouped together according to their common themes. From this exercise, a total of eight strategic focus areas emerged as the most important ones for Southlake's future. These focus areas are considered coequal — the city must have all eight to achieve strategic success. These eight strategic focus areas are shown below: SOUTHLAKE STRATEGIC FOCUS 7 Aggressively promote quality development Address mobility concerns Leverage community partnerships & volunteerism Emphasize parks & open space Systematically invest in capital infrastructure Conservatively manage public resources Foster high performance management & service deliv- ery Consistently adhere to established standards AM MAXIMUS iv 1 Strategic Planning Workshop After identifying and agreeing on these strategic focus areas, the participants next en- gaged in a process of ranking and evaluating them using anonymous voting technology. Each of the eight strategic focus areas was evaluated on two separate dimensions: Strate- gic Importance and Current Performance and then these ratings were plotted on and evaluated on a 2x2 matrix, as shown below: A High E Low Immediate Opportunity: Plan & Invest Now Mid to Long Term Opportunity: Research & Plan Givens: Primary Strategies Foundational: Must Haves Low High Current Performance Southlake Strategy Profile CONSISTENCYj JINFRASTRUCTURE REIDEVELOPMENTj SOURCESI CL E u IMANAGEMENT1 of o N MOBILITY (OPEN SPACEI IP/"RTNERSHIPSI Current Performance MAXIMUS S v Strategic Planning Workshop The consensus scatter plot of the eight Southlake strategic focus areas is shown below: Based on the interpretation matrix, the following assignments of each of the eight strate- gies were made: Givens — Primary Strategies Consistently adhere to established standards Aggressively promote quality development Conservatively manage public resources Foundational — Must Haves Foster high performance management & service delivery Emphasize parks & open space Leverage community partnerships & volunteerism Immediate Opportunity — Plan and Invest Now Systematically invest in capital infrastructure Mid to Long Term Opportunity — Research and Plan Address mobility concerns Action Steps Based on the results of the priority ranking, the facilitator selected three strategic focus areas to establish immediate, mid and longer term goals or action steps. The infrastruc- ture and mobility focus areas were both identified as opportunity areas, while the conser- vative management of resources focus, though a "given" shows some opportunity for per- formance improvement. The agreed action steps for the three strategic focus areas are shown below. Focus: Address Mobilitv Concerns Immediate (FY 2006) Study transit / rail access issues and begin planning for Southlake's par- ticipation vi i J Strategic Planning Workshop Review the city's sidewalk and trail plan along with the implementing or- dinances Actively participate and engage in the regional transit station location / sit- ing decision making process Initiate discussions with the City of Grapevine regarding cooperative ad- vocacy in regional transit matters Engage in discussions with the state regarding improvements on SH 1938, Davis and 1709 Complete 1709/Carroll intersection improvements Widen 1709 Mid -Term (2-5 Years) Complete Kimball / SH 114 improvements Long -Term (Bevond 5 vears) Complete the build -out of the city's sidewalk and trail system Focus: Svstematicallv Invest in Capital Infrastructure Immediate (FY 2006) Complete the review process and implement the formation of a storm drainage utility Ensure adequate funding for high priority infrastructure projects (consis- tent with actual development activity and the availability of developer par- ticipation) Increase city funding of new and maintenance infrastructure projects as re- sources permit including streets, drainage, utility system, facilities, tech- nology and other major capital investments Mid -Term (2-5 Years) Gradually expand the allocation of funding to infrastructure maintenance Include a regular capital improvements workshop as a part of the annual budget process Develop a comprehensive 5 year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that is tied to the land use plan and revaluate capital needs on a regular basis Long -Term (Beyond 5 years) vii Strategic Planning Workshop Establish a capital funding process that emphasizes high priority needs Develop and execute a long term funding plan Execute the formal CIP Create, as possible, separate, dedicated funding sources for capital invest- ments Focus: Conservativelv ManaLye Public Resources Immediate (FY 2006) Maintain fund balances at the same percentage levels as last year Develop and adopt a Statement of Financial Principles Implement a "target budget" process including a multi year forecast com- ponent Re -vamp the city's vehicle replacement and assignment policy Review, adopt and implement appropriate recommendations resulting from current management studies Provide the City Council with a thorough budget briefing and "tutorial" on the budget process Implement reforms to the procurement process Mid -Term (2-5 Years) Move the water and sewer utility to a full enterprise funding model Preserve the city's AA bond rating Establish both capital and special reserves with excess fund balances those above the desired level established in the Financial Principles) LonE-Term (Bevond 5 vears) None identified Strateav Articulation Man A strategy articulation map is simply a graphical depiction of an organizations strategy in terms of its mission, vision, values, market differentiators and strategic focus. It can and should be expanded to include the specific action steps required for achievement of stra- tegic success and can be cascaded through the organization to facilitate the development of departmental and divisional work programs that "roll up" to the individual strategies depicted in the map. The strategy articulation map resulting from Southlake's strategic planning workshop is shown on the following page. MAXIMUS Vlll Strategic Planning Workshop ix Vision Mission Values The City of Southlake's mission is to provide 10 Southlake is a vibrant, attractive, safe, municipal services that support the highest INTEGRITY healthy and fiscally sound community that quality of life for our residents and businesses. COMMITMENT to epitomizes both economic and environmental We do this by delivering outstanding value and . EXCELLENCE sustainability. We offer quality neighborhoods unrivaled quality in: TEAMWORKandahighstandardofliving, with abundant opportunities for learning, shopping, working, -Securing the safety of our citizens' life and INNOVATION recreation and enjoyment of open spaces property ACCOUNTABILITY Maintenance of our public infrastructure Providing attractive spaces for active and passive pursuits Ensuring a dynamic and diverse economic environment Promoting regional mobility and ease of access Serving as responsible stewards of the taxpayers' money and other resources Outstanding w Proactive Market Strategic Public Planning wl Attractive Differentiators Location Education Stringent Public Spaces Systems Standards Strong, Unique Well Low Crime & Positive managed, Rate Image financially stable govt Strategic Aggressively Leverage g promote quality Address mobility community Emphasize parks Focus Areas development concerns partnerships & & open space volunteerism Systematically Conservatively Foster high Diligently adhere invest in capital manage public performance to established infrastructure resources management & standards service delivery Strategic Planning Workshop Table of Contents Executive Summary i Introduction 1 Purpose of the Strategic Planning Workshop 1 Planning Issues & Themes 2 The Planning Process 5 Consensus Vision 6 Consensus Mission Statement 6 Consensus Values 7 Differentiators 7 Obstacles & Enablers 8 Evidence of Success 9 Emerging Trends 10 Strategic Focus Areas 11 Action Steps 15 Strategy Articulation Map 17 Recommendations / Next Steps 19 lumul MAXIMUS Strategic Planning Workshop Introduction Over the course of two days at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Hyatt hotel, eleven mem- bers of the City Council and executive team of the City of Southlake, Texas completed the city's first-ever strategic planning workshop. The planning session, facilitated by a consultant from MAXIMUS, Inc., resulted in the articulation of several key elements of a long range strategic framework for the city. These included: A consensus statement of the future vision for the City of Southlake A City Council developed mission statement to guide the operations of city gov- ernment A set of core values to establish the ethical constructs within which city business should be conducted Identification of several important differentiating characteristics of the City of Southlake that can be leveraged to achieve strategic success Eight separate strategic focus areas around which key policy decisions can be evaluated and important organizational and operational activities can be managed. During the workshop, City Council members and top city staff members were able to openly discuss the city's strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats and to then forge agreement on the highest order priorities on which to focus in the future. These strategic priorities, in turn, will help to establish the foundation for more specific action steps, resource plans (budgets) and performance measures. The strategic planning work- shop, therefore, produced a unifying frame of reference to guide daily policy and operat- ing decisions, organizational structures and governance. This report details the results of the strategic planning workshop and includes recommen- dations for continuation of the momentum already established. Purpose of the Stratesic Planning Workshop The City of Southlake's decision to begin a strategic planning effort was prompted by the convergence of a number of interrelated factors. However, most significantly, the ap- pointment of a new City Manager provided the Mayor, City Council and City Manager a window of opportunity" to establish, together, a clear vision of the city's desired future fttj.`.tl Page 1 A. Strategic Planning Workshop and to begin a continuous process of planning, leading and executing to create that de- sired future. Strategic planning is a product of strategic thinking, which should occur not only at peri- odic planning sessions such as the one just completed, but on a continuous basis. Strate- gic thinking and planning should occur at the highest levels of the organization, but should not stop there. It must cascade to lower levels of the organization and should di- rectly drive decision making. Strategic planning involves the gathering, sorting and pri- oritizing of the best thinking of Southlake's policy leaders and executive managers, fo- cused on the core purposes of the organization and the most important attributes of suc- cess. The strategic planning workshop focused primarily on What the City of Southlake needs to focus on to achieve its overall vision for the future rather than the day to day Hows of municipal operations and service delivery. Good strategic planning addresses the issues that challenge you today and, more importantly, those that will challenge you tomorrow. Accordingly, the strategic planning workshop was an exercise in collective foresight, as the participants worked together to clarify what success looks like for the City of South - lake in light of expected future conditions and where the leadership wants to take the community and the organization. PlanninLFIssues & Themes Prior to the conduct of the strategic planning workshop, the planning facilitator con- ducted a series of individual interviews with each member of the City Council, the City Manager, Interim Deputy City Manager, Assistant to the City Manager and all Depart- ment Directors. The purpose of these interviews was to provide the facilitator with an un- derstanding of Southlake as a community and an appreciation for the operational envi- ronment and issues facing the municipal government organization. From these inter- views, a set of "themes" emerged. These themes, from both the staff and City Council perspectives, then helped to establish a common basis of understanding moving into the workshop itself. The planning issues and themes developed through this process are presented below: The Citv Staff Perspective City staff leaders are enthusiastic about the strategic planning effort. There is a common sense that the community, having experienced a protracted period of rapid growth, is now in an important transition phase where issues of growth management will begin to yield to issues of community sustainability. So, a key Page 2 i -i_ Strategic Planning Workshop question to be considered is "How does Southlake continue to be a premier com- munity." Prior "strategic plans" in Southlake have tended to be a list of projects, mostly development related. Many on the staff are looking for higher-level, more strate- gic and philosophical direction from the elected officials of the City. Southlake is a community that places a high value on community aesthetics and on providing opportunities for citizen involvement and this emphasis is likely to continue into the future. The staff wants the strategic planning effort to help ad- dress the question of "How does Southlake maintain high levels of service as revenue growth slows?" The staff is eager to have a concrete sense of direction from the City Council in terms of a consensus vision and mission for Southlake as it begins to come to grips with the challenges of the long term fiscal and operational viability of the city. Real concerns exist among the staff team regarding long term capital needs. While much of the municipal infrastructure is relatively new, much of it is not. Funding for infrastructure maintenance has historically been modest and the list of unfunded / deferred maintenance obligations is growing. There is not a clear sense that the city has a well established plan for dealing with long range infra- structure maintenance costs or that the City Council fully appreciates the magni- tude of these future obligations. There is a general recognition that the staff has been fortunate over recent years in that resources for service delivery have been comparatively abundant. They can see, however, that this will not always be the case and there is a growing sense that the city organization will be (and should be) held to higher levels of fiscal ac- countability, operational efficiency, etc. Senior city staff leaders consider Southlake a near -ideal workplace and, in terms of strategic direction, do not want to lose those aspects that make the City a good employer including competitive compensation, good benefits, good equipment and a collegial work environment. The 2025 plan is a good land use planning document but the strategic plan needs to link land use planning and organizational / operational planning together. Departments have historically done "their own thing" in terms of strategic, opera- tional and capital planning. The City Council strategic planning effort offers an opportunity to develop an overall, consistent framework for the city as a whole. While available technology is generally adequate, some members of the staff feel that there are additional opportunities to better leverage technology investments to improve services, contain costs and enhance citizen access. 1'tj 1 C1' Page 3 Strategic Planning Workshop There appears to be a high degree of confidence in the current leadership — both at the Council and City Manager levels — and there is growing understanding that a new era" of accountability for results has arrived. There is general agreement that the city organization is facing a "cultural shift" in terms of its thinking about spending. A successful strategic planning session will result in a clear statement of vision, mission and a set of clearly articulated goals that can be tracked and measured to show progress. In addition, and importantly, the strategic planning session should help all of the participants to focus on issues of governance — the mutual roles, re- sponsibilities and accountabilities of the critical players at both the policy and administrative levels. The Citv Council Perspective Council issues and themes tend to divide between those ongoing topics of growth, land use, development standards and the like and the longer term issues of fiscal sta- bility, infrastructure maintenance and accountability for results. Council members, in general, do not point out any single, overriding critical is- sues that they see facing Southlake. They tend to report that their constituents' primary expectations of them revolve around protection of the aesthetic character and quality of life in the community. Balancing the desires of certain community groups for investment in intensive, active recreational and athletic facilities vs. the need for passive parks, an inter- connected trail system and attractive open spaces is an important issue for several members of the Council. Holding firm on development standards is a top priority and this is coupled with concern for development along and north of the 114 corridor, which is seen as the last major opportunity to impact the "look and feel" of Southlake going forward. So, the management of adjacency issues — how to integrate more intensive high- way frontage uses with single family development is important. Continued collaboration with the Southlake Carroll School District (the Joint Use Committee) and a strengthening of that relationship is cited by some as strategi- cally important. Some members of the Council see a need for more active involvement, oversight, even scrutiny, of the city's budget process and financial management. While there is a strong appreciation for the separation of policy and administration, certain members of the Council feel that public expectations and their own fiduciary re- sponsibilities suggest that they pay more attention to financial management, set- ting service level standards, controlling spending, etc. Page 4 Strategic Planning Workshop Maintenance of a stable tax rate is a top priority for several Council members. A successful strategic planning session should give the Council a shared sense of direction for the community and, importantly, an opportunity for dialog and inter- action that is usually not available to them in the normal routine of conducting city and Council business. The aging infrastructure — especially in older parts of the community, will become an increasing challenge and will cause new fiscal pressures. A realistic, well conceived economic development strategy would benefit the city. For some members of the Council, the strategic planning session represents an opportunity to strengthen the working relationships between staff and Council and for building mutual trust and confidence. The Planning Process The actual process applied to the development of the Southlake Strategic Plan is depicted in the graphic to the Introductions ? right. Specifically, over a two day period, the City Coun- cil and staff worked through a series of small group exer- I Mission sion/Vaiues cises, brainstorming sessions and other techniques to: Differentiators Develop a new mission statement for the City of Southlake, along with supporting statements of a Evidence of Successi long range vision and a value framework JI. Obstacles / Enableraq Identify important indicators of success in terms of kinds of measures or trends that will demon- Identify trategies strate that the city is achieving its strategic goals Think about the obstacles to success that might be I Prioritization encountered and to identify enablers or resources available to the city to overcome those obstacles Define to focus future decision Interpretation I Refine Strata les / Respecificstrategies Vote making and resource allocation Assess and prioritize those strategies in terms of Next Steps /Follow-UpI both their importance to the city's future and the extent to which the city is performing in these strategic focus areas today Identify specific immediate, mid-term and long term goals for the implementation of high priority strategies. Each aspect of this process is described in more detail in the following sections of the re- port. Page 5 Strategic Planning Workshop Consensus Vision An organization's vision is aspirational in nature. It defines what the organization wants to be or to achieve. It is an idealized description of the desired future state of the commu- nity. Using the vision statement developed in the city's 2025 planning effort and, based on a visioning exercise conducted at the workshop, a "picture" of a vision for Southlake was developed. Based on the subsequent discussion (and using the 2025 vision statement as the basis), the workshop facilitator drafted the following condensed vision statement: SOUTHLAKE VISION Southlake is a vibrant, attractive, safe, healthy and fiscally sound community that epitomizes both economic and envi- ronmental sustainability. We offer quality neighborhoods and a high standard of living, with abundant opportunities for learn- ing, shopping, working, recreation and enjoyment of open spaces. Consensus Mission Statement A mission statement describes the organization's purpose. It defines the "business" of the organization and its relationship to its customers. The City Council developed a first draft of a mission statement, which was then refined by the workshop facilitator and then fur- ther edited and polished by the workshop participants. The agreed mission statement is shown below: MAXIMUS Page 6 Strategic Planning Workshop Consensus Values Values are the fundamental principles that guide how members of the organization con- duct themselves in pursuit of the mission and vision of the organization. Together, the values provide an ethical framework for decision making and action. Workshop partici- pants brainstormed a series of value statements which were recorded on a flip chart by the workshop facilitator and then, using a "dot voting" process, the most important of the values were established. The facilitator then provided draft values definitions that, in turn, were reviewed and refined by members of the City Council and staff until consensus was achieved. Those agreed values are shown below: SOUTHLAKE VALUES INTEGRITY — Being worthy of the public's trust in all things. We deal honestly and respectfully with each other and the public at all times. COMMITMENT to EXCELLENCE — Behaving responsively in our delivery of service to the public. Our work is characterized by its quality and by the diligence with which it is carried out. We proac- tively seek to solve problems in advance. TEAMWORK — Recognizing the importance of working together to meet our citizen's needs, communicating clearly, sharing resources and information freely. INNOVATION — Valuing progressive thinking, creativity, flexibility and adaptability in service delivery. ACCOUNTABILITY — Taking personal responsibility for our actions or inaction while putting the interests of the taxpayer first. MISSION STATEMENT The City of Southlake's mission is to provide municipal services that sup- port the highest quality of life for our residents and businesses. We do this by delivering outstanding value and unrivaled quality in: Securing the safety of our citizens' life and property Maintenance of our public infrastructure Providing attractive spaces for active and passive pursuits Ensuring a dynamic and diverse economic environment Promoting regional mobility and ease of access Serving as responsible stewards of the taxpayers' money and other resources. Page 7 144. -- Strategic Planning Workshop Differentiators Southlake exists within a competitive marketplace. To achieve its vision it must success - COMPETITIVE DIFFERENTIATORS Strategic location including both highway access and proximity to area airports Outstanding public education systems Proactive, consistent land use planning with stringent development standards Attractive public spaces Low crime rate Strong, unique and positive image Well managed, financially stable government. fully compete with other communities in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area and, indeed, nation-wide, to attract investors in the form of home owners, commercial devel- opers, employers, shoppers and visitors. Just as a commercial enterprise needs to under- stand how it is differentiated from other companies providing the same or similar goods or services, so, too, must a municipal government understand its unique characteristics and then use them to its competitive advantage. Again using a brainstorming technique, a set of competitive differentiators were proposed and discussed by workshop participants. Then, using an electronic voting technology, each of the proposed differentiators was evaluated in terms of its criticality or importance to the city as a competitive advantage. Those that were agreed to be critically important to the future success of the City of Southlake, and thus the most important from a strate- gic planning point of view, include the following: Obstacles & Enablers At this point in the planning process, the workshop participants have, together, developed and reached agreement on four critical elements of the strategic plan: A statement of vision A mission statement A set of values A listing of Southlake's competitive advantages Having decided, at the highest level, where it is they want the city to go, the participants next worked on identifying those things that might impede their progress towards realiza- low MAXIMUS Page 8 Strategic Planning Workshop tion of the vision and accomplishment of the mission (obstacles) and, conversely, those assets or strengths available to overcome those impediments (enablers). Working in small groups, followed by group discussion, the participants agreed on the following lists of obstacles and enablers: OBSTACLES ENABLERS Any future major economic down- Opportunity to influence develop - turn ment along the SH 114 corridor Potential state mandates and/or Designated sales tax revenue limitations on home rule sources Political turnover / turmoil Community affluence Major deviations from current land Actively involved and engaged use plans and supporting ordi- community nances Strong municipal management Development not occurring as and governance planned Good intergovernmental coopera- Future irresponsible fiscal plan- tion Diversified tax base Hing /management Forward thinking and aggressiveImpositionoftermlimits /council- local leadershipmanagerformofgovernment A track record of success Insufficient communication be- Strategic planningtweenstaffandCityCouncilPoliticalcourage Failure to address infrastructure Execution of adopted plans needs Locational advantage Evidence of Success How will the policy leaders, staff and citizens of Southlake know that the city is making progress towards its vision and succeeding in its mission? The workshop participants developed a set of performance indicators that would provide evidence of strategic suc- cess and could form the basis for the development of a comprehensive performance man- agement program for the city organization. Jam MAXIMUS Page 9 Aks Strategic Planning Workshop EVIDENCE OF SUCCESS Continued high quality residential and commercial growth without reduction or dilution of development standards Increasing property values Attractive visual appearance of the community Continued fiscal strength o Appropriate fund balances o Tax rate stability o Maintenance of AA bond rating o Positive financial trends Political tranquility Low / decreasing crime rate Strong test scores in the local schools Adherence to the comprehensive plan More unified / less piecemeal development Maintenance of high municipal service levels Absence of an increase in complaints of code violations Strong citizen satisfaction survey scores Continued strength of community organizations such as: o SPIN o Neighborhood associations o Citizen academies o Public interest in city board / commission service Successful development of the SH 114 corridor Development of low rise office and/or corporate campus projects Stable municipal workforce Emeridna Trends To better understand the operational context within which the City of Southlake must execute its strategic plan, the workshop participants were asked to develop a list of emerging trends." This environmental scan of forces, generally outside of the control of the City of Southlake, provides information suggestive of both opportunities and difficul- ties that may lie ahead. The identified emerging trends are: Page 10 Strategic Planning Workshop EMERGING TRENDS Degradation of Texas Home Rule authority Limitations on taxable value growth Annexation laws Limits on self-rule School finance resolution Regional transportation and mobility issues including mass transit Application of information technology to municipal ser- vice delivery Aging public infrastructure Increased usage of trail system Public demand for park development Public demand for recreation facilities Aging of the Southlake population Emphasis on environmental preservation / protection Strategic Focus Areas After systematically considering multiple facets of the City of Southlake's current and desired market position, identifying strengths and weaknesses and more clearly defining the city's purpose and values, the workshop participants next turned their attention to the specific areas of policy leadership and management focus that are likely to have the greatest impact on the city's long term success. To identify these areas of strategic focus, workshop participants were challenged to men- tally go forward in time to imagine great success. They visualized a situation where the city had achieved its vision through successful accomplishment of its mission while oper- ating within its value framework. Then they were asked, "Looking back on today from a position of great success, what, specifically, did the city do to achieve that success." Each participating member listed the action steps that, if taken today, would lead the city to that future position. Many individual ideas were generated. Then, working together, these ideas were grouped together according to their common themes. From this exercise, a total of eight strategic focus areas emerged as the most important ones for Southlake's future. These focus areas are considered coequal — the city must have all eight to achieve strategic success. These eight strategic focus areas are shown below: Page 11 Strategic Planning Workshop SOUTHLAKE STRATEGIC FOCUS Aggressively promote quality development Address mobility concerns Leverage community partnerships & volunteerism Emphasize parks & open space Systematically invest in capital infrastructure Conservatively manage public resources Foster high performance management & service deliv- ery Consistently adhere to established standards After identifying and agreeing on these strategic focus areas, the participants next en- gaged in a process of ranking and evaluating them using anonymous voting technology. Each of the eight strategic focus areas was evaluated on two separate dimensions: Strate- gic Importance and Current Performance. The first evaluation, Importance, used a paired comparison ranking method to establish a hierarchy of strategic priorities. Recognizing that the city needs to succeed in all eight strategic focus areas to achieve its desired future state, the table below shows the relative importance of each. The table shows the relative rank of each in three separate ways: 1) the consensus of all workshop participants, 2) the rankings given by City Council mem- bers only and 3) the rankings provided by the executive staff participants. STRATEGIC FOCUS AREAS: RANK ORDER OF IMPORTANCE Strategic Focus Combined Council Staff Rank Rank Rank Consistently adhere to established standards 1 1 5 Aggressively promote quality development 2 2 2 Conservatively manage public resources 3 3 1 Systematically invest in capital infrastructure 4 4 3 Foster high performance management & services 5 5 4 Emphasize parks and open space 6 7 6 Address mobility needs 7 6 8 Leverage partnerships & volunteerism 8 8 7 The Performance dimension allowed each of the participants to "grade' how well the city is currently performing or succeeding in each of the eight focus areas on a 1 to 9 scale, with 9 being "practically perfect" and 1 being "not at all." The table below shows the results of these performance ratings. Again, the tabulation shows the separate results ob- Page 12 i -k-:1 Strategic Planning Workshop tained from the entire participant group, City Council members alone and staff members alone. STRATEGIC FOCUS AREAS: CURRENT PERFORMANCE (1-9 scale) Strategic Focus Combined Council Staff Score Score Score L Aggressively promote quality development 6.78 7.17 6.00 Foster high performance management & services 6.44 7.17 I 5.00 Conservatively manage public resources 6.33 7.00 5.00 Consistently adhere to established standards 6.33 6.5 6.00 Emphasize parks and open space 6.00 6.33 5.33 Leverage partnerships & volunteerism 5.11 4.33 6.67 Address mobility needs 4.67 4.83 4.33 Systematically invest in capital infrastructure 4.00 4.83 I 2.33 Having evaluated each of the eight strategic focus areas on both Importance and Per- formance, it is possible to plot the results on a 2x2 matrix, as shown below: High as C o 0 CL E tMa) Low Immedlate Opportunity: Givens: Plan & Invest Now Primary Strategies Mid to Long Term Foundational: Opportunity: Must HavesResearch & Plan Low High Current Performance Definitions of the four quadrants of the strategy evaluation matrix are as follows: Givens" are high value/high performance items. They constitute the city's pri- mary strategies and are indispensable for current success. If they are very high in strategic importance and near the center line of performance they require efforts at Page 13 n`i • • r Strategic Planning Workshop improvement, doing them better. Givens demand high levels of constant attention to assure the quality of the system. Foundational Strategies" are vital support functions. They are necessary to the system and should be performed at least an acceptable level, near the right center. Immediate Opportunities" indicate key areas for innovation that can have major and early impact on success. They show where not only "doing things differently" but doing different things are imperative. Time lines are usually less than one year for implementation. Mid to Long-term Opportunities" represent key success factors that would likely be brought on line following execution of the Immediate Opportunities. These innovations are usually 1-2 years or more out. The consensus scatter plot of the eight Southlake strategic focus areas is shown below: Southlake Strategy Profile A m C JINFRASTRUCTUREJ 0 CL E v W MOBILITY CONSISTENCYJ IDEVELOPMENTj IRESOURCES] IMANAGEMENJ OPEN SPACEI IP^RTNERSHIPSI 00 - Current Performance BasedBased on the interpretation matrix, the following assignments of each of the eight strate- gies can be made: Page 14 Strategic Planning Workshop Givens — Primary Stratezies Consistently adhere to established standards Aggressively promote quality development Conservatively manage public resources Foundational — Must Haves Foster high performance management & service delivery Emphasize parks & open space Leverage community partnerships & volunteerism Immediate Opportunitv — Plan and Invest Now Systematically invest in capital infrastructure Mid to Lona Term Opportunity — Research and Plan Address mobility concerns Action Steps Based on the results of the priority ranking, the facilitator selected three strategic focus areas to establish immediate, mid and longer term goals or action steps. The infrastruc- ture and mobility focus areas were both identified as opportunity areas, while the conser- vative management of resources focus, though a "given" shows some opportunity for per- formance improvement. Focus: Address Mobilitv Concerns Immediate (FY 2006) Study transit / rail access issues and begin planning for Southlake's par- ticipation Review the city's sidewalk and trail plan along with the implementing or- dinances Actively participate and engage in the regional transit station location / sit- ing decision making process Initiate discussions with the City of Grapevine regarding cooperative ad- vocacy in regional transit matters Page 15 Strategic Planning Workshop Engage in discussions with the state regarding improvements on SH 1938, Davis and 1709 Complete 1709/Carroll intersection improvements Widen 1709 Mid -Term (2-5 Years) Complete Kimball / SH 114 improvements Lona -Term (Beyond 5 years) Complete the build -out of the city's sidewalk and trail system Focus: Svstematicallv Invest in Caaital Infrastructure Immediate (FY 2006) Complete the review process and implement the formation of a storm drainage utility Ensure adequate funding for high priority infrastructure projects (consis- tent with actual development activity and the availability of developer par- ticipation) Increase city funding of new and maintenance infrastructure projects as re- sources permit including streets, drainage, utility system, facilities, tech- nology and other major capital investments Mid -Term (2-5 Years) Gradually expand the allocation of funding to infrastructure maintenance Include a regular capital improvements workshop as a part of the annual budget process Develop a comprehensive 5 year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that is tied to the land use plan and revaluate capital needs on a regular basis Lona -Term (Bevond 5 years) Establish a capital funding process that emphasizes high priority needs Develop and execute a long term funding plan Execute the formal CIP Create, as possible, separate, dedicated funding sources for capital invest- ments Page 16 Strategic Planning Workshop Focus: Conservativelv Manaze Public Resources Immediate (FY 2006) Maintain fund balances at the same percentage levels as last year Develop and adopt a Statement of Financial Principles Implement a "target budget" process including a multi year forecast com- ponent Re -vamp the city's vehicle replacement and assignment policy Review, adopt and implement appropriate recommendations resulting from current management studies Provide the City Council with a thorough budget briefing and "tutorial" on the budget process Implement reforms to the procurement process Mid -Term (2-5 Years) Move the water and sewer utility to a full enterprise funding model Preserve the city's AA bond rating Establish both capital and special reserves with excess fund balances those above the desired level established in the Financial Principles) Long -Term (Bevond 5 vears) None identified Stratezv Articulation Man A strategy articulation map is simply a graphical depiction of an organizations strategy in terms of its mission, vision, values, market differentiators and strategic focus. It can and should be expanded to include the specific action steps required for achievement of stra- tegic success and can be cascaded through the organization to facilitate the development of departmental and divisional work programs that "roll up" to the individual strategies depicted in the map. The strategy articulation map resulting from Southlake's strategic planning workshop is shown on the following page. Isw MAXIMUS Page 17 Vision Mission Values The City of Southlake's mission is to provide Southlake is a vibrant, attractive, safe, municipal services that support the highest • INTEGRITY i healthy and fiscally sound community that quality of life for our residents and businesses. • COMMITMENT to epitomizes both economic and environmental We do this by delivering outstanding value and EXCELLENCE sustainability. We offer quality neighborhoods unrivaled quality in: • TEAMWORK and a high standard of living, with abundant -Securing the safety of our citizens' life and • INNOVATIONopportunitiesforleaming, shopping, working, recreation and enjoyment of open spaces property • ACCOUNTABILITY Maintenance of our public infrastructure Providing attractive spaces for active and passive pursuits Ensuring a dynamic and diverse economic environment Promoting regional mobility and ease of access Serving as responsible stewards of the taxpayers' money and other resources. Market Outstanding Proactive Strategic Public Planning w/ Attractive Differentiators Location Education Stringent Public Spaces Systems Standards Strong, Unique Well Low Crime & Positive managed, Rate Image financially stable govt. Strategic Aggressively Leverage g Address mobilityJ community Emphasize parks developmentFocusAreasPromotequality concerns partnerships & & open space volunteerism Systematically Conservatively Foster high Diligently adhere 00 invest in capital manage public performance to established infrastructure resources management & standards service delivery 0 Strategic Planning Workshop Recommendations / Next Steps The City Council and staff made significant progress in charting a future direction for the City of Southlake. However, it is important to remember that strategic planning is a proc- ess, not an individual project that can be marked off of the "to do" list. To realize the value of the initial strategic planning workshop, both the Council and the staff must be committed to following through and to making the developed plan into a central compo- nent of the city's management process. Specific recommended next steps are as follows: 1. The City Council should review and adopt this strategic planning report, making such modifications or clarifications as the Council deems appropriate. 2. The City Council should commit to institutionalizing the strategic planning effort, linked to the annual budget process, to allow for further clarification and refine- ment of their strategic intent and to make mid -course corrections as warranted and appropriate. 3. The specific action items on the three selected strategic focus areas should be evaluated and validated, both by staff members and Council, modified as neces- sary, and incorporated into the upcoming FY 2006 budget process as policy guid- ance from the Council. 4. Development of immediate, mid term and short term action steps for the remain- ing five strategic focus areas should be developed and, as with the first three, made a part of the budget planning process. The city staff can develop a first draft of these action steps for presentation to the City Council. 5. The adopted strategic plan should be presented to the operating departments of the City of Southlake and direction should be given to link proposed budget requests and ongoing operating initiatives to one or more of the strategic focus area. Those activities that cannot be shown to directly support at least one of the focus areas should be critically evaluated for elimination or substantial reduction. 6. A strategy implementation and monitoring process should be developed. This would include the development of key performance measures for each strategic focus area, first at the enterprise level. Then, linking measures should be devel- oped at each subordinate level, along with a business planning and reporting process, to ensure that meaningful progress towards strategic success is being achieved. Page 19 d, Priority Voting Process: Detailed Results w MAXIMUS a . Strategic Planning Workshop io MAXIMUS A C Strategic Planning Workshop Strategic Planning Workshop Presentation Materials