Strategic Planning

Why do Our Meetings Take So Long?, Carl Neu's August 2008 MRSC Council/Commission Advisor column provides an excellent starting point for consideration of this topic, tying together many of the strategic and procedural issues that should be addressed by all local government legislative bodies interested in becoming "truly effective leaders, policy setters and stewards of the nature and quality of a community’s future."
Was I Elected To Do What the People Want or to Govern Well? by Carl H. Neu, Jr., MRSC Council/Commission Advisor, February 2007
Perspectives on Strategic Planning in the Public Sector, by Richard D. Young, University of South Carolina, Institute for Public Service and Policy Research, 2003

Community Visioning and Strategic Planning Handbook, The National Civic League, 2000 (Lays out the framework of the successful community planning processes used by the National Civic League and others across the country)
"Elements of Strategic Planning and Management in Municipal Government: Status after Two Decades," Theodore Poister and Gregory Streib, Public Administration Review, January/February, 2005
"Getting Your Priorities Straight," Chris Fabian, Scott Collins, and Jon Johnson, PM Magazine, June 2008
Normandy Park Sightlines 2030 - Visioning Strategic Plan - Presentation to WCCMA 2009 Summer Conference by Doug Schulze, City Manager
2008 Vancouver Strategic Plan - Includes links to city council strategic planning workshops, citizen feedback findings (survey, stakeholder groups and outreach), and related documents.
Strategic Planning for Local Government, by Gerald L. Gordon. 2nd Ed., International City/County Management Association, 2005 (MRSC Library Loan)

"Where Change Really Happens in Government, Who Will Save Us?" Ken Miller, Governing, June 11, 2010
"'RESET' Stewardship for City Governments: 2009-12," Carl H. Neu, Jr., MRSC Council/Commission Advisor, September 2009
"These are Transformative Times," Carl H. Neu, Jr., MRSC Council/Commission Advisor, March 2010
"Leadership in These Turbulent Times," Carl H. Neu, Jr., MRSC Council/Commission Advisor, February 2009
"Building a Financially Resilient Government through Long-Term Financial Planning," Shayne Kavanagh, Government Finance Review, December 2009
"Trends to Watch in 2010," by Elizabeth Kellar, Joshua Franzel, Danielle Miller Wagner, and Joan Mccallen, Public Management, January/February 2010
"An Opportunity for Creative Destruction," Robert O'Neill, Governing, October 21, 2009

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Related MRSC Resources

MRSC Index - Strategic planning

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