By Pepper Parr
July 9th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
It is not bed time reading but if you find at some point that you don’t like what your city is doing – flip back to this Vision to Focus (V2F) work plan to learn when they said they were going to align the work they do with the Strategic Plan and determine if they are on target.
In a preamble to the document Mayor Meed Ward said:
There are many new faces around the table at City Council and I’m excited and proud of what we are committing to accomplish for the people of Burlington over the coming four years.
The chart below sets out what this city council wants to get done before the end of its term. The Srategic Plan had four pillars – Staff added a fifth.
The five areas of the Strategic Plan city council wants the bureaucrats to focus on during the balance of their term of office October 2022
The City’s long-term 25-year strategic plan reflects many of the priorities we identified in our respective campaign platforms said the Mayor. The plan will continue to evolve as our city changes, and our new council responds with new ideas. We are also committed to taking action in our four-year term to begin to implement the plan, where it aligns with our collective vision for Burlington.
That is why we have created a four-year work plan: to focus on what actions we can take in this term of council to deliver on the commitments we made during our respective election campaigns, many of which are captured in the strategic plan. The good news is that there is already a high degree of alignment among our individual campaign platforms, and with the elements in the 25-year Strategic Plan.
The citizens of our community voted for change in the last election. They told us on the campaign trail, and through their votes, that they wanted to see limits to over-development and intensification, better traffic management, protection of our green spaces, and more respect and civility at City Hall.
In the short time we’ve been privileged to serve you, we have implemented an Interim Control Bylaw to pause development in our downtown core and around the Burlington Go Station to better evaluate the long-term vision we have for growth in this area and ensure it represents the wants and needs of our community. We launched the Roseland Private Tree Bylaw to help protect and preserve the tree canopy in one of the oldest parts of our city. We passed motions at City Council to make it clear to the Provincial Government that we would not support development in our greenbelt, and that we are opposed to amalgamation with neighbouring municipalities. We debated the hot topic of allowing retail cannabis stores to operate in our city and voted how our constituents asked us to, with respectful debate as we reached a final decision together.
We launched the Red Tape Red Carpet Task Force to bring together business owners across all industries to identify obstacles to relocation and growth here in Burlington, and work together to remove them.
We worked together to pass a new budget that provided the lowest tax increase for our residents in 8 years while still adding new services that add value to our city.
Most importantly, we have prioritized connecting with our constituents and making sure everyone feels that their voice matters. We attend community fundraisers, local sporting events, flag raising and proclamations, new business openings and school tours, and meet 1 on 1 with constituents every day to help engage people from every corner of our city.
Our vision for the next four years is to continue on this very path. We will focus on key priorities like the environment and climate change, transit, and the health and well-being of our residents and businesses. We’ll deliver the customer service levels you deserve and ensure every voice in our community is heard and valued. We’ll do it all while operating with integrity, transparency and respect in everything we do.
This 2018-2022 Burlington’s Plan: From Vision to Focus document is the corporate work plan for the term of Council to align with the long-term vision of the 25-year Strategic Plan.
Burlington’s corporate alignment and accountability is built on Service Management and Results- Based Accountability Frameworks. A Results-Based Accountability Framework takes into consideration two types of accountability.
The following are the services the city currently delivers.
These are the services the city currently delivers. Not every city delivers the same in the way of services; leaf collection is an example.
Now – just what is it they are going to do?
The Priorities and the Action that needs to be taken to achieve these priorities are set out below
The actions that will be taken to achieve this priority.
Priorities for Focus Area 1
Actions for Focus Area 1
Priorities for Focus Area 2
Actions for Focus area 2
Priorities for Focus Area 3
Actions for Focus area 3.
Priorities for Focus Area 4
Actions for Focus area 4
Priorities for Area 5
Actions for Focus Area 5
The intention is to report to the public in June on each of the targets: were they reached and is it working.
The Road Map to getting all this done in time to decide if you want to re-elect this city council that looks like this.
This is a massive document that council spent hours going over in great detail and revising to be certain they got it right.
It was referred to as a “living document”; one that would change with the stresses, needs and desires of the community. Staff will report to the city at least once a year where they are on the Actions side – they are determined to deliver on the bigger picture plan.
We will report later in the week on the debate and discussion that took place – it was interesting and refreshing to watch this council pull together as a group towards a common goal.
