Coos Bay — City officials, staff and partner organizations spent a multi-hour work session developing a draft three-year strategic plan that places the highest short-term emphasis on infrastructure, transportation and funding while also advancing organizational systems, staffing and community engagement.

Facilitator remarks opened the workshop with the planning horizon and process: “we're in the middle of our strategic planning process,” and organizers repeatedly framed the work as setting a three-year runway for implementation. The mayor was identified as the plan’s champion: “We start out in having someone who's championing it, and that's actually gonna be Nicole,” the facilitator said.

Why it matters: city leaders said the plan is meant to set priorities that will guide budget and staffing decisions and clarify which projects to pursue now and which to defer. Participants described the session as a move away from reactive, year-to-year decision-making toward a coordinated package of project lists, capital planning and partner engagement that can be tracked quarterly.

Most of the workshop time focused on infrastructure: transportation funding and planning, public facilities and equipment, and long-term capital needs. On transportation, participants discussed a citywide transportation plan that would include public transit, multimodal connections (walking and biking), parking management and contingency planning for major events such as cruise ship calls. One group proposed pairing a transportation plan with a funding strategy and a public education campaign so residents understand trade-offs and timing.

Public facilities and equipment emerged as a second major thread. Staff and department leaders argued for a clearer major-capital plan and a depreciation/reserve approach so expensive items (for example, a $2,000,000 aerial apparatus and $400,000 SCBA—self-contained breathing apparatus—replacements mentioned in discussion) are not addressed only when they fail. Participants said many equipment purchases are regulatory or mission-critical and should be visible in a multi-year capital program rather than buried in annual operating budgets.

Funding and resource development were recurring themes. Workshop attendees distinguished between operational efficiencies and new or alternative revenue sources. The group discussed reliance on user fees, utility revenues and grants while also exploring ways to attract outside investment and tourism dollars. Facilitator comments framed the funding challenge succinctly: “Anything you choose is a cost opportunity that you're not doing at the time,” noting the need for prioritization when budgets are limited.

Participants discussed forecasting and resilience as a way to make staffing, equipment and capital plans more robust against economic swings. Attendees recommended building multi-year forecasting into the plan and pairing it with resiliency actions—training, personnel planning and equipment replacement schedules—so the city can scale up or down depending on future population and development scenarios. One explicit data point mentioned in the room: a state population forecast of roughly 400 people over the next 20 years, which participants used to illustrate the need to stress-test assumptions.

Organizational health, systems and processes were also prioritized. Workshop members recommended streamlining permitting and internal handoffs so residents and developers can navigate city services more easily. Several speakers urged a citywide community-education and communications program so the public better understands why the city pursues capital work, and to reduce friction when rate or fee changes are required.

Housing, economic development and partnerships were presented as linked strategies rather than stand-alone items. Attendees emphasized the city’s convening role—facilitating developer partnerships, aligning infrastructure priorities with private investment, and targeting key external partners (state agencies, the port, hospital and regional economic actors). Participants noted potential constraints—permitting timelines, state and federal agency requirements—and recommended elevated, sustained outreach to state legislators and agencies to clear regulatory bottlenecks.

Next steps and implementation: participants agreed on a project-management approach. The facilitator said she will continue as an accountability partner with quarterly check-ins with Mayor Nicole and named staff; staff will produce a refined work-plan with prioritized projects, timelines and funding pathways. The group also planned follow-up work sessions to develop performance metrics, council roles and a public-facing education plan.

Participants characterized the meeting as unusually aligned. Several attendees said the workshop produced a shared, holistic view of priorities and a practical, staged approach to budgeting and implementation. No formal decisions or votes were taken at the workshop; the session produced direction and assignments for staff and a commitment to return with a refined draft plan and project-management details.

Ending — Implementation and outreach: organizers will convert the workshop post-its and notes into a formal three-year draft work plan and capital program for council review. The facilitator and mayor will host quarterly updates during implementation, and staff will be asked to produce project-management plans, funding strategies and a communications plan to guide public engagement and council decision-making.