Troutdale council raises idea of fall strategic planning session after new city manager arrives

At the June 26 special meeting the Troutdale City Council discussed whether to schedule a facilitated strategic planning or goal-setting session in the fall after the incoming city manager has settled into the role. No formal action or vote was taken.

Eric, a city staff member, raised the idea and asked councilors to begin considering a facilitated process, noting the council’s last formal goals were adopted around June 30, 2020. Eric suggested a September timeframe after the new manager starts and recommended using an external facilitator rather than placing that burden on a manager who is still learning city operations.

“I was going to suggest you think about it from the standpoint of also bringing in a facilitator,” Eric said, explaining that it might be unfair to ask a brand-new manager to lead the process.

Several councilors responded with cautious views. One councilor recalled past goal-setting efforts that produced many vague objectives and said those earlier processes had sometimes been counterproductive. Other council members said a narrower, metric-focused approach used more recently was preferable.

Councilors agreed to think about the proposal over the summer and to discuss specifics later; Mayor Rytmak said he would talk with the incoming manager, Mike Weston, about the idea. The discussion included no direction to schedule or budget a session at this time.

Background: Council members referenced prior goal-setting exercises, including years when the council used an external facilitator and later efforts to narrow goals to measurable objectives. The council did not commit funding or a facilitator at the June 26 meeting.