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Recreation, Parks & Library department presents strategic plan focused on access, quality and sustainability
Summary
Department staff presented a 1–3 year strategic plan establishing vision and mission statements, core values and division goals; staff will bring the plan to City Council in June and begin quarterly implementation tracking.
Department leadership presented a strategic plan intended to guide recreation, parks, library and aquatics work for the next one to three years.
Recreation manager Linnea Palmer said staff ran facilitated sessions with full-time division staff to produce a vision, mission and core values and to identify division-level goals. The proposed vision statement describes the department as "the heart of the community," and the mission reads in part: "to enrich the lives of all with excellence through inclusive and innovative services in clean, safe and sustainable environments," language Palmer read to the commission.
Division goals include improving registration and customer-facing technology, tightening the department's subsidy gap through cost-of-service analysis, increasing program quality and participant satisfaction, replacing two playgrounds and resurfacing Recreation Park using Measure A funding, and reopening and improving training for aquatics facilities. Library goals include increasing circulation (a 10% target) and modernizing interior furnishings; cultural arts goals emphasize permanent public art acquisitions over short-term programming.
Palmer said the department will bring the final plan to City Council on June 17 and will establish an implementation plan with quarterly tracking and a February 2026 review. Staff said the plan is intended to help prioritize resource requests and program decisions during a period of staff turnover and changing public demand.
Commissioners asked about the planning horizon; staff replied the goals are framed as one- to three-year priorities. Palmer said staff will align the department plan with the city's broader strategic plan and present progress in monthly director's reports.
