Thornton begins strategic planning retreat, facilitators and council zero in on community connection, stewardship and innovation

Facilitators Lauren Palmer and Meredith Health of EverStride Solutions opened the City of Thornton strategic planning retreat by asking council members and senior staff to articulate why they serve and to surface shared values the council could use to guide decisions.

The exercise aimed to ground the retreat in “what drives all of you,” Lauren Palmer said, and to use that starting point to define success measures and priorities for the next five years. Meredith Health later summarized recurring themes from the group as “community connection,” “growth and revitalization,” “leadership and responsibility,” “public service and local government impact,” and “vision and innovation.”

The facilitators asked each participant to name the three values they most relied on when making decisions. Council members repeatedly cited stewardship, accountability, trust, collaboration and excellence. Staff and council discussed how those values compete in practice — for example, balancing financial stewardship with environmental stewardship and balancing innovation with accountability to residents.

Participants said they wanted a strategic plan that both guided day-to-day operations and provided a long-range “north star.” Several council members and staff emphasized that the plan should produce measurable outcomes and be used as the “handshake” between council policy and staff execution. Meredith Health told the group she would use the day’s conversation to help the council translate values into actionable focus areas.

The retreat included a short exercise asking participants to describe what success would look like in five years; group reports named transit options, refreshed public facilities, walkable mixed-use development and new program pilots as possible indicators of progress. Facilitators repeatedly encouraged “yes, and” dialogue to foster constructive debate and to prioritize areas where council members already showed agreement.

The afternoon closed with facilitators telling the group they would synthesize the day’s input and return the next morning to help the council convert themes into specific focus areas and measurable goals.

Plans for a working dinner and a short walking tour of a nearby River District were announced for the evening.

The retreat did not include any formal votes or binding policy decisions; it was expressly a planning and alignment session.