Pima County supervisors identify housing, climate, public-health and prosperity as top priorities at retreat

Pima County Board of Supervisors members used a first-ever retreat to surface shared priorities they want staff to fold into a multi-year strategic plan, naming housing and homelessness, climate resilience, public-health prevention and the county's Prosperity Initiative as top items for the next strategic period.

The discussion, framed by County Administrator Jan Lesher and facilitators from county staff, focused on turning broad goals into a priority-based budgeting approach and establishing measurable outcomes. Chair Supervisor Scott said the retreat's purpose was to help the county plan its budget around the board's vision rather than reacting year-to-year.

Supervisors described three-year priorities they want staff to flesh out with costs and metrics. Supervisor Scott called for a "full transition" to priority-based budgeting and suggested using the recent class-and-compensation study and the vacancy policy to "right-size"…