Carmel council directs staff to develop clearer, hierarchical priority list after workshop recap

The Carmel-by-the-Sea City Council on April 1 heard a recap of a February strategic priorities workshop and asked staff to return with a simplified, hierarchical version of competing project lists to make priorities easier to track and score.

Assistant City Administrator Brandon Swanson summarized the workshop and staff’s subsequent attempt to merge the council’s existing five high-level categories with staff’s more granular project list. “This whole process is confusing. It’s messy,” Swanson said, acknowledging that staff’s proposed expansion of project names (for example splitting “beach infrastructure” into ramp, fourth outfall, stairs and revetment) produced a much longer list that some on council found harder to use as an annual work plan.

Council members and public commenters urged clearer definitions and sequencing. Council member Alessandra Dramoff suggested renaming some buckets (she recommended “routine” instead of “hygiene” and “on hold” instead of “parking lot”) and asked staff to produce brief descriptions and owners for each entry so the public and department heads can see who is responsible and when work is expected. Council member Jeff Booter asked staff to preserve the top-level five strategic categories and “nest” the staff goals beneath them, so the council could view both a high-level priority list and an “accordion” of actionable goals.

Public commenters raised implementation concerns. Nancy Toomey urged clarification that some items labeled “make police and public works building safe” reflect both urgent short-term repairs and longer-term facility planning. Maria Bruce asked that council-requested items submitted in writing be incorporated and sought clearer links between priorities and the budget.

Council direction: Council asked staff to (a) return with a three‑level hierarchy showing strategic priorities, departmental/operational goals and project-level items; (b) attach brief two‑sentence descriptions and an owning department for each item; and (c) propose a prioritization/scoring methodology so the council can use the list as a practical budgeting and accountability tool. Council members also volunteered to work with staff on the next iteration: Council member Jeff Booter agreed to serve as a reviewer for the blended list and to help test the proposed hierarchy.

Staff said they will come back with a revised list and scoring tool ahead of the May budget cycle so the council can consider the priorities prior to or at the May budget workshop.