Chico council workshop narrows strategic priorities to safety, long-term viability and core assets

At a March 19 special city council strategic-planning workshop, the Chico City Council and a contracted consultant identified three top priorities for the next budget and planning cycle: a safe community, long-term viability and protection and enhancement of the city’s primary community assets.

The session, led by Jeff Morrison, a local strategic planning consultant with Morrison & Company, brought council members, department heads and members of the public together for a facilitated exercise that produced a shared “why” and a set of goals tied to immediate, two-year and four-year timeframes. Morrison told the council, “the role of the city council is to optimize the quality of civic life.”

Why it matters: Council members and staff said they want a short list of focused goals that can be linked directly to the fiscal year budget and to measurable objectives. The workshop’s outcomes will inform the city’s upcoming budget discussions and produce a public-facing strategic plan and an internal version with more detail.

Morrison opened the workshop by describing his process: he met one-on-one with council members and department heads before the public session and said he would deliver a comprehensive strategic planning document for internal and external stakeholders after the process. Participants were asked to consider three time horizons — immediate (0–1 year), short term (2 years) and long term (4 years) — and to identify a small number of “big rocks” to focus on.

Council discussion and the group exercises produced a concise mission statement and three priority goals. Council members repeatedly returned to a simple formulation of purpose that Morrison captured as “optimize civic quality of life” and then layered three strategic goals beneath it: 1) create a safe community (encompassing public safety, infrastructure and disaster resilience), 2) preserve long-term viability (economic strength, fiscal sustainability and smart growth), and 3) protect and enhance primary community assets (the downtown core, California State University Chico and Bidwell Park).

On safety, workshop participants highlighted traffic safety and “Vision Zero” principles, wildfire and flood resilience, and staffing and equipment shortfalls for public safety departments. In public comment and the council’s conversation, fire and emergency response capacity drew particular attention. Resident Ken Smith, identifying himself as representing “Chico Fire Party of 27 34,” urged the council to prioritize “Engine 1” at the downtown station and to find funding and staffing to operate a water-pumping engine there, saying, “We don’t have a water pumping fire engine at Station 1. Let’s keep it that simple.” Council members and the consultant tied that need to the safety objective for the immediate budget cycle.

On homelessness and street safety, the council and speakers discussed a multifaceted approach that combines enforcement, shelter capacity and treatment. Members and the consultant emphasized that any plan would need funding, partner coordination and measurable objectives rather than only aspirational language.

Long-term viability was framed as maintaining sound financial policy, pursuing an economic strategic plan, advancing land-use and housing measures that support smart growth, and investing in streets and infrastructure so the city can sustain services. Council members said actions under this goal should include targeted grant-seeking, an economic strategic plan that addresses airport and higher-education connections, and housing-policy steps to increase the supply of family-sized homes and developable land.

Protecting and enhancing core assets drew specific recommendations: continued investments in downtown revitalization, support for university–city partnerships, targeted improvements in Bidwell Park (including vegetation and fuels management to reduce wildfire risk), and cultural and arts investments to strengthen the city’s sense of place.

Public commenters raised related priorities during the workshop’s public-comment period. Resident Charles Withhoun described a managed campground proposal aimed at providing a supervised, small-scale night shelter, while Patricia Hieronymus, executive director of the Butte Environmental Council, urged “spending as much as you can investing in what makes Chico special in Butte County,” citing water, urban canopy and groundwater-dependent ecosystems.

Next steps: Morrison said he will produce both public-facing and internal strategic planning documents summarizing the workshop outcomes and suggested the council revisit the priorities annually; councilmembers proposed an annual check-in in January. The consultant and staff will work to translate the workshop’s three goals into measurable objectives and tie them into the city’s July 1 fiscal-year budget work.

The session was described by Morrison and several council members as a working draft rather than a final decision: participants agreed to refine objectives, assign measurable targets and return with more detailed proposals for budget allocation and implementation.

Ending: The council agreed to use the workshop outcomes to guide the coming budget cycle and to ask staff and the consultant to return with a drafted plan and more granular objectives for each of the three priority areas.