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Council reviews draft community goals; staff to add measurable annual metrics and return for adoption
Summary
Staff presented draft citywide goals derived from summer/fall engagement and recommended translating the broad goals into measurable annual priorities; council suggested adding measures for resident retention, litter and tangible metrics for public safety and customer service.
Assistant to the City Manager Zachary Raffa briefed the council on draft community goals developed from a nine‑month engagement process that produced roughly 4,000 discrete ideas from 849 participants.
Raffa summarized core themes that emerged from public input: strong parks and programming, a desire for a more positive regional image for Brooklyn Park, investment in neighborhood amenities, and improved, multilingual communications. He presented six draft goals—Inclusive and engaged community; Safe community; Equitable outcomes; Beautiful places; Thriving economy; and Innovative, responsive government—each with short explanatory bullets.
Council discussion focused on two implementation questions: how to measure progress and how frequently to refresh the plan. Several council members said they want a small set of annual, measurable metrics tied to each long‑term goal so the council and public can track progress. For example, members asked the city to track business retention and growth in targeted commercial corridors, measure perceptions of safety and police‑community legitimacy, and to monitor metrics tied to litter and neighborhood cleanliness.
Council member McGarvey urged the council to treat neighborhood litter and volunteer engagement as a community‑building goal and suggested partnerships with service organizations, faith groups and the mayor’s prayer breakfast to mobilize volunteers for cleanup, youth mentorship and beautification activities.
Staff noted the draft goals are intended to set a five‑to‑ten‑year strategic direction; annual work plans and department performance measures will operationalize the goals and supply the quantitative indicators council members requested. Raffa said staff will prepare a companion “dashboard” of performance measures and a proposed timeline for adoption; the steering committee and a consultant team (Emerging Evaluation Group) helped create the draft.
Next steps: staff will revise phrasing based on the council’s feedback (for example, elevating equity language and inserting clearer measures where requested), assemble department‑level performance measures and present the final draft for council adoption at a near‑term meeting with recommended annual metrics.
