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Norwalk council reviews progress on 2023–2025 strategic plan, staff recommends final edits
Summary
City Manager Jesus Gomez presented a draft progress report on the 2023–2025 strategic plan, outlining accomplishments across four goals and asking council members for final input before the staff finalizes the report.
City Manager Jesus Gomez presented a draft progress report on the city's 2023'2025 strategic plan at the Norwalk City Council meeting on July 7, saying staff had compiled accomplishments, in-progress items and initiatives that may roll into the next planning cycle.
"We are the number one city who participates in the Joint Powers Authority trainings by far," Gomez said, summarizing efforts to improve technology, training and customer service across departments. He told council members staff recommended the council "receive and file" the draft and offer comments so the report can be finalized within days.
The report organizes work under four goals: promote a customer-focused culture; reinvest in and improve neighborhoods; diversify and grow the local economy; and support sustainability and climate resilience. Staff cited specific accomplishments including new permitting software, park Wi-Fi and cameras, a completed Heart of Norwalk specific plan and the launch of the Norwalk Community Link transit service.
Vice Mayor Margarita Rios, who said she had authored the climate-and-environment goal, urged staff to accelerate items under that objective, citing urban forest management and a climate action plan as priorities. "I would like to see more completed objectives," Rios said, pressing staff to show additional finished items in the next iteration.
Gomez acknowledged some items remain in planning stages, including the environmental justice element of the general plan and an extreme heat action plan, and said certain objectives would likely carry into a new two-year strategic plan.
The presentation included a line reporting a large decrease in the city's homeless count as part of the accomplishments; the figure was stated in the staff presentation as "129% decrease in homeless count." Council members and staff did not provide additional detail on that statistic during the meeting; the number is reported here as presented by staff.
Next steps: Council members were asked to submit suggested edits or additions by the end of the week so staff can post a final report online and consider accepting the plan at a forthcoming meeting.
