City staff outlines four‑year strategic plan and urges neighborhoods to link priorities to city implementation

City staff presented a new four‑year strategic plan and invited neighborhood groups to align their priorities with city implementation pathways. "This is the extra‑oomph plan — the things we're going to put extra effort into," said Jason Dedrick, strategic planning and performance program, City of Eugene.

Dedrick told the River Road–Santa Clara meeting the plan rests on a 2022 community survey (the city's first comprehensive survey in 12 years), four focus areas, 15 strategic goals and 44 high‑impact actions. He said the city is shifting from counting outputs toward measuring outcomes: "We haven't done a great job on how has your life been positively impacted by the things we're doing," he said, and staff will expand data collection and annual reporting (a year‑one report is online; year two will go to council in September).

City staff emphasized where neighborhoods should engage: the urban growth strategies project and housing implementation pipeline for housing issues, the transportation system plan for mobility matters, and parks, stormwater and climate plans for natural‑resource priorities. Dedrick said the plan does not replace ongoing city work; if a neighborhood priority is not explicitly in the strategic plan it can still be pursued, but aligning with plan goals can give projects greater chance of city support.

The presentation prompted questions about sustainability, middle‑housing goals and budget pressures. On sustainability, Dedrick acknowledged the plan could take a stronger long‑term sustainability lens and said staff expect to revisit and refine priorities in coming updates. On budget uncertainty, he said staff are reviewing funding dependencies and watching state and federal funding volatility.

The meeting concluded with an invitation to use the city's Engage Eugene site and staff contacts to follow up on specific action items and opportunities to work with departmental staff.