Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget Priorities topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
West Linn council workshop prioritizes maintaining service levels and staffing
Summary
At a special Oct. 8 workshop, West Linn councilors and staff ranked maintaining current service levels and stabilizing staffing as top budget priorities after a dot-vote and SWOT exercise; staff was directed to cost out those priorities and return a sequenced plan.
West Linn Mayor Bialystoski opened a special work session on Oct. 8 focused on the city’s budget and financial outlook, and councilors spent the morning identifying and prioritizing funding needs. After a series of exercises, including a strengths–problems–opportunities–threats analysis and a dot-vote, councilors placed the highest priority on maintaining current service levels and stabilizing staffing.
Facilitator Sarah Wilson told the group, “Today's conversation isn't just about numbers. It's about people, trust, and building a sustainable future together.” Councilors and staff repeatedly returned to the same point: the city is run lean, many functions are one-person deep, and projected deficits make maintaining services a near-term priority.
Council discussion and the dot-vote showed broad support for a set of near-term actions to prevent service declines—particularly in parks maintenance and public safety operations—before pursuing larger expansion projects. Staff said previous planning work already lists positions and rough costs; staff asked council to identify top positions and service priorities so they can translate them into fee or levy options.
The council did not take a formal binding vote beyond approving the meeting agenda; instead members asked staff to prepare a draft strategic financial plan with cost estimates and sequencing for the highest-priority items and to return for further direction.
