City of Riverside Approves Five-Year Strategic Plan to Guide Policy Direction
Published: 10/23/2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Oct. 23, 2020
Contact:
Phil Pitchford
Public Information Officer
951-826-5975
City of Riverside Approves Five-Year Strategic Plan to Guide Policy Direction
Strategic priorities and performance metrics will guide and gauge progress
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The Riverside City Council has approved a five-year effort to set priorities and guide the policy direction for the city.
The Riverside 2025 Strategic Plan is the result of several months of input by elected officials, residents, community groups and city boards and commissions. The major issues identified through the input process are reflected in an operational work plan, which sets the agenda for the next five years of work by city staff.
The operational workplan is designed to set forth actions for achieving the council strategic policy goals, which are designed to help Riverside reach its potential. Corresponding performance metrics will be tracked to evaluate progress being made toward achieving the priorities.
“We all know that when you fail to plan, you often are planning to fail, whether you realize it or not,” Mayor Rusty Bailey said. “We are taking the opposite approach. The Riverside 2025 Strategic Plan provides our city with a realistic workplan that reflects what must be done to achieve our goals as a city.”
The priorities identified in the strategic plan include developing arts, culture and recreation opportunities; enhancing community well-being; providing economic opportunity; environmental stewardship; infrastructure, mobility and connectivity; and maintaining a high-performing government.
The plan includes cross-cutting threads that represent major themes reflected in each priority, including community trust, equity, fiscal responsibility, innovation and sustainability and resiliency. A copy of the plan can be found here.
The operational workplan can be updated as needed, such as during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Proposed updates to the workplan will be proposed by City Manager Al Zelinka and presented to the City Council for its review and input.
The Riverside 2025 Strategic Plan is crucial to the ongoing priority-based budgeting process the city has adopted. That process seeks to allocate financial resources in accordance with needs identified in the operational workplan, which is part of the strategic plan.
The City Council will review the operational workplan in the first three months of 2021, and provide input. A schedule approved this week also calls for a progress report on how the Riverside 2025 Strategic Plan is being implemented.
“Any business, government or non-profit agency knows that strategic planning is crucial to achieving goals that lead to overall success,” Mayor Pro Tem Steve Hemenway said. “This serious and necessary work has occupied much of this year, but we will benefit from our efforts for years to come.”
For the latest information and resources regarding COVID-19 -- www.RiversideCA.gov/COVID-19
