The Goals of Our City-Jan 2010

In the coming months, the Medford City Council will start the process of reviewing their goals for the city. The old process used for setting goals has done little to bring out the best in creative thinking of our elected officials, and the process has not been open to citizen input.  There is time for change to happen if the council acts soon.
For years, the City Manager, with the tacit agreement of the council, has used a process that is conducted behind at least semi-closed doors, with very little discussion even among council members. It is difficult for the council members to do anything other than rubberstamp the goals.
Perhaps a majority of the council prefers not to involve the citizens in the process. But shouldn’t they take an active and public role themselves? When was the last time the council as a whole decided to go beyond the recommendations of the City Manager and Council Officers?
If ever there was a need for a different process, it is now. Our current economic situation is demanding new ideas and that requires new processes. We need goal setting for both the near future and the far future – goals that enhance the local economy.
We need jobs for our hardworking families. We need stable investments for our retirees. We need affordable education for our young families. 
It is all too easy to say that the city has no tools for, or power to bear on, these economic problems. It is too easy, and it is wrong. The city found $300,000 for research on a water park; it found $14 million for a downtown corporate headquarters; and it found $28 million for a ballpark!  Now, imagine what creative ideas might be put forth if they worked on new ideas for developing small, local businesses?
The city leaders have had an easy time of it for the last twenty years. Up until just a year ago, we had a building boom that kept skilled workers employed. Lots of money was made on real estate investments, and the city found little resistance when raising “taxes” by creating new fees – as add-ons to the water bills – to pay for what might today be considered luxury projects! 
Now we are faced with the prospect of continuing hard times. A simple “hide our head in the sand” response is neither appropriate nor is it a sane reaction.
It’s time for some real goal setting, with input from the citizens and local small businesses – more so than from big businesses and the real estate industry who already have backdoors into the city decision making process.
It’s time for a new goal setting process, with a local economic focus. We need projects for the city to invest in that will promote small local businesses and that will enhance local trade. 
It is time for our elected officials to be highly active in the development of the goals, and to be accountable for the process as well as for the goals.

John Statler is the owner of Computer Services Northwest, is a former member of the Medford City Council, and sits on several non-profit boards and commissions in Jackson County.