Community engagement will be key part of Tillsonburg’s Strategic Plan
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An overview of the new Strategic Plan process was introduced at the Jan. 11 Tillsonburg council virtual meeting.
Erin O’Hoski, from Boulevard Strategy Group, the company and consultants hired to assist Tillsonburg with its new Strategic Plan, said she plans to begin by speaking with everyone on council personally during January to learn priorities, and how things have changed during the pandemic.
“The Strategic Plan will essentially answer five questions for yourselves, for your senior administration and for your community,” said O’Hoski.
Those questions involve vision, mission, value, goals and performance metrics. What are we working toward? What is our role? What is important to us? How do we proceed? How will we know when we’ve arrived?
“The Strategic Plan involves a seven phase work plan that officially launches today,” said O’Hoski, showing a roadmap that goes from ‘understanding Tillsonburg’ and ‘developing the strategic framework,’ to community engagement and final report and approval.
“Right now we are in Phase 1, which is ‘understanding Tillsonburg.’ O’Hoski said the Strategic Plan should be completed by June 28.
“Community engagement will happen in March of this year (2021). We’re going to be doing outreach consistent with public health regulations. We want to make sure that every member of your community who wants to participate can do so in a safe way. We will be developing an external survey. We will be undertaking a variety of focus groups with local community leaders as well as your government partners. We will be convening a business leader focus group, so we can understand specifically what’s working and where there are opportunities from your local business community.
“We also want to engage each and every one of you (on Council) in this process, we want to make sure there’s no surprises. So we will provide a play-by-play on what’s happening during the community engagement process.”
Coun. Deb Gilvesy asked O’Hoski what roles town committees play, including the economic advisory committee, and would they be part of the community engagement process.
“These are early days… we’re still in the process of identifying stakeholder groups,” said O’Hoski, “but certainly there’s two ways community groups can participate. The first is the external survey – we’re going to do our best to shout that from the rooftops. The more people that we hear from, the more robust your Strategic Plan will be. There’s also opportunity through the community leader focus groups, as well as the business leader focus group.”
Given that Strategic Plans typically last five years, Coun. Penny Esseltine asked, as the plan is prepared this spring during a pandemic, whether COVID’s impact would affect the entire duration of the plan.
“I think the COVID lens that we’re trying to put on the Strategic Plan this spring is identifying what are the long term impacts on your community as a result of COVID,” said O’Hoski, noting as an example digital service delivery.
Mayor Stephen Molnar said Tillsonburg wants a community strategic plan – not a corporate strategic plan – that involves the people of the Town of Tillsonburg, and understanding that is why the Town chose Boulevard Strategy Group as consultants.
“I think that’s one of the great things that the entire community, including the corporation, were rewarded with in our last strategic initiative… was because of how much was contributed through public engagement, and ultimately revised by Council and then adopted. But it was really built from the ground up. So I look forward to that being a key part.”
cabbott@postmedia.com
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