SWISSTACK MAKES HIS PITCH
Mayor offers ideas from his transition team reports
Mayor Tom Swisstack formally presented his recommendations for city planning and structure to the Rio Rancho Governing Body on Tuesday, taking nearly two hours at a work session to offer the ideas generated from his transition team and 12 community meetings.
Reaction by the council to Swisstack’s proposals was generally positive, with only individual councilors expressing specific concerns to a handful of the mayor’s ideas. As a whole the council endorsed Swisstack’s presentation and encouraged city manager Jim Payne to incorporate the ideas into the city’s strategic planning process, which Payne said he would do.
The plan now is to take Swisstack’s recommendations and feedback from a massive citizen survey that will start next week and combine the input into a strategic plan to set goals for the city. The plan will likely be further refined into five-year segments stretching out as much as 25 years, with provisions for periodical review and revision depending on factors such as revenue, growth and unforeseen changes in the city.
Swisstack’s individual components each had a timeline for developing a plan and subsequent implementation. Payne, meanwhile, announced a process and general timetable for completing the strategic plan, including the hiring of Jan Perkins of Management Partners Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based firm, to serve as a consultant facilitator in meetings involving the public, council and staff.
The city, through the National Research Center of of Colorado Springs, will be conducting a scientific survey of 1,200 residents in the coming months. A postcard notifying those selected for the survey will be sent out starting next week, with the actual surveys being mailed the following two weeks.
MORE TO COME
