Finances, economic development, community safety and well-being and improving communication have been identified by Red Deer city council as key 2025 focuses.
On the financial front, council is pushing for more accountability and efficiency, with an eye to maintaining city infrastructure while keeping the community affordable.
Boosting economic development will involve supporting business growth, continuing downtown revitalization efforts while lobbying for housing funding.
Addressing homelessness and other social concerns and managing public safety resources effectively will all be part of the effort to boost public safety and well-being.
To ensure all are on the same page, council wants to boost communication between elected officials, administration and the community.
Council's view of what it saw as the most pressing issues for the year ahead were presented to city manager Tara Lodewyk in a mandate letter earlier this month.
“These priorities represent the direction we need to take to ensure a prosperous future for Red Deer,” said Mayor Ken Johnston in a statement. “We remain committed to improving the quality of life for all residents, and by focusing on these areas, we are ensuring Red Deer continues to thrive economically, socially, and sustainably.”
At Monday's council meeting, Lodewyk presented her plan to address council's priorities. It involves developing an Objective and Key Results framework designed to provide a system to measure whether goals have been met by focusing on top priorities while promoting data-informed decision making and collaboration among departments at City Hall.
“Our role as Administration is to transform these priorities into clear administrative actions that will make a tangible difference in the community. It is key that our community also understands where we will focus our administrative work,” said Lodewyk.
The work ahead will involve breaking down council's priorities into specific steps with clear direction on whose job it will be to meet objectives, timelines and what resources will be required. A tracking mechanism will be developed to see if short-term milestones have been met as well as indicators that progress is being made towards longer-term goals.
Meanwhile, the city has also taken a hard look at its grant policy in light of community concerns.
Administration came back with eight recommendations, including doing more to ensure community organizations are aware of the grants available, improving paperwork requirements and developing standard templates, as well as following up with unsuccessful applicants and reporting on the community impact of funding.
Council will be responsible for coming up with a process to reassess funding priorities.
