March 20, 2025
The Power of a Plan
In my conversations with constituents, colleagues and partners lately, one theme keeps emerging: This is a time of overwhelm.
The chaotic churn at the federal level and the rapid pace of developments here at home has made it feel impossible to keep up. People are rightfully asking, “What is the right thing to do in this moment? How can we stay focused on what really matters when everything around us feels like it’s in flux?”
These are the moments when those of us in leadership positions need to provide consistency and vision. We need to have a plan that overrides the day-to-day tumult and helps us steer toward the goals we want to achieve for our city.
I’m grateful that my Council colleagues are committed to that kind of steady leadership. A month ago, we gathered for a two-day strategic planning retreat, during which we talked about the opportunities and threats facing our city, our goals for our individual wards and the city as a whole, and the specific actions we can take to achieve those goals. We also spent several hours learning about our individual conflict management styles and discussing how to collaborate effectively both before and during times of controversy.
The result of those two days together was a Council work plan with five policy priorities: climate, economic development, fiscal sustainability, housing and public safety. Each of those larger buckets has specific projects within it and each Council office has responsibility for several of those initiatives.
This plan is printed out on an 11 x 17 sheet of paper on my desk. It’s the first thing I see in the morning before I open up my laptop, and the last thing I see when I pack up at the end of the day. It is a grounding document, a north star to steer toward when the sense of overwhelm threatens.
While we can’t control events at the federal level, we can lean into our work as local elected officials and do our absolute best to provide steady, reliable leadership in a chaotic time. I hope you will see the Council leading in this way over the weeks and months ahead.