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Strategic planning part of council retreatBy Joel Stottrup Princeton's five City Council members, its city department heads and some city staff members attended the first of two council retreat sessions last Saturday. The retreat was from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the facilitator was Jim Brimeyer of St. Louis Park, who owns and operates The Brimeyer Group Inc. The council will have a second retreat April 4 and it will likely start in the afternoon and go until 9 p.m., City Administrator David Minke told the Union-Eagle Monday. Saturday's retreat was in the Princeton Area Library community room and, if the room is available April 4, it will be the location for the second retreat, according to Minke. Brimeyer, who has much experience in municipal government - he was a city manager for 20 years and is in his sixth year on the City Council in St. Louis Park - focused mainly on what is called the Carver Model of Governance. Among Brimeyer's efforts in the retreat process was trying to determine how the council members in Princeton like to operate. Brimeyer talked about how, as an elected official, it is common for them to call each other up to review ideas, but that they have to be careful to avoid breaking the open meeting law. The retreats are open to the public and there will be a followup session in six to eight months after the second retreat, Minke noted. Brimeyer is charging the city $3,500 for his work. Besides the two days of retreats and the followup session, the retreat process also includes Brimeyer interviewing council members and department heads. Brimeyer will assemble the information he has gleaned to hand out to the retreat participants. The question arose during the first retreat session as to whether the city has established a mission. The answer is no and the consensus of the council was that there probably should be, Minke said. Brimeyer also talked about how elected boards have to gauge what their constituents want. What is good for which people and at what cost, is the question that elected boards have to deal with, said Minke. During the second retreat, the council, along with department heads and staff such as Minke, will do strategic planning. That includes trying to establish a mission for the city, reviewing strengths, weaknesses and opportunities, identifying issues, establishing priorities and considering action-plan alternatives. When the sessions are done, the participants will receive a summary of all that took place.
Princeton Union-Eagle |