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September 3, 2009

Walnut Creek seeks community input on its "big picture" goals to make future budget choices

In July I asked readers to share their vision of Walnut Creek and its future. My question generated a fair amount of thoughtful, insightful, and, yes, visionary responses. You can read those responses here and here.

Now you can share your vision of the city in a more, shall we say, official and reputable forum.

The City Council has identified their six "big picture" goals, and members hope people who live or work in Walnut Creek can help define those goals more specifically at a series of "community conversations" that will be held in September and October. Members say they want to hear what people's priorities are so that they can, in essence, decide how to budget the city's current limited financial resources.

The Six Big Goals are:
--Strong neighbors and a sense of community
--Economic vitality
--Effective transportation and mobility
--A safe community
--Stewardship of the natural and built environment
--Culture, recreation and learning opportunities

After receiving input in September and October, the city wil then as for further community input in November, which will involve helping the council to set priorities.

These workshops are scheduled for:

--7 p.m. Monday, September 21
--9 a.m. Tuesday, September 29
--9 a.m. Saturday, October 10
--7 p.m. Thursday, October 22
There will also be a workshop for Rossmoor residents only at 3 p.m. Tuesday, October 13.

Pre-registration is required, and when you sign up you can indicate if there is a particular goal that you, yourself, would like to focus on. To register, call (925) 256-3505 or email community@walnut-creek.org.

Ongoing information about these conversations will be posted at the city's website.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another city dog and pony show, 'divide' and conquer in 'facilitated' small groups. Then all agree at the end. Where have we seen this before.

We just did the General Plan at the cost of millions of dollars. Why don't they follow that?

Anonymous said...

"Feel good" politics rule in Walnut Creek. Lots of staff time, citizen input and then fancy reports that are supposed to make everyone "feel good" about their participation. Fancy report is ignored when the first application for a variance comes across the desks of the City Council.

Yes, we have all seen this operation at work before and I for one am damned tired of the City always putting it's citizens in the position of having to be on the defensive.

The "we are listening" mantra is getting very tiresome. Think I will sit this one out as life is too short to be spending time on useless activities such as this. Not getting stressed out about this latest "pat on the head" from
City Hall will really make me "FEEL GOOD".

For those who may be critical of this attitude, I vow not to complain in the future about the decisions made because I did not participate.

Anonymous said...

Couldn't agree more with the 2previous posts. Do we know what the format will be for these "community coversations"? Reading the professional polls taken throughout the years would be a good place for the city to start if they're really interested in people's priorities.

I've never seen the inclusion of "people who work in WC." Sorry that this makes me suspicious, but it does. Just look at all the Macerich employees and members of the Chamber who spoke on behalf of NM at recent meetings.

Anonymous said...

Hi Soccer Mom,
Thank you for providing this forum. The disaffected minority of Walnut Creek residents and non-residents that despise the City government that was elected by a strong majority of voters have a voice through your blog. I applaud their effort to change Walnut Creek through civic action.
Now let them bring forth viable candidates for City Council. I have not seen a good opposition candidate yet and do not expect to in the near future.

Anonymous said...

8:36 pm - - -

And just how would a person who had a deep interest in what happens to the City of Walnut Creek run a credible campaign without money from downtown and developments interests? Come on, don't pull the old "run a viable candidate" routine. We all know, you included if you are honest with yourself, that only candidates who have strong financial backing from the "in" crowd get elected in Walnut Creek. Those who have been elected in the past 15 years have been annointed by the incumbent members of the council and you know it. No "outsider" can win as the sitting council members like to keep it all in the family.

I highly doubt that those who have different opinions than some of the council members "despise" the government of Walnut Creek. These people care deeply about their town and if the people down at City Hall were really listening, they just might hear some pretty good suggestions about the direction in which the City should be heading in the future.

obiwan said...

Maybe we should ask Taubman if they would be willing to (financially) back some anti-incumbent candidates.

Big Al said...

No one cares.

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous 11:12 a.m.

You questioned the inclusion of people who "live and work in Walnut Creek" and said you had never seen that before. Actually, the Citizens Institute and the Community Emergency Response Team training offered through the City have always been open to people who live and work in Walnut Creek. It's not something that was just created for this particular Community Conversation.

SarahW said...

I feel this is a good thing..have you tried to network with the bizymoms Walnut-creek community, i am sure they have loads of ideas to help you in this