Blue Ribbon Panel for Strategic Priorities for Arlington

UPDATE: 05-19-16 — The Arlington County Board on May 17, 2016 voted unanimously to defer implementation of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Strategic Priorities for Arlington, as well as the appointment of any members, to the July 2016 County Board meeting, to allow for the appropriate time to seek feedback and receive input from advisory commissions, the Civic Federation, the Community Facility Study Committee, and the broader community on the proposed charge. View the Board discussion on this motion. (The discussion begins at 34:10.)

A motion was made by Jay Fisette, Vice Chair, and seconded by Libby Garvey, Chair, to defer implementation of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Strategic Priorities for Arlington as well as the appointment of any members to the July 2016 County Board meeting, to allow for the appropriate time to seek feedback and receive input from our advisory commissions, the Civic Federation, the Community Facility Study Committee, and the broader community on the proposed charge. This feedback shall be received no later than July 1 and can be guided by the following questions:

• Which tasks described in the Charge cause concern to, or require further clarification for your Commission/organization? Are there any tasks with which you are already comfortable or supportive? Are there tasks you would add?

• What elements or questions would you recommend be incorporated in the Panel’s report to the County Board? Are there other deliverables that you think the Panel should generate?

• What additional guidance (not formally part of the Charge) would you like the Panel to consider? For example, what forms of engagement would you like Panel to pursue with your Commission? With the general public?

Strategic Priorities for Arlington: Blue Ribbon Panel Charge

Overview

Arlington County has a vision[1] adopted by the County Board and a number of important policy priorities. Arlington’s Comprehensive Plan consists of eleven elements that guide the County’s decisions in areas such as land use, economic development, community character, natural resources, parks and recreation, transportation, housing and historic preservation. These Plan elements have been adopted and amended by the County Board over the course of nearly six decades. Each element sets forth policy goals and objectives, at varying levels of specificity. However, in most cases the Comprehensive Plan does not prioritize between objectives that compete for the same resources or provide a strategic course of action to achieve the goals. The County Board, and the community, prioritize how to use resources, through the annual budget and biennial CIP process.

As we move forward to implement the long term vision offered by the Comprehensive Plan and the elements in our Comprehensive Plan, this Strategic Priorities for Arlington effort would serve to affirm the County Board’s commitments to the goals and objectives recommended by these documents and/or recommend policy areas that should be reconsidered. This effort would also recommend a process for engaging the Arlington community to prioritize these goals and objectives. While this effort would not prioritize the goals and objectives it would suggest the best way to do that.

In addition, the Board expects that the panel would provide:

1. an inventory of planning documents and policies;
2. a framework or process to determine how strategic priorities relate to our vision statement and how they should be reflected in the annual budget process; and,
3. a framework or process to develop strategic priorities for the next 3-5 years.

Establishment of a Blue Ribbon Panel

The County Board will establish and appoint a Blue Ribbon Panel. The composition of the Blue Ribbon Panel should include five (5) at large members recommended by the County Board and one (1) at large member recommended by the County Manager. The Blue Ribbon Panel will reflect broad diversity, including knowledge of and experience with Arlington Public Schools.

Time Commitment: The Blue Ribbon Panel will meet regularly, as needed, for a period of 7-8 months.

Blue Ribbon Panel Charge

The Blue Ribbon Panel should provide an evaluation of the current policy goals and objectives for the County, identification of conflicts (if any) between these policy goals and objectives, and recommendations for a plan to reconcile and prioritize those goals. Specifically, the Blue Ribbon Panel will:

1. Review a summary of policy goals and objectives from the Comprehensive Plan and other supporting documents, as prepared by staff, to:
   1. Affirm these goals and objectives and/or consider policy areas that should be revisited, and
   2. Highlight any ambiguities or inconsistencies in these documents;
2. Offer recommendations for :
   1. Providing a clear understanding to the community of the framework and process by which strategic priorities are determined, how they relate to the vision statement and how they are reflected in the annual budget process, as well as any recommended changes to that process. A flow chart and good graphics would be useful.
   2. Curation of essential documents and language on the County website,
   3. A process for community engagement to discuss strategic priorities;
3. Offer recommendations on how the Comprehensive Plan and supporting documents could be better reflected in the budget and CIP processes;
4. Propose a framework for periodic engagement on the review of community priorities and strategies and consider how it could or whether it should relate to APS and its strategic planning process.
5. Regularly update the County Board Liaison on progress, discuss process issues, and keep the Liaison informed on any issues.
6. Prepare a written report for County Board consideration by December 2016.

Roles and Responsibilities

County Staff:

The County Manager will form a staff team that will:

1. Conduct an integrated review of Arlington’s statements of policy goals and objectives, included in:
   1. Arlington’s Comprehensive Plan, including the goals and objectives from the Plan’s Executive Summary and each of the eleven Plan elements;
   2. Other supporting documents as appropriate, including:
      1. The County Vision Statement,
      2. The adopted FY 2017 County Budget,
      3. The update to the County’s ten-year Capital Improvement Plan,
      4. The Community Facilities Study report;
2. Compile a summary of policy goals and objectives from this integrated review; and,
3. Provide other information or assistance as requested.

Blue Ribbon Panel:

1. Regularly update the County Board Liaison on progress, discuss process issues, and keep the Liaison informed on any issues.
2. Prepare a written report for County Board consideration by December 2016.

County Board Liaison:

The County Board chair will serve as the liaison for this effort. The County Board Liaison will work with her colleagues on the County Board to keep them informed.

Proposed Timeline

[1] Vision: “Arlington will be a diverse and inclusive world-class urban community with secure, attractive residential and commercial neighborhoods where people unite to form a caring, learning, participating, sustainable community in which each person is important.”