YACHATS — The Yachats city council has adopted its goals for the year, opting for broader concepts and excluding more specific objectives.
The council began its March 3 work session relatively far apart on what form the goals should take. Mayor Craig Berdie and councilor Catherine Whitten-Carey favored a more detailed product, breaking down overall goals into measurable outcomes, and that perspective has previously driven most discussion on the topic.
Councilors Gregg Scott and Ann Stott composed a joint letter questioning that approach and offering six broad goals.
“Goals should not focus on how, when, where or who is responsible for the outcome,” the letter reads. “By definition, it should be the council’s responsibility to achieve these goals as we formulate policy, approve regulations, review and approve the budget and consider city support for requests.”
Councilors discussed the particulars of various goals and objectives for about 30 minutes, occasionally debating their appropriate form before Stott interrupted to say they were in danger of spending a lot of time but accomplishing nothing. She said they all seemed to agree on broad categories, which she and Scott included in their letter, but they were getting bogged down in the discussion of how to accomplish them.
Berdie and Whitten-Carey both said objectives were an integral part of the goal-making process — they must be “measurable and attainable” Whitten-Carey argued.
Scott and Stott both contended that although cities with a long-time city manager form of government might lay out more specific steps toward meeting goals, Yachats was not prepared to do so. Scott also pointed out that objectives were not part of the council’s administrative policy regarding goals. That line of reasoning ultimately won out. The council reached a consensus to move into regular session and later vote on Scott and Stott’s proposed goals. Councilors approved them unanimously.
Yachats City Council goals for 2023 are:
- To achieve water sustainability;
- To deliver efficient, effective, transparent municipal services;
- To provide safe access to and use of city infrastructure, trails, parks;
- To be environmentally responsible in all that we do;
- To effectively manage and plan for the city’s financial needs; and
- To synchronize and update city policies and administrative rules
City manager Heide Lambert said commissions have submitted their goals and are working with staff to make recommendations on commission charges. She said they hope the council can approve those charges by April.
- Kenneth Lipp/YachatsNews
So they’ve agreed on things that we naturally already expected of them. Feeble.
Goals should absolutely focus on how, when, where and who is responsible for the outcome. Otherwise people will just sit around and talk about them. No Accountability = No Progress