The council invited the public to participate in their Draft Strategic Plan 2023, at four drop-in sessions at the Elliot Lake Public Library, August 29 and 30.
At the first session, consultant Tim Dobbie, told ElliotLakeToday, “I would tell people it’s a real opportunity to have some impact and we’ll love to see them tomorrow. We would really encourage people to come out.” He added, “What we’re really wanting to know is, what is it that people want changed?”
Fifty people attended, providing 10 written responses. Also, 38 responses were collected on a dedicated page on the city website.
At a regular council meeting, Oct. 23, Dobbie re-presented the plan to the council, this time with the hundreds of comments submitted by the citizens alongside the original points.
Last Thursday, the city posted an announcement for another public showing scheduled at City Hall, Wednesday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m..
I thought it would incorporate the public input.
Only one item has changed. A sentence that read, “The City will modernize the Parks Recreation and Culture Master Plan,” now reads, “The City will modernize the Parks Recreation Master Plan to include Arts and Culture.”
That’s it.
None of the public’s suggestions are incorporated. It bears mention, that many comments were not specifically for inclusion however, some of the gaps the public identified are so obvious it was difficult to believe they were not in the original draft.
For example: Housing. Diversify and expand the population. Disaster planning- forest fires. And involving the youth portion of population.
So, other than the public’s input, what else is missing?
Well, if this was a two-egg omelette, I’d say, “the eggs,” and they are vision and measurement.
Vision: “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”
The plan has no vision. That’s right, there is literally no vision statement. A strategic plan without a vision statement is a road map to everywhere- and nowhere.
Where are we going, Elliot Lake? What does our future look like? What is different between that vision and where we are right now? The answer to that last question, is exactly what a strategic plan is supposed to address.
Having a vision works
In Elliot Lake’s early days, the mining companies had a vision: A uranium mining town. Everything was aligned to that purpose and it worked.
Then Claire Dimock and others had another vision: A retirement community. Everything was aligned to that new purpose. And it worked. Elliot Lake went from a city with many vacant homes to a city that is basically full up – resale and rental.
So, now that the retirement vision has been successful, what is our new vision for a successful future? What do we want Elliot Lake to look like in ten years? What are we staking our future on?
Vision is mission critical.
Measurement: The second ‘missing egg’
The other missing ‘egg’ is measurement. There is almost nothing defining measurement. If the council wanted to have ‘a target they can’t possibly miss,’ the current strategic plan could not be a nicer Christmas present. It's not so good for the citizens though.
Here are two examples. These are both related to business, where we would expect the council’s business experience to shine.
Example #1
“2. Expand on business retention and expansion activities and ensure that support is in place to help local businesses thrive.”
Without a measurement, the first half could be satisfied with as little effort as printing a brochure. The second half? What does “thrive” look like? How is it defined and measured? In other words, what does it look like in numbers- How many new starts? How many fewer closures?
“What is not defined cannot be measured. What is not measured, cannot be improved. What is not improved, is always degraded”. - William Thomson Kelvin
Example #2
“3. In order to attract new businesses to Elliot Lake the municipality will invest in readiness tools, such as a Community Improvement Plan as well as the development of lands within the municipality for commercial use.”
With regard to the first part, the Community Improvement Plan (CIP) has been around since at least 2016. What will this council do differently with the CIP to make it effective? Again, how will that be measured?
And with regard to the second part, “the development of lands within the municipality for commercial use,” that’s a difficult pill to swallow considering two hotel proponents walked away from Elliot Lake after the council decided to reduce the property offering and keep part of 255 King’s Highway 108 for a new performance theatre.
This is no trifling matter. Commercial tax revenue is desperately needed to fund our infrastructure repairs and replacement.
Our strategic plan? The public input appears ignored and the continuing gaps are alarming.
“Elliot Lake, we have a problem here.”
From the City's website:
Strategic Plan Town Hall
Wednesday, December 6 at 7 p.m.
City Hall Council Chambers
Presenter: Tim Dobbie of Tim L. Dobbie Consulting Ltd
For those who cannot attend but wish to provide feedback please click the link below to read the latest draft of the strategic plan and provide your feedback here.
This will be the final public input meeting for the Strategic Plan. The meeting will be moderated. Information on each topic will be presented and the floor will then be opened for suggestions, comments or questions from the Community. It will be presented to Council at a future meeting for passing.
Attendees, please be advised that you may be recorded and your image may appear online.