City leaders plan for future community concerns, projects

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- City Council members and other city officials are

working to draw up a long-term plan that will prioritize residents’

concerns and tie together the projects of all city departments.

The plan is expected to examine the relevance of today’s development,

infrastructure, cultural and commercial projects to the city’s future.

“The idea is to have a document that summarizes the city’s actions

relating to all those fields and provides the best overall detail for a

city blueprint,” City Administrator Ray Silver said.

He added that the plan is intended to provide a vision of where the

city is going, consolidate the city’s budget and action plans into one

document, and provide benchmarks to compare future plans against other

communities.

Traditionally, council members and city staff meet at the start of

each new year to determine the year’s goals, projects and concerns for

the city.

The long-term plan will take into account the last four years of city

history -- covering safety issues, economic concerns, government,

resident interests and the quality of life -- and map out the city’s

direction for the next five years.

Each following year, the council will revisit and adjust the plan as

demographics, trends and other concerns change the community.

City staff began to work on the prototype long-term plan in April to

give council members an idea of how the final document will look and what

information will be included.

“Whatever we do, eventually we need to make sure that we stay

human-focused,” said Councilman Ralph Bauer during the Nov. 6 study

session, adding that the plan should benefit residents. “If it doesn’t

have a human focus to it, then everything else is worthless.”

Other city officials said they agreed with Bauer. The council will

review the plan’s prototype at a meeting with Silver in January before

proceeding with the final version.

The goal, they added, is too ensure the plan accurately reflects

community concerns, as they are viewed by the city’s elected officials.

Silver said drawing up a complete strategic plan for Huntington Beach

will take the better part of next year, with a final document expected to

be done by October.