Vetting of strategic plan for Findlay could take until mid-year

It could take until mid-year before a new strategic plan for Findlay government is ready for a vote by city council. That's the best guess of Councilman Jeff Wobser, R-at-large, who chairs council's Strategic Planning Committee. Wobser suggested the timeline at Tuesday's regular meeting of city council, after Auditor Jim Staschiak encouraged both committee members and council to review both the proposed plan and public feedback. Staschiak said the goal isn't to get the plan done quickly, and it's up to the strategic planning committee to comb the document, point by point, to make sure it's done right. He said there's a lot that's not in the plan that concerns the public, although he didn't elaborate on Tuesday. Instead, he encouraged members of council to look for themselves. The next meeting of the strategic planning committee is 5 p.m. Jan. 23 at the Findlay Municipal Building, 318 Dorney Plaza. Members of the Strategic Planning Committee include Wobser, Staschiak, Mayor Christina Muryn, council members Dennis Hellmann, R-2, and Beth Warnecke, R-3, and R-at-large councilmen Randy Greeno and Grant Russel. The overall goals were developed by Planning NEXT, a consulting firm based in Columbus, through a canvas of nearly 1,000 people in the fall, asking where Findlay's government should put its focus. The effort included an online survey open to the public on the city's website for several weeks. The consultants also worked with Findlay's various business leaders, community members, economic development team, local school districts and other organizations to develop the plan. The firm has been paid $124,315 to serve as a consultant. Eventually, the process will include a method for updating, maintaining and evaluating the strategic plan. The draft plan was released publicly on Dec. 5 at an open house hosted by the city, but only about 50 people attended and only about half left comments. Other opportunities for public feedback, at the municipal building and online, gathered about 60 more comments. However, a review of web traffic at findlayforwardplan.gov in December showed that almost 1,000 people visited the site to review the draft plan, with few comments. The entire plan is still available for public review at www.findlayforwardplan.com, and comments may be emailed to strategic-planning@findlayohio.gov. The comments will go directly to all members of council's planning committee via that address. The plan sets forth six main goals, with supporting recommendations. It must be approved by Findlay Council and any action items will move through council's process one by one. The main goals of the plan — meant to be pursued over the course of several years — are described as follows. According to the plan, city government should work to create: Goal 1: An attractive place to live, work, raise a family, learn, run a business, play, explore and visit. Goal 2: An active community with a wide variety of amenities, parks and recreation opportunities for people of all abilities. Goal 3: A connected city where people are linked to destinations and each other in a variety of ways. Goal 4: A responsible city Government through which the public can clearly understand and participate in civic life. Goal 5: A caring community that supports all community members and looks for opportunities to strengthen community bonds. Goal 6: A thriving business environment that takes care of existing businesses, and attracts new businesses, supports local entrepreneurs and is economically sustainable. The plan is already facing vocal public opposition. At the Dec. 20 meeting of Findlay council, Tom Ross, president of the Findlay Landlords Association, said the plan is out of touch with the true needs of the city. He said the city has a drug problem, high crime and a growing homeless population. He accused city officials of targeting the owners of rental properties through the plan, and promised political retaliation for any members of council who vote to advance it.