Marysville mayor

What kind of city does Marysville want to be? How do we envision our future, and our identity as the second-largest city in Snohomish County? How can we better meet the challenges of today and position ourselves for a prosperous future, and what are the priorities that will define the actions to get there?

These are important questions to answer as Marysville prepares to embark on a Strategic Plan process to help guide the community’s long-term future.

Citizens will play an essential role in developing this blueprint for success, helping the City Council and me, department directors and staff to set goals and priorities for city government to follow. How the Strategic Plan evolves must come from many diverse voices throughout our community – citizens, businesses, nonprofit organizations, youth, seniors, neighborhoods and various ethnic populations.

The journey along this path starts with a first step. The soonest opportunity to do that will be for you to attend our upcoming free one-night winter quarter Marysville University program.  We invite citizens to join us for this opening public forum to share comments and ideas for the Marysville Strategic Plan.

The forum will be 6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 4, 2015 in the City Council Chambers, second floor in City Hall, 1049 State Ave. The evening includes a staff presentation, a Strategic Plan interactive poll and public discussion.

Marysville has realized many major achievements and significant investments in our community over the past two decades. The Strategic Plan will build on our past and guide us into the decades ahead, better prepared to meet new challenges and opportunities that await, taking actions based on the community’s vision, values, goals, needs and interests.

The Strategic Plan will feature an overall vision and mission, as well as:

•Specific vision for attracting and retaining businesses and jobs (economic development),

•Long-term financial stability,

•High quality and cost-efficient public services, and facilities to meet community needs and demands, and

•Creating a community that is healthy and inviting to citizens, businesses and visitors.

Goals in the Strategic Plan will address these visions with objectives that support the community’s values.

At the forum, participants will be able to use interactive “pulse pads” on loan from the Association of Washington Cities during a poll to vote on prioritizing actions that will form the Strategic Plan. The poll will provide real-time feedback and display results on a large screen. Citizens who have attended previous Marysville U forums have been able to use this polling system to help us identify priorities for downtown-waterfront redevelopment, as well as Transportation Benefit District projects.

Free refreshments will be available. Please RSVP by Friday, Jan. 30, to reserve your seat to Executive Assistant Leah Tocco at 360-363-8091 or email ltocco@marysvillewa.gov. For more information visit us at marysvillewa.gov/marysvilleuniversity.

To get a better sense of what the strategic planning process looks like, here’s a sneak preview.

We conducted an informal poll at the City Information Booth during the Marysville Street Festival last August. We asked guests to place sticky dots on poster boards to tell us their top priority in three categories: Economic Development, Neighborhood Livability and Transportation.

Among three economic development options, by a 5-1 margin, participants said the city should pursue downtown revitalization and development of the waterfront into a destination with trail access, retail shops, community space, recreation opportunities and entertainment, ahead of focusing on manufacturing and industrial business recruitment, and retention and expansion of businesses.

On the question of neighborhood livability, increasing crime reduction efforts and safety improvements was the top priority, with other choices more evenly split –  enhancing and development of more recreational opportunities, creating more trails and bikeways were both slightly more popular priorities than beautification of streets and rights of way.

With regard to transportation needs and issues in the community, an overwhelming number of poll-takers said monitoring and addressing impacts of train traffic by building a grade-separated rail crossing should be the top priority. They rated this action ahead of building more street connections, widening roads and improving interchanges, and improving maintenance of existing streets through repaving, and adding more sidewalks and bike lanes.

Of course, your priorities in these and other categories may differ. That’s why it is important to become a participant in the strategic planning process. I am excited to hear the opinions and insights shared that will help guide the future of city government and the community we call home.

Marysville is committed to supporting individuals, families, businesses and diverse populations as we prioritize and pursue the preferred opportunities that will represent the course of action in the completed Strategic Plan. We encourage you to join us on this journey.