REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
City Council Priority Setting Summary Report for 2024 Priorities
Report
BACKGROUND
The 2024 City Council Priority Setting sessions were held on March 25, 2024 and April 3, 2024 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The City selected Raftelis (Consultant) which included Executive Vice President Julia Novak and Vice President Nancy Hetrick who led the City Council through a two-day priority setting session and conducted pre-interviews with the members of the City Council. In addition, the City selected EMC Research Inc. to perform research to aid in understanding resident satisfaction with the City's efforts around the current Council Priority Areas, and to gauge resident priorities to inform the setting of new Priority Areas.
The facilitators led the City Council through a two-day discussion and conducted several exercises, including a "True in Ten Years" exercise where City Councilmembers were asked to share three to five items that are not true about Santa Clara today, that they hope to be true in ten years. The City Council was then led through an exercise to identify 7 to 10 priority items each. On the second day of the session, the facilitators shared the priorities the Council provided on day one of the session and led the City Council through a dot exercise to identify which priorities were identified.
The Priority Setting session resulted in the Consultant's establishment of four new "Priority Areas of Focus". A total of 34 top priority items received unanimous support from the City Council and 9 high priority items received majority support (received at least 4 council votes). Following the session, the facilitators issued the consultant's report with a summary of the priority areas of focus and a list of priorities.
DISCUSSION
The City has reviewed the Consultant's report and recommendations for Priority Areas of Focus and the list of 43 City Council priorities identified at the 2024 session. The City Council Priori...
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