Report from first forum reveals obstacles in involving the entire community in process.
The results are in from May’s visioning forum, and according to a report by ACP Visioning and Planning, residents strongly support creating a vision for Columbia’s future.
Roughly 89 percent of the meeting’s respondents thought visioning would benefit Columbia. Visioning is a citizen-driven process to formulate long-range goals for communities. One table of respondents wrote visioning could produce “sustained, controlled growth.” Another said the process might include “new ideas that may not have been brought up before.”
The city paid ACP $15,000 to report on the May 8 forum, which was held at Stephens College and drew roughly 350 people.
Despite the glowing reviews, respondents highlighted a few potential obstacles. For example, the report noted that people at the meeting emphasized the need for demographic diversity in visioning. That very group, however, was mostly male and more than 90 percent white. And 70 percent of them were between 35 and 64. Less than 15 percent were younger than 35.
“Involving Columbia’s youth is extremely important,” City Manager Bill Watkins said. He added that if Columbia moves forward with visioning, he would want to schedule meetings throughout the community and address citizens’ transportation issues in order to bring as many segments of the community together as possible.
The City Council plans to address visioning at its annual retreat, which is set for June 22 through 24 in Excelsior Springs near Kansas City. Assistant City Manager Paula Hertwig-Hopkins said the agenda calls for council members to decide whether they want to move forward with visioning or need more information.
Watkins said the scope of the project and its potential costs are also up for discussion. Hertwig-Hopkins said if the council decides to move forward, the next step is to meet with Watkins and other staff members after the retreat to further discuss the process.
Watkins said visioning should extend beyond Columbia’s city limits. Visioning “needs to be for the greater Columbia community,” he said. “It cannot be dictated by a legal line on a sheet of paper.”
But Watkins stopped short of endorsing a countywide vision.
“I don’t think we need to be visioning for the entire county,” he said, “unless they, themselves, want to be a part of it.”
Hertwig-Hopkins said it’s premature to discuss how a vision might be implemented because the City Council hasn’t decided whether to move forward.
“That’s a little bit of a ways down the track,” Hertwig-Hopkins said. But, she said, “based on the information from the consultant and the presentation from the three cities, it’s important to have a commitment on the table to implement the plan.”
Chattanooga, Tenn., Champaign County, Ill., and Springfield had representatives at the meeting to tell how visioning worked in their communities.
ACP principal and consultant Gianni Longo said implementation strategies are critical. He said cities should address implementation from the moment they start the process, instead of leaving it as an afterthought.
“A vision is not like an aspirin that you take and the headache goes away,” he said. “You can vision all you want, but in the end, you have to implement it.”
FOR MORE INFO:
The visioning report is available under “announcements” on the city’s Web site, www.gocolumbiamo.com. Printed copies are also available at the Columbia Public Library, 100 W. Broadway, and at the first floor of the Daniel Boone City Building, 701 E. Broadway.