By Chris Meyer

Mayor

If you’ve ever watched a government meeting, you’ve certainly heard elected officials discuss “mission” and “vision.” You’ve heard discussions about strategic plans, comprehensive plans, and even more discussions about studying this or that. Why is this?

When you become an elected official, you are granted the temporary leadership of your community. It doesn’t matter if you are a council member, mayor, state representative, or governor. Your role is temporary and will exist long after you have left the position.

The job of an elected official is to ensure that there is a strong foundation for future leaders to continue leading the community to success in achieving long term goals. This is why the ideas of “Mission” and “Vision” are so often discussed. Those ideas are not just for the elected officials today. They are for the elected officials of tomorrow as well.

Plans and studies are the same way. We invest the time and money in plans and studies to ensure that the foundation exists for future leaders and residents alike. Good planning is accomplished through enormous amounts of communication. What do residents want? What can taxpayers afford? How can we position the city to be attractive to potential new business and new residents? How can we maintain the service our current residents and businesses have come to expect?

Currently, we are beginning the review of our five-year Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan. This plan helps direct the activities of our Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department. Like the myriad of other plans we have, it is an integral part of our City’s Comprehensive Plan.

Remember how I said that this is all accomplished through enormous amounts of communication? Well, this is where you come in. This is your community after all. The proposed Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, or CORP, is available online at the link below. Take a few minutes to look it over, and send your feedback to any of your elected officials. Your feedback will help shape the Marshfield of tomorrow.

http://ci.marshfield.wi.us/departments/planning_and_economic_development/comprehensive_outdoor_recreation_plan.php