Of Synergies and Strategies: The City Council Gets a Good, Long Look at Its To-Do List Today

The Dallas City Council will hold its Retreat to Move Forward this morning, as it begins workshopping the FY2009-10 budget with various strategeries and sub-strategeries intended to see the city through tough times. And so City Manager Mary Suhm will gather her Key Focus Area Teams to provide "very little...

By Robert Wilonsky

February 4, 2009

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The Dallas City Council will hold its Retreat to Move Forward this morning, as it begins workshopping the FY2009-10 budget with various strategeries and sub-strategeries intended to see the city through tough times. And so City Manager Mary Suhm will gather her Key Focus Area Teams to provide "very little discussion of specific programs" while focusing instead on "long-term, strategic issues facing the City" as it "establishes the long-term direction for an organization based on the best available data, but provides an organization with the flexibility to change course when events warrant in the short-term."

Of course, this is all important work -- but the budget isn't due till summer's end, and there will plenty more of these workshops to come. (Every day's like Christmas!) But for those so interested in the city's to-do checklist, the six "Key Focus Area Presentations" -- Clean, Healthy Environment; Culture, Arts & Recreation; Economic Vibrancy; Educational Enhancements; Public Safety; E3 Government -- do provide an illuminating snapshot of what's been done and what needs doin'. Oh, and Dave Levinthal says the city won't be approving Omni as the convention center hotel operator this morning, as scheduled; but this is really Merten territory. Personally, I blame the Six Sigma.

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