MISSION STATEMENT The Waukegan Park District is committed to providing parks, facilities and leisure opportunities to our culturally diverse population through leadership with community involvement, dedicated staff and sound management. VISION STATEMENT An innovative park district that creatively adapts to our evolving community and provides exceptional parks, recreation and cultural arts that benefit all. WAUKEGAN PARK DISTRICT PREPARED BY HELLER AND HELLER CONSULTING trategic LAN JANUARY 2015 S 2015P - 2017 WAUKEGAN PARK DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLAN 2015-2017 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS BOARD MEMBERS Terry Duffy, President Patricia “Pat” Foley, Vice-President Janet E. Kilkelly, Treasurer William “Bill” Sarocka, Commissioner George Bridges, Commissioner STAFF Greg Petry, Executive Director Claudia Freeman, Superintendent of Cultural Arts Jim Glogovsky, Superintendent of Finance and Administration Jay Lerner, Superintendent of Recreation Mike Trigg, Superintendent of Parks Theodora (Teddy) Anderson, Community Relations Manager All Waukegan Park District Staff for their input into the Plan CONSULTING SUPPORT Barbara Heller, Heller and Heller Consulting, Inc. ii WAUKEGAN PARK DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLAN 2015-2017 JANUARY 2015 COMMUNITY MEMBERS Frank Alviani Anne Linn Dr. Donaldo Batiste Walter Lundquist Rachel Beard Dave Marion Kerry Biegay Dorothy McCaffrey Jack & Sandy Bradbury Megan McKenna Mejia Peggi & Bob Braden Norin Merchant Nan Buckardt Laura Mesa Charlotte Callahan Wozniak Dennis & Marilyn Moisio Dr. Phil Carrigan David Motley Faith Clark Wayne Motley Caryn Clothier Kim Needham Mary Colver Michael Nerheim Barbara Cornew Edith Newsome Brad Schneider Nick Nicketakis Barbara Correa Kathleen O’Conner Sam Cunningham Mary E. Olson Jo Dooley Jamie O’Meara William Durkin Dulce (Candy) Ortiz Toni Favero Carmen Patlan Susana Figueroa Mark Pfister, Porfirio Garcia Cheri Pierson-White JPeter Gordon Mike Prusila Brian Grach Mike Purtell Sara Griffin Richard Ribando Benjamin Grimes Ben Richards Rick Gust Hugo Rodriguez Ted Haug Mike Rodriguez Andy Hayes Yadira Sanchez Olson Dennis & Chris Heslin Susie Schreiber Dr. Patrick Jimerson Dr. John Schwab Patricia Jones Sue Schwab Emily Karry Randy Seebach Ellen Kiernan Chuck Smith Noelle Kischer-Lepper Della Steele Steve Kolber Doug & Betsey Stiles Dee Jay Kweder Jorge Torres Carol Kytasaari Paula Trigg Maria M. LaCour Diane Verratti George Lawrence Hilary Ward-Schnadt Joseph Legat Liz White Ed Link iii WAUKEGAN PARK DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLAN 2015-2017 iv WAUKEGAN PARK DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLAN 2015-2017 JANUARY 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ....................................................................... 2 Mission, Vision, and Values .......................................................... 3 Summary of Input Information ....................................................... 4 The Balanced Scorecard ............................................................ 14 Strategic Plan Hierarchy ............................................................ 16 Strategy Map ...................................................................... 18 Strategic Themes, Goals and Initiatives ................................................19 Implementation Guidelines ......................................................... 22 Summary ......................................................................... 24 Definitions ........................................................................ 25 1 WAUKEGAN PARK DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLAN 2015-2017 Introduction • The Waukegan Park District (WPD) collaborated with Heller and Heller Consulting, Inc. (HHC) to develop the District’s Strategic Plan 2015-2017. The Plan will be aligned with the start of the budget year, beginning FY 2015 and continuing through FY 2017. The Strategic Plan’s intent is to: • Continue the District’s ability to execute strategy as a follow up to the District’s previous 2010 Strategic Plan • Position the District for the future • Confirm vision, mission, and values of the District • Build upon the recently completed Community Engagement process • Establish strategic themes in support of the mission and vision • Create a roadmap for reinvestment in the system, together with the Parks and Open Space Master Plan • Continue to increase awareness of the District’s services • Continue improvement of operations The process included staff, Board, and community engagement, resulting in a more meaningful document for the District. A public meeting was held with approximately 87 Waukegan area leaders involved in providing their perspectives about the future direction of WPD. Another 18 submitted information because they could not attend. The District, through its Vision Statement: An innovative park district that creatively adapts to our evolving community and provides exceptional parks, recreation and cultural arts that benefit all will align its efforts around the key words of the statement. Words such as innovative, creatively adapts, evolving community, and exceptional are repeated throughout this document and form the basis for many of the strategic initiatives. The process for the strategic planning effort includes major areas as follows: • Summary of input sessions, including the staff, Board, and community • Revised Mission, Vision, and Values • Information about the Balanced Scorecard framework for strategy • Strategic Themes • Strategic Goals • Strategy Map • Strategic Initiatives • Guidelines for Implementation • Strategic Plan Definitions 2 WAUKEGAN PARK DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLAN 2015-2017 JANUARY 2015 Mission, Vision, and Values A good starting point for strategy is a review and development of mission and vision. This was achieved in successive Board and staff workshops, providing an opportunity to reflect on the revised statements. Mission statements define the business or purpose of the organization. Vision statements are more aspirational; what do we hope to become? The essence of strategic planning asks these three basic questions: • Where are we now? • Where do we want to go? • How will we get there? The intent of the Waukegan Park District Strategic Plan is to address these questions, as well as how the Plan will be successfully implemented. Both the Mission and Vision Statements were reviewed and refined. MISSION STATEMENT The Waukegan Park District is committed to providing parks, facilities and leisure opportunities to our culturally diverse population through leadership with community involvement, dedicated staff and sound management. VISION STATEMENT An innovative park district that creatively adapts to our evolving community and provides exceptional parks, recreation and cultural arts that benefit all. VALUES In addition to the mission and vision, the District also reviewed its values. Values define the way individuals in the organization work with one another. Values are important for reinforcing the desired organizational culture. The existing values were reviewed and modified to describe the current organization. The values are: • Accountability… We will work to achieve the most effective and efficient use of our financial resources while striving for the best return on the use of our assets. • Excellence… We will strive for the best in everything we do. • Integrity…We will practice steadfast adherence to a high moral and ethical code, and we will reliably deliver on what we say we are going to do. • Service Oriented…We will focus our efforts on our customers and will operate the District based on the needs of the community. • Working Together… We will work WITH one another. • Sustainability… The Board and staff will use a collaborative and cooperative team based approach that results in the best possible decisions for the long term greater good of the entire community. 3 WAUKEGAN PARK DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLAN 2015-2017 The values will be reinforced in hiring and promotional processes, staff orientation, ongoing operations, recognition systems, and the performance appraisal process. The values set the overall tone of the District’s culture. Summary of Input Information As part of the Strategic Planning process, meetings were completed with key community stakeholders, Board members, and staff. The following section is a summary of comments. The summaries are listed in four sets of information: • Public meeting • Board focus group • Leadership Group focus group • Employee meeting Public Meeting Community leaders were invited to attend a strategic planning meeting. The meeting included an overview of the process and information about the strategic planning framework used for the process. At the public meeting, each table group was charged with brainstorming ideas about strategic direction for the District. The following is a summary of the comments from the individual tables. The spacing between bullets represents the summary of comments from each table. • Declining tax base impact • Get into new programs • Involve youth • Marketing more to new community • Relevant programs • Collaborate • Implement existing plans • Communicate –health, wellness, more investment • Trail system • Public + Private partners • Accessibility to lakefront • Accessibility to Hispanic population • Opening up language barrier • Engagement – multicultural multigenerational • Programming • Lakefront • WPD positive hub and draw in Waukegan 4 WAUKEGAN PARK DISTRICT STRATEGIC PLAN 2015-2017 JANUARY 2015 • Promote cultural diversity in sports programs • Open schools in evening get kids energized, safe place • Family oriented small parks • Family oriented programs