Virginia Beach, Virginia A Community for a Lifetime A Strategic Plan to Achieve City Council’s Vision for the Future 2010 - 2012 December 2009 A Message from the City Manager City Council has outlined its vision for the City of Virginia Beach. Our job is to make Virginia Beach that place. This document is an updated guide that will help us do that. It is based on strategic planning work that many members of the organization have been involved in for over a decade. Virginia Beach is a vibrant community with a successful government. I believe that by committing to use the ideas in this document, we will continue to improve, meet the challenges of the future, and increase our capacity to achieve City Council’s vision for our community. Our Strategy has been a part of our organization since 1998. We designed it purposely to be a guide. It is a guide that can help us now as we review everything we do and in the future, as we decide what new things to do and not to do and what current practices to validate. In combining the Strategy with our 3-Year Plan, we are able to make consistent decisions that are aligned and purposeful. Consistency and alignment help us deliver our best to our citizens as we strive to achieve City Council’s vision. This Strategic Plan challenges us to: • Enhance the overall capacity of the community. • Focus on achieving outcomes, rather than simply performing functions. • Take a systems view of everything we do. This view requires more analysis and consultation and requires that we attempt to achieve more with each action. • Emphasize building positive relationships and partnerships; and that we view citizens as partners with assets who can help achieve our community outcomes. • View community resources, including tax revenue, as assets that we protect, enhance and use to create long-term community value. • Use Completed Staff Work to develop an understanding of problems prior to proposing actions and to ensure that we involve all those who have a stake in the issue. One of the values of the Strategic Plan is that it allows us all to “read from the same page” and to be able to understand why we do things based on common principles and strategies. All of us should use this document as a filter for all of our work: policy reports, agenda requests, project management, budget requests, and in our interactions with citizens and each other. This Strategic Plan guides us to an exceptional level of achievement for a quality community and a quality organization. I invite you to join me as we continue in our quest to excel in our work. With Pride in Our City, James K. Spore Strategic Plan ~ 2 December 2009 Contents Virginia Beach Vision 2024 .................................................................. 4 Introduction ........................................................................................... 5 Foundations for Strategic Planning .................................................... 7 Core Strategies ...................................................................................... 9 City Businesses … ............................................................................ ...14 Cultural and Recreational Opportunities ................................... 16 Economic Vitality ........................................................................... 20 Family and Youth Opportunities ................................................ 26 Quality Education and Lifelong Learning ................................. 31 Quality Organization .................................................................... 36 Quality Physical Environment ..................................................... 41 Safe Community………………….……………………………….47 Acknowledgements………………….…………………………..…..50 Strategic Plan ~ 3 December 2009 Strategic Plan ~ 4 December 2009 Introduction Public service is a noble profession. We have chosen to serve the people and our community in order to achieve our common goals. The city government of Virginia Beach is an organization created by our citizens to help accomplish things for individual benefit as well as the common good that people could not accomplish acting alone. One of our responsibilities as members of this municipal government is to turn community goals, as described by our elected officials, into reality. In a world of limited resources and important goals, choice is always necessary. A Strategic Plan helps us make those choices. Virginia Beach is a strong, healthy and vibrant City with a vision for its future. City Council has provided direction in defining the desired future for the City – a Vision of A Community for a Lifetime – a great place to live, learn, work and play. City Council also identified seven business areas that are critical to achieving this vision. We now refer to these as the City Businesses. How do we define A Community for a Lifetime…? It is a community where individuals and families can realize their life’s goals. We are culturally enriched, have fun and raise our children to be happy, responsible adults. We are committed to learning for a lifetime. We are a city where businesses can prosper and flourish, supported by a well paid workforce of the highest caliber. We are committed to quality education and the healthy development of our children. We are safe. We treasure the beauty of our City, both the built and natural environment. We value our heritage and seek to preserve it. We provide quality services to meet the needs of an urban community. We recognize the importance of the region to our long- term prosperity. We seek the active involvement of citizens and businesses as partners with city government. We (city government) are stewards of the community’s common wealth, committed to service, productivity and innovation. For the Strategy, we studied demographics and environmental trends and developed desired outcomes and strategies for the City Businesses. The work accomplished through our strategic planning process was first published in 1998. In 2002, a 3-Year Plan was adopted to implement the Strategy. The Strategy was updated in 2003 and the 3-Year Plan has been updated annually. With this revision, we are combining both the Strategy and the 3-Year Plan to serve as an aligned, strategic direction for our City, in order to move us toward City Council’s vision of Virginia Beach: A Community for a Lifetime. Strategic Plan ~ 5 December 2009 We have found that the City Businesses are inextricably interconnected. Therefore, in order to be successful in achieving City Council’s vision, we must address all business areas simultaneously. A Community for a Lifetime must be created and sustained by the City as a whole. As government leaders, we must help facilitate this effort and work with the community to ensure that all individuals, families, neighborhoods, community groups and commercial interests have an opportunity to prosper. As a maturing city, Virginia Beach must revitalize and reinvest in order to remain A Community for a Lifetime! While this Strategic Plan is intended to serve as guidance to all members of our organization, it is the responsibility of department leadership to give it life. This group constitutes the leadership of our City organization, who through their daily decisions and actions can affect change in our community and in our organization. You will note the consistent use of the pronoun, WE and its possessive, OUR. WE refers to all department leadership and all members of the organization. It is only through our collective efforts that we can sustain our organization as one capable of achieving City Council’s vision for Virginia Beach. Strategic Plan ~ 6 December 2009 Foundations for Strategic Planning The City’s Mission and City Council’s community goals are the foundations for our strategic planning work. WHY we exist is stated in our City’s Mission: The City of Virginia Beach government exists to: • enhance the economic, educational, social and physical quality of the community; and • provide sustainable municipal services which are valued by its citizens. In order to fulfill this mission, a partnership between City Council, City management, and the member workforce must function well. This relationship involves interrelated processes - governance, management, and service delivery - and is referred to as the City Model. Mayor/ City Council Dreams for Future Direction Boards/ Needs Commissions GOVERNANCE Information / Education “WHAT” Wants / Desires Task Forces/ Committees Mobilizes Support FEEDBACK City Manager Department Directors Division MANAGEMENT Managers “HOW” First Line Supervisors SERVICE DELIVERY Results “ACTIONS” Impact Lyle Sumek Associates, Inc. Strategic Plan ~ 7 December 2009 Each process plays a key role in defining and shaping the organization, in providing services and opportunities to citizens and other customers, and in achieving valued outcomes for the Community. In the Governance Process, City Council answers the key question of WHAT we want to become as a community and the priorities that need to be addressed. City Council outlined its vision for Virginia Beach in its description of Goals for 2008: • Create a Financially Sustainable City Providing Excellent Services • Grow the Local Economy • Improve the Transportation System • Revitalize Neighborhoods and Plan for the Future • Be a Competitive, First Class Resort for Residents, Businesses and Tourists These Goals describe the desired future of the City of Virginia Beach. With the direction set by City Council through the Governance Process, HOW we accomplish