Kim Ecklund
Jamestown Mayor Kim Ecklund is looking at reviving the long dormant Strategic Planning and Partnerships Commission.
The commission last met in January 2020.
When asked if the commission might be brought back given that the city is starting the process to update its Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code, Ecklund said the overall function of the commission needs to be addressed, “At the time that it left, there are some things in our Charter that I think are very specific in that they’re supposed to review budgets before city council before the mayor presents them, things like that. I honestly feel that as a city, the department heads and the comptroller should be working together all the time to make sure we’re on target for the budget that year we’re in.”
Ecklund said she’s reviewing who the city charter says should be a member of the commission, “But, it’s made up of a few citizens, it made up of the schools, there’s a business representative, there’s a representative from the hospital, there’s a representative from the college, so it’s involving all those things that play together. And you and I both know how hard it is to get all those people together anyway.”
According to the City Charter, the Strategic Planning and Partnerships Commission is charged with considering, developing, and making recommendations for strategic initiatives to the City Council and other organizations within the greater Jamestown area with respect to issues involving economics, the quality of life, equity and opportunity and to develop and establish community-wide goals and objectives for the future and to make recommendations to the City Council and other organizations within the greater Jamestown area to accomplish such goals and objectives.
Ecklund hopes to have made progress in reestablishing the commission by end of the year at the latest.
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