To: Board of Supervisors
From: County Administrative Office
Agenda Section: Departmental
Vote Requirement: Majority
SUBJECT:
title
Approval of the 2024-28 Humboldt County Strategic Plan
end
RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Approve the 2024-28 Humboldt County Strategic Plan; and
2. Provide other direction as desired.
Body
SOURCE OF FUNDING:
General Fund, Various Funds
DISCUSSION:
A strategic plan is an important tool in ensuring that local governments can effectively work towards addressing the community’s needs with the resources available. It acts as a guiding document, setting the tone and direction for the entire organization. Effective strategic planning will enable the County of Humboldt to identify and prioritize its goals, allocate resources efficiently and ultimately achieve desired outcomes. A sound strategic plan is critical to positioning the County of Humboldt well going into difficult budget years to prioritize its activities, meet the needs of Humboldt County and provide the highest level of service possible. Without strategic planning, the County of Humboldt will lack a unified direction, may become reactive and struggle to adapt to changing circumstances or capitalize on opportunities. These are just some of the many reasons it is vital that the County of Humboldt invest in a strong strategic planning process.
The County of Humboldt’s current strategic plan is dated February 4, 2019. Since the development of the 2019 Strategic Plan the community has experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple local emergencies, economic uncertainty and significant turnover in leadership. As an example, twelve (12) of the nineteen (19) department heads were not involved in the development of the previous plan, and due to their departments’ roles in the County of Humboldt and community, especially in light of the aforementioned challenges, the leaders of those departments expressed a desire to play a significant role in the development of the new strategic plan. All department heads attended one (1) or more of the strategic planning sessions, showing commitment to actively participating in this process.
The current strategic planning endeavor began with a series of open public meetings on March 3, 2023, March 23, 2023 and March 24, 2023. These open public meetings took place at Trinidad City Hall and the Benbow Inn in to ensure community members in far-reaching areas of Humboldt County had the opportunity to attend. These sessions leant themselves to collaboration and teamwork of community members, the Board and department heads in the planning of the County of Humboldt’s future. Together, under the guidance of a consultant, Municipal Resource Group (MRG), the parties in attendance developed a draft vision and mission statement, established core values, goals and priorities for the County of Humboldt.
On April 18, 2023, the Board appointed an Ad Hoc working group comprised of Supervisor Wilson, Supervisor Arroyo, department heads and other staff. The task of the Ad Hoc was to refine the vision and mission statements and define the priorities established during the previously mentioned planning sessions.
Staff are pleased to present the culmination of those planning efforts to your Board and seek approval of the 2024-28 Humboldt County Strategic Plan.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Facilitation cost with MRG for strategic planning is in an amount not to exceed Thirty-Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($32,500.00). Additional costs include food and lodging for at least fifteen (15) individuals at each of the three (3) days of off-site training estimated to be Five Thousand Five Hundred Ninety Dollars ($5,590) and the hall at Benbow KOA rental rate of Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000). These costs were included in the fiscal year (FY) 2022-2023 and FY 2023-24 adopted budget for MBT. Additional travel and meal costs (ranging from $82-$165 per person) for attendance to the Strategic Planning meetings were be borne by the individual departments.
STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK:
This action supports the following areas of your Board’s Strategic Framework.
Core Roles: Create opportunities for improved safety and health
New Initiatives: N/A
Strategic Plan: N/A
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
None
ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
As directed.
ATTACHMENTS:
2024-28 Strategic Plan
PREVIOUS ACTION/REFERRAL:
Board Order No.: N/A
Meeting of: 3/3/23, 3/23/23, 3/24/23, 4/18/23
File No.: 23-289, 23-390, 23-408, 23-517