An engaged community helps shape cohesive priorities for San Luis Obispo’s future. Community members are invited to participate in a Virtual Community Forum happening at 6 p.m. January. 14, which can be accessed on the Community Forum webpage at slocity.org/communityforum.
The forum, a joint meeting of the City Council and the Revenue Enhancement Oversight Commission (REOC), is part of a crucial community-based goal-setting process that happens every two years to establish the top priorities that will make San Luis Obispo an even better place to live, work and play. The process kicked off with a recent community priorities survey taken by more than 1,200 residents, followed by this Virtual Community Forum and an upcoming public City Council goal-setting workshop on February 6th. That work will then be used to formulate the 2021-23 Financial Plan which will adopted in June 2021 and includes the use of the recently approved Measure G-20 (Local Revenue Measure).
“Although we can’t meet in person for this important engagement process, we are excited to bring our community this opportunity to share their priorities virtually,” said Finance Director Brigitte Elke. “It’s more important than ever for community members to have a platform to share their input about what they believe the City Council’s top goals should be over the next two years.”
Engaging the community in the financial planning process ensures that resources are allocated in the budget to accomplish citizens’ highest priorities while also supporting and maintaining the needs of the City’s current services, programs and capital assets. The process provides a mutual understanding among community members, decision makers and City staff through a collaborative approach.
The City of San Luis Obispo has successfully utilized this two-year financial planning process for more than 30 years. In addition to reinforcing the importance of long-range planning, it creates a proactive budget process that provides for stable operations and service delivery while reducing the amount of time and resources it takes to prepare annual budgets.
“Community feedback is a cornerstone of the City’s budget process and plays an integral role in setting major City goals,” Elke said. “All are welcome to attend and participate.”
View the results of the 2021-23 Community Priorities Survey here
VIRTUAL COMMUNITY FORUM SPECIFICS
WHEN: 6 p.m. January, 14th
WHERE: slocity.org/communityforum
DETAILS: All San Luis Obispo community members are invited to attend.
FORMAT: The virtual forum will mimic the in-person workshops that have been held in past years but virtually using Zoom and PollEverywhere. Each of these online tools enables attendees’ additional opportunities to engage with the City Council and REOC. After a kick-off from the Mayor and City Manager, participants will learn how the process will work, followed by a presentation by Finance Director Brigette Elke, breakout sessions, public comment and closing.
MORE INFO: View the most recent Financial Plan-related documents here. Visit the Virtual Community Forum webpage here.
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