The city is developing a new strategic plan that spans the next five years. When the Sitka Assembly met on Thursday (9-1-22) they heard a presentation on the first draft of the plan from SSW Consulting.

The strategic planning process kicked off in February of 2022, with a steering committee of assembly members and city staff leading the way through workshops, focus groups, media outreach and a community survey, which 689 Sitkans completed.

By combing through thousands of community comments collected over several months, a few themes emerged– ranging from affordability and quality of life to supporting economic development and managing the city’s debt while addressing its infrastructure needs.

“Heard over and over again, about access to childcare and a desire for that,” said consultant Sara Singer Wilson, listing some of the concerns that rose to the top of the survey data. “Affordable housing and more diverse housing options, to alleviate some of the burdens of the utility costs, especially for some folks, [and] mitigate the impacts of tourism.”

The plan identifies five overarching goals: preserving the quality of life for Sitkans, improving communications and strengthening relationships within the community, align resources for a “sustainable community” and invest in sustainable infrastructure.

The fifth goal is that the city will be recognized as being a ‘great place to work and an excellent service provider to the community.” On that last one, Wilson said there was room for improvement. She said 38 percent of survey responses rated the general city service satisfaction level at “average.”

“And 33% rated below average or poor,” Wilson added. “I think again this is where focusing on those organizational development actions you’ll see in the plan are going to be really important to help improve service levels.”

Assembly member Kevin Knox asked her how that rating compared to other cities. Wilson said it was somewhat lower than what she sees in other communities, though she said coming out of the pandemic, survey respondents often ‘aren’t as gracious with their ratings.” Knox said he felt many cities might not see positive ratings in general. Thor Christianson agreed:

“Nobody ever, or very, very rarely goes to city hall unless they have a problem,” said Thor Christianson, agreeing with Knox. “So they’re not happy when they walk in the door.”

“Other communities have recreation programs,” countered Rebecca Himschoot. “They have some things that do help the citizens in… maybe in other non-tangible, but other satisfactory-type ways.”

Wilson said that over time, with plans and procedures in place, cities can see customer service improve and peoples’ interactions will be more positive.

And that’s one of the hopes with the strategic plan. Described in the document as an “opportunity for the community to reflect on the current state and determine what we want Sitka to be in the future” it’s not to be confused with the city’s comprehensive plan, which focuses on more long range planning. A strategic plan is more short-term and tactical.

The assembly’s comments at Thursday’s work session will be incorporated into a revised draft of the strategic plan. Sitkans can review the plan online and provide comments over the next two weeks. The final draft of the plan will be up for an assembly vote at the end of the month.