City Council Priorities for 2023- 2024

Please view the entire Council Priorities 2023 – 2024

• Council Priorities (Spanish Translation)
• Council Priorities (Amharic Translation)

1.  Advancing a Community of Belonging

• Build on lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic to increase residents’ and small businesses’ resilience to the impact of emergency situations so that they can recover and thrive in the future.
• Further, the City’s racial equity work.
• Identify and prioritize programming needs in the community and develop approaches to meet those needs, emphasizing youth, families, seniors, and residents who tend to face barriers to opportunities, such as Black, Indigenous, people of color, immigrants, those with unsustainable lower-paying jobs or incomes, and people with developmental or physical.
• Defend our status as a Sanctuary City and maintain our commitment to being a welcoming and inclusive community where all residents experience a sense of belonging.

2.  Fiscally Sustainable Government

• Establish the City’s long-term fiscal sustainability strategy.
• Explore expanding City revenue options to identify long-term solutions necessary to diversify the City’s revenue streams.
• Explore ways to provide a more equitable property tax assessment system, including providing property tax adjustments to residents in need.
• Continue to build on improvements in the budget process, presentation of budget information, and communication with residents.

3.  Environmentally Sustainable Community

• Climate Change Mitigation: Work towards net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goal by 2035.
• Climate Change Resilience: Improve our ability to adapt and be resilient to local impacts of climate change.
• Manage our Community’s Natural Resources Sustainably: Protect, maintain, and improve the health of our urban forest, natural resources, and water quality, with an emphasis on equity.

4.  Engaged, Responsive, Service-Oriented Government

• Hire and onboard a new City Manager.
• Advance City communications with residents and adopt innovative, culturally appropriate initiatives to improve public engagement and collaboration with residents, particularly with residents who may face barriers to participating in municipal government activities and community affairs.
• Improve policies and processes to enhance resident interaction with the City government and the Council, including requests for government services, complaint systems, and code enforcement.
• Review and reform the City’s approach to public safety to ensure racial justice and work toward a safer, more livable community for all residents.
• Improve service delivery and reduce administrative burden by updating internal policies, IT infrastructure, and software to support staff in doing their jobs.

5.  Community Development for an Improved & Equitable Quality of Life

• Ensure that a range of safe, high-quality, affordable, green, and energy-efficient housing options are equitably available in neighborhoods throughout the community.
• Improve transportation planning, design, and implementation to create a safer, more environmentally sustainable, and more racially and economically equitable community for all residents, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicle occupants.
• Plan and prepare for development in the City and region while maintaining the special character and economic and racial diversity of Takoma Park.