How Do City Council Priorities Affect You?

Takoma Park City Council Priorities are considered a tool to guide policy and budget decision making and outline strategies to work toward desired outcomes for a wide range of major projects, initiatives, and ongoing activities. Policies established by the City Council affects many aspects of civic life in Takoma Park, so developing and sharing priorities inform residents, businesses, and regional stakeholders on what the council considers important.

The priorities are not policy, but they serve as the framework to shape future policy. All are encouraged to engage with the City Council to help shape how the priorities are implemented. You can engage in the process by attending a City Council meeting; by contacting your City Council member; or by joining a board, commission or committee.

On April 12 2023, the council updated its priorities through 2024. Below, you can read the main priorities, but more information can be found on the city website (search for Council Priorities).

Takoma Park City Council Priorities

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, and people of color, immigrants, those with unsustainable lower-paying jobs or incomes, and people with developmental or physical disabilities.
• 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. 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 to 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 and 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