By Jimmy Van Wickler | West Valley View
Buckeye officials are refining the city’s strategic plan with new focus areas, measurable performance indicators and an increased emphasis on housing as the city prepares for continued growth.
During a July 7 City Council workshop, Deputy City Manager Jared Askelson presented an update to the council’s annual strategic plan, which will guide city priorities through 2029. The plan, originally adopted in 2022, is reviewed and updated each year following a council retreat and input from city leadership and stakeholders.
“This year back in December we started reaching out to stakeholders including council, members of staff, the youth council as well to start getting ideas for the council retreat,” Askelson said. “We went through all of our current focus areas, got the feedback from all of those stakeholder meetings that were held and went to revamp our strategic plan.”
The updated plan reorganizes the city’s priorities into five strategic focus areas: building a diverse economy, optimizing city services through continuous improvement, investing in infrastructure, cultivating a vibrant community and ensuring high-quality, diverse housing.
Housing replaces fiscal responsibility as a standalone focus area. Instead, fiscal responsibility will become part of a broader guiding principle focused on stewardship of resources.
“We don’t have a specific focus area for fiscal responsibility. Rather, everything we do should have that type of responsibility,” Askelson said.
