[Press Release] : Public to decide final Vision priorities during Sept. 13 Community Choices Open House

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Renee Graham, Support Staff for Education and Outreach - (573)
874-7316 or  M. Dianne Drainer, Vision Committee Co-Chair - (573)
239-1755 or Jeffrey Williams, Ph.D., Vision Committee Co-Chair - (573)
356-7219

Public to decide final Vision priorities during Sept. 13 Community
Choices Open House

COLUMBIA, MO (September 6, 2007) - Columbia’s “Imagine Columbia’s
Future” Visioning Committee presents the draft vision plan for final
public review and ranking during the Community Choices Open House,
Thursday, September 13, from noon - 8 p.m. in the Kimball Ballroom at
Lela Raney Wood Hall, Stephens College, 6 N. Broadway.

Since last fall, community volunteers in 13 Citizen Topic Groups have
worked to distill 1,500 community-driven "big ideas" into a
comprehensive vision that contains 41 subtopic goals, 128 strategies and
action plans for turning the vision into reality. 

Now, it is time for the community to vote their priorities for
Columbia's future. The vision goals and strategies will be displayed on
mounted poster boards. Each person who comes to the Community Choices
Open House will receive six dots to place next to the strategies he or
she feels are most important to Columbia's future. 

Visioning Co-Chair, Dr. Jeff Williams, explains that the Community
Choices event provides everyone the opportunity to say, “Out of all of
the ideas in the vision plan, these are the six I feel most passionately
about." 

While all of the goals and strategies will be included in the final
vision plan, Visioning Co-Chair M. Dianne Drainer says, “Ranking the
vision strategies will help identify common priorities, concerns and
collective aspirations for Columbia’s future.” 

The public will also have an opportunity to fill out comment cards and
sign up to participate in the visioning adoption and implementation
phases.

According to Williams and Drainer, steps were taken to make the
Community Choices Open House as accessible and easy to attend as
possible. The event will be on a Thursday since public transportation
runs late that evening. Shuttles will also run in 15-minutes intervals
between Stephens College and 10th & Broadway, so community members can
enjoy Twilight Festival and still participate in the visioning event.

The flexibility of the open house format also allows public
participation anytime between noon and 8 p.m. Citizens short on time can
choose to review the vision plan and select their priority strategies in
advance by visiting www.GoColumbiaMo.com, and clicking on “Imagine
Columbia's Future.” 

For more information about the visioning process, please call Renee
Graham at 573-874-7316.

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